New Age of Genes

Daniel sat staring at his ceiling, unable to sleep no matter how much he tried. He was overwhelmed with giddiness and hope for tomorrow. Tomorrow was his sixteenth birthday and on a persons sixteenth birthday they would be able to procure a hunting licence which would allow its user to enter Eden.

Over two-hundred years ago, science and technology took a big leap forward with the invention of the Vortex Manipulator. This device was made to teleport around the world, shockingly when they tried to be teleported they weren't sent in time or relative space, they were sent to an entirely different world.

A world that humankind could not even begin to fathom. In this world no technology could work: a nuclear warhead would be no different from a large hunk of metal and a gun wouldn't even be as useful as a knife. No mechanical or electronic equipment would work either.

All manner of horrible creatures inhabited Eden. Humankind, who used to stand at the top of the food chain because of their science and technology fell right to the bottom.

There was however hope, when people killed the weaker creatures of the garden and consumed their flesh they would become stronger and evolved in a way that science could not fathom.

What made people even more surprised is that with the increased evolution their lifespans would increase also which amazed the whole of mankind. The higher the degree of physical evolution, the longer the life, so theoretically if one were to get strong enough they could become immortal.

Due to the uselessness of science and technology in the garden, humankind switched there viewpoint and turned to ancient martial arts and sutras which had unexpected effects on the new human body. All kinds of ancient arts went through rigorous redevelopment and became the pillars of mankind's achievements, boosting them through the different gardens. New martial art schools were then formed and became very prominent figure heads.

Daniel belonged to one of these schools, the Keku Martial Hall, named after the Egyptian god of darkness and chaos. The Keku Martial Hall was owned by the Kuro family who were previously known as world class assassins but changed and decided to teach the martial techniques of their family. This lifted the martial hall up to a new height making it renowned for it's dagger and archery skills.

Daniel's mother was an instructor in the martial hall due to her being a renowned transcender on the verge of entering the fourth garden, she taught everything she knew to her son making him take the position of top of the class frequently. This lead to his half siblings rejecting him, however this didn't much effect Daniel as he didn't like his snobbish half siblings anyway.

He did however like his two little sisters, they were twins who his mother had picked up off the streets when they were 4 years old. They were called Roxanne and Maryanne, or Roxy and Mary for short and they were regular students in the martial hall. They were sweet and well behaved girls but they had another side to them that few knew about, a mischievous one.

It was partly due to them that Daniel couldn't sleep right now, they had switched his nightly decaff with regular coffee, leaving Daniel with a lot of caffeine in his system. Although they did this kind of thing to him often, he still loved them dearly as he had no one else to talk to, his chats with them were always the highlight of his day.

Daniel was finally drifting off to sleep whilst thinking about his talks with his sisters, his mother smiled from behind his door. Once he was fast asleep his mother opened the door and smiled at her sleeping son, she walked over and did something quite strange. She took a medical syringe from behind her back and quickly injected into her son.

He stirred for a second before settling down and breathing normally, she then took a small glowing object out from her pocket. It was shaped like a cube and glowed purple, it had a certain mesmerising aura to it which made one stare. She forced her eyes away from the cube and gently placed it on her son's forehead, it then gradually began to sink into his head as if his skin had suddenly become quick sand which pulled the cube downward.

After observing the process and seeing it's complete integration, Daniel's mother left the room with a smile upon her lips. "That's all we can do for him my love," she said whilst looking up to the sky, "We can only hope it works out."

She then slowly walked back to her room, slumped on her bed and instantly fell asleep.

=====================================================================

Daniel woke up at five, he had only been asleep for around four hours but he was surprisingly refreshed. He ran downstairs to be met with the smiling face of his mother, Lucy. "Hey mum." he said whilst sliding past her, he sat at the table and shoved some toast into his mouth. "Did you get enough sleep?" she said, not returning his greeting, "You have a big day today, if you didn't sleep well you wont be able to get a beast gear before you come home." she said whilst taking a seat opposite him.

A beast gear was something that had a chance of dropping from a creature that was killed in Eden, they all took different forms and some were more effective than others, but they could all be used to help their user to get stronger. They had all kinds of forms and appearances, they could be weapons or armour or even pets that could be summoned to fight for their master. Some beast gears could even transform their user into the beast from whence it came, from giant flying birds to insects that could drill underneath the earth.

Lucy and Daniel had made a deal, Daniel could not leave the garden until he had his first beast gear, even if it was only a basic beast gear and it took him a month to gain it. Daniel was fine with this as it was normal for people no to leave the garden for months or even years at a time. He would however miss his family a great deal so he would try to gain a gear as quickly as possible.

Daniel and Lucy ate breakfast together until the twins came down from upstairs, Daniel then leapt from the table and began tickling the two girls. They broke out in a fit of laughter as they were tackled to the floor by their big brother. What do you two rascals think you're doing switching my coffee like that, hey? Did you really think I wouldn't get you back?" he said whilst ravishing their sides with his hands. "WE'RE SORRY DAN.....WE WONT DO IT...AGAIN, PLEASE!!" they screamed in between hysterical fits of laughter.

"Let them go Daniel, if you don't leave soon the patriarch wont give you your kit." Lucy said from behind her coffee with a grin plastered across her face. Daniel stood up away from the girls as they lay panting for breath on the floor whilst clutching their sides. "Okay mum, I'll be on my way then." he said whilst leaving with a smile on his face.