X city, one of the cities in the Human territories that survived the apocalyptic cracks, was now a bustling town. People could simply be seen floating by on hoverboards and in cars. The city was well-controlled and everything was orderly, except for a small workshop in the Suburban area of the city.
A loud boom came out followed by a puff of smoke. Outside, a small crowd of people came closer, hoping to see what was going on. Others, however, were simply passing by undisturbed, as though this was a regular occurrence. This group of passers-by were mainly neighbors or those who already understood what was going on in there.
As the crowd neared, they saw something moving in the smoke. It came closer towards them. Then a human hand reached from the smoke and grabbed the door frame. A man with black hair, grey eyes and blue overalls emerged. "Well, Test 138 is a fail. Of my countless tries, how have I never succeeded even once? Am I doomed to always fail?"
The crowd looked at the strange man mumbling to himself as if he had not just walked out from an explosion site. They crowd asked what had happened with concern in their eyes. However, after explaining that he was simply tinkering with technology, the crowd instantly dropped their act and ignored him as if he never existed. He was used to this by now. Though they seemed caring at first glance, they were insidious at heart. By asking questions, they were trying to find out if it was a mutant beast attack. If it was and it was still alive, they would kill it and go demand for the reward of eliminating mutant beasts in society. If he had already killed one, they would rob him of the beast core and either try to raise a mutant beast spirit or sell it to make money.
This age was ruled by martial arts hence someone would easily get robbed without the robber batting an eye on humanity. This had been the case since the cracks appeared decades ago and releases mana energy to the world and giving birth to warriors. The cracks; gateways to other worlds where mutant beasts existed. They would appear randomly and allow humans to cross through to fight off these beasts. If the boss of the other world was not defeated by a week's time, the crack would allow waves of beasts every few days to attack humans and get through to cause havoc and destruction. Humans ere pushed to live in a huge zone known as the Human territory. Most of the people who went to the cracks to fight died. However, a few were lucky enough to have survived and brought a special diamond-like material from the other side; Starite gemstones. These gems have a way to store power which can be used in different forms, but only if you can inscribe a rune.
This is what troubled Xuan Tiezhu. Although he knew cars, phones, even missiles and all other machinery, these were of no use without using Starite crystals as a core and a source of power. He however didn't know how to inscribe runes. What a waste of talent!
As Tiezhu stood there thinking about what to experiment next to manage an inscription, a friend of his called out to him. It was Ling Huo. Ling Huo was a friend of his from Tundou High, the small-scale high school they attended. Despite martial power being the main focus of the University Entrance Exam, Tiezhu never focused on it. Ling Huo however, was a martial prodigy, already possessing Level 1 mana by the age of 17. If he persevered in his academics as well, he was certain to join an outstanding military university in future. However, he insisted on helping Tiezhu figure out what was wrong with his inscriptions. They were perfect in shape, size and intent but still failed.
"Another fail? Don't worry, bro. I think I finally understood what's going on." Ling Huo said this, flashing his smile. He was always overconfident but he never said anything lightly.
Tiezhu shot back. "Bro Ling, you can eat whatever but you can't say whatever. I've tried all methods you've suggested. Nothing works." Ling Huo still forced on him the supposed answer. "What if, just hear me out, the reason you fail is cause you're too weak? You don't have enough mana power for an inscription."
Tiezhu looked at Ling Huo with a pained look in the eye. He knew that he was weak, he didn't need anyone to tell him. Even ordinary people had a minimum of 5 mana points. He had only 3. He had been too obsessed with his study of machines and cores that he didn't train and would barely leave the house. He was like a hermit in seclusion. In the entire X city, he was probably the weakest. This was humiliating but he didn't care. To him, completing his mission came above his own health.
Ling Huo saw the hurt in Tiezhu's eyes but he kept going. "Just think about it. All the legendary Developers were strong people with high levels of mana power. What if inscriptions were just a method of inputting mana and letting the crystal amplify and exert it?"
Tiezhu saw where this was going and understood. Maybe he was right. It made sense that he could not. He was too weak to exert any mana outwards. If he wanted to achieve this, he needed more mana, meaning that he needed to train hard. "I understand. Maybe you are right. Hey, can you train me? I need to get stronger." Though he had to swallow his pride to ask this muscle head for help, he knew it was the smartest thing to do.
"If you want training, I know just the place. I'll get you tomorrow. For now it's too late. Take a rest." Ling Huo said as he left. Tiezhu watched as his friend left and he began closing up his workshop.
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The room was a bloody red hue. A misty figure was seen in the distance standing with a blade in hand and a masculine figure bending over the blade, with its torso already pierced. The next moment, there was a woman next to the figure and a blood-curdling laugh. Then as Tiezhu watched this, frozen in place with fear, the misty figure appeared before him and raised his blade. Then, he swung it down.
Tiezhu woke up with a gasp. He was sweating. He breathed in rapidly until he stabilized himself. He began to think. "This memory again. I can't shake it. It always fills me with renewed hatred. One day, I will avenge you, Mom, Dad. I will make you proud!"