Abyss Draconis

"Huuuu," a deep exhale echoed through the bedroom where Ryuk lay, his eyes flashing as he took one final look at the reflection before him, before dimming the light in the bedroom and climbing onto the bed, burying his form beneath the covers.

'Activate System Interface...' he ordered in his mind, and immediately the notification changed.

[Congratulations on Completing the Quest: Reach Level 25 of Gravity Sink Zone]

[Rewards Obtained:

+200 stat points unlocked in Strength stat.

+1 Low Ranked Rejuvenation Pill that heals exhaustion.]

[Congratulations, Secret Quest Completed: Reach the Peak of Gravity Sink Zone Level!]

[Rewards: +100 Release on all Locked Stats in every attribute!]

"Activate Stats," Ryuk ordered, and the notification panel once more changed.

[Stats]

[Strength: 1000 (500 Locked)]

[Agility: 1000 (550 Locked)]

[Endurance: 1000 (750 Locked)]

[Intelligence: 390]

[Charisma: 200]

[Luck: Knull]

[Attribute Points Available: 1,060]

"My Strength and Agility are now officially stronger than my previous..." Ryuk muttered to himself, eyes flashing, but then watched as the notification changed.

[You seemed to be showing High Scholar Emirs your strength, but that was a lie. What you used in the punch wasn't even 25% of your true strength.]

[You were faking it.] The system said, as Ryuk's eyes flashed before he stilled on his side, preparing to doze off but not without first replying.

'Yes, I was. It was necessary.'

[Well, if it was so necessary, then I don't think you should have revealed the true core to him, should you?]

'Huh?'

[You revealed the true core of it all. That you simply need to run more or carry more to regain your strength. You explained to him the mechanisms, which are very important and should have been kept secret.] The system said as Ryuk's eyes flashed in understanding.

"That too was necessary," he replied, but the system's silence showed him it perhaps wanted to know more.

'You see, I had to show him, even if I didn't want to. I had to explain clearly, even if doing that could expose my secret.'

'Because, to him, I'm an experiment. The second he senses that I know something but refuse to talk, he will grow wary, and I can't afford for him to grow wary.'

'If that happens, he can simply decide to subdue me in an instant and find out everything through experimentation.'

'Explaining to him, and so fervently too, is a good thing.'

'Most likely, he would think I'm a naive kid that likes to flex everything. Something that would do no one but him much good since he'll get to learn everything needed because of my running mouth.'

'That keeps his guards down, and his hopes up, rather than giving him a "Yes" or "No" answer or short evasion that would make him want to throw me under some machine to figure out what is truly going on.'

'Do you understand now?'

[I understand now. You needed to keep him trusting you, something that can only happen if you were as honest as possible. But then, you also needed to one day get out of his hands and therefore hid your true strength and capabilities.]

[You won't invoke much suspicion by being honest and by hiding your strength, you get to slowly grow up your strength and faking them will avoid dangerous alterations that could alert him of your terrifying evolution that might make him take actions from fear of potential.] The system said as Ryuk nodded his head with a smile.

"Now you understand."

[You've awakened a new skill too] The system flashed as Ryuk's sleepy eyes instantly flashed back open.

He had heard of the system saying he had awakened something but had been overwhelmed by the transformation next, making him forget it.

'Activate Skills and Abilities Tab.'

[Skills and Abilities]

[Sub Group: Sovereign Lifeform Skill]

[Skill: Sovereign Rewriting (Lv.1)]

Description: Grants the ability to manipulate matter at a fundamental level. The user is capable of altering the density, structure, and composition of non-living material within a localized area.

Current Limitations:

Manipulation Range: 5 meters.

Maximum Manipulatable Mass: 50 kilograms.

Structural Complexity Limit: Basic Level (non-living, non-complex matter only).

Time to Reconstruct: 5 seconds per operation.

Warning: Intelligence attribute remains insufficient to manipulate living organisms, advanced energy forms, or to perform real-time environmental reshaping.

Please level up Intelligence to unlock true capabilities of Sovereign Rewriting.]

'Sovereign Rewriting?' Ryuk muttered to himself, eyes narrowing at the skill before him as he read the descriptions over and over until he began to gain a bit of understanding of it.

'According to this, it says I should be capable of altering matter composition. One of non-living material?' he muttered to himself, but then, his eyes flashed as he rose up from his bed.

'Let me try it out one time before sleeping...' he thought as he inhaled deeply, exhaling outwards before his eyes flashed open and he called out.

"Activate Sovereign Rewriting."

At first, there was only stillness.

One that made Ryuk doubt whether he was even doing anything, but then, the very air around him began to warp.

A faint golden shimmer radiated from his body, before dispersing outwards, forming strands of golden light which seemed stuck around him in a sphere of five meters.

Unaware to Ryuk, a blue vortex was spinning in his eyes which remained on the surrounding bizarre light flashing in them as he began noticing.

Dust motes in the room around him were suddenly frozen in place, suspended like stars in a void.

Subtle strands of light began to materialize, so fine and delicate that they seemed unreal.

White golden veins of energy crisscrossed everything within the sphere—the ground beneath him, the bed by his side, the edge of the wardrobe holding the glasses—all were outlined in glowing golden wire energy as Ryuk's eyes flashed in shock when he began noticing something.

His vision, for a fleeting moment, blurred into a thousand fragments and then refocused with such intensity that Ryuk couldn't help but exhale deeply.

The world around him had shifted.

Where once he saw solid surfaces—the simple bed to his side, the polished floor beneath his feet, the glass mirror leaning against the drawer—now each object before him was revealing a deeper layer of existence.

Lattices.

Threads.

Bindings.