In The Eyes of Truth

In the near future, Earth underwent a transformation so subtle at first that few noticed the changes. The air felt heavier, charged, as if humming with unseen energy. Plants grew greener and more vibrant, while animals displayed signs of heightened awareness. It wasn't long before humanity began to change too. People began waking up with abilities they had never dreamed possible, flying through the skies, bending fire to their will, commanding water, or shattering steel with their bare hands.

The emergence of mana had irrevocably altered the fabric of the world, revitalizing not just nature but the very essence of humanity. For some, this awakening was a gift, a chance to make the world better. For others, it was a path to domination and destruction.

At first, the changes were greeted with awe. Videos of individuals demonstrating superhuman feats went viral, sparking excitement and curiosity. Governments scrambled to understand the phenomenon, deploying scientists to research the sudden eruption of mana. Theories ranged from cosmic anomalies to experiments gone wrong.

But the novelty soon turned to dread. Not everyone who awakened handled their newfound powers with grace.

In the heart of bustling cities, the first cracks in society's foundation began to appear. A man in New York, drunk with the power to control flames, turned his rage against the police during a traffic altercation. Flames engulfed a police cruiser, igniting nearby buildings. The fire raged out of control, taking lives and causing millions in damages before authorities managed to subdue him with the help of a fellow awakened citizen.

This was just the beginning.

As word of the phenomenon spread, fear and envy took root in the populace. Those who hadn't awakened looked upon the gifted with suspicion, jealousy, or outright hatred. Protests erupted in major cities worldwide, with crowds demanding answers from governments and safety from those they now deemed threats.

But the protests quickly escalated into riots.

In Los Angeles, a peaceful demonstration turned violent when an awakened individual with telekinetic abilities lost control, sending vehicles hurtling through the air. Police fired tear gas, only to find themselves overpowered by others who wielded wind to blow the gas back toward the officers. Buildings were looted and set ablaze, streets became battlegrounds, and the city's skyline lit up with explosions of power and fury.

In Tokyo, an awakened gang lord declared the Shibuya district his personal empire, challenging local authorities to remove him. His gang members, each possessing unique abilities, patrolled the streets like warlords. The battle that ensued between the gang and Japan's Self-Defense Forces was nothing short of catastrophic. Sparks of lightning clashed with the roar of gunfire, and the district was left in ruins.

Governments around the world struggled to maintain order. Military interventions were swift but often ineffective against those with abilities beyond human comprehension. In Moscow, an awakened woman with the power to control metal bent entire platoons' rifles into useless knots. In Cairo, a man who could manipulate shadows turned an entire military outpost into a maze of darkness, leaving soldiers disoriented and vulnerable.

But it wasn't just the militaries that fought. Awakened civilians, drunk on their newfound powers, battled one another in the streets, each vying for dominance. The skies over Paris became a warzone as individuals with the ability to fly clashed, their shockwaves shattering glass and terrifying the populace below. In São Paulo, a teenager who could summon monstrous creatures from another dimension unleashed a horde upon his city in a fit of rage.

Hospitals overflowed with the injured, many victims of collateral damage from battles they had no part in. Cities became fortresses as neighborhoods erected barricades to protect themselves from rampaging awakened individuals. Yet, even these measures often failed. A single person with the ability to disintegrate matter could reduce entire city blocks to rubble in minutes.

News broadcasts struggled to keep up with the unfolding chaos. Every hour, reports of new disasters poured in, one town destroyed by a pyrokinetic, another swallowed by a sinkhole created by an earth manipulator. Economies faltered as trade routes were disrupted, and food shortages loomed as farmland was consumed by battles or destroyed by errant powers.

Scientists finally released a grim report: the awakening phenomenon wasn't stopping. More people were discovering their abilities every day, and the potential for further chaos loomed large. Some theorized that Earth itself was undergoing an evolution, and humanity was simply adapting to its new environment. Others warned that the surge in mana was unsustainable, that the very planet might tear itself apart under the strain.

Amid the chaos, factions began to form. Some groups of awakened individuals sought to impose order, acting as vigilantes or even self-proclaimed leaders. Others gathered into dangerous cults, believing themselves to be gods, destined to rule over the "weak." And then there were those who simply sought survival, banding together in makeshift communities and avoiding conflict wherever possible.

The world had become a battlefield, a place where the laws of nature had bent to the will of humanity and unleashed unprecedented destruction. Yet, amidst the ruin, seeds of hope remained. A few awakened individuals used their powers to save lives, to rebuild, and to protect. These rare heroes stood as a beacon of what humanity could become, even as the world burned around them.

But as the days passed, one question lingered in the minds of all: Was this just the beginning of a new age, or the end of everything they had ever known?

The chaos unleashed by the awakening had turned Earth into a patchwork of fragmented societies. Cities once celebrated for their resilience now lay in ruins, their towering skyscrapers reduced to skeletal remains. Roads cracked like spiderwebs, and the hum of electricity became a distant memory in many places. The year following the Awakening became known as the Year of Collapse where a time when humanity's hubris met the unrelenting force of an altered reality.

As humanity wrestled with its newfound powers and the devastation they wrought, the Earth faced an even greater upheaval. A year after the Awakening, rifts began to appear in the fabric of reality itself. They started as shimmering anomalies, glowing like pools of liquid light. People called them "Gates," at first marveling at their ethereal beauty.

The awe quickly turned to horror.

From the smallest F-class Gates to the colossal SSS-class ones, these portals unleashed nightmarish creatures into the already battered world. Each Gate seemed to function as a bridge between dimensions, a tear through which the monstrous forces of another realm poured into Earth. At first, these creatures attacked with feral unpredictability, targeting anything and anyone in their path.

F-class Gates released swarms of chittering, insect-like creatures that overwhelmed villages and small towns. In contrast, the S-class Gates delivered titanic monstrosities that rivaled skyscrapers in size, their roars shaking the very ground. The arrival of an SSS-class Gate in the Pacific Ocean brought forth a leviathan so massive it reshaped the coastline, swallowing entire islands in a tide of destruction.

Amid this chaos, a legend began to form, a tale of a mighty dragon, Vaerith'kora, whose name had been whispered in forgotten myths and ancient stories. Few knew that this being still existed, watching over Earth from the shadows. For millennia, Vaerith'kora had been a guardian, a timeless entity protecting the balance between worlds. But the Awakening, spurred by the surge of mana, was a sign he had long feared, a prelude to invasion from the dimension of the Kadiliman Dominion.

Vaerith'kora chose to act. The dragon descended from his mountain sanctuary, a blazing comet of golden fire streaking across the heavens. For days, he fought against the monstrosities emerging from the Gates, each thunderous roar signaling his defiance against the tide.

In a final act of sacrifice, Vaerith'kora unleashed his life force to create a barrier that sealed the largest Gates. His power fractured into countless shards of mana, scattering across the Earth. These shards embedded themselves in the land, in objects, and even in individuals, amplifying their abilities or imbuing them with new ones.

His death bought humanity time but not salvation.

In the wake of Vaerith'kora's sacrifice, the world teetered on the brink of annihilation. Out of necessity, humanity began to organize. It was Albert Rehnquist, a former military strategist and one of the first awakened, who rallied the survivors. Under his leadership, the Guardians were formed where a coalition of awakened individuals and unpowered humans united by a single goal: the protection of humanity.

The Guardians established training academies to teach the awakened how to harness their powers responsibly. They reclaimed cities and fortified them, creating safe zones protected by barriers infused with mana shards.

To combat the Gates, Albert developed a system for ranking them by threat level:

F-E Class Gates: Manageable by local defenders with minimal casualties.

D-C Class Gates: Requiring Guardian intervention, often leading to high destruction in nearby areas.

B-A Class Gates: Threatening entire cities, demanding the deployment of elite Guardian squads.

S-SSS Class Gates: Apocalyptic, necessitating every available resource, with devastating losses expected.

Despite the Guardians' efforts, it would take three years of relentless battles and coordination to restore a semblance of stability.

The world that emerged from the chaos was unrecognizable. Cities became citadels, heavily guarded and self-sustaining. The spaces between them once teeming with life became desolate wastelands, prowled by creatures from unsealed Gates. Travel between safe zones was perilous, requiring armed convoys or aerial transport.

Society itself fractured. The awakened, once seen as gods or monsters, became soldiers, leaders, and, in some cases, pariahs. The unpowered found ways to adapt, some inventing technology to counter the threats, while others relied on ancient traditions, merging them with mana to create new forms of magic.

Commerce resumed, but bartering became as common as currency. Artifacts from destroyed cities, mana-infused relics, and even captured creatures from Gates became valuable commodities. A new black market arose, dealing in forbidden experiments and the sale of Gatespawn for illicit uses.

Even as humanity began to rebuild, the Kadiluman Dominion watched. This interdimensional organization, which had orchestrated the Gate invasions, viewed Earth as both a resource and a battlefield. Their higher-ups, beings of immense power and intellect, debated how to respond to Vaerith'kora's interference and the rise of the Guardians.

The Gates were no longer random occurrences but coordinated strikes. The Malus Dominion began deploying their elite warriors through the larger Gates, testing Earth's defenses and preparing for a full-scale invasion.

Earth was no longer just a fractured world struggling to survive and it had become the frontline of a cosmic war.

~~~~~

Greg didn't remember the exact moment it started, but the pain was impossible to ignore. It wasn't physical, no sharp sting or dull ache. Instead, it was an all-encompassing sensation, as though his very soul was being ripped apart and pieced back together again. His mind swirled with memories that weren't his, yet felt more real than the life he had lived.

He fell to his knees in the small, cluttered apartment where he had spent most of his uneventful days. His vision blurred, not from tears, but from the overwhelming flood of images. Faces he didn't recognize flashed before him, comrades, enemies, a roaring dragon's maw, a sword glinting with crimson light, a castle crumbling into the sea. His heart raced as emotions followed the memories: sorrow, triumph, rage, and something else and its something deeper and unfamiliar.

In the stillness of his trance, Greg felt himself pulled into a vast, ethereal expanse, a place that seemed to exist beyond time. Stars burned bright above him, each one pulsating with a rhythm that resonated within his chest. And then, like the unfolding of a book, the memories revealed themselves.

The Swordmaster came first. Greg felt the weight of a blade in his hands, its balance perfect, its edge a whisper of death. The memories guided his body into stances and movements that felt natural, as if he had trained for decades. He saw a man clad in simple armor, standing atop a battlefield littered with broken weapons. In his hand, a sword of light burned with the intensity of a star. He struck down enemies with precision and grace, each movement imbued with purpose. The vision ended with the man raising his blade toward the heavens as a golden aura enveloped him, his ascension to the Seventh Star, almost at the pinnacle of mastery.

Then came the Mage. The world around Greg shifted into a library so vast it seemed infinite. Shelves reached into the void, filled with tomes bound in leather and magic. A wizened figure stood before him, robes shimmering with constellations. The mage spoke words of wisdom, his voice like the crackling of fire and the rush of wind. Greg felt the surge of mana as he delved into the "Portion of Truth," a fragment of knowledge so profound it illuminated the cosmos. He saw runes forming in the air, their secrets unraveling before him, revealing the essence of creation itself.

And finally, the Dragon. A massive, scaled beast loomed over Greg, its eyes burning like twin suns. Vaerith'kora. The name reverberated in his soul. He felt the dragon's power, a presence so vast it dwarfed the very mountains, and yet, beneath the awe-inspiring might, there was a flicker of something tender. Companionship. Affection. Compassion. Greg felt the dragon's pain, its longing to understand a world that feared and revered it. He saw Vaerith'kora's final moments, the sacrifice that scattered his power across the Earth, and the gentle hope that humanity might use it to find unity in the chaos.

Greg gasped as the visions subsided, his body trembling and drenched in sweat. He tried to rise but found his limbs unresponsive, as if the sheer weight of the memories had rendered him immobile.

Who am I?

The question burned in his mind. He had lived his life as Greg, ordinary, unnoticed, and unremarkable. Yet these fragments of the past suggested something far greater. He wasn't just Greg. He was the Swordmaster, the Mage, the Dragon. But how? Were they past lives? Pieces of his soul scattered across time and space? Or was he something entirely different, something beyond human comprehension?

As he wrestled with these thoughts, his surroundings began to shift. The room blurred, and suddenly he found himself in a reflective void. Before him stood three figures: the Swordmaster, the Mage, and Vaerith'kora. They looked at him with eyes that burned with recognition.

"You are the sum of our journeys," the Swordmaster said, his voice steady and commanding. "Our victories, our struggles, our truths and they are yours now."

"But why?" Greg's voice trembled. "Why me? Why now?"

"It is your destiny," the Mage replied, his tone softer but no less resolute. "The shards of our lives were always meant to converge. In you, the pieces align. The world needs you, Greg. The truth of who you are will be the key to its salvation."

Vaerith'kora lowered his massive head, his golden eyes locking with Greg's. "You are not merely a man. You are the culmination of what we aspired to be. A being who understands strength, wisdom, and compassion. Use them wisely."

The void dissolved, and Greg found himself back in his apartment. The silence was deafening, but within him, the hum of power thrummed. He clenched his fists, feeling the faint traces of aura, mana, and something else something draconic coursing through his veins. His body felt alien, yet familiar, as though he had been reforged into something entirely new.

The days that followed were a blur. Greg secluded himself, practicing the movements of the Swordmaster, weaving spells like the Mage, and meditating to connect with the dragon's essence. His body adapted quickly, his mind less so. The memories haunted him, a cacophony of voices urging him forward.

One night, as he gazed out of his window at the broken cityscape, the weight of it all settled on him. The world was in chaos, teetering on the brink of destruction. Monsters roamed freely, Gates opened daily, and humanity clawed desperately for survival.

He thought of Vaerith'kora's sacrifice, of the lives lost, of the suffering. He couldn't ignore it anymore. The memories had chosen him for a reason, and whether he liked it or not, he had a responsibility.

Greg stepped out of his apartment for the first time in weeks. The streets were a shadow of their former selves, lined with crumbling buildings and abandoned vehicles. A distant explosion lit up the horizon a Gate, no doubt. He clenched his fists, feeling the hum of power within him.

"I may not know who I am," Greg whispered, his voice steady, "but I know what I have to do."

As he walked toward the chaos, he could feel the eyes of the world watching. Whether as a savior or a harbinger of destruction, Greg was ready to uncover his truth and face the destiny that awaited him.