"Katsu! What the hell are you doing there?" Barked Jirou, the team leader of the scavengers. He stood tall in reinforce black armour, he gesture is commanding.
Katsu Mamoeu ducked low behind a crumbled pillar. His cloth were scratched. Dust filled his lungs as he coughed quietly. He wasn't a fighter. He got laughed at for every action he took, not an ounce of respect for him.
He grabbed the fragment from the dead breast and put it in the back pack he was carrying. The heat of battle was boiling in the rift as Swords clashed and danced through the air. Energy beams tore through the air. Screeches from the alien, echoed through the jagged canyon like battlefield formed inside the rift.
"On your six, Kira," Katsu shouted as the alien swung its tail, but the tail was cut off just as Kira was about to turn.
"Useless brat, don't slow us down, don't be a distraction." The guy who cut the tail spat out.
Katsu grinned his teeth. He said nothing, he knew better. Scavengers especially him doesn't get respect. They comes in after real fighters had done their job, they collect the core of the fallen beast, fragments, and salvaged pearl from the creatures.
Just as he was about to turn away, Kira jumped high into the sky and uses her sword to draw a heart, before lashing a deadly strike on the alien, and killed it. Katsu smiled and walked to pick some pearls. He knows even if no one was there for him, he could count on her.
Kira had been his friend since childhood, long before the invaders started to invade Earth. And every raid she goes, Katsu always tag along. Even though he's not allowed to fight, he still supports her.
The battle ended quickly. The team of Awakening warrior sliced through the alien lord with blazing power and elegant brutality. Red flames, violet lightning, shimmering ice, each awakening had a special power. Katsu watched the from afar, eyes winding with longing.
When the dust settled, the team gathered around the core of the rifts. A glowing crystal Heart, thumping with power, serves as portal for the entry of the invaders. Kira raised her sword and plunged it in.
CRACK!!
The core shattered. A pluse of light flashes across the inside of the rift. It groaned shaking like a dying beast. Then it start to collapse in on itself.
The scavengers gathered the remaining, Jirou started sorting out the spoils. Mental shards crystal fragments, Energy converter, glowing bones, beast core, savaged pearls.
Katsu handed over his collection. It was twice as much as the others'. He smiled, hoping for more praise and a better payout.
"Is that all?" Grumbled the payout officer.
"N..no, I mean, it's more than any other scavenger's..."
"Doesn't matter. You're just Katsu" He cut in and handed Katsu a single coin-sized core fragment, worth less than a snack. The other scavengers laughed and mocked him. Katsu stared at the coin in his palm with watery eyes.
"Listen up young man, you don't have responsibility, your parent died long time ago, you have no one you are feeding. Look at others, some just got married, some have families. Just go now before I collected that one in your hand," he paused for a sec and smirked.
"Don't waste your time Katsu,* one of them sneered. "You think because you tagged along, you're one, vivid imagination."
"Yeah," another chimmed in. "You're just useless leech, good as nothing. The name Katsu doesn't fit a loser like you."
Katsu bowed his head in shame, hoping one day, he would prove them wrong. He always wonder why it's like to live an ordinary life and maybe he won't feel this way. He said nothing as he walked, each step heavier than the last.
"Hey!" A familiar voice called out from behind.
"Leaving so soon?"
Katsu looked back, it was Kira. She stood with her thin blade slung across her back, she has a piercing eye and a shot black hair she is a high C-levwl awakening - an assassin type
"You forgot your actual pay." She said and picked the biggest pouch from the payout officer's table, walked up to him and handed it over to him.
Katsu blinked shockingly. "Wait, you....they gave me one fragment."
"I know." She said. "I made sure they don't shortchange you again, not like the last time."
She smiled. "Don't let them get to you. They act though because they think strength is everything. But you have heart. That matters too."
"Hey" she called out to one of her team members, another replies. "Not you, the other one." She pointed to the person she was calling.
"Relay my message to the chairlady, I will check in later, to give her the report." She gave her orders and hopped on Katsu wrapping her arm around his neck
They walked together through the broken street of Neo- Tokyo. Though many buildings were under construction, cracks still remained in the walls and in the people.
As they walked home, neon light flickered overhead giant screen flashed report of another rising rifts appearance. Another one opens in the North Osaka. The world was still at war.
Kira glanced at him, "Thanks for the other time in the rift, I almost got hit."
Katsu smiled. "You're not useless Katsu, you matters, you always have. No matter what happens... I'll be here."
He smiled faintly but inside, doubt roared louder than her words.
In 2120, the Earth was a fractured place.
10 years ago the first Rift Tore opened in new Tokyo and from the glowing tear aliens, monster and vessels emerged, most of them does not even follow the law of physics.
Then came the Awakenings,
People who suddenly gained strange power, they are classified into 5.
Those that have silent killing skills, stealth and agility, they move through shadows, becoming undetectable, they strike with enhanced precism, they manipulate shadows as weapon, create illusion or clones and mark targets for a greater damages. They are the first type of Awakening: Assassin Type.
Those who specialises in brute strength, durability, and weapon mastery. They excel in close range combat with enhances endurance, rapid recognition, and the ability to channel elemental force through their weapon. They are the second type of awakening: Warrior Type.
Those that wield elemental and arcane force, controlling fire, ice, lightening, wind, water, earth and spatial energy. Their ability range from launching destructive spells to manipulating tension and bending enchantment rate. They are the third type of Awakening: Mage Type.
Those that posses abilities to centre around regeneration, restoration and support. They can rapidly mend wounds, purge toxins and stabilised vital energy. They go beyond physical repairs, they can restore stamina, calming mental strain and reviving the near dead under strict condition. They are the fourth type of the Awakening: Healing Type.
And the last are those that excel In enhancing skills and allow a abilities, they control the flow of battle through Budd, debuffs, and strategic manipulation. They can awaken strength, boost strength, speed, defence or sense while weakening enemies by sapping the energy or disrupting their skills. They are the fifth type of Awakening: Support Type.
These powers come with ranks, visible as glowing rings on the forearm, which appear only when using an ability.
The awakening become the protectors. Each city, state, had it's own guilds, each guild had raiding team based of their ranks and cleaning unit.
But not everyone is Awakened. Some which Katsu is one of them remain ordinary, No rings, No power. Just hopes