The world was one of Auras—unique powers born from the soul, a reflection of one's innermost self. Every person had one, a singular ability that defined their existence. It was an unbreakable rule, as absolute as the rising sun. Aura users were categorized by type and tier, their abilities ranging from the mundane to the godlike. But for Daniel, there was nothing. No Aura. No power. No place in a world defined by strength.
The Natural Types were tied to the elements—fire, wind, water, earth. Their abilities were raw, primal, and deeply connected to the forces of nature. A Low Tier fire user might summon a flickering flame, barely enough to light a candle. But a High Tier? They could unleash an inferno capable of consuming entire forests. The elements bent to their will, but their strength was dictated by their tier.
Then there were the Transformation Types, masters of physical change. One could become a dragon, a creature of myth, or a being made of steel. Their power lay in their adaptability, their ability to shift and evolve to meet any challenge. Yet, even they were bound by their tier. A Low Tier might only manage a partial transformation, while a High Tier could become a towering beast of legend, their presence alone enough to inspire fear.
Finally, there were the Emitter Types, the wildcards. Their Aura defied categorization, manifesting in ways that often seemed impossible. Telekinesis, Teleportation, or even the ability to make anything taste like the 1981 McDonald's McRib. (A power I wouldn't mind having, if he were being honest.) Emitter Types were unpredictable, their abilities limited only by their imagination—and their tier.
Aura wasn't just about type; it was about tier. The tier determined the magnitude of one's power, the ceiling of their potential. There were five tiers in total, each a step on the ladder of strength.
At the bottom was Low Tier, the weakest of all. Low Tier users struggled to make an impact, their abilities barely a shadow of what they could be. A fire user might summon a flickering flame, no stronger than a matchstick. A wind user might manage little more than a gust from their mouth, barely enough to blow out a candle. Low Tier powers were often dismissed, their users relegated to the fringes of society.
Next was Mid Tier, where power began to show its true potential. A Mid Tier fire user could spread their flames outward, using them to fight or defend. They were strong enough to handle mid-level threats, to stand their ground against thugs and petty criminals. But they were not yet extraordinary. Their power was solid, reliable, but not world-changing.
Then came High Tier, where the true might of Aura began to shine. High Tier users were forces of nature, their abilities capable of destruction on a massive scale. A High Tier fire user could level a city block with a single blast, while a High Tier Transformation Type might become a dragon, raining destruction from above. These were the elites, the ones who shaped the world with their power.
Above them were the National Tiers, the rarest of the rare. Only a handful of these individuals existed in the world, each a legend in their own right. They were the pinnacle of power, their abilities so vast that they could influence entire nations. The most famous of them was Mariana, the Sword Saint, the number one hero. Her Aura was unmatched, her skill with a blade unrivaled. She was a living legend, a beacon of hope in a world filled with chaos.
And then there was the final tier, the one that existed only in whispers and legends. It was said that only one man in history had ever reached this level, a man so powerful, so feared, that his name was erased from memory. His Aura was beyond comprehension, his strength unmatched. He gathered a cohort of High Tiers and National Tiers, bending them to his will. Twelve nations rose against him, and twelve nations fell. In the end, he was not killed but sealed away by a descendant of Mariana herself.
It was said that his name carried a weight so terrifying that merely uttering it could spell doom for anyone who dared to speak it aloud. In those times, the mere mention of this name was enough to invoke such dread that people would go to extreme lengths to silence anyone who spoke it—even if it meant taking a life. The name itself seemed to carry a curse, spreading fear and horror through the hearts of all who heard it. Stories circulated of children and women who, upon hearing the name, would collapse in terror, some suffering heart attacks, cardiac arrest, or even paralysis. The name was whispered in hushed tones, if spoken at all, for its power was too great to risk.
And that name... was Timmy.
And he was the only man in history to have the title of King Tier.
And even though it seems laughable in today's day and age, the name Timmy still has a chokehold on society, with its legacy so feared that it remains banned in 15 different countries. It serves as a grim reminder of the power Aura can hold and the chaos it can unleash.
In this world, everyone has a power. Everyone has an Aura. Everyone... except Daniel.
A young man of 17, with an average height and a deep, dark complexion, strolled down the street. His untidy black hair framed his face, giving him a slightly disheveled appearance. The faint bags under his eyes hinted at a weariness that lingered, as if he carried a burden unseen by others. Daniel wasn't what most would call handsome—his features were rough, his nose slightly too broad, and his smile rarely surfaced. But despite not looking too bad in appearance, he was mostly unattractive because of the societal standards set by Aura users. Aura users tended to look better the higher their tier, with Low Tiers being plain and High Tiers resembling everyday models. In the eyes of these people, Daniel looked like an ogre.
But it wasn't his looks that weighed on him the most. It was the fact that in a world brimming with extraordinary abilities, he had none. No Aura. No powers. Nothing.
As he walked down the street on his way to school, his legs felt shaky, each step heavier than the last. He finally made it to the gates of the school and sighed, taking in a huge breath before exhaling slowly.
"Alright, no worries. I got this."
Daniel, for whatever reason, was born without a power of any kind. He didn't possess any of the three Aura types that defined the world. Instead, he had the strength and speed of a below-average human being. But despite all this, Daniel had always wanted to be a hero. Ever since he was a kid, at the age of 7, he would try to do good deeds. But they usually backfired.
At age 13, he tried to help a girl retrieve her cat, which was stuck in a tree. But as he climbed down with the cat in hand, the girl called the police on him, frightened by his rough appearance. By age 15, he saw a rabbit stealing food from a baby and decided to confront the beast... only to lose. Even animals had some type of Aura, after all.
Now, at 17, Daniel still clung to his dream of being a hero, even as the world reminded him daily that he was nothing more than an anomaly—a boy without a place in a world defined by power.
The world moved on, indifferent to his struggles. But Daniel? He wasn't ready to give up. Not yet.
Daniel stood in front of a rusty, big gate, which seemed like it was about to fall apart any minute from now. The school looked like a dead fortress. It was a large school, but it looked rather unkempt, with rusting bricks placed next to each other. This is where he would be staying. This school's name was called Gateway. From now on, if he wanted to have at least a small chance of being a hero, he would have to attend this school. But it seemed like the gates were already closed; he had arrived too late for his first day.
"Gateway High School," Daniel grimaced.
The reason why Daniel had been so scared to come to this school is because this school isn't particularly known for having the best reputation around. It houses a school of Low and Mid Tiers—no one too special. The only reason why it's been around for so long is that it gives the weak and feeble a chance to get a turn to become heroes. They provide the students with group missions, power training, and so much more. But Mid Tiers normally let this get to their head, and with Daniel knowing his luck, he might make enemies with a Mid Tier, and his school life would be over before it even began.
Daniel was so lost in thought about the new school that he didn't notice someone else had also seemed to have arrived late, standing in front of the school not too far away from him.
It was a tall, slender guy who seemed to be around Daniel's age. He had a dark complexion and seemed to have short dreadlocks. He had black eyes and a rather uninterested look on his face. On his ears were small earphones; he seemed to be listening to music as he stood next to the giant black gate.
Daniel glanced at the guy and sighed.
'If I want to survive in this place, I'll need to make as many friends as I can—allies to help me survive in this school.'
Daniel turned to the guy and gave him an awkward smile and a wave immediately after.
"Yo, I guess we're both late on our first day, huh? Haha."
The boy turned to Daniel. He calmly took off one of his earpieces, looked Daniel up and down, and a face of pure disgust formed on the young man's face. He put his earpiece back in his ear, and a spark formed on his hands. Orange flames formed around his hands, and with those flames, he used them to fly over the gates, leaving Daniel speechless in the awkward silence, wondering what he did wrong.
'The hell!'
The silence was deafening. Daniel glanced around, but there was no one else in sight. With a sigh, he turned to the gate and began to climb.
***
Daniel walked through the halls of the school. Despite its outside appearance, the inside of the school looked much nicer and bigger. Daniel was looking for Room B-15, and since he was already late and it being the first day of the school year, it wouldn't leave a good impression among the other students.
As Daniel hurried through the school halls, lost in thought, he turned a corner and collided with someone. The impact was so sudden and solid, it felt like he'd hit a brick wall. Stumbling backward, he lost his balance and landed on the floor.
'What the... oh.'
The thing Daniel had hit was a guy who didn't look much older than him. He had yellow spiky hair and was wearing a white vest. To his left was a blue-haired male wearing a blue jacket. Both of them had wide, disgusting grins on their faces, and by the way they were grinning at him, Daniel knew they had specifically tripped him on purpose.
The yellow-haired one was the first to break the silence.
"Hey, you're new here, aren't you?"
Daniel paused before replying
"Yea a pleasure to meet you"
The yellow hair, seemingly ignoring Daniel's reply, continued speaking.
"You see, I'm a bit fragile, and you bumped into me. I'll need some money to fix my arm."
'Ahh so their that type"
"I'm sorry, but I, um, don't have any money on me right now. Maybe later," Daniel said with an awkward smile, trying to walk past them. But he was quickly stopped by a hand just as he was about to pass through.
The one who had stopped him was the blue-haired guy. With a grip so strong it brought a sharp pain through Daniel's arm, he grabbed his shoulder and spoke.
"Don't you have a heart? We're just asking for some change."
By this time, Daniel knew who these guys were—thugs dressed up as school kids. These guys were almost as bad as they came. But what could Daniel do in a situation like this without any powers? He was pretty much useless in any kind of fight. Even Low Tiers could beat him, and Low Tier animals as well. Here, Daniel was useless.
But not completely useless.
With a swift and quick motion, Daniel grabbed the blue-haired boy's hand and flipped him upside down, causing him to land on his back. This motion was so unexpected and sudden that the two of them couldn't react.
Daniel then proceeded to run through the halls, knowing what he had done. While running, he shouted,
"Sorry, but I don't have any money! Please don't hurt me!"
Daniel heard the both of them scream from behind him, but he didn't want to look back at all. Despite being weak and powerless, Daniel's mom had forced him into partaking in some sort of martial arts as he always stayed in his room. She wanted to bring him out of his shell and protect him in this cruel world. But since so many martial arts were mixed with Aura abilities, it made things difficult in finding one. At the end of the day, his mom wouldn't allow him to quit, so he trained countless times a day, fearing his mom's wrath. In the end, he ended up learning a martial art mixing only physical traits of the body and focus of the mind. He would call this martial art MMA—short for Mom's Mastering Aggression.
As Daniel was beginning to feel tired and feeling the strain in his legs, he saw a wide-open door at the end of the hall with a number plate on top of it. The plate read:
"Room B-15!"
Daniel was filled with hope. He found the energy again, and he was so close to safety. Joy, happiness, excitement—these were only a few of the emotions Daniel was feeling. But everything changed when he saw what was ahead of him.
It was a guy who didn't looked just around the same age as him. He had a dark complexion, dreadlocks, and earbuds in both ears with the same look of disinterest on his face he had seen earlier.
It was the same person Daniel had met at the school gate —the same guy who had that fire power and the same guy who had given him that look of disgust earlier. And he was gradually closing the door, slowly but surely.
'What the hell? Can't he see me?'
"Hey, don't close the door! I'm over here!"
The guy with dreadlocks stared at him straight in the eyes, saw the two people closing in on Daniel, and began to continue closing the door with the same uninterested look.
'He sees them, doesn't he? Is he really going to close the door on me?'
The door began to move. Slowly. Deliberately.
'He wouldn't.'
The door picked up speed, the gap narrowing faster now. Daniel's eyes widened.
'He would!'
The guy with the dreadlocks' face remained impassive, but Daniel could swear he saw the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
'He is!'
The door was almost fully closed now, just a sliver of light left.
'He's doing it!'
With a final, resounding click, the door shut completely. Despite it being fully closed, Daniel didn't have time to stop.
He stumbled backward, his feet tangling as momentum drove him toward the door. His shoulder collided with the frame, the hard edge digging into his muscle with a sharp, biting pain. The impact rattled the door in its hinges, the wood creaking in protest. His legs gave out, and he slid down the frame, landing in a heap on the floor. His breath came in shallow gasps as the ache spread through his body.
As Daniel lay there, the light from the halls shining in his face, a shadow loomed over him. Standing above him were the two brutes who had been chasing Daniel, staring down at him with menacing grins.
"Ahh..."