Iona was a planet, a large blue marble floating in the vast expanse of space. It was filled with diverse creatures and environments, but one species stood out as the undisputed ruler of the planet: humans.

Human history showed many periods of progress, collectively forwarding the entire race, starting with humans first discovering fire and ending with nuclear warheads detonating in deserts. Humans showed significant growth in their technology and culture.

But, there was one significant impact that changed everything.

The Great Upheaval was a period in time that lasted for 200 years. The humans found a new energy source that they called mana. It came gradually and affected people at random. It was unknown who exactly was the first to develop mana. Regardless it caused a domino effect that would change the world forever.

The emergence of superhumans, now known as Rankers, caused widespread civil unrest due to their increasing prevalence among newborns. The idea of millions of individuals possessing the ability to conjure fire and easily tear apart steel was unsettling since the average Joe couldn't defend themselves against such power.

Some countries implemented harsh laws targeting these new superhumans to address this issue. However, this only exacerbated tensions, reminding people of past instances of injustice and segregation. In some cases, the governments in power even forced superhumans to carry out their bidding, leading to widespread riots and destruction in affected cities. The early days were marked by volatility, and many individuals couldn't control their newfound powers.

Around 180 years passed after the initial upheaval, and groups of strange people were spotted everywhere, seeming to appear out of nowhere. These strangers had pronounced differences from humans. Some had green skin, some were short and stout, and some with plant-like flesh instead of normal skin. These otherfolk came with a warning that soon a great cataclysm would happen to this planet. Some otherfolk were dangerous and would attack indiscriminately at those who approached.

The people did not listen to these strangers. Soon after, the beasts started to change. They were already affected by mana, but now they seem to evolve rapidly. Some otherfolk claim to be from another world, where their world experienced an apocalyptic event that caused their planet to split into many pieces. Most people still did not believe them since there were questions about how their world fractured and how they could speak our language. The otherfolk didn't have good enough answers for the humans, causing suspicions and rising tensions.

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They claimed their gods saved what they could by sending the pieces of the world into different subspaces, but the type of magic they used was unstable and would cause a similar event to that one on this planet. The answers to follow-up questions were unsatisfactory. The humans did not like the idea that there were gods in a different world, but the gods the humans worshiped were not legitimate by otherfolk standards.

The otherfolks spoke of gods the humans had not heard of and mentioned monsters found in human mythology. All of this brought into question the legitimacy of the otherfolks entirely. Twenty years later, the Collision finally arrived.

It happened suddenly and all at once. The world shook, the lands ripped apart at their seams, the sky cried thunder, and the seas churned and boiled. Millions died at the first impact, and no one knew what was happening. The planet grew.

The pieces of the alien world were causing this new one to grow in size and accommodate the new landmass, the new oceans, and the new skies. Mana stirred like ocean currents as creatures appeared unseen to humans before. Floods caused mass destruction and hundreds of thousands more deaths.

After the initial impact, the superhumans drove the beast waves away. The otherfolk cried out. They should have listened to them sooner and prepared. Monsters weren't the only ones to appear, but the rest of the otherfolk materialized with their own countries and land. The humans blamed the otherfolk, accusing them of causing this great disaster, but the otherfolk no longer cared. They warned the humans, and they did not listen. They let them fend for themselves; the humans called them refugees who came to take over their planet.

The humans alive during this great Collision called themselves the first generation, and they decided they needed to take back the planet and adapt to the crazy world that lay before them. Seeing the humans adapt to this bizarre and foreign situation, the gods from the other world gave the humans a gift called the system.

It was created by the God of information and later given to every creature on the planet. The God of mana saw the turbulent energy and decided to take measures into their own hands. Using the God of information's system as a template, they limited an individual's mana from an early age to allow them to develop until they mature enough to handle the strain of mana. The humans had no idea why the gods would do something like this. Help them? Limit them? Although the humans now started a bit weaker, they have an invaluable system that now allows them to have information about their skills and abilities at the tips of their fingers. Information is power.

The introduction of the system led to the emergence of the term "ranker" among humans, as everything was graded and ranked by the system. The first generation produced many formidable rankers with great power. The Conqueror was one of these rankers, although his identity was not common knowledge. Despite this, he acted as a tyrant on behalf of the people and reclaimed land that had been lost during the Collision, returning it to those who needed it. He is no longer with us, but the only remaining member of his bloodline had recently awoken from a long slumber.