Chapter 1:
The year was 1937.The year marked a new age known as the Great Cataclysm.
Strange events, also referred to as anomalies,or later referred to as nexuses began occurring around the world.
The first of such anomalies appeared in the icy regions of Russia.
Strange distortions in the atmosphere were recorded and were thought to be the cause of certain changes to the planet's natural biology.
Over the next few years anomalies became more frequent and widespread. Just as quick as they'd appear, they'd fade away, leaving unknown elements in the air.
For a long time, the world government tried to keep it a secret, and pass it off as just rumors or some kind of experiment, so as to not create mass hysteria. However, they could not keep it hidden for long.
Eventually, the distortions began to take a more physical form, as if they were living beings trying to adapt, to invade an unknown environment and survive in it, but they would still collapse. Although now lasting for considerably longer than they did initially.
This would continue for over a decade with the distortions slightly increasing in size and mass each time they appeared. As a result the temperatures worldwide had fluctuated and then dropped quite a lot.
Warmer places like Africa and the Middle East, began to regularly experience snow and rain . .
The melted glaciers in Antarctica had started to refreeze and the atmosphere was thriving.
Despite the effects of pollution and greenhouse gasses, wild life seemed to prosper, especially in cold places.
The air felt richer and cleaner, with oxygen levels increasing slightly. Water more pure and refreshing, crops more nutritious and filling, poverty at an all time low and life more fulfilling.
After some time, anomalies were beginning to be seen as a blessing or sort.A true gift from the Heavens. Unfortunately, not everyone shared the same enthusiasm..
Scientists were still concerned about the unpredictable manner of the anomalies. i
Five years passed and the anomalies became another part of life for most, for some, it was just a minor inconvenience for the greater benefit of society. And for others it was a religious or political agenda.
A few years thereafter, an infant with a slight genetic mutation was born, followed by many more to come.
There were only small changes in the genes at first, but they were surprisingly very positive changes. They had healthier metabolisms and a higher life expectancy. Some had very high intelligence at a young age, and others had great physicality.
According to many scientists, the elements released by anomalies seemed to have altered their genetic code.
It was too late for the people born before the anomalies started appearing, but the future looked quite promising for the newer generations.
Many cases of animals mutating were also recorded. For example, the horned rabbits as we know them now used to be hornless. The ones with a horn were found a few years prior to the first genetically mutated baby born.
At that time researchers had hilariously believed to have discovered a new species, but later it turned out to be a mutation caused by the anomalies.
Many other such mutations were found in animals in the following years.
Such as cold resistance , harder scales on fish and tougher skin on reptiles.
The changes were still mild but the potential for evolution seemed to be limitless.
Twenty six years after the first anomaly, there was a major change observed in a distortion that appeared near some historic mountains in North Carolina. It would later come to be known as "The first Ingress".
This was the first recorded instance of a dimensional rift, another plane of existence interacting with the mortal world.
The portal-like object stayed for a few minutes, releasing strange bird-like creatures that flew out from within and started attacking the nearby people.
After causing significant chaos they were promptly eliminated with guns and other weapons.
This event was the main reason why this era was called "The Great Cataclysm".
Panic had struck, major leaders of the world put aside their differences for the first time to pour combined resources into figuring out this new unraveled threat.
Many more of these portals, or gateways appeared soon after, all of them disappearing momentarily the first few times.
However, eventually they would stabilize enough to be examined and explored in more detail.
And thus, another new era had started, it was the "The Era Of Nexonian Exploration"
A new occupation was created, and gifted people known as explorers would avail it to cross into different dimensions and farm resources from different planes of existence.
This would result in them getting stronger through absorbing the core of said dimension into their bodies. Furthermore th-
*ding ding*
The sound of bells was heard and students began rushing out of the lecture hall.
"Oh my, it looks like our time for class has come to an end for the day.
That was a wonderful presentation by Mr.Shayden , I would love to hear the rest of it so please email me the file.
"Thank you professor Hartenstien, have a great weekend."
---------------------------------
"Currently, it is the year 2027, the new age of exploration.
Almost four generations have passed since the beginning of the great cataclysm.
'The world is constantly changing and adapting to new implementations everyday.
In a world like that people were doing their best to make the most out of their lives. One such person was Xander Shaiden,who sat at a table eating a meal after class.
The young man had fair skin, and semi-long Dark brown hair dyed with streaks of blonde.
He was chewing on a bite of steak while looking over the rest of his presentation.
"Oi Zander, look at you sitting here eating by yourself, and you ignore all my texts as well?"
Another student walked up to Zander with a drink in his hand and questioned him.
He was light skinned and had dreads falling down the sides of his face and his forehead.
"Yo MikaelSorry, my phone broke last night cause I dropped it on the subway rail on the way back from the hospital, got crushed by the bullet bus man ...."
Zander spoke with a mouth full of food while still occupied with reading his presentation.
"Dude…did you just make all that up? Anyways, I just wanted to talk to you about that thing I mentioned earlier."
"Mhmm, I'll be sure to check it out once I get back to the dorm, probably not happening tho."
Mikael took a sip of his drink while staring at the thick bunch of papers on the table.
"Is that the presentation for your Nexonian history class?" He questioned, pointing to the papers..
"Yeah, and guess what? I couldn't even finish it, class was over midway through it."
"Well that's unfortunate…"
"Doesn't matter anymore, I'll get a good grade on it regardless, doubt they wanted to listen to all that anyways"
"That's cause everyone's heard it a thousand times now."
"Never gets old to me though."
"Well, i'll see you later at the dorm then Z."
"Later Mika."
"Give my regards to your sister.."
"Will do, Mika."
They both parted ways and Xander Went to the city's underground subway.
He passed many billboards and signs on his way there. most of them being something along the lines of, "looking for new explorers" or "looking for experienced porters for the Lions Den guild.
Xander walked into the bullet bus and blasted loud music through his old pair of Epods.
His card got charged automatically as walked past the scanners on the doors..
"All standing passengers, please hold on tightly to your straphangers."
The train started moving right after the announcement, keeping a slow, steady pace until it exited the subway, and then immediately reached its top speed of 400 kmph.
Looking out the windows, everything in the city passed by like a blur.
The stop nearest to the hospital took 10 minutes to reach even at such a speed.
Inside the metro were multiple small screens, all with different news headlines or other entertainment and ads displayed on them.
A news headline appeared on one of the screens
"should abortions still be legalized with the population dwindling at such a high rate?"
Below the headline was a chart of the number of deaths compared to births over the past 50 years. The death toll had increased by a small percentage every year and was quite consistent.
Another headline appeared soon after.
[Breaking News]
"A new dungeon portal has appeared in the southern district of Apex city! Energy readings claim it's an Alpha!"
"We've arrived at stop 17, please remember to take all your belongings with you and…..."
Xander walked out of the metro with hands in his pockets, towards a large building in the distance.
On the walk there he picked up a basket of clementines from a nearby store and a box of caramel chocolates.
[Apex City Central Hospital]
"I'm here to see my sister, room 645."
The lady at the register nodded and handed Xander a card. He was a regular here for what it was worth.
He took the elevator to the sixth floor and walked up to room 645.
On the door, underneath the number it said [Kristella Shayden].
Swiping the card on the digital lock he asked.
"Sis it's Xander, can I come in?"
A delighted voice responded from within the room.
"Yes! Come in!"
Zander walked in with a smile on his face and put the basket of clementines and the box of chocolates on the bedside table.
On the bed was a woman in her late 20s, she had smooth pale skin and long black hair.
She seemed to be slightly malnourished but still had a relatively healthy appearance.
"How ya feeling sis?"
She picked up a clementine from the basket and started to peel it.
"A lot better to be honest, they're even allowing me to go outside for a few minutes everyday.
With supervision of course.
But enough about me, how was your presentation?" she spoke with a piece of clementine in her mouth.
"It went great sis, they all loved it" replied Xander with a bright smile
"That's wonderful! and you know what? The doctors said I might be able to go to your graduation next year if I can recover enough by then." .
"That's great sis! Now I can't wait to graduate."
Xander exclaimed with a determined expression and a clenched fist.
Kristella giggled and they continued their conversation for another hour, talking about different subjects, from college, to their late parents, to childhood memories.
It was time for visitation hours to end.
"Oh my, it's already dark out, I guess time flies when you're having a fun conversation."
"It sure does sis." Xander spike followed by a disappointed sigh.
"But next time I'll try to come earlier! I have a week of accumulated paid leave from work so i should be able to do it."
"I look forward to it, bring me some peaches next time." She smiled
"Will do sis, hahaha."
After they said their goodbyes, Xander left the hospital and headed back to his dorm.
It was evening time and most people were leaving from work so it was a lot more crowded on the metro this time.
All the screens in the bullet bus had the exact same news headline playing.
[Breaking news! Four explorers dead and one missing, in the aftermath of the new Alpha dungeon emergence in the southern district of apex city!]
"These dungeon outbreaks seem to be appearing a lot more in the southern district."
Xander thought to himself, as he stared off into the distance.
"This place never used to have any high level explorers around, but at this rate it'll be a hotspot for them soon…. If only I could also…"
Zander had also thought countless times about how his life would be if he was a successful explorer, maybe even one of the best.
He certainly wouldn't have to worry about shortage of money and other luxuries.
However, most importantly.
"I could pay for a better treatment facility if I made money like that."
But being an explorer was no easy task, especially for those just starting off.
The dungeons were cruel places filled with unparalleled danger.
The monsters aside, there were barely any rules or regulations, which led to other humans sometimes being the biggest threat instead.
"Sis would never let me do something that dangerous, and if something happened to me who would take care of her? If I were to die, she'd be left all alone in her condition…
He got off at his stop shortly after and walked back to his dorm room.
A very messy room with clothes and other things in random places.
He sighed deeply at the sight of it, then proceeded to take a hot shower and eat dinner right after.
While eating his dinner, which consisted of instant ramen with a fried egg on top, he checked his laptop
There were over 99+ messages and 3 new emails in the notification center along with other miscellaneous notifications.
He opened up his email app and clicked on the top one in the important emails section.
It was from a company called "Nano Genics"
"Congratulations dear intern! Due to having the highest contribution points within your department, you have been selected for the upcoming research field trip to the main Knoxville facility.
It is scheduled from the upcoming monday to wednesday. Rooms and food will be provided by Nano Genics, along with a tour guide and other free limited activities.
We look forward to seeing you!.
VP
"So I finally get to do something fun after all this time spent helping with research huh?
Well… better late than never.
It was very late and it had been a tiring day for Xander, he lept on his comfy bed and fell fast asleep in just a few moments.