-One Year Post Saturation Completion. CONT,-
The dense foliage was too much for the boots on the ground to navigate safely, and after a couple of days of trying before finding themselves unable to cut down a single tree, they were forced to turn back.
Hours later, similar footage was shown using long-range telescopic camera lenses from off the coast. This new forest didn't just start and end in Mexico; it continued all the way down past Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia.
From there, the teams split up, traveling south until, after some time, it was proven that this forest was practically a natural barrier encompassing the entirety of South and Central America.
Researchers and internet sleuths alike dissected every bit of footage released to the public, some even going frame…by painstaking frame, until January 8th, only a few days before the anniversary of the Alpha Particle Saturation completion, an image took over message boards, forums, and the news media.
The image depicted a pale-skinned man with flowing waist-length blond hair, green attire, and a sharply angled face, and his most distinctive feature was the long, horizontal, pointed pair of ears on either side of his head.
Elf…that was the first word that formulated in everyone from the younger generations mind. Eventually, after a short skirmish where only a handful of powerful Alpha-Rankers survived to tell the tale, it was proven as fact…that Elves had made their appearance and taken over the whole of Central and South America.
With this information, groups of mercenaries began the task of exploring multiple Dark Zones. In each of these areas, it was found there seemed to be different beings who once only lived in the annuls of fantasy.
Mountain Dwarves, Different breeds of Elves distinguished by the color of their skin, Vampires, Lycanthropes, and in Africa, what once was a place filled with deserts and wildlife was now a land submerged as if it had sunk into the shallow water.
This new territory would soon be known as the country of Atlantas, where merfolk could be seen far and wide, with their only defining features to separate them from the human race were their Fin like ears, light blue tinted skin, webbed hands and sharp fins along their forearms.
No matter which place you went, if it held the title of Dark Zone, it was determined a new race had utterly taken over, eradicating any presence of Humanity and replacing it with their heritage and culture.
It wouldn't be until the sixth year post-alpha particle saturation that more information would be learned about these races, as for those long years, Humanity was kept in the dark and considered kill on sight.
-Two Years Post Saturation Completion.-
Although it was necessary to adapt to the new way of the world, Society eventually did as time went on. By April of 2030, apart from the fact that people with superpowers had generally taken control of every facet, life, for the most part, returned to normal.
The rich got richer, and on top of becoming stronger, the organizations and associations naturally became casually accepted by the general public and integrated as governments or governing bodies.
The global economy recovered, and soon, the price of things was adjusted to reflect the difficulty of obtaining coins.
However, one of the biggest things to occur during the beginning of the Second year was an incredible technological innovation.
With items generated or created by Arkadia, those with extensive amounts of money were able to purchase new objects and items from the MISC Shop that worked by utilizing ambient Particles, effectively creating a new, beneficial, yet powerful energy source.
Fossil fuels fell by the wayside as new Particle Vehicles were created, and industry as a whole seemed to shift toward this new technology. Still, as one would expect, it was the large corporations who, with the backing of different organizations, led the charge.
If it were me of the past, I would have been amazed by how far technology has advanced in a short amount of time. Still, when thinking retrospectively, something such as computers and cell phones advanced at a rapid pace otherwise unseen before.
As the saying goes, time waits for no man, and the world found out the truth in those weres with relative ease.
In May of 2030, the first Beta Ranker emerged; how do we know, you may ask? Well, we don't have any conclusive evidence that this person was the TRUE First Beta Ranker. However, the Korean Hunters Association made an announcement, showing off the fact that they were the first to have a Beta Ranker in their midst.
Sure, one could argue that there were people who probably had reached Beta, or even Alpha, before any of the now-famous public figures. Yet, the fact that they hid themselves and their achievements allowed other groups to take the credit of being 'First.'
Contrary to what one may expect, the emergence of the first Beta Ranker wasn't all sunshine and puppies.
If anything, it proved there was a significant gap coming into view between the average person and the so-called "Pro-Rankers," the main difference boiled down to two things: Resources and potential.
I say potential as a generalization; essentially, the term encompassed a few details, such as Talent, Talent grade, and most importantly, Luck.
One of the most significant changes to occur when entering Alpha Rank Instances was the utterly random Monster Spawns. Yes, you heard me right. I said monster because a slightly bigger wolf would be one thing, but when you enter a large area and are greeted by a snarling, drooling behemoth that shoots fireballs at you, it can no longer be called an animal.
Coming out of the No-Rank Instances, where you would generally encounter suped-up versions of regular animals from Earth, Alpha Rank Instances had otherworldly creatures. Things that existed in Myths, even.
There were stories online and even photographic proof of goblins, kobolds, and DINOSAURS. Hell, there was even a guy screaming online about facing off against Lesser Wyrms, whom he kept calling a dragon.
Now, I know what you are thinking, "Taylor, why bother saying luck was involved if all these fantastical creatures appeared in the Instances?" Well, they don't, or at least not frequently.