In a world ravaged by monsters, where dungeon waves split the skies open and horrors poured into the streets, humanity survived on one truth: power is inherited. Heroes were not made. They were born. Noble houses awakened legendary abilities tied to ancient bloodlines. Their genes determined their rank. Their lineage decided their ceiling.
Commoners? They were protected. Or sacrificed.
In the capital stood the most prestigious academy for awakened youth—a battlefield disguised as a school. And at the very top of it all was Caelum Valerion, heir of House Valerion, descendant of the First Solar Hero, the boy whose flames burned brighter than the sun itself. At seven years old, he awakened the Solar Dominion Lineage—golden fire erupting around him like a coronation. Professors bowed. Nobles celebrated. His future was already written.
Beside him stood his shadow and sword—Aric Dain. Born to a lesser noble house sworn to Valerion, Aric awakened Stormstep, lightning dancing at his feet. Where Caelum burned like the sun, Aric moved like thunder before the storm. They were called the Twin Pillars of the New Generation. Untouchable. Unreachable.
And then there was Neison, a frail boy from the outer district. No noble crest. No awakened lineage. No divine blessing.
When the Awakening Ceremony came, students filled the grand hall. Golden lights burst. Ice crystallized midair. Winds howled. Neison stepped forward. The crystal remained dark. Silence. Then laughter. "Commoner." "Know your place." Even some instructors looked away.
From the balcony above, Caelum watched quietly. Not mocking. Not impressed. Simply certain. "This is the natural order," he said calmly. Aric's eyes lingered on Neison longer than the others did. He didn't see weakness. He saw something stubborn. Something unbroken.
Weeks later, the sirens screamed. A dungeon wave had erupted in the lower district. Neison's district. Monsters spilled into narrow streets. Buildings collapsed. Fire and chaos spread across the pavement. The academy mobilized its top students. Caelum descended like a falling star, golden flames incinerating beasts in seconds. Aric moved beside him in streaks of lightning, cutting down anything that survived. They were beautiful. Untouchable. Heroes.
But in the chaos, Neison stood in the rubble of his home. No power. No weapon. Only fear. And rage. A monster lunged. Time seemed to slow. Above him, Caelum noticed. For a brief moment, their eyes met. The noble heir hesitated—calculating distance, priority, efficiency. Aric moved first. Lightning cracked through the air, striking the beast away from Neison. Aric landed between them.
"Get somewhere safe," he muttered without looking back. Neison's fists trembled. Protected again. Saved again. Reminded again. That in this world, he was nothing.
From the rooftops, Caelum's voice echoed, calm and absolute: "Power is the only thing that decides who lives." The flames around him burned brighter. And in Neison's chest, something answered. Not light. Not fire. Something deeper. Something that did not belong to lineage. As the dungeon gate pulsed violently behind them, a crack formed within Neison's shadow. Unseen. Unrecorded. Uninherited.
Then a monster that wasn't anywhere near Aric's and Caelum's level appeared, destroying the ground before them. As Neison fell to the ground, he touched something warm. Blood. It wasn't his. It wasn't the monster's. It was Aric's. Then suddenly something stirred inside Neison. It wasn't fear. It wasn't the awakening that the nobles displayed. It felt like information unfolding inside him. Patterns. Movements. Energy flow. A strange awareness spread throughout his body. A faint blue shimmer flickered around his skin.
[Foreign Genetic Signature Detected] [Compatibility: 3%] [Control Limit: 2.7 Seconds]
He didn't understand what it meant. But when danger suddenly closed in, Neison recovered instantly, and the ground cracked lightly as he reappeared several meters away, unsteady but unharmed, moving with lightning-fast speed that even Aric couldn't react to. The monster was taken down in an instant. Neison then fell to the ground and lost consciousness.