Urban System in America-Chapter 121 - 120: World At Edge Of Frame

He waved again — the image shifted.

"Every choice you make is a question: Where does the eye go first? Why? What’s pulling it there? Is there movement? Contrast? Balance? Disruption?"

Rex’s mind was racing--- every painting he’d ever seen now felt like it had secrets.

Claude appeared beside him again, voice calm as ever. "You see? Gérôme frames a blade at its climax. I frame the world around the silence before."

Gérôme smirked. "And I sell more tickets." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

—

They didn’t ask him to draw. They asked him to see.

Then they spun the canvas toward him.

"Now," Gérôme said. "Frame this."

The scene was chaos — a city in flames, a child crying, a knight falling from a tower, a bird flying above the smoke.

Claude said: "Find peace in the storm."

Gérôme said: "Find the scream that will echo."

And Rex had to choose.

He hesitated. Then his hands moved. He reframed the child between crumbling archways, light falling through cracks in just the right angles. He let the tower fall in the distant background — not the focus, but the shadow that shaped it all.

The shape of the story seemed to bend with his choice.

Both men leaned in.

Claude nodded, gently. "Yes. The silence before the rebuild."

Gérôme added, "And you caught the child’s hand — mid-reach. Good. That’s tension."

And just like that, time slipped on, unnoticed.

Between his two masters — always bickering, always shifting the scene — Rex found himself traveling the world without taking a single step. Each frame a new lesson, each argument a change in focus.

A fog-drenched London alley blurred into a golden Roman plaza at sunset.

The sands of a Persian battlefield scattered into the calm of a Kyoto garden.

A storm over Mont Saint-Michel cracked the sky — and moments later, silence fell in a Nordic forest wrapped in snow.

Tension would rise in one breath — a duel mid-swing, a general pointing from a war table — and fall the next, replaced by a woman watching waves from a crumbling balcony, her story untold but felt.

He saw transitions in real time:

Foreground pulled back into background.

Color washed out to reveal form.

Light dimmed to make space for silence.

Focus shifted. Emotions flickered. The world danced at the edge of the frame — just out of reach, but never without intention.

And Rex? He forgot time altogether. Just like before.

He surrendered to the flow — to the unraveling of wisdom disguised as spectacle.

And somewhere along the way, he began noticing what he never had before:

The way a crooked branch directed the gaze toward a lone figure in prayer.

The faint glint of metal drawing the eye before a reveal.

A single line of perspective dragging tension from a background tower to the trembling hands of a boy below.

Details most people would miss — he saw them now.

He understood them.

It wasn’t just training anymore.

It was awakening.

And just like that, what felt like months or years, the scene shifted for one last time and they were back in the room again.

As they stepped back, something stirred beneath Rex’s skin. A heat, not burning — glowing.

The glyph formed — not chiseled, not branded — but composed. A spiral of lines, a golden rectangle turning in motion. Arrows. Curves. Vanishing points and energy lines. The golden path of the eye.

The system spoke, soft but certain:

[SESSION COMPLETE]

[CORE PRINCIPLE IMPRINTED: The Architect’s Frame]

[INTERNALIZED: Flow, Tension, and Visual Narrative Hierarchy]

Claude whispered, "Let your scenes breathe."

Gérôme pointed. "But make them bleed."

They turned — and began bickering again as they walked away.

"You never use foreground elements."

"You drown everything in drama."

"It’s called atmosphere, Gérôme."

"It’s called clarity, Claude!"

Their voices faded into the mist.

Rex stood still — the world slowly fading around him.

Then he looked at his hands.

And smiled.

Because now... he didn’t just know how to draw.

He knew how to lead the eye.

How to guide emotion.

How to tell a story — before a single word was spoken.

---

In the World Outside

Two figures—one young, one old—stood silently in the private study of a lavish estate nestled in the hills of Los Angeles. The air was thick with tension, yet the room itself told a different story—one of opulence, power, and old money.

A glittering crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, scattering golden light across the walls like broken sunlight. Beneath it stretched a rich Persian carpet, its ornate designs partially concealed by a polished mahogany table, where antique trinkets and modern gadgets clashed in a quiet war of aesthetic. Nothing about the room was humble. Even the smallest object—a golden paperweight, a limited-edition fountain pen—spoke of luxury. Heck, Even the air smelled expensive, a blend of aged wood, cologne, and power.

Every detail screamed wealth, the kind of wealth a regular person couldn’t hope to witness in a lifetime.

But here, in this study, such riches were mere background noise. The real tension came from the two men standing in silence—figures carved from power, legacy, and unresolved fury.

One was a middle-aged man, tall and imposing, standing near the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the estate’s marble fountain. His posture was straight, hands behind his back, exuding an air of calm authority. His tailored suit clung perfectly to his frame, the rich navy fabric accented by a deep burgundy tie. Every inch of him radiated command— the kind of man who could decide someone’s fate with a single thought.

Across from him stood a young man—his son, who stood rigid, his fists clenched at his sides. His expression held a mix of frustration, defiance, and a barely concealed plea.

He was younger, yes, but the fire in his eyes seemed to rival, perhaps even outmatch, his father’s steel. Dressed in a designer black jacket over a crisp shirt with the top buttons undone, Logan was the picture of arrogance and youth. But beneath that arrogance was something darker—hatred, humiliation, and the hunger for revenge.

(End of Chapter)

Author’s Note:

Guys, book’s stats right now are really, really miserable right now, especially subscriptions. I’m getting just 5-10 subs a day, which by all means are just brutally low, and at this rate I won’t even be able to earn anything to support myself, especially because I devote all my time to it.

So, I’d be extremely grateful if you could send some gifts or purchase Privilege. So, that I could at least meet requirements for Minimum Guaranteed System.

Honestly, I love this, and am enjoying every bit of it, I know it’s a bit different from usual Urban novels with constant conflicts and dopamine, It will also have all of that, but I want to create a world of our own, a story unique of us.

And I don’t wanna drop it due extremely low stats, because in the end I also have a life and need to at least be able to support myself, so, if you have enjoyed it so far please consider giving some support.

Thank you.