Huh...? What's going on? Everything's dark, and I...I feel so drained and worn out. I can't even open my eyes... Wait, who...who am I? I...I can't remember. I can't remember anything. My head, it...it feels so foggy and cloudy... . . . . "...-42 and subject 43. You're up next."Huh? Whose voice is that? A memory? But it's unclear, I can't see anything-... . . . . . Huh? Is this a different memory now? It's unclear again, everything's so blurry...but I can just about, vaguely, hear what's being said to me in the memory... "You defiant little-...! Cooperate or die, we can make good use of your corpses if you prefer!"I...I don't remember this, but it...it feels familiar, the emotions welling up and taking over my senses, they feel so...so painfully familiar. I can feel a sense of immense fear and blinding rage surging inside me... . . . . . "It's no use, the result is a failure after all...how frustrating, we were so close too!"Another different memory. I-I can feel

"Go on, introduce yourselves," Ifeus prompted the two girls, as they entered the room, staring at me with looks of intrigue and curiosity in their eyes. "Hello, it's nice to meet you...my name is Iris Lero," One of them introduced herself politely. She had snow while hair tied up in a ponytail, a slightly dark complexion, and bright, dark green eyes. Ifeus said that I'm fourteen, right? She looks a bit older, maybe somewhere around sixteen years old or so. "Hi, there! I'm Lilac Lero, my name's a bit of a tongue twister...try saying it over and over!" Grinned the other girl as she introduced herself in a cheerful, friendly tone. Yeah, I'd rather not. She's a bit excessively upbeat, huh? She looked like she was a bit younger than Iris, with a similar complexion, dark purple hair tied up in twintails, gleaming red eyes and-...wait, what's that? Something's moving in her chest. Huh? Is...is that a snake? "Uh...," I muttered in bewilderment, as a green snake poked its head out of her t

Oh, wow. Ignoring and setting aside the questions marks, the rest of my stats aren't bad at all...my Maximum Ether Output is well above the human average of 10. And the average for all four physical stats are about 15, so I'm well above average with those too. My durability is especially high, interesting. Gotta say, wouldn't have guessed that's the case since my body is kinda scrawny and slender, guess I'm more sturdily built than I thought. It does make sense that my numbers are above average though, since my Ascended Tier is unlocked. That said, my Agility and Speed stats are a bit low for an Ascended Mage, while my Strength stat is just about a fraction below average. It also makes sense that my Power Level isn't showing up and displays '???' instead, just like with my Ether Capacity stat. After all, since Ether Capacity is the main factor in calculating Power Level, and my Ether Capacity isn't showing up, it's only natural that my Power Level can't be calculated. I should also

After gaining an understanding and comprehension over Ether, the Seven Gods pooled their newfound knowledge and intelligence to establish the Magic System that exists together, giving the people the ability to stably harness their powers and halting the widespread, rampant mutations. Apparently, the way the Magic System works is based on technology that existed before the disaster, the display that a Mage sees when they enter their subconscious was apparently created with the lost technology as a basis for its layout and functionality. However, simply establishing the Magic System wasn't enough to bring an end to the chaos and mayhem in the new, post-apocalyptic world...the Seven Gods soon realized that the core of the issue was that the people who had undergone physical changes were discriminating against those who looked different to them. That's when they decided to take on the role of Gods, appearing before the people with overwhelming displays of power to get their attention.

"Ow...that really hurt, I think it's broken...," I groaned, rubbing my nose gingerly as I got back up, rubbing the area above my upper lip as blood trickled out of my nostrils. "You have a bad habit of freezing up every time I go on the offensive, at least try to react in some way, anything would be better than not moving at all. You'd be dead if this wasn't a wooden sword," Responded Iris, pointing the blunt blade at me as I stood up. "Maybe go a little easier, sis, don't you think you're kinda overdoing it?" Called out Lilac from the stairs, watching us as she sipped on a glass of apple juice while her snake slithered across her left arm. "The harder I am on him, the faster he'll improve.""Yikes, sure glad you aren't training me, you overpowered gorilla...," Muttered Lilac wryly. "Hm? What was that? You say something?""Nothing! Didn't say a word!"A couple more weeks have passed, and before this, I'd been spending a couple of hours each day training by myself. One hour in hand