Chapter 1. How it all began.

[Before I begin this story, I want to make it clear that it's entirely fictional. All the events, places, and characters came from my imagination. Some of them might seem familiar, but that's just a coincidence. Enjoy!]

# #

<CHINA >

It was Monday, October 7th, 2030, 9 o'clock in the morning. Like every other Monday, it was a day met with groans and tired sighs across the land. Most people went about their daily routines with unhappy faces, the weight of the week already heavy on their shoulders. Only a few seemed to possess the energy for a genuine smile.

But this Monday was about to become unlike any other.

The sky, clear just moments ago, began to darken. It wasn't the gradual dimming of an approaching storm, but a sudden, unnatural blanket of darkness that descended upon the land. The sun, shining brightly just moments before, was completely swallowed up, turning the familiar daylight into an eerie twilight.

At first, people assumed it was a particularly bad storm brewing. But as the darkness deepened, and news spread like wildfire that the same phenomenon was happening all over the world, a collective sense of unease, of primal fear, began to grip the hearts of millions. This was no ordinary storm.

This darkness wasn't merely obscuring the sun; it felt different, heavier, as if it carried a weight, an energy all its own. A palpable wave of something sinister washed over the earth, sending shivers down spines and whispers of dread through the streets.

Was this the end of the world? A question whispered in hushed tones, eyes wide with terror, reflecting the unnatural darkness above. Was this the apocalyptic event prophesied in ancient texts, the day of reckoning?

But before anyone could even begin to grasp the magnitude of what was happening, before scientists could offer their theories or governments could issue their reassurances, the world began to change.

_____

<CHINA_..BEIJING >

A family of five was in their car, going about their daily activities. The kids in the back were ready for school, and the parents were headed to work.

The road was jammed, traffic barely moving. Suddenly, the sky above them turned dark, the sun completely blocked, plunging their surroundings into an unnatural night.

The sudden change shocked everyone. The father, alarmed, opened the car door and got out, turning on his phone's flashlight to get a better look around.

He wasn't the only one. Many others, equally stunned, were stepping out of their cars, staring up at the sky in disbelief and growing fear.

Panic started to ripple through the crowd. People were yelling, babies were crying; the air crackled with anxiety.

No one noticed the tendrils of dark energy drifting invisibly through the air, swirling among them. One of those tendrils reached the father, slipping silently into his nose as he took a breath.

At that moment, nothing seemed to happen.

The unnatural darkness lingered for another ten minutes or so before it vanished as quickly as it had come, revealing the sun and a clear blue sky once more.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the strange event left them uneasy. Why had a darkness like that suddenly appeared and then vanished for no reason?

Some people couldn't shake off a feeling of dread, while others dismissed it as a strange weather phenomenon, something easily explained away.

The father, feeling no different, returned to his car. The traffic started moving again, and they continued on their way.

But about five minutes after the darkness disappeared, people who had come into contact with the dark energy began to show strange symptoms, behaving erratically.

The father was one of them. He started wailing in pain, clutching his head. Then, a guttural growl ripped from his throat, his face twisting into a terrifying snarl. He was no longer the loving father and husband; something dark and powerful had taken control.

He lunged for his wife, his hands reaching out, his movements unnaturally fast and strong.

The woman, still shocked by her husband's abnormal behavior, was caught completely off guard. His hand lashed out, seizing her arm in a grip so tight it felt like her bones would shatter.

She screamed in agony, but her cry was swallowed by the rising wave of screams coming from outside.

Looking out, she saw people pouring out of their cars in a panicked frenzy, scrambling for safety. The road was a sea of terrified faces, men and women fleeing in every direction. Some carried their children; others, in their panic, had even forgotten them.

Back in the car, she struggled against her husband's inhuman strength, but it was hopeless. Her own strength had always been less than his; now, it was like pitting a kitten against a tiger.

In the back, their children screamed and cried, their small faces pale with terror. But what happened next was even more horrific, more monstrous than anything their young minds could comprehend.

Their father's body began to expand, grotesquely distorting, his expensive suit ripping apart like cheap paper. Then, with sickening speed, a tentacle shot out from his back, its sharp point piercing through the car seat and into the chest of one of the children.

More tentacles erupted from his body, a horrifying mass of writhing flesh and bone. They lashed out, piercing, crushing, tearing, leaving no one inside the car untouched by their deadly embrace.

In a matter of seconds, the man was gone, replaced by a grotesque monstrosity. Tentacles sprouted from every part of his body, his features twisted into a horrifying parody of a human face. Only the tattered remnants of his suit offered any connection to the man he once was.

A roar, guttural and inhuman, ripped from the beast's throat. It began to devour its own family, its former life, chomping down on their broken bodies with a horrifying hunger.

Its gruesome meal finished, the beast let out another deafening roar. Tentacles lashed out again, tearing through the car's metal roof as if it were cardboard. Then, with a final, defiant roar, it leaped out of the wreckage and onto the street.

Chaos reigned. Around the beast, people fled in terror as other grotesque creatures, twisted mockeries of their former selves, stalked them relentlessly. These creatures came in all shapes and sizes, each more horrifying than the last, but all bearing the same grotesque, inhuman features. Some still wore the torn remnants of clothing, a chilling reminder that just minutes ago, they too had been human.

After a moment surveying the scene, the beast let out another roar and leaped onto the roof of a nearby car, its eyes locking onto its next victim.

The same horrifying scene was playing out all over the globe.

Humans, animals - no living thing seemed immune. They transformed into an endless variety of monstrous creatures, driven by a single, primal urge to kill and destroy. Cities, once vibrant hubs of civilization, were now nightmarish landscapes of carnage and terror.

-----

<ITALY_... ROME>

Near Vatican City, a sixteen-year-old boy sprinted through the darkened streets, his lungs burning, his legs screaming for rest. But he couldn't stop, not while that thing, that monster, was on his heels.

It had once been his pet dog, his loyal companion. Now it was a grotesque, nightmare creature, its fur matted with blood, its teeth bared in a silent snarl. It had attacked his family while they slept, tearing them apart with savage fury. He was the only survivor.

Even at full speed, he was no match for the creature's unnatural speed and agility.

It was the dead of night, somewhere between 3 and 4 am, but the streets of Rome is now a scene of chaos. Terrified people fled alongside grotesque, mutated creatures, their screams echoing through the narrow streets.

Older people screamed.

Younger people screamed.

The mutated beasts roared.

Buildings burned, their skeletal remains crumbling against the fiery backdrop.

The air, thick with smoke and the coppery tang of blood, carried the sickening sounds of flesh being ripped from bone, of teeth crunching through bone and sinew.

It was pure chaos, a scene ripped straight from a nightmare.

But amidst the carnage, a blinding light erupted, cutting through the darkness. It emanated from a pillar of pure, white light that shot skyward from within the Vatican City.

A wave of calm washed over the area, a serene and holy aura that seemed to momentarily subdue the chaos. The screams lessened, the roars quieted, even the flames seemed to flicker hesitantly as if acknowledging a power beyond their control.

Then, the pillar of light exploded, fracturing into millions of smaller motes of light. These motes, each one pulsating with energy, scattered in all directions like a swarm of ethereal fireflies, each one larger and brighter than any firefly could ever be.

One by one, these motes of light descended, seeking out specific individuals amidst the chaos. One such mote of light, drawn as if by an invisible thread, soared towards the young man, colliding with his forehead. It passed through him, intangible, as if he were a ghost, and dissolved into nothingness.

In the next instant, a translucent screen, glowing with a soft, blue light, materialized in front of his eyes.

[You have received a D-tier Talent - Fire Manipulation]

'The fuck!' he thought, stunned, but the roar of a beast, teeth bared, claws extended, snapped him back to the horrific reality around him.

He saw the beast, so close now, its grotesque form illuminated by the flickering flames of a nearby building, and panic seized him. There was nowhere to run, no time to hide. This was it, the end.

But then he remembered the screen, the message.

It was exactly like the systems he'd read about in those fantasy novels he read, the ones where ordinary people were granted extraordinary abilities. Power, unimaginable power, at his fingertips. And his power, his talent, was the ability to control fire.

He wasn't sure how it worked, if it would even work at all, but he had nothing left to lose. "Here goes nothing," he muttered, closing his eyes, picturing fire in his mind, feeling the heat of it against his skin.

He extended his hand, mimicking a gesture he'd seen in a movie, and willed the fire to come, pouring every ounce of his fear, his desperation, into that single act. He felt a surge of energy, a draining sensation, as if something had been drawn from him.

Another HUD screen flickered into existence.

[Your FE has increased]

He felt stronger, more alive than he had ever felt before. But there was no time to dwell on that now. He opened his eyes, staring at the beast, its hot, fetid breath washing over him.

A ball of fire, small but intensely hot, hovered above his outstretched hand.

'I did it! How cool!' he thought, a surge of exhilaration momentarily eclipsing his fear.

But the screams, the roars, the sounds of chaos, yanked him back to the present. He was still surrounded, outnumbered, but he wasn't helpless anymore. He had power, and he knew what he had to do.

He charged forward, a newfound confidence surging through him. Fire erupted from his fingertips, driving back the creatures, momentarily clearing a path through the chaos. He moved with a speed and agility he'd never possessed before.

He wasn't sure why he had been chosen, why he had been given this power, but one thing was clear: he wouldn't stand by and watch the world burn.

All over the world, millions of motes of light were weaving their magic, bestowing upon humanity a glimmer of hope in the face of unimaginable horror. Pillars of light pierced the sky, marking the birth of a new era, an era of chaos and change.

Some embraced their newfound abilities, learning to control them, using them to fight back against the mutated hordes, to protect the remnants of humanity. Others, paralyzed by fear, used their powers for self-preservation, to escape, to survive at any cost.

The world's armies rallied, deploying every weapon at their disposal – tanks, explosives, fighter jets – in a desperate attempt to regain control, to push back the tide of mutated horrors.

The lines had been drawn. The battle for Earth had begun, a conflict unlike anything humanity had ever witnessed. Blood, both human and beast, stained the earth crimson. The outcome was uncertain.

No one knew what had caused the mutations, why some had been granted powers while others remained unchanged.

But one thing was certain: this was only the beginning. The world as they knew it was gone, shattered beyond repair.

THIS WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN…