Braun packed his bags and silently waited inside his living room.

They said I should stand here and wait for a portal to open up- Oh, speak of the devil.

Just as Braun was patiently standing still, a fissure in space abruptly opened, where blue light coalesced and solidified, forming a glowing blue portal that shimmered with strange light.

Reaching out to touch the edges of the portal, he felt his hand go through some weird membrane as if space had become something his skin could feel and touch.

Interesting. Braun smiled and walked through the portal, which then closed as soon as he disappeared from the room.

The only thing that proved its existence was the burst of wind formed from its disappearance, with the curtains fluttering wildly.

…

Braun had to close his eyes when he walked through the portal due to the burst of wind that met his face, along with the brightness of the portal itself that would probably blind him if he stared at it close enough.

When he opened his eyes, he readjusted his eyes to the sudden shift in lighting and blinked for a few moments.

“Welcome, newbie!” A loud, booming voice greeted him as an arm slung across his shoulder.

“Hmm?” Braun finally felt his eyes were alright and stared at the person currently having their arm slung across his shoulder.

He was met with the appearance of a tall, muscular man with bronze skin. He had a bald head and a carefree smile, like a friendly walking mass of meat.

After analyzing the man’s face, Braun appeared to have realized something.

“Nice to meet you… Hard Skin?” Braun greeted with a joking yet questioning tone.

“Hard Skin?” The man asked, perplexed by the strange label.

“You’re the dude with the hard skin, right? The guy I beat in one punch?” Braun inquired.

“Oh…” His grin deepened as he patted Braun strongly on the back. “Yeah, I’m Hard Skin!”

Although he was smiling, the strangely aggressive pat on the back showed that he wasn’t as unbothered as he appeared to be.

Braun simply ignored Hard Skin’s antics and swept his gaze across the room, with the intention of finding the rest of the five-man team that ganged on him before. It didn’t long though for him to find the rest of them because they were the only ones who wore the strange skintight black suit compared to the rest of the workers in the room.

One was a tall, athletic woman of Afrilian descent, with jade white skin, sharp eyes, and thin eyebrows. Her hair was cut short to just around her neck and was tied into a ponytail so that it wouldn’t obstruct her vision and movements while fighting.

In the middle of the three was a dark-skinned man, with thick lips, dark brown eyes, and thick eyebrows. He had curly black hair with edges lined up quite well, giving him a sharp and gentlemanly look. In one of his hands was a blue book, and upon seeing the title, Braun knew it was a relatively well-known book with plenty of readers giving it praise.

Lastly, the one standing at the right was a woman with pale white skin, raven-black hair, and piercing black eyes. She had a broody, cold complexion that made her appear like a distant, aloof woman, but Braun wasn’t having any of that.

“That’s Clone Woman, Barrier Guy, and Raven Girl, right?” Braun pointed at them, calling out their given nicknames from left to right respectively.

Barrier Guy wore an amused look upon hearing his nickname and a small subtle appeared on his face.

Hard Skin couldn’t help but laugh and soften his grip on Braun’s shoulders.

Clone Woman squinted her eyes, revealing slight traces of humor.

Only Raven Girl remained expressionless as if she wasn’t willing to stay here any longer.

“We have names, you know.” Clone Woman approached Braun and stretched out her hand. “The name’s Nora, Nora Shi.”

“Lucas, Lucas Hum.” Braun grabbed her hand with a firm grip.

The two shook hands, and silently assessed one another in that small timeframe.

“I’m Terry Cruz!” The large walking mass of meat lightly nudged Braun on the shoulder. “I see you’ve been working out, eh? Heh, if you ever need someone to hang out with in the gym, I’ll be there.”

“Jonas Odi, nice to meet you.” Barrier Guy gave a perfunctory nod.

“Kaya Macias,” Raven Girl said softly, her eyes devoid of any joy.

Pfft, this bitch is introverted as hell. Braun inwardly rolled his eyes when he saw Kaya’s obvious dislike of meeting new people, but didn’t act on his thoughts.

Instead, he nodded his head and turned to the side, meeting eyes with Karsen.

“Ahem.” Karsen coughed, clearing his throat, and stepped forward.

“Karsen Smith, team captain of Nuwesca City’s southwestern Aegis branch. Welcome to the team, Lucas Hum.” As he said so, Karsen smiled helplessly and stepped back, as if preemptively avoiding something.

Confetti burst out of the air, with the lights turning into shining colors of red, blue, and white. Loud sounds played from the room’s speakers, with numerous cries and cheers ringing out.

“Welcome to Aegis!”

…

So that’s why that raven gal wasn’t having any of it back then. Braun smiled as he drank another cup of beer, with a slight burning sensation going down his throat.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

He stared at the mess of a room known as the Central Hub, the place that can be considered the base of operations in the branch, where one can view a hologram of the city that monitors any sign of super force activity occurring, specifically, in the southwestern part of the city.

Aegis’ guards, janitors, researchers, and all of its workers were currently partying in the incredibly large Central Hub, drinking alcoholic drinks and letting their minds loose.

Strangely enough, there was one strange thing Braun noticed with one casual sweeping look at the place.

Everyone was fit. Everyone looked decently good.

Any random office worker, the kind that sits behind a desk all day, had decently built physiques that even he would praise. Whether they be man or woman, everyone was physically fit.

“Huh…” He drank another cup of beer, staring intently at their bodies.

“Cool, right?” Terry approached from the sides, holding a large glass of beer.

“What’s cool?” Braun absentmindedly asked.

“Their bodies obviously!” Terry grinned. “Sigh, you’d be amazed at the gym culture in this base. Everyone is practically working out. Hoo, goddamn, it just brings a tear to my eye whenever I think of all those men and women pumping iron.”

“Really?” Braun raised his eyebrow without hiding his clear surprise.

“You’re surprised to see that the world’s number one organization that spanned across millennia wouldn’t have implemented some sort of system that essentially makes all of its workers take care of their bodies? Besides the amazing pay, Aegis provides great nutrition from their local cafeterias, free access to gyms, and constantly encourages its members to not just take care of their physical health but mental health as well through free therapists and psychologists on the go.”

“You sound a lot like a sales agent right now,” Braun jested with a smile.

“I know.” Terry chuckled. “But I’m just saying, Aegis’ a really amazing place. I know we apprehended you and all, but they basically did the same to me as well back then.”

“How surprising,” said Braun sarcastically.

“I was actually born with powers. Had a super force crystal since birth and all that stuff, but it wasn’t really that amazing of an ability since I began at Level 0. Of course, it did give me a few benefits like easier muscle building, so that was a great boon to have,” Terry recounted.

“Wait, since birth?” Braun asked, confused. He straightened his back and twitched his ears, showing eager curiosity regarding the new matter.

“Oh right, Karsen probably didn’t explain that to you.” Terry rubbed the back of his head. “Ehh, how do I explain this? It’s like…”

“In simple terms, super force crystals form when large groups of organisms gather together in one place. We don’t know why and how this happens, but essentially, life equates to the formation of crystals, and sometimes, in rare occurrences, those crystals form at childbirth, giving rise to humans who are supers at birth.”

Jonas closed his book and stood beside them, drink at hand.

“Yes, something like that!” Terry snapped his fingers.

“That’s…” Light flickered in Brau’s eyes.

So, super force crystals form when a large group of living organisms gathers together in one place. The Zenithral Force also has a hand when it comes to the creation of crystals. Braun quickly gathered all relevant information in his mind, creating a highly plausible hypothesis.

Living beings represent the existence of progress, in fact, they’re probably one of the most highly concentrated forms of progress in the entire universe. They change, they grow, and they evolve in so many ways, from them being individuals to societies as a whole.

Because of this, the zenith manifests around them, which should catalyze the creation of the crystals.

Then, this must be the reason humanity was so strong back then, and why there are so many gods in outer space according to the legend of Ragnarok.

According to some theories, back when the universe was still young, there was a period of time when all water was liquid, and liquid water was essential to the creation of life—now, if all water in the universe was liquid, then it wouldn’t be too hard to believe that life practically existed in every breadth of the universe, in all forming galaxies.

During that time when life was at its all-time peak, countless crystals should have formed, merging with primordial forms of life.

As they came into contact with those crystals, primordial gods came into existence, which explained the insane number of gods that attacked during Ragnarok.

Braun once again realized just how vast Zenith’s influence was over the development of the universe, exerting its absolute control over its domain of growth, evolution, and transcendence.

Expectedly, the green flame in his body lit up brighter than before, with green light suffusing from his eyes without anyone noticing due to how quick it occurred,

Terry then continued his story, “Anyways, yeah, I was born with superpowers.”

“Then, when I was in my high school years, I got really competitive in bodybuilding and even went pro! However, I accidentally used my powers on stage because I was nervous and pressured to win, which caught the sights of Aegis,” Terry recounted with melancholic eyes.

“I remember that,” commented Jonas. “Everyone was freaking out because you suddenly turned all sharp and rough, looking like some monster straight out of fiction.”

“And I could have won that if I wasn’t so goddamn nervous!” Terry clicked his tongue in annoyance, taking one big swing of his drink.

“When did you join Aegis?” Braun curiously asked.

“Two years ago, apprehended by Jonas and Nora, back when they were still a three-man team with Karsen.” Terry wiped his lips, his face slightly flushing red.

“Oh, how about you?” Braun turned to look at Jonas.

“Well, I originally used to work at Insea City’s Aegis branch for nearly two years but was transferred here when Karsen became team captain three years ago. Nora, on the other hand, was a recently recruited trainee at that time and worked with us,” answered Jonas.

“So two years, five years, and three years?” Braun murmured. “What about Kaya? She looks a bit unfriendly to you guys. Is she a new recruit like me?”

“Oh, her?” Terry laughed. “That emo joined us a month ago. She got her powers from the meteor shower.”

“Wait, do you know about the meteor shower?” Terry realized that Braun might not know what he was talking about just like before with humans born as supers.

“I know what that is. In fact, I got my powers because of it.” Braun laughed softly as he took a sip of his drink.

“Ha, lucky. Nora only got her powers after working after working over a year as a highly trained combat specialist for Aegis. Only then did they give her a chance at acquiring superpowers by giving her a crystal,” remarked Terry.

“Oh, they do that?” Braun clicked his tongue in amazement. “That’s actually genius.”

“Jonas over there is just like me though, born with superpowers.” Terry pointed at Jonas.

“Hmm…” Braun hummed and took a sip of his beer.

The trio continued to talk with one another, enjoying their time together.

Nora and Kaya spent time with each other along with a couple of female workers in the base, although Nora did most of the talking and Kaya remained silent if nobody bothered to talk to her.

Karsen refrained from drinking too much and chatted with some of the base’s higher-ups, like managers and such.

It was a rare, harmonious time where people could relax from the duty of their work and party, but true to their name as humanity’s shield, they had to respond when the call was given.

The lights abruptly returned to normal while a loud alarm blared in their ears. The hologram of the city floating in the middle of the room expanded in size, with a red dot smack dab in the middle of the city.

“Fuck!” Terry cursed.

Jonas sighed, pushing his drink aside.

“Notice: Level 1 super detected!” A voice announced from the speakers, stopping the music.

Everyone groaned in response, but that didn’t stop them from moving. They hurried back to their respective workplaces, each preparing for the incoming task.

Karsen cracked his neck and wiped his lips, shouting loudly, “Terry, Jonas, come with me! Let’s finish this quickly!”

“Yes, captain!”

A glowing blue portal formed right beside Karsen, with the two rushing straight into the portal. A helmet formed right out of their necks like a retractable device springing into action, covering their faces.

Staring at their disappearing figures, Braun took another sip of his beer and mumbled, “That’s cool…”

Damn, it feels like I’m becoming a goddamn cop, having to respond at a moment’s notice just like my dad. Braun wore a melancholic smile, remembering bits of his normal past, before going for another round of that sweet sweet alcohol. Oh well, it’s inevitable that I would get a job no matter how abnormal it may be. At least it’s not as boring as being an engineer or a guidance counselor.