In the city of Trisalia, life was fast, bright, and loud.
Skyscrapers shimmered under massive LED screens. The streets buzzed with schoolkids, salarymen, and hoverbikes weaving through neon-lit traffic. It was a place of dreams and distractions — ordinary, busy, alive.
In one quiet alley between a ramen shop and a blinking old arcade, three friends were lost in their usual chaos.
"Take this!" Brayk hurled an empty can like a grenade. It bounced off the wall and nearly hit Kael in the head.
"I swear, one day I'm gonna actually hurt you," Liora huffed, chasing after him with a rolled-up magazine.
Kael chuckled softly, hands in his pockets, watching them bicker like always. They didn't have much, but this was home. This was safe.
Until the ground cracked.
A sharp, deep CRACK shook the street like the city itself was splitting open.
They all froze.
Chunks of the pavement burst upward as glowing rifts tore through the ground, right in the middle of the street. Not one. Not two. Dozens. The concrete split like dry paper, glowing red and violet, and from those fractures, something crawled out.
Monsters.
Claws scraped the ground. Shadows twisted into shape. Eyes opened in the dark beneath their feet.
Screams erupted across the block.
Liora gasped and collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest. "I-It's hot...!"
Brayk groaned beside her, grabbing his neck. "What the hell…? It's burning...!"
But Kael didn't move.
He was just standing, staring into the largest portal.
A single monster, massive with jagged plates and smoke leaking from its mouth, emerged from the rift and locked eyes with him.
Kael couldn't breathe.
He should have run.
He wanted to run.
But his legs wouldn't move.
Then...
BOOM!
A roar of steel and thunder shattered the moment as a tank crashed through the corner building, its cannon blasting the monster into pieces. Smoke and dust exploded in all directions.
Military trucks poured in behind it. Sirens screamed. Soldiers shouted.
Brayk and Liora were dragged to safety by the crowd.
Kael was left, still frozen, staring at the still-smoking portal.
Smoke wrapped around Kael like a second skin. His heart pounded, but his feet were still locked to the pavement. The portal pulsed like a heartbeat, humming deep into his bones.
Then someone grabbed him.
A soldier in matte armor yanked him backward. "Kid! You wanna die?! Get out of here!"
Kael didn't respond. He just let himself be dragged.
Behind him, more monsters were crawling out. Gunfire rattled the air. Buildings burned. The streets of Trisalia, once bright and full of life, were swallowed in chaos.
That was the day the world changed.
...
One year later
The people called it The Fall.
In mere hours, the portals had turned a thriving city into a fractured battlefield. And in the months that followed, survival became everything.
Resources grew scarce. Rations were limited. The military took full control.
People began awakening, developing strange abilities due to extreme stress and mana exposure. Scientists labeled it Adaptation Syndrome. Most people just called it luck.
To prevent another disaster, the government rebuilt the city with a new structure. Massive walls were constructed to divide Trisalia into three concentric layers, each reinforced with mana-tech barriers and surveillance.
At the center stood the Core, protected by the First Layer. It surrounded the Hunter Association and the ruling elite. Here, they poured in resources and mana-infused technology to ensure stability. Since the reconstruction, no portal had ever appeared within these three layers again. All rift activity was contained outside the city's boundaries.
The First Layer was where the strongest and wealthiest lived. Clean streets, advanced labs, and high-rise towers glowing with magic.
The Second Layer was more modest. A middle-class zone that resembled a functioning city on the surface. Organized, stable, but always on edge.
The Third Layer was the outermost ring. Crowded, chaotic, and crumbling. A dumping ground for the powerless, the poor, and the forgotten. Rusted metal, smog, and shadows filled the streets.
Kael Arden, Brayk Tavros, and Liora Valen lived in a small shelter between the Second and Third Layer border. Not deep in the slums, but never close to the light.
They were now fifteen years old.
In just one year, they would face the Awakening Exam, a government-mandated test for all citizens turning sixteen. It would determine whether they were compatible with mana. Whether they could awaken. Whether they had a future beyond the filth and fear.
Those who passed became Hunters, heroes, soldiers, or nobles in the making.
Those who failed?
They stayed right where they were.
Forgotten.
They worked in the Second Layer.
Every morning before sunrise, Kael, Brayk, and Liora crossed the reinforced gate that separated their shelter from the cleaner, brighter streets of the middle city. The guards barely looked at them anymore. Just another group of border rats coming in to scrub dirt no one wanted to touch.
They cleaned storefronts for owners who spoke with tight smiles and tossed coins without looking. They swept alleys that stank of old blood and rotten food. They dragged sacks of garbage through the winding canals that wove beneath the Layer like veins. By the time the sun reached its peak, their hands were cracked, their clothes soaked, and their legs numb.
But they kept going.
Because every coin mattered.
Kael used most of his earnings for his family. His older brother, Calen, tried to help, taking what jobs he could between coughing fits and fever spells, but Kael knew he was pushing himself too far. Their mother hadn't stood in months. She barely spoke anymore. The pills they needed were expensive, and the free clinics were only for First Layer citizens. So Kael worked. He worked like breathing depended on it. Because it did.
Brayk, despite always cracking jokes and acting like nothing was wrong, carried his own weight in silence. His father worked under the Hunter Association, not as a fighter, but in the mines cleaning out mutated cores and extracting mana stones from collapsed tunnels. Dangerous work. Brutal work. But it paid better than most labor jobs. Enough, supposedly, to feed a family of eight. But something didn't add up. Brayk only had three brothers. His parents were still alive. Yet they were always on edge, always hiding something. Debt collectors showed up often. Brayk never talked about it. He just grinned and said, "We're rich in heart, anyway."
Liora's family lived a little quieter, a little more hidden from the world. Her father had died during the Fall. Her mother worked herself to exhaustion trying to keep the household together, but it was her older sister, Selena, who carried the family now. A receptionist in the Core sounded impressive, surrounded by Hunters and officials, dressed in proper uniforms, but the truth was far from glamorous. She made just enough to send home ration coupons and leftover food. Not enough for a better home. Not enough for medicine when the twins got sick again. Liora cleaned because she had to. Because her family had no safety net. Because no one else would do it.
They never said it, but all three of them felt the same thing every single day.
This wasn't living. It was waiting.
Waiting for something to change. Waiting for a miracle. Waiting for the Awakening Exam.
One year left.
A year passed.
The days blurred together. Dust-filled mornings. Long walks. Labor. Laughter. Hunger. Pain.
And now it was here.
The Awakening Exam.
Kael stood at the border of the Second Layer, staring at the monorail that would take them toward the heart of Trisalia. His heart pounded in his chest, loud as a war drum. Around him, Brayk was bouncing on the balls of his feet, barely able to contain himself, while Liora adjusted her simple coat, trying to hide how nervous she was.
"We're really doing this," Brayk said, his voice crackling with excitement. "No turning back now."
Kael gave a small nod. His mouth was dry. He hadn't eaten that morning. None of them had. Not out of poverty this time, but because the nerves were stronger than hunger.
The train ride felt like floating through another world. The streets outside became cleaner, the buildings taller and more modern. Advertisements flashed across crystal panels. Drones buzzed overhead. This was the Inner Core, the part of Trisalia they had only seen in news broadcasts and old posters. The kind of place where a single sidewalk tile cost more than their entire house.
They arrived at the White District Tower, a sleek building that shimmered under the morning sun. It was surrounded by security drones and guarded by soldiers in black armor. A large banner above the gate read:
AWAKENING EXAMINATION — PHASE ONE
The place was packed. Hundreds of teenagers, all between fifteen and sixteen, had gathered in the plaza. Some wore brand-new uniforms and carried custom gear. Others, like Kael's group, came in worn-out shoes and borrowed jackets.
A tall man in a dark blue coat stepped forward. He wore the symbol of the Hunter Association on his chest and had a scar running from his jaw to his neck. He raised a hand, and the crowd fell silent.
"Listen well. I am Instructor Verus. You are here because you've reached the age of qualification. Today, you will find out whether you have the potential to become a Hunter."
His voice was calm, but there was an edge of steel beneath it.
"There are five ranks of Hunters. Each has three subgrades. Bronze. Silver. Gold. Diamond. And Platinum. Bronze Three is the lowest of the low. Platinum One is the peak of human potential. Most of you, if you awaken at all, will never go beyond Bronze."
The crowd stirred. A few kids laughed nervously. Others went pale.
Verus continued. "The Awakening Exam will scan your mana resonance. It will test your compatibility, your potential, and your mental fortitude. If you pass, you'll be assigned a preliminary rank and granted access to the Hunter training program. If you fail, your record will be marked Unfit. No second chances."
Brayk leaned toward Kael, whispering, "He really knows how to motivate, huh?"
Kael didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on the massive testing tower behind the instructor. It looked like a spire of white glass and steel, humming with quiet power. He could feel something inside it. A pressure. A pull.
"Line up," the instructor ordered. "Your test begins now."
The crowd began moving. Some kids pushed to the front. Others hesitated. Kael, Brayk, and Liora stuck together.
As they walked forward, Kael clenched his fists at his sides. This was it. A year of waiting. A lifetime of hoping.
They passed under the archway and entered the building. Inside, the floor gleamed like polished obsidian, and the air was cool and sterile. Large screens displayed names and numbers, assigning each participant to an evaluation chamber.
"Kael Arden — Room 103."
"Liora Valen — Room 101."
"Brayk Tavros — Room 102."
They looked at each other. The first time they'd be separated today.
Liora touched Kael's sleeve. "We'll be fine. All of us."
Brayk grinned, then made a fist. "See you both on the other side. Let's aim for Silver One, yeah?"
Kael nodded slowly, though his mind was spinning. Silver One? He didn't even know if he had mana. What if he failed? What if...
No. He shook the thought away.
He walked toward his room.
When the door slid open, a white light bathed the chamber. In the center stood a smooth metallic platform, and above it hovered a crystal orb pulsing with slow light.
A soft voice echoed through the speakers. "Place your hand on the Awakening Core. Relax your mind. The process will begin shortly."
Kael stepped forward.
His fingers trembled slightly as he placed his hand on the crystal.