In the Metal Mouse year 2020 of the Zodiac Cycle established by the scholars of the Dragons dynasty.
Humanity was at the peak of their power after forming the Terra Council between themselves.
With the Jindian Sultanates of the far south guarding against the many threats of the desert for the others, the Ruski Dominion in the far North were supplied by the Principality of Central Europa which was guarded by the Humerican Empire in the West and the Chapan Dynasty in the East respectively.
Suppressing all of their external enemies to the point of exile, the beastly barbarian tribes were contained to the land of storm, the Darkened were restrained in the underworld just as the Undead were locked in the Frozen pits and the heretical worshippers to Tartarus
Many of the extremely prolific Green skin subspecies were even eradicated to the point of extinction as the powers of humanity continued to grow in power.
That was until the Abyssal Rifts descended
It was a phenomenon unexplainable by mundane scientists and supernatural mages.
Passageways to another realm they called it
Twisted points of space that suddenly just appeared one day and connected another realm to ours with no further indication.
They were only bestowed the name of Abyss for the disasters that crawled out and wreaked havoc on the councils off guard lands
Following a twisted biology, they swiftly tore apart the hastily dispatched and established Knight Orders, the age old lineage warriors, the experienced Winter Hunters and the Knowledgeable Mage Towers as if bark off of a tree
Dauntingly enough, this phenomenon was located only in the lands of humanity as their allies and enemies were unplagued by this phenomenon, instead taking the chance to invade the prosperous Terra Council
If only their greed didn't overcome the best of them, a world where the abyss hadn't taken over half of the entire planet Adonai may have appeared.
It was only when a few brave ventured into these Abyssal Rifts aiming to find a way to close these damned portals that they stopped spewing out their strange monsters for the time being.
And of those that survived the journey, they returned as the enlightened.
Once mortals turned into superhumans while superhumans became something beyond human as they received the boons of the rifts alongside all of the banes.
And now an ash haired teen stood amongst many other aspirants hoping to become an enlightened.
Carrying a story that was honestly to common nowadays, he had a little brother and sister with an ailing father and a non existent mother and aimed for the chance of becoming an enlightened
But even if he didn't become an enlightened and died in the rift, at the least his family wouldn't starve as they would receive the settlement from the somehow standing government.
Restlessly standing in the middle of the crowd of fellow aspirants, the teen stared at the rift in front of him that would hopefully serve as the gateway to a better life before walking into the tent to begin the sign up process.
---
The system on which rifts were surveyed over was simple yet brutal as all around the country hundreds of thousands of similar rifts were commonplace.
Live and you were enlisted to remove even just one more rift with your gift, Die and your family receives the money in your sacrifice of extending the time a rift stayed closed.
"SKREEE!!!"
Of course, to facilitate their invasion, despite having no visible relation to each other, various Abyssal monsters tried to stop such processes.
"A Parasite! kill it!"
The man in front of him instantly twisted with a screech, five black arms bursting out of his chest.
Flinching at the instantaneous response of two Knights drawing their swords and hacking the demon into hundreds of little pieces, a servant appeared out of nowhere to clean the bits of flesh
"..." And as a witness to all of this, the tired looking man adjusted their glasses before gesturing for the ashen haired man to step forwards
"Step forwards, time is burning"
Stepping forwards the teen caught sight of the full length mirror that had previously revealed a monster hidden within despite its source previously looking like a normal human
With grey hair, the teen sported the rarely seen blue eyes, with a pallid skin tone, the teen appeared shorter than his peers with a skinny body with little muscle on his bones.
Observing the teen and confirming that nothing was wrong he began to rapidly fire off questions.
"Name"
"Ren sir"
"Is sir your last name?"
"No sir"
"Then drop it, age?"
"Fourteen"
"..." Pausing their movements the man looked at Ren before penning it down.
"To confirm, do you truly want to do this?"
"Yes sir"
"I told you to- Nevermind, do you know the directive of the Councils special directive?"
"Yes sir"
"Will they personally retrieve the money or will we have to send it personally?"
"They will personally retrieve it sir"
"...Do they know that you are here Ren?"
"...No"
"God damnit..." The man murmured to himself as he rubbed his eyebrows before penning a few things down onto the sheet of paper.
"Sign here to agree that you are entering the rift with a high possibility of death"
Shifting the paper around, the man handed Ren a pen which he took gratefully and shakily scrawled his name in bold letters.
"...Go now and join the others." Pointing at the edge of the tent they were in, Ren gratefully bowed to the man who waved him off.
"Next!"
Hearing his voice shout out behind him, Ren joined the crowd of aspirants fully knowing that they were throwing away their lives for something that wasn't even guaranteed.
But for the well being of his father, sister and brother Ren was fully prepared to not see them grow in the future.
Clenching his fists at the thought of being able to pay the debts that their father had accrued to try and send his children to a well off school, Ren stared at the portal in front of him.
Covered in a swirling purple mist, Ren saw three Knights from the same order as the ones in the tent guard the crack in space.
The black point in space being the rift to the abyss, every so often a crackle of lightning escaped its depths only to be blocked by a translucent barrier surrounding it.
"Make way for the Heir of the Barony! Miralda Lorelai!" A voice shouted out from behind.
Turning to the side, Ren instinctively made way for the figure dismounting the horse ahead of him.
Following the flow of people, a path split in front of the heir of the barony.
Sporting Emerald hair from her elven heritage, the golden eyed girl walked past the crowd with a noble gait, their hand resting on the pommel of their weapon as they wore leather in places where the metal armor couldn't cover.
Ren stared enviously and admiringly at the heiress of the Barony they were currently in.
Although he envied her position, never once did he hate them as there was no denying the amount of work they had done for the people.
Having come from Common roots, the commoner born Baron worked hard for the people of the land.
Imposing little tax on their lands, Ren was thankful for the Barony as without their mild taxes Ren feared that his father wouldn't have survived as long as he did until now.
Watching her shapely figure stand in front of the crowd of aspirants, the pathway closing up behind her, she stared at the rift to the abyss in silence, unknown thoughts ringing in her head.
"Pay attention Aspirant Enlightened because I'm only going to say this once!"
Ren tore his eyes from the heiress Meralda and stared at the man who shouted from atop a makeshift stage made of boxes.
Being the same man who had been writing things down in the tent, the man pointed to the side where a figure cloaked in a heavy blue hood that hid their features stood.
"Soon, the mage Harken will bring down the barrier around the Rift and you shall enter it with the knowledge that you have a high chance of death! If you are unwilling to enter than leave now! We won't stop you!"
Falling into silence, the crowd of aspirants bristled for a moment before a few of them broke off, returning to the city where they would no doubt get to see their friends and family again.
Ren wasn't among them.
Staring at the people who still lingered due to previous attachments, Ren envied them for having little resolve to enter this rift.
Heart beating, Ren felt guilt in his heart at the fact that he had a high chance of never seeing his siblings and parents again before strengthening his resolve at the thought of being able to aid his ailing father.
So after waiting a few minutes more, the man standing atop the boxes shouted again.
"Those of you who are here shall now receive your amulet and your weapons, get into a line and prepare to receive them over there!"
Pointing at a woman with a tired look on their face, behind them were several racks of spears and daggers alongside amulets.
Falling into line, the people in front of him who ranged from all ages and heights took either a spear or a dagger, before also taking an amulet with them.
And the moment that Ren got to the front, he received the same spear as them all alongside the amulet.
Receiving the both of them gratefully, Ren moved out of the way to admire the amulet he had received.
Being the culmination of a foreign technology retrieved from the abyss, although Ren didn't understand exactly how, it was engraved with the analysis spell and would be the one to reveal his status, his awakened power among other things.
With a crystal embedded into a stone, a long thread was threaded through its hole to make a necklace that would hang around the users neck.
It certainly wasn't cheap, but thanks to certain developments, it wasn't so expensive as to be unattainable by a hard working family.
"Now if you have received your weapons and amulets, stand in front of the rift and prepare to enter!"
Gulping down his saliva, Ren's hands tightened around the spear in his hands and held his own keepsake in the form of a silver brooch.
It was probably selfish of him to take one of the only things that was valuable in his home, but with it, Ren was able to remind himself of his goal and his family.
'I'll probably lose it though...' Frowning at the thought of losing this item in the rift, Ren felt his throat seem to close up before a shout ripped him out of his thoughts.
"Get ready to enter the rift!"
Palms beginning to feel clammy from the cold sweat permutating his entire body, Ren stared at the purple swirling mist that briefly crackled with sparks of lightning.
Standing in front of them, the three knights in half plate armor unsheathed their blades, their eyes poking out of their leather helmets as they aimed their blades at the center of the rift.
The two knights who were initially in the tent guarding the mage, they raided their wooden staff and began to chant underneath their breath, throwing out an unknown blue powder that clung to the surface of the translucent barrier.
Popping and crackling, the barrier surrounding the rift soon had a hole form around the place the dust had fallen.
Shaking their head, the man besides the mage shouted once again. "Enter the rift now!"
Surging forth like a tide, the heiress unsheathed their blade, wearing a helmet at some point as a few others followed close behind.
Seeing this, the aspirants ran into the portal after a brief moments hesitation Ren being amongst those near the forefront.
Staring at the purple portal to a hell that knew no end, Ren stepped foot into the mist that seemed to swallow him and the others whole.
'I'm sorry about this Father...'
+++
In an end of the world scenario, if we are severely understaffed, the solution is to just throw people into the meat grinder and hope it clogs.
Tree