World name: Terra

A world with advanced technology is suffering from the constant invasion attempts by the "Rift Beasts". Said Rift Beast comes to Terra via pathways called Dimensional Rifts. Through the advancement of humanity, we learned to harness the power of these beasts by using their parts to create weapons. These weapons, which are called Armaments, were then implanted in certain parts of chosen individuals as chips. For example, in the legs, arms, and even on the back. What were those chips? Nothing really, just some kind of portable storage.

One such wielder was me, Hikari Viator. Who am I you might ask? Oh nothing much, just an ordinary teenage boy with an ordinary skill set.

Or so I lie to myself. Truth be told, I'm far from ordinary. You could say I'm a monster in human standards. But in a world where everyone can break buildings with just a punch, am I really that much different?

No, not-

"Ow!" I said as my face hit a metal pole. The bus I was riding stopped out of nowhere and I didn't have time to react due to my inner-monologuing. I could have, I just didn't. "Why did we stop?"

"A rift beast appeared." I heard a feminine voice answer beside me.

"That so?" I answered nonchalantly. 

These things are dangerous, but after fighting them for so long, I've grown numb to the fear they induce. And seems like this lady beside me has grown numb to that fear as well.

"Gonna fight it?" She asked as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course, what's a power if I don't use it for good?"

As the people around me were frozen in fear, cold sweat dripping from their bodies, I walked out of the bus.

"This should be a good morning warmup at least."

Stretching a bit, I felt the Rift Beasts' attention go towards me. Looking at them now, they're just some Bull Type canon fodder. Five isn't enough to stop me.

"Armament."

A gun formed in my hand, my partner. Thundering Fury, Tempest. Pointing my gun towards the now incoming group, I pulled the trigger. Just as I did so, multiple beams of light shot forward, decimating all in its wake. Well, at least I made it so that the beams won't hit the ground. Property damage is a pain. 

"That should do it."

Making my gun disappear into vertical particles. I walked back inside the bus. Luckily, everyone was too stunned at what just happened so I was able to quietly go back to my seat.

"I didn't expect you to go that far." Said the girl sitting next to me.

"What do you mean, I thought that was holding back enough."

Silence followed after that statement I made. The bus moved normally after as I felt some people stare at me. I don't mind this, as long as people are safe. Yeah, as long as this world is safe.

"Two-face…" I heard the girl beside me whisper.

I just instinctively smiled at her. Even though my emotions were running wild, trying to grasp how she saw through me in just a few glances, I smiled.

"My life isn't as worth as much as everyone else's."

Those were my honest feelings. I'm just an anomaly that happens to exist.

"Next stop, Ethos Academy."

Ah, that's my stop. Or rather, our stop as the girl beside me was also wearing the same uniform.

"Viola." She said, just looking forward.

"Hikari." I replied back.

-x-X-x-

Humans are intriguing, aren't they? Whenever faced with a problem that could end their entire species, they band together to come up with ways to survive. To survive. That's their basic instinct. When that instinct is forefront, nothing else matters.

But what happens when that survival phase has been completed?

Greed happens, that's for sure. Greed to gain more than what was given. Humanity already had a defense against the Rift Beast, but they wanted more. One such result of greed was me. 

Someone who shouldn't exist in the first place. The result of humanity's greed for power.

My origins aren't much different from the ones you see in novels about these troupes. Created in a lab, a homunculus is what I am. I was raised to be one of the best weapons against the Rift Beasts. I still remember my old name from that place…

"Rupture Subject: Vessel…"

"What?"

Ah, I blurted it out by accident. Learning about humanity's rise to combat Rift Beasts brought back sour memories.

"Nothing." I smiled at my seatmate.

"Okay…?" My seatmate, Viola, just looked at me weirdly before looking back at our teacher.

I already know all of this. Like I said, I'm the result. Although, that part was hidden. If I remember correctly, only ten of us exist. Four from my home country, Veritas, and one each for the remaining six countries. I don't know who they are though.

"That's it for today's lesson, class dismissed."

That went faster than I thought. Right about now someone would…

"Everyone, since we'll be classmates for the upcoming three years, we should get to know each other."

Hold on, why does this turn of events feel familiar?

Funnily enough, the introduction sequence went on as cliche as you could get. Once it reached me, I just smiled as I stood up.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Hikari Viator. I'm originally from Veritas but moved here on my own for personal reasons. Of course, I currently live alone. I hope we can get along well." I finished my introduction with a bow.

I nailed it, I think? Looking at their smiling faces, I think I did. Next was my seatmate though.

"It is you…" she said in a voice barely heard by anyone else but me.

Completely ignoring what she just said, she began her introduction. "Hello everyone. I'm Viola Belrose, much like Hikari here, I live alone. I hope we get along well." She finished her introduction with a bow as she took her bag and went outside.

I just watched her walk out as I recalled her words. "What did she mean by that?"

As I pondered these thoughts, I sensed someone approaching me. 

"Hikari, right?" I looked towards the voice and saw a blue haired boy, or should I say teenage boy? Anyways, he smiled at me as he held his hand out. "Want to eat lunch with us?" I looked behind him and saw three people. One boy and two girls.

I made eye contact with one of them, a girl with blonde hair and enchanting emerald eyes, and immediately felt something off. It was as if a static signal ran through my mind and rang in my ears. Since I was used to sudden changes, I stayed calm and answered the boy. "Sure, if you don't mind…"

"Aster. Just call me Aster."

"Got it, Aster. You can just call me Hikari as well."

He smiled at that as I carried my bag and followed them out towards the canteen.

-x-X-x-

"So, what type are you?"

"Hm… I think it's called Kämpfer." I answered as I paused from eating my food. Seriously, is it normal to talk during a meal? I've seen this happening in novels, but is it really a thing in real life?

"Ooh, what rank?"

Can't really say that I use Rift Beast ranking now, can I?

"Hm… Rank A."

After that, they began asking me how I got that high of a rank. To be completely honest, it was thanks to them. Although, I don't like that. My creation was already suffering enough. Ranking me this high, although falsely for some secrecy, was too much.

"Hello, Viola." I said, completely catching the girl about to tap my shoulder off guard.

"?!"

"Whoa, when'd you get here?" So Aster wasn't able to sense her. As expected, she's in a league of her own.

"I'd like you to come with me, Hikari."

Ignoring Aster's teasing on how I already got myself a girl on the first day, I followed after Viola. During our walk, I noticed her Celest sometimes went distorted. It was as if she was losing focus.

Within my perspective, her Celest was like a skin-tight barrier surrounding her. It was so thin yet so dense at the same time. If that energy were to run wild, by my calculations, the damage would be equal to 300 lbs of C4.

"Checking out my Celest?"

"As expected… Yeah, you're pretty good at handling this much Celest."

"It comes naturally to me."

There it is. 

The signs of her abnormality were obvious. Her dense Celest that can't be sensed by others. Normally, even if someone has dense Celest, others should be able to sense them. That wasn't the case with her though. There's also her words earlier. Her identity is already a given at this point.

My thoughts were such as we reached behind the school gym and sat on a bench. Why is this bench even here?

"Vessel… I never thought I'd run into Verita's strongest weapon here in my country."

"Oh my, isn't it quite rude that you know my title but I don't know yours?"

"Project Preserve: Butterfly. So, why are you in Arkisto? Infiltration?"

"Nope, I'm an escapee. You should know this feeling, right?"

She only chuckled at me as our talk continued. I don't know why, but talking to her doesn't make me want to hide anything. Is it because we're both creations of humanity's greed? Or maybe it's because even though she knew who I was, she didn't start antagonizing me nor worship me? 

…I don't know, but I wish to find out what "humanity" really is.