Chapter 1: World Overview
The concept of Nature holds no meaning. I feel like something important is missing.
This world... Perhaps, my life is a lie.
A young handsome boy of about seventeen sat by the edge of a cliff bare-chested and In an intense state of confusion. He peered deeply into the night sky. His piercing gaze skimmed through the void, perforating the dense clouds and exposing the radiance of the moon.
Despite the weight of his words, his face remained as calm as an ancient well, without the slightest ripples or emotional fluctuation.
Just then, the cool delta breeze smothered against his skin bringing him a bone-chilling yet pleasant sensation, alleviating him of the bloody calluses formed from several crescent-shaped marks on his tender skin.
His pupils fluttered severally in reaction to the sudden phenomena, awakening him from his seemingly infinite reflection.
"Ugh, what a miserable brat I am!" "What in the world am I thinking?"
He shrugged his shoulders lightly, as though he was aware of the gravity of his words. Why would he feel this way all of a sudden? For a brief period, the sensation seemed intense before dissipating into thin air.
Could it actually be real or perhaps, it had something to do with the unexpected defeat he experienced a few moments ago?
'This must be a heart daemon attempting to crush my spirit. I won't give up, I won't let my fate get tied down by the cruel antics of nature. I will surely bounce back in style and come back stronger much to the surprise of everyone.'
Just as he thought in silence, his eyes ignited radiantly as dark blue flames burned within its pupils. His fighting intent soared into the sky, emitting a dangerous aura that caused the foundations of the earth within its reach to tremble.
"Karan! Where have you been? We've been looking for you." A voice full of worry called out from behind."
Karan's state of enlightenment was shattered instantly by the call. He turned his head slightly with a light frown and saw the emerging figure of a similarly young boy, "I've been here all this while, where else am I supposed to be?"
His tone was accompanied by a frigid, chilling voice, emphasizing his expression.
Amon sighed helplessly. Seeing him in such a state, it was obvious that it had something to do with the battle earlier. He walk over to Karan's side and sat beside him. He placed his hand over his shoulder in a comforting manner and said with a soothing voice,
"Karan, don't be too hard on yourself. I understand your disappointment at the loss, but you should realize that it wasn't your fault. The Desert Serpents may be stronger than us, but it is due to their age and experience. Derek, a D-rank necromancer, is among them. To be honest, our performance against them, particularly yours, was extremely impressive. We should feel grateful that we were able to bring them to the last round."
Karan's face changed as soon as he heard his remarks. "Am I supposed to be pleased with this much?" he said angrily as he moved his focus to Amon. Regan is just a small town, how are we meant to make it into Kansas rings if we can't defeat the reigning champions in the tournament?"
Amon was thrown off balance by his words. He couldn't help looking at Karan in utter disbelief.
Kansas Rings?
The greatest tournament in Scroll continent, which was one of the greatest of the nine continents in the Western World, hosted by the wealthy and prosperous city of Kansas. Mages, magic-swordsmen, archers, necromancers, and different ability users from all over the Western World would fight to gain Kansa's recognition and receive an invitation. In all, only the strongest were acknowledged.
Kansas Rings was packed with impeccable geniuses who had the ability to move mountains and sunder seas at their will.
It's understandable for someone as young and talented as Karan to fantasize about making it into Kansas Rings, but the problem was that he was still too weak.
Regan was just a small city after all, and the resources were not adequate enough. In fact, there was no hope for him to ever attain the minimum requirement in strength to be qualified for Kansas Rings as far as he remained in Regan. And outside Regan, we're other cities far more dangerous.
This was the cruel fate that awaited the weak. Left with no choice but to make do with a low standard of living, without the slightest hope of attaining a greater height in the future.
One could question how a world that was once thought to be a magnificent paradise ended up in such a desolate state.
This vastly strange universe was divided into two separate worlds and they were called the Western and Eastern worlds. Each world had several continents under them and each continent had several provinces.
Surprisingly, these two universes were divided by a powerful layer of invisible barriers, rendering them fully opaque and inaccessible to one other. The sole knowledge of the existence of the other world came from hypotheses and speculations documented in ancient texts.
The unusual incident that occurred countless years ago was the biggest enigma. A rough estimate would be two billion years ago when the Earth was thrown into complete misery. The entire world shook and vibrated at such a high frequency that it appeared to be flung back and forth by a colossal God. The ground shattered into multiple pieces and the foundations of the deep were shaken.
As a result of the calamity, millions and billions of people died. The worst had yet to come. Two hundred years after the disaster, the few billion humans who remained in the world began to reorganize, and civilization began to take shape. Suddenly, countless pillars of light appeared from the skies. These energy pillars sprung up all across the planet, forming dungeons that linked the world to an unseen dimension...
The whole earth could only watch as this scene unfolded.
Curiosity changed to alarm and then dread when a swarm of creatures of various shapes and sizes came out of several of the dungeons, slaughtering everything in sight. Because these monsters were not typical, humans were treated as if they were fish on a chopping board. They possessed enormous power, which varied as to the species. There were even beings among them capable of converting an entire metropolis to dust in a matter of seconds.
Was there any hope of escaping this disaster? Or is this the end of mankind as a whole?
There was a dramatic transformation in the entire world just when all hope appeared to be lost.
Several people from various parts of the world obtained exceptional powers and the ability to control various elements. It differed depending on the kind, proficiency, and power of the ability. And fate had a role in each of these elements.
A ranking system was quickly implemented. It was sorted from A to E, with A being the highest and E being the lowest. There were only a few persons who were able to get above this ranking system due to their unfathomable might. Saints were their name, and they were sometimes referred to as S rank.
This unanticipated transformation rekindled humanity's optimism. Mages, summoners, necromancers, and other awakeners formed several groups and guilds to fight the tragedy that had afflicted the earth for several years.
The two races engaged in violent combat. The monsters were ultimately pushed back into the dungeons where they belonged after years of struggle.
Even though mankind had triumphed, they could see that the war was far from over. They then agreed to send parties of awakeners into these dungeons on a regular basis to slay these creatures in order to avoid a second world tragedy.