Occult: World of Yandere - Volume 1 Chapter 0 - Prologue
Ten years ago, on March 18, 2016, everything changed.
It didn’t happen with explosions or sirens.
There was no warning.
No Signs.
No nothing.
It was just… there.
One moment, the sky was normal, and the next, it wasn’t.
Reality itself had torn open like someone had taken a knife to the fabric of existence itself, and cut right through it.
At first, people didn’t know what to make of it.
Scientists called it an anomaly, a rare cosmic event. The news showed the tear, glowing faintly in the sky, like something out of a sci-fi movie. Sure, it was unsettling, but it didn’t seem like a direct threat.
So naturally life went on… but the people of Gaia, still pay close attention to it.
But it was true, the fissure wasn’t harmless.
Or that was the global thought… but just because it was not harmless now, didn’t mean it would not be harmless in the future.
The thing came to be known as The Great Cleave.
It lingered, growing, shifting, like an open wound that refused to heal. But like a wound that was not treated, it soon became an infection.
Strange things started happening, small at first. Objects moving where they shouldn’t lights flickering for no reason, whispers in places that should have been silent. People chalked it up to paranoia or coincidence.
Then the fissure began to bleed.
Things came through it.
Things that didn’t belong in our world.
At first, they were rare, isolated incidents that could be ignored or explained away.
But over time, the tear grew worse. What started as an oddity became a disaster. Creatures emerged, warped, and wrong began to invade Gaia, and they didn’t stop, day by day it got worse, to the point where normal humans could not roam the street without Anti-freak weapons at hand.
Now, that fissure hangs over us like a scar in the sky, a constant reminder of the day everything changed. It’s no longer just an anomaly. It’s a threat, one we’re still trying, and failing, to fully understand.
The Great Cleave, as people came to call it, ripped open high above the Earth’s atmosphere, it grew day by day without end. It wasn’t just a tear in the sky; it was a wound, in reality, itself, like a portal leading into another world glowing with an eerie, otherworldly light that flooded the supercontinent of Terra below.
From the Cleave, the monsters that came from it became known as the Fluxes. At first, it was just a few strange, twisted creatures, some were harmless, others cute, hell fluxes could even be weird artifacts that came from the beyond.
But these creatures and things, just kept coming, growing in numbers and in greater difficulty.
Mindless beasts tore through anything alive, leaving trails of destruction, one common trait with these fluxes was the fact that they had a taste for humanity aspects, such as emotions, their flesh, their souls, or their minds.
With all honesty, this weird invasion was clearly something that nobody was ready for.
But Gaia had a secret, something hidden beneath its surface for millennia: Gaian energy. A power so primal and vast that it defied science or reason.
When the Cleave opened, it awoke in certain people, granting them unique powers akin to magic one would see or read in books or in anime, and what the world would soon come to call Miracles.
But the Cleave itself didn’t just unleash creatures— Oh no.
It also unleashed a new form of energy. Known as Flux energy, this chaotic force poured into the world, saturating the land, sea, and sky. At first, its effects seemed entirely destructive, fueling the emergence of the Fluxes, beings that thrived on its alien essence, their existence bound to its chaotic nature.
But Flux energy didn’t dominate uncontested.
Humanity long before Fluxes had its own unique energy, one they themselves could not fully explain, apart from the fact, that it made plants grow quickly, and oftentimes gave plants miracle effects, but when humans are around it then energy itself kills them.
The source of this ancient energy was known to be known as Gaian energy.
In today’s society, it is considered to be the planet’s lifeblood itself.
Gaian energy of today or what it has become responded in a way no one could have predicted.
Long before the Cleave, Gaian energy had been a mystery, a primal force that existed deep within the planet, powerful but poorly understood. It could mutate biological life in terrible ways, with the exception of animals, twisting bodies and minds, and its raw form was considered a poison to humanity.
Areas rich in Gaian energy were avoided, their dangers too great
But all that changed when Flux energy came into reality.
When Flux energy flooded the world, it triggered a chain reaction with Gaian energy. Instead of being overwhelmed, Gaian energy absorbed the invading force, feeding on it and amplifying its own potency. This interaction didn’t just increase Gaian energy’s power; it transformed it. In some areas, this fusion sparked the growth of massive, otherworldly trees, known as Dragas, or world trees.
Only five Dragas exist on Terra, but their presence is monumental. Towering high into the skies, these trees are more than just flora, they are living conduits of energy, exuding a perfected form of Gaian energy unlike anything seen before. Unlike the toxic mutations of raw Gaian energy in the past, the energy emitted by the Dragas heals and nurtures all life equally instead of subjectively. It is a refined, evolved force, perfectly attuned to the planet’s ecosystems.
As the Dragas absorb Flux energy from the Cleave, they release it back into the environment as a highly refined form of Gaian energy. This purified energy has triggered rare but significant genetic mutations in certain individuals, resulting in the emergence of extraordinary abilities.
The mutation process involves a fundamental restructuring of the cardiovascular system. The veins and arteries undergo a transformation, becoming reinforced with unique biomolecular properties that allow them to conduct and store Gaian energy more efficiently.
The most profound change, however, occurs in the heart. Over time, it calcifies and restructures, adopting a lignified, wood-like composition. This transformation isn’t purely cosmetic, it dramatically alters the organ’s functionality.
The wood-like heart becomes a hyper-efficient energy core, capable of storing and regulating massive amounts of Gaian energy. Its structure is biologically optimized to act as both a reservoir and a generator, channeling energy throughout the body to fuel enhanced abilities.
This newly evolved system allows these individuals, known as Hestas or Meta-humans, to tap into Gaian energy in ways that a normal human with a normal heart cannot.
Every Meta-human is like a unique tree in a vast garden, each one distinct in form and function. At the center of their transformation lies the Root Core, their lignified heart, which serves as both the source and regulator of their powers.
This Root Core not only defines their individuality by granting each Meta-human a unique ability, but it also provides the capability to manipulate Gaian energy itself. By channeling this refined energy, they can bend and reshape reality to varying degrees. However, such feats are not within reach for everyone. Only those who have reached Stage 3 or higher in their evolution, and Meta-humans who have cultivated their Root Core extensively, can perform these advanced manipulations.
In this world, such acts of reality-warping are often referred to as spellcasting. It is not merely a display of power but an intricate art, requiring mastery over the balance of Gaian energy and the individual’s own unique resonance with their Root Core.
Those who can achieve it can achieve powers that can only be called god-like, as their abilities redefine what is possible in a world shaped by the Cleave. And with more time passed, the world slowly descends into the practice of occultism.
On the other hand, although the world is now plagued with Fluxes, humanity now has a fighting chance, but little did they know this was just the beginning of something much worse.