Current Year: 2037
They thought the worst part was the monsters.
But the real danger wasn't what came out of the Rift.
It was what leaked into us.
Twelve years ago (2025), the sky cracked open over Russia. A bloom of light that tore apart clouds and reality in the same breath. Moscow vanished under it. No warning. No survivors. No explanation.
They called this event, The Fracture.
At first, the world treated it like a disaster. An isolated calamity. But soon, more appeared. Across continents, In oceans, in cities that had no time to evacuate. They were like wounds carved into the world — unstable, shifting anomalies that defied science and tore apart space itself.
We called them Rifts.
But the monsters weren't the only thing that came through.
Something stranger slipped into the world — unseen, unfelt at first. Like a pressure under the skin. An invisible current that clung to people like breath in winter air. It didn't have a name. Not then. Not until people started to… change.
That force became known as Desyre.
It didn't bless. It didn't choose. It awakened.
Not through bloodlines or training.
Through emotion.
Fear sharpened.
Guilt hardened.
Rage ignited.
Desyre wasn't a gift. It was a mirror — pulling power from within and turning it outward. What was once pain became a weapon. What was once grief, a shield. It took whatever you were and made it something the world could see.
Those who resonated with its call were no longer ordinary humans.
They became known as Ascenders.
Some saw them as humanity's answer to extinction. Others called them walking disasters with unstable hearts and too much power. But no one could deny what they were:
Humanity's only hope of fighting back.
The last line between us… and whatever kept crawling out of the Rift.
In 2027, the World Ascender Authority — the WAA — was formed to manage it all. To regulate Ascenders, contain outbreaks, and collect data on monster cores and Desyre awakenings. They created a global system: ranks, licenses, sanctioned combat. A balance of power meant to give people hope.
Then came the academies.
In 2028, the WAA launched Ascenders Academies across the world — half military, half research facility. Here, teenagers trained to control their Desyre, survive inside the Rift, and become the next generation of sanctioned defenders.
It worked… for a while.
But Desyre was never meant to be controlled. It doesn't listen to rules. It answers to one thing only:
What you carry inside.
And lately… it's been getting louder.
Across collapsed towns and empty districts, Rift activity spikes and surges. Unstable zones flicker open like gaping wounds — faster than the WAA can respond. And someone's already waiting.
A black-coated figure wearing a bird-like mask.
Fast. Brutal. Silent. Unregistered.
He wipes out entire Rift outbreaks before the WAA arrives. Leaves no trace. No explanation. Only rumors.
Locals call him:
Bird.
Some say he's a ghost. Others, a rogue Ascender. A myth. But survivors say the same thing:
"He looked at the monster like it wasn't a threat.
He looked at me like I mattered."
No one knows where he came from. No one's even sure if he's human. But in the eyes of the people, Bird is more than a myth — he's the answer the world didn't get from the WAA.
And far from those whispers, deep inside the steel walls of Manila Ascenders Academy in the Philippines, another story begins.
New students arrive. Some eager, some afraid. Every one of them desperate to become something — a protector, a legend, or just someone who wants to survive.
Among them is a boy no one notices.
Kael Velian Navarro.
Age: 19.
Rank: Potential C Rank Ascender(Student)
Status: Unremarkable.
Just another face in the crowd.
He doesn't speak much. He doesn't stand out. But when others train, Kael watches. Learns. Waits.
Because his Desyre didn't come from drills or doctrine. It didn't awaken through some carefully measured simulation.
It came from something else.
From blood.
From memory.
From something he buried long ago.
While the others look ahead —chasing ranks, seeking fame — Kael walks with something behind him.
Something the system missed.
And the Rift… is starting to notice