As the dust finally cleared up, the man's features were finally visible for everyone to see.
The man appeared to be in his early twenties, his face, just like everyone else, bears the marks of his harsh life.
He wore a brown and tattered sleeveless shirt, exposing his lean,yet muscular arms, along with similarly ragged black pants. Several scars crisscross his weathered skin, evidence of past battles.
His once youthful features are hardened with a strong jawline and piercing, vigilant black eyes that have seen too much. His unkempt black hair speaks of the harshness that surrounds him.
Despite all this, his eyes remained sharp and alert, reflecting both intelligence and power.
Amid his rugged, battle hardened appearance, one thing stood out, particularly towards his waist.
There was a long piece of metal strapped on his waist, which seemed to be a weapon. On closer look, one would be able to recognize the weapon as a....sword.
'A sword?'
The young girl thought internally, trying to remember if she has seen such a figure before.
"Black hair.... Black eyes....A sword on the waist....Ron Williams..... Ro- WAIT!?"
Suddenly, her pupils dilated in extreme shock as she recalled certain things about the upper echelons of the current human society.
Throughout the years, due to the constant assaults of monsters and harsh living conditions, the human population has constantly declined and presently, only a handful of them have been left alive on the northern continent, with the situation of the southern continent unknown.
Currently, a single large scale invasion from monsters can very well wipe humanity out of existence.
In such circumstances, a strict hierarchy based on strength was needed, in order to bring together the efforts of the remaining human civilization.
As such, the people were assigned ranks. Ranks purely based on their combat strength and proficiency in handling mana.
Yes, unlike other lifeforms inhabiting earth like plants and animals, humans managed to not let mana dig deep into their bodies and remodel it, rather they learned how to control mana and adapted to it.
This discovery shined as a ray of hope in the seemingly hopeless situation as the humans finally acquired the means to resist the abominations known as monsters.
However, the surprises didn't stop there as humans realized that controlling mana was only a temporary solution as with time, the already unfathomable force known as mana started to evolve into a more oppressive force with time, so much so that it couldn't be controlled anymore.
Not only that, but with time, the monsters became so unbelievably strong, that on encounter, death was the only outcome, with even running away impossible. The situation couldn't be anymore despairing as humanity lost all hopes of survival.
It was at this point in time that the great scientist, Frank Williams offered some words of wisdom.
His thought process was completely out of the norm as he suggested incomprehensible things one after another. But with time, people realized that the more they thought about it, the more sense his words made. His deductions opened a whole new world for people to experience. He said,
'Originally, we believed that the mana is a corruptive force that invades our body, intending to destroy and mutilate it from within.'
'We thought that perhaps the reason we managed to somehow prevent the mana from going deep inside us and control it with our consciousness was perhaps due to our superior intelligence, and I too completely agree with it.'
'However, if we look at it from a different perspective, the perspective of nature, we humans too, at the end of the day are just another species of the world, aren't we?'
'If the other life forms are able to evolve themselves using mana, then why us humans be any different?'
'Do remember that over the years the monsters have continued to evolve and grow stronger, as if they are a completely new breed. It's to such an extent that the situation is turning more and more despondent and despairing by the day, with our forces utterly helpless in front of monster waves... Why do you think there's such a huge difference in strength between us and those creatures?'
'I believe that humans are no exception to this evolution and our original attempt to prevent mana from changing our bodies was flawed , as the phenomenon of mana changing and evolving are bodies is something... Natural... '
'Don't mistake my words. Although I say that it's a natural process and we should all embrace it, I, by no means want my family and myself to turn into bloodthirsty creatures who don't have a will of their own and are only driven by instincts.'
'The key lies in one's consciousness, the same thing that helped us tame mana in the first place.'
'Synchronize them.'
'And we will be able to walk our own path of evolution and fight against these savage beast that threaten our survival, making us constantly live on edge.'
'As for how to do it, I am no expert of body or mind so I won't be able to prove my words through action, but I do hope that our brave warriors will be able to find a path for us.'
His words sent waves of upheavals in the heart of everyone in the human society, a lingering fear of the unknown yet anticipation of a possible change filling their heart and mind.
But many were still skeptical of following through with his words.
According to Frank, someone with a strong body and a developed mind has the highest chances of success.This was the same reason Frank was unable to prove his theory with action as the risk was high and insightful people such as him were already scarce.
But even though it was an important time for humanity, with their survival on the line, the qualified ones were still skeptical about making the attempt. Everyone fear death but the idea of turning into a consciousless monster terrified them to their core.
But the misery of people was finally elevated by a bit as another shocking thing happened.
Emma Williams, wife of Frank Williams, became the first ever 'Ascendant' of the human race.
Ascendants, in simple words, could be said to be an evolved form of humans but they are completely different from monsters.
Unlike their ugly and grotesque forms, humans retained their original appearances. In fact, nothing could have been said to have changed just by looking at their bodies.
The real difference, however, is seen in their prowess. The difference between in the strength of a human and Ascendant was that of heaven and earth. Both of them couldn't be compared.
Humans finally understood the reason for the abnormal strength possessed by monsters. They, unlike humans have already advanced to become Ascendants much before humans.
Furthermore, just becoming an Ascendant didn't seem to be the end, no, rather it's just the beginning and there are many more mysteries and power that are yet to be unveiled.
Anyway, after countless experiments and observations, which also took many lives away, humans were able to understand many things related to "Ascending", process of becoming an Ascendant, and establish their very own system.
Now, it's theorized that even a newborn child, although very dangerous and impractical, can become an Ascendant, given the conditions are met, but many have deemed it impossible. It's also believed that Ascending at an early age is more beneficial than Ascending later, keeping future progressions in mind. Currently, around 7-8 years is considered an ideal age for Ascending given the child has proper guidance.
Regarding future progressions, although there was not enough time to explore each and every stage, people were able to discover certain rules and conditions required for advancements. Although these people may not actually realize just how flawed these 'conditions' were, it still granted them strength.
Currently, the human ranking system is divided into 5 ranks. Starting from the lowest rank, recruit. This rank is usually given to the newly advanced Ascendants, usually children.They are only used as combat forces in the time of emergencies. Next is Soldier, followed by corporal, commander and general.
The people never really cared if each advancement had a particular meaning or anything, nor do they had the luxury to find out, so they kept it as simple as possible and easy to understand.
After various considerations and a good amount of battles, systemised ranks were also given to monsters for better match-ups.
The recruit equivalent were termed "under 1 metre-class". They were newborn cubs who, unlike humans, are inherently Ascended. Soldier equivalents are called 1 metre-class, similarly, they go upto 2 metre-class, 3 metre-class and 4 metre-class.
Humans weren't dumb enough to just categorize monsters based on their sizes, but on careful observation, it was found out that monster ranks are indeed parallel to their lengths, with zero exceptions to this rule spoted till date.
Of course, be it humans Or monsters, there were still differences in strength within ranks, but that was all they were able to comprehend up until this point of time. Many believed that there was much more to this profound power of mana and ascension, be it their nature, horizon or potential. But they can't do anything but accept what's in front of them and hope that they themselves or perhaps someone else will be able to unravel the secrets of this power.
On another note, actually, there is another rank, a Sixth rank, other than the mentioned five ranks.
The Marshall rank.
But not a single human, or monster, have ever reached that rank except a single person.
And that person is the current leader of humanity.
"M-M-m-MARSHALL RON!?"
At this point, the young girl finally recalled the source of familiarity she has been feeling until now.
She looked at the figure with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape, as her gaze met the piercing black eyes.