Edited Version (Light Punctuation Pass)
On a footpath, a young man was walking, minding his own business. When you looked closer, he had a handsome face, though it was marred with scars that looked long healed. As he continued walking through the forest-surrounded footpath, he stopped — the cold wind hitting him in the face. With a look to the sky and a weary smile, he said, "When hope is gone, undo this lock, and send me forth on a moonlit walk."
The young man shook his head and asked himself a question. "What a great time to quote Alucard. After all, the man was blood, yet mine's killing me — the irony, ha."
As he looked down from the pale moon back to the earth, he saw something on the path. It looked like a person, but from the silhouette, it seemed like they had tentacles. Before the man could say anything, he was interrupted by a voice that sent shivers down his back.
"Yes, you'll do nicely."
The figure reached out its hand, and the man collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Out came a small, weak light from his mind. The figure closed its claw-like fingers around the light, seemingly about to crush it, when it froze — its grey eyes seeing something beyond comprehension.
"Oh, mortal, you know what a great piece you'll be for the Great Game. After all, those of tragedy should stick together."
The light flickered as if to rebel. The figure laughed in an eerie tone that would have killed anyone present. He put forward his hands in a motion seemingly to offer the light, and in a tongue never heard in this world, said, "I OFFER A PIECE TO THE FOUR."
Like a person going to the rapture, the light floated, and a rift opened where four colours appeared, each fighting for a larger portion of the portal, with red and blue having the greater share. A blue hand, seemingly ever-changing, closed around the light and withdrew back. The red, enraged, tried to take blue's share, but the presence that once controlled the blue vanished, and the portal grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
The figure said, "Ah, to feel the gods' grace again after so long. Truly, I, Erebus, am blessed."
While the light was pulled through space and time, it collided with a book and became one with it. The light, once frail and flickering, grew stronger than before before going back to its previous dimness. But before long, the blue hand pulling stopped and seemingly flicked the light toward a planet.
Plummeting toward the planet, it quickly found a host that was on death's door due to their potential, and by the blue hand's will, it was made to be an empty shell. The light quickly seeped into the now human host — white-haired and blue-eyed. He was held by a mother figure who was rocking him back and forth in the high towers of Tizca, where he let out a shrill cry that made the mother bounce with joy.
That joy was supplanted by the doors to the chamber slamming open. In a language the boy couldn't understand, he heard shouts of panic and angst. A figure blurred before appearing before the mother and son, reaching out his hands, and with an energy unknown to the boy, he quickly fell asleep.
Timeskip 4 Years
Waking up hasn't lost its lustre for me, even after four years. I still wonder where I was all those months ago, but the first thought came in a mix of baby babble and rage — which resulted in me getting some fancy new bracelets that control my outbursts. I kind of destroyed a whole part of the tower.
My parents blamed it on me not being given enough attention — which, yeah, but also no. Moving on: I'm on Prospero. You know, the planet that got a remaking courtesy of a wolf boy and his pack of pups. But yeah — 40K, fuck. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. At least I'm here before Magnus the nerd arrives.
But hey, at least I'm not totally screwed. I've got my own golden finger from that twat who's a bird mixed with coral. I'm not sure it's from him — don't think it is — otherwise, I'm definitely somewhere in his "Infinite Schemes™."
Moving on: I got the Essence of the Archmage from those fanfics you've read — you know the one. But just in case you haven't, it's:
Ability to use or create magic using different universal magic systems — in my case, 40K psyker powers, which, yes, count.
Perfect recall — the ability to remember everything. Both a boon and a curse, since I remember my own birth (which is gross, by the way).
And for the pièce de résistance — the magical equivalent of a nuclear reactor as my source for magic, which in 40K terms makes me an Alpha Psyker.
So yeah, give me some time and I'll prove that Magnus can go to bed instead of being red. After all, better dead than red, eh?
Sorry, I'll stop.
As for what I've been up to these years — not much, to be honest. Just babying and looking like Gojo Satoru. After all, Mr. "I Am the Strongest" is a role model I aspire to beat.
But yeah — I've recently started my education into the Great Sea. My parents, Nakor Amun-Ra and my mother Saphira Menet-Ka, and finally me, Menet-Ra Kaelen (or just Kaelen), have been doing great so far. I've already gotten into the prodigy class after showing my tutor that I can create a localised shield that absorbs from the Sea in a self-fulfilling way — basically, I created infinity.
Ah, it would also do well to mention that I am also consulted on a new type of spell matrix I've popularised.
That being Runic Circle Magic. While used, it's not popularised — most people just connect to the ocean instead of putting it through what I can amount to a filter. So you know I had to prove I'm superior. I think it's because I'm leaning too much into Gojo's personality.
Anyway, I had a "duel" where I explained all the pros of my magic over the current systems. My parents were there for it — clapping and being overall proud parents, hyping me up. Yet when they actually saw how effective it was — like, five times better — they brought me to a council meeting where I proved myself again in front of the council for the whole planet.
I helped all the councillors try it, and they could instantly feel the "Echoes" fade — those being the demons hiding in the ocean like a giant shark waiting for blood.
I was congratulated for solving a generational issue at such a young age and was allowed access to higher-tier knowledge. This had the bonus of propelling my parents' political power — my father now in charge of psychic defences for the city.
And me being me, I had some "casual" suggestions — like, I don't know, using my shield as a barrier that also has a self-repairing matrix inside of it, which also functioned as a wide-scale buff to the people's constitution. So yeah, I earned another accolade.
You might be asking, "Gee, why not take over the whole planet?" Yeah, nah. I'm powerful enough to make anyone on the ground regret being here — unless I'm dealing with Emps, in which case I'd rather die in combat. But space? I've got nothing.
Moving on. As I stroll through the long corridors of my mage tower — yes, I'm leaning into the stereotype, leave me alone — and yes, I said mine as in from the foundations to the top. It's mine, covered in wards and with a few other towers in a pentagram that function like a giant Death Star laser. Not to mention the many golems I have.
[Image of Golem]
So yeah, life's good, and I'm sure nothing can go wr—
BOOOOM.
I had to tempt Murphy, huh? As I willed into my wards, I appeared at the top of my tower. Far away, I could see my shield of Tizca holding back a truly gigantic swarm of Psychneuein — the warp bugs that are like if demons were insects that lived both in and out of the warp. So yeah, I started blasting.
[AN: This story thought wouldn't leave my head, so I had to get it somewhere.]