First Step

In a dystopic world where death awaits every inhabitant of every single planet, without failure, 18-year-old Aymon Kriegsschaten just entered the Institut de l'Éclat Astral. This is the academy that humans established to prepare future generations for the fight against the Quasarquellers, the beings that 100 years ago invaded our reality after the "Shattering".

Wearing a C-Rank badge on his chest, and a wristband in which a special chip is implanted to allow entry into the most respected institution of society, Aymon approaches the main entry after parting ways with his parents. After a simple wave of his hand, one from which his lack of emotions can be seen, he started moving towards what would be his home for the next 3 years. He clenched his fist and only one thought was on his mind as he scanned the wristband:

'I'll excel, there is no room for failure. In these 3 years, I must reach the highest possible ranking to achieve my goal. I have decided upon this path, a path for which many will criticize me, but I don't care. I don't care whether it is Destiny or Providence, or whatever you are! I will show you what a great destiny I'll have. I'll devour all the knowledge and surpass you!'

In this academy, students are part of one of the two big classes: War and Peace. To enter the War class, one must have awakened a combat talent at birth. The Peace class, on the other hand, is for those whose talent is not suited for combat but is considered useful enough to bring a change to society on a certain level, if improved enough. It may seem pretty simple at first, but only those who have achieved a rank of at least C before applying and have awakened at least a Rare talent can even dream of entering.

His way to the top rank will be tough, as he was assigned to the Peace class. For a lot of people, who don't have information on Aymon and his talent, this may seem extremely unexpected. Why unexpected you may ask, well… both of his parents are War class graduates of the previous generation, and they didn't just graduate, they were part of the top 25% of the graduates. On this Earth, which was a planet in a constant war state, at the moment of their graduation, they were awarded the rank of First Lieutenant without even stepping foot on the battlefield, and they were evaluated at a rank of B+ (mother) and A- (father). Ranks and talents are totally separate, and they are not hereditary. Even after 100 years, the best scientists in the world couldn't figure out how or what, to be more precise, determined one's talent at birth. These talents are ranked as follows, in order of rarity: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Legendary, Mythical, and Unique. In year 78 (after the "Shattering"), a study concluded that 45% of the human population awakened a Common talent, 30% an Uncommon one, 15% a Rare one, 9% a Super Rare, 1,9% Legendary, and 0,1% Mythical. The amount of people who awakened a Unique rank talent can be counted on the fingers from one hand. Both of Aymon's parents awakened Rare talents. He, on the other hand, awakened a Unique one. But to everybody's surprise, his Unique talent was the only non-combat one in the Unique class. From this point on, you may think that Aymon's parents became cold and started hating their child, but that is a cliché only found in cheap stories. They loved him so much and they were so happy that their kid didn't have to take part in this accursed war. Both did their best in raising him so that he would be a proper member of society who would use his talent for the best of many.

…fast forward 18 years, and it's time to see how Aymon, with his unique non-combat talent, will perform on the stage his parents once conquered.