I woke up feeling refreshed, the lingering warmth of last night's peace still wrapped around me. A night of freedom, of laughter, of nothing but the soft glow of the city below. I wanted to hold onto that feeling a little longer, but reality always called me back.
The usual morning routine began. Breakfast with my mom. A quick shower. Getting ready for school. Just another normal day.
As I slipped on my uniform, my mother called from the kitchen. "Hey, Akio! Have a great day, okay?"
"Love you, Mom!" I shouted back with a grin as I stepped outside into the city streets.
New York—our home since my father passed. We could afford a good life here, thanks to the wealth he left behind. Not that money mattered. My father, Lutoro Kita, hadn't just been a man. He'd been the man. The #1 Hero, Earth's strongest warrior, the very symbol of humanity's fight against the monsters.
And now? He was gone.
No matter how many stories I heard—he died in battle, he was betrayed, he vanished into another dimension—I had long accepted the only truth that mattered.
My father is dead.
"Akio!"
Benny's voice rang across the school hallway as I stepped inside. Friday. The best day of the week. I could make it through one more day, easy.
"What's up, Benny?" I grinned. "You ready for the weekend?"
"I'd be more ready if I wasn't about to get wrecked in training today," he groaned. "Duel practice against the combat dummies... I swear, they upgrade them every week just to mess with us."
"Oh, he definitely forgot about it," a voice muttered behind me.
I turned to see Frank Cenya, leaning against a locker, arms crossed.
Yes. Frank.
Words can't fully describe my feelings about him, but I'll try. He's six-foot-something, built like a tank, and about as pleasant as one rolling over your foot. His ability allows him to coat his entire body in steel, making him heavy. He uses this power in the most predictable way—bullying anyone who can't physically move him. Hence his oh-so-original nickname: The Behemoth Bully.
"Yeah, yeah, I forgot," I sighed, brushing past him toward the classroom. "Typical me, right?"
Frank smirked but didn't push it further.
Inside, I settled into my seat, taking a glance around at the rest of the class. Our group was small—just ten students, each handpicked from across the country. The next generation of heroes.
I'd already introduced Benny and Threya. Frank, unfortunately, as well. But the others?
• Toma Ubashi – Quiet, white-haired, ice-wielding. Always watching.
• Paul Brunted – Just Paul. His magic lets him create energy orbs that explode... whenever they feel like it. Meaning they could detonate instantly or take years. Dangerous.
• Kenya McLane – Always wearing headphones, summons spirit animals at will. Amazing as an ally. A nightmare as an opponent.
• Emi Koto – Wields a lance that obeys her will, as if it's alive. A true warrior.
• Montiro Mendez – Magic guns. Magic guns. Lucky bastard.
These were the people I trained with. The best of the best.
And today, for the first time in my life, I'd see them all terrified.
Code Red Alert.
The words blared through the school. A warning we had only read about, never heard in real life.
I froze. Every muscle locked in place.
Then came the screams.
Our teacher rushed to the hallway, his face pale. "Everyone, to the corner! Now!"
We obeyed instantly. Fear tightened around my throat as we huddled together, backs pressed against the wall. The ten most promising students at Emmory Academy—reduced to terrified children.
Outside, the school shook. Explosions. Shattered glass. Agonized cries.
And then, a silence so deep it drowned everything else.
I could hear my own breathing. The shallow, panicked gasps of my classmates.
Now remeber how I said there were 10 of us in our class? I'll introduce the last one now..
And then, there was Beth Coleman. The ex.
Brown hair, always tied up in a neat bun—never a strand out of place. Unlike the rest of us, she barely reacted to anything. No fear, no excitement, no anger. Just... emptiness.
Beth's ability? Mental manipulation. She could invade minds, warp thoughts, bend perception itself. A terrifying power, yet she used it with eerie precision, never more than necessary.
I'd never seen her smile. Never seen her frown. She didn't even blink when the Code Red Alert sounded.
As we huddled together, I glanced at her. Even now, as the walls shook, as screams filled the halls, she remained stone-faced.
"Beth... are you okay?" I whispered.
She turned her head slightly, gazing at me with those unreadable eyes.
"I'm observing," she said, voice as calm as ever. "Processing. Preparing."
Preparing for what?
Something about the way she spoke made me uneasy. Almost like she knew more than the rest of us.
Threya's hand trembled against mine. "Akio... we're going to be okay, right?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.
I forced a smile. "Of course. We're trained for this."
But as the words left my mouth, a deafening crash sent the entire building quaking. The walls crumbled. The ceiling caved.
And suddenly—we were falling.
Pain.
That was the first thing I felt when I hit the ground.
Coughing. Crying. Groaning. My classmates lay scattered around me, some moving, some barely breathing.
"Ah... so this is where the last of them were hiding."
A voice echoed above.
I forced my eyes open. A holographic face hovered in the sky, flickering with static. A man. But not just a man.
The true threat was behind him.
Krrk.
A sharp, chittering sound came from the rubble.
We all turned at once.
A beetle.
Massive. Gray. Moving with a mechanical precision that sent chills down my spine.
No.
Not just a beetle.
A monster.
Monsters were the reason humanity fought. The reason heroes existed. And yet... no one our age had ever killed one before. We weren't supposed to. Our powers were still unstable, our bodies still developing.
That thing had annihilated every adult in our school. Every student.
And now, only ten of us remained.
I clenched my fists, heart pounding as the realization sank in.
What could we do—when hundreds before us had already failed?