There were no explosions.

No blazing fire.

No evidence of the apocalypse as humans had conceived it.

But the laws of nature would not cooperate.

It was as if the clocks kept ticking, but time itself no longer passed in a uniform rhythm.

Birds hovered midair before falling.

Even the buildings stood upright, but their shadows lay on the earth at a slant.

What scientists around the world found out was one thing:

their formulas were correct,

but reality had a different response for each.

They called it the anomaly.

The only thing that ordinary people could understand was the world had become unpredictable.

In the confusion, a few started to detect patterns.

They were not gods.

Not sorcerers.

They were scientists and fighters —

The Reborn World.

Four thousand years after, their names did become legend.

Their knowledge became ritual.

Their symbols became charms.

The world called it “magic.”

But in fact it was science forgotten.

Chapter1

The City of Axiom was really big. It went on and on under the gray sky. The City of Axiom had lots of towers with symbols, on them that glowed a bit like something was alive. Werren walked down the streets of The City of Axiom slowly trying not to bump into people. He did not look at all the people buying things instead Werren looked for things that did not seem right in The City of Axiom.

A crate moved a little as the merchant walked by. The merchant did not even notice it. There was a shadow in a place where it did not belong.. A little flash of light played on the stone walls. Most people do not see these things.. Werren saw them. Werren always paid attention to things, like this. The crate and the shadow and the flash of light were all things that Werren noticed.

When he was seventeen years old he did not look like someone. He had a body, dark hair that fell into his eyes, which were always moving and he was really quiet. This made people not notice him much.. Something weird happened when he was around. The world seemed to change a little bit like it was waiting for him to ask something even though he had not asked anything yet. The world was responding to the questions that the seventeen year old had not yet asked.

He walked into Axiom Academy, which's the biggest and most amazing building in the city. This is where the best students who are good, at science rituals go to learn. They practice techniques that were passed down from The Reborn World.

When he got inside the hall he saw an instructor drawing symbols in the air with his hands. The instructors hands were moving in a precise and practiced way.

As the instructor drew these symbols energy started to build up along the lines of the symbols. This energy turned into flames that jumped up and down for a while before they went away. The flames were dancing in the air for a moment before they faded.

The students were really happy. They all applauded. Werren did not applaud though.

The sequence had some problems. It was not completely wrong. It was wrong enough to cause some weird changes in the energy field. If something went wrong here the whole ritual would not work all. The ritual would fail because of a mistake, in the sequence.

The student next, to him asked in a quiet voice "Why are you not impressed?" and he gave him a little nudge.

"This is not magic " Werren said in a voice. "It is the probability that is being forced to happen. Probability is being forced to work in a way " Werren explained.

The student looked at them with surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

The world is supposed to follow these sequences Werren said, looking at the fire that was dancing in front of him. He was thinking about something. If the world really did what these sequences say, then why do we get results every time we try something. The results are never the same, not twice. Werren was looking at the flames his eyes moving back and forth.

The student looked at him with a lot of nervousness. "You are really different."

Werren did not pay attention to the comment. He looked away at a corner of the hall. The shadows there seemed dark and they were moving around. This was the Observer State. It is the step to understanding what is real. Most students do not even notice the Observer State. Most instructors do not like it when students try to understand the Observer State.. Werren felt like the rules were not so strict here. It was like a string that starts to shake when you touch it very lightly. The Observer State was something that Werren was familiar with. He felt comfortable when he was, in the Observer State.

The man stuck out his hand a bit and the fire moved around. You could feel something happening over the room. It was not a thing but you could not miss it. The teacher looked upset he felt that something was wrong. Then he just waved his hand and forgot about it. The flames were still moving because of the man.

Werrens heart beat faster. This little change small you could easily miss it was the proof Werren needed. The rituals were not perfect. The world of Werren could be figured out it could be. Maybe even fixed.

This kind of information does not come cheaply. You have to pay a price to get knowledge. The knowledge came with a price.

The Majlis Ranah did not like it when people asked many questions and did things their own way. The city was a place where everyone had to follow the rules and be afraid of things that were different. If someone tried to figure out the secrets of The Reborn World the city would get very angry with them. The Majlis Ranah and the city were very serious, about making sure people did not try to learn about The World.

He took a breath feeling the city come alive around him. The city had a kind of energy a quiet hum that was always there. Somewhere under all the buildings and streets the secrets of the city were waiting to be found. These secrets had been hidden for four thousand years. A lot of stories and legends had grown up around them. The city was full of mystery. He wanted to uncover the secrets that four thousand years of legend had kept hidden.

Werren was determined to find them.

The forest was really away from the City of Axiom. It was in a place that people did not often go to.

The trees in the forest were very tall and very old. They had moss over their trunks. It looked like the trees had been there before the City of Axiom was built.

Werren walked slowly on the ground. He had an axe with him. The axe was hanging at his side.

Werrens reason for being in the forest was simple. He wanted to get some firewood for his home. The firewood was, for the City of Axiom, where Werren lived. Werren needed the firewood to keep his home warm.

This season the energy, for rituals was really limited. We could not easily make fire for things. Wood was still something that would burn. Fire still worked the way it always had. Sometimes it would not light up and we did not know why.

When Werren stepped into the forest he got a feeling. Something just did not feel right to Werren. The forest was really quiet. Werren felt like something was off about the forest. Werren thought to himself that the forest was not, like this before.

The air was heavier.

It was not because of moisture. It felt like the space, around me was pushing down. The noise that insects usually make was almost gone. The leaves were really still. That was weird because the wind should have been blowing through this place and making them move. The sound of insects was there. Leaves just did not move, even when the wind came through.

Werren remembered the stories that people used to tell him. He would often think about the stories and what they meant to him. The stories were really important, to Werren.

People who live in the city talk about this forest in quiet voices. They say that sometimes you can see a white thing between the trees. This white thing does not move around like smoke. Get bigger, like mist. It moves slowly and it looks weird. The white thing can go through the bark of trees, rocks and even people as if they are not there.

The people who actually touched it…

The people just stopped moving. They were, like statues. The people froze.

Not burned.

Not wounded.

Frozen—instantly.

The bodies of the people who died were found stiff like time stopped at the exact moment they died. The bodies were really stiff as if time had just stopped for the people who died.

The old people said "Ghost".

People would whisper to each other a forest spirit they would say.

This curse was bad news for anyone who dared to cross the territory it controlled. The curse had a reputation for being very powerful. It would get anyone who entered its area. Anyone who crossed the territory of the curse was, in trouble. The curse was something that people feared. It was known for claiming anyone who crossed its territory.

Werren did not think that ghosts are real. He just did not believe in the idea of ghosts. To Werren ghosts were not something that actually existed. Werren was a person who did not believe in ghosts.

The man had faith, in these things called phenomena. He really believed that phenomena were real.

The man stopped walking. He just stopped walking in the middle of the road. The man stopped walking because he was tired of walking.

Ahead of him between the trees something showed up. It was not, like fog or smoke. This white stuff was thicker and more even. The big white mass moved together really calm and steady.

The temperature really dropped a lot all of a sudden. It was like the temperature just fell quickly.

Werrens breath was visible now. Tiny ice crystals started to form on the edges of his eyelashes. The ground, under Werrens feet turned hard fast.

This was not ordinary cold.

Werren did something that felt right, to him. He went into the Observer State. This is a state that Werren entered instinctively. The Observer State is where Werren is now.

The world just slowed down all of a sudden. Everything seemed to be moving in motion it was really weird. The world slowed.

The particles in the air started to move. You could see it happening. The vibrations from the heat got really weak fast like the heat was being sucked out of the space. It was not being. Burned away. The heat was just disappearing from the space. Not in a way that it was being destroyed or burned. The movement of particles, in the air became very noticeable as the thermal vibrations weakened rapidly.

Stopped.

This is what people call a ghost he said to himself quietly.

The mans thoughts were, over the place. This thing that was happening was not being mean to him. The phenomenon was not trying to hurt him. It was not chasing him. It was not attacking him. The phenomenon was there.. The fact that the phenomenon existed was enough to cause harm to people. The phenomenon was very dangerous even though it was not doing anything to him.

“…Bose–Einstein Condensate.”

The term had not been said for centuries. It was from the world before everything fell apart. A world that knew something. When it gets really really cold particles start to behave and become one. This happens when the temperature gets close to zero and the particles lose what makes them unique and become one single quantum state, which is what happens to particles in this state. The term was from the world, before the collapse, a world that understood this thing about particles and temperature and absolute zero.

The fifth state of matter.

The coldest possible point. Zero Kelvin.

In the days something, like this would have needed a lot of special equipment and a very controlled environment.. This thing was just here happening all on its own in a forest.

That meant one thing and I knew exactly what that thing was it meant that something big was going to happen and that thing was going to change everything the thing that I was thinking about was the only possible explanation.

The laws of nature in this world were no longer stable.

Werren took one step forward. She did this slowly and carefully making sure not to make any sudden moves. Werren was being extremely cautious taking her time with each movement. Now Werren had taken one careful step forward.

Ice crawled instantly up his boots. This was really bad. Pain shot through his legs. It hurt a lot. His muscles. Would not move. The blood, in his body felt heavy like the ice was affecting his blood too the ice that was crawling up his boots.

The man stopped. He just stopped there. The man stopped moving.

The man did not panic when things got really bad. He just stayed calm. Thought about what to do next. The situation was very serious. The man did not panic.

He slowed down his breathing. He did not move much. He tried not to rub against anything. The Yoga Master said that people should minimize the energy that their body gives off. When the Yoga Master was in the Observer State the Yoga Master was not doing anything. The Yoga Master was just watching. The Observer State is a state where the Yoga Master is just like a person who is watching something happen but the Yoga Master is not taking part in it. In the Observer State the Yoga Master is a witness, to what's going on and that is all.

The white mass just stopped moving for a moment. It was like the white mass was not sure what to do. The white mass hesitated.

The thing just did not move forward all. The situation, with the thing did not advance.

The thing did not back down. It just stayed right where it was the thing did not retreat.

The reality was checking out the man. What he was doing. Reality was basically looking at him and his presence.

Werren whispered that you do not bring death.

“Only… absolute stillness.”

This is the step that will finish him. His body cells will completely stop moving. Life will be over for him. Not because something bad happened to him. Because life needs movement to keep going. Life is about movement and when his cells stop moving his life will stop too and that is the end of life, for him.

Things like fire coming out of your hand flying through the air and running on air. These things are not magic. They are things that can happen. Only if you can control tiny particles. This thing that is happening now is similar. It is much more powerful. Fire from the hand and flight, through the sky are rare. They are possible if you can manipulate particles. This phenomenon is the same it is much more extreme.

There is a chance that was never supposed to happen in life. This probability was never meant to be, in the open for everyone to see. The probability that I am talking about is something that should have stayed hidden.

This world had actually allowed this to happen. The world we live in had given permission for this thing to occur. This world is the place where this was able to take place.

Werren slowly stepped back. The ice. It fell away. The cold temperature came back bit, by bit. The big white mass of ice kept moving into the forest. It did not care that Werren was there.

He stood there for a long time. His heart was still racing. The heart was beating fast.

This world was dangerous.

Not because of magic.

But because of possibility.

If a Bose-Einstein Condensate could really exist in a forest then what else could show up? What other rules of physics could break down? How many things that people think are ghosts are actually Bose-Einstein Condensates or other physics things that we do not understand?

Werren tightened his grip on the axe. He held the axe tight. The axe felt heavy in Werrens hands. Werren had a grip, on the axe.

The Reborn World must have known this fact. I mean The Reborn World had to be aware of this situation. It is pretty clear that The Reborn World was in the know. The Reborn World must have figured it out. The Reborn World had to have some idea, about this.

People must have understood that things were not stable, with the instability of the situation and the instability that was happening.

Someone, a time ago made the decision to hide the truth. They chose to keep the truth buried. That is what happened to the truth. The truth was buried by someone.

The wind finally started moving. It was like the whole world was breathing again.

Werren turned back toward the city carrying the firewood he had nearly forgotten. His mind was else it was not on the city or the firewood his mind was on other things Werren thought about the city but his thoughts were really, on something else Werren was thinking about things that had nothing to do with the firewood he was carrying or the city he was walking towards.

The man knew one thing now. He was certain about this one thing now. This one thing was very clear, to him now.

If this world could become too cold for life it would be a bad place to live. The world would be so cold that people and animals would have a time surviving. Life on earth would be very difficult. The world becoming too cold for life is a thought. What would happen to the world and to life if it got too cold? The world and life as we know it would change a lot if it became too cold, for life.

Then the situation could also become too unstable to handle lies.

And his curiosity had only just begun.

Werren woke up before the sun came out.

There were no dreams.. His body felt like it had come back from a really far away place. His fingers felt stiff his joints felt heavy. The breath came out of his body slowly making a little mist in the cool air. His body, the body felt like it had been, on a journey and his breath the breath was moving in and out slowly. His fingers, the fingers were stiff and his joints, the joints were heavy.

This was not ordinary cold.

He sat on the edge of his bed. Looked at his own hands. The small veins under his skin were easy to see. For a time he felt something weird. Like there was a little space between what he wanted to do and actually doing it. The world seemed to be waiting for him to make a decision before he could do anything. He thought about his hands. How they would move when he told them to but it felt like the world was waiting for his hands to move and for him to make a decision, about what his hands would do.

Werren clenched his fist he was really upset. Werren made a fist with his hand. This was because Werren was very angry, about something.

The feeling just went away. The sensation vanished.

The feeling of being uncomfortable was still there. The unease remained. It just would not go away. The unease was still bothering me.

What happened in the forest was not just something that he saw. It had an effect, on him. The forest thing did not hurt him. Scare him.. It did change things. Now the world is different when he is around. The forest thing changed how reality works when he is there.

He got ready. Walked out of his simple house on the edge of the City of Axiom. The City of Axiom was already up and, about. People were walking on the streets made of stone. You could hear their footsteps. Some people were selling things. They were shouting out what they had to sell. Little things that people do every day were happening around the City of Axiom.

Things seemed fine to me. Everything looked normal.

Too normal.

Werren was. He saw something that was not very clear. The ritual symbols on the city towers looked like they were not right. The lines that used to glow were now shaking a little like a signal that was about to stop working. The ritual symbols, on the city towers really did look unstable. Werren thought the glowing lines were trembling, like a signal that is going to collapse.

It seemed like no one else noticed this thing. No one else paid attention to the thing that was happening. The thing just seemed to go completely unnoticed, by everyone. No one else seemed to notice.

Werren did that. Werren is the one who actually did it.

Every ritual was like a rule that people made for chance. And now chance felt more free. It did not want to follow the rules much it wanted to make its own decisions. Every ritual was a command that people gave to chance. Chance was not listening to the rituals as much as it used to. Chance was making its choices and every ritual was just a thing that people did but chance was, in control of what really happened.

The man got to Axiom Academy when he was supposed to. He was right, on time when he arrived at Axiom Academy.

The main hall was filled with students. The demonstration that day was really simple. They showed how to make heat using a set of symbols. A small flame appeared in the air. It was nice and controlled.

Some students clapped for a while. A few students did this when they were happy, with what they saw. The students were showing that they liked what was happening by clapping. A few students gave applause.

Werren looked at the flame. He was really looking at the flame. The flame was what Werren was looking at.

Too long.

The Observer State was really getting to him. His chest felt tight all of a sudden. The flame was not burning right. It was not because he did something with the symbols. The problem was that the world was changing. The world was no longer doing what it used to do. The flame was unstable because of this. The Observer State and the flame were not working together like they should.

The flame was still. That was only because chance decided to go along with it. The flame kept going. That was due to probability still being, on its side.

For now.

“Werren.”

The voice of an instructor cut through the room.

The man asked "Do you see something in a calm voice but his eyes were really sharp when he looked at me.

The hall was completely quiet. The hall fell silent. It was like you could hear nothing all in the hall.

Werren raised his eyes. This was the moment he was waiting for. He knew what would happen if he did this. The consequences of his actions would be bad. Werren knew this. He still had to do it. He thought about what the consequences of his actions would be, for Werren.

The works he said in a soft voice but that is not because it is perfect. The ritual works because the world still lets the ritual happen.

Some students looked at each other. They felt really uncomfortable. The students exchanged glances. This made the students feel more uneasy.

The teacher looked really upset. "Saying that is not an idea " the teacher said. The teacher was talking about a statement that the teacher thought was very bad. The statement was dangerous.

Werren said that something is really bad when you think it will always be okay. He said "What is more dangerous is believing it will always work." So Werren thinks that believing something will always work is the thing that's really bad.

The air got really thick, with tension.

The teacher did not yell at Werren. That was actually worse. He just stopped the demonstration. Kept teaching the class.. Werren could feel it. People were now looking at Werren.

Not only from the instructor.

The Observer State shows up at any time of the day without giving any warning. The shadows that are at the edge of his vision do not move fast as they usually do. The sounds, around him become really sharp. It feels like he is hearing them from many different levels of reality. The Observer State is really something that just happens.

When the break came he went into a part of the academy library that people usually forgot about. In the back there was a bookshelf that most students did not touch. That is where he found the Reborn World manuscript. It was really old. Worn out. The Reborn World manuscript was, from a time ago and it looked like it had not been opened in years.

The book was not complete. A lot of pages were missing from the book. The book had missing pages.

One thing was really easy to understand: one line was completely clear and you could not miss it the meaning of the line remained unmistakably clear.

When you give probability much freedom, the laws of nature do not seem as important as they should be. The laws of nature are what tell us how things work. Probability is what happens when we do not know everything. So when probability has much freedom it is like the laws of nature are not, in charge anymore. The laws of nature and probability are both important. The laws of nature should come first because they are what make sense of the world.

Werrens heart was beating fast. Werren felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. This was happening to Werren because Werren was very scared.

This was not a warning.

It was a record.

A time ago someone figured out what the problem was.. They were not able to stop the problem. The problem is still here. Someone had tried to do something, about the problem. They did not succeed in stopping the problem.

As the sun started to go down Werren left the academy. The City of Axiom looked pretty just like it always does.. Underneath all that beauty Werren now knew that reality itself was getting weaker. The City of Axiom was still looking great. Werren was worried, about what was really going on. Reality was the problem. Werren knew that The City of Axiom was not as perfect as it seemed.

I am standing in a forest. The rituals that take place here are really inconsistent.. The Observer State is something that I have found gets easier to enter over time. The Observer State is a place that I can get to. It feels really easy now.

Everything in the world was connected to something. The internet was connected people were. Even things like trees and birds were connected to the earth. Everything was part of a system and it all worked together. The idea that everything was connected was really interesting to think about. Everything, including the earth and the people, on it was connected in some way.

Werren was right, in the middle of all this instability. He was just watching things for now. The situation was so bad that Werren might have to get involved and do something himself one day.

The man had no idea who would try to stop the man. He was still in the dark, about the people who would try to stop him. The man was going to do something. Someone was going to try to stop the man.

The cost of knowing something is not worth it either because the price that knowledge would demand is just too high. Knowledge would demand a lot from us.

But one truth was certain.

The world had started to ask questions, about itself after a really long time about four thousand years.

And Werren intended to answer.