At first, Sonny had assumed his Mythic Ability was utterly useless, and completely impractical in any scenario. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that wasn't true at all.
His ability wasn't useless, he simply hadn't considered the ways it could be applied.
After all, there was no such thing as a truly useless Mythic Ability, not even among those of Dormant or Awakened rank. In his case, he possessed a Divine Mythic which that had never been documented or witnessed by humanity.
Espers with Radiant Mythics were rare, valuable enough to be fought over by countless factions. Above them were those with Luminous or Ascended Mythics, powerhouses that few could ever hope to challenge. Even the strongest Esper humanity had produced possessed a Transcendent Mythic.
No one had ever awakened a Transcendent Mythic, and now he possessed something that was likely even greater.
Anything bearing the "Divine" prefix was bound to be extraordinary and one of a kind, existing only within the realm of myths, stories, and legends. Such a power could very well be a stepping stone toward Godhood. Unfortunately, humanity had never reached that level. If they had, they would have conquered and dominated the Mire long ago.
For context, it had only been about a decade since the 61th Floor of the Tower had been cleared, and the Tower itself was theorized to contain a total of 99 floors.
Saints — or so they were called — wielded Luminous Mythic Abilities, the pinnacle of human power. Or at least, the level they hoped to achieve. Anyone who reached that level was regarded as a true god among men. But Sonny possessed something far beyond that.
Come to think of it, if he had told Christopher the rank of his Mythic, wouldn't he have been showered with admiration, wealth, and untold riches?!
'No! That's a terrible idea!'
Sonny sneered and kicked the greedy thought away.
Just because the Association handled matters relating to Espers and the newly infected doesn't necessarily mean he could trust them with his secrets. Corruption existed in every part of the world and someone was bound to leak his identity as a Divine Mythic wielder.
From there, chaos would erupt, and he wouldn't be able to manage the flood of problems and challenges that would follow.
'Money is important, but understanding my strengths and weaknesses is far more crucial. And to do that, I need to experiment a little.'
Sonny glanced around and looked for anything that would make for a perfect test subject.
Eventually, his gaze landed on the small wooden figure he had picked up years ago, still sitting on the coffee table. It was a simple carving, nothing more than a trinket, yet its size and solidity made it ideal for a preliminary test.
Taking a deep breath, he focused then raised his hand and pointed it towards the figure. His mind carefully envisioned the concept of flattening; not destroying, not shrinking, but compressing it into a perfect two-dimensional form.
The space surrounding the object trembled slightly as if resistaning the mysterious power. He deepened his focus, his imagery, and added more pressure. Shortly after, the resistance crumbled and the wooden figure flattened with a soft 'pop,' collapsing into a thin, flat shape, now lying like a small drawing on the tabletop.
Sonny stared at it, wide-eyed. The details remained: the carved face, the contours of the limbs, all perfectly preserved in this impossibly flat form. It simply had no depth. He could press on it, slide it, even flip it, and it behaved like a piece of paper rather than wood.
"This… actually works," he muttered with a mix of awe, perhaps fear, and excitement in his voice.
Sonny experimented further, lifting the flat figure and letting it slide along the tabletop. It moved without resistance, as though friction had been halved. Gravity seemed to treat it differently too; it didn't have the same weight as before, but the object retained its shape perfectly.
"So it's not about destruction… it's about transforming objects into a new state of being. A two-dimensional existence."
A wide smile spread across his lips.
"How spectacular! How glorious indeed!"
The applications were theoretically limitless: Using his ability, he could flatten keys to slip under doors, turn weapons into harmless sheets to hide them, or even flatten parts of walls or floors for instant shortcuts. If he learned to control it finely, even combat could become a chess game of manipulating space and objects.
His eyes gleamed with newfound determination.
"Alright… first step: small objects. Then maybe I can experiment with larger things. The more I practice, the more I'll understand the limits."
He picked up the flattened figure and carefully restored it to its original three-dimensional form, testing the reverse process.
Or at least, he attempt to do so.
"Huh? What is this? It didn't turn back."
Sonny stared at the flattened figure, now lying stubbornly on the tabletop, refusing to regain its original shape. Panic bubbled in his chest, but he quickly pushed it aside, forcing himself to think clearly.
'Calm down… it's fine. I just need to understand the mechanics.'
He raised his hand again, trying to will it back to three dimensions, concentrating harder than before.
The air around the figure trembled and vibrated faintly, like heat rising from a summer road. For a brief moment, it seemed as though the wooden trinket might respond, then… nothing.
It remained perfectly flat.
Feeling frustrated, Sonny ran a hand through his hair.
'Of course… there's a catch. Nothing this powerful could ever be that simple.'
He paused, thinking it through. The system had said he could flatten objects, but it had never stated anything about restoring them to their original, three-dimensional form. In his excitement, he had never stopped to consider that possibility.
The wooden trinket would likely remain trapped in its two-dimensional state forever.
"Oh, come on! I actually liked that thing! What an unholy blunder!"
Gritting his teeth, Sonny grumbled under his breath, though his complaints accomplished nothing. There was simply no undoing the mistake.
He let out a resigned sigh.
"Whatever… let's keep going with the experiments. Though I should probably stick to objects I actually don't care about this time."
Sonny scanned the room, flicking his eyes from one object to another.
Pens, notebooks, empty cups, a stack of magazines. In short, anything mundane and replaceable.
He settled on a small stack of books on the coffee table.
Mentally prepared, the young Esper focused all his energy on the first book. Visualizing it compressing along the depth axis, he willed the flattening power forward. The air around the object seemed to resist again, quivering slightly.
But what could it do against a divine mythical power?
With a soft pop, the book collapsed into a flat, rectangular sheet. The pages remained intact, the cover's design preserved in detail. Dante picked it up carefully, noting how lightweight it had become. He could easily toss it across the room, and it slid across the wooden floor like a sheet of paper, completely unaffected by its original thickness.
"Ha! That's… incredible," he muttered. "Imagine the chaos this could cause in combat…"
His mind raced with possibilities. He could flatten a sword mid-swing, neutralizing its threat. He could flatten chunks of walls or barriers to create instant openings or remove obstacles. Even an opponent's equipment could be rendered useless in seconds.
Sonny's thoughts darkened slightly as he imagined the offensive potential. A thrown flattened object, sharp and wide, could slice like a blade if it hit the right angle. It wouldn't have mass like a normal weapon, but the edge of the flattened material could deliver serious damage. And if he experimented with heavier objects… the destructive potential skyrocketed.
Testing his idea, he grabbed a wooden chair and focused. The flattening took longer, his energy straining to compress the thick legs and seat into a perfect plane. When it finally yielded, the chair lay as a thin slab, almost paper-like, yet still retaining the detailed grain of the wood.
He flicked it lightly with his fingers, and it skimmed across the floor, moving faster and farther than a normal chair could ever travel.
Then...
"....!"
...It penetrated through the wall along its path and continued to travel relentlessly like a cannon ball.