Epsilon gene

Mom and I were back home after my first day of school.

"So, how was your first day of school?"

"It was great! Selphira and I ended up in the same classroom. When we arrived, two boys were fighting, and another one used telekinesis to separate them. Then the teacher came in—she was the heroine Bubble Cop. She gave us a lecture, and then we went to a vault filled with genetic serums, and we each got one."

"They gave you a serum? Are you okay? How did you handle the side effects?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… well, at first, I felt really dizzy, and then I felt like I had a fever… but worse."

"The first time is always the worst… with serums and other things," she said. I didn't catch the last part, but I nodded.

She shook her head and asked, "And what effect did it have?"

"Now, the feathers on my wings can explode."

"Awesome! So that means—"

We spent the whole night talking about it.

...

"Alright, class, unlike yesterday, today will be a more normal day," Bubble Cop said as she projected the lesson topic.

"Today, we'll talk about the current era—the Era of Heroes. As you've seen in your history classes, there have been three eras since the Radiance. Today, we will focus on the Era of Heroes, which is the one we live in." She paused, scanning the room to make sure we were paying attention.

"The Era of Heroes began with the fall of Black Eclipse, known as the first supervillain organization, at the hands of the first Awakened from both the so-called first and second generations."

"The first generation were those born after the Radiance. Most of these first Awakened had already passed away by the middle of the Counterattack Era, and even more during the fall of Black Eclipse."

The teacher paused as if expecting someone to say something, and someone did.

"Miss, I have a question," said a blonde boy. "Which generation is Infinite from? I searched online but couldn't find any information about him."

Some students had been paying attention, while others hadn't, but the moment the name 'Infinite' was mentioned, everyone was suddenly interested.

"That… I don't know," she answered, frankly disappointing everyone. Seeing our reactions, she continued.

"Infinite is as much a mystery as his own nemesis, the General. Their names, ages, and ethnicities are unknown. Even their genes are a topic of debate to this day. So, I'm sorry, but aside from publicly available knowledge, I don't know much more."

I expected that answer, but it still disappointed me a little. Many consider Infinite to be the greatest mystery of humanity after the Radiance. There are also theories claiming that information about him does exist but is kept secret by the government, with only the authorities and heroes knowing the truth.

So, I don't doubt that many of my classmates had hoped to uncover some secrets about Infinite after being accepted into the hero academy.

"As I was saying, the most defining feature of the Era of Heroes is, as the name suggests, the heroes. When mutated beasts were no longer humanity's greatest threat, and rebuilding society became the number one priority, the first villains began to appear."

"Although the most infamous villain is the General, he wasn't the first. That… or rather, that dishonor belongs to Alexander Graves, better known as Dreadstorm. Using his weather-controlling abilities, he took an entire city hostage."

"For a week and a half, he became the tyrant of an outpost city near the Amazon rainforest, which, as you know, is one of humanity's forbidden zones."

"This city was crucial as the first line of defense against threats from the Amazon. So, reclaiming it became the top priority at the time."

"A group of Awakened was assembled to take the city back from Dreadstorm and his followers. While they initially operated under the name 'Raptor Squad,' today, they are remembered as the first superhero team."

"Unfortunately, 17 hours after the team entered the city, it was besieged by mutated beasts. A city like that, even back then, would have been able to withstand such a horde. But due to the disorder and ongoing battles inside, everyone in the city perished."

The entire classroom tensed at this revelation. Neither the teacher nor anyone else spoke until someone asked,

"Did the heroes and villains die too?"

"The team had body cameras, so the operation supervisors saw firsthand the death of the entire squad. As for the villains, no bodies were recovered from the city, but they were presumed dead as well."

The teacher paused, looking at us all before continuing.

"You may have heard of this. It is known as the Amazonian Border City B2 Incident, where over fifteen thousand people lost their lives. It triggered one of the worst beast hordes of the Counterattack Era, which claimed another twenty thousand lives afterward."

"At that time, the young world government realized that mutated beasts weren't humanity's only enemies—humanity itself was its own worst enemy." She scanned the room with a serious gaze before continuing.

"After this, many people imitated Dreadstorm, using their powers for personal gain at the expense of others. But this incident also inspired others to ensure such tragedies would never happen again."

She slammed both hands on the desk while still standing and declared,

"I know many of you want to become heroes for fame or money, but understand this well—those motivations do not make you any better than the villains you will fight against. If you want money, leave this academy and study finance. If you want fame, leave this academy and become actors. Because a true hero…! A true hero is someone who is there to make sure tragedies like this never happen again."

Let me know if you liked this chapter focused on world-building, or if you prefer me to handle it in a more subtle way.