Ch #1

"Into the Unknown"

A constant hubbub surrounded him. The roar of vehicles drowned his slight hum, rushing past the walkway. With a slow rumble, something took to the sky. Straining his neck, he saw a sleek and streamlined vehicle with a large panoramic windshield, flying. Reaching the height of the building roofs, it moved through the air without a hitch.

A hop, a step, a skip. He wet his lips a bit in anticipation. Bite. A cool, sweet, strawberry flavor flooded his mouth. It felt refreshing, like nothing he had tasted before. A frail-looking young man, his face covered in dirt, hair clumped and dry, its dark black color taking on a more prominent brownish hue. He made his way, wearing a long trench coat that appeared more like a patchwork of rags, attracting curious glances from passersby. Kai seemed entirely out of place.

He wondered why he'd come to the inner citadel. It wasn't going to change anything. For an outer being, "Marked" was a death sentence after all. First the war, then the Catastrophe. The citadels were the only safe haven left, and only the scavengers and the army remained its protection. Work, while not scarce, didn't pay much. Most of the people earned only a few hundred units a month. When rations alone cost half of that, there were no luxuries for them to enjoy.

Kai did not worry about that, though. He had left that life behind. Looking around with fascination, he strolled along the paved streets. He'd never ventured this far into the Citadel before. The three hundred or so units, his years of savings, and a bit left from his mother. He had spent most of it getting here, throwing the rest away to try the delicacy in his hand.

Still, he had no worries. The dead don't need money after all, and in case he survived... Well, he'd figure something out then. No chance, he thought.

A large building, covered in wood, metal, and intricate stained glass, creating a play of light and shadow. Its roof adorned with overhanging eaves and upturned corners. A massive white arched door, with two statues standing on either side of it. Their surfaces gleamed in the soft glow of the morning sun's illumination.

Kai had never seen them before, which was odd considering the government's penchant for propaganda. One was a knightly-looking statue holding a long curved silver sword, lined with gold squiggles along its edge. The many magazines and posters he'd seen described the sword as a formidable artifact. The other, a woman holding an orb, her face covered by a veil. He was sure they were extremely important. Why else would their statues be made?

"Kindled Enlistment Hall."

Examining the letters etched into the arch's white stone, an unusual sensation weighed on him. Some kind of feeling of pride welled up. Odd, he's never felt much patriotism. Fortified walls, reinforced gates, and the many guards he could see. He wondered why the place was so heavily fortified.

As Kai stepped inside, he took note of the bustling activity within the building. At the reception desk, a weary elderly woman, her eyes framed by glasses that hinted at countless hours of tireless work, was intensely engrossed in typing on a device before her. She upon noticing him walk towards her, frowned at the food in his hand. Maybe age had dulled her tastes? "State your name and ID."

Kai's unconventional appearance attracted quite a few disdainful looks from the guards in the hall. Covered in dirt and tattered clothing hastily patched together to conceal holes in his coat, with an ice cream in hand, he made quite the spectacle. Glancing around, he noted mounted turrets and defensive systems inside. A fortress of steel.

The lady frowned, waiting for him to answer. She coughed a little to attract his attention. "I don't have all day. Why are you here?"

"Oops, sorry. I'm Kaiser. I'm an orphan from the outer wall, so I don't have an ID. I'm here according to the Marked response directive to turn myself in."

"How long have you had the mark? Do you feel the pull?"

Kai felt quite uneasy at the gaze of the old lady. Somehow he felt he shouldn't tell her everything. Kai didn't know much, but still enough not to trust others blindly. He'd had the mark for years, but she didn't need to know that...right? He'd play it down a little. Putting on a confused face he then politely smiled at the lady. "I woke up with the mark a few months ago. Just started feeling the pull today, maybe a few hours ago. I don't know when exactly."

Surprise flickered across the countenance of the elderly receptionist, swiftly transforming into a grave demeanor. Rising from her seat with urgency, she promptly summoned assistance and gestured for Kai to accompany her. Leading him briskly through the hall, she guided him to a secure chamber, where he was left alone while she went to procure additional aid. Kai's ice cream was left behind in the hallway, and he sat dejectedly in the room, waiting.

Kai thought back to the few books his mother had left him. Books of all things. They told of a time before the war, before the records or magic, before humans lived in glorified cages made of stone. Trees on the roadside, massive sprawling cities with skyscrapers reaching toward the sky, of a time when humans had stepped on that gray rock in the night sky. He'd sold them, of course, for food.

But he did not mind. He'd read them too many times already. There were a few pages that intrigued him. The mentions of the records and the marked, how the nations had ignored their appearance at first. How they were locked up later for the strange markings and patterns on their skin, how they had all died mysteriously.

In their thirst for power, the nations forsook the world, and the world in turn forsook them. They were Idiots in his opinion. He had never seen the rifts himself, but the books had described them as a hole in reality and did not expand any further. They spewed out monsters and mana, mana that turned a third of the population into abominations.

The words in the book were sparse about what happened next. The armies were devastated, it said. Nations simply toppled. The 'Kindled' had appeared at some point, supposedly returning from another world, wielding powers to bend reality. Kai remembered the first time he'd read about them. Hailed as heroes, saviors, and paragons of humanity. They had led humanity forward to face the changing world.

He'd seen the guilds, the many clans, and the new generation of warriors depicted in the posters and magazines. The government often paraded them around too. They were just pompous bastards, used for keeping the morale of the citizens high.

For him, though, these were just stories, from a book left to him as an inheritance.

Soon an old, stern-looking man entered the room followed by the receptionist lady. His countenance bore the unmistakable weight of time. The man looked tired, and his expression somber, as if he had seen a lot of harrowing things in his life. Observing Kai, the old man nodded and inspected the file handed to him.

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"Kaiser was it? Quite an impressive name, kid. I don't think outers usually come to the inner city to face the mark's trial."

Kai looked a little pensive at the statement but answered anyway. "My mother, she told me if I ever contracted the mark, I should head to the inner city before she died..."

Before everything had gone to hell... The old man seemed to have softened a little at that. Kai sighed a little. Eyes towards the floor.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Well, Kaiser, do you know what happens next?"

Kai joked. "I die and go to another world to fight monsters and learn magic, right?"

The old man seemed amused at his words. Shaking his head, he took out a cube-like device. The sounds... Kai couldn't hear the buzz outside anymore, as if the room had become isolated from the outside world. Setting the cube on the table, the old man proceeded to start whatever procedures they had.

"Don't put too much stock in movies and posters. You should know those are just propaganda. And this... is just a temporary sound barrier, nothing for you to worry about. Mind showing me your mark?"

Kai looked at him with a raised eye, his arms tensing. This was out of his expectations. Would they find out? Could they tell from the shape or size of the mark? He had only seen other marks in magazines and never in person.

"You want me to take off my coat?"

The old man chuckled. "Why, don't tell me you're shy because of the lady?"

Kai snorted in response. As if a scavenger like him would be shy about anything. No, he had other worries. The receptionist herself seemed busy setting up a recording device. Well, he'd just have to hope for the best. He was the one who came here after all.

"Of course not. Why would I be shy? I just didn't think anyone would want to see it. I'm not wearing this long-ass trench coat in the middle of summer because I like it, old man."

Kai removed the patchwork of a coat, taking care to neatly fold it, and placed it on the side. His thin and frail figure, looking malnourished without the baggy coat, was now for all to see. Underneath, he wore a government-issued synthetic body suit with torn-up sleeves and a few holes, the marks on his arms peeking through them.

"Take off the upper-body suit as well. Turn to your side, and we'll do the rest."

Kai complied, albeit hesitantly, turning around to display the mark on his back. The old man seemed surprised by the size of the mark. "That's a massive mark you have there on your back. Are you sure it's just a few months old?"

Kai almost cursed but restrained himself. They might not have caught him yet, and did it even matter how old the mark was? Steadying his thoughts, he answered. "Yup, one morning I woke up to see it on my arms. Didn't want to show it to anyone since... well, you know how it is."

The old man nodded, taking his time to observe the mark. It looked like a puzzle of sorts, meshed together like cogs placed on top of each other. Pulsating with a subtle, ethereal glow, the intricate patterns seemed to dance beneath the skin, creating an illusion of movement and life. Spreading in a bizarre pattern from his back, wrapping around all the way to his arms and chest.

The lady was recording the marks with a device she had set up. This must be what exhibitionists feel like... If only there were cute ladies instead of old geezers in the room studying him.

"Alright, we're done. You can put your clothes on again. I'd leave the coat off, though."

Kai wore his bodysuit, turning to see the old man checking something. A glowing yellow device on the wall. He wondered what that was for. Turning to Kai, who was already wearing his clothes, the old man led him to a seat.

"What do you think the Mark is, Kai?"

Pondering the question, oddly enough, he didn't know. He was aware that Marks were bestowed by the records, appearing about ten percent of the time within the population. Most who received it vanished for extended periods. He had heard rumors of them going to the tower, but what exactly was the tower? He knew those who returned were significantly more powerful, nearly three times stronger than the mightiest humans. "I don't know. Maybe something like a locator?"

"It's much more apt to call it an anchor. An anchor for the records. And it uses this anchor to pull you to the tower, to transfer mana to this world and to spread to others possibly."

Kai felt uneasy knowing such information. If the marked ones were anchors... and caused the records to spread to others, was the government knowingly letting it happen? Why? There were a lot of questions to ask. But he needed to know about his situation first. "What's this tower? I've only heard about it from books and stuff. What do I do there?"

The old man smiled, seeing him ask questions actively. "I say 'take you', but it's not really that. It's better to say that you die and the records just take your soul to an illusory realm."

"Illusory?"

"Indeed, a trial if you will. The marks' trial, for a chance to access the tower's first floor."

He'd just been joking when he said he'd die and go to another world. What a clichéd plot. He'd listen to the old man first.

"It's not necessarily about fighting monsters if that's bothering you. In fact, it could be anything, whatever the records determine you're best suited for. It's a trial after all, not a slaughter... usually."

He couldn't help but doubt the fairness of these trials. Trust didn't come easily to him, and growing up on the outer walls had made him cautious. Just showing them the mark had made him extremely uneasy. However, he kept those concerns to himself; there was no need to voice them. "You said it sends mana over to our world? How does that work?"

"Hmm, indeed it's been sending mana over to this world. Why? We don't know. What we do know is that older marks are more potent, bringing more mana in. And when enough mana is in one place..."

"What?"

"Rifts begin to rupture. Normally, we wouldn't have to worry about rifts opening, though. But the mana density has risen quite a bit since our conversation began."

As if on cue, red lights suddenly blared in the room, causing the old man to frown. Kai feared what the sudden lights meant. If older marks were more potent, how potent would his mark be? Surely, a rift won't open right in front of them? He didn't know, and hoped he wouldn't have to find out.

The receptionist, who had been sitting quietly, rushed out of the room in a hurry. The instruments and devices she had brought with her were left in their place.

"What's happening?"

"This is a code red. Whenever the mana concentration in any area of the city becomes too high, the alarm is triggered, and the Kindled are paged to rush to that location to contain the rift. There's a rift about to open nearby right now."

Kai's eyes widened. He had heard of the monsters and abominations—the stuff of nightmares. Not bothering with his surprise, the old man gestured for Kai to follow him to an inconspicuous pod in the corner. "Do you feel the pull clearly?"

"Yeah, a constant tug on my chest. It's growing slowly."

Nodding, he opened the pod, pressing some buttons. "You don't have much time, just a few minutes at most. The mana levels are increasing too rapidly. Lie down in the pod and try to concentrate on the pull. Remember, your body will perish, but your soul will transition to the trial. Complete it, and you will receive a class and form your shell. Upon entering the tower, you'll inhabit a being closest to your class. Make your way to any one of the sanctuaries if you can."

As the pod sealed shut, Kai caught a few parting words. "You won't be able to come back until you become a Kindled yourself. If you do make it back, seek me out by the name Reinhardt."

After that, everything faded into darkness. Kai entered a state of limbo, the mark on his skin growing increasingly warm, pulsating as if it were alive. He felt a mysterious force tugging at him from within. A searing pain spread from his chest as if it was being torn apart... and then he died.

***

Reinhardt watched the pod close and looked around. The red lights blared on in the room. The mana level was still rising more and more. At some point, the red light had changed to black. "A few months huh? I doubt that."

If it had been only a decade or two since that great disaster, maybe then a few months old cursed mark could saturate the area with so much mana. But now? Impossible. It wasn't just humans and monsters evolving; the world was evolving too! The level of mana the world could hold had risen by magnitudes.

"A year? Maybe two..." It was rare to see marks manifesting so early, and despite all humanity knew about these enigmatic marks, it was still incomplete and inadequate.

Reinhardt left the room and headed to the command room on the top floor, a room with a table in the middle surrounded by 12 chairs. It was empty, of course. Unless it was a time of emergency and all other strongholds had failed, none of the others would appear. He sighed. "What a mess... leaving this to an old man like me."

He monitored the situation from the instruments in the command room. The mana-measuring instruments displayed a green glow. At least a level 2 rift, could escalate to 3. It would be difficult for him to contain this one, at least not without a few loses.

Reinhardt waited for the rift to manifest in reality; it would appear nearby. The perimeter of the buildings up to 5 kilometers had been evacuated, and there were underground shelters all around the city to keep the citizens safe.

Crack... "It's here..."