The world a century after 'The Great Change' - considered the biggest turning point in human history - had undergone a very rough patch including more than halving of the previous total population. It had been considered in the history books as nature's process of weeding out the weak, leaving the stronger humans as survivors.
There were a total of five Primarchs, the pinnacle of world power. Trugan Javos - the fire powerhouse, Garrett Buja- the lightning powerhouse, Gina Adiln - the earth powerhouse, Baok Garcia - the Energy manipulation powerhouse and the strangest of them all, Chima Yogann- the psychic powerhouse.
History had it there was one other powerhouse who chose not to rule but went into hibernation instead. He was described to have possessed the Beast taming ability and joined the primarchs in fighting against the beasts and bringing order but chose not to claim regions and rule. Some people even believed he might have died as there had been no news of him for almost fifty years.
***
Central to the success of the new world was the categorization of abilities into six power classes. This classification system was the backbone of the current society, ensuring everyone understood their place and potential.
Individuals who were of the Ember class were the ones with minimal abilities. This made up a major population of the average dwellers alongside Earl class individuals. However, between each power level was an exponential difference in strength.
People above the Earl class, were considered gods by the average dweller. From the Marquise class to the Nuke class to the Tsar class - a category only sentinels and few other people in the world were known to have reached - and the pinnacle, Sovereign Class; six people in the history books who possessed such power including the powerful but enigmatic beast tamer, Gus Rezar.
The Primarchs recognizing that raw power alone was insufficient for societal advancement decided to establish a new school format for the younger generations to harness and refine these abilities.
It was the format that had commenced about over sixty five years ago and had been in place ever since.
Researchers had come to notice before this, that children that were given birth to after 'The Great Change' displayed no signs of power until they turned at the very least 13 years of age. Nature's own way of preserving their childhood, it was considered to be perfect.
In some rare cases, it took a much longer time for the ability to manifest. These cases were considered to be late bloomers.The late bloomer recorded worldwide to have taken longest to manifest his ability was 15.
This made the school format much easier, every child above the age of five were taught history, abilities in general and a few other courses. At age 15, children were enrolled in ability academies in their respective districts for a three-year program. These academies were designed not only to help students develop their abilities but also to prepare them for military service, where their skills would be honed to perfection. Each academy followed a rigorous curriculum combining physical training, academic study, and combat simulation.
After the three-year program, the talented Earl Class students and Marquise class students were then recruited to Military academy, save for some very non-combat abilities with the most sought being healing.
Even then, they were still recruited by the military, the largest industry in the current world.
The less talented Earl Class and Ember class students diverted into other layman professions, joining the dweller population.
After some years of study and research, humanity made a breakthrough in ability enhancement. The human body was found to be able to increase the level of an ability alongside the strength of the body with a serum developed by the scientists. After the talented Earl class and Marquise class students were admitted to the military academy, they were injected with the serum.
The talented ones at the end of the two year military program advanced to the Nuke class and on very rare occasions, were insanely talented individuals who managed to reach the highly revered Tsar class.
By the time students graduated, they were ready to join the military, where they would be assigned to positions worthy of their talent. This system ensured that society remained strong and capable of defending itself against threats both internal and external.
***
Andre had gone over so many books on history with nothing pointing out the exact reason why he had no ability at the age of 17.
In accord to the history and research books, there was only about a two in a billion chance of this happening, which history pointed out to be the useless ones. Such people, though very rarely seen - almost as rare as reaching the sovereign level - were stigmatized and have been believed to represent bad luck in the current society.
Researchers to the present day, still didn't have an answer to why such people didn't awaken abilities.
The stigma had been a regular occurrence for Andre since he had turned 16. At school, asides the obvious physical bullying, jeers were directed at him whenever he would be walking down the corridors sometimes, nicknamed the "never-bloomer". The school management itself had no expectations of him, it was just formality for them to complete the program rather than withdrawing.
Over the past year, Andre had taken time to practice martial arts taught to him by his father but in spite of his consistency, he still didn't stand much of a chance against the ember class students.