Prologue: The Catalyst
65 million years ago...
The night sky burned with an otherworldly light as the object hurtled through Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the iron-rich asteroid that would have brought extinction, this celestial visitor carried something far more extraordinary—a crystalline mineral that pulsed with energy unlike anything the young planet had ever seen.
The impact site, in what would one day become the plains outside Neo-Tokyo, glowed with ethereal blue light for months after the crash. As the dust settled and life began to evolve around this mysterious mineral called Aethrium, something fundamental changed in the very fabric of existence on Earth.
Where evolution would have normally relied on iron to carry oxygen through blood, Aethrium took its place. Every living cell, every breath, every heartbeat became infused with this alien energy. What started as a biological curiosity became something far more profound—the birth of human potential beyond imagination.
Present Day - Neo-Tokyo Academy
The morning sun cast long shadows across the courtyard where students demonstrated abilities that would have been considered miracles just centuries ago. Fire danced from fingertips, ice formed from thin air, and gravity bent to teenage wills. This was the new normal—a world where everyone possessed some degree of Aethrium-enhanced power.
Everyone, that is, except for those unfortunate few who drew the genetic short straw.
Seventeen-year-old Ryu Takeshi sat alone on the academy steps, watching his classmates practice their abilities with the casual ease of breathing. His own attempt at flame conjuration had produced nothing more than a spark that died before it could even warm his palm. F-minus rank—the lowest classification possible. Some days he wondered if even that rating was generous.
"Maybe tomorrow will be different," he whispered to himself, the same lie he'd been telling for years. "Maybe I'll finally show some improvement."
The school bell's chime echoed across the courtyard, and Ryu gathered his belongings with practiced resignation. Around him, students continued their displays—Kira lifted her entire desk with her mind while chatting casually with friends, Zain's fingers crackled with controlled lightning as he took notes, and Maya... Maya just watched everything with those enigmatic eyes that seemed to hold secrets beyond her years.
The hallway buzzed with conversation about the latest news: another S-rank criminal had escaped custody, the Aethrium Council was mobilizing Guardians citywide, and rumors persisted of power levels that defied classification. In a world stratified by ability, strength determined everything—social status, career prospects, even basic respect.
Ryu kept his head down as he navigated the crowded halls, hoping to avoid the attention that invariably led to humiliation. The taunts followed him anyway.
"Hey, Ember Boy! Don't forget your homework—practice not being completely useless!"
The laughter echoed behind him as he pushed through the academy's front doors. Forty-five minutes lay between him and home, forty-five minutes of walking through the plains where ancient Aethrium fragments still dotted the landscape like fallen stars. The journey gave him time to think, time to dream of a different life, and unfortunately, time for others to plan.
He had no way of knowing that buried beneath those very plains lay the largest Aethrium fragment ever to reach Earth—a crystalline mass that had been waiting sixty-five million years for the right catalyst.
For the right blood.
As Ryu set off toward home, five figures emerged from the shadows behind the academy building. They had been waiting, planning, and today they would finally teach the school's greatest disappointment what happened to those who dared to exist without power in a world that worshipped strength.
The sun began its descent toward the horizon, casting the plains in golden light that would soon turn crimson. In the distance, the ancient impact site hummed with barely perceptible energy, as if sensing that the time of awakening was finally at hand.
Ryu walked on, unaware that his life—and the fate of humanity itself—was about to change forever.
The meteor that had altered Earth's destiny sixty-five million years ago was no accident. It had been sent. And now, finally, it was time for its true purpose to be revealed.
To be continued in Chapter 1: The Different Path...