Where It All Began

Third-Person Point of View

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[Xeno]: Mother Arachnid [Level 900]

[Xeno Class]: Abomination SS+

[Species]: {Xeno}

[STR]- 679,998 [VIT]- 101,257 [MEN]- 180,992

[DEX]- 259,214 [INT]- 151,902

— [Health] --- {100,000,000/100,000,000 [+5,000 Hp regeneration per minute]

— [Arcana] --- {2,184/2,184 [+400.8 Arc regeneration per minute}]

Nobody saw what was floating above the Mother Arachnid. There was one person who could notice the floating box, but he wasn’t on the battlefield just yet.

…………………..

“Xenos… Kaia, I can see a portal over there.”

“That must’ve been the place where the Xeno appeared.”

“Grey. Do you see any signs of life all over the place? Humans and Xenos alike?”

“Negative, leader. Only Xenos are present in this deserted place.”

“Then it’s safe to kill them all, right?”

“Fenrir, as much as I hate to admit, you’re right about that.” The girl in the middle muttered, “Thalia, do your thing.”

“Gotcha.”

A girl wearing a pointy wizard hat pointed her fingers at her fore, leading to the towering mother arachnid and the rest of her younglings. “Stand back, everyone! I’ll cast my flames now!”

“GAARGH!” The mother of insects released a deafening screech enough to trample trees and burst someone’s eardrums. But not the elite squad ordered to subjugate such monsters.

The battlefield was once a beautiful forest filled with all sorts of plants and wildlife. However, that all changed. After the appearance of the vile monster and the battle, what was left of the beautiful forest were fissures and holes from the spells cast by the Heroes.

In an instant, the tallest spider raised its head and produced web after web, nearly covering the entire ruined land. But it was not an issue from the Heroes. As if it were second nature, a woman armed with a sharp weapon in her hand diced off the snarl.

“Kaia, over here!” an ally of the hero roared.

“On it, Thalia!” Kaia, the girl equipped with a peculiar ore for an armour befitting for a knight and a blade in her hand, chanted and unleashed her spell. “SWORD DANCE!”

With haste, Kaia gripped her sword tightly and swung it as if it didn’t weigh anything. A shockwave of some sort imbued with mana materialised right in front of Kaia’s sword, followed by a bright luminance that covered the area. Truth be told, it was the most powerful skill ever known to humankind… killing billions of Xenos with ease.

While that was happening, Thalia and the others supported Kaia as well. The wizard whispered and summoned dozens… No. Hundreds of magic spells on the battlefield illuminate the grey sky as if symbolising a ray of hope. Immediately, gushing wind, blazing blue embers, and other known elements escaped from the magic circle, targeting the moving creatures in sight.

It was a spectacle for an audience to witness such a scene. But to the Xenos, it was a death sentence.

She was hailed as the strongest wizard in the world, after all, so this was to be expected. Of course, Kaia’s other subordinates were fairly matched as well, as they had been nitpicked by Kaia herself, the leader of Seven Blades of the Continent, which consisted of representatives from the seven continents of the world. They were Heroes. At least, that was what they were called.

Within seconds, the swarm of spiderling splattered like bubbles and spread the yellow-green fluid found inside their bodies. Those midgets let out a violent cry, but their voices were never heard. Unfortunately, the battle didn’t stop there. As the Seven Blades collected the dust, a silhouette of an insect with eight legs stood tall amidst it all.

Or… so it seems.

“I guess that’s it, huh?” Thalia commented.

A brawny man with chestnut brown coloured skin with concoctions in his hands seconded, “Well. We’re not called Seven Blades for nothing.”

All six of them, excluding Kaia, shrugged their shoulders and went on their merry way. But before they could even reach the exit and receive their rewards, Kaia glanced behind and noticed something peculiar. In a split second, a vague light shone from the corpse of the mother spider, as if hinting at something Kaia didn’t know. She was aware it was something important. But Kaia couldn’t put a finger on it, considering this had not occurred before.

Usually, when Xenos die, their corpses would be the only thing left behind. They were unusable, so humans burned them. Those creatures never left anything behind except for their foul smell and waste on the already beaten-up soil.

But not this time. Something was definitely among the insects they had defeated. Kaia knew it.

“Kaia, you coming? There’s nothing there, you know? We already defeated the boss. Let’s go.” Thalia came back, rushed towards Kaia, and gingerly nudged her behind. Once Kaia was awakened from Thalia’s gentle touch, she shook her head, hoping nobody would notice her fear as she faintly carved out a smile.

“I guess so. Let’s go, Thalia. The others are waiting for us.”

She was the only one who noticed this odd premonition. A storm was coming. She didn’t know when or what it was, but Kaia knew the world needed to prepare for the worst.

“My stupid brother… I hope he’s alright. He’s weak, after all.” Kaia mumbled to herself as she twitched her hand, still denying her feelings.

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First-Person Point of View -

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“Xenos have been invading the city! But thanks to the Knights Academy and the Seven Blades, Xenos, instead of being a nuisance, became the number one livelihood of the world!”

The voice of the reporter from the television reverberated inside the cafeteria as the sea of students munched down their meals. There was a fight between a horde of Xenos and adventurers behind the newscaster. But thanks to the chosen students from the Knights Academy, my university, they subjugated the Xenos with ease. Everyone raised their cups and cheered as the fight was already won.

And then, there was me. I passed by a mirror and stole a glance at the reflection. My slick hair brushed backward was a sight to behold, followed by my tight eyelids stretched at both ends. Although I wasn’t branded as the prom king, many had told me I had the face of a lookalike model, especially with my five and six feet height. But… I didn’t bat their comments and remained humble. If I had the looks of a celebrity, maybe I would’ve created a harem for myself. For god’s sake, I didn’t have any abs to begin with, so I knew whatever they told me was complete bullshit.

My train of thought was soon put to a halt as the troublemakers had to pass me by during this hour.

“Get out of the way, fucking loser!”

“Who the fuck would want your powers?!”

“Null? What does that even mean, you powerless freak!”

“Just because your sister is one of the Seven Blades, that doesn’t mean you’re special, asshole!”

I was a normal high school student for the past few years. Even though my family left the States and decided to live here in Japan, the neighbours and the people I met were usually kind individuals. I had a girlfriend, people I could call my “friends” and others I could rely on. However, that changed with the introduction of “Arcane”, a supernatural phenomenon that eighty percent of the world had managed to receive. I was one of them, but… my power was the weakest.

“As long as I have my girlfriend… everything should be fine,” I told myself as I picked up my phone and dialled the number of my girl.

But as I lifted my head, I widened my eyes at the familiar face of my girlfriend… holding hands with the leader of the bullies inside my class.

“Asami? What’s the meaning of this?” I asked, as I slowly lowered my hands tightly, gripping my cellular phone.

Asami Yamaha was my high school sweetheart. She was one of the few people I met when I first moved here to Tokyo. She found out I had a unique power, but insisted she liked me for who I was. We had been dating for six months, and I swore to myself I would marry her and give whatever love was left inside of me.

But… How could she… cheat right before my eyes? And out of all the people, she would replace me with… Clark. The brawny, powerful classmate - a multi-elemental and talented bloke of mine who was on top of the entire university. A prodigy, some people called him.

“Shoot~. I’ve been found out. Well, sooner or later, you’ll know what I have been doing behind my back.” As she said those words, she slipped her hands out of her pocket skirt, revealing a used condom. “Silly me. That thing got out of my pocket for some reason.”

We never had an intimate relationship like that… So… how could she be with another man?

“You’ve been doing this behind my back?... For how long?” My voice croaked as I fought my way to return Asami’s gaze. “I thought we loved each other!”

“For as long as I knew you had worthless powers. I mean, come on, the ability to slightly deform an object? How can you defeat those Xenos, huh?”

“You’ll never be your sister! The only reason why the director of the school accepted your enrollment was because you’re related to the Seven Blades! But you’ll never be one of them!”

To be frank, I had an unreliable power. It was a [Glitch]. The best I could do was to make a part of an item wry beyond recognition. I tried studying my powers, but my efforts were to no avail.

My parents were powerless, however my sister and I were gifted with arcane. My sister, Kaia, was hailed as the strongest adventurer in the world. Which was why she was one of the Seven Blades of the continent - the best knight fighting against Xenos.

But I wasn’t talented enough to be able to stand toe to toe with my sister. And that was the reason people had been comparing me to my sister, Kaia.

“Just… leave me alone.”

Dejected and defeated, I lowered my head and continued trundling my way outside of the cafeteria grounds. The voices in my head were more deafening than the ones that could be heard inside. But it didn’t matter. Everyone was right about me - that I was a pathetic freak with nothing to defend my name.

Everyone from the table caught a glimpse of me as I cowardly ran away. None of the bystanders did anything, even after what happened. But if I were in their shoes, I would’ve done the same thing since who would want to defend a weak person? A person who was just relying on her sister’s fame and glory.

I steeled my heart and braved my way outside. Once my shoes touched the swaying grass, I found an odd-looking tree and gobbled my meal there. Alone.

“If only I had powers like my sister, maybe…” I wishful thoughts entered my brain.”

As I said those words, I playfully twirl my hands and cast my unique spell. “Distort” was what I wanted to call it. But once I opened the palm of my hands…

“Nothing.”

It was what I had expected. Nothing appeared or disrupted the flow of arcane inside me or even surrounding me. My magic was either cut off or… I was an irregular. An abnormal equation of the world.

So, I used the leaf seated right next to me and used my spell once again. This time, it worked. But the results were barely recognisable.

“Hmm… Seems like the extent of my skill. What did Director Aoto think when he invited me to this school? What did you see in me that I can’t notice?”

Director Aoto was the one who had reached out to me, not the other way around. At first, I asked him if it was because of my sister’s title. But… he told me himself that it wasn’t the case. How could I believe such a blatant lie?

The leaf changed… instead of being oval like the way it was, there was a kind of cut evident from the plant. Nothing more, nothing less. When I tried hard enough to observe it, something was twitching on the surface. But I paid it no mind and considered this experiment a failure.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have to fight for our lives… Maybe when we’re fourth-year students. Even so, I still have a long way to go to study my own powers,” I mumbled to myself and stared at the sky, admiring how tranquil our lives had been thanks to the Seven Blades and the adventurers protecting the city.

Unfortunately, the peace I had desired was soon put aside by an earthquake. The next thing we knew, shining portals all over the buildings appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by shrieking inhuman sounds coming from everywhere. The shadows popping up from the shadows proved everyone right as they released an intense murderous gaze at the children present at the Knight’s Academy.

Afterward, right in front of me was… a dragon, who I thought could only be seen in fairy tales.