Zora

Walking through the dense forest of a state called Alaska, the remaining hive took over for refuge after their failed invasion of Earth eighty years ago. Walking into a cave covered by webs, I felt the presence of the current leader of the aliens; it was a little uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn’t handle. 

“Don’t come closer, Zora. I already know why you are here.” A high-pitched voice called out to me 

Looking up, I was face to face with a spider-humanoid creature with eight eyes on three arms instead of two. Their mouth has two spider pincers with sharp fangs around them.

“Joro, I’m sure Dragoth told you about our plan?” I told the spider who crawled back up their throne of human bones and skull

“Yes, he did, and I don’t think I like it,” Joro said, clicking his mouth with each word spoken and eating a small bird, “why would I get involved after Xeon almost brought my species into extinction.” 

“Because Xeon was a foul,” another voice responded from the shadows. 

Turning to that voice, it was Dragoth walking around the spider, his hands behind his back and his posture perfect, “if he had listened to lord Longwong, the aliens wouldn’t be under our control.” 

“So why should I listen to an overgrown reptile?” Joro hissed as he dropped to look dragoth in the eyes, “What makes the dragons so different?” 

A small burst of mana came off of Dragoth, and I felt the air leave my body as some of the surrounding aliens dropped unconscious from his blood lust. 

“Because we, dragons, can wipe your miserable race from existence,” he said, grabbing Joro by his mandible and using some fire magic to brand the poor insect. 

Letting go of Joro, who quickly grabbed his mouth and scurried away from the right wing of the dragon king. 

“That’s why he couldn’t kill all the vampires,” Joro whispered under his breath.

“What did you say, bug?” Dragoth demanded as smoke started to leak out of his mouth. 

At this point, both creatures released their blood lust as the little mana in the atmosphere started to tense up as their mana clashed over control.

“Enough fighting both of you!” I shouted to draw their attention from each other 

“Yes, Zora is right. No point in me lowering myself to an insect,” Dragoth said, suppressing his aura, “lord Longwong wants the aliens to weaken the human forces here.” 

“Now he wants us to get involved!” Joro shouted while punching the wall of the caves, which sent a giant crack up to the ceiling.

“Jäger is weak right now compared to our forces. Just get their attention and bring them here,” the dragoth explained while walking over to where he first emerged.

“I’m sure you will obey the great dragon king,” he continued before opening a portal and walking through it. Finally, the heavy pressure lifted, and I could feel myself breathing again. 

“That damn dragon wants us to go extinct,” Joro sneered this time, turning to me with all eight eyes filled with hatred and anger, “anything else, Zora, or is your king still preparing his army?” 

“That’s all, and we are still preparing,” I told the spider while creating a portal and leaving the conversation and this hell of a planet. 

Racheal Wallace 

They restrained Ren until Dr.Kirk could experiment with him. It was amazement and admiration because he formed a core. Despite being small, it was still core. 

But then there was fear and worry, as I couldn’t tell if Ren was still human at this point, and it didn’t help that he was possessed before forming his core. The sounds of the helicopter blades snapped me out of my thoughts, and looking up, I saw Diana, who was lying sickly white. Rushing over to her, I checked to ensure she was okay, but one of the soldiers stopped me before I could reach her. 

“Sorry, ma’am, but no one can come close due to the infection.” The soldier said, his voice muffled due to his gas mask. 

“It’s a mana wound.” A voice said behind me, turning it was Ren as he sat down on one of the benches, still bound 

“And how do you know?” Joshua said, sitting beside Ren with one of his sickles out, ready in case he must attack. 

“Because I can see small particles floating around the wound and inside it,” Ren explained as he stared at Diana intensively like he was studying the wound or, more accurately, the mana of itself. 

The flight back to the iron turtle was quiet because most of us were exhausted from the fight with PB-27 or, in Ren’s case, the giant polar bear that he dubbed Mama Bear. Finally making our way back, we were greeted by my sister and Dr.Kirk, who looked happy like a child in a candy store.

“Is it true? Did he form a core?” the doctor asked, his face lit up with excitement and curiosity.

“Yeah, it’s true, but do I have to go through experiments again?” Ren responded to the doctor as the sounds of chains banged and rustled with the floor.

“Sorry, sir, but Officer Royal requires medical attention.” one of the other masked officers said while pointing to Diana.

“Yes, sorry, my excitement got the better of me. Please follow me,” he said, recollecting himself as they took Diana to the medical wing. 

Elizabeth walked over to Ren as Ivan and Joshua moved to his side. Her face was straight, and she had no emotions until she stopped before him and immediately hugged him. She was taking everyone by surprise, especially myself. For as long as I can remember, Elizbeth hated physical affection, barely hugging me, her sister. Swallowing my envy and heartbreak, I watched my sister give this random boy more love than her sister. 

“Thank you, Ren, for this just proved Dr.Kirk and I’s research.” she told him, finally letting go of her hug, “now tell me how you did it.”

“Well, it just kinda happened to be honest,” Ren responded, his cheeks turning red from the prolonged hug.

“What did it feel like? How do you feel? Are there any side effects?” she bombarded him with questions, barely giving him a chance to respond.

“Excuse me, General. We are all quite tired. May we be excused to our barracks?” I asked, trying to suppress my resentment and keep a respectful tone.

“Ah yes, you all may leave and rest up. We have a lot of preparations to do before you are sent to your next mission,” she responded before walking off with Ivan and Joshua to the base's main building.

Once I returned to my barracks room, I broke down and kicked the side of my bed. For years I tried to get my sister to acknowledge my hard work, but no, she goes and ignores me. Taking off my suit, I sat on my bed, looking at my phone. I watched videos of my mother hunting monsters and saving people. The way she swung her broadsword to kill a group of giants that crossed attempted to cross the English Channel. Put a smile on my face as they lay in the water, unmoving. I stopped watching when a video of the “March of Death” calamity showed up. Laying on my bed, I fell asleep, wanting this day to end.

I woke up in a beautiful garden with a fountain and a table surrounded by bushes and flowers. Looking around the garden, I saw a giant clock that read roughly 11:11. Confused about where I was, I started roaming around the garden, wondering if this was a dream. 

“Hello, little vessel, come sit down at the table,” an angelic voice called out to me. Finding nothing else, I sat at the table. A bright light flashed down on the empty chair before me, causing me to squint my eyes. 

A pale woman no older than twenty-five years old appeared in front of me. She wore white armor with a silk jacket covering the armor. Her eyes were a bright purple, and her hair was blonde. She gave off a confident aura, just as Ren did when I woke up in the cavern. 

“Hello, Racheal, let’s talk for a while,” she said as she poured tea into two cups and handed me one. 

“What do you want to talk about?” I asked cautiously, taking the cup but not drinking it

“I see that you’ve met a ruler, or should I say a fragment of a ruler,” the woman said to me, still keeping a weird forced smile, “I think his name is Ren?” 

“What do you want to know about him?” I asked, trying to get information out of her before saying any myself. 

“He’s quite something; being able to form a core as a human on this planet is quite a feat,” she said to me, her purple eyes piercing through my soul, “but I’m here to warn you and give humans a fighting chance in the upcoming war.”

“Upcoming war?” Sorry miss, but this is some type of prank?” I dismissed while standing up and walking away from the table. 

I felt my chest tighten and the air leaving my lungs. Kneeling to the ground, I turn to her, gasping for air. 

“Listen, human. I’m generous when I offer help, don't take it for granted!” She said, mana radiating off her body as her once peaceful smile turned into reluctance. “Now, please return to your seat.”

Once again, sitting down, I could finally feel my breath returning to me. “So, how are you going to help?” 

“Quite simple, giving you the powers to wield mana.” While sipping her cup, she said, “But first, humans need to form a core.” 

“Okay, you are telling me what we must do but not how.” I sneered, slowly losing my cool as my day was already shitty. 

“By improving your understanding of mana right now, Earth is primitive when it comes to mana. Even your strongest warriors wouldn’t kill an intermediate mana user.” She explained with a snarky tone, “Mana is like a dog. It has a mind, but you can train it.” 

Okay, still, how do I form a core?” I asked again, this time more urgently 

“Do what Ren did, even if it was a brutes way.” She replied, still keeping her arrogance with her, “But I must leave you, little vessel.” 

After that, I woke up in my room, sweat dripping from every spot of my body. What the hell was that and who was she? 

Ren Vespean 

The days following our mission were rough. Diana was still recovering from her injuries, while William and Hanz went out on more missions once healed. 

Racheal and I stayed back to give Diana company and to study my core more. Dr.Kirk had me do many different kinds of experiments. The first one was a suit and output test. Focusing on the mana from my core, I could feel the suit absorb it and then release it into my body like a never-ending machine. 

“Fifty-six percent output,” Dr.Kirk said behind a reinforced glass barrier. 

After that test, it was a combat test. The test consists of a three-on-one where Racheal, Ivan, and Joshua try to immobilize or pin me down. Standing in a large gym with white walls

“Okay, is everyone ready?” The doctor said over the speaker, with a quick nod from everyone. They all charged at me, releasing my mana output to about forty-five percent. I jumped over a sweep kick from Ivan, but once I landed, Joshua and Racheal swung their sparring weapons at me. I moved my head to avoid a thrust from Racheal’s wooden polearm. Looking deeper into my body and at the mana, I could feel it moving as Joshua and Ivan launched their attacks. 

Dodging back to gain distance from these three, I again tried to study how mana moved from my core to the suit and finally into my body. But my concentration snapped as they surrounded me, continuing their assault. Dodging and parrying their attacks, I took a right jab to my ribs from Ivan. The air immediately left my lungs, and the other two took the opportunity to hit me in the knee and shoulder. 

“Is this all a core can do? Ren, show us more!” Dr.Kirk shouted over the intercom with a slight hint of dissatisfaction. 

Taking in deep breaths, I released my maximum output. Red-black energy bursts out of my body as the power of mana encompasses every cell in my body. 

The others stared at me, their faces straining from my aura, especially Racheal, as she was frozen from fear or something else. Joshua and Ivan immediately matched my output, but I didn’t care. Apathy took over my emotions and suppressed the others. Ivan tried to send another jab, but this time I side-stepped his attack and grabbed his wrist. Twisting around, I launch him at Joshua, sending both crashing into the wall of the test gym. Tiny sparks of black lighting trickle in between my fingers. 

Ivan got up first, blood coming down the cut from his forehead. Racheal regaining her confidence, moved in with her pole staff. Her attacks were slow compared to earlier. I blocked her swing to my temple with my arm and grabbed it, and channeling mana into my hand, I quickly snapped the pole staff. Raising my arm, I was ready to counter, but Joshua hooked my elbow with wooden sickles.

Meanwhile, Ivan was ready to launch multiple punches my way. Swirling around, I broke free of the sickle. The three of us moved across the gym, dodging and sending counterattacks. 

The mana rippled and vibrated inside my body as I could feel my nervous system start to be simulated by mana, allowing me to follow the two captains and their relentless attacks. I kicked Joshua in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, then immediately twisted to punch Ivan, but he blocked my jab with his arms. A burst of air came from my attack, sending Ivan back. His arms were shaking, and I felt like I was in control for the first time in my life. 

The power of mana was drunken, focusing more mana out of my core. Black lighting now started to ripple out of my body. Pointing my index and middle finger at Ivan, a small ball of lightning forms. The lights in the gym began to flicker as I released the bolt of lightning. Ivan dodged the bolt, which hit the wall with a thunderous boom. Shards of the wall flew in all directions, preparing for a follow-up attack. The area around my core started to hurt, and I felt my stomach acid leaving my body. Hunching over, I vomited stomach bile and blood. 

My vision started to unfocus before I passed out. I turned my thoughts inwards, and no more mana was left in my core. After that, the world went black.