Few people believed that life existed beyond our planet, and most of those who did turned out to be hostile. The Great Dimensional Convergence marked the beginning of everything. At first, simple cracks appeared in reality, leading to fractured realms of nothingness or broken civilizations that once thrived in our world.
Then, the situation worsened. Life was found among ruins and even entire living civilizations, seemingly facing the same crisis as the people on Earth. But instead of uniting to face these difficulties, war broke out. An inter-dimensional war over the resources of each world began, causing unprecedented casualties on a scale never seen before.
There came a time when thousands died each day. Things would have turned even worse if not for the heroes who rose from adversity, hoping to bring balance to the world and prevent its collapse. But with new civilizations, each stronger than the last, appearing one after another, humans were barely considered insects in comparison. Only a miracle could save them—a miracle found in a collapsed civilization that held the Eye of God.
"Can't we just bring everyone back and put a protective layer on our world? Wouldn't that be better?"
"We've discussed this before. Temporary measures won't change anything. They'd only buy us time, which doesn’t fix the core issue. We have to get stronger as a civilization. Only by fighting them can we hope to eke out our existence."
"And for that to happen, only fixing the problem at its core can save us," the old man, barely able to stand, said to his companions. The last heroes humanity could muster stood with him, most guarding the entrance of these broken realms, preventing Grade Seven existences from breaking into this land.
"So sending someone back in time? That’s our only option?"
"Yes, and I believe no one is more suited for this job than Javed." The old man turned to the injured, one-eyed man who seemed to have been hit hardest while breaking into this realm, barely clinging to life.
"You should go. You were one of the first Awakeners."
"The ability I awakened was a bad one. The stone was wasted on me… the only thing I’ve ever been good at is surviving. But you are different. If you had awakened earlier, countless talented lives wouldn't have been lost all those centuries ago. Things would have been much different." At these words, their other companions nodded in agreement. There truly was no one better than Javed for this job. Among all the survivors, only Javed and the old man belonged to the old generation.
Javed had a photographic memory to remember all the important disasters of the past, along with a body that grew stronger the more it devoured dimensional energy, which was like poison to most Awakeners.
"Javed, you know where I found the stone… take it, awaken earlier. Make sure I live a peaceful life. I was never born for war, nor was my daughter." The old man had two children, one a simple mortal who died centuries ago, and one who dared to awaken and walk the same path as him, only to die a few decades ago due to unnatural causes. "Please, prevent the tragedies from ever happening again… we have to be better, stronger, and smarter. But most of all, we have to be kinder… even the enemies of the past can become companions. Remember this, Javed."
With those words, the Eye that seemed to be the answer to all their problems was thrown to Javed, who caught it with his only functioning arm. Then, the old man's eyes turned blank, and he died.
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My father was a hero. The greatest hero of all time.
Twenty years ago, when the world was still adapting to the changes brought by the dimensional convergence, he was the sole man to rise from the ashes of the old civilization and bring in a new age of prosperity during such disastrous times. My father and his companions fought off the invasions of the Cyprus World, where latent magical energy ran rampant, causing the strength of individuals born there to exceed that of humans.
He built cordial relations with the world of Horath, where the Loborns lived—a non-violent species akin to fairies, who also suffered from the constant invasions of people from Cyprus. They became our brothers in arms.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I considered myself blessed to be born of such a heroic father and a mother who, though appearing mortal, played a big part in maintaining relations with the Loborns. But things were never so simple.
"Sorry, son, I can't come… you know how it is at the border of worlds."
"The daughter of a high priest is having her coming of age, and I need to be there as an ambassador. Sorry, son, I can’t come either. But I love you." My parents were distant. In my youth, I wondered if they even loved me. But with age, such childish thoughts were burned away by experience and understanding of the world.
They had too many responsibilities toward countless people. Giving attention to me meant ignoring the plight of others. I couldn’t afford for that to happen, so I nodded in understanding to both of them.
I was a big boy now.
But I won’t lie—it did hurt, considering I had seen my parents more on TV or the internet than at home.
‘Hah.’ Well, it doesn’t matter.
Today was my first day at the Hunter's Academy. Being sad on such a good day was stupid. While I was getting ready to leave, the doorbell rang. I already knew who it was.
"Jennifer, you came early this morning?" A gorgeous woman, also my childhood friend, stood at the door. Her circumstances were similar to mine. But unlike me, who just lived with my servants, Jennifer had her grandparents to take care of her, so she wasn’t as lonely as I was.
"This is the first day; I don’t want to be late like we did during our school days." Her blossoming tone helped kill some of my sad thoughts. "Well, just wait a bit, I’ll be right back."
We left at around eight in the morning and arrived at the Hunter Academy, a simple name for a simple purpose. It was the first academy established for Awakened ones and promoted by my father during my childhood, which I could barely remember. But one thing I did know—I could be considered the prince of this place.
"Isn’t that the hero’s son?"
"Yeah, he’s Rehmant. He really looks like his father."
"Yeah… if they stood side by side, I’d think he was the younger brother."
I had heard such words before, words filled with envy and reverence that surrounded me all my life. A life that gets stale when this is the only reaction you get from people who will be your classmates.
"Don’t think about them too much… You know we are just different from them," Jennifer said. Her words might seem harsh to the common crowd, but they were true. Born of powerful Awakened, our talents and abilities were influenced by our parents, making our upper limit much higher than that of common Awakeners. It would be hard for them to reach our level, no matter what. ‘It's better to stay in our lane, talk to people who are like us,’ or so my mother taught me. Odd, since she was still a mortal, but I saw her point, having experienced it firsthand in my youth.
“Haha, now you are it.” It was the first time I played tag, unaware of the strength I was born with due to my age. “Hwaa… Mummm…” I had just touched the kid as he did me, but it ended up breaking his arm.
And this was not the only incident. “They are weak; they break easily,” my mother had said, and I saw her point.
“Let’s just meet with Pranjul. He should be waiting in class as usual.” Jennifer wasn’t my only childhood friend; there were others who lived in the Hero’s compound. But none were closer to me than Jennifer.
While walking there, a boy much younger than me brushed against me, falling to the ground and looking at me with anger.
"Are you blind?" he asked, angered.
"What are you talking about?" I replied.
"Walking side by side in the middle of the hallway without a care for the world." It was only when he pointed it out that I noticed. Everyone seemed to be walking at a distance from me and at a much slower pace than normal. Which was good.
"So what?" I asked the fool, ignorant of who I was.
"At least apologize if you make a mistake." His strength faltered as he saw my aura.
"Apologize? You’re asking the hero’s son to apologize?" Jennifer supported me, as she always did.
"You… you are Rehmant…."
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Arrogance, I would expect nothing less from this man.
"I-I apologize." I bowed my head in embarrassment, showing zero self-respect against a man who was obviously at fault. But what could I do? This was the fate God had brought to me as a mere Grade D Awakened. There was no place for the weak in this world.
Powerlessness resulted in my parents’ death. Powerlessness made me susceptible to the tortures I experienced in the orphanage. Powerlessness caused me to lose the only other person I ever loved beside my parents.
"Pathetic." "At least show some spine." The two spoiled kids spoke such words to me before leaving, and the eyes of the cowards around me held a hint of mockery.
'It's always like this.' I ignored them and rushed away from the hallway, not because of embarrassment.
"Haha… Finally… yes. Yes, yessss…" I finally met him and her.
"Finally, the son of that bastard is so close to my hands." Oh, how I wanted to end him right there. But I knew I lacked the capability and that being the son of a hero afforded a certain level of protection from experts.
I couldn’t do anything against him.
But who knows what the future holds?