To understand what it means to be an Ascender, one must first understand what the world became.
After The Fracture, humanity learned that power could be born from pain. The strange energy they named Desyre wasn't something mechanical. It was emotional. Responsive. Alive. It emerged only when a person was pushed past their breaking point—through desire, fear, loss, rage, or despair. And if they didn't shatter?
They awakened.
This moment is known as the First Resonance—the ignition of a Desyre Core. A living construct of raw power within a human soul. Each Core is unique. Some burn. Some shield. Some tear through reality. But all of them reflect the person they came from.
From that moment on, the world would never treat them the same.
These individuals became known as Ascenders.
And the World Ascender Authority—WAA—rose to manage them.
The Core and the Bond
Every Ascender carries a Core. Not in their hand or heart—but in their soul.
It isn't just energy. It's emotion, crystallized into essence.
A reflection of who they are beneath the armor, the ambition… the fear.
The stronger the bond, the stronger the Core.
But Desyre doesn't answer to strength.
It answers to truth.
That's why the World Ascender Authority created the Soul Sync Grade System (SSG)
Not to measure combat ability, but connection.
Not what you can do—
But how completely your Core accepts who you are.
The Sync Trial happens in silence.
No weapons. No audience. No instruction.
Just the Ascender, standing alone inside a Core Reflection Chamber… and their Desyre waiting to answer.
D-Rank: Power flickers only under pressure. The bond is fragile.
C-Rank: Stable, but cautious. Power obeys, but doesn't yet trust.
B-Rank: The connection flows. Power responds like instinct.
A-Rank: Core and user move as one—resonant, fast, and evolving.
S-Rank (Mirror Sync): No division remains. The Core is the Ascender. Pure
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Limits and the Ones Who Break Them
In most cases, an Ascender is limited.
A D-Rank can become C. A C can rise to B. Some reach A.
And beyond that—an A+ Rank.
A-Ranks with extreme combat ability, tactical brilliance, or exceptional Desyre control are sometimes promoted to A+, a transitional classification. It's not an official WAA tier, but a warning. A sign that someone is nearing the boundary.
But S-Rank is different.
S-Ranks don't climb the system. They're born outside it. Their Soul Sync doesn't follow traditional metrics. Some awaken as S-Ranks instantly. Others explode past the cap without warning, often during a crisis that should've killed them.
They are called Limitless.
Their growth isn't capped. Their Core evolves on instinct. Their abilities mutate, shift, devour the rules around them. And with that gift comes the curse:
Backflash—a phenomenon where the mind collapses under too many truths. Visions, memory warps, emotional bleed. The Desyre shows you what you don't want to see… because you've become what you never wanted to be.
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Cultivation – Power That Doesn't Belong
To grow stronger, most Ascenders rely on training, awakening their Core's next stage.
But another path exists—one buried beneath WAA red tape and whispered warnings.
Cultivation of Monster Cores.
When a Riftspawn dies, it sometimes leaves behind a Core—a shard of its ability, born from alien instincts. With the right method, a human can merge with it.
But Desyre isn't a gift. It's a deal.
Standard Ascenders can only handle one cultivated Core. Pushing beyond that invites collapse. The body rebels. The mind fractures. The Core fights back.
S-Rank Ascenders can cultivate up to three monster abilities, molding them into their original Desyre Core—creating something new. Something more. Some even mutate their Core into entirely different forms.
But even S-Ranks are warned: You're not evolving. You're becoming something else.
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The Three Paths of Monster Core Use
Over time, three legal methods emerged for handling these dangerous Cores:
1. Gear Forging – Embedding cores into weapons, tools, or armor. No syncing required. Traits remain passive—safe, predictable.
2. Core Augmentation – Fusing a monster core into your own Desyre Core to enhance strength, speed, awareness and etc... The process is less risky than cultivation, but too many fusions lead to fatigue or instability. Compatibility is essential.
3. Ability Cultivation – The Riskiest Path
This method syncs directly with a monster's Desyre Core to gain its ability. Not just energy—but the essence of the creature itself.
For most Ascenders, it's nearly impossible.
Success rate: only 5%.
The Core rejects them. The bond breaks. Those who fail are left unstable—drained, or warped by partial imprints they can't fully control.
S-Ranks nearly always succeed. Their Cores adapt. Their emotions resonate deeper.
But power gained this way always leaves a mark.
Abilities may shift. Emotions distort. The more Cores you cultivate, the harder it becomes to stay whole.
That's why the WAA built walls before it built armies.
To contain what it couldn't fully control.
Ascenders Academies
In 2028, the WAA founded Ascender Academies across every continent—35 total, with 10 in Asia alone. These institutions were built not just to train students, but to monitor them. To groom them. To shape them into something useful for global security.
Each academy evaluates students yearly, guiding them toward three specialization tracks:
Vanguard Track – Combat, destruction, and frontline assault.
Genesis Track – Core research, Rift theory, and Desyre science.
Stratus Track – Strategy, coordination, and logistics.
Most students begin formal training shortly after Awakening—or are placed into conditioning programs designed to trigger one.
Graduation demands more than survival. It requires passing the Soul Sync Grade Certification: the WAA's official measure of power, control, and potential. The final threshold to become a fully registered Ascender.
Everything is monitored. Documented. Controlled.
Almost everything
Bird – The One Who Defied It All
He didn't register through WAA. No record of Awakening. No official certification. No assigned academy.
Her most remarkable footage.
In 2036, when a S Rank Rift opened in Jerusalem and swallowed the city, every major Ascender force failed to close it. What happened next wasn't supposed to be possible.
A single masked figure appeared in the Rift. A black bird mask. An unregistered signature. No affiliation. They called him
Bird.
Within fifteen minutes, the Rift collapsed.
Survivors say he moved like smoke and shadow. Riftspawn couldn't touch him. Some say he warped space itself. Others insist he fought with weapons that changed mid-strike, adapting faster than any known Core allows.
But the most unbelievable rumor of all?
That he carried up to five different Desyre Cores.
And that the system couldn't register any of them.
Bird vanished after the battle. No name. No trace. No allegiance.
The WAA denied involvement.
The media spun myths.
The students whispered.
And deep within the Ascender system, a fear began to grow:
If one person could exist outside of their rules—
Could others?