First, to get you to understand Khondour’s power system, let me introduce you to the situation and the rankings. You’ll be able to find things out passively instead, but it’ll feel more confusing for you. Rightly so, if you’re too lazy to read this part I so painstakingly… exposited.

I like to be direct.

Khondour had an illogical geography. It is shaped like a sideways marble, with a singular continent wrapping around the planet from south to north in a wavy structure. Though I can’t recall the size of Earth, I’m confident Khondour is at least 7 or 8 times the size. Extremities in weather doesn’t occur much, and the temperature difference between the northern and southern poles and the equator isn’t as extreme as Earth’s, instead the coldest natural environment only reached approximately -20oc, whilst the hottest around 28oc. Of course, this doesn’t take into account the things its inhabitants do or natural disasters.

Rivers and Lakes snake their way inland from the sides, with many even piercing through to the other ocean. Scholars often used these landmarks to signify borders as they separate the land between one side and the other, though the separation was too narrow to be classified as an independent continent.

This world currently has three major kingdoms; Polyphia of Mankind, Inkyz of Beastmen and Dowland of Elven. In terms of size, Polyphia is larger than Inkyz and Dowland combined, but in terms of national power, the reverse is true. Humans are the absolute weakest, not as individuals, but as a race.

Let us focus on the human race for the first Lore chapter reveal.

Unlike Earth, where the difference in strength between one person and another is relatively small, Khondourians are born with an innate talent, and they have access to the power known as mana.

For most people, they are born with a single ability. A small portion of lottery winners would obtain two at birth.

For the ‘Heroes’ summoned from Earth, we gain three.

The Power[1] one receives are mostly generic and vague, though most Khondourians didn’t know it. It is true that most Powers, not all, start off with specific conditions or requirements, but the average person didn’t know, nor bothered to find out how to expand the usage of their abilities. Of course, there are some Powers that are restricted no matter how you train it.

Whatever your Power is, you require mana to activate it. This is the hard-work portion of this story, and mana itself have several properties.

Mana is your consciousness given energy form. It is determined by your mental will and stamina, like an invisible muscle. It can influence your resistance against mana-type attacks, but not physical ones, unless your Power so happens to be a physical-defence type. It also lengthens your lifespan and general constitution.

Your mana won’t leak out of you unless you will it, and its common curtesy not to flaunt your mana about. However, if you do choose to expunge your mana outwards, two things will happen.

Mana is a form of energy. Once it leaves your body and your influence, it’ll transform from mana to kinetic, and affect the things around you. The mana propels from you at the centre, pushing everything around you outwards, depending on the volume of mana released.

Secondly, since mana is part of your consciousness, you will be able to convey your emotions to the people near you straight from your head. If your mental finesse develops, you can convey more than emotion – your will.

Fortunately, your mana is yours to control. Rather than simply letting your mana burst out like a teenage boy in a massage parlour, with enough training, you could form it into chemical energy instead, so that it could be felt, but does far less collateral damage in the process. Most of the time, strong mana users would apply this method to show off their strength, or intimidate others with their will.

Cool, huh?

Although innate category of power is important, hard work is even more so. Even if you have a godlike Power, your opponent will defeat you so long as their mana is sufficiently strong enough. If a Fractium class Inquisitor went into a QPCS classroom and released pure mana, the bloodlust alone is enough to kill every student here through shock, before sending their bodies flying to the wall with a solid impact.

Ah, now, rankings. From the very bottom, here they are: Novitium, Bathusium, Marmarium, Kratonium, Fractium, Zephyrium, Argonium, Katagonium, Gorgonium and Promethium[2].

You’ll get used to it if you keep reading.

Every Kingdom uses the same ranking, and give their Inquisitors the same standards. The general rule is that the higher the rank, the stronger they are, though it isn’t always the case. Ranks are given to those who deserve them, even if they aren’t that powerful combat-wise. Other factors, like their contributions or achievements, effectiveness in their specialty, even wealth and connections, all add up together.

Here is where it gets complicated. Novitium to Marmarium ranks are given by examiners with qualifications. For Kratonium to Zephyrium, you require the acknowledgement of 3 Inquisitors ranked one higher above you, or one Inquisitor ranked two or above. Argonium and Katagonium ranks are decided by Gorgonium and Promethium Inquisitors respectively. Finally, us the JanZe Four, alongside two others whom I will not name at this point in time, authorises the last two ranks. We are also above the rank system. Don’t be mistaken, we don’t have a god complex. We are gods[3].

Each Inquisitor are given a plate made of the metal respective to their rank. They are responsible for their plate, which have a unique identification marker made of a Bathus alloy. Upon creation, when injected with mana, normally from the owner of the plate, the alloy forever holds a memory of that mana. So long as the mana matches the plate’s, there will be an obvious reaction, where the marker visibly shines, that verifies the owner’s identity. We can talk about the properties of metal when and if we get to a blacksmithing arc.

I’ve been writing cheat sheets of anyone I took an interest in, and since you and I are so close, I’ll leak a glimpse of some, mostly without redactions I promise.

Name: Kelvin Reiner

Chapter 1 Age: xxxx

Birthday: xxxx

Power: [Reserved] Enhancement (Body-Self)

[Transcendent] Transformation (Ethereal-Self)

1v1 Combat Score: 21.5

1vG Combat Score: 6.9

GvG Combat Score: 17.0

Specialty: xxxx

Name: Amelia Reiner

Chapter 1 Age: xxxx

Birthday: xxxx

Power: [Transcendent] Elemental Manipulation (Lightning)

[Authority] Mana Disruption (Mana Rule)

1v1 Combat Score: 15.7

1vG Combat Score: 26.9

GvG Combat Score: 22.8

Specialty: xxxx

That’s the twins, as I recorded them. I focus on the necessary details, but to give you a general idea of the school itself, here’s a few more.

Name: Guy-With-A-Mole-And-Mommy-Issues (Bully)

Chapter 1 Age: Unknown

Birthday: Unknown

Power: [Released] Enhancement (Heated Body)

1v1 Combat Score: 1.7

1vG Combat Score: 0.2

GvG Combat Score: 0.3

Specialty: Frontal Tank

Name: Guy-With-Too-Much-Testosterone-For-His-Age (Bully)

Chapter 1 Age: Unknown

Birthday: Unknown

Power: [Limited] Illusion (Intimidation)

[Released] Mana Manipulation (Force Push)

1v1 Combat Score: 0.8

1vG Combat Score: 0.1

GvG Combat Score: 0.1

Specialty: Interrogation

Name: Annoying-Coward-Who-Gets-Bullied-Alongside-Me

Age: Unknown

Birthday: Unknown

Power: [Constrained] Elemental Manipulation (Air)

1v1 Combat Score: 0.1

1vG Combat Score: 0.1

GvG Combat Score: 0.2

Specialty: Air Conditioning

Name: English Teacher

Age: Unknown

Birthday: Unknown

Power: [Reserved] Enhancement (Berserk)

1v1 Combat Score: 79.5

1vG Combat Score: 111.2

GvG Combat Score: 68.1

Specialty: Melee Combat

Name: Maths Teacher

Chapter 1 Age: Unknown

Birthday: Unknown

Power: [Authority] Elemental Manipulation (Fire / Air)

[Restricted] Enhancement (Arm Strength)

1v1 Combat Score: 48.3

1vG Combat Score: 38.2

GvG Combat Score: 76.1

Specialty: Leadership

Name: xxxx

Chapter 1 Age: xxxx

Birthday: xxxx

Power: [Reserved] Enhancement (Body-Self)

[Reserved] Curse (Weaken / Confusion)

1v1 Combat Score: 1532.8

1vG Combat Score: xxxx

GvG Combat Score: xxxx

Specialty: xxxx

Long, long ago – book flip opening scene - the humans occupied the northern pole of Khondour, and they were weak and small. The Beastmen and Elven race enjoyed the riches of the equator and the south, much to the jealousy of the greedy men.

One day, a human with the ability beyond imagination appeared! With immense strength and resources, he managed to connect his world to another – Earth.

As such, they began kidnapping men and women from our World into this one. They used our naivety and made us work as dressed-up-slaves, where they’d impose responsibilities unbefitting, to the unqualified, unto the unsuspecting snowflakes of our modern world. Every three years, a new ‘Hero’ would appear.

The true facts are cruel. To gain a Hero, a random Khondorian human would have their consciousness replaced, and it always happens to a child at the age of 13. To most, it seemed like a trivial exchange, but to the child’s family… they lost a child without anyone to protest against.

Still, because Heroes had three Powers rather than two, they inevitably became strong.

Humans were pressed on both sides, the Elves on one, the Beastmen on the other. I’m sure you’ve learnt enough about two-front wars during school.

Men of greed marched south, leaving behind the cold unforgiving north, to satiate their pride, with Beastmen being their first victims. They scorched the land with scars of brutality, claiming territories and lives like grain in their meal. Such gluttony was insatiable, as shown by the barbarians that made it to the very south.

To them, south meant achievement and glory.

Humanity descended from their prison into Khondour as a swarm of edacious locust, ironically tearing their way through the Beastmen race with inhumane cruelty and feral savagery. The most powerful of the bunch dragged their trophies and slaves into the south, which later formed a Kingdom of its own – Forinth, the lawless land.

The summoner, titled as the Heroic Guide, stayed at the Northern Palace as he was no combatant, but his contribution to humanity’s greatness is clear. The entire race glorified his achievement, and their fervour for conquest fuelled his greed. They began to eye the neutral spectators with a lustful hunger, for the Elves were as beautiful as a wish, and as cold as a rejection. Their traditions and culture stemmed so deep, all they did during the many massacres was to watch and judge.

The Heroic Guide, tired of the Elves’ patronising criticisms, decided to create a new connection, in hopes of doubling the rate of Heroes created. The humans, blinded by their victories, wanted to split their forces to conquer the Elves too. In hindsight, they would’ve lost badly should that have happened.

But that scenario never came to be. The Black Chasm was summoned into existence.

Unlike the first connection, which brought forth nothing tangible, the Black Chasm simply appeared on the ground, creating a giant ravine that swallowed half the capital city. The population, the buildings, everything disappeared inside – a total catastrophe.

Thankfully, most humans left the north, so the losses didn't lead to extinction and somehow the Heroic Guide escaped unhurt. The Black Chasm remained as it is, like a black hole without a gravitational pull.

Like all humans, the Heroic Guide refused to admit fault. His pride wouldn’t let him.

The third attempt led to the Red Chasm.

The fourth and final attempt created the Infernal Gates.

It is as edgy as it sounds. When the Infernal Gates appeared, Humanity finally realised their mistake, and doomed Khondour to a perpetual war.

Simply put – Whatever world the Heroic Guide connected to noticed the changes, and on the third contact, controlled it.

Though the Black and Red Chasm is stationary, the Inferno Gates appear randomly at any location. Like their name suggests, the gates allowed the monsters to infiltrate Khondour.

On the other hand, the Black and Red Chasms spurted monsters with no end in sight since the very start. Within a week, Humanity of the North fell. It was known as the Battle of The Great Omnicide.

Eventually, the three races of Khondour had to unite together and form a battlefront against the outpouring monsters from the North, all the whilst dealing with sporadic gates spawning in their territories bursting with more enemies.

It was an age of suffering. The entirety of the human race was put to blame, and the reparation costs were steep indeed. Not in wealth, but in blood.

I was summoned as a Hero around then. It took me, many other heroes and millions of Khondourian lives to finally reclaim our own soil from the monsters.

This is old history, and very few knows of it. Those of you who have read this are part of a privileged group, and I appreciate the effort and patience. You can now feel smug about yourselves.

One should never reveal one’s cards to strangers. However, because I feel bad blue-balling audiences with pronoun games and all, here is how I evaluate myself. Do keep in mind that I wouldn't recommend you to advertise your Powers for others to take advantage of, but in my case... what can you do to an immortal?

Name: xxxx The Handsome and Strong

Chapter 1 Age: xxxx In the youthful few-millenniums and a bit

Birthday: xxxx

Power: [Transcendent] Mana Imbue (Strengthen)

[Defined] Mana Creation (Weaponry)

[Authority] Immortality (Regeneration)

1v1 Combat Score: xxxx

1vG Combat Score: xxxx

GvG Combat Score: xxxx

Specialty: Adaptive Combat

Let’s wrap it up here. I know I’ve been long-winded, but I got one last thing to say.

When you live in a world where personal strength can go so out of control, the imbalance between violence and pacifism increases. Only the strong had the luxury to refuse a fight.

Khondour is a big world with many species in it. The Humans are greedy, the Beastmen are aggressive, the Elves are inflexible and the monsters are inexhaustible. Oftentimes, strength overrule logic and facts. Morality is spit at and buried.

Inequality is rampant and decided by the strong, be it in politics, or in education.

It all depends on how lucky you are.

Here, if you bump into a girl on your way to school, she won’t just throw a tsundere punch at you and become your girlfriend…

…Worst case scenario, you die young.

[1] I will be differentiating power, when used in context, and Power, when referring to a person’s mana ability.

[2] These are the names of metals found within the Dungeoneering Skill of the MMORPG Runescape3.

[3] An adaptation of the famous line (Original: “…Ask me if I had a God complex? Let me tell you something… I am God) from Malice by Harold Becker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeC3BPYTmE