The world was not always filled with evil. God created the world pure and beautiful. But humans bore sin and destroyed the land God had given them, defying His will.
How may one survive in this hellish world full of destruction, betrayal, and abuse?
(NARRATOR)
Through a forest, a carriage rode down a dirt path. Inside it were four individuals. Their destination was the Avangalion Academy, where the prodigies of the world were nurtured to become superpowers — key players capable of changing the course of the world as we know it.
Inside the carriage, a tall boy with a muscular build sat next to a girl holding a spear. Across from them sat a blonde boy who looked kind yet powerful, and beside him, a slim boy with red eyes and black hair.
The girl said, "Hey guys, we've been silent the whole ride. How about we introduce ourselves?"
The blonde boy agreed.
The girl went first. "My name is Selira. I wield a spear — it has a lesser spirit in it."
"My name is Corin. I use a lightning Chronicle."
The muscular guy went after Corin. "I'm Aedric. I use a Chronicle of Earth — it's centered around hand-to-hand combat."
Selira asked, "How about you, gloomy boy?"
The red-eyed kid replied, "I am Shinryu. I use a wind Chronicle."
"Really? That's cool! We all have some type of ability we can use. I hope we all pass the exam."
They rode for about two more hours. Everyone inside had fallen asleep when suddenly the carriage stopped, shaking them awake.
"What's going on?!" shouted Selira.
The driver yelled, "Th–th–there's a monster outside—no, a whole pack of them!"
Corin told Shinryu to stay back and protect the driver, while the other three went outside to fight the monsters.
They were strange creatures — their skin pitch black, with shadows flowing off their bodies. Some took the shape of wolves, while others looked like twisted monsters.
Corin said, "I'll take the left. Selira, you take the right."
There were three different packs of these shadowy monsters, and Aedric took the middle.
Corin opened his Chronicle and called forth a storm of lightning that struck the beasts. Some evaded, others were hit. Four from his side remained. He used his Chronicle to summon a barrage of condensed lightning strikes, disintegrating them all — or so he thought.
One ambushed him from behind and lunged at him.
He was about to be hit when a bullet of wind struck down the monster — Shinryu had attacked it right before it reached him.
"Thanks!" yelled Corin.
Shinryu just shook his head.Selira was striking down beasts with her spear, handling it pretty well. She charged the tip of the spear with nexus energy from her lesser spirit, allowing her to destroy them in a single strike.
She began to activate a spell — spinning her spear in a perfect circle, then moving around and slicing through all the monsters in her area. Nexus slashes flew out, killing any that remained.
She accidentally shot a slash toward the carriage where Shinryu and the driver were.
"LOOK OUT!!!" she shouted.
Shinryu opened his Chronicle and summoned an air barrier that redirected the slash back at a monster.
Selira sighed in relief.
Aedric had almost finished his side. He used his earth Chronicle to summon pillars of stone that pushed the monsters toward him, then punched them, finishing them off.
They laid down for a minute, and after that, they started to walk back toward the carriage. Suddenly, they all felt a chill. Alarmed, they looked backward and saw a shadowy creature like the ones they had fought only moments ago.
But this one was different — it had an unusual amount of nexus and was human-shaped. After some thought, they figured out what it was. This creature was what they would call an Umbryo — a monster that lives in a place with large amounts of nexus and, over time, evolves into something stronger.
They all got ready to fight. Shinryu used a wind shield to protect the driver and stayed close to him.
One of them spoke. "Damn, I feel like if I move, we're dead," said Corin.
They stared for a moment, then Selira suddenly charged at it. She used a move that spun her spear in all directions, hoping to land a strike.
The Umbryo vanished. She looked around frantically, trying to locate it. She was sweating a bit, then out of nowhere, it appeared behind her and slashed. The force smashed her into a nearby tree.
Corin tried using a lightning strike, but it dodged. Aedric charged at it as well, creating earth walls to move around and try to catch it off guard. It started slashing at everything, hitting Aedric as well, which ended up breaking his structure and leaving rubble all over.
Corin, in a last attempt, created three pillars of lightning around the Umbryo and entered the lightning, trying to strike it. But he was too slow. Exhausted and running out of nexus, his energy gave out, and the lightning disappeared.
The Umbryo appeared behind him while he was falling and kicked him, sending him crashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Shinryu sighed. "I wanted to keep a low profile... oh well, it is what it is," he said.
Shinryu opened his chronicle. Wind started to pick up around him—slow at first, then growing stronger, more violent. Just as he was about to make his move, someone yelled from above,
"PYRO PALM!"
A wave of fire, looking like a current of heat, struck the Umbryo at incredible speed, sending it crashing down hard.
After the wave of heat, a person landed — a tall guy with a lean, muscular build and reddish-brown hair.
Shinryu closed his chronicle. The man who landed spoke, "Hey, you alright? Name's Kiba, Kiba Tsukihara — a third year at the Avangalion Academy. I heard a commotion and came running."
Shinryu replied, "Oh, you're from the Academy? My name is Shinryu Kagemori. We were heading to the Academy, but we were attacked by monsters. We took care of the weaker ones, then this one showed up."
Kiba said, "I see… so these unconscious people are your travel companions, I suppose?"
"Yes, they are," Shinryu answered.
Shinryu then thanked him for his help. They picked up the carriage and the others, including a half-conscious Corin, who had recovered a bit.
They continued their ride to the Academy, with Kiba tagging along just in case anything else happened. After a few hours, they arrived at the entrance.
By then, everyone was awake. They stepped out at the gates, made of silver, where two guards stood watch. Kiba showed them his student ID, and they presented their examination cards.
Kiba told them where to go to register, since the cards were only meant to grant them entry.
At the registration area, a green-haired girl attended to them. She said, "Hey, my name is Misaki… I'll handle your registration. You're here for the entrance exam, right?"
They nodded. One by one, she gave them an examination ID and a key for a temporary dorm at the Academy. She also provided a tourist pass so they could explore the Academy before the exam.
(SHINRYU)
She told us where we could find our rooms and also exactly when the exam would start, which was three days from now. After we all parted ways to our rooms, I went to the building she had told me about — about 30 feet from the main gate.
I entered it and went down a set of stairs. My room was 315, so I walked past a few rooms until I reached it. I put in the key, and just as I was about to go in, a girl stood at the door next to mine. I looked at her; she waved at me with a smile. I waved back and then entered my room.
The rooms weren't bad. They had good furniture, a personal bath, and even some snacks. On the way, I hadn't fought much, but the explosions and dust had left me dirty, so I decided to take a bath and put my cloak and the rest of my clothes to wash.
After I got out of the bath, I put on some regular clothes. I was going to look around the campus, which was huge — about half the size of a city. I also wanted to visit a blacksmith. Since I wanted to keep a low profile, I planned to get a weaker Chronicle, probably a Chronicle Weapon.
The place is huge. Where do I start? Let's see… I'll go look at the first-year classroom building. The building is in a corner; it's big, almost like a mall. These hallways stretch far — this school definitely has money, that's for sure. There are a lot of students; some waved at me through the windows as I walked down the hallway.
This school doesn't have a traditional system. They take in students at random points in the year, so there are some first-years who are ahead of me in time, even though we're in the same year. They have about 87,000 students just in the first year.
I think I'll go check out the shops next. I go outside and see some booths selling food, cosmetics, clothing, armor, weapons, and other stuff. I decide to eat something since I haven't had anything yet. This booth sells steak. I think I'll buy a meal here. The food is great and has good flavor. Either that, or I'm just starving.
(NARRATOR)
After Shinryu finishes eating, he decides to go check out the training grounds. Each year has five of them, meaning there are 25 in total because there are five course years.
Shinryu goes to the closest one. Inside, a few people are training. Some students are having sparring sessions, like two guys Shinryu sits down to observe. The two are blade users who have Chronicle Weapons — one uses water, the other uses earth.
Shinryu watches for a bit and becomes a little interested in their battle. It comes to an end, and the water user wins.
He saw a group of people training and got closer to observe them. He noticed that two girls were practicing buffs on some of their squad mates. One girl and two guys were practicing how to maintain the buffs on them while in combat.
Shinryu thought this strategy was not very efficient — the buffers were open to attacks, and it seemed like their buff was providing most of their strength. They should keep at least one person defending them.
Shinryu went up to them and introduced himself as an examinee. They introduced themselves in return.
Shinryu said, "I was watching y'all practice, and I think you can improve on something."
One of the boys walked up to him angrily. "What, you saying we don't know what we're doing? Do you think we're novices?"
"That's not what I said," replied Shinryu. "All I said was I think you can improve on something. You should have one of you defending the buffers so they don't go down, since your whole strategy revolves around them."
One of the girls started to respond, "That's a good ide—"
The guy cut her off. He grabbed Shinryu by the shirt and said, "That's not necessary. None of them will get past us."
"That's not guaranteed," Shinryu replied.
He was about to do something until one of the girls told him to let go. He just released him and walked away. She apologized, and Shinryu said it was no problem and continued on.
Shinryu went off to find a blacksmith. He was about to ask a vendor on the street when he saw a guy yelling for someone.
He walked up to him and asked if he was looking for someone. The guy replied, "Oh, yeah. I'm looking for my sister. She's about three feet tall, wearing a blue dress and a blue bun hat."
Shinryu offered to help him find her. He suggested they split up to cover more ground, and the guy nodded.
Shinryu leapt up onto the roofs and began looking from above. Maybe she got lost in some alley, he thought.
He scanned the streets, jumping from roof to roof, trying to find a girl that matched the description. Then he heard crying — it was coming from an alley. He jumped down into it and found the girl matching the description.
(SHINRYU)
I am a little confused — how and why did she end up here? I was only joking; I didn't actually think she'd be in an alley.
I approached her. She was scared at first until I told her I was helping her brother look for her. She told me her name was Yuna. I carried her on my back and jumped back to where her brother was.
I landed next to him and returned his sister. He told me his name was Kaito Onikuro, and that he was a third-year at the Academy. He thanked me and offered to assist me if I needed anything.
I thought for a moment, then asked him if he knew any good blacksmiths, since I needed a weapon made. He asked if I wanted a normal weapon or a Chronicle Weapon. I told him I wanted a Chronicle Weapon. (Quick explanation: the difference between a weapon and a Chronicle Weapon is that a Chronicle Weapon has abilities you can use with nexus, whereas a normal weapon is just a regular weapon with no special abilities.)
He said he knew a good blacksmith who specializes in Chronicles and asked me to follow him.
We walked for a bit until we reached a shop in a corner. He told me it's usually packed, but since it's the weekend, not many people were passing by — most were either training or relaxing.
We entered the shop and were greeted by a man named Genzou Kurogane. He asked what he could help us with, and Kaito told him I was looking for someone who could craft a Chronicle Weapon.
He walked up to me and said, "Alright, I'd be glad to assist. Do you know what kind you want and what element?"
I told him I wanted a pair of daggers, and that they should be water-type. He told me he could make them for two gold, and I agreed. I wasn't hesitant to trust his work, because based on the items in his shop, it looked like he knew what he was doing.
He also has a Smithing Chronicle, so there's no way he's a scammer. (Explanation: Smithing Chronicles are pen-shaped Chronicles that can forge weapons and edit regular Chronicles.
Shinryu wakes up. It had already been three days, and he hadn't done much during that time. He got out of bed and took a shower. Then he headed to the blacksmith to pick up his daggers.
He entered the shop.
"Hey Shinryu, I'm done with your order," said Genzou.
He handed Shinryu the marble-blue daggers and gave him a free belt to hold them on. Shinryu thanked him and went to the exam area.
Once he arrived, he saw a few other people waiting there as well. He inspected his weapon and studied all its moves and capabilities, although he still wanted to know what the test would be about. He hoped it wasn't a one-on-one battle, since he didn't yet know how to fully use his new weapon.
More people arrived, and after some time, it looked like everyone was present. Someone stepped up to the stage area in the testing zone and said,
"My name is Takuma Hoshigami, and I will be your test examiner for this year's exam."
TO BE CONTINUED…