A 15-year-old boy, dressed in a red shirt and black trousers, stood by the window. His face carried a maturity beyond his years.
He adjusted his binoculars, peering through the dusty glass of his window. The city of purushottampuri stretched before him—tall buildings, bustling streets, and towering defensive walls that had stood strong for decades. Despite its reputation as an impenetrable fortress, something about today felt... off.
His gaze drifted across the street, landing on a girl just about his age, She was beautiful, her chestnut-brown hair catching the sunlight as it framed her face, standing on her balcony. She was looking directly at him.
He raised an eyebrow.
The moment she realized she'd been caught, she snapped her head away and began to whistle—loudly, awkwardly, and completely off-tune.
The boy smirked. She's so bad at acting.
Just as he was about to call out to her—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shattered the air, sending shockwaves rippling through the city. Aamir stumbled as the ground quaked beneath him, dust and debris raining from the rooftops.
What the hell was that?! Aamir's heartbeat spiked as his hands gripped the windowsill. An attack? No... It can't be. The walls have never been breached before.
A section of Purushottampuri's impenetrable wall—designed to withstand even the fiercest attacks—crumbled in a violent storm of dust and debris.
And through the breach...
The beasts came.
No. No, no, no. Aamir's stomach twisted. He had trained for this, imagined it a hundred times, but now that it was real, it felt different. This isn't just some drill. This is a massacre waiting to happen.
The city's alarm bells screamed, their piercing wails cutting through the air. The purushottampuri guards rushed to the front lines, weapons drawn, trying to hold the breach. But even from this distance, Aamir could tell—
They were doomed.
Hundreds of creatures poured in. Aamir could already tell the classes of some of them:
- Feral-Class: The weakest, no stronger than an E-rank hunter.
- Predator-Class: Large, vicious, requiring a squad of C-rank hunters.
- Specter-Class: Fast, unpredictable, deadly—only elite B-rank hunters could take them down.
- Monarch-Class: Beasts so powerful they could annihilate a entire city alone.
- Legend-Class, Titan-Class, Worldbreaker-Class... and finally, the Apex-Class—monsters that ruled over all others.
The boy's breath caught in his throat.
This wasn't just a beast attack.
This was an invasion.
Screams filled the air as the Purushottampuri guards fought back, their blades clashing against monstrous claws. Blood stained the ground. Buildings crumbled as the beasts rampaged through the streets.
The boy's heartbeat pounded in his ears.
"We have to help!"
He turned. The girl was already running toward him.
"Are you crazy Riya?!" The boy shouted. "We're just trainees—"
"That doesn't matter Aamir!" she snapped. "If we don't do something, more people will die!"
Aamir gritted his teeth. She was right. They couldn't just stand here.
They had to fight.
They sprinted through the chaotic streets, dodging debris, smoke, and terrified civilians.
Ahead, a Feral-class beast—a monstrous, wolf-like creature with razor-sharp claws—lunged at a wounded soldier.
Aamir moved without thinking.
Steel flashed.
His blade sliced cleanly through the beast's throat.
Blood sprayed across the cobblestones as the creature collapsed, twitching.
Aamir froze. His grip on the sword trembled. "I just… killed something. I've trained for this. I knew it would happen. But why does it feel…" He swallowed hard. There was no time to think. More were coming.
A massive shadow loomed over them.
Aamir turned, his blood running cold.
Standing before them was a Predator-class beast.
It was twelve feet tall, its crocodile-like snout lined with jagged teeth. Its body was covered in thick, armored scales, and its long, spiked tail swayed dangerously behind it.
Aamir gripped his sword tighter.
"This thing…" he muttered. "It's a damn tank."
Riya raised her hands, her magic flaring. "We have to stop it!"
Aamir struck first, his sword slamming into the beast's hide.
CLANG!
The blade bounced off.
Not even a scratch.
"You've got to be kidding me." Aamir's palms sweated against the hilt. "That was a clean hit, and it didn't even leave a mark? How the hell are we supposed to fight this thing?!"
The beast roared, its tail whipping toward Aamir like a battering ram.
He barely dodged as the ground behind him exploded into rubble.
"This thing's defense is insane!" he shouted.
Riya sent a gust of wind, trying to knock it off balance—but it didn't even flinch.
Aamir gritted his teeth. "If my sword can't even scratch it, then how do we stand a chance? No—think, Aamir. There has to be a way."
Aamir's eyes darted around, searching for anything they could use.
His gaze landed on a nearby collapsed building.
"Riya! Can you blast those rocks?"
She nodded, understanding instantly.
Raising her hands, she sent a powerful burst of wind at the rubble—sending a rain of heavy debris crashing down toward the beast.
The Predator-class beast roared in frustration, momentarily stunned as the rocks buried its legs.
Aamir didn't hesitate.
He charged forward, leaping onto the beast's back—
And drove his sword straight into its eye.
The creature howled in agony, thrashing wildly.
But even that wasn't enough to kill it.
Aamir barely managed to hold on as the beast shook him off, sending him crashing into the dirt.
"Shit—!"
Aamir groaned, his vision spinning.
The Predator-class beast was still alive.
Blood dripped from its wounded eye, but its rage only grew.
The Predator-class beast let out a guttural snarl, its razor-sharp claws gleaming under the city's burning sky. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Aamir, a primal hunger lurking within.
Then—it lunged.
Aamir barely had time to react.
The monster's massive claws came down like a hammer, aiming straight for his skull.
CLANG!
A powerful clash of steel rang out as a Purushottampuri guard intercepted the attack. The man's blade met the beast's claws head-on—but the difference in strength was too great.
A sickening CRACK split the air.
The guard's sword shattered into two pieces.
The sheer force of the blow sent the guard flying backward, his body crashing against the cobblestone street. Blood seeped from a deep gash across his chest.
The beast snarled, advancing.
Aamir moved without thinking.
He focused his Adrenaline Energy into his legs, his muscles tightening like coiled springs.
In a burst of speed, he dashed forward, snatching the injured guard away from the monster's claws just as they slammed into the ground, leaving deep craters in the stone.
They landed a few meters away.
"Are you okay?" Aamir asked, his breath ragged.
The guard winced, pressing a hand against his bleeding chest. "The wound isn't deep."
Aamir exhaled in relief.
"But why did you intervene?" the guard asked, shaking his head. "I could've handled that attack."
Aamir smirked. "You thought I was just a kid who needed protection, huh?"
The guard let out a weak chuckle despite his pain. "Didn't expect you to be this fast."
Aamir turned to a nearby soldier, who was battling a smaller Feral-class beast. "You! Get him to safety and keep an eye out for more of these monsters!"
The soldier nodded, quickly helping the wounded man to his feet.
Aamir turned back toward the battlefield, scanning the chaos.
The beast invasion had thrown everything into disarray. The Purushottampuri guards were falling one by one, their weapons barely able to slow the stronger creatures.
Even magic users, who had always been considered humanity's trump card, were struggling.
For decades, humanity had relied on magic to fight the beasts. It was effective—against the weaker classes.
But the stronger creatures, like Specter-class and above, had evolved to resist it.
Then, humanity discovered something new.
It started as a simple observation—in moments of extreme danger, the human body could exceed its normal limits. Strength, speed, reaction time—all of it increased dramatically when survival was on the line.
This wasn't just a temporary rush. It was an innate human potential, one that, with proper training, could be controlled and amplified.
Scientists named it "Adrenaline Energy."
Warriors refined it, developing unique combat techniques designed to synchronize with its flow. These techniques became known as "Adreno Arts."
Thus, the Twelve Nations of Eridoria rose from the ashes of war, each developing its own Adreno Art style to counter the beasts.
The great nations stood as humanity's final defense:
1. Aryavarta
2. Valtania
3. Kyokai
4. Zhonghua
5. Aurora
6. Calonia
7. Galvia
8. Maravalia
9. Valkoria
10. Carnelia
11. Navarra
12. Danovia
Every nation had its own warriors, its own legends.
And Aamir was determined to carve his name among them.
He wasn't a master of Adreno Arts—not yet.
His movements were still rough, still unpolished.
But he had one thing that mattered.
The will to survive.
The Predator-class beast was still there, glaring at him with its one remaining eye, the other still oozing blood from his previous attack.
It let out a furious roar and charged.
Aamir tensed, gripping his blade tighter.
Before he could react, a familiar voice called out—
"Aamir! Catch!"
A streak of flaming red shot toward him.
Aamir instinctively reached out—his fingers wrapping around the hilt of his sword.
But something was different.
The moment his hand touched the blade, heat surged through his veins. The weapon glowed with a fiery light, crackling with power.
He turned to see Riya standing behind him, her eyes glowing with magic.
She had enchanted his sword with fire.
"Use this," she whispered.
Aamir locked eyes with her.
For the first time, he felt something deeper inside himself—a power he didn't yet understand.
But he didn't have time to think.
The beast was already upon him.
Aamir moved like lightning.
The beast swung its tail.
Aamir dodged, spinning low, using the momentum to slide under its massive body.
His flaming sword flashed through the air.
And then—something unexpected happened.
The fire intensified, spiraling around the blade, forming an unstable, whirling inferno.
Without even thinking, Aamir slashed upward.
The world erupted in flames.
A crescent arc of fire tore through the beast's armored hide like paper.
For a moment, the creature froze.
Then—
SHRRAAAKKK!
A clean cut ran straight through its midsection.
The Predator-class beast let out one last horrifying screech before its massive body split in two, crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.
Silence.
Aamir stood there, his body shaking.
I… I killed it.
His mind struggled to process what had just happened.
That wasn't a normal attack. That was something else.
Something dangerous.
Something powerful.
The name Arya Agni Jvala echoed in his mind—a move he had never learned, yet somehow, had just performed.
What… am I?
The sound of cheering guards snapped him back to reality.
Aamir exhaled, his grip on his sword tightening.
He didn't have answers yet.
But one thing was certain—
This was only the beginning.