While Ethan focused on himself - on the Tower, on his beasts, on the steady climb toward power - the world beyond him was shifting in ways far greater than he could currently see.
Gates were appearing more frequently.
Not just in remote locations or controlled zones, but in cities, suburbs, and industrial districts. Reports flooded in daily, each more concerning than the last.
So gates remained stable, manageable.
Others... weren’t.
Gate breaks were becoming more common, violent, and unpredictable. And with that ca an obvious consequence: the demand for Titled skyrocketed.
Associations across the world responded quickly. Recruitnt drives intensified, benefits improved, and payouts increased dramatically. What had once been a dangerous profession with modest compensation was becoming one of the most lucrative paths a person could take, even for lower ranks.
That was if they survived.
Ethan had noticed small signs of this shift.
The training facilities he frequented were slightly emptier than usual, less crowded and chaotic. But he hadn’t thought too deeply about it, nor did he really keep up with the news.
To him, it just ant more space to train, more equipnt available, and fewer idiots in the way.
What he didn’t realise was that he was standing right in the middle of those changes. The ripple had begun the mont he first entered a gate, and it hadn’t stopped spreading since.
That also wasn’t the only shift happening in the world.
It was just the surface.
Beneath it, sothing far more dangerous was growing.
The number of rogue Titled was increasing exponentially.
There seed to be a correlation between the number of gates and the number of Titled, as if the world was balancing itself. The strength of Titled also seed to scale with that of the gates.
But not all Titled were willing to put their lives on the line.
Rogues had received Titles and chosen not to register with any Association. By extension, they couldn’t enter gates, protect civilians, or play their part in what the world was slowly becoming.
Instead, many used their abilities however they pleased: for profit, control, or power.
From low-level cris like loan sharking and drug distribution, to organised operations run by high-ranking Titled with terrifying abilities, rogue factions were becoming more structured, more confident, and more difficult to control.
And nowhere was this more evident than in New York.
Ethan’s city.
The place he called ho.
A city already familiar with cri had now been injected with superhuman chaos.
And whether he liked it or not, Ethan was already connected to that world.
Both because of his past...
And because of what he was becoming.
It was only a matter of ti before those two sides collided.
And then there were the rumours.
They spread quietly at first, whispered between officials, investigators, and high-ranking Titled. There were whispers of instability within one of humanity’s greatest forces...
The Coalition.
"What’s the Coalition?" you might be wondering.
It’s a simple question with a terrifying answer.
They are an independent entity, a force separated from any single nation, ford by three S Rank Titled.
Three!
That alone was enough to make them one of the most powerful organisations in the world. Especially since most S Ranks operated alone, or were tied to their respective countries, acting as national assets.
But these three had chosen to co together and build sothing of their own.
They functioned as a mobile army, a nuclear deterrent, and a force that nations could contract in tis of crisis. Their abilities spoke for themselves, clearing multiple A Rank Gates alone.
Each of those gates contained terrifying creatures that, if broken, could destroy entire cities and kill millions.
That alone spoke volus about their value.
And it didn’t stop there; they had A and B Rank subordinates, making them an elite force built around three monsters.
But now, rumours of infighting had begun to surface.
Internal conflict, disagreents, power struggles - things that should never happen in an organisation that powerful. Holt had been looking into it quietly and carefully, but now it was confird.
One of the Coalition’s S Rank mbers had pledged allegiance back to their country of origin.
It was a fracture, a very public one, but as if that wasn’t enough, another closely linked announcent followed.
Russia had officially confird the existence of an S Rank Titled within its borders. It was sothing that had also been rumoured and investigated by Holt, but now it was no longer speculation.
This was a fact.
The timing couldn’t have been worse, or more deliberate.
Because in just two months, the Global Titled Summit would take place. It was an annual gathering that rotated between nations where every national Titled Association t to discuss policy, strategy, cooperation, and power.
This year, it will be held in Moscow, Russia.
Tensions were rising, and old rivalries hadn’t disappeared just because gates had forced cooperation. They had rely been buried and suppressed.
But now with more gates appearing, stability deteriorating, and S Ranks shifting positions, those tensions were begging to resurface. Because in tis like these, power shifted, and those strong enough rose to the top.
-
As the world around him was changing, Ethan had just had his first real taste of a C Tier Floor.
And it had been brutal.
"That was... rough," he muttered under his breath.
His body ached.
It was only his Tower body, but he still felt the pain.
Ethan was covered in acid burns, muscles sore, throat raw, and his mind ntally drained after just ten hours. He used to push far longer, and the fact that he couldn’t now said everything.
"Yeah. C Rank really is different."
But instead of discouraging him, it did the exact opposite.
His lips curled slightly.
"The harder it is..."
He exhaled slowly.
"...the better the reward."
With that, he exited the tower, about to have an eventful day that would lead to more and more trouble. He was at the top of a snowy mountain, about to roll into a giant snowball.
And with each passing day, things were only going to get bigger and bigger...
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