The Age of The Arcana
In the dark space, Graham continued falling with just-no stopping, this continued for a long time and soon Graham found it hard to breath. He felt his body becoming dry and dry with each ticking second, but he didn't know what to do, no, there was nothing he could do.
"Is this the place I die?", Graham repeatedly asked himself.
Just then Graham felt a hand pull him up, but he couldn't see who or what it was as his vision was dark and he could hardly see, all he knew was he was no more in darkness but that was the last thing he remembered before losing his consciousness.
---
Copper Canyon Base City.
Central Hospital, Ward 302.
"I've crossed over?"
There was a slightly excited expression on Graham's face. He had originally been an ordinary level 1 student back on Earth and had been slogging hard for the military every day.
However, as soon as he woke up, he realized that he had crossed over into this world and had been reborn as a teenager with the name, Ling Jim Smith.
Well, so be it then since he had no attachments back on Earth. It was the beginning of a brand-new life. The problem was...
This world was extremely dangerous!
The memory of his past life had told him that this was a parallel world, and it was also called Earth.
It was not until a catastrophe known as Woe of the Dire beasts, which swept the globe, that the planet was set on a path of no return.
Many dimensional rifts had appeared on Earth.
Arcane energy called the Gene Arcana had gushed out of the rifts and spread across the world, eventually leading to the evolution of the animals, as well as plant life, on Earth.
Meek kitties had become ferocious beasts with huge fangs and claws, while loyal doggies had become bloodthirsty demons. Even the bonsai plants in peoples' homes evolved into ravenous man-eating trees.
As for the birds and beasts in the wild that strictly followed the laws of the jungle, all of them had evolved into apocalyptic Dire beasts.
Disaster was inevitable!
Countless Dire beasts had begun to assail human habitats, and humans rose in resistance, only to find that their proud firearms could kill some low-level Dire beasts.
Even nuclear weapons, which had served as a strategic deterrent before, were unable to have the desired effect. The consequences were devastating, with humans falling from the top of the food chain straight to the bottom!
Countless people perished!
Countless cities were destroyed!
Countless families were ripped apart!
In just a few years, the world's human population had plummeted from six billion to three billion, and half of the world's people had died by the claws of the Dire beasts.
"Why did I end up in such a dangerous world?" Graham felt suffocated.
It was a perilous world, and even though he was living in a base city, it was still dangerous.
One needed to know that the Copper Canyon base city he lived in was just a medium-sized base city with a population of five million. If they ran into a slightly stronger Dire beast, the city's defenses would be at risk of being broken.
The teenager, whom Graham possessed, had been hospitalized due to serious injuries caused by a Dire beast that had broken into the base city.
"It looks like this young man with the name, Ling Jim Smith was born into a broke-a** family, and his cheap father just declared bankruptcy last month. He is hundreds of millions in debt..."
Graham was in despair. It had not been easy for him to ride the wave to cross over. For him to end up in such a dangerous place on top of being broke, Graham had no idea if it was appropriate or not to verbalize the words in his heart!
"Forget it, let's just deal with it now that I'm here!"
Graham soon focused his attention on another thing: the Arcanists!
The animals and plants had evolved under the stimulation of the Gene Arcana, and humans, as part of Earth, were no exception.
A very few lucky ones had also evolved with the nourishment of the Gene Arcana and attained all kinds of incredible abilities!
Flame control, metal control, gravity control, instant movement, extreme speed...
People called these abilities... Arcana and those who had Arcana... Arcanists!
The appearance of the Arcanists allowed mankind the ability to fight the Dire beasts. With the Arcanists' help, humans quickly established survival bases, and thus, managed to survive.
In this world of rampaging Dire beasts and all-around danger, the Arcanists pretty much defended humanity while they fought the Dire beasts. They also had a variety of privileges at the same time, and every Arcanist was of the upper class!
"Arcanists, eh? Forget the identity and status of one, having an Arcana itself is tempting enough!" Green light appeared in Graham's eyes.
In his previous life, people with special powers had to buy it. But in this world, people with special powers were given naturally!
Some could control fire and lightning, some could transform into giants, some could instantly teleport, while some could move at the speed of light...
"It's just so tempting! If I had an Arcana, it would be just so awesome..."
The more Graham thought about it, the more excited he got.
"There are generally two ways to become an Arcanists; one is having the talent for Arcana!
"The vast majority of Arcanists were born with natural talent, and as long as they reach the right age, they can participate in the Arcana Trials and awaken their Arcana!
"The problem is, there are very few people with innate Arcana talents, and there may not be one even in a group of a thousand. So, the number of Arcanists is very low, and of Copper Canyon five-million strong population, the number of Arcanists only comes to a few thousand!
"Second, via Arcana Agents!
"The Gene Arcana appeared thirty years ago, and after such a long period of research, scientists have successfully developed an Arcana Agent!
"I've heard that a single vial of Arcana Agent would allow an ordinary person without any Arcana talents to awaken their Arcana abilities. Unfortunately, that thing is just too expensive!"
Graham sighed. A vial of Arcana Agent was worth hundreds of millions, and the moment it appeared, all parties would snatch it up. Even if his dad were not bankrupt, he would not be able to afford it.
"It looks like I can only place my hope on the Arcana Trials in half a month's time!"
It is worth mentioning that while there were Arcanists in this world, most people were still ordinary folk.
So, Copper Canyon High School [C.C.H.S] still retained the college entrance examination system, and the Arcana Trials was a month before the college entrance examination.
If he was found to have Arcana talents during the trials, his life trajectory would change dramatically.
He would not need to take the college entrance exams, would not need to slog through college, and would directly be hired by an Arcana Agency. He would lead a completely different and exciting life.
"Brother, how are you?"
Just as Graham fell into deep thought, someone suddenly pushed the ward door open. Wearing a school uniform, a girl with unconcealable beauty came in with a bag of fruits.
What a kawaii girl!
She was a literal goddess!
Graham's eyes were wide open!
"Brother, what's the matter with you? Are you unwell?" The pretty girl looked puzzled.
"No-Nothing!"
Graham quickly shook his head, and his feelings were rather complicated. The beautiful girl was none other than his cheap sister... Ling Xia tong.