ManaTech: A System of Magic And Technology

Crash

For a third time I began to channel the power that resided in the core of my being into the palms of my hands. 

I’d used the ability twice before and I felt as though I was beginning to understand how the energy felt, how it moved and what I needed to do to get it to obey my commands. 

The twin glows in the palms of my hands crackled and spat with power. I let it build until the glow condensed into twin suns in my hand, so hot that it stung my skin. The build of power was so immense that the energy turned from its usual golden white into a dangerous blood red. 

The robot’s operator was still struggling with the vines that had wrapped around their mecha’s arm, the machine was completely defenceless. 

I grit my teeth and braced myself before launching my attack. 

The beam of raw magic screamed through the air and tore the chest piece of the mecha into molten slag. My beam ripped clean through the other side of the thing and while I was able to hold it in place for a few seconds the recoil from the attack was too much for me to handle. 

My footing slipped and, as the beam petered out, I stumbled to one knee. 

But the deed was done. I glanced up just in time to see the mecha stagger forward one step, molten metal pouring from the hole in its chest, before toppling onto its back. 

[Alright, I have to admit, you handled yourself pretty well when things got hair,] The AI in my head said. 

I couldn’t help but crack a smirk at that as I stood back up, it was clear the AI had thought I was going to get my ass handed to me, even with my overwhelming strength. 

The robot was collapsed in a heap, molten metal dripping down from the hole in its chest to pool on the floor. 

Aliens of various shapes and sizes were staring at me, some with admiration, some with jealousy and I was sure more than one of them had an element of fear in their gaze. 

With my head held high and my chest puffed out a little in pride I made my way out of the hole in the wall and past the mecha, well aware of all the eyes that were on me. 

My body fizzed with nervous energy. 

Back home I’d have barely been able to stand up to someone my own size, I’d never fought anyone before and my pain tolerance was at a level equal to my knees if not the floor. 

Here? I was able to do anything, even put a 30-foot-tall robot down on its ass. 

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and began to walk in the same direction that everyone else had already begun to head. 

The building we were approaching was similar to that of a coliseum on Earth, with high walls and a circular build. 

As I drew closer the chanting and music that had clearly been present throughout my fight with the mecha became clearer. It wasn’t just like a coliseum in sight, it was like a coliseum in purpose too. 

I wasn’t all too surprised that they had made something like the trials to join the GDC a major entertainment event. If I weren’t strong enough to join the GDC and I was reliant on the people who were in it to keep me safe from threats that were as dangerous as the Devourers then I’d probably want to celebrate those that were strong enough and see what they were made of too. 

For all I knew this sort of thing could be the equivalent of the football world cup. 

As I walked through the entryway I noticed something, a blinking notification on the visual display that the AI had been providing me with. It claimed I had levelled up during my fight with the mecha. 

“So, what does levelling up actually do for me?” I asked under my breath. 

[Depends on the level, really,] The AI said, [Going one level like that isn’t going to do much. You’ll be able to take hits a little harder and dish out a bit more damage. Each individual ability will level up at its own pace as well, and as you do more things you’ll discover more bespoke abilities to use as well. I wouldn’t pay it much mind, you weren’t exactly a min-maxing gamer back on Earth either.]

I nodded at that, the AI wasn’t wrong, I’d never had the patience for all the numbers that min-maxing required. If the number went up and I was able to do more damage because of it then that was all that I cared about really. 

Discovering new abilities sounded interesting, though. 

“And how do I go about discovering new abilities?” I asked. 

[Uh, just… do stuff, really,] The AI replied, [It’s not so much discovering new abilities as it is me training your mana pathways to do things in certain ways. Just be creative in the way that you use the abilities that you currently have. If you do that then you’ll start generating new abilities and levelling them up in no time.]

It all sounded pretty easy, and a little bit fun too. 

The entryway opened up into a wide open space at the center of the coliseum. The lifeforms that had already made their way in ahead of me had started to congregate at the center of the space, in front of what looked like tens of thousands of cheering aliens in the stand. 

As I walked to join them I noticed that the various aliens around me all gave me a wide berth and moved out of my way if I was walking in their general direction. 

When I stopped to stand with the rest of them a bubble of empty space appeared around me as the aliens very subtly shifted away from where I stood. 

They were terrified. 

[Can you blame them?] My AI asked, [From their perspective you’re an unknown human with incredible power that just destroyed a mecha that no one else could even scratch. If I were them I’d be a little bit wary of you too.]

It was an understandable point of view. I had no idea if any of the aliens in the group knew one another, or if they had trained with one another. For me to come out of nowhere and cause so much destruction in such a short period of time probably was a little bit perturbing at the very least. 

Before I could reply to the AI a large holographic display flickered into life above where we were standing, showing the smiling face of the girl that had been at the front of the stage previously. 

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all lifeforms that rest in between and outside of those two categories, please welcome to the arena… this year's group of GDC trialists!” The woman announced excitedly. 

The crowds around us roared their appreciation. 

Things were only just getting started.