《Life of Esyios》 Prologue (alot of needed info for the story) Author''s Note: Big info dump here guys, but this is the best time to do it in my opinion. Please rate, review, and comment any problems you see. I wrote this quite quickly a long time ago so there may be mistakes. Enjoy! "¡¯The History after the Apocalypse¡¯... What the hell is this?" A man covered in a cloak asked as he was sitting in a relaxed manner on a couch in a large room filled with electronic devices never seen in this world. Holding an old looking book in his hands. "It''s called a book, it has words in it. I know you have trouble reading but please deal with it." The voice that replied to him belonged to a woman. She seemed young by her voice, but she was busy working with various devices, so from the man¡¯s perspective, you wouldn¡¯t be able to see her face. The only thing noticeable was the lab coat she was wearing. "I can tell it is a book, but why the hell are you giving it to me?" "Because I¡¯m busy preparing the devices, and I don¡¯t want you touching my equipment or blowing anything up!" "Well let me just use your tablet, I need to contact Sinnamon anyway." "No, and who is cinnamon anyway?" "It¡¯s Sinnamon, with an ''S'', she''s my new lady. She even gave me a sale, half off for half the time. Can¡¯t beat that!" *sigh* "Honestly, I can''t expect anything more from you. If you managed to go a single day without annoying me or creeping me out, then I would fear that something is wrong." "What''s that supposed to mean? I''m a real gentleman, I would never abandon a plan with a beautiful lady. Besides, I already paid for a year-long membership." "She can wait till tomorrow for your strange fetishes, we have a mission to do and I have to confirm the targets as well as prepare the equipment needed." "Well, Kandy is performing tomorrow so I''ll end up behind schedule if I do that." "Just read the book. Out loud too, I don¡¯t want you sneaking around touching stuff." "Does it at least have pictures in it? Guess not, bummer.¡± He stated as he skimmed through the small book and then returned to the first page. Earth, 3015 AD, a catastrophe happens that ruins the known world. A collection of 3 asteroids fell on the planet, the collection of asteroids is theorized to have been a part of one single asteroid named Drohjan. When Drohjan hit the atmosphere it started breaking apart and a strange purple-colored dust filled the entire atmosphere, the meteors landed in the ocean with a lot of speed and still containing most of its mass. This caused huge tsunamis and earthquakes across the entire planet, killing most living things at the time. This wasn¡¯t the only catastrophe brought by Drohjan; the dust that filled the atmosphere started to settle, it was a strange material that was like poison to all living things. Continents split creating a new geography around the world. It infected water and food supplies, and did not let the symptoms show for a few days, but by that time, everything contained some of this material within it, whether it was humans, animals, plants, and even the soil and water now had the material embedded into it. When the symptoms started to show, people and animals started having aneurisms and dying almost immediately, even some plant species started withering and dying. Nearly 90% of all living beings died out; but life is sometimes extremely resilient, the remaining, scared and hopeful, life started to evolve over time to survive. Biologists look back at records of plants and animals and noticed they started to change. This change happened slowly over time, with no noticeable changes happening immediately. Most governments, organized religions, and businesses collapsed but people band together to survive this apocalypse. Most records were destroyed in this time, so little is known of life at, or before, this tragic time. Every person alive at that time lived in fear, and it was agreed that this incident would mark the start of a new era, in hopes that they could survive and honor their lost friends and family members. PD, an acronym for Post-Drohjan, was then used to keep track of years to come in the future. Peace followed the catastrophe, as all remaining nations decided to join together to hopefully help each other survive and regain stability. Later, scientists went to investigate the crash sites but all were killed due to the strange, inexplicable, everlasting storms and violent waves around the area. Time passed and the storm covering the easternmost meteorite slowly cleared, revealing an island approximately the size of previously known Poland. This island was named after its position and the meteorite, East Drohjan. The empire of Grolan quickly colonized the island and brought multiple species of animals and plants. Other governments also sent living organisms there to see if the island could allow life to grow and prosper. 24 PD, peace has now broken and wars and conflicts start again, including the empire of Grolan, the nation that colonized East Drohjan. 4 years later the empire of Grolan is reformed, and the colony of East Drohjan secedes from all rulings and becomes its own independent territory, its citizens now becoming Drohjans. The storms still rage around the other islands 600 km away from East Drohjan, with this knowledge, the Drohjans pronounce that the name East Drohjan is to become Drohjan, since the other areas show no calming at the time. The newly formed World Nations Organization (WNO) accept the Drohjan request for independence in return for allowing studies to be continued on the island. Researchers notice thousands of new species over time, as well as new variations being born every few months, life is evolving at an amazing speed. 200 PD, researchers find new species of animals, some being quiet a lot more powerful than any organisms before their time. Many Drohjans feel threatened by their existence, but since humans still have overwhelming numbers to combat against the new species, no action is taken. A few years pass as the new animals start to grow in population, the Drohjans start to hunt them to keep their citizens safe. The job of a hunter is dangerous for the Drohjans, as many die while trying to suppress the beasts¡¯ populations. The World Nations Organization becomes upset at the killing of the new species, since that allows less research. This leads to disagreements between Drohjan and the WNO, in the end, the WNO decides to cut all support of materials, food, and weapons to the Drohjans. Luckily, nature on Drohjan by this time is thriving, allowing its citizens to live off of the land. After a 10 or so years of this, the Drohjans now seem like a primitive race, living in huts and tents, using only necessary clothing and surviving as a close knit community. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The main worry is of the beasts, now collectively named Mythos Beast, or for multiple beasts, Mythoi. Beasts that seem like only legends and myths. Some of the beasts were becoming intelligent and even forming their own pyramid-based communities, of course with the strongest being the leader of the other Mythoi in the area. In the year 220 PD, a young man named Grakkon Dornan single-handedly slayed a 20 meter long three-headed serpent. The Drohjans kept this a secret from the rest of the world, in fear that a country would kill to find out how such a small boy contained inhuman strength. In 227 PD, at the age of 21, Grakkon took the position of Head Chief in the Drohjan community. At this time the Mythoi have grown all around the world, as well as a few evolved humans, who were given the name Homo Evolutis, or more commonly known as Esyios. Esyios became the target of the WNO¡¯s interest, and most of the known Esyios joined the WNO. Grakkon announced to the world that he was opening tournament for every Esyio to compete in on Drohjan, and guaranteed the safety of all competitors. The WNO thought the same way as Grakkon, hoping that this would allow more Esyios to feel that it was not something to keep hidden in fear of persecution. They also wanted to recruit more Esyios in hopes to protect the peace from any future rebellious Esyios. The WNO then negotiated with the Drohjan, and made peace, and tried to allow the continuation of the support that has been severed for the last few decades. Grakkon declined this (with reason being that his fellow Drohjans had a closer community due to their simple structures) but he allowed the WNO to build a large dome for the tournament of Esyios in the northern part of Drohjan, and he allowed the WNO to offer a $5 million prize money for the winner of the tournament. The next year, in 228 PD, the tournament was held and only Esyios, a select few Drohjans, members of the WNO, along with the rich sponsors were able to attend. Grakkon attended with 4 other Esyio Drohjans, showing that the Drohjans had 1 more combat-oriented Esyio than the WNO. The tournament continued and the competitors from the WNO and Drohjan proved to be able to use their strength and speed better than most, due to their training. In the semifinals, Grakkon fought against one of his fellow Drohjans and won, then the leader of the WNO Esyios, Anton Thad, faced off against a girl seemingly around 18 years old named Elaine Cressida. Anton was defeated as soon as he attacked, just like her earlier opponents, without anyone understanding how she is able to beat them so quickly. Grakkon was the first to understand, at that moment, that Esyios were no longer just humans with superior strength, but a species able to do some much more than they had previously imagined. Elaine¡¯s ability was never recorded, because at that time it was not understood. She defeated Grakkon in the finale and left after getting her money, without saying a word to anyone. Grakkon tried to ask her about her ability to create quick illusions in her opponents¡¯ minds but she ignored him and boards the large freighter ship that she arrived in. As she left she directed the captain on which way to sail, the captain called her ¡°madam¡± and it seemed as though she owned the entire ship, meaning that she is extremely rich and only competed to understand other Esyios. The ship set sail, and after a few minutes the captain noticed that the direction he was told to sail towards was the direction of the West Drohjan Island, he quickly went to warn Elaine, but she simply said ¡°I know, but we received a report that the weather has started to calm and that by the time we get there we will only have to tread carefully, but we will be the first living things on the island.¡± The captain was shocked but continued onwards anyway, and just as the lady had said, they were able to find a beach on the desolate, 450 km wide, island. Elaine then created Cress City, although it was more like a small country, atop the island. Times continued moving, Anton became the first Esyio leader of the WNO, then changed the organization to one that now mainly dealt in helping Esyios, renaming it as WPD, World Protection Department; and removed most of the governments influences. The WPD helped in subjugating the Mythoi, as well as protecting normal humans from Esyios, and vice versa. The New Esyio Tournament continued every 4 years allowing Esyios to compete and earn prize money as well as fame and a job within the WPD or for any of the multiple Esyio mercenary groups that had been created. These mercenary groups started because the WPD banned any nation (aside from Drohjan and Cress) to have any Esyio in their militaries or to be sponsored to fight for any one nation. So they are simply hired to kill Mythoi who can threaten humans. Grakkon and Anton lived for approximately 90 years each, and after Cress City was well-established, Elaine disappeared in 260 PD when she was sailing with her 12 year-old daughter, neither was never seen again. ¡°¡­ Wait a minute¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, just keep reading.¡± Cress City appointed a middle aged scientist as the new Prime Minister to continue Elaine¡¯s legacy and wish, eventually leading to Cress City becoming the most advanced place on the planet. It became respected by all nations as it helped technological innovations progress quickly. It also became the largest supporter of Esyios, with only the WPD able to be mentioned in the same sentence when it came to Esyio research. ¡°And now it is 560 PD¡­ Why the hell did this book just skip nearly 300 years?¡± The man said as he closed the book and tossed it across the room. ¡°That is the first volume, and it was written quite long ago.¡± The woman replied as she continued working on the various pieces of technology around her. ¡°Yeah they didn¡¯t even mention Spirit power.¡± ¡°I need a few more minutes, so read the other book laying on the table.¡± She replied as she pointed to a pile of books laying on table near the couch the man was sitting on. Author''s Note: Thanks for reading guys. Please rate, comment and subscribe. I will be posting the next chapter of the prologue soon. I know, it was basically all a info dump, but i decided on going ahead and giving you guys most of the setting now. Prologue 2 AN: Please rate, review, and comment on any mistakes you may notice. Thanks again guys. Prologue 2 ¡°I swear¡­ it¡¯s almost like somebody is trying to tell a little about this world by making me read this horribly paraphrased versions of educational books. At least this is a newer book though, it should include more accurate observations.¡± The man stated as he picked up a book that detailed research concluded on Esyios and information on the rest of the world. ¡°So I guess you still have the delusion that there is a higher power controlling everything we say and do, I thought I already got that idea out of your head.¡± The woman said tiredly, almost half caring about anything he said at this point. ¡°Well, that is exactly what a person making us do things would make you say. He is trying to throw me off his trail, I even got a clue to who he was. His name is¡­ Author.¡± ¡°Like an author of a book? That sounds crazy¡­ Did you drink some of the liquids in my lab again?¡± ¡°Yeah, but that was weeks ago, I thought it was watermelon Kool-Aid; but I swear I hear him all the time talking about ratings, reviews, and some other stuff that makes him seem desperate.¡± ¡°What¡¯s Kool-Aid?¡± The girl stopped for a moment and tried to remember if she ever heard this term before. ¡°I was basically sugar water, or as I like to call it ¡®The Shit¡¯. It was a popular low budget drink before the apocalypse.¡± ¡°Why would feces be a popular drink?¡± The girl had a confused expression on her face, something not often shown by her. ¡°Sorry, forgot you aren¡¯t even old enough to understand the old language.¡± ¡°But you still haven¡¯t explained why people would drink feces, was life really that primitive before the asteroids landed?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure¡­ I¡¯m reading now.¡± ---------- Esyio Rank depends on total Spirit power able to be used. Starts at F1, F2, F3¡­. F10, E1¡­ ect. Mythoi gain more intelligence as they gain ranks. Some can change to a humanoid form at D rank. (The humanoid form still has small resemblances to their true form.) Though the stronger the beast naturally is, they have to wait longer to be able to make a humanoid transformation. Some may even be reasonably nice to humans. Most stay in their own territories and despise humans. So most humans and Esyios stay away from Mythoi and vice versa. There are very few Mythoi that ever change into their humanoid forms, because in their culture it is an insult to their race. Mythoi are typically physically stronger than Esyios of the same rank. Spirit power is made of dark energy, but was named ¡®Spirit power¡¯ by a religious man who thought that the love of a deity would grant someone these abilities. This was later rebuked, but the name was already commonly used, so the name stayed the same while most people accepted the new evidence suggesting a lack of a higher power¡¯s interference. The dust particles that flew off the asteroids changed DNA to allow creatures to soak up the dark energy and use it to create, and fuel their abilities. Dark energy is invisible, but in high quantities, it reflects certain colors. You can use the dark energy to refine DNA overtime to allow a better quality of spirit power to be used. This change in quantity and quality of the spirit power determines how highly Esyios and Mythoi are ranked. Cress City has a total population somewhere around 200,000 residents, and approximates in almost 200 square miles, making it one of the largest collections of people per square meter. Countries take pride in the quantity and quality of Esyios they produce, treating them somewhat like famous athletes. The WPD banned any involvement in nations adding the Esyios to a military force or to sponsor them, but producing an Esyio in your country can help inspire citizens, so it¡¯s not like it is useless to treat them well. Only the country of Cress and Drohjan can use their Esyios as military might. This is so because of 3 reasons: their lack in involvement with other nations, their lack of real military power, and to allow them to spend more money and resources on research. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Quite a few nations also research Esyios and have schools to help teach Esyios, but Cress Island is a utopia for Esyios offering advanced education, entertainment, and safety. ------------ ¡°That was a much faster read¡­ guess someone could learn anything else they need later.¡± The man stated as he threw the book over his shoulder. Unfortunately, the book knocked over a large glass cylinder holding a liquid unknown to him. He then exaggerated the motion of cover his mouth with both his hands. ¡°*gasp* Quick, add sugar, spice and everything nice. We can make 3 girl superheroes¡­ and they can fight your pet monkey.¡± The smile peeking from his hands showed that he was losing himself in a delusional dream. ¡°Why are you spouting non-sense? Did I hit you in the head too much? Actually, just leave, I¡¯m busy and I will come get you later.¡± ¡°Okey dokie.¡± He said as he started walking toward the door to his right. ¡°But, I¡¯m taking this with me. Haha!¡± He grabbed a beaker of liquid and quickly drank it. ¡°Wow, this is a little hot.¡± ¡°¡­ Why the fuck would you drink something from a random beaker?!¡± she shouted as stared at him. ¡°So you couldn¡¯t use it of course. You should know¡­ ugh, this is horrible what was it?¡± ¡°¡­ Sulfuric acid.¡± She said with an expressionless face. ¡°¡­ why would you¡­ leave that out in the open?¡± He asked as he coughed. ¡°¡­ Because I knew you drink it. HA! Gotcha bitch!¡± She shouted with a victorious smile and a gloating posture while pointing at him. ------------------ On Cress Island... A bright light from the cloudless sky shined through a window on a young man, no older than 22. His dirty blonde hair partially covered his laxly shut eyes. His body lying loose on the table in front of him. Indicating unconsciousness of the young man. The room attached to window, was a typical university classroom with a few differences that anyone living a few centuries ago would not recognize. The instructor, a middle aged man with slowly graying brown hair, was in the lowest part of the room while the students were seated on large horizontal tables. 2 tables filled each row, split by stairs elevating across from the instructor. There was roughly 20 students seated at these table with plenty of space between each one. The instructor seemed unconcerned by the sleeping man in the second to furthest back row. He noticed as a few students looked towards the doors at the back of the room. He smiled as he knew that the students were waiting for him to dismiss them. ¡°So this is last time we are going to see each other, I hope you all stay safe and become successful in whatever endeavor you pursue. Each of you know that you can contact me if you have anything you need in the future. Congratulations on graduating from Cress University.¡± Some students quickly left with happy smiles, but strangely most of the females in the stayed seated or gathered in groups in the class. Some of the women glanced at the sleepy man moving around groggily, slowly waking up. But someone who thought that he was popular among the girls would be wrong, despite his attractive appearance. At that time, the door in the back of the room opened despite no one leaving through it. Someone was actually coming into the room, which the girls looked toward in excitement. Another young man took 2 steps into the room, to the sound of the girls going silent, and the sight of the girls staring at him with stars in their eyes and smiles on their faces. But he paid no special attention to them and only returned a gentle smile and a small greeting. ¡°Lucien! Wake up.¡± He said to the young man who was lifting his shoulders and head of the desk in front of him. The man named Lucien opened his eyelids to reveal a set of electric blue eyes that peered back at him.