Bone Manipulation

**User(s)** | Various

**Bone Manipulation** (骨の操作 *Hone no Sōsa*) is a rather macabre and rare ability that allows the user to create and mold the element of Bone using their Ki, or control naturally occurring bone in a form of Osteokinesis. Users of this ability have complete and total control of bone and the sub-elements found within it, including things like cartilage.

## Description

Bone Manipulation is an ability that is rare to see among people today, the macabre and creepy form of ability normally only being seen in use by occult members who believe the ability to be magic to be a gift from the Gods. In reality, Bone Manipulation is simply an ability that allows the user to manipulate Hydroxylapatite and collagen as well as many other trace minerals in their bodies to create bone. Unlike other telekinetic abilities, where the user can simply hold out their hand and create their desired object, the bones formed through the usage of Osteokinesis must be created within the user's own body, normally protruding from another bone before piercing the flesh of the user which allows them to pull the object out. As such, the process of creating through the use of this magic is often painful, requiring the user to build a tolerance for pain over time. Depending on the creation, these bones can take upwards of .35 to five full seconds to create.

Like with most abilities, what a user can create is limited only by their own imagination and the amount of magical power they wield. Swords, spears, daggers, hammers, and much more are possible to create through the usage of this abiliyt. Armor and shields are also popular creations, a user's ability to add trace metals found within their own bodies into the bone they create allowing them to make bones harder than steel and capable of blocking powerful attacks, absorbing shock better than most other elemental armors. An ability that Osteokinetic users are known for is the ability to hollow out their own bones, making them similar to that of birds, decreasing their weight. Such a strategy is one of risk and reward, choosing to abandon their ability to defend for increased speed and agility. Dynamic bone creations are also possible, these normally much larger creations needed to be assembled outside of the body. They are normally created in parts that will fall out of various spots of the user's body before assembling to create their desired monster. Like with all dynamic creations, the creation has no will of its own and is instead given a simple directive during its creations via a telepathic link between it and its creator. This simply directive can be anything from "kill the target" to "shield me", anything that gives the creation a purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled it will fall apart.

Less obvious abilities utilized by Bone Manipulation users is the ability to create explosive bone bombs similar to grenades, building the pressure in the spongy bone until it cracks and splinters out to create dangerous and sometimes deadly projectiles. Blood cells created within bone marrow are also easily manipulated by Bone Manipulation users. Users are capable of utilizing the lymphocytes (a form of white blood cell), injecting them into their target through cutting them with a bone created by the user and commanding those lymphocytes attack the cells of the victim. This effectively begins breaking down the opponent from the inside, a process that can only be stopped through the command of the user or the death of either the victim or the caster.

## Innate Abilities

* **Accelerated Bone Growth**: Users of this ability have the innate ability to control the production and function of osteoblasts within their body, allowing them to grow bones at will. The osteoblasts of Bone Manipulation users are highly advanced and are able to perform functions outside of the normal scope of these cells. Increasing the osteogenisis of the user’s bones allow them to generate bony protrusions and constructs that can be removed and used as weapons or defensive shields. Users can even accelerate the deposit and genesis of bony additives to allow their bones to grow out of their skin, acting as an armor that can be fluid with the movement of each joint.
* **Accelerated Healing**: One of the most useful benefits of a Bone Manipulation user’s abilities is the ability to enhance the process of wound healing. One of the major biological components that is used in would healing is that of fibroblasts, a cell whose precursor is made in the bone marrow. Initially myofibroblasts pull the edges of a wound close together, to immediately reduce the size of a gash. Then fibroblasts utilize the fibrin cross-linking fibers to migrate across a wound, subsequently adhering to fibronectin, another substance secreted by fobroblasts. Fibroblasts then deposit ground substance into the wound bed, and later collagen, which skin can adhere to for migration and full recovery. Due to their modified physiology, a Bone Make user has a high concentration of these cells, something that is useful in closing up wounds from the bony protrusions they create in seconds. Wounds such as that are closed with in fractions of a second after the bone is removed, whereas knife and sword wounds require a bit longer time to recover from. This enhanced healing factor has extended to the body’s connective tissues, integumentary system, and muscular system; allowing them to replace damaged cells in a wound fairly quickly and make a complete recovery without any visible scar or damage left from the initial laceration.
* **Enhanced Durability**: A great deal of this enhancement in durability comes from the enhancement of the cortical bones of the body, or the outer shell of most bones. This is because cortical bone is much denser than cancellous bone, or spongy bone, which is the other type of osseous tissue. Furthermore, it is harder, stronger and stiffer than cancellous bone and contributes about 80% of the weight of a user’s skeleton. The enhancement of these cortical bones comes from the manipulation of the bone’s osteoblasts, the main cells in charge of bone synthesis. Normal osteoblasts synthesize very dense, crosslinked collagen, and several additional specialized proteins such as osteocalcin and osteopontin, which compose the organic matrix of bone. However, the user’s osteoblasts, aside from producing a calcium and phosphate-based mineral (hydroxyapatite), the user can also incorporate other minerals found in the body, such as iron, to make their bones far more durable. They can also incorporate ethernano in a highly regulated manner to deposit into the organic matrix, forming a very strong and dense mineralized construct that can withstand a multitude of organic and magical forces.
* **Enhanced Immunity**: Due to the fact that bone marrow is one of the major sites of immune cell production, Bone Make users can drastically enhance the production of these cells to combat a variety of toxins that can find their way into the body. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans, but with the creation and modification of existing bones, Bone Manipulation users can increase this to upwards of 12% of their total bone mass. Red marrow, the type of marrow where immune cells are produced, is found mainly in the flat bones, such as the hips, sternum, skull, ribs, vertebrae and scapulae, and in the cancellous bone of the heads of long bones such as the femur and humerus. Bone Make users are actually able to revert the inactive marrow, yellow marrow, within the bones back to red marrow at their own will to also increase the production of immune cells. This fact has given them immunity to all common sickness, and also allows them to combat and overcome any poison that enters their system with a matter of minutes, making any and all chemical warfare null and void against them.
* **Extreme Flexibility**:By reverting their bones back to its predecessor, cartilage, Bone-Make users are capable of extreme physical feats. By shifting their skeleton in that of a cartilaginous structure, they are able to withstand forces such as frictional, compressive, shear and tensile loading actions. This makes users highly resilient in withstanding physical feats, and can even be used against their opponents, due to the fact that cartilage can display viscoelastic properties. It’s viscous properties, displayed in areas such as the cartilage between joints, can resist shear and strain when a stress is applied. The elastin fibers present in elastic cartilage, like that of the ear, gives a user great flexibility so that it is able to withstand repeated bending and can quickly return to their original state once the stress is removed. This elastic property can be used as a special defense that can send projectiles and physical attacks back towards an opponent, saving the users body from serious harm.

## Techniques

* **Bone Sword** (骨刀 *Kottō*): One of the most basic techniques of any bone manipulation user, it allows the user to create a sword made from their respective elements. Swords created through the usage of bone are no different. They can make several different swords ranging from short swords to great swords and depending on the sword they may or may not use different bones in their bodies as the basis for said sword. Most longer swords are created through the use of the spinal column or vertebral column as it is also known. The blade begins growing out of the already existing column from the top of the thoracic curve, growing and until it protrudes from the skin between the shoulder blades. The user will then reach behind them, slowly pulling out the rest of the sword as it forms while being careful not to pull too quickly and possibly damage the already existing spinal column. The column maintains its shape as the bones of the column fuse together, a bone rod created to take the place of the spinal cord and further held keep the shape of the blade. Shorter swords are normally created from either the humerus or femur depending on the desired length. These blades will protrude from the hip or shoulder of the user. Extra aesthetic accessories such as guards can be created once the blade has exited the body. These blades are often as sharp as a razor's edge and can be harder than steel if the user chooses to add trace elements of metal found in their body during the sword's creation.

* **Bone Shield** (骨シールド *Hone Shīrudo*): A defensive spell and one of the most basic of bone manipulation techniques that allows the user to create a shield from their own bones. The most simplest casting of this spell involves the user focusing their magical energy into either one or both of their forearms, the user activating this spell and fusing the radius and ulna together before allowing it to grow outwardly both forward to protrude out from the flesh of the forearm vertically to become a small circular shield capable of protecting the user from attacks. Despite the shields size, the shield may be capable of stopping heavy attacks and even bullets in their tracks if the user decides to infuse the created bone with the trace metals found within their bodies. Even if they do not, the shield is normally capable of withstanding most lighter attacks such as punches and kicks, even blocking swords depending on the power behind them. While the most common version of this spell is that which utilizes the radius and ulna, the spinal column may also be used, creating a rear shield to protect them from surprise attacks from behind. However, due to the fact that the spinal column must temporarily fuse together to create this shield, it limits the movements of the user. This can be fixed via the use of one's ribs rather that the spinal column, the ribs growing backward, protruding out of the user's back to fuse together behind them like a shell. While this does still constrict movement, it is said to be much less inhibiting than the spinal shield.

* **Bone Bullets**(骨の弾丸 *Hone no Dangan*): One of the few spells that allow the user to attack from a distance, this spell is another basic one that allows the user to create bone bullets that can be shot at targets at high speeds. The bones commonly used during the casting of this spell are the ones found in the hand, more specifically the fingers. They user will aim their hand at the target, the number of fingers extended being equal to the number of bullets that will be fired. The caster will then focus his magic in the tips of his fingers, triggering the growth of distal phalanges from the already existing ones. These newly formed "bullets" will begin to protrude from the fingers, the tips being the only visible part of them before they are fired. During the casting of this spell the user will have been storing pressure inside of the newly formed bone, purposely making the one end of the bone weak so that once it has been fully create the back of the bone will shatter and release the pressure and send the bone bullets forward toward their target. One drawback to this attack is that it normally completely blows the flesh and muscle from the time of the fingers used in the attack. However, due to a bone user's enhanced healing abilities, the lost flesh and muscle will only take a minute or two at most to fully heal. These bullets are often slower than those found to be shot from a regular gun but are still capable of causing massive amounts of damage to targets depending on where they hit, being able to puncture skin and organs with easy, only meeting resistance when hitting other bones which they will often crack. Regardless, once the bullet has entered the body it has a tendency to splinter, causing more damage once it has reached inside the target.

* **Bone Armor** (骨の鎧 *Hone no Yoroi*): An intermediate technique that allows the user to create armor to protect them in combat. The user begins the casting of this spell by focusing their magical energy into the sections of their bodies they wish to become armored. The bones in these sections will then begin to grow outward, protruding from various places on the body as they begin to coat the body, fusing together to create anything from helmets, gauntlets, greaves, and chassis to protect the user's body from both physical and magical spells. The types of armor created through the use of his spell is entirely up to the user, the traditional knights armor is the most common but others are possible with a bit of imagination. The molding of the armor is guided by the user and as such, normally requires the user to have at least some basic knowledge of the structure and creation of the armor they are molding lest they end up with something as useless as an eggshell surrounding their body. As stated before, the armor can be created in sections to fit the user's needs, creating strong bone gauntlets without the need to create the other pieces. The strength and all around usefulness of the armor depends heavily on the design, however, trace amounts of metal in the user's body can be infused into the bone to improve sturdiness and decrease the likelihood of it shattering when hit by a powerful force of some kind. When utilized to create a full set of armor, it is described to be the most painful spell in bone-make's arsenal, users describing the feeling as being ripped apart from the inside out as the bones rip through the skin from all over their bodies.