The afternoon sun hung heavy over Haren Middle School, casting long, golden shadows across the classroom floor. At 1:35 PM, the only sound was the rhythmic drone of Mrs. Lane's voice and the occasional scratch of a pencil.
"Long ago, the land of New Floris knew a peace we can scarcely imagine," Mrs. Lane said, her voice tinged with a melancholy that made the students shift in their seats. "There were no barriers. No curfews. People moved through the world as freely as the wind".
Ten-year-old Jane Blake leaned forward, her eyes wide. She hung on every word as if they were gospel.
"Until the Cursed Night," Mrs. Lane continued, her expression darkening. "Creatures birthed from nightmares...things we had no names for descended upon the city. They brought nothing but havoc". She paused, her hand instinctively drifting to her stomach, which Jane always thought looked a bit strange, perhaps a lingering mark of the past.
"Eleven years ago," the teacher whispered, "the Ghosts breached our borders. We still don't know why they came or where they originated. Research continues, but for many, the 'why' didn't matter as much as the 'who.' We lost everything: homes, families... lives".
Jane felt a familiar thrum of excitement. She knew what came next. In this world, humans weren't just flesh and bone. Every person carried a Core where their heart should be... a mystical engine that granted them superhuman abilities.
"When all seemed lost," Mrs. Lane said, a spark of pride returning to her eyes, "a man appeared covered in a robe. He was the first of us to truly activate a Core ability".
The classroom walls seemed to melt away as Jane imagined the scene from eleven years ago.
In the chaos of a ruined street, a figure shrouded in heavy robes moved through the smoke. He paused only once, tucking a bundled infant into the safety of a trash bin. "Stay put," the man's voice was a low rasp. "I'll be back… I promise".
He turned toward the screeching shadows. With a metallic shring, he drew a massive blade from his back.
"Alright then," he muttered to the void. "Let's wrap this up."
The man used what is said to be one of his strongest techniques
"BARRIER DOMAIN: KINGDOM!"
He roared. A shimmering wall of energy erupted, trapping the Ghosts within his reach. He moved like a blur of steel, bisecting the monsters at impossible speeds, but they simply knit themselves back together.
"I see... so that's how it is," he noted calmly.
He raised his hand, and Jane could almost see the raw energy... The Coresync, flowing from his body into the edge of his sword. With a skyward swing and a primal scream, he unleashed a wave of power so vast it formed a permanent dome over the entirety of New Floris.
The Ghosts didn't just die; they evaporated, turned to ash by the sheer brilliance of the light.
"He was our savior," Mrs. Lane's voice brought Jane back to the present. "Some say he was sent by God. He was the first Ghost Slayer, and his statue still stands before the Mayor's office".
"That's epic," whispered Mei, a girl who had escaped the raids in China to find safety behind the New Floris walls.
"But then," Mrs. Lane added, "three months later, he vanished".
A collective gasp rippled through the room just as the closing bell rang, its shrill cry signaling the end of the day.
Outside, the air was crisp. Jane walked with her two best friends, Mira and Mei.
"I wish she'd finished the story," Mira sighed.
"Me too," Jane agreed, though her mind was elsewhere. She looked at her friends. Everyone had a Core. Everyone had a spark. But as Jane watched them, a cold knot formed in her chest.
"Do I even have one?" she wondered. To this day, she hadn't been able to trigger even the smallest flicker of an ability.
Later that day, after another round of playing 'Ghost Slayer' at Jane's house, the mood shifted. Jane stood triumphant over her friends, wooden sword in hand. "I win again!".
"Come on, Jane," Mira groaned, dusting off her knees. "You always make us be the ghosts. Ghost Slayers are always victorious".
"We don't even care about slaying ghosts," Mia added with a shrug. "I wish I wasn't born with these powers. They're useless for a normal life".
Jane watched them leave, her heart sinking. To them, the Core was a chore. To Jane, it was a dream she couldn't touch.
Later at Jane's room.
"Still blabbering about the Academy?" a voice teased from the floor.
It was Luna, Jane's fifteen-year-old sister. She was currently lounging on the rug, idly swirling her fingers to make tiny localized wind currents.
"I'm going to enroll in the GSA the second I turn eighteen," Jane snapped.
Luna's expression softened into something more serious. "Jane, listen. There's a dark side to being a Slayer. It's not a game. Especially for someone who can't..." she hesitated, "who hasn't activated their Core yet".
"I'm just trying to save you from a short life," Luna said, though she quickly added a smile. "But don't worry. Big sis will always protect you".
Jane stuck her tongue out. "Blehh!".
"Oh, you want to play?" Luna grinned. Suddenly, a miniature, dark grey rain cloud formed directly over Jane's head, drenching her in seconds.
"Hey! You're mean!" Jane sputtered.
"That's what you get for 'blehhing' at me," Luna laughed.
SevenYearsLater
The sky over New Floris had been clear for over a decade. The barrier was a constant, a shimmering promise of safety that no one ever questioned.
Until today.
High above the city, where the golden energy met the clouds, a sound echoed that stopped every heart in the city.
CRACK..
A jagged, black fissure spider-webbed across the sky. The impossible was happening. The "eternal" dome was splintering.
From the void beyond the rift, a sound emerged not a mechanical failure, but a biological, guttural ROAR that shook the very foundations of the buildings.
Jane, now seventeen, looked up, her face pale. The safety of eleven years evaporated in a heartbeat as a massive, clawed shadow pressed against the dying light of the barrier.
The sky wasn't falling. It was being torn open.
And for the girl with no power, the nightmare had finally arrived.