1 Betrayal

The fall of civilization came swiftly and without warning.

Just like any other day, people were out walking the streets, some going to work, others taking a nice stroll.

Nobody could have imagined this would happen... nobody.

On May 28th, 2030, the unthinkable happened.

These mysterious portals opened all over the world.

And what came out of them, flooded our world like a devastating and ruthless plague.

Monsters, those... creatures, came out of the portals with only one thought in mind.

Chaos.

...

The year was now 2040, just ten years after what is now called, The Great Cataclysm.

Out of the original 8.7 billion people that used to inhabit the blue orb known as earth, only 1.4 billion survived.

And now a decade later, there are just over 2 billion people, most of them being under the age of 60, with only a couple hundred thousand being older than that.

Although the initial wave of monsters killed many people and even caused the total collapse of some less fortunate countries, there was at least one hope for humanity to grab onto

And that hope are the people called, Hunters.

When the monsters first started pouring out of the gates, the military of every country tried and failed at holding back the invasion force of monsters.

Tanks were rendered obsolete, missiles fired and never reached their destination, and guns, guns were as good as spitballs against all but the lowest grade of monsters.

When all seemed lost, a new shining glow of hope was found in people who awakened a new power called, mana.

These mana wielders, now known simply as hunters, were able to, with the help of a translucent panel they call, the "Status Screen", hold back and even launch a counter-attack against the monsters, pushing them back into the portals from which they came.

While most monsters from the "first wave" were either killed or pushed into their portals, a hefty amount of them managed to flee and occupy less fortunate and powerful areas such as most of the southern half of Africa, eastern Siberia, and the whole of South America.

Although these areas which were overtaken by monsters and later gates were completely inhospitable, the rest of the world wasn't much better.

Civilization had to be rebuilt upon the backs of hunters and other "powerful" people such as politicians and wealthy businessmen.

In doing so, however, the world was now laced with more corruption than ever before seen.

Hunters were idolized and even borderline worshiped, politicians did everything possible to hold onto and gain more power, and wealthy businessmen hand their hands in almost everything.

While some places weren't as bad as others, the worst of the worst was countries like china, Russia, well what's left of it anyway, and believe it or not, India, where the caste system is at an all-time height.

One of the worst countries, however, was a newly unified Korea, and no, that is not where our story will begin.

That honor belongs to the newly founded, North American Federation, which surprisingly was not very corrupt.

Shocker, I know.

During the aftermath of the appearance of the gates and monsters, what was left of the U.S had a boom in patriotism, and that caused most racial and social economic divides to be torn down.

The remnants of Canada had chosen to join their southern neighbors and relations took off really well, and now in the ruins of two, questionable at best countries, stands a new powerful, and more stable federation.

It is here in the new federation where our story starts,

While I did say there wasn't anywhere near as much corruption in North America, that still doesn't mean there isn't any at all, humans are greedy bastards after all.

...

Our story begins within a modestly sized apartment which is all too common in this new world.

The man of the hour is Michael Stromlind, an A-rank hunter.

When the portals first appeared, a then 30-year-old Michael was out with his very pregnant wife, Nikki, and their 8-year-old son, Alexander.

It was a day like any other, they were out at the park having a nice family picnic.

All was well, that is until they heard the screaming of people ring out around them.

Within maybe a couple of seconds, loud bangs were heard all around as monsters, more specifically, Kobolds, showed up and started destroying everything that was in their way.

Without missing a beat, Michael grabbed his family and ran like hell out of the park, hoping to find somewhere, anywhere to hide.

The family ran through alleyway after alleyway, ducking dodging, and fleeing away from the pursuing kobolds.

No matter where they ran, those little furry bastards kept up the chase.

At this point, they were close to their home, but Michael's wife and son were both extremely exhausted, so for the rest of the way there Michael protected his family with anything he could find, a wooden pole? sure! a trash can lid? of course! a full-on brick? through it at the bastards!

This went on for the next half an hour before they finally made it to their home, and what was left of their neighborhood.

Thankfully, the monsters who trashed the neighborhood had already left, but the danger wasn't gone yet, the kobolds from earlier were still gaining on them.

Once they rushed into the house, Michael grabbed his pistol that was in his safe and took a few shots at the dozen or so kobolds.

Most of the bullets had unfortunately only angered and not injured the monsters, a few of the unlucky were hit in the eyes or even straight through the throat, effectively dropping their numbers to 8.

Now that the clip had run out and he didn't have enough time to get another one, Michael used the closest weapon he had, which just so happened to be a Viking-style battle-axe that he had gotten as a present from his wife a few years back.

While most countries wouldn't let you have a sharpened weapon in your home, this was the good old U.S of A!

Now I know what you are thinking, and no, Michael wasn't an axe murderer, he was just a really big history nerd who also happened to be a master in wielding sharp pointy weapons due to years of training.

Now brandishing a very sharp and powerful war-axe, Michael went out there to fend off the kobolds, of course, before he went out, he made sure to put on some chainmail around his throat and to put on his old shoulder pads from his days of playing American football.

And before you ask why he had chainmail, I tell you in five words, he. was. a. giant. NERD.

Finally, back to the soon-to-be epic fight scene.

Stepping out of his home feeling like a badass, Michael went up to the kobolds and started swinging.

Due to the shock of seeing this weirdly dressed human wielding a weapon, the kobolds were stunned in fear and confusion.

Using this opportunity, Michael cleaved through two of the 8 remaining enemies.

And no, he didn't decapitate them, not due to a lack of effort on his part however, it was just a fact that swift beheadings in battle were not realistic in most cases.

Michael would go on to duke it out with the monsters for another hour before he had grown tired from the fight coupled with the running from earlier.

Seeing this as a chance to be taken, one of the kobolds dashed for the door with a frightened Michael behind it.

However, he was too late, the kobold was able to throw its spear at Nikki and impaled her through the stomach and out the back, effectively killing her within moments.

Now fueled by not only adrenaline but also rage, Michael cleaved through the kobolds torso and ran to his dead wife.

He dropped down to his knees and started crying over his dead spouse's body.

That's when he looked to his left and noticed the shivering Alexander, who was scared out of his mind and now scarred due to his mother's death.

Seeing this was like a trigger within Michael, the second that had just truly conspired there registered in his brain, a foreign energy flooded into his body.

For a split second, Michael was in total euphoria and not the show you degenerates!

All of his minor injuries and cuts were healed within an instant, and he now felt many times stronger than he ever had.

Michael looked towards his axe which was now covered in blood and grabbed the shaft of the weapon.

He stood up and walked out of the door and stood in front of the now laughing kobolds.

All of a sudden, that strange energy swept over his body, and several changes happened.

First, his body became the personification sculpted by the gods.

Secondly, his eyes turned a bright, almost... electric purple.

And lastly, all around his body, a bright purple aura started revolving around him and changing.

Within seconds this aura turned into lightning, that's right, purple lightning was crackling all around Michaels's body, and instead of being hurt, he was being strengthened by it.

Using this newfound power, Michael went on a killing spree.

Totally filed by rage and pure unbridled anger, Michael slaughtered the reaming kobolds and turned his sights to the approaching horde of monsters, ranging from demon bears to lions, and even some goblins and harpies.

A lot of monsters came his way, and yet, he was not afraid, instead, he was excited, excited for the carnage e was about to unleash on these monsters.

...

This brings us back to the "present".

The year is 2040, a decade later, and a now-famous and powerful Michael was living in a modest apartment.

Now I am sure you are wondering, why he's such a famous man who is an A-rank hunter who is only second to S-ranks, living in a modest apartment, well, the answer is simple.

Michael chooses to donate almost all of his money earned while hunting to the MANY orphanages and other charities aimed to help out people in need

right now, Michael was lying around watching t.v, when all of a sudden his phone rang.

He checked to see who it was and it turned out to be his son Alexander who was now 18 and had just finished his rank evaluation for new hunters.

Although he didn't want his son to follow in his footsteps originally, he had recently within the past couple of years, witnessed his son's exponential growth.

At just 16 he was able to control the purple lightning that seemed to now be a hereditary power.

And now at 18, his son had just taken the rank evaluation for his starting rank. (like Solo Leveling's)

*ring* *ring*

"Hello, son," said Michael warmly

"Hey dad, guess what rank I got!" yelled Alexander in excitement

"Haha, what?" chuckled Michael

"I am officially a C-rank! Isn't that awesome, it was all thanks to the power I got from you," screamed Alexander jovially

"That's great son, but we still don't know much about mana, so who knows, this might've been your own power that helped you."

"Thank you, dad, well I got to go, I'm seeing some friends, I'll be home later tonight around 10."

"Okay son, see you then, I love you."

"I love you too dad, see ya!"

Once the call ended, Michael put down his phone and went back to the show. he was watching, The Un-Originals, a show about a family of vampire hunters.

Another hour passed before they got another call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Michael, it's me, Xavier, we need your help with this gate we are about to enter."

"Why do you need me, a party of five A-ranks should be enough, right?"

"Normally, yes, but this gate has a dragon in it."

"A what!" yelled Michael in shock

"Yeah, a dragon, it's an ice one at that."

"Sigh, I see, so that's why you called me, since I can also use flames you need my help huh?" exclaimed Michael tiredly

"Y-yeah, I'm sorry Michael, but this gate can burst at any moment, time is of the essence."

"Well I guess ill help then, but you already know that all of my earnings from this will go to charities right?" asked Michael in a stern tone

"Yes, of course, we know," said Xavier strained

"Great, ill be there in a few, where is it at?"

And with that, the plans were set and Michael headed out to the portal.

...

Michael had arrived and met with the team of five who he would be joining, of the five, 2 were warriors, 1 was a healer, and the last one, Xavier, was a support class who used debuffs against enemies.

The team fought their way through the snowy cave, all the way until they reached the lair of the dragon.

"Okay, we have finally reached the dragon, Xavier, I want you to fire off several debuffs and the dragons as soon as you can."

"Sure" replied Xavier in a gruff tone

As Michael started giving out orders, Xavier was behind them preparing what seemed to be a spell.

"Okay, everyone got it? great, because the dragon is already here."

And with that, the battle began, and the team executed everything perfectly all the way until the dragon had taken relatively good damage.

"Michael! go in for the kill, I'm about to unleash a massive debuff!" yelled Xavier

Hearing Xavier, Michael kicked off from the ground and launched toward the dragon with that same battle-axe in hand, radiating purple lightning and fire.

Just as he was about to reach the dragon, Michael felt something pelt him in the back, he looked back at the team, and that's when he saw it.

Xavier had just fired the debuff at him instead!

And while that happened, the other team members just stood there with smirks on their faces.

"W-what! Why! I'm going to kill you bastards mark my words!" was all Michael could utter before being swallowed whole by the dragon.

...

'Ugh~ my head'

'W-wait, what happened, where am I!'