He paused for a moment, watching her expression.
"The cities were basically erased. Now the world is a wasteland, with superhumans working to help what little civilization is left survive," he continued.
"Then there are anomalies like you," he said more carefully, watching her closely. "People who weren't affected back then but instead got trapped in crystals—as if frozen in time—and woke up later with even stronger powers than normal superhumans. We call them... Omega Humans."
He finished, locking eyes with Lumia.
"Each Omega Human now rules like a king. Our Shelter's Omega Human is the same, but no one likes him, as he is a tyrant," Ray added with a sigh.
"But even Superhumans can reach the level of Omega Humans. The thing you absorbed—the Energy Core—it's formed when many monsters die, their residual energy coagulates into a core. It can take many years of death and destruction to create one. We detected one nearby after the last great battle, but it was maturing, so we were waiting to acquire it... and then you took it," Ray said as he looked at Lumia.
"I see," Lumia replied calmly. "So, if I'm an Omega Human... am I like a king?" she asked curiously.
Ray and the others exchanged awkward glances, but in the end, he nodded.
"But you need to establish a shelter or take over a shelter from others," he added, as Lumia looked at him.
"Okay then, take me to your shelter," she said casually.
Ray nodded, but he sighed and whispered to the others, "What are you doing?"
"What if she's dangerous?" a girl asked nervously.
Ray replied with a tired look, "We're already dying under Tron's rule. What's the worst that can happen?"
One of the others looked uneasy. Tron, the leader of their shelter, was indeed a tyrant. He forced Superhumans to fight to the death for his amusement, made slaves of the weak, and treated lives like they were nothing more than entertainment. Most only survived day to day by luck, fear, and submission.
The group set off across the barren wastelands, the red-tinted sky above them casting an eerie light over the cracked earth. Lumia followed easily behind Ray and his small group. She could tell from the way they moved — always alert, tense — that the world they lived in was nothing like her own.
It would be a week-long journey to their shelter, Ray had warned. Along the way, Lumia had the chance to observe the others better.
Ray himself seemed to have a subtle power. Though he hadn't used it openly yet, Lumia could feel something shift in the air around him occasionally — like gravity bending slightly. She guessed it was some kind of force manipulation.
The others introduced themselves awkwardly as they traveled.
Mark, a tall, quiet boy with short black hair, had flame control. His flames were weak and sputtering compared to real fire-users Lumia had seen before, but in a world like this, even weak fire could mean survival.
Tessa, a sharp-eyed girl with messy red hair, controlled earth. She could lift small stones, create shallow trenches, or raise weak barriers — nothing grand, but again, useful enough.
Leo, a broad-shouldered guy who looked older than the rest, could summon mist from his body. It wasn't very thick, but it could hide them from sight or confuse weaker monsters.
Amy, a nervous girl with a soft voice, could manipulate minor healing energy. It wasn't enough to save someone from a mortal wound, but it could patch up cuts and bruises or stop bleeding long enough for real treatment.
From them, she also learned that their levels were based on ranks, from E to A rank. Ray was a B-rank, while the others were D or E rank.
They followed Ray's orders because they trusted him — they were childhood friends, and Ray was reliable, unlike others who, after gaining powers, treated their friends as slaves or tools.
Their powers were small, incomplete, unpolished — but they carried them like precious treasures.
On the first night, they made camp in the ruins of an old city. Lumia sat by the broken wall, watching them make a fire. Ray came to sit near her.
"You... you're strong, aren't you?" he asked quietly.
Lumia smiled lazily, her silver hair catching the firelight.
"You could say that," she answered.
Ray looked away, his face tense. "Just be careful. Tron — the guy who runs our shelter — he doesn't like strong people unless they kneel to him."
Lumia only chuckled softly.
"Thanks for the warning," she said. But in her heart, she was already planning.
"What is your power?" Lumia asked.
Ray smiled and said, "My power allows me to move things with my mind. It's kind of like telekinesis."
To show it, he focused on a small stone nearby. It floated up and then shot forward like an arrow, piercing into a tree trunk.
"I'm B-rank. I can move things with a force of about 1 ton," he added.
Lumia raised an eyebrow slightly. "One ton of pressure and you're just B-rank?" she asked at first, feeling they were weak. But now she realized something else.
"It's nothing compared to powers Omega Humans get naturally," Ray explained. "Like Tron — his power is gravity manipulation. He can completely flatten a whole 20-story building in less than a second," he said as Lumia nodded thoughtfully.
"Gravity Manipulation, huh," Lumia mumbled as she remembered how she used to fight against Max when he used Gravity Magic. Her big brother also had Gravity powers, though from what Ray described of Tron's power, she could already tell Max's control was much better.
"We should sleep too," Lumia said calmly as Ray shook his head.
"You can sleep, I'll keep watching," he said.
Lumia smiled faintly, and the next moment, four hulking giants appeared at her side — two were Death Guards, and the others were Death Knights and Death Demons.
"They will keep watch. just rest," she said as she lay to the side.
Ray stared in shock at the black figures as he shivered instinctively when he sensed the immense power radiating from them.
***
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