The skies darkened without warning.
At first, people thought it was another ripple of Awakening. A vast shadow stretched across the heavens, blotting out the sun. Then came the sound---like thunder cracking the world in half. The air split open, and a colossal rift appeared above the earth.
From it poured creature unlike any ever seen. Their forms were grotesque, jagged, and alien. Some flew with wings of bone and fire, others crawled with too many limbs, their claws cutting stone like paper. Their eyes glowed red, hungry, merciless.
The First Wave had come.
The streets erupted in chaos. People screamed, fled, and prayed. But then the newly awakened stepped forward. Men and women whose powers had just begun to blossom charged into fray. Fire blazed, water surged, blades of energy split the air.
"Humanity will not fall!" shouted a young awakened warrior, his words burning with light. His strike cleaved through one of the alien beasts, earning cheers from the crowd. Dozens followed, each awakening power now unleashed in earnest combat.
It was humanity's first true battle against the unknown.
From the library's balcony, Yu Chen watched in silence. His hands were clasped behind his back, his eyes calm as chaos unfolded.
The awakened fought with courage, but also desperation. Their strikes landed, yes but their movements were clumsy, inefficient, predictable. Many of them wasted their strength on flashy displays, while the alien beasts moved with predatory precision.
"They are children," Yu Chen murmured to himself. "Children playing with blades in a storm."
[STATUS PANEL - YEAR 21]
NAME: Yu Chen
AGE: 36
STRENGTH: 27,000
CONSTITUTION: 26,500
AGILITY: 26,000
INTELLIGENCE: 25,500
POTENTIAL: LIMITLESS
He didn't move. He didn't need to. To him, this battle was slow, clumsy, even dull. He could already predict its outcome before the first hour had passed.
The Awakened forces rallied together, forming crude squads. A fire-user incinerated three beasts at once, while an earth-mage raised walls to shield civilians. Swordsmen clashed with clawed abominations, blood staining the cobblestones.
At first, the crowed believed. They cheered, shouted the names of their champions, and believed this was the dawn of humanity's triumph.
But belief soon turned to horror.
The rift above the sky pulsed again. Hundreds more creatures poured through, overwhelming the fighters. Heroes were torn apart mid-shout, their blood raining down on the screaming civilians. Walls of stone shattered, flames were smothered, blades snapped like toys.
The awakened began to fall one by one.
"Too many!" cried a soldier as he was dragged into the air, his body ripped apart.
The crowd that once cheered now panicked, stampeding away from the battlefield.
Yu Chen's gazed never wavered. He saw every detail, every strike, every desperate cry. His intelligence stat allowed him to map the battle in his mind with perfect clarity---where each fighter stood, which beasts threatened to break through, where the tide of war was flowing.
"If they continue like this..." he murmured, "...humanity will lose its first battle before it has even begun."
His hands twitched once, almost reaching for a weapon. But he stopped.
It wasn't time yet.
If he revealed himself now, humanity would never learn to stand. They would come to depend on him alone. And when the true threats came---the ones even he might struggle against---he would stand alone anyway.
So Yu Chen watched.
Days later, the first invasion finally ended.
Not because humanity triumphed, but because the rift sealed itself. The surviving creatures retreated back into the void, leaving cities in ruins, streets drenched in blood, and tens of thousands dead.
The awakened survivors were hailed as heroes, though most of them were broken, their eyes haunted by the horrors they faced.
The world celebrated their "victory". Songs were written. Statues were promised. Governments declared a new era where humanity would stand strong against the stars.
But Yu Chen knew the truth.
It was no victory, it was a test.
The invaders had only sent scouts. A fraction of their strength.
And humanity had nearly been annihilated.
That night, alone in the silent library, Yu Chen opened a blank book and began to write. He sketched the creatures he had seen, mapped their movements, and recorded the weakness he had observed. Page by page, he built knowledge humanity would one day need.
"They cheer now," he whispered to himself, the sound of his pen scratching softly, "but when the Second Wave comes... cheers will not save them."
His eyes burned with quiet resolve.
And though no one knew it, the guardian of mankind was watching. Waiting. Preparing.
---End of Chapter 3---