World

BIRTHMARK ABILITIES

Every individual is born with a birthmark ability. These abilities can be passed down genetically, but also have to chance to have completely random effects unrelated to the parent’s abilities. The ability is determined by a small bundle of tissues located in the center of the brain, commonly referred to as the ‘ability stone’, or ‘stone’. The ability manifests itself physically on the skin as a physical birthmark, usually as a pair of symmetrical symbols. Birthmark effects tend to show themselves around the time puberty starts, as the stone is still developing while an infant grows up. An individual’s personality and formative experiences can influence a birthmark’s additional effects, activation conditions, and overall power. This is how two individuals can have the same birthmark classification, yet have different effects and power. 

Birthmark abilities have an effect, and an activation condition. It is possible to find out a birthmark effect without ever activating by undergoing a brain scan, but most commonly an ability possessed by a child tends to be weak and requires very simple activation conditions. As an individual grows, these conditions can change if their effect becomes stronger. The most common activation condition is physical touch. 

The effects of birthmarks tend last for a small amount of time, around a few minutes to an hour. Abilities with permanent effects are more rare, and usually cause permanent damage to the user whenever they are activated. Brun’s MAGNET ability can stay active on objects for up to an hour if he really concentrates and focuses all his energy on the magnetized objects. Cue’s GRAVITY ability however, only last about a minute at most, but can cause devastating damage if that time is used wisely. 

Birthmarks can have plus and secondary abilities. It is not known how they develop, but it is speculated that individuals that go through particularly rough moments in their lives will develop them as a defense mechanism. Plus abilities (+) have an equal power to the primary ability with similar activation conditions. Secondary abilities (++) tend to be much stronger and can require very specific activation conditions or permanent damage to the user.