Rand moved in a Town under assault. A full on Demon raid. The middle of the town was set ablaze, flames rising into the night sky, smoke billowing about the town.
The town's denizens run. A chaotic torrent of terrified men, women and children. They streamed away from the town's amid shouts of panic and prayers for safety as Rescue men urged them on.
Amid the flames was the sound of battle. The crack of thunder and the flashes of steel and arcane energies.. The 'awakened' were fighting the demon creatures, buying the ordinary folk time to get away as they awaited reinforcement.
Rand longed to be among their number. To fight for humanity against demon kind. But he couldn't. Because he was weak.
The world had changed when the gates appeared and Demonic creatures along with the demons had invaded. Ordinary humans had been left with no way out except death.
Only the Awakened, Those chosen by Gaea Stood a chance at survival in the new world and only their choice to defend ordinary men is the reason they had survived in this age of Demon kind.
Rand's parents had been Awakened. The world had agreed to rank awakened from A to F alphabetically with F being the weakest rank of any awakened and A being the highest quantifiable rank. There is even the realm of ranks assigned S that was above A.
Rand's parents were not elites among the awakened as they had never gone beyond D rank at the heights of their power. Yet as awakened they gave their all fighting against Demon kind. They perished when Rand was only 6 years old during the rise of the new demon monarch. Their bodies could not be recovered. Only his father's sword was returned to him. That was all their lives had mounted to.
There was no justice for the weak in this world.
Rand was taken into an orphanage. Not just any orphanage. it was a government funded orphanage. They took in kids and subjected them to the most intense training they could without killing them so as to increase their chances of awakening and to ensure they would be of quality after awakening.
He grew up watching the horrors happening around the world where the weak humans were at the mercy of the powerful monsters and demons and their own salvation lay in the strong awakened who could not save everyone. Rand was convinced, this world had no justice for the weak.
And so he immersed himself in the orphanage training program with all his heart. His desire clear. To one day become as strong as the top rankers! like the legendary six, So that he would fight for the weak.
The training was brutal and many children were broken by it. The orphanage had no use for broken children. There was no justice for those who couldn't keep up.
Rand was strong among his peers. he performed well in every exercise and all eyes were on him. He had to be strong. Justice lay in strength.
The age of awakening is between the year when one turns 14 to the end of 15. Awakening happens when the body of a human has absorbed enough natural mana from the world. Ever since mana flooded the earth, human babies absorb it from the moment of their birth.
When the human body has accumulated sufficient mana beyond an individual's personal threshold, it undergoes a phenomenon called mana evolution where the body is transformed to a superior state with super human stats and abilities related to mana. The rank of first awakening is determined by how much mana The body was able to absorb before mana evolution is triggered.
Awakening and the powers of the Awakened are governed by the great Mystical system called The wisdom of Gaea created by the goddess when the demonic invasions begun.
After one has met the conditions for awakening, The Wisdom of Gaea, often referred to as the 'Wisdom' by most folk triggers mana evolution within them leading to physical and spiritual evolution. The awakened hears the voice of the wisdom for the first time informing them if their successful awakening.
This knowledge had been made public so that ordinary humans knew what to expect when an awakening was upon them.
When Rand turned 14, there was anticipation on his awakening and just what potential he might possess given his human body had reached the Pinnacle of ordinary humans.
Throughout that year, many of the other children of the orphanage underwent their awakening. Those who turned 15 and did not awaken after 6 months were sent away to make their way in the world as the orphanage had no place for them.
Those who Awakened had their potential measured and taken to Government Barracks that offered training to all awakened.
At 15, Rand was already considered a disappointment by his instructors. But he never gave up. he remained deligent in his actions. He trained his body even long after the instructors had given up on him.
On his last day at the orphanage after 6 months of turning 15, he woke up to the voice of the Wisdom and was blessed with the sight of Gaea. The words were simple yet bearing the best news Rand had received since his parents demise delivered in a mechanical gender neutral voice that resonated directly in his mind.
[NOTICE: THE INDIVIDUAL RAND LEONAS HAS AWAKENED]
Accompanying those words each and everyone who awakened gained the ability to look at the state of their own power quantified upon a status screen accessible only to their vision. This was the 'Sight of Gaea' , granted by the Wisdom. This was proof undoubtedly that he had awakened.
Rand was overjoyed. Gaea had not forgotten him. Here was a chance for him to grow in strength and one day stand at the top. However his joy died when he studied the contents of his status window.
{ [ STATUS WINDOW ]
NAME: Rand Leonas
[ ATTRIBUTES ] STRENGTH: 10 AGILITY: 10
CONSTITUTION: 10 PERCEPTION: 10
MANA: 5
[ TALENT ]
None
[ ABILITIES ]
None
[ SKILLS ]
None
TIER: [Copper ] }
None of his Attribute stats were those of an awakened. They were all stats ordinary humans could possess at their peak. There was nothing superhuman about them.
And worst of all was his Mana attribute which quantified how much Mana an individual had within their body. The threshold for Accumulated mana that triggers an awakening was quantified at 20. And this was for awakening the F rank!
He had no Talent which was a something all awakened attained upon awakening. He had gained absolutely nothing from his awakening.
Yet the wisdom had announced his awakening. Yet he could look upon his status window. It was as if Gaea herself had decided to mock him and shout in his face that he was weak and destined to be weak in this world where There was no justice for the weak.
It was truly unfair. That those who desired to fight for humanity the most would not be granted the power they Needed. That he would have to spend what life he might have waiting upon the mercy of the strong to come and save him from the demonic creatures.
There was no justice for the weak in this world!