[Begin assimilation ....]

[World Earth has now been integrated into the conclave....]

[Begin injection of primordial source matter...…]

[Timeline for total integration with the primordial source matter ... 2 earth years]

Earth

Nobody really understood how it happened but everyone remembers the day of red. This was the point where the laws of science changed on a fundamental level and our imaginations became reality. This sounds enigmatic and it was much closer to the truth than most realized. On this day earth lost 1/5th of its total population. It took till the 4th month for things to somewhat stabilize but at that point we had lost 2/5th of the humans on earth.

The day of Red

Maximus Blacklight was your average sophomore trying to weather through the ups and downs of college, Tests, papers, projects, relationships, parties and all the things that come with it. He was just finishing from physics class when he heard a voice as clear as day in his head, it said

[Planet Earth has now been introduced to The Conclave]

[Beginning integration of level 0 primordial source matter]

[Restructuring will commence in 2 earth minutes]

[Good luck]

Looking around to see if he was hearing things he realized he wasn't, it seems like everyone had heard it some people looked terrified some laughed thinking it was a joke while others just completely ignored it. Maximus however was different he could hear the chill emanating from the otherworldly voice and he knew things were about to change. He looked at his watch and calculated how much time he had left before the so called "integration" was established, realizing he had just a little more than a minute he ran to the only place on campus he would be safe. If he was being honest it was also the place most likely to be deserted at this early point in time. He knew that the janitor's closet was usually unoccupied and unlocked at this point in time. Throughout his short stay in college Maximus had always come to this secluded area to de-stress and clear his thoughts and on some occasions even to hide from his problems. With the impending 'apocalypse' this was a place he felt a measure of security at considering the current state of things. Bolting down the hall all that was on his mind was how much time he had left. As he started bounding up the stairs two at a time he checked his watch yet again to see how much time he had left. He had just under a minute left to get to the closet. As he got up the stairs and turned the corner he bumped into someone. Not caring to see who he was he yelled "sorry!!" before continuing to the closet. As he ran he heard a feminine voice screaming "what the fuck?! Hey!! You, stop right there do you hear me!!? How do just bump into someone and not even check to see if they are all right!! Idiot!" Ignoring the voice he continued running. He knew he was cutting it close. Getting to the door was all that was running through his mind. As he got to the door he swung it wide open before slamming it shut. Checking his watch he saw he made just on time with a few seconds to spare.

As the countdown finished the first thing max felt was pain. Unimaginable pain coursed through his vein, marrow, lungs all the way through to his heart if he had to describe what it felt like it would be like scorching hot lava and subzero level ice were both flowing through his body. Whatever that voice was it most definitely was a pervert. To subvert people to this kind of pain was down right scandalous. Through the whole pain, he aimed not to black out but as time went on he found this harder and harder to accomplish, the pain was simply mind numbing. He grit his teeth as black blood flowed out of every opening on his body. Max was at the threshold at this point, there was only so much pain a human could withstand before they lost consciousness. Finally, the pain reached his brain and he blacked out.

After waking up he found that the hoodie he was wearing was covered with blood that was just beginning to dry up so he estimated he must have been out for about 3-4 hours at least. He looked like he had been dunked in a vat of blood and tossed out like a piece of used cloth, it was a good thing he left his phone at home today. As his consciousness started to come back in more effect he found that things were different.....to be more specific, he was different, sounds were a lot sharper, smells were a lot more potent, everything he looked at looked like he was viewing things through Technicolor, colors were a lot brighter and sharper. He could even feel the texture of the clothes he was wearing; he could taste the metallic tang of blood in the air as well. At this point he knew things were different, maybe this is what they meant when they said the synchronization with the primordial source matter.

Realizing the mess he was in he opened his backpack and changed into his gym clothes, however as he took of all his clothes he realized that he felt a lot stronger and also a lot more agile. This was definitely new; even though he worked out occasionally he knew that he had never felt like this before. He took a moment to look at the parts of himself that he could see, other than look a lot trimmer there was nothing else no raging hard abs or bulging muscles. Finally, satisfied with his inspection he donned his gym wear which was basically track pants, a dri-fit shirt and a pair of trainers along with new socks. He noticed that upon putting all this on he felt a lot more encumbered and uncomfortable. He almost had the urge to strip and go around naked but he quickly diminished that thought "people already think I'm a weirdo no need to prove them right." he said out loud to himself giggling at the thought of that. Although he didn't mind what people thought about him he wasn't about to justify their misgivings about him. Now that he was fully clothed he decided that it was about time he started making sense of the situation he was in. max had always had a logical mind that had been tempered through a lot of hardships he had faced in his life and although he still made some he was smart enough to learn how to remain calm in a crisis.

From what he deduced, it seemed like earth had been injected with some strange substance from a species unknown to them. This was either going to be the greatest genocide or the biggest practical joke, with that though crossing his mind he immediately erased it. For one, he was still alive and even the pain he felt seemed to have left without leaving behind any damage. He felt sharper and better than he had ever felt in his entire life. This all seemed very strange, what was this primordial source matter and what effect did it have on the rest of the world? He realized that these were the most important question to him right now, because If he couldn't figure out what was going on, he was pretty sure he was about to be surprised in a very unpleasant manner.

So first things first what is this primordial source energy? From its description it seemed like the energy it was 'injecting' was ancient in nature. 'Was it referring to energy which existed during the time of creation and if it was how did him synchronizing with it cause these changes in his body and mentality and what other changes had occurred that he didn't know of?' With these thoughts roaming in his mind he sat down and started to perceive the atmosphere around him. At first he felt something was different about it. There seemed to be some strange silk like energy flowing through the air around him. He tried to reach for it but it simply passed through his fingers and only a slight amount flew into his body. The small amount that flew into his body flowed through the blood channels and went through it straight to his heart. He noticed that in the process of this about 80% of it was diffused into his blood and muscle and the remaining 20% coagulated in his heart forming a tiny seed the size of a grain of sand although it was small he could feel it. The moment it was fully formed he noticed he somehow now knew what this energy was as strange as that sounded. "so it turns out that this is mana" as he said this he inhaled deeply causing a few tiny ribbons of this energy to flow into him increasing the size of the seed in his heart. As the size of the seed increased he realized that his thoughts became much sharper and he seemed to be able to slightly multitask, thinking two things at the same time. With this realization he zoned out entering into a meditative trance. It wasn't until much later that he realized that he could no longer draw in any more energy, breaking him out of the meditative trance. At this point the seed in his heart had grown to the size of a jawbreaker. He tried to sense for that silk like ribbon in the air and realized that it was no longer there. It seemed to have blended into the very air he was breathing.

At this point he heard the strange voice again in his head.

[The atmospheric synchronization is now complete.....]

[According to knowledge perceived by the individual the tutorial shall be tailor suited to your own understanding.....]

[Welcome to the conclave the primordial source matter or 'MANA' as you have perceived it to be is the origin of all creation at the beginning it existed and even though some of your on this star do not perceive it, it was already here before our interference. Mana is in everything and is all around you, with the increased flow of it in your star the sciences are no longer as you knew them to be. ]

[Enjoy!!]

[...please note this is only phase one of synchronization, phase two will begin in 1 earth year.... be prepared.]

"What does it mean by 'the laws of the sciences' has been changed?" max thought, after a while he comes up with nothing and his mind begins to wander. He often used to daydreams about flying through the sky, and now that the laws of physics has been changed and mana had been introduced maybe that was possible. I mean from what he has read from all the fiction novels he has read mana usually involved magic in one form or the other and magic equal's flight according to him. With this thought in mind he snaps out of his daydream and notices that he can no longer feel the floor. Just before he starts to panic he falls, slightly bruising his ass cheeks, however at this moment rather than registering pain all he can do is don a sheepish yet tired smile "Yes!!!!! I knew it!! Mana equal magic." he screams out loud to himself "okay, okay, okay, calm down max we need to think about this situation logically. How did we achieve flight?" with this question on his mind he focuses his mind to think of the previous state he was in before the flight. Trying to emulate that he imagines himself flying, he imagines the air particles lifting him up and as he does this he feels himself being slowly lifted off the floor. With this success he feels a feeling of accomplishment but quickly tapers it down focusing on the task at hand, however as soon as he lifts off the floor he feels a huge dizzy spell before yet again passing out.

Upon waking up he sighs 'I really need to stop this fainting act. If my guesses are correct I guess I am not strong enough or I don't have adequate control over mana to fly through the air.' he thinks to himself 'either that or I don't have enough …..Mana…wait, is that why that seed in my heart is there?' with this thought in mind he enters into a meditative state to sense the seed and checked if its size had diminished, but to his disappointment it was still the same size as he last left it. "I guess that's not the answer. It must have to do with the fact that I am influencing the mana around me and thus ...…..I need better control" he said to himself "but how do I achieve that?". There were so many ways that he could accomplish that but he needed the most efficient way. Max wasn't the most athletic or most talented person you could meet but he had a sharp mind and a high capacity to be rational, after the synchronization that sharpness just increased causing him to deduce things a lot quicker than normal.

Feeling like he was getting somewhere he decided to see if he could change the flow of the air around him. Sitting down again in concentration he focused for a while and tried to feel the direction in which the air in the closet was flowing (air conditioning has a flow of air in a room just for those who would like to argue ;) ). Once that was established he imagined it going the other way and to his surprise it actually worked. He continued to play with the flow of the air around him for the next 1 hour before finally feeling a feeling of faintness befall him. As he felt this he immediately stopped, he was tired of fainting all the time. Taking a break to recover his strength he discovered that he was starving, in all honesty it made sense other than the light breakfast he had in the morning there was nothing else.

Steeling himself to brace the chaos that had ensued outside of his little comfort zone, he slowly opened the door. It seemed that there wasn't anyone around, but then where was everyone from the way it looked outside it seems to be just approaching evening. At this time people are still usually crawling around going to their last classes of the day. Looking around max realized that most people must either be hiding or they must have fled the building in panic to find their loved ones to make sure that they were okay. At that thought an unpleasant memory floats its way into his head, at which point he quickly banishes it away to the depths of his mind. Now was not the time for those thoughts.

Max makes his way down the hall leading to the stairs; the only thing occupying his mind at this moment was food. As he headed down the stairs he starts to hear a light scratching noise. From the sound of it, it was most likely not a rat. It sounded bigger. As he slowly heads down, the noise starts to increase; he hears a loud squeaking noise accompanied by an intense scratching peeking his head around the corner he takes a look.

The only thing max could think of to compare with the creature was a mish mash of a rat and a big dog. Oh and did he forget to mention that there were two tails swishing back and forth behind the monstrosity of an animal. Slowly and carefully he pulls his head back. He could feel his heart racing in his chest, pounding like a runaway train. Fear flooded his system, he realized that the synchronization didn't just happen to humans only, but to everything on the planet. This brought a chill to his heart.

This meant that there was about to be a bloodbath on earth. If a rat had mutated into that thing out there then he didn't even want to know what other more ferocious creatures had morphed into. He knew he needed a weapon, but truly what weapon could he use to fight against something like that!! I mean for crying out loud this was a school not a weapons cache were he could walk into and pick up anything and it would be an effective weapon against that monster. He racked his brain thinking about all the possible option he knew in the school that he could use. It hit him; there was a fire axe that was kept in a glass cabinet upstairs close to the janitors' closet and he had passed it on his way here. Creeping back up the stairs, making sure to keep his steps light he finally got upstairs and sprinted to the axe. This was going to be his lifeline. Seeing the axe brought immense amount of relief to him. He tried releasing the latch only to find out that it was locked and from the looks of the lock there was going to be no way around getting this axe quietly. Wrapping his fist in his shirt he punched through the glass, after clearing the glass he reached in and grabbed the axe. Now he felt more secure as he tested the swing and weight of the axe he heard the most terrifying sound he could hear at this moment. The 'Drat' (mixture between dog and rat), as he had decided to call the monstrosity, was scurrying up the stairs all the while emitting piercing loud screeches.

The day just kept getting better and better.