Far in the eastern corner of the world lies a city covered in chaos, Aetherpolis. A city that is far more different than any other, a ruin where law and order are mere fantasies. This place isn't governed by the government nor military powers.
This city….. belongs to the gangs.
Powerful, fearsome syndicates reign over the land, their influence so absolute that even national forces outside the city act carefully around them. They are the shadow rulers of Aetherpolis.
But what made them so powerful?
The answer is simple and true to nature.
Drive Cores.
Every human is born with one, a dormant potential buried deep within. But only a select few ever awaken it.
To unlock a Drive Core isn't simply a matter of strength or talent. Yes, that's a part of it. But it demands something far more brutal. Training that pushes the body to its breaking point. And even more terrifying, a mastery over the mind.
Only by confronting one's deepest fears, by turning trauma into strength, or harnessing intense emotion, can one truly awaken. It's not just physical evolution, its psychological rebirth. The moment the mind bends to your will, the Drive Core blooms.
Those who achieve this are known as "Awakened Users."
And they are the monsters who stand atop these gangs.
But there is more to Aetherpolis that makes this city's people breed more awakened users. This city was built atop the Grand Ley Conflux, the very heart of a vast and ancient web of spiritual energy that threads beneath the continent like glowing veins. Scholars called it the Leyline Convergence, a place where raw emotional frequency surges through the earth itself. No one knew where it came from, it was already there as far as everyone can remember.
Living here means constantly being bathed in that invisible power. Children born in Aetherpolis grow up with Drive resonance humming in their bones. Emotions run deeper. Trauma cuts deeper. And within every soul lies a delicate balance, the potential to awaken into something greater or to shatter completely.