"Run, Axel! Run!"
Axel ran and threw a glance backward. His father was on the floor, on his knees, his face bloody.
The street was in chaos.
Gigantic monsters with three arms, some two, while some with five, were tearing the street apart.
Cars were upside down, some already burning to ashes, some just starting to. Axel's eyes were teary—his father was going to die.
Portals appeared in front of him, some tiny, some enormous. Nonetheless, all shimmered, the edges scintillating.
"Try to enter a portal! I'm sure you'll awaken doing so!" his father shouted.
That seemed to be the last thing Axel heard from his father. Throwing a glance backward, he saw a monster's claws buried into his father's neck.
His father slumped, and Axel surely knew he was dead.
Axel was seventeen, tall, slender, with dark curly hair and a quite handsome face. He was clothed in black joggers with a yellow shirt. As he ran, he seemed to sway with the wind.
Since he had lived on this earth, he had never seen anything as preternatural as this. Two monsters, their maws drooling with blood, were after him.
A ladder was just a few steps away from him. It lay against the wall of a building, and Axel bet he could climb it. It seemed to be the only way to survive because the monsters were after him at an amazing speed.
The tears welling up in his eyes were starting to trickle down his cheeks, but he continued running, ignoring the emotional pain of losing his father.
Axel, now near the ladder, leaped with great force onto it. He hurried up and rolled onto the top of the building, noticing that the surface was cemented.
It seemed to be a row of buildings because he could see about five more up ahead, many portals on them. His goal now was to get into one, and as it seemed, it wouldn't be easy.
A monster jerked its hands forward, almost reaching Axel's neck. Axel ducked, tumbling on the floor, then leaped onto another. He was lucky because he almost fell.
A portal was shining brightly in front of him now. Looking backward briskly and seeing the monsters charging at him fiercely, Axel plunged into the portal.
At that moment, he saw darkness.
_____________
Axel lived alone with his father, he had never seen his mother because she died giving birth to him. And so, his father had brought him up to his current age.
It seemed like an apocalypse because two days ago, the people of the city Axel lived in started seeing small portals at the corner of the streets. It seemed shocking and the government, confused, decided to hire special scientists to research on it.
When they made their discovery, they discovered that there was a mistake in an alternate realm filled with monsters, causing the monsters to come out of portals into earth, but the problem was, they couldn't come up with a solution to stop it.
This morning, dastardly monsters and villains started to come out of the portals. The government sent soldiers to fight the monsters but it seemed to be nothing because all the soldiers were killed.
The government then, wanting the safety of the citizens, closed all schools and advised everyone to stay at home.
Axel and his dad had a plan though, to enter into one of the portals and go to the alternate realm. Because from what Axel's dad studied, as he was himself a former scientist, that doing so would make them awaken powers and then they could use it to come back to this world, killing all the monsters.
Axel's father had also discovered, with the help of an ancient looking book he found in a library about awakening. The book had made him know that there were many powers behind the portal and all they needed to do was to reawaken them.
Now on their way to enter one of the portals, Axel lost his father.
________________
Axel now saw light, but it still seemed dark. He now stood in the middle of an empty, dilapidated-looking place. Around him were pebbles—small and seemingly irrelevant.
The sky was cloudless and colorless, looking dour and somber.
A few centimeters from him was a giant sword, thrust into a heavy-looking rock. Axel, now sobbing, walked over to it.
He examined it for a few seconds before stretching his right hand forward to hold it. It felt mighty to the touch, if not anything, it seemed daunting.
Just by mere impulse, he was compelled to take it out of the rock. His hands shook slightly, and with all the strength he could muster, he removed the sword from the giant rock.
At that moment, he heard a sibilant noise. It echoed in his head, and then, with the weight of the sword dragging him down to a fall, he heard:
[TING!]
[YOU HAVE REAWAKENED]
Axel, now struggling to get on his feet, squinted his eyes. He expected to reawaken as a Lord or something powerful.
[YOU HAVE REAWAKENED AS AN INFERNO HERO]
'What does that mean?' Axel thought.
He knew the meaning of inferno—at least, according to his understanding, it was another word for fire. And a hero? That meant someone who saves the day and does good stuff.
Now he had reawakened as an Inferno Hero. Meaning, to his understanding, he was a hero with fire power?
[TRANSFORMATION INITIATING]
Axel felt a gust of wind plunge him up into the air. A whirlwind, burning silver in color, surrounded him. It spun and rolled and spun more.
The feeling that Axel felt was incredible. It felt unreal. His bones felt like they were cracking apart. He felt a firestorm raging inside him.
His clothes were starting to tear off his body. A silver fire was burning all over him. A seething pain soared over his body, and then, it all stopped. Axel was on the ground. He was now fully transformed.
He was clothed in a long white robe. Over this was a black outer cloak, sleeveless and fastened at the shoulder with a silver flame-shaped clasp.
On his wrists were white arm guards, designed to withstand intense heat.
He was wearing black trousers, and his feet were encased in dark leather boots. His body radiated silver burning flames, one that was more eminent on his head. He now carried a cool, unreal look.
Axel heard a sparking sound, and in front of him was a tiny screen.
[TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE]
The screen became wider, and then:
[Hero profile scanning]
[Hero profile complete]
[Hero Profile]
Name: [Axel]
Rank: [Amateur] [F] →
Hero Points: 0 / 500
[Attributes]
Power: 40
Speed: 70
Endurance: 25
Intellect: 63
[Hero Skills]
1. [Active Skill] Power Punch (Rank F) – Throw powerful, tooth-aching punches. (Next Upgrade: 10 more uses required)
2. [Passive Skill] Battle Instinct (Rank F) – Slightly enhances reaction speed in combat. (Next Upgrade: Defeat 3 Elite Enemies)
3. [Unique Ability] ??? (Locked) – (Unlock at Rank C)
[Inventory]
Golden Armor (Rank F) – Makes your flames golden and fierce. Can burn opponents easily.
Inferno sword- Go through your opponents with the similitude of flames.
Basic Combat Suit – Offers minor protection. (Upgradeable at Rank E)
Energy Potion x2 – Restores stamina in battle.
Axel shrugged. He even had a system.