They called it the Beginning of the End but for seventeen year old Kael, it was just another suffocating morning in the outer districts. The world hadn't been normal for a long time.
One thousand years ago, the sky cracked open. A gash of swirling light tore through the heavens and bled pure chaos. From it poured monstrous beasts, alien energy, and a presence that felt like it didn't belong anywhere in this universe.
Humanity was nearly wiped out. Cities fell like leaves in a storm. But somehow, they endured. They survived and adapted. And from the broken ruins of the old world, something new was born. They called it Spirit Energy. And Kael? He hated it.
His body ached, and the constant hum of unease that had come with waking in the Hunter Corps barracks was now a familiar discomfort. His bones creaked like the wooden floor beneath him, the sensation of another restless night clinging to his mind.
The bed was nothing but a thin mat on the cold, creaky boards, and the smell of sweat, old oil, and metal lingered in the air. The dampness of the district's outer ring crept in through the cracks of the poorly-maintained building, but Kael hardly noticed anymore. He was used to it.
"Get up," a gravelly voice ordered, cutting through the haze of his lingering sleep.
Kael groaned and blinked against the harsh dawn light seeping through the small window. The bright orange hues of the morning sun only made it harder to open his eyes. He pushed himself up, wincing as his body protested the movement. His uncle, Captain Duran, stood over him, his dark eyes narrow with irritation.
The old soldier's presence loomed larger than his actual frame, his harsh face like a permanent scowl carved into stone. "You're late. Again."
Kael didn't respond immediately. He could feel the weight of Duran's glare boring into him. It wasn't that he didn't care; it was that he wasn't sure he ever would. His uncle's expectations had never been easy to meet, especially not when every day seemed to be the same struggle. "I'm not even officially a recruit yet," Kael muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"You will be if you want to keep eating," Duran snapped back, his voice barely above a growl. "Or did you forget your ration card expired two days ago?"
Kael cursed under his breath, brushing off the splinters from his threadbare shirt as he sat up. His body was covered in cuts and bruises, the remnants of training sessions that always seemed to push him past his limits. "Right, right. I remember," he muttered, scrambling to gather his things. The world wasn't kind to the powerless.
After the sky cracked, something changed in people. A small percentage of survivors awakened strange abilities. Some could control fire, others could harden their skin, manipulate shadows, or even slow down time in short bursts. These people became humanity's last hope—Cultivators, they were called. Individuals who could absorb Spirit Energy into their bodies, refining it, evolving it.
And those who couldn't awaken? They lived in the cracks. Like Kael.
The training yard was a brutal place, a scar on the land. The sun beat down, baking the dry dirt underfoot. The air hung heavy with the smell of sweat, dust, and something else Kael couldn't quite place. It was the smell of desperation, of dreams being forged in the fires of failure. The cracked ground beneath his boots seemed to tremble with the weight of countless hopefuls who had come here, eager to prove themselves.
Kael stood in line with the others, his hands trembling slightly, though he did his best to hide it. There were a dozen of them, all from the outer districts, all hoping for something more. Their faces were a mix of determination and fear, eyes darting around, sizing each other up. No one spoke, not yet. It wasn't necessary.
"Today you'll enter the Threshold Zone," Duran's voice rang out, sharp and cutting through the air. He paced in front of them, his boots thudding against the dirt with every step. "If you're lucky, the energy there might awaken your root. If not… well, don't die." Simple as that.
Kael knew the stories. The Threshold Zone was a ring of land where the Spirit Energy had concentrated, turning the area into a volatile, unpredictable nightmare. Non-cultivators who entered it were supposed to have a chance to awaken, to tap into the energy that had transformed the world. But most didn't. Some went mad. A few never came back at all.
The lucky ones became Cultivators. Kael wasn't sure if he believed in luck anymore.
He glanced over at the others faces set in grim determination. They were the same as he had been a year ago, before he'd seen the truth of the world. The reality was cold and unforgiving. Only the strong survived.
His uncle's words echoed in his mind. "Survival isn't about strength, Kael. It's about adaptation." He wasn't sure what Duran meant, but today, Kael would find out.
The Threshold Zone stood before them, like a living thing. The gates were made of iron, dark and weathered from years of exposure to the unnatural forces that plagued the land. The guards didn't speak to them. They didn't need to. They opened the gates, and Kael stepped forward with the others.
The air grew thicker as they entered, charged with an electricity that Kael could feel in his bones. The wind picked up, whipping through his hair. His pulse quickened, and his heart pounded in his chest. The sky above them was streaked with faint, purple clouds, remnants of the chaos that had once torn the heavens apart. The Zone was alive. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
Something was watching them.
He stepped past the invisible boundary and immediately felt it the pull of energy, the oppressive weight of something ancient and powerful pressing against his mind. His breath caught in his throat.
Kael dropped to one knee. The world around him spun, and his vision pulsed with jagged flashes of light. The earth beneath him seemed to move, breathing in time with his heartbeat. Strange whispers danced at the edges of his thoughts foreign words, not in any language he recognized, but somehow… familiar. Comforting. His hands shook as he gripped the dirt beneath him.
Around him, others were reacting the same way. One girl screamed, clutching her head as though it might explode. A boy beside her collapsed entirely, foam bubbling at his lips. The rest groaned, their eyes wide with terror as they fought against the surging power that seemed to be tearing at their insides.
Kael gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, his limbs like lead. His mind raced, but there was no stopping what was happening. It felt as though something inside him was awakening, stretching, as if it had been dormant for far too long.
And then, it hit him. A pulse. Like a hammer to his chest.
The Spirit Energy surged into him with the force of a tidal wave, crashing through his body. His veins burned, each cell felt like it was on fire, yet frozen at the same time. The energy didn't just enter him—it invaded him. It tested him. It tasted him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. His body screamed, and his vision blurred as the power coursed through his bloodstream, trying to take control.
Then, it settled. Something clicked inside him. A shift. A transformation. The ground shook beneath his feet, and the world fell away.
[Threshold Reached] A voice echoed through his mind. No—a system notification. Clear, cold, mechanical.
[Root Detected: Unknown Variant]
[Assimilation In Progress…]
[Error… Error… Unique Physique Identified]
[Analyzing…]
[System Update Initiated]
Kael's breath hitched. What was this? This wasn't how it was supposed to work. This wasn't like anything he had seen before.
[Welcome, Kael. You have been registered as: Origin-Class]
[You are the first of your kind]
Kael's mind raced. Origin-Class? He didn't even know what that meant. It felt like a title, an insignia, but it didn't make sense. He had never heard of anyone being registered as "Origin-Class." It wasn't a category anyone had talked about.
And yet, there it was.
His heart raced as he stood up slowly, shakily. He wasn't sure how to process what had happened, but he knew one thing for certain: he wasn't the same.
As his gaze flicked toward the edge of the Zone, he saw them.
Eyes. Watching him. Three figures, crouched in the shadows between the trees. Their eyes were hollow, gleaming with an unnatural light, like they weren't quite part of the same world. They moved with an eerie grace, like predators closing in on their prey.
Kael had never fought before. He wasn't trained. He didn't know what to do. But his body knew.
The first monster lunged at him, its claws slashing the air. He barely moved. But somehow, his hand lifted, and a pulse of energy shot from his palm.
The figure faltered, its scream lost in the wind. Kael's eyes widened. His heart raced. He hadn't done that. Had he? The figures in the shadows hesitated, their predatory gaze still locked on him.
Kael's pulse drummed in his ears, and the strange, newfound energy within him surged again, almost instinctively.This was just the beginning. He had no idea what was happening, but it didn't matter.
Kael's chest heaved as the energy continued to pulse through him. He staggered back, his feet unsteady on the cracked earth beneath him. His hand shook, fingers still tingling with the aftermath of the blast of energy. The three shadowy figures, now fully revealed as monstrous creatures, stood frozen in place. Their glowing eyes were fixed on him with a mix of confusion and hunger.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop. The wind died down, the air thick with the raw power that had surged through him. The figures watched him warily, and Kael's pulse quickened. He hadn't meant to do that. He had no idea how he had done that.
The lead creature snarled, a low, guttural sound that made the hairs on Kael's neck stand on end. It was twice his size, its claws gleaming like blackened steel. The others crouched low, ready to pounce. Kael could feel their intention, their hunger. They were waiting for the right moment.
"Kael!" a voice barked from behind him. It was Duran. Kael turned, instinctively pushing himself back to his feet. His vision swam slightly, but he locked eyes with his uncle, who stood at the edge of the Zone, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. Duran's expression was unreadable, his gaze focused solely on the three creatures.
"Get your head in the game, kid!" Duran shouted, his voice low but urgent. "You don't have time to gawk! These things don't wait."
Kael's heart raced as the creatures in front of him lunged. But it was too late. Without thinking, Kael raised his hand again. This time, he felt the power swell in his palm—raw, unrefined, but potent. A sharp, piercing blast shot out from his hand, hitting the first creature square in the chest. It screeched, a sound that split the air, as the blast of energy sent it flying backward into a tree. The impact left a deep crater in the trunk, splinters flying into the air.
The other two creatures recoiled, their glowing eyes narrowing. They clearly didn't expect Kael to have this kind of strength. They growled low, but their hesitation was brief.
Duran moved swiftly, his blade flashing in the sunlight. He was on the second creature before Kael even had time to register what was happening. With a precise strike, Duran's blade sliced through the creature's thick hide, splitting it down the middle. The monster shrieked, stumbling back and collapsing in a heap. The last one darted toward Kael with incredible speed, its claws flashing like daggers.
Without thinking, Kael held up both hands, and this time, something far more controlled and concentrated erupted from his palms. A beam of energy shot out, encasing the creature in a barrier of light, freezing it in place. The beast howled in frustration, its limbs thrashing wildly, but it couldn't break free.
"Nice," Duran muttered as he wiped the blood from his blade. "A little too wild for my taste, but it'll do."
Kael's chest was still heaving, but he could hardly believe what had just happened. The raw power that flowed through him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Duran approached him, his expression stern but not unkind. "Well, that was certainly something. We'll need to talk, Kael."
The remaining monster, still trapped in the light barrier, struggled, but Kael couldn't bring himself to kill it. His gaze shifted uneasily from the creature to his uncle. Duran noticed this hesitation, his dark eyes softening slightly.
"Don't let it go," Duran said in a low voice, still watching the creature. "Monsters like that don't deserve mercy. They don't play by the rules. And neither should you."
Kael swallowed hard, but he nodded. The creature's eyes, filled with a primal rage, stared back at him, its body thrashing against the light barrier, but Kael tightened his grip. The energy that had surged inside him before swelled again, and with a sharp motion, he ended the monster's struggle, watching as the beast dissolved into a pile of black ash.
Duran didn't say a word. He just nodded, satisfied with the outcome. "You'll get used to it," he muttered. "It's not about mercy out here. It's about survival."
Kael took a deep breath, his mind still reeling. "What… what just happened?" he asked, his voice shaky. "How did I do that?" Duran stood silent for a moment, eyes narrowing as he assessed his nephew. Finally, he spoke.
"You've awoken. But it's not what you think." He paused, his gaze fixed on Kael with a kind of intensity that Kael hadn't seen before. "You're not like the others. Not even close. You're something… different."
Kael stared at him, confused. "What do you mean? What's different about me?" Duran's gaze shifted slightly, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. He stepped closer to Kael, lowering his voice so only Kael could hear. "You just accessed an energy level that no one should have been able to reach—not at your stage, anyway."
Kael frowned, still trying to process everything that had just happened. "So, I'm… stronger than I thought?"
Duran shook his head. "Not just stronger. You've tapped into something that hasn't been seen in generations. I've heard rumors about it, but… seeing it for myself? That's something else." Kael's heart skipped a beat. "What rumors?"
"The Origin-Class," Duran murmured, his voice darkening. "A class that no one believes should exist anymore. Those who belong to it are… special. Unique. And incredibly dangerous." Kael felt a chill run down his spine. "Origin-Class? What's that mean?"
"It means you're more than just a cultivator," Duran replied, his voice lowering to a near whisper. "It means you have access to an energy source no one else does. It means you're at the top of the food chain." Kael's head spun. "I don't understand. What am I supposed to do with that?"
Duran met his gaze, his expression grim. "It's not about what you do with it, Kael. It's about surviving long enough to figure it out. And the world is going to notice you now."
Kael stood frozen, staring at his uncle. His thoughts were scattered, trying to process everything that had just happened. He had always known that something was different about him, but this? Origin-Class? A class of cultivator that no one had seen in generations?
The weight of Duran's words settled over him like a storm cloud. The world had already been changed by Spirit Energy. But Kael? He had no idea how deeply his world would be altered.