The world in Heroes Rise Again was similar to the world I was from except for one important fact. It was a world that had been influenced by Mana, a mysterious form of energy. Mana had permeated the world in a slow, unnoticeable process. The few signs that did exist of this phenomena were regarded as rumors or ghost stories by the general populace. A sighting of a monster or alien being. Urban myths of people with special abilities. Animals going crazy or impossible environmental phenomena happening. The news of such occurrences was suppressed and treated as a joke, at least to the common population. The only exceptions were those in power and wealthy individuals who were in the know and had received an oracle ahead of time that helped them manifest their powers and collect strong individuals even before the changes that were happening became obvious.
After a period of time passed, dungeons began appearing throughout the world. These dungeons existed as portals that connected with other dimensions and were filled with monsters thought to exist only in fairytales and nightmares. At first, the number of dungeons was limited and the few that appeared were seized by the government and powerful people across the globe.
These first dungeons contained weak monsters that could be easily taken care of but that didn’t last. As the strength and frequency of dungeons increased, individuals with special skills began appearing in unhideable amounts. These special individuals could interface with something called ‘The System’ and were blessed with gifts and skills. The process of gaining gifts and interfacing with the system was called Awakening.
Nobody knew what the criteria for Awakening were, just that it happened to a select a few people, and those people gained powers beyond comprehension. Awakening allowed people to perform acts that were thought to be only a myth. Magic, manipulating elements, summoning beasts augmented physical abilities, and more. All this became possible with the use of mana and ‘The System’, an interface that allowed awakened individuals to view their skills and abilities as well as grow them. As the danger of dungeons grew, these awakened individuals who went into dungeons eventually became called Heroes.
Naturally among Awakened individuals, there would always be those who had gifts that were strong and weak. During this time of turmoil and discovery, 9 top clans and their descendants cemented their place at the top of the hierarchy. By researching and classifying gifts and abilities as well as developing their own clan members, they made sure strong traits were passed down through marriage and other unknown methods to make sure their descendants awakened the strongest gifts.
Of course, the methods weren’t shared with the general populace. Instead, this world had created a practice of having people who were interested in awakening train with weapons throughout middle and high school. After that, they could then transfer to a Magic Academy if they wanted to become a hero who fought in dungeons or continue living regular lives and attend a regular university.
According to the novel, almost all awakened individuals would get one gift ranked from F to S. They would be considered geniuses if they could awaken a gift before turning twenty years old. However, the children of the 9 families were exceptions to that rule. Those bastards were strolling around packing at least two gifts of at least B rank. Not only that, those children generally awakened their gifts all under eighteen years of age making each and every one of them a monster.
This generation of the 9 clans was said to be the most talented. From what I remembered, Lionel Lionheart, a youth of 17 had two of the most broken S-ranked gifts ever which he had awakened when he was 15. It made the declaration that he announced at the opening ceremony all the more credible as he was a talented son of heaven blessed with both an impressive family and the skills to back it up.
As I looked at my status screen, I couldn’t help but break out into uncontrollable laughter. That bastard of an Author had f***** up royally.
[Asani Martin
Child of the Nox Clan
(Cursed L-Rank)
(Blessing L-Rank)]
Age: 16
Rank: F
▷Stats:
[Strength – F] [Stamina – F] [Speed – F] [Perception – F] [Vitality – F] [Magic power – F] [Intelligence – A] [Charm – A]Gifts: 3/3
Gifts: ▷Eye of Odin (D), ▷Beloved By Mana (F), ▷Mana Craftsman(F)
Familiar: None
Mana attribute: N/A
I expanded the gifts to read the details temporarily forgetting my need to crush that Author.
Eye of Odin (D) (0.00%): An eye said to once belong to a god.
All-seeing eye(Passive): The user is able to see through everything providing the user with 360 vision at all times. The user can view a distance of up to one mile. The user can resist appraisal of the same rank and below. The user can obfuscate and hide items on the status screen.
Analyze (Active): The user can appraise an object and view details. Can be used on people to view statuses although certain things will be restricted depending on their rank. May notify others when used if the skill level is not high enough.
Mana vision(Passive): Whether it be ambient mana, appraisal of objects, statuses of others, books, and foreign scripts, the user can see and understand them all. With more focus, can see through mana veils or mana barriers.
Replicate(Active): The user can understand and eventually replicate any skills observed in relation to the user’s level.
Knowledge(Active): By reading and acquiring knowledge, the user gains an understanding of concepts.
Beloved By Mana(F): Anything is possible with mana. The user can communicate with mana. Mana is attracted to you. Mana barriers have difficulty working on you. Mana can be used to easily enhance your physical skills. Mana is reluctant to harm you. Mana will heal you slowly. The user can use any attribute of mana with equal mastery and no harmful effects.
Mana Craftsman(F) (0.00%): Create things out of mana.
Craft: The user may craft any object that is visualized and understood. The object will last as long as the user’s mana is available. Analyzed objects may be recreated at the user’s level.
Limited to creating objects totaling a size of one square meter and 30 pounds in weight.
Imbue: The user can imbue mana traits into objects.
Reading the completely broken gifts, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing again. I didn’t know if it was Asani’s natural skill since it wasn’t explained in the novel, but no matter how I looked at it, these gifts were completely broken. With abilities like this and given enough time, I could cause a complete s*** show.
Of course, the first thing I needed to figure out was what the curse and blessing on my status screen meant.
