Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Prologue - The Awakening
The year of 2020 marked the beginning of the end of Earth as all humans knew it. On May 15th, a strange energy reading was detected by scientists around the world. Modern scientific instruments couldn't pinpoint exactly what the energy was, only that it was highly concentrated and spread all across the entire planet. As soon as this energy was discovered, scholars around the world began to study the unusual phenomenon.
Over the next few years, humans began to experience a life-changing event that was dubbed, "the Awakening." A latent power hidden within a person's body awoke, forming an entity that people began calling the "Aspect." These entities were both incorporeal and corporeal. They were part of the human body, hidden in a small section of the brain called the Aspectus Gland. For generations it remained hidden, until a catalyst came to rouse it from its sleep. That catalyst was the strange energy reading from a few years back. The newly Awakened humans reported being able to sense and manipulate this new energy which called "mana." The Aspect that they awakened granted them powerful abilities that they could utilize by using mana. Just like the many fictional stories, magic had now appeared on Earth.
But along with the magic, came the monsters. Mana was a powerful force that could distort the environment. It permeated into the very being of all living things, awakening humanity's latent powers, but also mutated animals. Savage beings borne from the unification of mana and beast began to wreak havoc on the world. While some could be killed with the help of modern weaponry, many others seemed to completely ignore the normally devastating power of bullets and ballistics. The Awakened needed to step up and protect regular human beings from the monsters that threatened them. For a few years, even as more and more powerful monsters appeared, humans remained the apex predator on Earth.
Tracing the appearance of these monsters brought humans to discover the first "Gates." These were cracks in space-time that led to other dimensions. Brave pioneers entered the Gates to discover what lay beyond their entrances. This led to new information that both excited and scared people. One of the types of Gates was called the Den. The Gate would lead to a nesting ground where an entire species of monsters called home. This was the type of Gate that was the cause of powerful monsters appearing on Earth. Awakened with special powers were called in to seal these Gates and prevent more monsters from coming out. But, Dens were appearing at a faster rate than they could be sealed. The other type of gate was the Ruins. Exploration teams composed of Awakened entered these Ruins in search for anything of value that would help them in the fight against monsters.
Soon enough, creatures that couldn't have possibly been created on Earth began to appear. These were monsters that came straight out of a fantasy. Many of them could single handedly destroy towns or even cities. It was as though the apocalypse had arrived. The relatively small proportion of Awakened couldn't possibly hope to defend Earth against these creatures. That was when the first team of Awakened returned from their expedition into a Ruin. They brought out ancient equipment that harnessed great power and books that detailed powerful spells. As more expeditions returned successfully, the tide in the war between human and monster began to tilt in favor of humanity.
But in 2030, a devastating event occurred. Later, it became known as the Fall of the Modern Era and the beginning of the Chaos Era. A new type of Gate appeared in the middle of Chicago. The "Mutator." Rather than a Gate, it was more of some type of anomaly. The Mutator exploded into existence, destroying half the city from the get-go. It began to distort and alter the environment around it, causing natural disasters in a wide area. Gates appeared more frequently around the Mutator which caused more powerful monsters to appear as well. Mutated areas became danger zones that were dominated by monsters, forcing humans to regroup in safer locations. These Mutators appeared all over the world, in areas where mana was extremely concentrated. Humanity began their losing war against the monsters.
But hard times create heroes. Powerful Awakened rose around the world to fight back against the monster invasion. China's 'Qilin Goddess' rallied heroes and devastated undead armies with her evil-exterminating holy fire. She created the first Awakened guild, "Qilin Legion", and took millions of people under her wing, protecting them in the Hong Kong Sanctuary. America's 'Liberty' and 'Death' took charge and created the guild "Freedom Fighters" in honor of their country's history, developing Sanctuaries in the east coast in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Japan's Tsukuyomi, Australia's Queen of the Prairie, Germany's Engineering Master, Russia's Snow Devil, and many others made names for themselves at an international level. To increase unity between countries around the world, the New Earth Order was formed. It was an alliance between all major Sanctuaries in the world and oversaw the progress and development of humanity as a whole. They created new systems, organizations, and technology. They organized expeditions to explore wastelands and Ruins and to seal or take control of Dens. They became a neutral force that safeguarded humanity.
It took ten years of bitter struggle to get humanity back on its feet. The Sanctuaries became the safe havens that guarded humans from the monsters and they finally had the chance to venture out into the unknown Earth that awaited their return.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Fateshaper_Riifty
Fateshaper_Riifty Basically just a worldbuilding chapter, sorry I know you guys dislike these. I might even change this chapter later..
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