Mark woke up early the next morning, stretching as he revisited the events of yesterday. The horizon was wrapped in an orange glow as the sun was rising, rising like the various thoughts that arose in Mark's mind.
Mark got ready and went downstairs to find his grandpa ready with breakfast sitting on the table.
"Morning, child," he said, beaming at him.
"Good morning, Grandpa. Why did you prepare breakfast? I was gonna do it right now," Mark said as he sat for breakfast.
"Well, the plane is in four hours, so I want you to get your packing done in half an hour after this and get ready to leave in the next half an hour," his grandpa said as he sipped his tea.
"It's in four hours. What will I do leaving three hours before the flight?"
"Trust me, it's better to leave early."
"I know, but the airport is just half an hour's drive from here. What will I do for two and a half hours at the airport?"
"The world has changed. There will be countless people who will be willing to use their newly gained powers for bad intentions. Not everyone has awakened yet. They all will slowly awaken in the next month. Until then, it lies with you and Agnivir to safeguard the weak. Power is given for noble reasons, and protecting the weak is the noblest of all."
"Alright, alright, I get it. That old habit of yours of always getting us to leave hours before the scheduled time is weird," Mark said as he finished his breakfast.
His grandfather didn't answer; he just gave a soft chuckle. Then suddenly, he got up and walked swiftly to a nearby window and started to whisper, as if he was talking to someone.
He came back a few minutes later, his eyes grave and serious.
"Drima, the Southern Kingdom's gates have been attacked. It... it was a massacre."
Drima manifested himself from Jack's shoulder.
"My liege, are you saying no one survived?"
"Yes, I am. They said an army just appeared out of the many portals that opened there. We managed to control it, but there were heavy casualties. The Water Monarch had to step in."
"Just what are you talking about?" Mark interrupted.
"Well, the Southern Kingdom is the terrorists ruled by the Water Monarch. It was just attacked by the ----," Drima said.
"By what?"
"----"
"Huh?"
"I see how it is. You who doesn't possess enough divinity is forbidden to know their names, because just hearing their name and saying them has an evil effect on mortals who haven't attained divine recognition."
"Well, child, you should get going now. The situation is under control for now," his grandpa interrupted.
"Alright," said Mark as he got up with a sigh.
Mark got ready and left the house, and as he ventured into the 'city'—or what once used to be a civilized settlement—because the sight wasn't looking all that civilized.
Numerous shops and buildings were broken into, police vehicles were patrolling, fully armed with guns.
"No matter if the world is with or without ether, there will always be those who will use this power for evil. And even now, when they got the new powers, the evil that was residing within them took shape like this," Drima said as Mark entered the airport.
"Well, I guess we—" Mark was saying when his phone rang.
It was Bill.
"Heya buddy, what's up?" Bill said, his excitement leaking out of his voice.
"Nothing much, about to catch a flight to India."
"Ahh, a vacation? Nice. By the way, I got some awesome powers somehow."
"You did? That's great, I did too."
"Nice! It just looks like a scene out of those shows and comics we read together."
"Yes, but let's hope we aren't getting any random gates flooded with monsters opening in the middle of the city," Mark sighed.
"Yeah, hope so. Even if they do, I will cut 'em all down."
"Confident, aren't we?"
"Yup, all those martial arts lessons are gonna come in real handy."
"Well, good luck finding pressure points and stuff on the monsters."
"Oh shi—"
"Anyways, I gotta go. There is someone acting up here."
"Alright."
The call cut, and Jack increased his pace to the crowd he noticed in front.
"WHY CAN'T I TAKE MY WEAPONS? I HAVE A MAKITO THAT SAYS I CAN LEVEL UP AND GROW STRONGER! I AM CLEARLY THE MAIN CHARACTER, SO SHUT UP, YOU NPCS!" Mark heard a man shout. The voice was young, probably around the same age as Jack.
"What's this about?" he asked a man in the crowd.
"He was tryna smuggle two daggers with him. When he was questioned, he started saying shit like he is the main character because he is the only one that can level up."
"What? That's so idiotic," Drima said. "That Makito must be Lena. She always misses details. Must've led the lad to think he is the only one that can level up."
"I see. HEY, MR. MAIN CHARACTER, over here!" Mark waved to the person.
"Now what do you want?" the guy said as he struggled with the crowd.
"Why don't you ask Lena if you're the only one who can level up, or everyone can?" Mark shouted through.
The man stood still for a bit, then his arms dropped heavily.
"AND ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD LEVEL UP!" he yelled as he dropped on the ground, defeated.
The authorities came and took away his weapons.
"Hey, what's your name?" the man mumbled to Mark, who was sitting beside him.
"Mark."
"Richard. Nice to meet you, Mark."
"Likewise."
"So, how did you know Lena's name?"
"Hmm, just tell her Drima told him."
The man sat silently for a minute and then looked at Mark, gawking at him.
"No way, you're one of the commanders??!"
"Seems like I am. Lena is an assassin type, right?"
"Wow, yes. That makes me some kind of scout."
"Nice."
"So, where are you headed? I was headed to India because Lena said I should meet up with one of the commanders. Considering Yuusha is so secretive and Agnivir is such an exhibitionist, I thought I would find him easily rather than running after a man clad in secrecy like you."
"But seems you got lucky. I was headed to India to meet with Agnivir as well. Drima said we will have to work out who will be the leader between me and Agnivir."
"I see. Hey, can I join you? Lena said she used to be a leading scout and assassin under Drima."
Mark asked Drima about this, and he verified it. Mark nodded, upon which the man's face lit up.
"Nice, at least I can be a leading side character."
"You sure do like your anime, huh?"
"Definitely do."
Mark noticed how differently everyone took everything. Some people lined up at the psychologist's, some weebs and fiction enjoyers went to farm and were overjoyed as their life's dream came to life, bad people became tumors to humanity from day one.
Everyone took everything differently, but one thing was common—they all were slowly adapting to the new world.
"Well, leader, how many stigmas have you accepted till now?"
"A lot of them. Most of them don't activate because I sometimes have an already stronger version of them," Mark replied.
"Wow. So what's Drima's linked ability? Lena can make me inconceivable by all the five senses for about ten minutes at once."
"That's great. Drima's ability is the Weapon Master. I can use ether to manifest any sort of weapon I like. Watch this—this is my most used ones," Mark said.
Ether began to gather around his arms and gradually took the shape of various weapons. From a sword, it shifted to a bow, then to a scythe, a gauntlet, and finally braces with long, sharp projections. The sharp edges of the weapons glowed with a soft golden light, which was suppressed by the mighty glow of the sun.
"I developed them myself. They are hella useful," Mark said as he swished the blades around.
"Wow, that's awesome."
"Yeah. Now let's get into the flight, it's ready for boarding."
Mark and Richards walked to the flight and sat on their respective seats, which were surprisingly one behind the other. Richards settled behind Mark, and they both waited for the person who was sitting beside Mark, in hopes of asking him to exchange seats so the two new friends could sit next to each other.
The man came, and luckily he agreed to the request. Richards came and sat beside Mark, and they were just talking when Richards' Makito manifested herself.
"Hey mister, can I talk to Drima?" said the blackish-pinkish mass that had manifested over Richards' hand.
"I don't own him, feel free. And well, it's up to him—he can manifest himself whenever he wants. He does that anyway," Mark replied.
"Well, hello there, fair lady. How have you been, Lena?"
"Not good. Five years are too long. I hope these new hosts aren't that incompetent. I haven't had a real body in a century."
"A century? But wasn't it five years since you came here?" Mark interrupted.
"Well, it doesn't work like that. We Makito were once living—hosts to other Makito at one point of our lives."
"Then what happened?" Mark asked as the plane took flight.
"When someone who has been subjected to divine power dies, they return as a Makito. When the host of the Makito dies prematurely, both the Makito and the host return to the monarch and become Makitos again. This cycle continues until the host survives the Selection War—yes, the war that's coming in five years. If they survive it, then the Makito regains their body, and the host ascends as the Chosen One."
"So it's an endless cycle?"
"Not necessarily. After death, they can choose whether to clear their consciousness and start anew."
"I see. Well, that is go—" Mark was speaking when he was interrupted as he felt something on his neck.
Something cold and round, something metallic, with a central cavity—a gun. The muzzle of the gun was pressed against his neck by the man that was going to sit beside him.
"Quite the talkative bunch we got here, huh?" the man said. "THIS PLANE IS NOW OURS. RAISE YOUR HANDS!"
The man shouted, and a few other men rose with their guns, aiming in every direction. One of the men made his way to the cockpit.
"Oh shit," Richards muttered.
BANG!