1 The Great Fall

[The year 2252 - Bastion(18) - In one of the 5 Asian strongholds]

A young man, thin in body and slightly weakened from lack of sufficient food, carried provisions he had bought in town, heading towards his cabin in the Bastion slums. He seemed quite happy because today he had bought some White rank monster meat.

The day before the anniversary of the "Great Fall" is approaching, and by extension, the tradition that has been taking place around the world for several decades, the "Awakening Ceremony", is obligatory for all children aged 16.

With a big smile on his face, the young man looked once more at the contents of the bag but immediately grimaced.

"...It's so small...all my savings...damn!"

With a displeased expression, Rin began to imagine how to cook this piece of meat to get the most out of his savings.

"I think I'll start by waiting for Uncle Ryu to leave his cabin, then cook that thing with his mana plates... I'll also need to steal some herbs from old Granny Yu... if I get taken..."

He stopped walking for a few seconds, lost in thought, and looked ahead, then changed direction, still deep in thought.

"...Maybe Uncle Ryu won't go to work... damn, I have good food but no way to cook it... what if I offer Uncle a piece The size of a finger bone in exchange for the use of his plates? Hahaha, what a genius I am."

As he moved forward, his head bowed in thought and his mouth watering as he thought about the mana-rich meat, Rin intentionally avoided one of the slums' most notorious gangs. It had become a habit for him because Rin is a similar case... a semi-awake individual.

Today this case is not shocking, a young man laughing and happy with a simple piece of meat, it all started more than 100 years ago

In the year 2115, an unknown scientist made a revolutionary discovery that an invisible, infinite energy exists throughout the universe. That same year, he invented the "Rhythmic Interconnected Nexus", commonly known as the mana battery.

This invention has allowed humanity to grow in unprecedented ways as mana is an infinite and limitless source of energy that powers every device in the world, eliminating charging issues and energy shortages.

However, like any newly discovered energy, it also serves darker purposes. Weaponry has advanced alongside discovery, and the power of mana bombs has been tested around the world by various powers. This led to a rapid escalation of events between the Red Empire and the Eagle Union. It was only when these two titans realized that their decade-long feud was causing an unprecedented problem for humanity, leading to the "Great Fall", that things began to calm down. However, important rivals still exist today.

Around the year 2125, scientists around the world made two remarkable discoveries. The first, less worrying, was that Mike Ollway, the scientist behind the discovery of mana and everything else, had disappeared - gone - something that should have been impossible given the planetary surveillance system possessed by the two major political blocs at the time.

However, the second discovery was even more disturbing. Mana was causing rapid mutations in every living species on the planet at an alarming rate. Lab mice, constantly exposed to radiation from mana batteries, no longer feared drug tests or syringe needles, and their intelligence began to develop.

The world was in a state of excitement as animals, plants, and microorganisms evolved at an accelerated pace. Some animals became invulnerable to bullets, and if someone tried to eradicate them in groups using mana bombs, which became the only way to damage them, the concentration of mana in that area became even greater after the massacre, leading to the emergence of stronger species in the long term.

It was a vicious cycle. After a few years, in certain regions of the world, nature began to reclaim its rights. The only silver lining amidst all this was that scientists discovered that humans also mutate, although it happens at a slower rate and for unknown reasons. Some humans mutated and unlocked a "stigma", a unique, individual ability that varied from person to person. In addition, a system, common to the human race but unique to each individual, has been discovered. This system compiles physical, spiritual, and stigma-related data, even allowing their evolution.

but coming back to the present.

Shortly after and thanks to his fuzzy ability to randomly perceive things like a faulty radar, Rin arrived at the entrance to his cabin... four metal walls, a curtain, and a tin roof salvaged from the slums.

"With the heat right now, my cabin is more like an oven... There are more ways to cook me than a piece of meat... damn life!!"

Abandoning the idea of entering this oven, he headed towards the place where the man who had raised him lived after the death of his parents 10 years ago. During the last wave of monsters, all the adults had to fight, awake or not. It was also during this time that Rin, as a child, began to perceive things in his environment as if he were within a certain range, which was completely random whenever this ability was active. He could see everything clearly as if obstacles or any absence of light didn't exist... The problem was that it activated randomly.

"Oh, wouldn't that be little Rin?..."

A very familiar voice with a cold tone sounded not far behind Rin, who slowly turned around with a big smile, his thoughts running at full speed.

"DAMMIT!! This random ability is so annoying!!!! This situation is much more dangerous than before!!!!"

He took a deep breath and replied in a friendly manner.

"Uncle Ryu, I missed you, hahaha... You know, I was thinking about you today, and I didn't forget that it was your birthday! I brought you a little present."

The middle-aged man with long hair, a body built like a mountain, and covered in scars, stared at the young man and sniffed loudly with a hint of suspicion in his gaze.

"You little brat, it's not even my birthday to begin with, but since you started talking about presents, if you don't satisfy me I'll break your arms and legs like I did a few months ago."

Sweat began to drip down Rin's forehead, and a helpless smile appeared as he remembered a few months ago when he had dared to enter Uncle Ryu's house even though he was serious about the old manager of the slum bar... For him, it was a "rescue" because "the monster in human form must be spreading prehistoric diseases", but Uncle Ryu just took him like a punching bag and confined him in bed for three months.

After deliberation, he decided to take a loss this time as he could not afford to receive punishment from his uncle the day before the Awakening Ceremony.

"Hahaha, do you think you raised me for nothing? Listen carefully, old man...uncle, I used my savings to buy these few grams of F-rank monster meat!!!"

Looking at the bag that Rin was now proudly displaying and realizing a few seconds later that it was monster meat, he even forgot about the 'old' that slipped out of that brat's mouth and started laughing out loud.

"That's great, little brat!! Hahaha, tonight we'll have a feast!! Come on, let's prepare it so you can go to bed early. Tomorrow is your ceremony."

Old Ryu approached Rin and tried to take the bag from his hands...or at least he tried...the little thing in front of him clung to it as if it were the last vestige of his family.

"Well, you little shit, why don't you let go?!"

Rin, with an expression of absolute reluctance and very visible beads of sweat on his forehead, licked his now dry lips and awkwardly articulated the sentence he had been trying to construct internally.

"Oh, my beloved uncle, you know, when I said 'gift' when talking about meat..." He swallowed hard under the intense gaze and growing murderous aura before him... "in this little piece of meat that I had a hard time getting... uh... I thought I'd give you the equivalent of a knuckle as a gift..."

What followed were the desperate screams of a young man being chased through the slums of the South by a middle-aged man... accustomed to the escapades of these two characters, the people nearby were amused and cheering the little thing on which already looked like a blueberry to be beaten so much...