I felt something touch my forehead. It was cool and smooth, like stone warmed by the sun and then left in the shade. The touch did not hurt, but I felt it in a way that was not quite physical, as if it was reaching into the hollow place where my soul had been torn.
"The System," I said. The words came out as a croak, barely audible. "I don't… what is that place?"
"Aye." Dorrik's voice was gentle. "The world protects its inhabitants from seeing the void. It always has. The barrier was woven into the fabric of existence, a mercy granted to those who live within the bounds of reality. But the System... this damned curse that the Dragon God brought back tore open that barrier. It had to. The void that the Dragon brought back could not be contained any other way."
