Jack Riven-
Naturally, I always absorbed the pure natural mana in the atmosphere and also generated it myself in my body. But to shape it, I had to control the flow. For that, I was born with an advantage over most—with my eyes. Apparently, it was a rare mutation of my family line only a handful ever possessed. It manifested in the form of runes down my spine, each specifically unique and specialised to the user's technique. Mine had manifested—so far—with a range of abilities, apparently, but it all just felt normal to me.
According to my dad the 1st was the Destruction rune. This manifested with the ability to literally destroy and disintegrate anything—so long as I had the mana output—down to its most primal form.
The reverse was true for the next rune—Creation—which allowed me to assemble those subatomic particles as I saw fit. Dad said something about re-writing reality to my shape. But I just liked making toy swords out of things by destroying them and shaping it into a sword. Like those ugly glass windows in the throne room.
Next was the rune named Pathway. This let me fold space and just step through it—within my range—essentially teleporting about. It was important to use the fourth rune, Vision, for this though, because sometimes I'd step into a solid wall and have to blow up everything to get out. Vision let me see the flow of mana, muscles, breaths, movements. It even let me see the soul. I could perceive every detail all at once, simultaneously. Everything and anything, super slowly. This used to fry my brain, so thankfully for the next rune—Thought—I could process it. Thought simply allowed my brain to keep up with everything. Like a super computer.
Finally, the sixth rune: Illusion. It allowed me to subtly manipulate space and someone's senses to create a false reality.
Ultimately, my runes would grow as I did—and as my technique did. They and me were one and the same. My eyes simply gave me an advantage in time, tuning it all. They allowed the space technique to grow from very, very simple to whatever I could fathom. Without the eyes, my initial technique would be useless because I wouldn't have the affinity to wield the intricacy of it. Ever.
As I glanced at my grandfather—my head of clan, my teacher—I began to channel mana to the runes and to my technique.
"Here I come, brat."
Suddenly, in an explosion of movement, a black spear appeared mere centimetres from my face. I managed to teleport behind the silhouette of a man instantly. Lunging my hand forward, I extended two fingers and folded the space in front of them into itself to create a singularity before aiming and releasing it at my opponent.
The purple orb fired at Grandad and exploded as space seemed to warp and rush out in all directions in the form of a violet blast. I stepped back, already running my Thought rune at full output, knowing the elusive old man had likely dodged the fifty-metre explosion. I began channeling more mana into Vision and wreathed my hand in lightning, preparing to take the spear head-on and just electrocute him in the process.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette appeared under my feet, and a hand reached out and tossed me away. Flying back, I couldn't regain my stability after being rag-dolled through the air, so I hit the ground like a skipping stone across water several times before slowing my momentum. As I began to upright myself, I knew the onslaught wasn't over, so I flew into the air at top speed. I knew I couldn't outrun him, so I used the space and axis to my advantage—increasing the gravity below as I flew higher and higher toward the clouds.
Mid-flight, I condensed my mana into a longsword in my right hand, and another three circled around me in the air. I could tell when an attack would come but wasn't fast enough to react, so rather than react—I'd just destroy everything in the area.
Once high enough, I stopped and looked down at the ruined ground. Grandad hadn't bothered to chase. I felt my face flush with anger after I'd panicked like that.
'I can't let him win. I'll never hear the end of it.'
He glanced at me and smirked
I reversed the flow of gravity. The broken ground began to rise all around me as I forced my influence on it, raising it into the sky. Grandad was fighting it with his mana, refusing my influence, bending the world to his will. So I'll grant him that. With a thrust of my hand, the three orbiting violet swords shot out, enhanced by my gravitation powers. They flew in the opposite direction to the rising ground at tremendous speeds—aimed at my head of clan.
He nonchalantly knocked them away with his spear, as if basking in his victory over a boy not even five percent of his age. What he didn't expect was a fourth projectile, hidden in Illusion behind the swords. A flaming arrow hurtled toward the ground and detonated into a thousand-metre thermobaric bomb. The atmosphere ignited in a bright flame and a shockwave shook the area.
'got ya'