1 Chapter 1 – The world we live in

Year 2000 January 8, DC Washington. 8.30 AM

The little boy stood in front of the huge gates that led to a luxurious-looking building complex. The gates were black and had two standing silver lions connected in the middle of the gates. He could see various storied buildings in the background through the gates. The boy was both nervous and excited. It was his first day at school. He had to gentlemen in full suits following him from either side. His bodyguards.

The bodyguard on the left side left his side and walked towards the guardhouse and showed the entrance letter. The guard just verified the credentials and pushed a button. Opening the gates.

The bodyguard came back to him and knelt in front of him. He had a slight smile on his face

"You can go in now master Blake. Good luck on your first day. Harry and I will be waiting for you when the school ends."

The boys smiled at him.

"Thank you, Jake."

The boy then entered through the gates and walked towards the buildings. He could see that at the front of one building there was a woman, at kids at his age were gathered around her. Naturally, Blake went towards her.

"….the LionsGuard private school for elementary children. Today we shall take a tour and then introduce you to your classes."

As Blake was closing on the woman, he caught onto what she was saying. LionsGuard was a prestigious school that accepted only the wealthiest and powerful in the country. Blakes' parents had plenty of both. He walked up to the woman and handed her his entrance papers. Her eyebrows went up slightly when she saw her surname, but then quickly ushered him to join the others. After all, she had seen so many people of his status come through the gates.

They waited till everyone was gathered and then the lady started to towards to her left beckoning to follow her. Blake started to follow her brimming with anticipation of what his first day at the school was going to be like.

..........

Year 2005 January 14th, DC Washington. 2.30 PM

Blake was sleepy. He just had lunch and to make matters worse the current period was history. Their history teacher was a short man with a balding head with a beer belly. He had a pair of spectacles that rested on his big nose. He was just speaking in a monotone voice which did not help Blake at all. Todays' chapter was about the Hunters.

"Hunters. The general term we call the people with extraordinary powers. Derived from the ancient times when these powers were discovered. They were used to hunt the beasts. Thus the name 'Hunters'. Unfortunately, not only the humans received these powers. Animals got them too. But unlike humans, they didn't know how to control it. Some became feral and went on rampages. But some… some evolved and became sentient, they are the most dangerous."

"Hunters are your go-to people when you need to deal with these beasts. There are two major hunter types,"

1. Mage Hunters

2. Warrior hunters

"Mage hunters are the hunters who can manipulate the earth cores' powers and create what mages call 'magical' spells.

Mages use complex hand signs to create a web of nodes with their fingertips. Spells can have many hand signs. Each sign can be represented in a 4d Cartesian plane. Fingertips in the three-dimensional plane and hand sign series using time as the fourth axis. This creates a complex construct of nodes in which the mage has to pour earth core energy. Which in turn output as a 'Spell'.

They use a color-specific rank system to identify the powers they have."

1. Red

2. Yellow

3. Green

4. Blue

5. Violet

6. White

7. Black

"Red is the lowest and the white is the most powerful. As you can see there's a color called black. They are mages who practice dark magic. Once you start to delve into dark magic, your core will turn black. Regardless of what stage you are in. Keep in mind that using dark magic is prohibited and you will be hunted down."

"Then there are the warrior hunters. They can't do what mages do. But they can use earth's core power to enhance their body to unbelievable degrees. This is achieved by guiding core energy through your body. The greater control you have, the greater power you have. "

"Like the mages, the warrior hunters also have a ranking system called realms. From 1st realm to 6th realm. 6th being the strongest. But now the world being so modern and so, standard ranks have been introduced by the ISO."

· F (weakest)

· E

· D

· B

· A

· S

· X

"S is the strongest and rarest. Well, technically it's not true. There are entities with powers that can only be called natural disasters. The X class is reserved for them. But they are so rare most people don't believe in them. 'S' well you can find them. And they are not to be underestimated either. Be it may a mage or a warrior… if he or she is an S class, they can fight armies without breaking a sweat."

Blake was nodding off throughout this lecture and missed most of it. His most effort went to staying awake until the class was over.

"You shall be tested for your classes and affinities at the end of this year. Although you can climb the ladder through effort, people who have B or above class can do it easier."

Blake sat up straight when he heard this. He wondered what class he would be in… whether he is a mage or a warrior.

After all his father was an A-class warrior and his mother was a S-class mage.

Year 2005 December 21st, DC Washington. 8.30 AM

It was time. Blake was at the school auditorium where all kids of his age were gathered. Each kid had one parent present with them. Because Blakes' parents were busy jack was there with him instead. Blake didn't mind. After all, he was used to being alone. Even if he had an elder brother, Nathan Wolf, he was much older than him and was an A-class mage with ice attribute at the last year of the mage academy. So Blake was left alone most of the time in their mansion. Which resulted in hours and hours spending time in the library of the mansion. Although Blake did not have much human contact he had one other companion. His dog. Ironically named 'Wolf'. A large greyhound was with Blake at every step inside the mansion. While Blake spends his time reading in the library wolf spends time sleeping at the feet of Blake. Considering the number of books he had read till now, Blake had a mature mind for a 10-year-old.

The school heads were also there along with the members of the National Hunters Association. Both mages and warriors from NHA were present.

At precisely 9.00 AM one member from the NHA stepped up. From the appearance-wise, he looked like a mage where he did not have any distinct build of a warrior.

"Good morning. My name is mage Dean Miller. To my left is warrior Jack Brown. We will be conducting the evaluations for the kids."

"To test the affinity for a mage, you just have to place your hand on the crystal. Obviously, you still don't know whether you can control core power yet. So I will pass on my power through you to the core. If the crystal lights up then congratulations. You are a mage. Whether you have any elemental affinities will be tested later at the mage academy."

"To test the affinity for warrior faction, you have to place your finger in this pad. It will draw your blood. We have solutions that check whether your body can control core power."

"I will now call names one by one. Step up to the podium and place the hand on the crystal. If it's unsuccessful, head over to the finger pad."

One by one kid were called onto the stage. There were various F rankers. E and D class hunters were found too. The first highlight of the day was when an A rank water mage was found. Dean was smiling from ear to ear.

It was rare for a kid to be born with A-class power. Which meant he had very high potential. The kid will get special training and resources which will be needed for him to become more powerful.

Finally, Blakes' time came. He was excited. He wasn't worried much because he believed that due to his genes he would be alright. He walked up to the podium and first placed his hand on the crystal and waited. Dean then came up behind him and placed his hand on the center of his back. Then suddenly he felt some warm energy entering his body. But as soon as it entered his body he felt it dissipate.

"Sorry kid. Looks like mage hood is not for you. Please head onto the other part of the test."

Blake went on ahead and placed his finger on the pad. He felt a sharp pain on the finger when it was pricked. He took a step back and waited for the results.

When the results were shown in the display, Blake's eyes went wide. He… he was warrior incompatible!

He felt like the world was crumbling and his ears went red and started to ring. He stood like a statue in the middle of the stage for what felt like an eternity to him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and it was Jack. He looked into Blake and smiled warmly.

"It's gonna be alright young master. Let's get out of here and get some fresh air and get you home for today."

Blake numbly went with Jack out and he walked him towards the car that was waiting for them. While they were walking away the lady who guided them at the beginning of the school was looking at their back.

'What a shame. I wonder how his father going to react to this.'