It all started on May 25th, 1500 AD, when the Demon King entered our world with his army of soldiers. Mankind was forced to retaliate against him and his demonic forces, but it wasn't enough. One by one, the men, women, and children were slaughtered as the evil emperor took over our world, eventually causing millions to lose their lives. Humanity lost the Great War, and was enslaved by the Demon King and his people; forced to further expand his empire.
Working day in and day out, mankind's population drastically decreased… until that one fateful day; the Goddess, Alistoria, descended from the Heavenly Realm and decided to aid humanity and our Earthly Plane. She sought the demise of the Demon King, knowing he would continue his tyrannical rule and eventually wipe out all of humanity.
Together, Alistoria, and mankind created the perfect method for taking down the Demon King. It was called the Verse Engine; a metaphysical program that was embedded into all beings within the world of Lioria. Designed as a transcendent Formula, it was both the foundational conduit for all Energetic and Magical processes, guiding a pathway to becoming stronger.
With this program, humanity awakened unique abilities called "Systems" that allowed allowed them to rebel, and overpower the Demon King's army. With his manpower decreased, the evil emperor eventually fell to the hands of mankind as they sealed him away, underneath the earth, where he remains eternally slumber.
500 years later, humanity created rules and regulations for the Verse Engine to keep society stable. It expanded drastically over time and became an omnipresent program that everyone has at birth.
Now is the year 2025–December 1st—the day where my life changes forever.
+
It was a quiet afternoon at Lysoria Academy, in a cramped classroom filled with uneven desks and classmates who listened to the teacher up front. There was a lecture going on about the Verse Engine and it's primary purpose.
Slouched over in her seat, with their cheek pressed to the back of her hand, and elbow digging into the wood of her desk, a young student traced a bored circle on her thigh, where flickering just above her lap in a faint glow—the Verse Engine was brought to life.
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ VERSE ENGINE │
├─────────────────────────────┤
│Name: Euphemia Zhang
│Gender: Female
│Age: 16
│Rank: F
├─────────────────────────────┤
│ System: │
│ None
├─────────────────────────────┘
"Seriously? How unfair…" Furrowing her brows, the young girl tapped the side of the display screen like it was a stubborn machine as she puffed out her cheek, pouting.
"Still nothing?" Beside her, a young blonde girl by the name of Niko whispered from her desk. Her engine was shown hovering just faintly out of view, and inside of it, she had a special system, unlike Euphemia.
"Yeah… still nothing…" Euphemia continued pouting before shoving the verse engine away with an irritated sigh. It faded like steam, leaving her with nothing but the dull ache of her own breath. "I don't understand, everyone else in the academy is getting a system when they reach 16, but mine still isn't here after my birthday yesterday." She muttered with a bitter voice, visibly frustrated.
Niko looked sheepish, scratching behind her ear. "Yeah, but... I mean, you're probably just a late bloomer. There's lots of people who have late starts, ya know?"
"Sure," Euphemia said. The young girl didn't mean for it to sound rude, but it slipped out heavy. "I'll just continue waiting for a skill… maybe I'll wake up and be made out of fire, like our classmate, Blaze."
A few seconds later, the bell rang. Students in the classroom all stood up with some holding onto their phones, while others had their Verse Engine in full view. Euphemia grabbed her binder and stuffed it in her book bag, rising to her feet as Niko waited patiently beside her.
"Ya know, maybe you're special, Euphemia." Out of nowhere, Niko complimented her friend which caught them off guard.
"…Where did that come from?" Wrapping the strap of her book bag around her shoulder, Euphemia headed for the door as Niko followed.
"I mean, just think about it! There hasn't been one person in the whole world who hasn't developed a system in their Verse Engine. Yours must be special." Said Niko as they both walked the crowded hallways.
"Or maybe it's glitched," responded Euphemia with a disappointed sigh, "That could also be a possibility. I always had bad luck growing up, so it wouldn't be too surprising."
"A glitched Verse Engine? That sounds absurd… but I wonder if it's possible…" Niko looked up in thought, rubbing underneath her chin.
"Pfft, anything is possible in Lioria! But it's not like it matters, I'll do just fine on my own without any sort of system." Euphemia gazed upon her friend with a gentle smile. Even though she didn't have anything unique about her, it wouldn't stop Euphemia from remaining positive.
"Ahaha, you always manage to surprise me, Euphemia. You're always positive, even if things aren't going your way, huh?"
She nodded her head, glancing straight ahead.
"My father always told me to remain strong and determined throughout my life and to give it my all. Even if I don't develop any sort of system, I still have other talents I can focus on." She smiled, side-eyeing Niko who appeared to be blushing.
"Wow… a guy would be lucky to have someone like you. I'm pretty jealous." Said Niko in a joking manner.
"Pfft, there's only one guy I like, and that just happens to be Eren." Responded Euphemia, smiling at the thought of her crush.
"You can say that again… you talk about him as if he knows you when you've never spoken to him a day in your life." Niko crossed her arms, visibly disappointed in her friend and her lack of courage.
How ironic, given her speech just a moment ago about being determined.
"U-Uhm…" Euphemia averted her gaze, looking to the side to face away from Niko. "Well, besides that, I got a bus to catch, I'll see you tomorrow, Niko!"
Niko grinned at her change of demeanor, nodding her head.
"Alright, stay safe, Euphemia! Don't have another panic attack sitting by Eren!"
Euphemia walked down the hall and frowned at her friend's comment before leaving the school building. Outside, she saw a group of people with their phones out, recording. "Huh? What's going on?" Walking through the crowds of people, she laid eyes upon three muscular teenagers who surrounded a smaller boy with glasses, shoving him around like a lightweight.
"Can't even stand up for yourself with that useless system of yours, huh? What was it again, the Sage System?" One boy sneered, grabbing the smaller boy's textbook and dangling it out of reach.
"How fucking lame! Who would want a system that just gives you knowledge? Only a loser would be happy with something like that." Another teenager grabbed the boy's glasses, dropping them to the ground.
"H-Hey, give that back! I-I can't see…"
"Maybe you need to toughen up like the rest of us instead of acting like you're better than everyone else just because you're smart." The third boy scowled as he crumpled the boy's notes into a ball before another one of them pushed him onto the ground.
"Uumph!" Falling flat on his back, his books scattered across the concrete, while onlookers laughed at his pain like sadists.
"You see, Alex? This is what having a real System is all about!" One of the attackers kicked the fallen boy's textbook away, while another grinned. "With my system, I can easily pummel you into the ground! What's your 'knowledge' gonna do about that?"
"Hey, get a good angle on this retard! Let's make this shit go viral on social media." The attacker raised his fist as the crowd murmured and recorded. Their phones started flashing as Alex tried scrambling to his feet, but was stomped back down.
"P-Please you guys, let me go… I'll do anything you want!"
"What was that?! You'll do anything we want? And what makes you think we need assistance from a useless sack of junk like you?"
All of a sudden, a blur of motion streaked across the scene as someone else appeared, delivering a swift kick that sent the primary attacker sprawling backward.
"Gaaaah?!"
"What the…" The other two bullies stumbled back in surprise, visibly shocked by the sudden change of pace.
The crowd gasped, pointing their phones at the unexpected student who now stood protectively between the fallen boy and his attackers.
"Shit… it's Euphemia!" They widened their eyes in recognition as one of them frantically grabbed his fallen friend, "C'mon, let's go, we don't wanna mess with her again!" Picking up his dazed friend, he ran in the opposite direction, away from school.
Euphemia stood there with furrowed brows, crossing her arms in disappointment.
"Those guys never learn, do they? This is the second time this week where I had to kick their butt.." Turning around, the crowd of students all stopped their recording as one of them shouted with praise.
"Way to go Euphemia!"
With a deep sigh, she ignored their admiration and crouched down to help Alex up from the ground.
"You okay?" Grabbing his hand, she pulled him up and picked up his glasses in the process, putting them back on his face as she dusted off his clothes.
"I-I'm fine, Euphemia, thank you very much!" Bowing in front of his savior, Alex scrambled to pick up his fallen books.
"You're always getting caught up in situations with those jerks, Alex, you seriously need to stay out of trouble. How about I walk you home?"
Alex gathered together his books, holding them against his chest as he turned around, surprised.
"Y-You want to walk me home?"
Euphemia nodded her head.
"Yup! So how about it? Let me be your bodyguard!"