Zak was a young man with a perpetually messy mop of dark, almost black hair that often fell across his forehead. He carried the quiet conviction that nothing truly mattered, a man who had simply lost the spark of purpose, yet somehow stubbornly continued to exist.
His distant gaze seemed to look through everything, revealing not necessarily sorrow, but rather an absence.
This was a world of constant, brutal change. After years of enduring it, his humble apartment felt like a palace compared to the orphanage he'd once considered home.
He lived in a place where the old rules of logic had been shattered, replaced by the raw, undeniable truth of individual strength. Here, powers defined destiny, dictating rise and fall, life and death. The lucky few soared to wealth and fame, but for everyone else, only the harshest reality awaited.
Years in his cramped apartment, however, still surpassed the desolate comfort of the orphanage, offering a quiet refuge from the relentless hierarchy of power.
This year would be a turning point, the moment he'd learn his fate. With the graduation ceremony and the Ascension Trial looming, everything hung in the balance.
The Ascension Trial offered the chance to awaken one's latent talent. If truly fortunate, one might even gain entry to a prestigious university, a place to hone abilities and rise higher. Otherwise, they'd be slapped by harsh reality.
For Zak, though, even if the Ascension Trial wasn't for him, he could still continue living his own way. His small apartment, a single room with a tiny attached bathroom and kitchenette, was nestled on the second floor of an older building.
It was a familiar, if cramped, space, its walls echoing the sounds of his neighbors, the occasional blare of a car horn from the street below, and the ever-present hum of the city awakening around him.
But his days of simply existing were just beginning. Fate, history, even the world itself, now conspired to turn his life in the most unexpected way, as the truth began to uncover. Not every sudden changes promised a good outcome.Sometimes, it came with far more severe consequences.
Now, it was in his hands to decide: either drop the chance and walk back to his life he used, or face the truth and step towards his unseen future.