An illuminating bright sky-blue radiance began to surge within a plain small room. The blue brilliance glow shined like the glistening color of the ocean, being entirely irresistible to look at.

The room containing this rising blue shimmer was a standard small bedroom.

A young man slept peacefully on a bed that was right next to the radiant blue glow. Right next to the sleeping young man was a small dresser, holding up a divinely beautiful blue sapphire gemstone that was causing the mesmerizing shine.

A couple seconds went by, and the gleaming blue sapphire gemstone only increased its intense shine.

Suddenly, the blue sapphire gemstone began to slowly rise.

The blue sapphire gemstone defied all laws of gravity, moving up in the air entirely on its own.

If one were to look closely at the blue sapphire gemstone, they would see it was actually pulsating akin to a vigorous beating heart. The blue sapphire gemstone pulsated with pure unfathomable power as its blue shine continued to intensify.

Soon enough, the whole room was drowned in the blue sapphire gemstone blinding radiance.

At any second, the blue sapphire gemstone seemed like it was about to burst and unleashed a tremendous catastrophe!

However, before anything could escalate to an irreversible point, a hand reached out from the bright blue shine, grasping right on the blue sapphire gemstone.

Immediately when the hand clutched the Gemstone, its rising surge of power vanished, and its blinding shine disappeared.

The one holding on to the blue sapphire gemstone was, of course, the once sleeping young man now partially awakened.

This young man's name was Asher Vipond.

He is a decently average-looking youth who was spouting a more annoyed expression from what just transpired.

Asher wasn't surprised at all at this mysterious blue sapphire gemstone's extraordinary performance. He slowly sat up in his bed, bringing the now standard shining blue sapphire gemstone to his face.

'Nnng….my eyes are actually burning a bit from that. Today's light show was far more intense.'

Asher had begun wearily rubbing his eyes in an attempt to make the slight sting pain go away.

While in the middle of bringing himself awake, Asher paused.

His eyes began to twinkle with a slight realization glint as he had just recalled what exactly is today. 'Right, after today, I should have no more stinging awakening. At least….I hope you're right, Mother.'

Asher exhaled a quiet sight to himself. He put down the now silent blue sapphire gemstone, and his eyes began to roam around his small bedroom.

As per usual, there wasn't any sign of a vibrant, lively personality here.

Everything was so plain that it almost seemed a bit dreadful to live here for any extended periods of time.

The only reason Asher decided to take note of this dreary plain design was for the simple fact, this will soon change forever.

'Today is going to be a long one….hm?' While Asher began organizing today's events out in his mind already, he had suddenly crossed his eyes back on his small dresser and another memory streaked into his brain.

He reached over to open one of the dresser drawers, which contained several items.

One surprisingly stood out the most to him—a simple short note which only had a few words written on it.

Picking up the note, Asher read it over to himself;

'Boy, you must be in your room specifically at 11:30 Am today. No later, no less. Once it turns 11:30, immediately drip a single drop of your blood into that Gemstone.

Mother.'

After going over the note, Asher looked down to his wrist, which had a simple digital watch on it.

The watch read 10:00 Am, and it made Asher quirks his eyebrows a bit. 'This damn faulty thing, my alarm didn't go off again. Tch, after today, I'm definitely getting something better.'

Asher wanted to get more annoyed at how his alarm just strangely never goes off for days in a row.

But he simply shrugged a second later, concluding that he probably slept it on. It did happen to him in previous times.

As he was now fully awake and well-rested, Asher got up from his bed to perform several relaxing stretches. He worked out the built-up kinks in his body while thinking,

'Alright, I have enough time for a swift morning training warm-up if I'm quick enough. Hope whatever this gem does, doesn't take too much of my time. I can't be late.'

Because today he was a bit crutch for time, Asher did a couple of more stretches for around three minutes.

Though it wasn't as long as he usually stretches for, it was enough to get his body relaxed and ready for the long day ahead.

Once finished stretching, Asher headed towards a door in the bedroom, which surprisingly enough connected towards a bathroom.

Asher took a quick shower, dressed up in a fitting flexible gray tracksuit, and came back to his dresser all in a manner of several minutes. In the same drawer with his Mother's note, there was a small mobile phone, a silver ID card, and a dingy-looking blue ring.

Asher briefly contemplated taking his phone but ultimately decided against it, seeing as for training, it's not really worth much. He did grab the dingy-looking blue ring and that silver ID card, both being very vital for him.

The silver ID card had a miniature portrait of Asher, his name, and under his name, there was a text saying,

'Balreth Academy Student.'

Asher shoved both the ring and ID into his pocket and walked out the other door to his bedroom.

Outside his bedroom was a relatively small hall connected to a modest size living room mixed kitchen. Besides his bedroom and a closet storage place, there wasn't anybody else living in this tiny apartment beside Asher.

There was a bit of a melancholic lonely feeling that hanged in the air here. Being all alone in such a small space could be quite suffocating or even disheartening to some.

However, Asher's face remained impassive as he already adapted to his living situation a long time ago.

Although, just like his bedroom, Asher was assured things will change here as well.

Asher quickly shuffled through his quiet living space, only stopping at the kitchen to take a drink of water. After refreshing himself, Asher exited his apartment, headed down one flight of stairs, and entirely left his apartment complex.

Once on the outside, Asher was greeted to a more vibrant, lively sight than his small dingy apartment. His eyes briefly roamed around his jubilant City, inhaling a pleasing scent of its rich vigorous air.

The City Asher lived in, he would describe it as nothing short of spectacular wonder.

There were beautifully crafted buildings, all ranging in various heights and lengths, such as 14 stories buildings, to ones that reached thousands of miles high in the sky!

Most of the overly tall buildings stretched over massively vast acres of land, taking up a lengthy amount of space. Amazingly enough, though, this City was just that big enough to contain these enormous buildings and still have plenty of room to maneuver around in.

Every building also had bright, colorful designs and luxurious electronic signs just to give this City that extra glory radiance.

This place was a highly advanced modern city, far surpassing any typical town.

Everything had a bright, rich design. To the sidewalks and roads that not even Asher was sure where they got the materials to make these exotic looks.

However, the most prominent distinct quality of this place was the people inhabiting it.

Thousands of people roam the streets. There were, of course, humans with all varying appearances from average to explosively beautiful.

But there were also many human-like beings roaming the area.

These human-like beings all had very distinct features on their bodies, immediately alerting anyone that they were indeed from a different species.

'Never a dull moment in Pearlcrest City even in the mornings.' Asher mused to himself.

He had then focused on a specific direction and began to walk.

Asher briskly walked through the busy streets of Pearlcrest City, knowing exactly where to go. It was a simple routine for Asher. Even though this part of Pearlcrest City has many twists and turns, Asher remained steadfast.

"Hm? Oh, look! It's the boy….doesn't he goes to that Academy, right? But amazingly enough, he's still coming around here today."

"Honestly, more kids could learn from this boy's consistent stride; too many of them like to lounge around all day."

"He certainly is an intriguing kid."

Several familiar faint whispers managed to travel to Asher's ears.

While Asher swiftly traversed the bustling City, he passed by several friendly residents who gave him an acknowledging nod and a friendly wave.

For these residents, they weren't even sure of this boy's name.  But they all knew just where he was heading to, and it garnered some respect in them.

Moreover, it had also sort of become part of their daily routine to see Asher so early in the morning as they worked their morning shifts.

Asher, in return, gave all those who nodded and waved at him a friendly smile and a welcoming wave of his own.

He had never slowed down while walking, though, making great haste to his morning practices and also keeping up a kind presence.

It took only a couple of more minutes of walking until Asher reached a completely different section of the City. Compared to the lively, bustling parts, this area had an abrupt shift in tone, atmosphere, and the number of people.

Asher would describe the atmosphere that hung in the air like a deadly severe one, washing over any light-heartedness Pearlcrest City naturally emitted.

There are only a few apartment complexes and stores littering around this area.

And what lies beyond this small number of buildings was a large haunting-looking gate that burst with a chilling intimidating aura.

Few people were roaming the street in this area, but nobody could be seen beyond that gate.

Peering into what lies beyond the chilling gate, it was a sight no average sane person would dare to come within miles off. It was a nightmarishly haunting dark woods that lied on the other side of the enormous gate.

By just getting close to the general entrance of the gate, anyone would have all of their six senses assaulted with the foul fumes of blood and death.

Nobody that lived in this area was daring enough to even go close to that gate.

These dark woods were given the title, 'The Decrypted Woods.' A fitting name for an overwhelming chilling appearance.

However, what would affect thousands in the City, Asher was utterly unfazed. He continued on briskly walking, heading directly to the large gate.

The residents in this area never once looked towards Asher, pretending like he didn't exist at all.

As Asher neared the gate's entrance, there were two guardsmen standing patrol at the front.

They both wore special heavy combat uniforms that had unique-looking tiny blue shards within their clothes fabrics. Both men also carried advanced-looking assault rifles, which also had similar-looking shards planted in them.

When Asher walked up to the guardsmen, a mild look of surprise lit up their eyes.