Day One of the Apocalypse (1)

On January 1st, 2021, scientists were stunned to find a gigantic crack in the Earth that spanned 5 meters in width.

Investigations were unable to identify the cause for the development of the crack. But the depth was more than the Mariana Trench.

However, calling it a crack was inaccurate as the straightness was unprecedented. It was more like a fault.

Researching for hours brought nothing up, and the public became aware. Geographers and geologists were stunned, as were many other humans across the planet.

Thankfully, scientists discovered nothing changed over the next few days, and the fault wasn't widening.

Months passed with no activity.

March 31st, 2021 11:59 PM

Meteors flew over the sky at night and were visible in all countries across the globe. Their radiant trails amazed everybody.

Every star in the night sky lit up as from Earth the clarity of the constellations and more created a picturesque and amazingly vivid atmosphere.

-----

April 1st.

A clock showed the time to be 11:01 AM, and a young man sat down eating what seemed to be his breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, orange juice, and some tea was on the side.

The young man was named Adrian Hale, and he was a student in his first year of studying Medicine at the University of Madrid. Adrian came from England but decided to move to Spain on his own.

Eating breakfast at such a time was only possible as it was Wednesday, and he had no lectures on Wednesdays.

Finishing his breakfast, Adrian looked at himself in the mirror before smiling. Today, Adrian had a date with his "girlfriend" of three months. However, Adrian's relationship was unlike others.

Following his extensive skincare routine and shower, Adrian dressed in a nice muscle-fit branded T-shirt and some black shorts as the temperature would rise to 25°C.

Adrian had a straight nose that wasn't too long, magnificent blue eyes that matched the clear sky, a square jawline that, with other features, blended and made Adrian an incredibly good looking young man.

Picking up his phone, Adrian glanced at the recent notifications before he picked out an expensive fragrance from his collection to spray on.

Twenty-eight people wishing him happy birthday didn't change his facial expression as he put his phone -that was the latest model, and cost a lot- back down on his bed.

Adrian's expensive things were all purchased with money he made on the side by investments that generated a lot of profit. Of course, as a good looking guy, he felt he had to wear good looking clothes and smell a fragrance that was a delight for the nose to smell.

His phone rang, so he picked it up and glanced at the name of his caller before he smiled. Adrian, however, was not smiling at the person whose name had appeared. He was smiling at what he received from that person.

"Ariana, what's up?" Adrian's "girlfriend" of three months had almost the same name as him, something that sparked her interest in him and took her into the shark's jaws.

"I couldn't wait to tell you happy birthday when I see you later, so I called now." Her melodious voice caused no change in Adrian's emotions. Adrian felt pride at having managed to win her heart. Although, Ariana didn't have his.

"I love you so much," Adrian replied as he put emotion into his voice. He engaged in a short conversation with Ariana as he set out of his house.

'But I'm a Narcissist. I can't possibly love you the way you love me.'

–

Adrian was very self-aware. It started in his childhood when his father used to tell him he was never good enough.

Self-awareness was the way to survive when he was younger. It's not the same survival as in life or death, but survival as in avoiding harm.

--

Looking at his watch, Adrian saw that it was 11:58- not that far ahead was the cafe where he planned to meet Ariana as he walked past the shops of Madrid's High Street.

--

I can still remember that day extraordinarily well, as though it was yesterday.

As I walked down the street that day, a sudden feeling awoke in the back of my neck.

A spine chill made me feel as though I was frozen in ice even whilst the sun furiously radiated its heat down onto me. My gut seemed to urge me to stop what I was doing. Goosebumps halted my movement.

I continued walking as I paid extreme attention to my surroundings. Every detail, whether it was obscure or obvious, I retained every bit of information that my brain possibly could.

Ariana entered my sight, and she was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were this magnificent shade of hazel, and her shoulder-length brown hair suited her exceptionally well. She was wearing white jeans with a sky-blue blouse.

What? I'm a narcissist, but I can still appreciate the beauty in life. It merely doesn't affect me whatsoever. I do not look at a woman and zone out and dismiss the outside world. It simply doesn't faze me.

Anyway, that feeling that still plagued me was that something was going wrong. That something terrible was about to happen.

That day, my whole world changed. You can believe it or not, but even I began to change!

--

"Adrian!" Ariana called out to me, and the excitement and delight in her voice did nothing to eradicate the solemn feeling that had overwhelmed me.

I once more glanced down at my watch. Sweat had begun to pour down my forehead as I felt an itch all over my body.

"Adrian?" Ariana called out to me with concern in her voice. As she had her attention focused on me. She could see there was something wrong with me.

The reason I always believed that chill in my spine was that it was always right.

Gasps rang out around me and I observed the people that had their noses pointed upwards. People En masse took their phones out and began to point them at the sky.

The Earth's yellow sun had turned a silvery-blue.

-----

However, the sun never changed colour. Instead, the entire Earth had become coated in that silvery-blue colour. It seemed as though a liquid had covered the celestial body.

Most satellites could not view the occurrence as they were too close to the Earth's surface. Meanwhile, astronauts were able to view everything.

People in planes were prone to a similar view to the scientists they flew over.

Those researchers, geographers and geologists who camped near the Earth's Equator were standing as the ground felt as though it shook gently.

Light flashing from the Fault covered the entire Equator as the Earth split into two.

An enormous amount of shockwaves got sent throughout the Earth. It was as though there was a global earthquake that wrecked the continents.

Earth's two halves suddenly flew back together, and the sudden shaking dampened. At that moment, the silvery-blue substance halted all tectonic movement.

Suddenly, an explosion took place, and as though it was the big bang that began the universe, the Earth changed.

[ The Earth's Mana Has Awakened! ]

A single message simultaneously appeared within the minds of every human being.

Alongside the message was an imperceptible heat in their body that rapidly became very obvious.

Two things happened.

There was Natural Selection.

There was evolution.

For evolution to take place, there was something necessary, Natural Selection.

Humans had been at a standstill for a long time. There was no immediate threat to a human any longer. There was no animal with traits that humans needed to defend against or build up a resistance.

Humanity's intelligence and ability to think placed them at the top of the food chain and left almost no problems.

With the sudden appearance of Mana, humans needed to adapt now. The foreign existence forcefully entered every organism, and anyone that could not withstand and evolve to survive Mana got wiped out.

--

Pain consumed my entire being. It felt as though I was being pounced upon by numerous tigers consecutively. As though flames were burning throughout my whole body whilst focusing on my brain.

My body could not move, and I felt stiff whilst it seemed as though the air was leaving my lungs.

Death's harbinger seemed to stare into my empty soul with its hollow eyes that held no emotion and reflected my dying self.

But I clung to life as best I could.

--

Similarly to Adrian, it seemed that three-quarters of the people around him were on death's door. Within seconds, some of those people died. Within the first minute, Earth's population decreased by 10%

For Ariana, it was a completely different experience. As though she were a fish in water, she felt completely at ease as the substance filled her every being. Rejoicing, every cell felt rejuvenated. It was like stepping into a cold lake on a boiling hot day.

Two minutes passed as more and more humans fell into the grasp of the King of Hell.

By 3 minutes, all humans unsuited to Mana were expunged from the list of lifeforms alive. While the ones able to adapt relaxed as they were going to awaken.

However, to that, there was an exception.

Adrian Hale.

--

Seconds passed like centuries- every moment was excruciating.

Why does it hurt so much?

I can't believe this is happening!

--

In those moments, Adrian felt a sudden change- his brain, which was the origin of the pain, began to feel like it was melting.

If Adrian could control his body, he'd be screaming at the top of his lungs.

Adrian's memories passed through his mind, from his first memories as a toddler: to his memory of minutes ago.

Once the memories passed, Adrian returned to the pain.

Similarly to a dial turning up, the intensity of the pain increased, and Adrian could swear on the image of the grim reaper, was a slight flicker in those hollow eyes.

It was currently seconds after the third minute- Ariana's eyes were twitching as though she would wake up soon.

Adrian could not think as suddenly he felt something inside of him loosen up.

--

Something inside me began to loosen up as though it was getting sucked out of my body.

My body began to feel colder, and the pain was getting dulled.

What seemed like hands emerged from out of nowhere and tugged at that thing inside of me.

I started to feel this idea that if it left me, I'd die.

Rage grew inside me at the fate that seemed to lie before me. I felt like I was meat on a platter with a glutton staring at me ravenously.

My unwillingness to die was at an all-time high. Meanwhile, it seemed like the only thing I could rely on- was myself.

Seemingly, that thought provoked something within me. I felt "hands" that I could control vaguely.

Like I was gripping onto a cliff edge with one hand, I clung to what I thought my life.

I was slowly lowering as my "fingers" eventually gave out.

First, my "little finger" slipped.

Next was my "ring finger".

My "thumb" could not hold on any longer and lost control.

As my "index finger" and my "middle finger" were my last hopes, I felt that I could not die in this situation.

'Wait a minute,' I thought.

'I am in control!'

With that idea taking root, I felt determination fill my being as my pride would not let me fall here. The immense difficulty of holding on increased with every moment that passed.

'I am not going to die here!'

--

At that moment, Adrian felt a sudden pull lift him upwards as his attention returned to his body.

The Mana Rejection Phase before death seemed cruel. That is because the beings undergoing it would remain awake.

However, most people died instantly. Every person's willpower was different.

In every case, there should have been the same result.

Adrian's exception was baffling whether you look at it from any direction.

The pain he felt receded.

A calm wave that cooled him down poured through his existence, resonating deeply within him.

It was at this moment that Adrian's consciousness faded.

Ariana woke up to find Adrian and other people on the ground. Some of those people rose whilst a majority of them had empty eyes.

Shocked filled her as the scene seemed catastrophic. Bits of buildings had fallen over and crushed people while the flat ground had become uneven with large cracks.

Seeing Adrian, her shock was immediately replaced with heaps of concern as his body remained unmoving.