Vaelen Riven-
The nursery was bright and filled with soft, glowing lights and various mana-fuelled contraptions you'd have to be a specialist doctor to even understand.
'I've spent my life fighting mana beasts and men capable of toppling nations. I've stood by my wife while she gave birth—twice. Stood by my daughter as she gave birth—three times. Watched all of these beautiful children grow. Yet now, in my old age, I'm pacing in a nursery, with my son Darian beside me, just as nervous for the birth of his first child. My first grandson. I cannot let those two old geezers find out about this.'
Suddenly, the door flew open and a young nurse stepped out, meeting our worried gaze.
"Lord Riven, Young Master Riven—the child has been born. Both he and his mother are healthy, albeit exhausted. Would you like to meet him?"
I turned to look at my son—a sorcerer already fast approaching the primordial classification I'd spent decades working toward—essentially whimper a tear-fuelled answer to the young nurse and shuffle into the room.
'Ah, so my cold-hearted warrior son is a blubbering mess in private too.'
I peeked into the room, relieved to see my daughter-in-law Lyra looking disheveled but healthy. I let the three share an intimate moment and turned back around to linger in the corridor, composing myself for my first squeeze.
Before long, I heard Lyra's voice calling me in.
I stepped into the room and waved off all the formalities, today I wasn't the Clan Head. I was just a grandfather.
Then I saw it.
A black marking, just barely visible on the newborn's tiny spine—runes. Not just one, but several. As I followed their trail down the baby's back, my heart froze.
Surely it's not…
"This is Jack," Lyra said with a tired smile while holding the baby close. "The little miracle already made his technique known, on pure instinct. Everything in the room started floating… and condensing… until it collapsed inward. Seems he's not only inherited the space attributes of the Riven clan, but specializes in it fundamentally."
She laughed gently. "He's even got these beautiful blue eyes that seem to radiate power. He's going to be strong, I can tell. As well as an absolute handful to deal with."
I was only half-listening at this point. Nobody else seemed to have noticed the markings.
'Wait… did she say blue eyes?'
Still dazed, I stepped closer around the bed, glancing down at the baby's face for the first time. I decided, instinctively, to analyse his aura.
'She wasn't kidding… Monster.'
And then I saw them.
Those eyes.
So deep, so radiant—I forgot how to breathe. They shimmered with impossible hues. Bright shades of blue that seemed to glow with flickering hints of purple, all flowing and moving like a nebula. It was like the universe itself stared back at me. Or maybe it was the abyss.
They were otherworldly.
My lips moved on their own, the words emerging like a prophecy being dragged from the void.
'The runes… God Runes. It makes sense now… he has the Divine Eyes of the Void.'
The entire room fell silent.
Darian's eye twitched.