Awakened

Chapter 1: Kyle Anders

"Your mother or your sister, choose."

"Please… please. Not Mom or Sophie!"

"Choose. Your mother or your sister? Choose who dies in front of you."

"No, no… Please… why are you doing this!?."

"Well, since you're not choosing…

…then I'll just kill the two of them."

"No… No!"

It was a roar, a cry for help. But it didn't really matter because no one listened; before, when it happened, and after. No one listened to his cries, no one listened to the cries of a little boy. Everyone just watched.

The only one that responded to him when it was happening was his mother, who was shaking her head as if telling him that it was not his fault. But it is…

…and the world was not shy in showing that it was his fault that his mother died.

"No!"

"Kyle, if you're not paying attention in class then get the hell out!"

"...Huh?"

A nightmare, again—No, it would have been a blessing if it was just that. But for Kyle, it was a memory… a reminder of what he had done. It never leaves him and emerges each time when he thought he had finally forgotten. It didn't care where he was; the guilt, the pain—it tortures him at the most unexpected of times.

And this time, it was in front of his whole class.

"Professor… I think he's having another seizure!"

"Gods damn it! Someone bring him to the clinic!"

"No…" Kyle's deep breaths echoed throughout the entire class as he stepped away from his desk. The tone of his voice, lethargic but soothing at the same time.

Half of his face was completely covered by his messy black hair.

"I… don't want to bother anyone, Professor Lawrence. There's no need to—"

"I can take him!"

And before Kyle could even take another step, one of his classmates raised his hand; carrying a smile on his face as he stood up from his seat.

"No," and as soon as Kyle saw even a glimpse of the student's red hair, quickly shook his head, "I can go by myself, Professor. I—"

"Just go!" It was obvious to the other students that Kyle didn't want to be escorted out. Professor Lawrence, however, just waved his hand; expressing his displeasure with a roll of his eyes.

"Why are you guys so stubborn? Just go! Your classmate is already offering you a hand!"

***

A thousand years ago, Portals leading to alternate dimensions, appeared simultaneously all over the Earth. From these Portals emerged monsters of different categories and they brought a war that the humans of that time were not equipped to face, and perhaps never would have been.

The monsters came unexpectedly, rendering the humans' weapons completely useless.

Their swords, spears, and bows could really only slow down the inevitable—mankind's annihilation. And they did not even slow it down enough to make a difference. Their numbers just dwindled. Their men fought in a futile war… just sacrifices so that the others could live even just the next day.

But when all hope was lost and only a third of the humans remained, the Gods descended from the Heavens and made themselves known to the world—The Olympians.

They were led by a supreme being called Zeus, a deity that was capable of summoning lightning. And with his legion and the other Olympians, they were able to eradicate these monsters, swiftly ending a battle that would have wiped out mankind.

The monsters were killed and the Portals disappeared. The Olympians returned to the heavens but soon, more Portals opened up. New sets of Kaiju appeared threatening to wreak further destruction on the world.

The gods could no longer offer any help as the time they could spend in the mortal realm was limited, all of them had to return to the Heavens, or the balance of the world will be destroyed by their very own presence-expediting mankind's annihilation even faster.

The gods, however, were merciful and divine and were able to offer their help one last time through a blessing.

They gave out special abilities to some humans-abilities that would help them defend themselves against these monsters. The monsters were once again destroyed, but they kept appearing and were continuously met by mankind's greatest weapon--The Gifteds.

Humans who possessed these abilities soon came to be known as Gifteds while the others Commoners.

At the age of four, a child would be tested to know if he or she possessed special abilities. Kyle Anders failed this test as he turned out to be just a Commoner.

With the presence of modern day civilization, Gifteds were found to be of different categories called Levels and to possess different abilities called Skills.

These Levels are as follows-

Level-1

Level-2

Level-3

Level-4

Level-5

And Level-x. How powerful a Gifted was is determined by these Levels.

Each of these Levels possessed different Skill set-

Element Control-the power to manipulate one or a handful of the elements.

Super Strength-the user usually possessed unimaginable strength, while most could increase their size.

Healing-the ability to heal a wounded or cure diseases.

Shape Shifting-this allowed the possessor to surmon and become any mythical creature of choice.

Other categories of Skill were discovered as time went, but are termed as rare Skill sets. How powerful a Gifted was or is, is determined by his or her Level. For instance a Level-3 Gifted with an Element Control Skill, was three times stronger than a Level-1 Gifted with the same Skill sets.

***

"I can go on my own," Kyle breathed out; the tone of his voice, slightly was slow…but it still held a clearness in it, "I don't need—"

"There's no need to be shy, Kyle," and once again, Kyle's words were interrupted as the red-haired student, Rex, placed his arm around his shoulders. Kyle was forced to hunch, however, as he was almost a foot taller than his classmate.

"Ew!"

And subtly, without anyone noticing, Rex hit Kyle's stomach with his elbow. Or perhaps people did notice, they were just all looking the other way. Because of this, the girl sitting in front of Kyle could not help but yelp, as her hair was almost hit by whatever was inside Kyle's mouth.

"Look what you did, Kyle!" The professor wanted to throw the marker in his hand as he saw Kyle almost puking at his classmate, "Just stop bothering the class and go! Rex is already offering you a hand, man!"

"Let's go, let's go," Rex forcefully dragged Kyle away with a friendly smile on his face.

"Wait, professor," Kyle, however, still looked at his professor. But alas, Professor Lawrence just started waving his hand; not even bothering to look at Kyle anymore. He just shook his head and sighed as Kyle was dragged away by Rex.

"Kyle is acting out again, they should expel the poor guy already."

And with Kyle gone, his classmates' whispers quickly filled the entire room.

"Stop being so insensitive. Didn't you hear? They're letting out the guy who killed his mother."

"Wait, for real? What?"

"Hm. I heard he's even being scouted by the Cerberus guild."

"What? Why!? The guy's a psychopath."

"You seriously don't know? They found out that he was a Level-5 Gifted while in priso—"

"Quiet!"

And before the whispers could turn into blatant chatter, Professor Lawrence once again screamed; making everyone shut their mouths completely.

As for Kyle, he was now lying—not on a clinic bed, but on the cold tiles of the hospital ground.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to stand out, fuckface!?"

"...Shit," Kyle was groveling on the cold, damp floor; blood, oozing from his mouth and the several cuts he now had on his face. Even then, however, he just gritted his teeth; his eyes that could barely be seen, still as clear as they could be.

"You know what?" A chuckle then started to whisper inside the laboratory as Rex grabbed a phone from his pocket, "You don't like being filmed, right? So why don't I stream your beating so you would remember to know your—

"!!!"

And before Rex could finish his words, Kyle suddenly stood up from the floor; his entire body, moving like clockwork as his fist expertly hit Rex straight on the face, causing a loud snap to whip in the air.

And yet… Rex's face barely even moved a single millimeter.

This difference in strength between a Commoner and a Gifted was huge, as Rex was a Level-3 Gifted.

Compensated with as much as he might with his physical body; training it to its peak…

…Kyle was just a Commoner.

"You…" Rex's voice started to tremble in rage as he grabbed Kyle by his neck.

"...You're fucking dead now!"