Prologue

Our story takes place in a world much like Earth, but with a vastly different history. This world has 5 continents, instead of 7, with none of the continents connected to one another.

Extraordinary powers are common within this world. Everyone has the potential to wield energy called Chi, which is an energy created in one’s body. Those that can wield said power are called Awakened and they are much more powerful than the average human. Because of this, Awakened are either feared or revered. This is how this world’s political structure came to be.

In this world, the entire planet is ruled over by a single, dominant empire called the Machina Empire, named after Emperor Machina, who boasts the strongest Chi on the planet. The military of this empire is referred to as the GE, short for Global Enforcers, which is comprised of the world’s most powerful individuals.

However, despite boasting an impressive military might, the empire cannot directly rule over every part of the world. Instead, they employ the Conqueror system, which allows powerful individuals to conquer the places which the Empire can not support.

The lands of the world are divided into Territories. Territories are ever-changing, with new Conquerors emerging every year.

If a territory becomes strong enough to defend itself against the empire, the conqueror is promoted to a King. These Kings are allowed certain privileges by the Empire. Such as an exemption from the Empire’s yearly inspection, which removes Conquerors from power if they cannot properly govern their territory. However, a Conqueror can also be exempt from such rules if they ally with a King.

Because of the loopholes and inadequacies in the system, a young man, Ethan Blade, desires to overthrow the empire by killing the Emperor and restructure the system to create a more stable and productive society. This young man’s journey begins, May 27, year 119 of the Empirical rule, in the farthest possible place from the Emperor: a little town called Arbhar.

Chapter 1:

Outside of Arbhar, May 27, 119 Friday 11:05 AM

The town of Arbhar is located in a territory designated as Territory 32. It is a small town with little contact with the other territories on the continent. By all definitions, it is a backwoods town in the middle of nowhere at the foot of a mountain range.

Outside the town, a young man walks slowly down the middle of a long, open road lined with cornfields. The stocks of corn tower over his small stature. He has black hair with a white streak down the bangs and a sword on his back. His clothes are ragged.

This young man is Ethan Blade. He is 19 years old. In this world, he is classified as a 7th Tier Chi Master, meaning that he is extremely powerful and possesses full control over his Chi.

At this rate, I should be there within the next 4 hours. Ethan adjusts the sword on his back and continues past a sign which reads “Arbhar - Next 20 Miles.”

…

Main street 2:45 PM

An old-looking school bus is dropping kids off. The road the bus is currently on is a long road that runs East to West across the entire town. Inside the bus, two kids, Chris and Randy, are looking at their homework, baffled at it’s contents.

Chris Sheffer is a tall, skinny 16-year-old kid with glasses. He has the look and atmosphere of a nerd. Randy Ronald is a short, dark-skinned kid -meaning he is of the Southern Continent race - with a round head. Both boys speak with confidence and without little thought as to what they are saying.

Randy looks up from his homework and turns his head to Chris sitting next to him.

“Do you have ... any idea what this is asking?”

Chris responds immediately, almost like he was going to ask the same thing.

“No clue. Dude, I fucking hate Mrs. Berkens. The old hag can't teach. I've never struggled this much in a math class before.”

“Right? Me neither.” Randy perks up after hearing Chris’s words. He feels relieved that he isn’t the only one struggling with the material. Randy’s face then drops after he remembers something.

“Dude, I found something out yesterday. It sucks that, of all the places we could live, we live in one of the few territories that makes people go to school.”

“I can feel the power of that statement sucking my will to live.” Chris slumps into his seat after receiving the apparently 'will-sucking' news. It is then that a girl, who has been eavesdropping - she would call it just “good listening skills” - looks over from the other seat.

This girl is Kika Verdon. She has been friends with Chris and Randy since they were all little. She is a red-headed girl who currently wearing a plaid top and booty shorts jeans. She speaks with a naturally powerful voice.

“I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else though. Everywhere else sucks.”

Randy turns his head to face her after hearing her comment.

“Come on, it can't be that bad.” Randy is skeptical about whether the other territories on the continent are as bad as the rumors say. In Long Continent, there are over 40 territories one can live in. According to rumor, close to 30 of them are absolute shit holes.

Kika refutes his claim. “Dude, it is though. Everywhere else is basically a war zone. I have an uncle that lives the Balla. I had to be fucking smuggled in just to see him.” She shakes her head, making it clear that being “smuggled” like cargo was not a fun experience for her.

Chris, upon hearing about her “adventure”, as he would call it, leans across Randy to talk to her. This causes Randy discomfort but he doesn’t notice this. Chris, with a slight smile and the curious eyes of a child, says, “But that sounds so fun.”

Kika looks at him like he’s an idiot.

“What part of being cramped in a box for 2 hours sounds fun to you Chris? Just out of curiosity, are you a masochist?”

Chris flips her off before saying, “No, not that. The going-somewhere-else part.”

Kika becomes confused. Going somewhere else is fun? Why? She sits up straighter in her seat when a thought pops into her head.

“Wait ... have you never been outside the town before?”

Before Chris can say something, Randy answers for him. “Nah, Chris's parents don't let him go anywhere outside the territory limits.”

Kika starts laughing loudly upon hearing that fact. What 16-year-old has left home even once? For that matter, what parents don’t allow their kid to adventure out at some point. That’s beyond the definition of over-protective. She tries to wheeze out words to make fun of Chris.

“YOU'VE NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY BEFORE?! HA! THAT’S SO SAD! I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!”

It is very clear she doesn’t feel sorry for him even a little. Chris melts into his seat. He starts radiating depression as he pouts to himself.

“Great. Thanks. Just what I need. Pity.”

Randy pats Chris on the shoulder in a sympathetic manner. “It'll be alright Chris. Being a loser ain't that bad.”

Chris's depression intensifies as Randy’s words hit too close to home.

“Sorry, buddy. I didn't mean it. I'll take it back.” Randy increases his sympathetic patting, not that he feels bad or anything.

“I'll just assume the fetal position and shut up.” Chris tries to curl himself up, but his 6 '4 body prevents him from doing so. Therefore, he ends up wiggling around in the seat, struggling to lift his knees to his chest. Kika starts laughing again at the sight.

…

Sheffer Residence 2:54 PM

Chris gets off the bus at his stop and starts walking immediately towards his house. Chris listens to the bus as it drives off. When he can't hear it anymore, he stops walking.

“Finally, it's gone.” His shoulders relax as the tension release from his body. “I can cut loose!”

He then proceeds to run up the long dirt driveway - he lives on a farm so a long dirt driveway is required - at 300 mph. He starts kicking up dirt behind him. Chris, when at school, hides his abilities as to not freak others out. This, unfortunately, forces him to restrain his strength and speed by a huge margin.

When he gets to the end of the driveway, arriving at his house, he slides to halt. He turns around to look back at the dirt he kicked up, only to get hit in the face by his own dust cloud.

“Good job Chris.” He says with a sarcastic tone.

He proceeds to dust himself off and go inside. When he walks in, he sets his stuff down and goes straight for the kitchen. His adopted Mother, Gertrude, is in there. She is an older woman, at 65 years of age, with grey curly hair. However, despite her age, she has a very energetic and blunt personality.

“Oi Brat, are you hungry?”

Chris turns to look at her.

“Oh, it's you.” Chris doesn’t hide his lack of enthusiasm about seeing her. Recently, Chris has been wanting to adventure out of the territory. This desire has been in the back of his mind for years, but recently his curiosity has grown stronger. This has prompting him to argue profusely with Gertrude, who is adamant that Chris is far from ready to venture away from home.

Gertrude, sensing Chris's attitude, gets pissy.

“DON'T ‘HEY IT'S YOU’ WITH ME! JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“What, I didn't say anything.” Chris tries to play it off, but Gertrude isn’t having it.

“THAT'S THE DAMN PROBLEM! YA DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING! NOW I'LL TAKE THAT YOUR LACK OF AN ANSWER MEANS YOUR IN A BAD MOOD!”

“AS IF I'M THE ONE WHO’S IN A BAD MOOD, OLD HAG!” Chris snaps back at her.

“THAT'S IT! IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO ANSWER MY QUESTION, THEN I'LL CHOOSE LUNCH FOR YOU!”

“GIVE ME FIVE SECONDS TO ANSWER!”

“TOO LATE! DEALER'S CHOICE!”

“SCREW YOU! I DON'T EVEN WANT ANYTHING!”

“THAT'S NOT AN OPTION! A STICK LIKE YOURSELF LOOKS ANOREXIC! EAT!”

“SHUT UP! IF I'M BEING FORCED, I'LL CHOOSE!”

8 minutes later, once Gertrude is done making the sandwich, she sets it down on the table aggressively. She points at the plate.

“EAT IT!”

“DON'T RUSH ME!”

“I MAKE YOU LUNCH AND THIS IS HOW YOU SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE?!”

“IT WASN'T EVEN MY CHOICE TO HAVE LUNCH IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

They growl at each other for a little. Then, Chris's adoptive Father, Joe, calls from the back yard. He is also an older man with completely white hair. Currently, he is wearing overalls covered in dirt from yard work.

“Yo! Chris! Come out here for a second.” He yells through the glass sliding door.

Nice timing! Chris, seizing the opportunity to get away from Gertrude, quickly answers Joe.

“Gladly!”

Chris hops out of the chair and takes his sandwich with him. He exists the doorway with the sandwich in his mouth. Suddenly, an ax is thrown at his feet, causing him to freak out. Then he chokes on the bite he just took.

Joe points at the ax.

“There you go. I'm gonna need you to ...

“YOU PSYCHOPATH! DON'T THROW AN AX AT ME!”

Joe looks at Chris with a nonchalant expression. “You would've been fine.”

“ASSHOLE! I CAN CHOKE TO DEATH!” Chris then scarfs down another bite of his sandwich with urgency, paranoid another ax might be thrown at him.

“Really? Wow. Heh, and since your skin is so tough, we probably couldn't do the Heimlich either. Whoops, my bad.” Joe rubs the back of his head.

“YOUR BAD!?”

Chris calms down after taking a deep breath. He has known for a long time that his parents don’t have much in the way of common sense. He clears up his throat.

“Ok. Why do you need me?”

Joe thinks for a moment before answering. He forgot why he called Chris out in the first place.

“Uhhhhh ... oh yeah. Can you throw that ax away?”

Meanwhile,

…

Center of Arbhar 2:54 PM

Ethan Blade is in the center of town. He is walking in the middle of the road since no cars are driving around. This is because cars are extremely rare in this town. Long Continent, the landmass Arbhar is located on, is farther behind the other continents in terms of technology. Because of this, cars are bloody expensive, requiring an arm and a leg to buy.

He notices that he is receiving looks from strangers. Thinking about the reason, he puts his hand on his sword again.

Carrying a sword around will attract attention. That's fine, I'm not here to fit in.

He removes his hand from his sword and rests it on his chin. He starts looking around while thinking to himself.

From what he can tell, the territory isn't under control of anyone. He finds this weird since that is extremely rare. What makes this fact even more strange is that there are miles of cornfields surrounding the town itself. These fields are precisely why a small town in the middle of nowhere can survive independently. This also means that Arbhar would create a massive financial profit for anyone who conquered it. Because of this, he is curious as to why no one has.

He sets his curiosity aside when he sees a police station.

I can figure that out later. He thinks to himself. First, I need to know if they have wanted posters. It’s an easy opportunity to make money.

He then stops when he thinks of something.

In a town this small, I wonder if they even give out rewards for catching bounty criminals. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

He walks into the police station. Naturally, the sword has disappeared from his back. He tossed it onto the roof before walking in. The lady at the front desk is sipping coffee while typing on a, quite frankly, ancient computer. Ethan walks up to the front desk. He looks at her name tag.

“Excuse me … Susan.

She doesn't look up. Instead, she takes the coffee mug away from her mouth and speaks in a disinterested tone.

“Please state your name and purpose.”

Ethan raises an eyebrow. He was not expecting this type of reception from a friendly small-town police station's secretary. She’s as cold as ice. He clears his throat.

“I have to talk to the sheriff.” To which, she immediately responds, “No. Good day.”

Despite being rejected so clearly, Ethan doesn't move. She finally looks up at him.

“Are you hard of hearing?” She says with a sneer. But Ethan takes the question at face value. “Not that I'm aware.” His answer thoroughly triggers Susan.

“Listen smart ass, the sheriff is very busy and doesn't have time for street rats.”

It is only then that Ethan realizes the problem. He looks at the clothing he is wearing, which is, by definition, rags. He looks worse than any street rat he can think of.

“Forgive my clothing. I just got back from training in the Yeti Mountains for 3 years.”

Her face goes dead. “Uh-huh.” She doesn't believe him. After all, who would? She sips her coffee loudly. Despite her annoying personality, Ethan's face has not twitched.

“Listen, I'm in need of money and ...

She finally takes her hands away from the keyboard, only to throw them up into the air in an overly dramatic way.

“Oh lord. Here we go. I'm sorry to tell you this young man but this is not a charity.”

Once again, Ethan comprehends where the misunderstanding has happened. He shakes his head while attempting to disillusion her to his situation.

“I'm not looking for a handout. I'm looking for work.”

“Wait, you want an application?” She is surprised. A bum wants a job application? There are plenty of other places to get a job besides a freaking police station. But what Ethan says next comes as an even bigger surprise.

“No, a wanted poster.” Susan’s eyes widen.

“Wait, are you a pro bounty hunter?” She asks in an overly frantic manner. Ethan’s hand twitches a little. He can't stand Bounty Hunters. During his travels, before he was strong enough to defend himself, bounty hunters gave him a lot of trouble. But he decides to play the part if it can get him what he wants.

“Actually yes.” He answers. “I haven't been active in a while because I was training in the Yeti Mountains as I said. I’ve decided to become active again.”

Upon hearing this, Front Desk Lady's demeanor completely changes. A grin comes across her face. She stands up and shakes his hand violently.

“THAT'S WONDERFUL! FANTASTIC! I'M SO EXCITED TO HAVE A STRONG BOUNTY HUNTER HERE! PLEASED TO MEET YOU! I'LL TAKE YOU TO THE SHERIFF RIGHT AWAY!

Ethan is slightly taken aback by her drastic change in attitude. She acts like she won the lottery or something. However, having achieved his goal, he readies himself to meet the sheriff.

“They must desperately want help. She didn't even ask to see ID.”

10 minutes later,

…

Police Station 3:15 PM

Ethan and the Sheriff have exchanged pleasantries and have since gotten down to business. The Sheriff hands a stack of wanted posters to Ethan. Looking at the stack he is handing over, he can’t help but think that Ethan has too much confidence in himself.

“Are you sure you want to take that many. That's a lot of criminals to track down and according to my intelligence, none of them have left the territory.”

Ethan looks through the posters like one looks at their Grandpa’s baseball cards: with disinterest.

“I appreciate the concern Sheriff but I can catch all of them in a week.” The Sheriff's eyes widen as his mouth opens a little. He cannot help but be shocked at Ethan’s comment.

“You can't be serious. It would require a full swat team just to take down some of these guys.” Ignoring what the he previously thought about Ethan’s arrogance, he now worries about whether he’s being scammed or not.

Ethan looks up. “No offense, but your guys are third rate.” Ethan slip the posters in a folder the Sheriff gave him earlier. “It can't be helped though. It's a small territory and you’re doing the best you can. But trust me, sheriff, there are much scarier people in this world then Arbhar's two-bit rogues.”

The sheriff gulps and backs off. He gets the sense that Ethan probably knows what he is talking about. Ethan pushes in his chair before heading out the door. As he is leaving, he turns to the sheriff.

“Sherriff?”

The sheriff tenses up. He doesn’t know why but he thinks he might’ve offended Ethan somehow.

“Uh yeah.”

“Do you know of any good clothing stores or restaurants?”

The Sheriff relaxes. Good. He isn’t pissed.

“Yeah. There is a Barry's Northern Restaurant over on the other side of the park. And there are a couple of clothing stores near it.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

Ethan leaves. He nods his head to the, in Ethan’s opinion, strange desk lady as he exits. He is now going out to try and apprehend some of the fiends on the wanted posters.

…

Apartment 2E 3:52 PM

A man named Dig Moores, a wanted serial rapist, is sitting in his apartment drinking beer and watching TV. All of a sudden, the door to the apartment explodes inwards, turning into wood scraps. He scrambles to his feet in a panic.

“THE FUCK?!”

As Dig moves towards the door, he spots Ethan casually walking in.

“Who the fuck are you?!” Dig is afraid that Ethan might be a bounty hunter, to which he is half right. Ethan keeps walking towards him.

“You’re Dig Moores?” Ethan asks, his tone implying he already knows.

Fuck, this guy seems dangerous. Dig knows he's in trouble. He pulls a switchblade from his pocket and holds it skillfully in his right hand.

He lunges towards Ethan and swings the blade towards him. Ethan catches Dig's arm with ease and twists it outwards, causing Dig to drop the knife. Ethan quickly uppercut him in the jaw then slams his head into a nearby wall. He keeps a grip on Dig's head as the criminal loses consciousness.

Ethan then proceeds to drag Dig by the head down the street to the police station, where he then slams him onto the front desk. Susan, startled, spills her coffee a bit.

“One down.”

He then walks out.

…

George Street 4:24 PM

A group of teenagers are hanging out in an alleyway. They appear to be waiting for their friend to show up.

Ethan walks into the alleyway but he stops when the group turns to look at him. They, at first, think he might be their friend, but they immediately dismiss this thought after getting a good look at him. Because of his clothing, they assume he’s a hobo and that they have intruded on his living space.

While they are thinking about moving to a different location, they see Ethan look down at a wanted poster, look back up, and then drop the poster.

“Carl Durdes?”

“Shit!”

Definitely not a hobo. Everyone gets up to run after their friend Carl breaks out into a sprint. Carl Durdes is a 15-year-old kid wanted for serial convenience store robberies. The poster says "Only Alive." His friends, who are running next to him, question why they are doing so.

“Why we runnin'?! You know him?”

“I don't know who he is, but he looks like a bounty hunter!”

“Shit dude! What'd you do?”

“JUST SHUT UP AND RUN!”

They start sprinting down the street. Because it is late, people are commuting home from work, meaning there are lots of people in the street. Carl and his friends, in a panic, start running into people and knocking them over, causing a huge ruckus.

After about a mile of running, they stop at a bus stop. They are all wheezing for breath.

“The hell was that?” Carl’s friends are super confused.

“I DON'T KNOW! I just robbed some stores. My bounty should barely be an E rank!”

Bountys range from E-rank to A-rank. Some truly dangerous criminals have S-rank bounties, higher than A, but they are way too powerful for most bounty hunters to think about catching.

“You must have done something. Bounty hunters wouldn't come after you unless you’re worth a lot.” One of his friends reasons.

“Just don't tell me we gotta run more.”

“Nah, I think we lost him.” Carl stares at his fat friend who huffed it an entire mile with him. He is sweating buckets and breathing like oxygen is going out of style. Carl snickers at the sight.

The bus rolls up. It's one of the very few buses in Arbhar. They get on it and sit in the back. Carl then starts thinking about his next move.

“Dudes, I gotta get outta here.”

“What? The territory?”

“HELL YEAH! If that psycho finds me, I'm done.”

“Yeah, you gotta get out tonight. He probably won't find you 'til then.”

All of a sudden, the bus ceiling explodes inwards, causing the passengers to freak out. The bus swerves from the driver being startled. As Carl tries to wipe the debris from his eyes, Ethan grabs him and lifts him out of the bus with ease. Carl lets out a high pitch scream as he is lifted out.

…

Police Station 4:58 PM

Ethan, like before, sets the unconscious Carl on Susan’s desk. The kid fainted after being lifted out of the bus. Unlike last time, Ethan’s actions do not startle Susan this time.

“Two down.”

…

Apartment 3H 5:35 PM

A cruel looking man is counting money on a table in a small apartment. He has a dangerous aura far different from most criminals.

His name is Dar George. He is a contract killer from Hellenloch, the largest and most influential territory on the continent. As he is counting the money, he hears the window behind him open. He stops counting before slowly turning around. A silhouette of a man with a sword sits in his window sill with the sun behind him. Dar remains calm.

“Are you a bounty hunter?”

“Maybe.”

“Then I'll assume you are here for my bounty.”

“You assume correct.”

Ethan holds up Dar’s wanted poster.

“Your wanted poster says ‘Dead or Alive’, which means I can kill you. That makes my job much easier.”

Ethan's eyes intensify as he prepares to kill. Dar whips around and grabs the gun resting on the table behind him, but when he turns back towards the window, his hand is cleanly sliced off and his throat is slashed with the same sword strike. Dar tries to yell, but can't. Blood spurts from his neck.

He drops to the ground and dies quickly, staining the carpet red. Ethan, confident his target is dead, sends Chi through the sword. The blade starts to glow a faint white aura, causing the blood to burn off the blade before he re-sheaths it.

…

Police Station 5:52 PM

Arriving at the police station, Ethan sees that the sheriff has already left for the night, as well as Susan. Ethan decides to leave a note on the sheriff's desk saying, “Sheriff, I left you a body at Yeagers St. Apartment 3H. My apologies for the mess.”

…

Rose Hotel 6:22 PM

Ethan is lying on his hotel bed naked. After coming back from hunting criminals, he took a shower and has yet to put his clothes back on, as they are dirty rags that haven’t been properly washed in years. He puts his hands behind his head as he stares at the ceiling, thinking about the criminals he caught today.

They were just small fry, nothing more than paychecks to help out with my living situation. As to be expected from a small town.

He looks over at his clothes lying on the floor. He then resolves to go clothes shopping in the morning. Suddenly, his eyes widen a bit after sensing a Chi spike far away.

There it is again. Interesting. So I'm not being paranoid. Someone in this town has a massive Chi level. His eyes sharpen again. I'll have to keep my guard up.

Meanwhile, Chris, the source of the energy, is in his in bed. A faint yellow aura surrounds him as he sleeps peacefully.