It was 300 years ago when mankind stumbled upon something that was unknown… something that could be considered otherworldly as it was found by researchers in the deepest parts of the earth.
It was a giant stone tablet with a clear glowing blue crystal at its top and a sigil that pulsated with strange energy inscribed on its surface.
The sigil was a spiraling helix split down the middle. The left half with a lattice of runes and the right half, its lines jagging, pulsed in rhythmic and bursting intervals as if alive. And at the heart of the helix, a white flare that blurred the lines seemed to be the origin of the pulsations.
Researchers were completely enchanted with this new discovery. The relic that produced an energy of unknown origin was too intriguing to simply let go.
Some of them theorized that it might be a sacred treasure from an ancient civilization or a meteorite of unknown properties that was made into its present shape.
Others on the other hand thought of a more occult explanation. They theorized it was some sort of divine or demonic artifact from a civilization of old or an extraterrestrial object.
To put it simply, the more research was done to determine its origin, the more questions were raised about the unknown object. Hence, the following decision… research the energy emitting from the relic instead of its origins.
By researching the energy produced by the relic, there was a real discovery. The energy discovered was unlike any other. It was raw power, more powerful than nuclear energy and more diverse than any other form of energy pre-existing.
Using experimental subjects such as lab rats, plants, soil among others, the researchers observed the radiation effect of the relic.
What was observed included the significant mutation in animals such as increase in physical abilities, uncontrolled raging or other physical changes such as anatomy and special properties such as snakes' or scorpions' venoms which varied from different species to another.
The changes in chemical composition of different substances and elements such as hardness of metals, nutritional advantages or dangers of plants, fruits and other food substances, among other changes of different substances and minerals.
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One day, it was finally decided that human experiments would be conducted and the human test subjects that were exposed to the relic's energy also showed significant and unexpected changes.
After exposure, they showed exceptional physical abilities.
They could reduce a stone into dust with one hand with ease. Leap several meters above the ground after a single jump.
They also manifested an ability straight out of fairy tales. The ability to manipulate and create matter and other elements, an ability that could easily be called magical. They could create and control things such as fire, wind, earth and water without any problem.
Another observation was made as though the subjects both had similar abilities, there were differences in their proficiency and overall capabilities.
One group was more proficient when it came to their enhanced physical abilities compared to their control over the manipulation of matter while the other group had an easier time with the latter but with weaker physical abilities compared to the first group.
Some of them even showed new and unique abilities completely different from the rest of the subjects. They could morph their bodies to more humanoid beast-like appearances at will, gaining animal traits such as ears, tails, claws and fangs through the energy they emanated.
They also possessed enhanced senses such as sharper vision that enabled them to see meters or miles away, enhanced hearing that could perceive even the faintest amount of sound even from a long distance and enhanced smell that could distinguish between different scents that could seem similar for any other normal human.
Other subjects also affirmed being able to contact and use the powers of unidentified spectral beings that they were the only ones to see.
With such diversity in effects, it was then that after months and years of research, the researchers theorized that the energy emitted by the relic could alter matter into new substances with different properties and evolve human beings into transcendent beings with abilities unlike any other.
The potential the relic possessed was practically limitless. Hence, their future blunder that would escalate to uncontrollable levels.
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One day, they tried to extract the energy emitted by the relic and transform it into a new form of reliable energy but there is a reason why sayings like "Ignorance is bliss" and "One should not try to impend on the Divine" exist.
The relic started cracking and with it, a huge surge of energy started to damage the research facility.
"What's happening!?" one researcher, a man in his thirties and wearing glasses, asked, his voice tinged with surprise and worry as the machines started short-circuiting and exploding.
"Sir!" another researcher replied. "The energy levels are too high! We're in overload!"
"Quick! We need to stop the process right now! There's no telling what the consequences will be if this spirals out of control!"
Their efforts were vain. It was already too late to stop the inevitable.
The relic completely exploded and with it, a giant explosion that killed everyone in a radius of several kilometers, razing everything to the ground. Houses, buildings, roads, plants, the screaming women, the agonizing men, the frightened and crying children… absolutely everything was reduced to dust while the remnant energy pulsated throughout the entire world.
This night would come to be called the Cataclysm. But the explosion, which was only the trigger, wasn't all. What followed was even more horrifying.
Across the entire world, dark clouds started to cover the entire sky while in the middle of the cities, cracks started forming in mid-air and the void created after their shattering, gave place to giant, spiral portals where a multitude of different sparks of different colors crackled on the ends of them.
This became the gateway for the true calamity that would follow.
After the appearance of those portals, the areas in their vicinity slowly distorted themselves, becoming giant pocket dimensions where the sky was covered by blood-red clouds which dyed the realm in crimson hues.
The terrain had shifted and transformed, sometimes taking on the form of forests, swamps, plains or caves varying from one area to another.
That's when, pouring out of the portals, monsters straight out of man's worst nightmares started coming out in waves.
They included specters and undead beings that relentlessly chase the living to make them one of them, clawed and fanged beasts that devour and kill their prey in the most horrific and painful way possible, cryptid and humanoid monstrosities that torture and instill fear in the hearts of their victims before killing them in delight, and real live catastrophes that can destroy cities in one instant.
The frenzy, chaos, bloody gore and killing spree caused by these monsters couldn't be stopped no matter what. Whether it be by military power, chemical attacks or any other way, it was all useless.
The land which was once peaceful turned into a realm where monsters were dominant, and humans were killed and devoured without any chance of survival… it was the wild in its purest essence.
One months, two months, several months passed by and people lived in fear of death and monsters that were its harbingers.
One wrong move and you were hunted by monsters until you were dead. In one word, the Apocalypse.
In a dystopic and apocalyptic world overrun by monsters where does humanity's salvation lay?
The answer didn't wait to show itself in the form of heroes who fought back against the monsters.
One after another, people with unique powers started appearing after the cataclysm and used them to fight against the invading monsters.
Some possessing weapons that crushed and cleaved through the monsters with ease and others who created hellfire, tornados, tsunamis, lightning strikes, avalanches, and pits of darkness from their palms, they decimated hundreds of monsters leaving only trails of corpses in their quakes.
From their actions, others started following in their footsteps and the small ripples on the water's surface that started from small groups of individuals fighting on the battlefield became a giant and powerful stream that filled people with hope and the strength to fight against despair.
Like that, the monster forces dwindled and in three years since the Cataclysm, civilization started flourishing once more and humanity started evolving until finally, there was only one mystery that still loomed upon them.
The giant portals where the monsters were coming from, had all closed, replaced by smaller portals instead.
What lay beyond these portals?
None knew the answer.
Hence, this was how the terms Vanishing Points, the portals where monsters came from, and the Abyss, the pocket dimensions created by the energy released by those portals, came to be.
After countless battles against numerous, diverse and powerful monsters, it became a necessity to raid any vanishing points that appear since killing the wave of monsters, and their master who came from beyond the portal, was the only way to prevent further destruction.
This was how, with the newfound power humanity gained, Mana, the Realizers, became the pillars that fought against the monsters.
And now, centuries later, within a certain library, a young boy was surrounded by Realizers bearing their weapons at him.
The reason being… he had emerged from a Vanishing Point.