My Hermes System Chapter 1 - 1: The Beggar And The Academy

"Back in the old world, they say that the humans took 72 hours to reach the moon… Well, I did it in a blink of an eye" - Evans, Holder of the Hermes System, the Year 1327 APC.

More than a thousand years ago, portals opened up in the world.

It took the whole world by surprise. Raining down monsters that swallowed the cities of the world whole, turning it asunder. Huge eagle-like monsters with a body of a lion, three-headed wolves, nine-headed gigantic lizards-- creatures that one could only see in the mythos.

This event came to be known as the Portal Calamity.

The humans fought back. But their hi-tech weaponry was only able to kill the weaker beasts. There were beasts with skin that seemed impenetrable, deflecting even their strongest bullets.

Every second was a battle to survive.

All seemed lost as most of the population have succumbed, their military defeated, their weapons useless, their bullets… depleted.

Their nuclear bombs only caused society and technology to regress, bringing them back to the age of Dark.

But everything changed when the first superhuman was discovered years after their struggle.

A child that was born after the portals have appeared in their world.

A child that was born with abilities that one could only call god-like.

And soon, another one appeared. From then on, the humans have discovered that there were others-- Humans that were born with supernatural powers.

And although their powers were different from each other, the super-humans all called their powers by the same name…

The System.

The humans struggled to keep them safe until they were old enough to harness and control these powers. Millions of soldiers, as well as normal people, sacrificed themselves in order to protect their only hope.

And it paid off. A few years after, the balance of war has finally shifted. And although the world has not yet been saved, it was worth it.

Soon, one by one, they reclaimed their cities with the help of the System Holders.

But the portals, even with the defeat of the monsters… the portals remained.

It was not until the first System Holder entered a portal with his rades that they discovered that they needed to defeat the monsters that were also left inside.

And so, this continued.

A portal opens up, and System Holders are sent to clear it. Those System Holders soon came to be known as Explorers.

The portals and the creatures that e from it were now a part of their world, and so were the System Holders. Living side by side. Any trace of the old civilization was gone, their technology, all but obsolete.

And so, more than a thousand years have passed like this.

The first system holders, in honor of the humans who have protected them, created schools.

Schools to train young System Holders until they were old enough to control their powers. They will nurture them, like how the humans of the Old World have nurtured them.

The Academy for Gifted Children and System Holders, or The System Academy, in short. Except for the extra-curricular activities and other classes, in hindsight, it still functioned as a normal school.

And in one of those schools, a young boy stood carrying a big straw sack. Looking at the gigantic pillars that held the gates of the academy with his eyes full of passion and excitement. Even with his tattered and dirty clothes, even with his feet bare and full of wounds, his swollen eyes sparkled.

Because in front of his eyes, were floating words--

[The Hermes System - Locked]

Floating words that only he could see. It suddenly appeared in front of him when he woke up 3 days ago.

The young boy couldn't read it as he was illiterate. But he knew enough to know that this was usually the first proof that one was a System Holder.

But this was just a ticket. Some people die of old age without even unlocking their System.

And that is why he, Evans, was in front of the academy-- in the hopes that the Academy could help him unlock his potential.

Evans closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. Finally, he will be able to escape his home, escape the hands of his father.

And so, he released his breath and approached one of the guards that were standing in front of the huge gate. The students that were ing and going inside the gate were staring at him, trying to walk a few meters away from him.

"H...hello!