Chapter 1: The Great Merge
Pov: unknown
No one knows truly how it happened, but on December 12th, 2012, at 9 pm, the world ended, not with nukes, not with wars or a pandemic, but with a bright flash and the world splitting open and expanding. The screaming and blood-curdling cries were all that was heard as, for 3 days, everything changed. On the first day, it was the death of over 90 % of all mankind, when everything stopped, what was left scattered around the world managed to band together as portals were spread all over this new world. Many led to other points on this earth, and others would soon be discovered to be dungeons that stayed inactive for the first month. Those who were foolish enough to get trapped were food for the sealed monsters that would soon flood from the portals.
Those of humanity who were left were left empowered by things called systems, able to kill normal animals with far more ease, as sadly, guns were soon found lacking, as animals were also empowered and changed, evolved as dungeon breaks would happen all over since they were left unchecked. A dungeon break was when the monster inhabiting one would break free and gain a spot in the ecosystem, as the world would adapt to allow its growth and survival. Systems varied in three types: Standard, Elite, and Named.
Standard systems: Basic leveling system with nothing special, only gets 2 stat points per level up, lacks many features like element affinities, and lists some info like bloodlines and constitutions unless one has awoken one. has the hardest effort to break past level 100; most never break through the limit.
Epic systems: All systems state it is Epic in the name, for instance, the Epic poisoner system or the swordsman's Epic system, has all basic functions, nothing is hidden can see if one has a bloodline, element affinities, and resistances. Gets a 3 or 1.5 boost in stat points every level, able to gain free stat points from training in specific ways, with higher gains than doing the same with a standard system. Will be given a quest to break the level 100 limit.
Named systems; the most limitless systems are rare and a symbol of unfathomable growth. All system functions, as well as having hidden ones, get 4 stat points per level up or 2 times boost in free stat points per level compared to a standard system. You can gain free stat points with the highest yield from training; however, more effort is required to compensate. All named systems have some way to gain free bonus stats in some way, often seen as a cheat or op depending on what needs to be done. will be given a quest to break the 100-level limit, or the user can naturally break it on their own. If they find their own methods.
It was a Hard first year for humans, figuring everything out own there own as on the year anniversary, multiple new races flooded the new Earth, as it was over 11 times larger, basically the size of what Jupiter used to be. Three other human races assimilated with the remaining humans, which gave the human territories a needed leg up.
Being the Terra Novias, the closest of the normal humans of Earth but far more advanced in technology and medicine, it was an easy merger, as these humans were the same down to history. A parallel world, but just far in the future, with the split in actions being that nothing happened to them in 2012, whereas the mass hysteria leading up to the day they believed the world would end drove the population to drop by over 70%. This caused the survivors from the flames of anarchy to come together to form a single, joined world nation, thus leading to strides in world unity and a boom in science and creativity. It was a rough 100-year transition, but it became a far better Earth with advanced weapons, medicine, and technology. Only a year before the merger, they would discover systems.
Next was the Empire. A group of humans from a world of Sword and magic, it was basically a world often told in fiction of magic users and Fae creatures. They brought with them magic and the resurgence of cold weapons as magic-enhanced bodies and systems made guns somewhat obsolete, if not a direct counter to hot weapons. With the addition of Mana and other energies, people were left much more resilient; however, guns were not outclassed, just made common arms useless to systems users unless they had ways to enhance said weapons with skills, magic, or other energies. It would take a while before modern guns became viable to use, as at most they were only good to kill or really harm anything under level 1-15, as even a point-blank shot could be walked off with ease.
And finally were the Cultivators. A group of Ki or Chi users that store and cultivate Ki into themselves to strengthen and enhance themselves to superhuman levels, who focus on martial arts and body refinement with a heavy lean on Asian and Eastern culture. They were very easy to try and become the ruling human race, as only The Empire stood a real chance, as even advanced technology paled in their use of Ki, and even magic could render warheads powerless. The only upside was that the introduction of systems left the Cultivators with a self-imposed handicap. Why? They saw it as an easy crutch to use their powerful techniques and saw it as a substitute for true skill. Only after the Unity War, 50 years later, did humanity become one again, and the remnants of the 3 human groups and the remaining prime humans faded into just being humans again with no differences, as the culture and multiple paths of getting stronger went hand in hand.
Only once they were unified did they learn more information on the great merge in detail, as well as systems, and something called The WILL. First was the level 100 limit. All systems users are capped at level 100, being the highest they can reach from farming exp. This is a safety guard placed by THE WILL to insure ones souls dose not destroy itself from the power its accumulated. To break past it, one must find ways to do so, changing their vessel into one of higher potential.
Standard systems have no natural way of doing so, so they must be given methods or find one themselves to break the limit. Both Epic and Named systems can follow the same process but theses systems vary by giving quests to allow the user to naturally break said limit not all the time is it an easy quest. once a person hit lv 50 and higher there life span grown past that of there races natural estimated limit for example most humans live to 60-80 making it to where they can naturally live to 120-200 as they age far slower and stay youthful and in a prime body like state if they stay healthy in most cases even older ones will de-age and gain some youth back as there body grows stronger and better.
Multiple overlaps of other parallel dimensions. causing not only the expansion of Earth and other planets but also the arrival of many new worlds and galaxies, and easily traveling realms. With this many fantasy races brought out, many that were hidden or sleeping, now roam free. As well as gods and many things only talked about in secret or from the mouths of the insane.
THE WILL is the very will of the very universe, believed to be the culmination of multiple creation gods when the great merge happened. It is the watcher of all, yet not an all-ruling ruler. It keeps a somewhat balanced state of this new reality and bestows quests, items, gold, and such to the beings of this new reality, like a game system, so killed monsters and mortals' drops are facilitated by the will most times unless said monster has items on their body. All creatures have levels and a system, even common mobs, as they grow by killing others, just as users do in a game. Most monsters have the same level of intelligence as normal old-world animals, but when one reaches over level 5, they display basic logic and thoughts added onto their natural instincts. In rare cases, they can learn to talk and even become one with society, creating new races. For example, goblins are different from feral ones, as goblins that gain thought and sentience will only produce the same offspring even if breeding with a feral monster; however, the same can happen in reverse, making a smarter feral monster. In many sad common cases, these beings are called Epic feral, Epic feral goblin, Epic feral Troll, Epic feral Gnoll, or hybrid names, and so on and so forth.
In the year 2124, 112 years after the great merge, only did the gods made there decent on this new reality. Wanting to rule over these new races and other gods, causing great destruction, in response, THE WILL bestowed everyone a system of random selection to all after reaching the age of 16 if not awaking one earlier; however, soon, gods and higher beings found they could create their own systems to give to their followers, if not themselves. So soon, many gods, Titans, and even celestials started to hoard resources to reincarnate into a system themselves so that they would gain a host that could transcend their limits, becoming more than just simply gods, but something more.
One stray god took many of the hidden secrets from the gods and gave them to mortals of both human, Fae, and monster kind. This god was Lycaon, the original werewolf god, as the chains that bound the many pantheons were shattered during the great merger. Giving them all free roam, breaking many curses, Lycan was no longer Olympus' lap dog; he went on to rebuild his kingdom of Arcadia. He amasses many followers from many different races, creating new werewolf variants as werewolves soon changed and evolved to permanently keep their ears and tail, becoming a subhuman race like half-animal people keeping 30% of the enhanced abilities a werewolf in a full transformed state would have permanently. And a now fully transformed Werewolf would be over 200% stronger due to evolution. Werewolves had an innate large well of Ki or life energy, which was deadly to vampires and races of the night. Many races evolved to transcend certain weaknesses, like vampires no longer fearing the sun; however, they, like many creatures of the dark, were stronger at night and were given passive buffs. And somewhat weaker in the sun, depending on the person or equipment. They would be around 10-40% weaker but over 50-80% at night or in the dark.
Our story begins at the end of this war, dubbed the Great Fall and rebirth of powers, or the Great God Fall War. With the death of many Lycan held close and dear, many gods would face an end here, may it be permanent or the beginning to there next cycle.