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Angelic Rebirth - DXD SI/OC Chapter 01
Pupperz64
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 20, 2023
- Messages
- 15
- Likes received
- 126
Angelic Rebirth – DXD SI/OC
Chapter 1 - Beginning of the Beginning
Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or related stories and shows. All rights go to the original owners.
A/N: This is a short chapter of an idea I cooked up ages ago. I wanted to put this out here to ask for tips and tricks related to writing, as it has been quite some time since I wrote something like this. Any advice is welcome.
Word Count: ~1.3k
He was floating in a void, no sensations, no sound, nothing. That's what it's been like ever since he died. It was a rather heroic death admittedly. Pushing a little girl out of the way of a truck barreling down an empty street. He would've done it again if he had a choice, but not for this. Never for this.
The Void was all-encompassing. He couldn't tell up from down, left from right. It ground down on his psyche. Stealing sensations, dulling emotions.
It started taking his memories too. First to go was his name, then the faces of his close friends and family. It was maddening, having dozens of names but no faces to match them too.
The Void around him stole the small memories, the little things you think won't affect you. But as he floated in this endless darkness, he could feel their loss doubly so. They were the memories that a man clung to in moments of desperation, memories of a better time, a simpler time.
He felt the gaps in his mind. The warmth of a mother's hug. The proud grin of a father. The comradeship between brothers and sisters. The small things that hold up everything, the foundation of a person's personality, are built from small gestures and emotions in their youth.
Ironically, it was the most boring sections of his life that it left alone. His work, his education, books, movies, and more were ignored as it peeled away his very being.
A wave of exhaustion swept through his mind. He had not felt this before, the numbing of his scattered thoughts and emotions was a small blessing. Before it had always been full awareness of what the Void was doing to him, so perhaps he could finally sleep.
His thoughts slowed. Sleep crept through his mind. He hoped, moments before he slipped into slumber, that he would be free from this abyss when he awoke.
– Yahweh POV –
A soul was the last thing Yahweh thought he would find in the Dimensional Gap. But during one of his regular visits to this isolated plane, there it was, floating along a stream of magic.
It was a human soul, something he did not think was able to survive in this harsh environment, especially when it looked like it had no connection to the supernatural world, but it was special in a different way.
Souls were hardy things, but not that hardy. The Dimensional Gap was a plane of chaotic magic created from the friction wrought by separate planes of existence passing by each other. The magic that created this void was inherently destructive.
While some mortals could survive in this void for a time, without a connection to the supernatural world, either through their race or inborn magic, they would be slowly ground to nothing by the weight of the Void's magic.
This soul had something about it. Something that allowed it to survive in this Void for as long as it did. The soul felt familiar, but also not. It only took a short glance into the soul to figure out that it wasn't from His world. A closer look showed its true nature.
An otherworlder. A soul from a different plane, a plane so far removed from his own that they didn't even work by the same rules. It seemed that its otherworldly nature had protected it from complete destruction in the Void. But otherworlder or not, it was human and therefore one of His children.
Distant as He was from humanity, He still cared for them. It was the reason He created sacred gears, and although it removed many powerful and destructive beings from the 'playing' as it were, their original purpose was to give humans a chance in the supernatural world. A chance against the Devils, the Yokai, the Fallen, and the other dangers that existed in the supernatural world.
Or at least he would. It was still far before their time. His children had only recently rebelled against him, forcing his hand to banish them to the underworld. The Great War had not even started yet.
The soul was remarkably pure, despite its weathered appearance. A further glimpse into it showed its life from start to finish. There were gaps in it, though, likely a result of existing in the Dimensional Gap for as long as it did.
Yahweh mused over the information he just received; it seemed that his world was just an 'Anime' in its own world, whatever that meant. But he found the idea of 'Isekai' particularly amusing. They also seemed to use a language to command their machines, quite like the systems He makes to manage Heaven and Earth.
Yahweh knew of His inevitable demise; He had seen it in Visions of the future. It was an unfortunate side effect of a few of his plans for the eventual defeat, completely sealing the Apocalypse Beast once and for all.
But this was new. He hadn't foreseen himself meeting this poor soul in the Void between dimensions. He had seen the struggles that Michael and Gabriel went through to keep the Heaven faction together, frantically patching together his System after his death.
Perhaps he could give them a hand in the form of a new sibling.
Yahweh decided. He would bring the soul back to Heaven. He was practically giddy; his powerful but limited omniscience didn't work on the Dimensional gap; therefore, the soul cupped gently in his hands was a new variable. A variable that could potentially change the balance of the supernatural world. One that could share the burdens with his greatest children and eventually become one of them.
Gently 'picking up' the soul, he stepped back into reality, appearing in Heaven. There was a pep to his step as he walked towards the center of the realm, where only he and his closest confidants could enter. His inner sanctum.
The soul had led a good life; its good karma was only bolstered by the selfless act that led to its death. Weathered but not broken in the Void of the Gap. Between blinks, an image appeared in his head: one of a boy-turned-man standing in a hall of books and knowledge, with magic circles and algorithmic spells rotating around him. The man turned his head, glasses catching the light, white wings spread around him. Their eyes met and the man gave him a smile and an encouraging nod before turning back to his work.
Yahweh smiled at the fading figure in his Vision before turning back to the work at hand. The creation of a new Angel was delicate work.
It would be easier than normal as he had a base to work with, the soul in question. He wouldn't do something as cruel as to wipe the soul and use its energy to create a new Angel, it had already lost too much to the Gap. There were some definite advantages for it if it kept its memories, an outside-the-box mindset that was often found within humans would certainly be one of them.
Instead, he would change the soul into one of an Angel and then make a body for it. It was a rather complex process of further purifying the soul and imprinting a shard of his own power into it. Changing its natural magical affinity into a powerful Holy Light affinity. All that was left to do was to bind the boy's soul into a body and let them merge.
A body was formed with a wave of a hand and a pulse of his Power, that of a young boy. Wings soon sprouted from the boy's back. A single pair of pristine white wings with touches of gold at their tips.
All that was left was to place the soul of his new child into their new body and wait for them to acclimatize to each other.
"Ah, almost forgot," He chuckled, "I dub thee Licht, Angel of Knowledge and Light."
And with that, a new Angel was born.
A/N 01: Thanks for reading and I'll reiterate that all advice and comments are welcomed. I'll do my best to read them all but with exams coming up I might miss a few.
A/N 02: This may or may not become a story. I have the second chapter done about halfway, but I wanted to get some advice in writing to refine my stuff before posting.
Chapter 1 - Beginning of the Beginning
Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or related stories and shows. All rights go to the original owners.
A/N: This is a short chapter of an idea I cooked up ages ago. I wanted to put this out here to ask for tips and tricks related to writing, as it has been quite some time since I wrote something like this. Any advice is welcome.
Word Count: ~1.3k
– Story Start –
He was floating in a void, no sensations, no sound, nothing. That's what it's been like ever since he died. It was a rather heroic death admittedly. Pushing a little girl out of the way of a truck barreling down an empty street. He would've done it again if he had a choice, but not for this. Never for this.
The Void was all-encompassing. He couldn't tell up from down, left from right. It ground down on his psyche. Stealing sensations, dulling emotions.
It started taking his memories too. First to go was his name, then the faces of his close friends and family. It was maddening, having dozens of names but no faces to match them too.
The Void around him stole the small memories, the little things you think won't affect you. But as he floated in this endless darkness, he could feel their loss doubly so. They were the memories that a man clung to in moments of desperation, memories of a better time, a simpler time.
He felt the gaps in his mind. The warmth of a mother's hug. The proud grin of a father. The comradeship between brothers and sisters. The small things that hold up everything, the foundation of a person's personality, are built from small gestures and emotions in their youth.
Ironically, it was the most boring sections of his life that it left alone. His work, his education, books, movies, and more were ignored as it peeled away his very being.
A wave of exhaustion swept through his mind. He had not felt this before, the numbing of his scattered thoughts and emotions was a small blessing. Before it had always been full awareness of what the Void was doing to him, so perhaps he could finally sleep.
His thoughts slowed. Sleep crept through his mind. He hoped, moments before he slipped into slumber, that he would be free from this abyss when he awoke.
– Later –
– Yahweh POV –
A soul was the last thing Yahweh thought he would find in the Dimensional Gap. But during one of his regular visits to this isolated plane, there it was, floating along a stream of magic.
It was a human soul, something he did not think was able to survive in this harsh environment, especially when it looked like it had no connection to the supernatural world, but it was special in a different way.
Souls were hardy things, but not that hardy. The Dimensional Gap was a plane of chaotic magic created from the friction wrought by separate planes of existence passing by each other. The magic that created this void was inherently destructive.
While some mortals could survive in this void for a time, without a connection to the supernatural world, either through their race or inborn magic, they would be slowly ground to nothing by the weight of the Void's magic.
This soul had something about it. Something that allowed it to survive in this Void for as long as it did. The soul felt familiar, but also not. It only took a short glance into the soul to figure out that it wasn't from His world. A closer look showed its true nature.
An otherworlder. A soul from a different plane, a plane so far removed from his own that they didn't even work by the same rules. It seemed that its otherworldly nature had protected it from complete destruction in the Void. But otherworlder or not, it was human and therefore one of His children.
Distant as He was from humanity, He still cared for them. It was the reason He created sacred gears, and although it removed many powerful and destructive beings from the 'playing' as it were, their original purpose was to give humans a chance in the supernatural world. A chance against the Devils, the Yokai, the Fallen, and the other dangers that existed in the supernatural world.
Or at least he would. It was still far before their time. His children had only recently rebelled against him, forcing his hand to banish them to the underworld. The Great War had not even started yet.
The soul was remarkably pure, despite its weathered appearance. A further glimpse into it showed its life from start to finish. There were gaps in it, though, likely a result of existing in the Dimensional Gap for as long as it did.
Yahweh mused over the information he just received; it seemed that his world was just an 'Anime' in its own world, whatever that meant. But he found the idea of 'Isekai' particularly amusing. They also seemed to use a language to command their machines, quite like the systems He makes to manage Heaven and Earth.
Yahweh knew of His inevitable demise; He had seen it in Visions of the future. It was an unfortunate side effect of a few of his plans for the eventual defeat, completely sealing the Apocalypse Beast once and for all.
But this was new. He hadn't foreseen himself meeting this poor soul in the Void between dimensions. He had seen the struggles that Michael and Gabriel went through to keep the Heaven faction together, frantically patching together his System after his death.
Perhaps he could give them a hand in the form of a new sibling.
Yahweh decided. He would bring the soul back to Heaven. He was practically giddy; his powerful but limited omniscience didn't work on the Dimensional gap; therefore, the soul cupped gently in his hands was a new variable. A variable that could potentially change the balance of the supernatural world. One that could share the burdens with his greatest children and eventually become one of them.
Gently 'picking up' the soul, he stepped back into reality, appearing in Heaven. There was a pep to his step as he walked towards the center of the realm, where only he and his closest confidants could enter. His inner sanctum.
The soul had led a good life; its good karma was only bolstered by the selfless act that led to its death. Weathered but not broken in the Void of the Gap. Between blinks, an image appeared in his head: one of a boy-turned-man standing in a hall of books and knowledge, with magic circles and algorithmic spells rotating around him. The man turned his head, glasses catching the light, white wings spread around him. Their eyes met and the man gave him a smile and an encouraging nod before turning back to his work.
Yahweh smiled at the fading figure in his Vision before turning back to the work at hand. The creation of a new Angel was delicate work.
It would be easier than normal as he had a base to work with, the soul in question. He wouldn't do something as cruel as to wipe the soul and use its energy to create a new Angel, it had already lost too much to the Gap. There were some definite advantages for it if it kept its memories, an outside-the-box mindset that was often found within humans would certainly be one of them.
Instead, he would change the soul into one of an Angel and then make a body for it. It was a rather complex process of further purifying the soul and imprinting a shard of his own power into it. Changing its natural magical affinity into a powerful Holy Light affinity. All that was left to do was to bind the boy's soul into a body and let them merge.
A body was formed with a wave of a hand and a pulse of his Power, that of a young boy. Wings soon sprouted from the boy's back. A single pair of pristine white wings with touches of gold at their tips.
All that was left was to place the soul of his new child into their new body and wait for them to acclimatize to each other.
"Ah, almost forgot," He chuckled, "I dub thee Licht, Angel of Knowledge and Light."
And with that, a new Angel was born.
– Chapter End –
A/N 01: Thanks for reading and I'll reiterate that all advice and comments are welcomed. I'll do my best to read them all but with exams coming up I might miss a few.
A/N 02: This may or may not become a story. I have the second chapter done about halfway, but I wanted to get some advice in writing to refine my stuff before posting.
Last edited:
Star-Borne – Chapter 1
Pupperz64
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 20, 2023
- Messages
- 15
- Likes received
- 126
Star-Borne – Chapter 1
A/N: This is a One-Shot that I wrote to explore an ability that I found interesting. Whether it will expand into a story is up in the air. I wanted to put this out here to ask for tips and tricks related to writing as it has been quite some time since I wrote something like this. Any advice is welcome.
Word Count: ~2.1k
For years he has been sealed within these walls, bound mercilessly. They saw him as a threat to their power, perhaps they were right. Their fear and paranoia led them to chain him in this abandoned shrine.
As always, the rustling of chains echoed in his ears. The enchanted chains constantly clenching harder and harder upon him, never giving an inch. He had been forced to kneel on this slab for who knows how long, and with the chains stealing his magic away he had nothing to protect him from time itself. His muscles ached, his bones creaked, but his skin remained clear and pristine.
The reason they had locked him into this shrine, his special ability so to speak, had made him ageless. His body might deteriorate but you wouldn't see the difference if you looked.
His body had grown weak and deeper within him his magic core lay dead. A dark shell of its former glory, once bursting with life and light, now cold and silent. Sealed away by the chains that bound him. Perhaps one day they would weaken just enough for him to break them, and he could feel that warmth once again.
But today was not that day. And so, with nothing to do once again, he slipped back into sleep.
A rumble shook the room he was sealed in, dust falling from the ceiling. He shot awake eyes darting around, something had disturbed the array of obscuration seals carved into the walls and ceiling. Normally that wouldn't do anything, but with how old they were and how long they've been without maintenance it would only take damaging the central rune to bring the entire enchantment crashing down.
Another rumble shook the room, perhaps even the mountain. A crack spread across the wall and ceiling, widening as it snaked across the room. A spark of hope lit in his heart as it approached what he knew to be the central rune of the array, carved tauntingly on the wall in front of him. The crack reached towards it before stopping.
Looks like it was all for nothing, he sighed to himself before preparing to return to his slumber. Just as he closed his eyes a final boom shook the room far stronger than the two before it. The crack finally reached the rune and cut right through it, damaging it beyond repair.
A pulse of light flashed from the broken rune, spreading across the rest of the array, built-in contingencies desperately trying to fire off to fix itself, but the amount of magic needed to repair itself was far beyond what it had available. Its age had caught up to it. The lights danced across the room, going faster and faster as they tried to find a source of magic to fuel themselves.
A single line of light split from the wall and raced towards him, towards the chains he was bound in. The chains were filled with magic, both what they had sapped from him and what it was enchanted with. The two enchantments clashed, one trying to repair itself, clawing for any magic it could find, like a dying animal trying to drag itself out of certain death, and another that was built for the sole reason of containment. The chains weren't built with compatibility in mind, they had one job, and they did it well.
This oversight was rather simple, but he supposed the arrogance of their creators clashed against each other, not allowing either to feed off the other. It was an oversight that would cost them however, glee filled his thoughts.
The obscuring enchantment split more and more from the wall and converged on the platform he was chained to. The white lines ran up the chains, stealing any energy they could take, but it wouldn't be enough, the enchantment was already doomed. It pulled more and more from the chains until all the energy it had accumulated from sapping his magic was gone. Then, it moved onto the enchantments on the chains themselves.
The two enchantments fought, one stealing and one being stolen from. The chain tried to take even more energy from its victim but there was nothing left for it to take.
The chains weakened further, its magic being stolen and then burned away to no avail. Within a few minutes, neither enchantment had any energy left in them. The chain had been depleted in its entirety and the enchantment obscuring the room was so utterly damaged that it couldn't use the energy it stole, all it did was bleed away into the environment.
Both the chains and the obscuring enchantment gave a final flash of light as they both died. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, he was free from the chain's grasp. The enchantments within them that slowed the effects of time fell apart and the chain itself quickly followed suit. Countless years of wear and tear fell upon them in a single moment. It took barely any exertion to remove them as they tore like wet paper.
Upon shaking legs he stood, stretching for the first time in perhaps centuries. He turned around towards the door behind him, taking the first few steps toward freedom. He stumbled when he felt something he hadn't felt in years. A spark of light and energy had appeared in his core, then another. The two sparks floated within his core, flitting this way and that.
Despite how close freedom was, he needed to deal with this first. He sat upon the stone and closed his eyes, delving into himself. He opened them to a dark void with nothing but two sparks floating within it.
With a thought he floated closer to them, arriving in front of them within seconds. The reason he was sealed, the reason he was chained was right here. Well not quite, it wasn't active just yet.
He raised both hands toward them and focused deeply. Two sparks, two energies, two atoms. Two atoms of the lightest element converged, smashing into each other, and suddenly, with a flash of light and energy, a single slightly bigger spark floated between his hands.
His inherited technique, Star-Borne. It made his magic core take upon itself the aspects of a Star. With a sacrifice of energy, he could 'create' elements within himself, with a little bit more he could fuse them together, creating a new element while also giving himself a boost of power.
When activated they 'burned' releasing magical energy tuned to the aspect of a Star. It wasn't infinite but it was close. With it, he could regenerate his magic faster than any mage he had met and the potency of the magic within him would only grow as his star did. The larger his star, the more energy he could store and spend.
He slowly sucked in a breath, waiting a moment before grasping his magic and twisting it in a way he had almost forgotten. The magic that had been released from the fusing of his first two sparks helped him tremendously. Within moments his magic spun around the large spark in his core and crystallized into more sparks, more atoms.
He could feel them slowly get drawn together into what would, in time, become a star.
It felt great to have his technique alive again, even though it was weak it proved that it was possible. Possible to return to his strength in the past.
Then his bones decided to ache at that moment. He had almost forgotten in his excitement that his body was beyond weak. It would take time to strengthen himself again but that didn't mean he couldn't start now. He pulled on instincts engraved into his subconscious and took a great breath.
Deep within his core, a small group of vibrating sparks pulsed in response. He brought his magic to bear channeling it through his body and towards his core. The nascent star within it began to shake. A rush of magic flooded into his core, and it ignited. The magic continued past and cycled through his body again. His core burned brighter. It cycled again, gaining strength with each passing. Light shone through his chest. The cycle continued, the magic flowing through him gaining power. But that power began to bleed off as it cycled. Magic flowed through him, draining into his muscles, his bones, his organs. With each cycle his body grew slightly stronger, absorbing the magic running through him.
After what had seemed like a lifetime, his magic began to slow once more. It cycled once or twice more before flowing back into his core. He slumped in exhaustion, the magic flowing through his body had invigorated his body but only did so while it flowed. Now that he had stopped it, it had stopped as well. But even without magic flowing throughout his body traces of it had remained. His bones, his muscles, and his organs had absorbed some of the magic for themselves, strengthening themselves. It was slight but it was there.
The chains he had been trapped in had depleted his magic into the bare necessities for survival. His body and the magic he had trained into it had been taken from him, he was starting from scratch. Even his inherited technique could not bear the weight of constant depletion for decades, centuries even. All the strength he had gained in his life had been stripped from him, but he had not lost the most important things he owned. His life, and his knowledge.
It would take time, but time was all he had. The technique he used, the gradual strengthening of his body through magic exposure from his core and tinted by the power of the burgeoning Star within it naturally increased his lifespan by leaps and bounds. Him dying of natural causes and falling to old age was practically impossible.
His technique allowed for great power but needed time in compensation. It took ages to build up his star to the point where he could accelerate his growth substantially. He 'sacrificed' magic to create substance for his Star to feed from. In response, his star would grow and any magic that flowed through and around it would be enhanced and empowered.
It was a cycle, a cycle that was built on itself. Even the short time he had managed to cycle his magic had borne fruit. He could already feel a warmth spread through him, seeping from his bones and spreading through his muscles. He had almost forgotten the feeling, this warmth that his magic always brought with it.
Eventually, the heat bled away, and most of the magic 'baked' into his body escaped into the atmosphere around him. But some of it still lingered, a vestige of what it was moments ago but still something. It could be built off of, that heat, that warmth, that strength.
But that would take time. Time, he had in spades so long as he didn't do anything outrageously stupid. For now, however, he would have to see the outside world, it had been ages since he was sealed, and much had likely changed in his time away.
With that in mind, he stepped out of the room he was sealed in and walked through a hallway, its walls cracked and worn by time. Vestiges of seals and runes carved into the
walls scattered throughout, each built to hide and contain the prison. They were now long gone; whatever magic had powered them had bled away long ago.
It only took minutes of walking to find the exit, a stone door intricately carved with runes now scattered with cracks. It seemed that whatever had shaken the mountain had reached here as well. It was a close thing to push it open, however, his strength had been depleted to its barest. He was only marginally stronger than an average person. Eventually, he managed, pushing open the cracked door, letting rays of sunlight shine through the gaps.
With a final heave, the door pushed open, and he was met with a sight that he wouldn't forget for some time. A forest was spread out in front of him, stretching beyond the horizon. Rivers and lakes dotted the land, and the faint songs of birds could be heard.
It was beautiful. He almost broke down crying right then and there. His heart had ached for a chance to see this once again and finally, it was here. A genuine smile spread across his face, he laughed.
He was free at last.
A/N: This is a One-Shot that I wrote to explore an ability that I found interesting. Whether it will expand into a story is up in the air. I wanted to put this out here to ask for tips and tricks related to writing as it has been quite some time since I wrote something like this. Any advice is welcome.
Word Count: ~2.1k
– Story Start –
For years he has been sealed within these walls, bound mercilessly. They saw him as a threat to their power, perhaps they were right. Their fear and paranoia led them to chain him in this abandoned shrine.
As always, the rustling of chains echoed in his ears. The enchanted chains constantly clenching harder and harder upon him, never giving an inch. He had been forced to kneel on this slab for who knows how long, and with the chains stealing his magic away he had nothing to protect him from time itself. His muscles ached, his bones creaked, but his skin remained clear and pristine.
The reason they had locked him into this shrine, his special ability so to speak, had made him ageless. His body might deteriorate but you wouldn't see the difference if you looked.
His body had grown weak and deeper within him his magic core lay dead. A dark shell of its former glory, once bursting with life and light, now cold and silent. Sealed away by the chains that bound him. Perhaps one day they would weaken just enough for him to break them, and he could feel that warmth once again.
But today was not that day. And so, with nothing to do once again, he slipped back into sleep.
– Later –
A rumble shook the room he was sealed in, dust falling from the ceiling. He shot awake eyes darting around, something had disturbed the array of obscuration seals carved into the walls and ceiling. Normally that wouldn't do anything, but with how old they were and how long they've been without maintenance it would only take damaging the central rune to bring the entire enchantment crashing down.
Another rumble shook the room, perhaps even the mountain. A crack spread across the wall and ceiling, widening as it snaked across the room. A spark of hope lit in his heart as it approached what he knew to be the central rune of the array, carved tauntingly on the wall in front of him. The crack reached towards it before stopping.
Looks like it was all for nothing, he sighed to himself before preparing to return to his slumber. Just as he closed his eyes a final boom shook the room far stronger than the two before it. The crack finally reached the rune and cut right through it, damaging it beyond repair.
A pulse of light flashed from the broken rune, spreading across the rest of the array, built-in contingencies desperately trying to fire off to fix itself, but the amount of magic needed to repair itself was far beyond what it had available. Its age had caught up to it. The lights danced across the room, going faster and faster as they tried to find a source of magic to fuel themselves.
A single line of light split from the wall and raced towards him, towards the chains he was bound in. The chains were filled with magic, both what they had sapped from him and what it was enchanted with. The two enchantments clashed, one trying to repair itself, clawing for any magic it could find, like a dying animal trying to drag itself out of certain death, and another that was built for the sole reason of containment. The chains weren't built with compatibility in mind, they had one job, and they did it well.
This oversight was rather simple, but he supposed the arrogance of their creators clashed against each other, not allowing either to feed off the other. It was an oversight that would cost them however, glee filled his thoughts.
The obscuring enchantment split more and more from the wall and converged on the platform he was chained to. The white lines ran up the chains, stealing any energy they could take, but it wouldn't be enough, the enchantment was already doomed. It pulled more and more from the chains until all the energy it had accumulated from sapping his magic was gone. Then, it moved onto the enchantments on the chains themselves.
The two enchantments fought, one stealing and one being stolen from. The chain tried to take even more energy from its victim but there was nothing left for it to take.
The chains weakened further, its magic being stolen and then burned away to no avail. Within a few minutes, neither enchantment had any energy left in them. The chain had been depleted in its entirety and the enchantment obscuring the room was so utterly damaged that it couldn't use the energy it stole, all it did was bleed away into the environment.
Both the chains and the obscuring enchantment gave a final flash of light as they both died. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, he was free from the chain's grasp. The enchantments within them that slowed the effects of time fell apart and the chain itself quickly followed suit. Countless years of wear and tear fell upon them in a single moment. It took barely any exertion to remove them as they tore like wet paper.
Upon shaking legs he stood, stretching for the first time in perhaps centuries. He turned around towards the door behind him, taking the first few steps toward freedom. He stumbled when he felt something he hadn't felt in years. A spark of light and energy had appeared in his core, then another. The two sparks floated within his core, flitting this way and that.
Despite how close freedom was, he needed to deal with this first. He sat upon the stone and closed his eyes, delving into himself. He opened them to a dark void with nothing but two sparks floating within it.
With a thought he floated closer to them, arriving in front of them within seconds. The reason he was sealed, the reason he was chained was right here. Well not quite, it wasn't active just yet.
He raised both hands toward them and focused deeply. Two sparks, two energies, two atoms. Two atoms of the lightest element converged, smashing into each other, and suddenly, with a flash of light and energy, a single slightly bigger spark floated between his hands.
His inherited technique, Star-Borne. It made his magic core take upon itself the aspects of a Star. With a sacrifice of energy, he could 'create' elements within himself, with a little bit more he could fuse them together, creating a new element while also giving himself a boost of power.
When activated they 'burned' releasing magical energy tuned to the aspect of a Star. It wasn't infinite but it was close. With it, he could regenerate his magic faster than any mage he had met and the potency of the magic within him would only grow as his star did. The larger his star, the more energy he could store and spend.
He slowly sucked in a breath, waiting a moment before grasping his magic and twisting it in a way he had almost forgotten. The magic that had been released from the fusing of his first two sparks helped him tremendously. Within moments his magic spun around the large spark in his core and crystallized into more sparks, more atoms.
He could feel them slowly get drawn together into what would, in time, become a star.
It felt great to have his technique alive again, even though it was weak it proved that it was possible. Possible to return to his strength in the past.
Then his bones decided to ache at that moment. He had almost forgotten in his excitement that his body was beyond weak. It would take time to strengthen himself again but that didn't mean he couldn't start now. He pulled on instincts engraved into his subconscious and took a great breath.
Deep within his core, a small group of vibrating sparks pulsed in response. He brought his magic to bear channeling it through his body and towards his core. The nascent star within it began to shake. A rush of magic flooded into his core, and it ignited. The magic continued past and cycled through his body again. His core burned brighter. It cycled again, gaining strength with each passing. Light shone through his chest. The cycle continued, the magic flowing through him gaining power. But that power began to bleed off as it cycled. Magic flowed through him, draining into his muscles, his bones, his organs. With each cycle his body grew slightly stronger, absorbing the magic running through him.
After what had seemed like a lifetime, his magic began to slow once more. It cycled once or twice more before flowing back into his core. He slumped in exhaustion, the magic flowing through his body had invigorated his body but only did so while it flowed. Now that he had stopped it, it had stopped as well. But even without magic flowing throughout his body traces of it had remained. His bones, his muscles, and his organs had absorbed some of the magic for themselves, strengthening themselves. It was slight but it was there.
The chains he had been trapped in had depleted his magic into the bare necessities for survival. His body and the magic he had trained into it had been taken from him, he was starting from scratch. Even his inherited technique could not bear the weight of constant depletion for decades, centuries even. All the strength he had gained in his life had been stripped from him, but he had not lost the most important things he owned. His life, and his knowledge.
It would take time, but time was all he had. The technique he used, the gradual strengthening of his body through magic exposure from his core and tinted by the power of the burgeoning Star within it naturally increased his lifespan by leaps and bounds. Him dying of natural causes and falling to old age was practically impossible.
His technique allowed for great power but needed time in compensation. It took ages to build up his star to the point where he could accelerate his growth substantially. He 'sacrificed' magic to create substance for his Star to feed from. In response, his star would grow and any magic that flowed through and around it would be enhanced and empowered.
It was a cycle, a cycle that was built on itself. Even the short time he had managed to cycle his magic had borne fruit. He could already feel a warmth spread through him, seeping from his bones and spreading through his muscles. He had almost forgotten the feeling, this warmth that his magic always brought with it.
Eventually, the heat bled away, and most of the magic 'baked' into his body escaped into the atmosphere around him. But some of it still lingered, a vestige of what it was moments ago but still something. It could be built off of, that heat, that warmth, that strength.
But that would take time. Time, he had in spades so long as he didn't do anything outrageously stupid. For now, however, he would have to see the outside world, it had been ages since he was sealed, and much had likely changed in his time away.
With that in mind, he stepped out of the room he was sealed in and walked through a hallway, its walls cracked and worn by time. Vestiges of seals and runes carved into the
walls scattered throughout, each built to hide and contain the prison. They were now long gone; whatever magic had powered them had bled away long ago.
It only took minutes of walking to find the exit, a stone door intricately carved with runes now scattered with cracks. It seemed that whatever had shaken the mountain had reached here as well. It was a close thing to push it open, however, his strength had been depleted to its barest. He was only marginally stronger than an average person. Eventually, he managed, pushing open the cracked door, letting rays of sunlight shine through the gaps.
With a final heave, the door pushed open, and he was met with a sight that he wouldn't forget for some time. A forest was spread out in front of him, stretching beyond the horizon. Rivers and lakes dotted the land, and the faint songs of birds could be heard.
It was beautiful. He almost broke down crying right then and there. His heart had ached for a chance to see this once again and finally, it was here. A genuine smile spread across his face, he laughed.
He was free at last.
– Story End –
A/N: Once again, thanks for reading and I'll reiterate that all advice and comments are welcomed. I'll do my best to read them all but with exams coming up I might miss a few. Have a nice day/night!