I felt a rush of excitement as I reached the age of 18. Everyone who's 18 awakened mana, and the system came along with it. Why did we awaken at 18? No one knew the answer for it, but it was the general knowledge after Earth got its mana.

The first thing I did in the morning was wash my face, and make sure my brown, parted hair looked good for the rest of the day. A brush was all I needed to make it decent enough.

When I went downstairs for breakfast, mother was there with her bright smile and white apron.

"Good morning honey," she said, "There are eggs and toast waiting for you."

Mother was perfect. My father left us before I was born, and the two people who took care of me were my mother and my grandfather. We all lived in the same house.

"Good morning mom," I said, "Thank you for the breakfast."

She laughed. "You should feel quite hungry. Today is the day!"

When a person awakened their mana, the body would overcome a drastic change, so it was normal to eat more than a 'normal' human.

The breakfast vanished in seconds. I didn't know if it was the newfound hunger after turning 18, or it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Either way, I ate like there was no tomorrow.

I had a firm belief that the day would turn out great. My school had just finished, but I still had to go to an academy where they taught people how to fight and use their mana properly.

Mana brought good things for us humans, but it also brought mutated beasts, so Earth was constantly needing powerful individuals to deal with the monsters.

Did I want to become one? Not at all. I just wanted to live my life comfortably and don't engage in dangerous and unnecessary combat. My mother was alone, so I didn't want to leave her.

But I had no choice. The only way for me to give my mother and grandfather a good life was with money, and the easiest way to get a lot of money was by becoming powerful. That was why I was excited to be 18, and see how strong would I be!

"Jay will come here later, bringing you a gift," my mother said.

Jay was my grandfather. His name didn't fit his old age, but time passed for everyone.

"Really? Do you have any idea what he will give me?" I asked.

Curiosity was one thing I had the most. After mom told me that Jay had a gift for me, my mind thought about many things.

"No, no, no, don't pouch the information from me. If I say it to you, he'll get angry."

"Ugh, fine."

The day looked promising, but everything changed when we heard a commotion coming from outside. It sounded like explosions.

"Did you hear that?" I said.

My mother nodded. She ran to the window to get a better look at what was happening on the outside, and that's when she saw massive spaceships coming from the sky.

"I-It's an alien invasion," she said, almost falling to the ground.

I ran and held my mother. The sight visibly shook her. My eyes moved towards the massive spaceships and the people screaming in the distance. It was horrifying.

The TV was already broadcasting the news. An alien civilization landed on Earth, and they were there to conquer it.

"We need to run."

Mom didn't want us to stay there. She called Jay and talked to him about a place for us to meet. I didn't understand what she was trying to do, but went along with it.

She was my mother. She knew what she was doing, and after seeing people dying on the streets not far from our house, I just wanted her to be safe. I wanted us to be safe.

We hopped into the car and drove through the crowded city. Many people were trying to do the same.

"Shouldn't we grab our belongings, mother? Like food and stuff? I mean, we are trying to run away, right?" I asked her.

I got no answer. She drove as fast as she could, leaving the city and going into the wilderness outside of town. I knew the area. It was the place my grandfather and I went to hunt.

"Are we going to the forest cabin?"

My mother nodded. That was the first actual answer I got after the whole thing happened. We stopped before a wooden cabin, a place I knew very well.

But there was something different there. I saw a spaceship right beside the cabin.

"Are the aliens here? Mother, be careful!" I said to her, moving closer to protect her.

The spaceship didn't quite look like the ones the aliens were using. Also, grandfather came out of the spaceship, catching me by surprise.

"Grandfather Jay? How are you here? And why are you inside the spaceship?" I asked.

Everything happened so fast I didn't have the time to understand it. Jay moved toward me with a wooden box in hands.

'Is this the gift he has for me?'

"Grandson, this is for you. It's an inheritance from your father," Jay said.

I accepted the gift, but what I truly wanted to know was what was happening.

"I don't understand. Why are we here? And what's this spaceship?"

Mother came and placed both hands on my cheeks, looking straight into my eyes.

"You need to leave the planet. The aliens will conquer Earth, and we will turn into slaves. I don't want this for you, my sweet boy. This spaceship will guide you somewhere else."

I saw the tears dropping from her eyes.

"Come with me," I said, "You two. Why don't we leave together?"

"Kid, this ship can only hold one person. We can't go with you."

"So mom should go. Why does it have to be me?" I asked.

The last thing I saw was Jay moving toward me, and hitting the back part of my head. My vision blurred after the attack.