“No orbs at all, such bad luck.” Xavic lamented as he cut open the dead camel-like monster’s brain. Zall turned his back to the scene as he didn’t like gruesome scenes. After cutting open 4 brains and finding nothing but monster cores, Xavic sighed helplessly and moved to remove their water sacks. After all, Thunder Camels were still valuable thanks to liquid lightning.

“How about camel meat?” Miles started to cut juicy parts from the camel to have a barbecue party.

“What? You want to eat monster meat?” Zall asked with disbelief. For some reason, the notion itself sounded crazy.

“You will like it, believe me.” Miles smiled and started to cut some trees. Thanks to their lightning natures, even trees were dangerous, but with Miles's power, a punch was able to topple one.

Xavic looked as lost as Zall, and watched Miles cutting juicy meats and placing them through branches he just collected. In no time at all, Miles made a campfire with at least twenty shish kebabs placed on top.

After sizzling sounds of the meat, Miles removed some seasonings from his bags and spilled them on the meat.

“Smells good!” Xavic couldn’t help but come closer when he smelled the meat. “I didn’t know you could eat monsters.”

“What do you guys know about Form-Rank?” Miles looked at the duo after he turned the kebabs so all sides would cook evenly.

“I only know when you pass through the barrier separating G from F-Circle, you gain unbelievable powers,” Zall told them what he knew. His parents were civilians, so his knowledge was limited.

“I heard from a rich kid once that to pass the barrier you have to gain unbelievable powers.” Xavic also commented.

“Well, you are both right.” Miles thought for a while and decided to explain to the two of them what he knew. After all, if his family didn’t tell him, he would be as lost as the duo: Since he decided them to be good people, he wouldn’t hide something this important from them. “When the portal first opened, monsters weren’t the only thing that passed through the barrier.”

“You mean the virus made people kill their brains?” Zall asked. When the portal opened and monsters invaded the earth, a virus created the walking dead also came with them.

“Besides those two.” Miles shook his head and decided to be clearer. “You must have heard that before the monster invasion, the world was about to die and we humans had to leave the planet for a chance to start over, right?”

“Yes, that caused the Cross Betrayal.” Duo nodded.

“Well, is the Earth dead?” Miles asked, ignoring the second part.

“You mean, somehow the world got saved?” Xavic asked with his eyes open like saucers.

“Oh, I see now. When the portal opened, besides monsters and viruses, Mama Hill, Mother AI, also came to Earth and saved it.” Zall answered with a knowing nod.

“You are half right, I guess.” Miles said and continued, “Mother AI helped humans to stabilize the Earth’s condition, but even if it wasn’t for her, the Earth would heal herself in time.” Miles answered.

“You mean, the monster invasion healed the Earth?” Xavic asked in shock.

“Yes and no.” Miles nodded, “When the portal world opened, phenomena passed through the portals, and enriched the Earth’s natural elements. Trees got stronger, the earth got stronger and even the atmosphere got more robust. But that wasn’t all, we humans also advanced.

The superpowers humans possess are thanks to that phenomena.”

“Isn’t it because superpower serums Mother AI invented?” Zall asked, confused. Earth netizens knew only what Mother AI let them know. When superpower serum was invented and humans started to awaken their superpowers, all they thought was the miracle of the serum. But most of the people ignored that the phenomena that invaded their bodies made it possible.

“Okay, the thing passed through the portal is called Energy. It has many other names used in fantastic lores, such as Chakra, Mana, Ki, Mantra, and many more. But all of those are only part of what Energy can achieve. And even the superpowers you can use are created thanks to that energy.

When Energy invaded your body, it awakened your ancient genes partly and when stimulated by Superpower serums, they awakened completely.” Miles told in one breath.

“What does it have to do with the Form-Rank, bro?” Zall asked as he remembered how they started to talk about the next step of advancement and unbelievable powers.

“What do you think the unbelievable power in Form-Rank is?” Miles asked with a smug smile.

“You mean, it is the energy you mentioned?” Xavic caught the trail and guessed it.

“Yes. The superpowers are only part of what humans can achieve. By making use of energy, you can topple what superpowers can do hundreds of times.” Miles looked at the dumbfounded duo and gave them a shish each, “Monsters born with energy, and eating their flesh helps humans to awaken when they are at the peak of the Grace-Rank.”

“Oh, so that is why you wanted to have a feast in here,” Zall asked as he bit the meat. For a man who didn't like gruesome stuff, he was surely a glutton. Hypocrite.

“Yeah. Now, let’s eat and feel the energy invading our bodies with each bite. Many people have hard times when awakening their energies because they lack the method to do so. But the thing is, there is no technique at all, they just create a puzzle that must exist in their minds and stray in wrong paths.”

“You said things in lores like Mana and others are part of Energy right?” Xavic asked the million-dollar question, “But you also said energy first came when the portal opened right?” Two million-dollar question. “So, does that mean before the portal world opened, there were humans who could make use of the energy?” Three million-dollar question.

“Absolutely not,” Miles answered with a smile.

“How are you so sure, and if you are, what about—” Xavic wasn’t convinced, but Miles answered.

“I don’t know how humans imagined the use of energy. Maybe it was a spark of imagination, maybe the rules of the universe, or maybe destiny. But think about it, if humans could use energy before monsters invaded, would Earth die while even humans could make use of energy? There aren’t secret clans secretly getting stronger with the use of energy nor there are super people with different powers. Those are miracles of the Portal World.” Miles explained.

There were a few ways to explain how humans thought of the usage of energy. But Occam's Razor dictated that the simplest answer was most of the time the correct one. It was a coincidence. Like how humans imagined beings with superpowers. The application was different, but the ending was all the same.