In Avarice, it was a compulsory rule for everyone with abilities to, within their lifetime, write down the documentation of their magic, which would be passed down to the next generation of magic users.
This law was established to help the next generation of mages become stronger. As such, those with new magic (magic that hadn't appeared before) were usually at a disadvantage — and that was what brought Luke to where he was now.
The grey screen finally materialized, revealing a person apparently floating in space, with another a few meters away.
The first person — a tall, light-skinned, golden-haired man in his mid-twenties who looked exactly like Jayden — wore black trousers, a golden top, and a black jacket. His hands were in his pockets as he hovered in space with a grin on his face.
Opposite him hovered a dark-skinned, huge, muscular, bare-chested man with antlers protruding from his head, wearing only fur trousers and holding a spear in his right hand.
"Fantasy, let's get this over with!!" the man screamed as he lunged forward, swinging his spear down vertically with force, hoping to tear Fantasy in two. But Fantasy parried the spear with his bare arms.
"For once, I agree, Sebalom," Fantasy said.
Using Sebalom's lost balance to his advantage, Fantasy threw a punch that sent Sebalom crashing into a small, brown, deserted planet. Before Sebalom could react, Jayden landed and walked slowly toward him, as Sebalom clutched his side.
"Did you actually think you could win? He must be getting desperate — sending someone like you to take care of me."
As Jayden was still talking, a grey screen appeared out of nowhere behind him.
"Is this your doing, you shitface?" Jayden said as the screen fully formed, revealing what was behind it.
Jayden's face lit up genuinely as he looked at his father through the screen. His gaze shifted and locked eyes with the witch — and suddenly his expression turned to stone.
"Wait a minute, I'll be done soon," Jayden said as he turned toward Sebalom, who was in the process of healing himself.
"You ready? 'Cause I'm going all out," Jayden said as golden lines broke out from his body, spreading across the ground and around the entire planet.
Sebalom appeared behind Jayden, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and, mustering all his strength, flung Jayden as hard as he could. Jayden flew back about a mile before skidding to a stop.
Sebalom, keeping up the offensive, threw his spear toward Jayden — but before it could hit him, it turned into paper.
"Enough games," Jayden said coldly.
All of a sudden, Sebalom felt himself being pushed into the air against his will, only to meet Jayden above him, grinning, his hands clasped above his head as he delivered a crushing double axe handle that sent Sebalom plummeting to the ground.
Not letting up, Jayden teleported to him, grabbed his head, raised it, and smashed it into the ground three times, creating a massive crater.
Sebalom spat out blood and, in desperation, threw out his arms, but Jayden grabbed him and flung him into another nearby planet.
"How is he this powerful? I can't win… I have to survive," Sebalom thought in terror as he rose to one knee and tried to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jayden whispered into Sebalom's ear, sending shivers of horror through him.
"Please forgive me, I'll never—" Sebalom began, but Jayden interrupted with a devastating punch that slammed him into the ground — not once, not twice, but in a continuous barrage that shattered the planet's hard surface with each blow.
Just as Jayden was about to strike again, the ground cracked and the planet split in two.
Jayden jumped into the air, and suddenly all the broken rubble rose with him, spiraling at high speed. When Jayden clenched his fist, they shot toward Sebalom and struck him violently.
"Are you dead yet?" Jayden asked, approaching the unmoving body.
He moved closer to examine it when the body began to glow purple.
"ARGHHH! What did you do to me?!" Sebalom screamed in pain as his body lifted into the air.
"Oh… so that was their plan," Jayden muttered, stepping back slowly.
"Sebalom, they used you. They knew you could never win, so they made you a walking bomb," Jayden said softly.
"They wouldn't… would they?" Sebalom shouted in disbelief.
The words hung in the air like death as Sebalom could feel the doubt from his own voice.
"Answer me, Fantasy!!" he screamed in despair.
"Goodbye, Sebalom," Jayden said as he raised his arms, golden mana spiraling around them.
At that moment, Sebalom's body exploded with immense force. Jayden quickly used the mana around his arms to create a shield. After about a minute, the explosion subsided, and the golden shield faded away.
"Now, onto the important stuff," Jayden thought aloud, appearing once again in front of the grey screen.
The two people who had been watching the entire fight stood with their mouths agape.
"Hey, Dad. Long time no see," Jayden smiled at his father through the screen.
Luke was still trying to process what had just happened. His body was frozen in shock.
"Oh, right — I need to give you this," Jayden said as a book materialized out of thin air into his hand.
"Give this to Jayden for me," Jayden said with a smile as he tossed the book through the screen into Luke's hand. "Bye. Know that I love you guys," he added as the screen disappeared.
After a few seconds of deep thought, Luke finally broke the silence and turned to the witch, who was still trembling in shock.
"Do you know that boy?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's my son. Why do you ask?" Luke replied proudly.
"Your son broke multiple laws of nature — without incantations or anything. Your son is truly special. Take care of him," the witch said, gesturing toward the exit door.
"Keep the change," Luke said as he left the house, excitement in his step.
Later that night, Luke told his wife, Sarah, everything that had happened.
"That's hard to believe… but it is my son we're talking about. Nothing surprising there," she said.
Jayden's first day in a new class was tomorrow, so he went to bed early and was already asleep by the time Luke got home.
Luke quietly left the book on Jayden's table.
"Jayden, you're going to be the strongest one," Luke said softly before leaving the room.