2015. A day that began like any other.
In the bustling city of Tamluk, India, families moved about their daily routines—shops opening, children laughing on the streets, the faint smell of fried snacks in the air. The world had no warning for what was about to come.
It began with a sound—low, like the earth groaning. Then the sky itself fractured. Great tears of violet light split reality apart, forming vast supernatural rifts that stretched like scars across the horizon. From within poured creatures no one had ever seen before—monsters of twisted flesh and unnatural bone, driven only by hunger and rage.
The screams started almost instantly.
Streets filled with chaos as humans scattered, powerless against beasts that shrugged off bullets and fire. In Tamluk, the Roy family was no exception.
Inside a modest home, Shreya Roy clutched her youngest daughter tightly.
"Jiya! Veer! Stay behind me!" she shouted, her voice trembling as the windows shook from the sound of roars outside.
Her eldest, Jiya Roy, just sixteen, grabbed a kitchen knife with shaking hands. Beside her, ten-year-old Veer tried to stay strong, his small fists clenched though fear was written in his eyes. And little Riya, only five, buried her face in her mother's dress, sobbing.
The door splintered. A creature forced its way inside, its hideous maw dripping with saliva, eyes glowing with malice.
Shreya didn't hesitate. With nothing but her body, she threw herself at the monster, pushing her children back.
"Run!" she screamed. "Don't look back!"
Her sacrifice gave them only moments.
Just as the beast lunged again, a windstorm tore through the house like a hurricane. Blades of air ripped the monster apart in an instant. Standing in the doorway was Aditya Roy, their father—his eyes glowing with a strange, otherworldly light.
"Shreya—!" His voice broke as he saw her fall, blood staining her clothes.
He caught her as she collapsed into his arms. With her last breath, she smiled faintly at him and whispered,
"You came… too late. Protect them…"
And then she was gone.
Aditya's scream shook the air itself. The wind bent to his rage, cutting apart every monster in sight. He had awoken, touched by the same strange energy that poured from the rifts—a force that granted some humans supernatural powers and unique abilities. For Aditya, it was the power of wind, a raging storm bound to his will.
But it came at the cost of the woman he loved.
That day, the world ended.
---
Ten years passed.
The Earth was no longer the same. Governments had crumbled. Nations had fallen. More than half of humanity was gone—devoured, corrupted, or erased. The monsters now roamed freely across Disaster Zones, lands no longer safe for human life.
The strange energy that leaked from the rifts changed everything. It gave birth to Awokened, humans who gained extraordinary abilities. Some used their power to protect, others to dominate. But the same energy also corrupted, turning countless humans into mindless mutants.
Rifts were categorized into eight tiers—Tier One to Tier Eight. The higher the tier, the greater the destruction it brought. Until now, only once had a Tier Six rift appeared. It manifested in Russia, swallowing cities whole and unleashing horrors that killed more than half the nation's population. It took the combined strength of the world's most powerful Awokened to seal it, and even then, the cost was staggering.
For the surviving nations, the world was now lawless. The strong ruled. The weak clung to them for protection. And in place of governments, guilds rose—organizations of Awokened who seized control of cities and territories.
Among them was Tempest, founded in Mumbai by Aditya Roy himself—now one of the twelve known Tier Five Awokened in the world. His guild became India's strongest, a fortress of survival against the chaos.
His children grew under this shadow.
Jiya Roy, now twenty-six, awakened at eighteen. Gifted and relentless, she rose to Tier Four, feared by monsters and respected by allies.
Veer Roy, once a trembling boy, awakened as well. His growth was astonishing—by twenty, he too had reached Tier Four, his potential whispered about even among elites.
Riya Roy, once the youngest and most sheltered, was still waiting for her awakening. At fifteen, she watched and learned, her eyes burning with quiet determination.
The age of nations was over. This was the Age of Guilds.
And in this brutal new world, the Roy family's story was only beginning.