DC: AS A RUNE GOD

Chapter 1

(runic alphabet)

On the rooftop of a nondescript building in Gotham, a young man, aged about 17, perched at the precipice. Despite his youth, he stood an imposing 6 feet 3 inches, with dark brown hair, striking orange eyes, and a pallid complexion. His tattered attire hinted at a modest background, and he appeared somewhat lost in thought as he gazed at the floating screen before him.

[Name: Ted]

[Spiritual-Force: 1/1 (1 spiritual force equates to 1 minute of control; meditation facilitates its recovery)]

[Current-Runes: None]

"This all seems too complicated," he thought, his eyes drifting to the bustling streets below. "As a rune carver, not only do I have to enter deep meditation and delve into my sea of consciousness, which is where my soul resides, but I must also harness my spiritual force to manipulate the energy particles within. Goldie compared it to dragging a dumbbell tied to a string with...well, never mind. That's merely the first step to inscribing the runic alphabet," he sighed.

"Once written, the function of the rune would condense into a symbol. That's only if I can complete it within the one-minute time limit a single spiritual force provides," he paused, feeling the wind's caress on his face. "And that's not all. After crafting the rune, it only exists in my mind. I need to bring it to life using my spiritual force. Yes, carving runes onto surfaces also depletes my spiritual force. Fortunately, once I carve a rune onto an object, I can use it until the item's durability is exhausted, so, no one use runes" he chuckled wryly.

"But wait, there's more. Even after solidifying a rune and seeing it appear under the current rune tag, there's a comprehension rate to contend with. It directly impacts my chances of successfully inscribing the rune and thus my likelihood of failure," he sighed deeply, his hand brushing the texture of a bag at his side, causing him to frown.

"And if that weren't challenging enough, the previous owner of this body was an orphan placed in foster care by the authorities, which of course He ran away from, i mean who wouldnt want to run away from nice people willing to take you in as their own, and they weren't even abusive. He just yearned to watch underground boxing day in and day out, hoping to save enough money to enter the ring," he mused, torn between amusement and sympathy.

As he observed the city below, distant sirens echoed in the background. He recalled Goldie's words, "According to Goldie and the previous owner of this body, this world is teeming with aliens, gods like Zeus, and superpowered beings." A sense of urgency briefly coursed through him before he was overtaken by a sense of relief. "Thankfully, I'm a rune carver, so I'm not powerless. In fact, I'm anything but powerless. At least I can ensure my own safety, and hopefully work towards my goal of achieving immortality" he exhaled as he unzipped his backpack.

Rifling through the bag's contents, his eyes widened with shock. He silently exclaimed, "What's with his obsession with chips? He ran away from home with nothing but a bottle of water, a small bundle of cash, and a staggering supply of chips." He couldn't help but marvel at the excessive quantity of chips stashed in his bag.

"Well, it doesn't matter; I better hurry on and generate a rune just for emergencies. Then, I would look for a place to sleep and a way to earn money," he muttered to himself as he sought out a comfortable spot to sit. Settling into a lotus position, he continued, "Meditation isn't hard; as long as I count my breath, I should slip into deep meditation." With that intention, he started counting his breaths.

After three minutes of trying without success, he let out a sigh of frustration. He decided to attempt a different approach. Inhaling deeply, he counted to five seconds before exhaling slowly and holding his breath for another five seconds. This cycle repeated for seven minutes until he finally descended into a state of deep meditation. The blaring car horns, the cacophony of the city, all the noise, and the hustle and bustle faded away into silence until he awoke.

"Whoa," he thought, glancing around at the surreal surroundings. He gazed upon his own hand, which appeared semi-transparent, much like his entire body. That's when he noticed something peculiar – a small speck of silver resting in his semi-transparent abdomen. He pondered for a moment before simply shrugging it off. In the midst of this astral space, countless multicolored floating specks of light danced around.

"This is beautiful," he whispered to himself, mesmerized by a green speck of light drifting right before him. "A different colored speck of light means a different element," he mused, smiling as a red speck of light floated by, setting his mind adrift in contemplation.

"What rune should I conceptualize?" he pondered. Since existing in this sea of consciousness didn't deplete any resources, he began to contemplate his options. "My first priority is keeping myself safe, which means I need to remove myself from any dangerous situation, essentially, be invisible," he thought. A brilliant idea struck him as he scanned the specks of light around him.

Most of them were dark-colored specks, and there were a few white ones. "The amount of energy particles depends on the location, the weather, and the time of day, so these black specks must represent the element of darkness, while the white ones may signify moon energy particles, which makes sense since its in night time" he surmised, deep in thought.

"Alright, it's decided then; I'm going with an invisibility rune," he declared to himself as he began to breathe deeply. "I just have to keep it simple – invisibility, that's all I'll write, while keeping my intention clear as just writing the words is not going to do it, goldie highlighted the importance of intention" he resolved, preparing to employ his spiritual force. As soon as he did, he felt the movement of each and every energy particle. "Alright, alright, remember, keep it simple, and keep your intention clear" he reminded himself as he navigated the ethereal realm.

The moment he attempted to command the dark energy particles, he was engulfed by the sensation of being ensnared by countless dark tentacles. "What the hell?" he managed to whisper before his consciousness began to slip away. Yet, it wasn't the end of the experience; as he instinctively let go of his control over the energy particles, the overwhelming sensation dissipated, leaving him floating in the astral void.

"I thought it was supposed to feel like dragging a dumbbell with my balls," he mused, quickly recovering from his disorienting ordeal. "Alright, I tried to control too much," he reasoned as he began to move the specks one at a time and arrange them into different letters. Meanwhile, his physical body was drenched in sweat, from his forehead down to his armpits and his back. "Damn, it feels like there are thousands of ants crawling under my skin," he thought, his body shuddering from time to time.

"Okay, that's the letter 'e' in the runic alphabet. That's it," he encouraged himself, determined to complete the rune despite feeling like there were thousands of ants crawling under his skin, some even behind his eyeballs. "Why in the world is there one behind my eyeball, and why the heck does 'E' look like 'm'?" he exclaimed as he painstakingly placed the final speck at the bottom of the letter 'e.'