The world changed on a fateful night in the winter of 2010
The night was young, with only the light hue of the moon illuminating the stary sky.
"On this fateful night, a large meteor shower is scheduled to appear and dazzle the sky with its majestic sights" A news station tuning into the event reported.
Viewing parties across the world held witness to the event that would hold change within the world. Telescopes pointed to the sky, news stations tuned into the event, and people sat in lounge chairs to watch the show.
As everyone held their breath to take in the wonder of the universe, a singular streak across the sky could be seen, followed by countless others appearing alongside.
Expecting to see the vibrant blue and red-tinged streak that is associated with a meteor, a small voice pierced the entire night.
"Mommy, why is the sky yellow?" A young boy expectedly looked toward his mother.
Instead of the vibrant blue and red-streaked trail following a meteor, a dull, lackluster yellow could be seen tailing the meteors falling down to Earth.
As meteors hit Earth's atmosphere they typically burn up in the outermost layer, giving the meteor their coined trail. However, the meteors showering down on Earth on this historical night did not burn up, instead, they barreled straight towards Earth, maintaining their size and leaving a cloud of yellow dust.
As quickly as the dust appeared behind the meteors, it just as quickly disappeared.
Unknown to the people of Earth at the time, dense plant life survived on the meteors in the dense void of space. The plants present on the meteors burnt up upon entering the atmosphere, which left a yellow, dust-like appearance trailing behind the meteors.
The meteors were expected to burn up before impacting Earth's surface so there were no evacuations, protocols, or warnings for the devastation that started the next age for humans.
The majority of meteors struck rural areas with no human population insight, however, a few struck major cities and people filled areas across the western hemisphere.
The total deaths accumulated amounted to 35 million, a large number, however, in the grand scheme of things, it was only .05% of the world population.
While the deaths were seen as a horrific massacre due to the negligence of the world leader's responses, looking back on the fact, people in the coming years would see those who died early as the lucky ones.
As said before, the yellow cloud of disintegrated plant matter disappeared into thin air. At least on the surface, it seemed that way. In reality, the special properties of the plants came into contact with one of Earth's most known elements, oxygen.
The unique plant properties bypassed all known laws of physics known to mankind at the time and started to bond directly to the oxygen atoms in the atmosphere.
The bonded oxygen began to reproduce at an alarming, unheard of rate. In the coming months, the regular oxygen atom no longer existed. In its place, the bonded oxygen element became dominant.
The variant oxygen was later deemed a name that befitted its unique characteristics and special properties, mana.
The 'mana' as it was later called, affected the life forms within Earth's domain.
The moment humans, animals, and plants took in the mana-infested air, their bodies started to change.
Animals took on beast-like characteristics, growing in size, growing abnormalities, and becoming threatening existences in themselves.
Each human had a different aptitude for the mana, some became increasingly strong; able to lift skyscrapers, fly, or do other once-unthinkable feats. There were however others that weren't able to manifest the mana completely, with minimal effects taking place.
Following the course of history, countries across the world took the opportunity to gain influence and take over neighboring countries in the pursuit of personal gain.
With the use of powers, slaughter and death quickly took place at an unprecedented level. Even those who did not wish to be involved in the worldly power struggle were swept into the commotion.
This power struggle lasted for 20 years, during which time countries became divided, independent factions arose, and no one side looked to be gaining power over one another.
It was around this time that a group of 13 individuals arose, labeled as the Ascended.
Each Ascended was a powerhouse above the rest, they were truly god-like people with unfathomable power.
By joining in the wars, the Ascended put to rest the 20-year conflict. By uniting the different factions and countries, the Ascended truly put the world into a sense of peace once again.
In order to maintain proper structure, the ruling government was split into 13 different kingdoms, reverting back to a monarchal system once used in the distant past.