In a world of nothing, a boy, not older than 13, was lying unconscious in a moving carriage.
He dreamed about how the empire killed his city just because he had a mark on his back. It was the 'mark of mana' they said.
He was still alive. He wondered why.
He remembered the conversation he heard from behind bars.
*Flashback*
"But why can't we just kill him? He has the mark of mana."
"We can't kill him exactly because of that."
"What do you mean?"
"If we nip him in the bud, it will interfere with the mana quality of the world. The only option is to wait until the mark of mana fades and then get him executed."
"Where do you plan to imprison him?"
"In Null"
Null. The only place even the gods fear. It is an isolation in spacetime itself. It contains nothing to be sensed. Nothing to escape.
It was created with the sum of all the powers of the 12 primordials. The first gods. The ones who designed the [system]. The ones who became gods by their own, independent strength.
*Present*
Jay was thrown into the place where nothing but air exists.
He lay down on nothing and started thinking.
'What was the definition of the infamous 'NULL' ?'
'It is an isolated dimension in space-time.'
'Space-Time......'
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'Time!'
'time doesn't affect this dimension.'
Jay knew that he could do anything here forever and a mere moment would have passed in real time.
'Although I can't escape 'NULL', I can theoreticaly break 'NULL'.'
'but how do I train with nothing?'
Jay punched his own face in frustration.
'it hurts!'
'it hurts!?'
Jay recalled the knowledge he had gained through word of mouth.
'muscles, when torn, heal to get stronger right? So what if I ...........'
Jay punched his biceps.
He instantly regretted it.
He cried himself to sleep with the thought that
'I need sleep more right now.'
Though it might also have been because of him believing that sleep is a substitute for a painkiller.
*Next Day (or night)*
Jay got up as he felt his biceps that were incredibly sore.
He definitely had a muscle tear.
He started staring into the void.
It was not because of the pain. It was because the system reacted.
{Stat point +1}
{System activated}
{Brace for system installation}
'Brace for system installation? What does that mean?'
He got the answer in the form of searing pain.
{System partially installed because of an error.}
{Error: unknown dimension.}
Your stats(statistics) shall be rewarded upon complete installation.
'Huh? I already got the +1 stat though. According to this, My stats will double when I exit null?'
'It took 12 primordials to break space-time and create 'NULL'....... If I get out of 'NULL', I will have the stats of 12 primordials combined. When I exit null, they will double.... that is the stats of 24 primordials?! Getting revenge would be child's play.'
Jay hit himself to sleep. For some days.
{+1 Stat, 365 total.}
He did not seem to age past 18-20 years old. Was it the effect of stat points?
He hit himself to a half dead state.
When he woke up,
{+3 stat points.}
Jay beat himself to sleep for more than 10 years. He didn't remember the exact time period as the stat points had stopped rising.
He woke up.
The familiar message arrived
{+3 stat points, total 12000000.}
At this point, the stat points had been stuck at 12000000 for a while.
He knew it was time
He sat down and started trying to feel the fabric of spacetime around himself.
He closed his fist and stood up.
He ran ahead at 50% speed.
He was at 10 times the speed of sound.
As he punched spacetime with a run-up, he heard a eerie noise.
Breaking, shattering, ripping, splattering, splashing and many more combined.
The next moment he opened his eyes, he saw colour for the first time in a while. He felt the flowing air, heard the many sounds not noticeable until they're gone.
And the most prominent of all,
{+12000000 stat points, 24000000 total.}