"Sarge!"

Kade glanced at the man that called out as he walked down the cargo plane ramp. He saw a familiar man waving at him, so he approached.

"Sergeant King!" After a brief salute, he gestured for Kade to follow him and briefed him along the way.

After a few minutes of walking, they entered a room filled with chairs. Eleven people were already sitting and talking amongst each other. Kade put his bag near the wall before taking a seat with the others.

"I'm Sgt. Greener." One of them said before introducing the others in the room along with their rank.

"I'm Sgt. King. What the hell is going on? Not much was said over the phone."

"We are in the same situation as you. Some foreign entity appeared and said some crazy shit. I'm guessing that the brass plan to explain once everyone arrives."

Kade nodded. The speed that the military was mobilizing was indicative that they saw this as an emergency. If so, they wouldn't have to wait for long.

Before the clock struck noon, a CO entered. The room, now full, was immediately silenced.

"Ahem." The officer cleared his throat as he flipped open a folder "Regardless of what you've heard up to now, I'll start from the beginning."

"Yesterday, a foreign entity appeared at the pentagon. She displayed supernatural abilities and completely decimated any force that acted against her without harming innocent bystanders."

He paused to let his words sink in, or possibly for dramatic effect before continuing.

"She claims to be an apostle of the god 'Fahllur'. She, along with others, was tasked with contacting Earth's military forces. They have come with warnings and the intent to foster a beneficial relationship with us. Their main forces are set to arrive today at noon."

He closed the folder and peered around the room "Questions?"

"Sir!" Greener stood up hastily "Have we been recalled to base to combat these apostles?"

"No." The officer shook his head "Based on the abilities the apostles have shown so far, we stand very little chance of beating them unless we resort to mutual destruction."

Greener nodded as everyone adopted grim expressions. These apostles might claim to come with good intentions, but no one wanted to go into negotiations with such a disparity in position. No more questions were voiced, though everyone had some. The truth was, the officer had likely already explained all that he could, or possibly knew. Besides, many of their questions would be answered later today.

"Okay. Everyone is to await their arrival at this location." The officer pointed to a spot on the base map "You all are responsible for managing those ranked beneath you. No hostility is to be shown to these foreign entities unless they attack first!"

After his grave warning, the officer left. Everyone filtered out of the building and went to the designated location. The open land was filled with soldiers. The officers walked to the front and began addressing the soldiers.

Though they didn't have much to go on, their orders were clear. As such, each officer commanded their subordinates not to engage the foreign entities in a hostile manner. If by chance, one of their subordinates made the mistake of firing upon an apostle, then it would be their ass on the line. Judging by the description of the apostles' strength, it was doubtful any of them would survive to endure military punishment. Now, they had to wait. Everyone was antsy due to excitement and fear, but their military training prevented them from causing a ruckus. Resulting in a deafening silence.

The wait was excruciating, every minute seemed like an hour in their minds. However, eventually, the subjects of their anxiety appeared. Five beings descended from the sky and landed gently in front of them. Unlike expectations, they didn't have big black eyes and green skin. Rather, they looked quite acceptable. Each varied in appearance. One looked nearly identical to humans, and another shared many similarities but had vertical eyes. The other three, while still bipedal, had many odd features such as tails and scaled skin. The five glanced at the soldiers before the most human-like apostle spoke.

"We are god apostles. You may call me Retmal." Retmal's English was, surprisingly, perfect "Soon, gateways will appear on Earth, leading to a new world, untouched and teeming with opportunity. We factions have come to ally with human beings for this purpose." Retmal scanned the crowd of soldiers as if to read their minds before continuing "You must wonder why we stronger lifeforms wish to seek an alliance with you humans. Why don't we just take control by force and take the new world for ourselves?"

He had hit the nail on the head. Just from the feeling that the five gave off, it was obvious that they were incredibly strong and dangerous. That begs the question, why would a lion make friends with a rabbit?

"There are circumstances that prevent us from appearing and acting in the new world. Our enemies, to be precise. There exist two primary creeds, Vitam and Inferus. Countless god factions belong to one or the other, and our faction is ancillary to the Vitam creed. The factions under both creeds wish to claim the new world or at least a portion of it. However, to prevent the destruction caused by a battle between factions, an agreement was reached. Have other, less destructive beings act in our sted."

Kade stroked his chin with a pensive expression before raising a hand. Retmal's gaze landed on him.

"Yes, speak."

"Ahem." Kade nervously cleared his throat. He hadn't expected that the apostle would actually allow him to ask a question. "Are you asking, or demanding that we humans of earth conquer this new world for you?"

"Good question!" Retmal exclaimed with a nod "We have come to form a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with humans. As such, we make no demands. Rather, we wish to incentivize your participation."

Retmal disappeared before appearing again in front of Kade. He grabbed Kade's shoulder before disappearing again and reappearing in his original spot, with Kade stood in front of him. The movement was completely imperceptible to any of the humans watching

"Ugh." Kade's body bent as he dry heaved. Moving at such a speed was sickening for his frail body.

"Our power is wondrous." Retmal said as he helped Kade stand straight "We have abilities that you humans haven't even dreamed of yet. However, this power can be attained by any lifeform that is catalyzed. The gates opening will do exactly that, catalyze the human race."

Kade wiped the saliva off of his mouth and collected himself "So, you're saying that we will be capable of gaining similar strength after the gates open?"

"Exactly!" Retmal grinned "However, it would take humans an incredibly long time to learn how to harness this power, assuming that you have not gone extinct before then."

"And that's where you come in? Your incentive is to teach us how to harness this power?" Kade asked.

"Precisely. You'll gain knowledge and training, we will even provide you a tool that will make it easier to understand so that you can grow. However, that isn't all. We offer many things such as wealth, status, and even technology. You'll come to learn of our generosity in time."

Kade stared at Retmal as his mind worked at top speed. It was every young man's dream to become superhuman. Who didn't want to have the abilities of a superhero? What about a wizard from their favorite story or game? Long story short, this revelation was sure to incite action!

"Would you help me demonstrate a small portion of my power?" Retmal asked with a smile.

Kade raised a brow before nodding. He wasn't sure of the consequences, but for some reason, he believed that he would live. Perhaps he would endure some pain though.

"First, attempt to move me. If you can even cause me to sway then consider it my loss."

Kade nodded before taking a step back and limbering up. After a moment, he stepped in and threw an exploratory jab. His fist slammed into Retmals face and a sharp pain responded.

'Well, striking won't work.' He thought. It was worse than striking concrete, and if he struck harder he would likely destroy his fist.

He grasped Retmal's wrist hoping to secure an armbar. However, he couldn't move the beings' wrist at all.

"You may use a weapon if you like."

Kade looked at Retmal's face, which had a friendly smile, before nodding. He first used his knife, but his hand went numb and the blade chipped. Next, he borrowed another soldier's rifle and emptied the magazine to no effect. His face warped into an awkward expression as he reloaded.

"See, this is-" Kade fired the moment Retmal spoke. The bullet disappeared into Retmal's open mouth.

Moments later, Retmal spit out bullet fragments before a smile returned to his face. "Haaa." Kade sighed before returning the rifle to the soldier.

"This is just one aspect of our power." Retmal continued when the attack stopped "We are unimaginably strong, and some can do things that you humans would consider magic."

Retmal gestured to one of the others, who raised his hand. An odd pattern appeared before ice was created and formed into a sword. It morphed through many shapes before shaping into a ball. It shot out quickly, hitting the ground and exploding, causing ice to form rapidly and freezing a huge area of the ground.

"All of this is merely a very small portion of the power that you can attain."

Not much was shown, but it was enough. All it took was this little display to spark the fire in their hearts.

Kade laid in bed but his mind was too active to fall asleep. Recently, his life had been confusing. One moment, he was wondering what he would do next in life, and the next he was having his reality flipped upside down.

Truthfully, he had many options in his life. His slate was wiped clean at eighteen, and since, his accomplishments weren't small. He was a multi-decorated sergeant in the Marines with four years of service in combat under his belt. He was smart and had a free ride to college as well as many other benefits. From this point on, he could do and become anything. However, he struggled with deciding what to be. Working a nine to five didn't mesh with him, neither did being a slave to a corporation.

Honestly, military life worked well. Stressful but exciting with room for growth. The only issue was freedom. He couldn't start a life. Having a relationship and kids, or a big house with a comfortable bed to come back to, or a nice big lawn and stability. No matter what he thought of, there were always sacrifices that he wasn't content with accepting. However, perhaps that had changed.

The apostles brought a lot of information. Humans could gain strength, wealth, and status by becoming 'Champions'. Explore the new world, accept missions from the factions, fight off other champions. Essentially, become mercenaries and obtain everything you could ever want. The deal sounded too good to be true. They wouldn't be forced into anything. Any resources or spoils they obtained on the new world were entirely yours, but you could sell or trade it to the factions. Work as much as you want. Sure, it would be dangerous, but he was a Marine that experienced combat. All he had to do was risk his life, only this time it wouldn't be for his country, but himself.

He knew in his heart that his decision was already made. Like many others, he was ambitious. He wanted strength, and he wanted to be the strongest if for nothing more than to see if he could! He wanted status so that he would never be looked down upon or abandoned again. He wanted wealth, so he could have anything he wanted, including the yacht and beauties to go with it. Being a champion could give him all of that while doing something that he was good at. Fighting and adventuring. Honestly, he would be a fool if he didn't at least give it a shot.

He grabbed his phone and made a call. Moments later, Jones answered.

"How do you feel about a slight change in plans?" Kade asked, a grin slowly forming.

Only one day passed before the world broke out in chaos. Huge gates appeared around the world, looking like tears in space. Beyond, a fantastical land could be seen, though it looked hazy and warped.

The UN released statements and the governments quickly quelled the masses. Citizens were promised to receive information in the coming weeks. Those that rushed to the gates found that they were already controlled by their government.

Military personnel was far more informed. They were the first ones that would get the chance to enter the new world and would be the first Champions. Kade understood the reasoning for this. Soldiers already had training and discipline, along with the fact that they were the largest organized force that could quickly prepare for action. They would perform far better at the start than most regular citizens. Luckily, he could benefit from this.

The apostles worked quickly and efficiently. They were allocated a building and area to teach soldiers. Soldiers that wanted to become champions were divided into groups to learn. All Champions were first given an incredibly thin bracelet. It seemed to be shiny silver-Esque metal. Kade slipped it onto his wrist before it tightened automatically. He felt a stabbing pain momentarily before a blue light was projected. It formed into a rectangle box that looked similar to a game status screen.

"This is one of the many tools we have. It has been augmented to help you understand the new power you all have. We designed the augment to appear like a video game for ease of use." Retmal said. He would be the one teaching Kades' group.

"Much like a character in a video game, this will show your desired alias, along with a level that is a general estimation of your current power." Retmal had a helper come forward and displayed his status to the rest. They watched as Retmal navigated the status, detailing the features and their meaning. Kade understood quickly. The status mainly helped Champions visualize their power, and could even act like training wheels to help Champions along.

This tool was nothing more than veritable training wheels for humanity to understand cultivation in the most simple and familiar way. Over time, as they became accustomed to cultivation, the tool would become less and less useful until they phased it out completely.

Retmal taught quickly and efficiently. There was a lot of information but he kept it as concise and easy to understand as possible. In the end, less time was spent than expected before they moved on to practical hands-on learning.

"This power we have is just a different kind of energy. We call it Altaris. Living beings can generate this energy and store it within themselves, once they have been catalyzed, that is." Retmal raised his hand and misty energy formed around it "Self-generation isn't the only way to get this energy though. Beasts that have been catalyzed will also contain similar energy that forms and stores in a gem-like organ that we call Beast Cores. You can take that beast core, and use it in a variety of ways, one being to siphon the energy and convert it into your own, increasing your strength."

This was what everyone was waiting for. They learned a lot about Altaris, like how to begin generating it and alternate ways to obtain it. They were even taught how to use it to achieve powerful abilities, kind of like skills. The Vitam creed had provided resources to assist Champions, and some of them were given for free. Things like books and manuals detailing how to channel energy to increase the power of weapons, and how to form spells like the ice they had seen the day prior.

It was a long and exciting day. Kade relaxed in bed and opened his status

[Alias: Kardis Tempero]

[Level: 0]

It seemed a little bare bones, but this was the basic, unassisted version. It displayed the only two aspects that truly matter. His alias, which he would use when contacting other champions as well as the faction, and his level. The assisted version had a few more 'game-like' features that could estimate a users stats and provide them numerical values, but this was nothing more than a tool to help humans estimate their strength. In his opinion, the displayed stats would be nothing more than a pit that humans would fall into trying to min-max their cultivation like this was actually a video game. He re-iterated to himself multiple times that this wasn't a game.

Despite what stats might be displayed if he used the assisted version, he had already decided on what class he would become. A mage. A mage would be able to utilize Altaris to cast spells and perform magical feats that were once nothing more than fantasy. It wasn't just the cool factor that influenced his decision. That wasn't anything more than a bonus. Rather, it was the skill set and potential Offense, defense, control, and utility. It would be the most versatile class by a large margin. Most importantly, it was a crucial role in a team. In combat, you couldn't underestimate the importance of even a short crowd control effect. Interrupting an enemy's actions at the right moment, even for a split second, could completely change the outcome in your favor.

From what he learned, the mage was the most difficult path with the fewest practitioners but had devastating potential. He had never been one to shy away from a challenge, and the potential power that came along with success were enough to spark his ambition.