"The Gate That Rust Forgot"
The classroom lights were dim, the soft hum of an ancient projector filling the air like a mechanical insect. On the screen, history unfolded.
Cities burned.
Portals tore open the sky like wounds in reality.
The narrator's voice carried the calm authority of someone explaining a disaster that had already happened.
"The phenomenon now known as Gates first appeared roughly eighty years ago…"
The screen displayed footage of a small glowing portal hovering over an empty street.
Blue.
Calm.
Harmless.
At least… that's what humanity thought.
The video shifted to grainy military footage.
Creatures poured from the portal. Child-sized goblins. Kobolds with scaly hides. Gnoll pups with snapping teeth.
At first, the world adapted quickly. Soldiers fired rifles. Armored vehicles rolled through the streets. The monsters died like anything else.
Problem solved.
Or so they believed.
The video abruptly cut.
The same gate from before had grown. The once gentle blue glow now churned into something darker.
Black.
Pitch black.
The narrator continued.
"The first Gate Break occurred twelve days after the initial portal event."
Now the footage showed chaos.
Massive orcs bursting through barricades. Towering gnoll chieftains tearing through tanks. Kobold chiefs shrugging off bullets like rain.
Explosions lit the streets.
Artillery fired.
But the monsters kept coming.
Students around the classroom leaned forward unconsciously. Even though everyone had seen this documentary before, it never lost its weight. Because this was the moment the world learned something terrifying.
Killing monsters outside the gate… did nothing.
More would always come.
The footage skipped ahead.
Burning buildings. Ambulances. Entire city blocks reduced to ruins and rubble.
The narrator spoke again.
"Humanity believed this was the worst it could face. Unfortunately… it was not."
The screen darkened.
Then another gate appeared.
This one… was enormous.
Black like the mouth of an abyss.
Letters appeared beneath it.
THE FIRST CALAMITY
The footage that followed felt almost mythical.
Massive trolls smashed buildings apart like Jenga. Winged drakes rained fire over highways, torching all in sight. Serpentine nagas slithered through the wreckage hunting civilians like mere cattle.
Thousands died in hours.
Human weapons failed.
The world was losing.
Then the video slowed.
A single silhouette appeared in the ruined city. The narrator's voice lowered with reverence.
"In humanity's darkest hour… the first Summoner awakened."
The man's name appeared on screen.
ADAM
THE FIRST SUMMONER
The video showed him raising his hand.
The ground cracked.
From the sky itself descended a being born from stone and divine arrogance.
A monkey with golden eyes. A staff that defied logic.
The caption read:
Heaven Born Stone Monkey
The creature laughed as it landed.
Then the slaughter began.
The Monkey King tore through trolls.
Devoured drakes.
Crushed nagas.
Every monster it killed… it consumed.
Every monster it devoured… it grew stronger.
By the end of the footage, the creature laughed as it held a staff that towered over buildings like a living mountain.
The narrator finished the story.
"Adam's Summon would later be known by many names…"
"The Monkey King."
"The Great Sage Equal of Heaven."
"Victorious Fighting Buddha."
"Prisoner of the Golden Headband."
"Sun Wukong"
The video ended with one final image.
Adam was standing before the massive gate.
His summon beside him.
Then both stepped inside.
The gate closed.
Humanity was saved.
"That was the last we ever saw of Adam."
But the video had not ended yet.
The tone shifted.
Dark music replaced the triumphant orchestra.
The narrator spoke again.
"But humanity's greatest enemy… would not come from another realm."
"No, it would be caused by a rotten fruit of our savior tree."
A new name appeared.
CAIN
SON OF ADAM
Students around the classroom grew quiet.
Everyone knew this part.
The video showed a single weapon.
A blade.
Simple.
Ancient.
The caption read:
THE FIRST BLADE
The narrator's voice dropped lower.
"Cain was the second Summoner in history… and the first tyrant."
"He would later come to abuse his power, manipulate his peers, betray his comrades."
Images flashed rapidly.
Cities burning.
Summoners fighting each other.
Bodies littering the roads.
"After murdering his brother Abel, Cain began hunting other Summoners for mere sport."
Guilds rose to stop him.
Armies marched.
None succeeded.
The narrator continued.
"It took the combined power of every Summoner guild in existence at that time… to finally put down the rabid dog known as Cain."
The video ended with a final statement.
A warning carved into history.
"Since that day, demon and weapon Summons have been considered extremely dangerous."
The screen faded to black.
The classroom lights snapped on.
Instantly the room exploded into noise.
Chairs scraped.
Students talked over one another.
A dozen conversations began at once.
"Man, imagine having a Mythical Summon."
"Yeah right. I'd settle for like… a B-rank wolf or something."
"Bro my cousin got into Chiron Academy last year. Their lowest student had a B-tier summon."
"Lucky bastard."
"Yo, where are you applying?"
"The Authorities Academy, probably."
"I meant which school, idiot."
"Oh. Chiron obviously."
The usual dreams.
The usual ambitions.
Every student here had turned fifteen recently. Which meant one thing. Academy applications. Summoners trained in special academies during their final school years before joining society.
Paths were simple.
Join the Authorities and enforce Summoner law.
Join a Guild and raid dungeons for fame and wealth.
Join the Military and defend humanity against major gate threats.
Or…
Forge your own path.
Very few had the strength for that last one.
Most students would never reach that level.
Near the back window sat a much smaller figure.
Jasper Zanabēlu sighed quietly.
Outside the classroom window, the afternoon sun painted the world in gold.
Ironically… gold had never felt further away.
He leaned back in his chair, letting the chatter fade into background noise.
Five foot two.
One hundred and fifty pounds.
Shaggy gold hair brushes his shoulder blades.
Skin the color of warm desert sand.
Eyes somewhere between amber and sunlight.
He looked harmless. More like a quiet musician than someone living in a world ruled by power. His outfit didn't help.
Black cargo pants.
Plain white T-shirt.
As low-key as a person could be.
Around his neck hung the only thing that mattered.
A small rusty key. A cheap-looking spare key tied to a black string necklace.
His Summon.
Jasper rubbed the back of his neck with a tired sigh. Most people awakened their Summon at fifteen. Some awakened earlier.
He had awakened as a toddler.
Which normally meant prodigy status.
Except for one small problem.
His summon… sucked.
Spare Key – Tier F
No abilities.
No power.
No evolution.
Just a piece of junk metal.
Meanwhile, other kids had wolves, spirits, dragons, or heroic weapons waiting to grow.
Jasper had… house keys.
"Man… what a joke."
His gaze drifted toward the window again.
But his thoughts wandered somewhere deeper. Somewhere he had never told anyone about. Every night when he slept…
He saw it.
Not the key.
The gate.
Inside his dreams existed something impossibly massive. A gate so enormous it vanished beyond the horizon.
Ancient.
Broken.
Petrified with age.
Stone and corrosion covered its entire structure like centuries of rust. Jasper had never seen the top. Never seen the edges.
Just an endless wall of ruined stone doors.
But sometimes…
When he looked closely…
Very closely…
He could see something beneath the corrosion.
Gold.
Faint.
Buried.
Like a treasure waiting under layers of forgotten history.
Yet whenever he woke up…
All that divine mystery shrank into this.
A tiny rusty spare key.
Jasper flicked the key lightly with his finger.
It clinked softly. "Yeah…" He muttered to himself. "Real legendary."
Across the room, a voice suddenly cut through the noise. "Hey, Jasper."
He looked up. Standing beside his desk was a boy with copper-gold hair and piercing blue eyes.
Arti Pen.
Short for Artorias Isolde Pendragon.[1]
Though no one here knew that part.
To everyone else, he was just the cool athletic guy who kept to himself.
Blue jeans.
White long-sleeve shirt.
A tiny sword necklace resting against his collarbone.
"Class ended five minutes ago," Arti said.
"You planning to live here now?"
Jasper blinked. Then laughed awkwardly.
"Oh… right."He grabbed his bag and stood.
As the two walked toward the door, Arti glanced sideways at him.
"You thinking about academies yet?"
Jasper shrugged.
"Not really."
Arti raised an eyebrow.
"You awakened early. That should give you an advantage."
Jasper looked down at the small rusted key around his neck. His smile turned sheepish.
"Yeah… About that…"
Arti followed his gaze. The key swung gently. Silence lingered for a moment. Then Arti simply shrugged.
"Well." His voice was casual.
"Maybe it evolves."
Jasper laughed.
"Yeah."
"Maybe."
But deep inside…
Somewhere far beyond conscious thought…
Something ancient shifted.
In a place that only existed in dreams.
The colossal stone gate trembled slightly.
And beneath the endless layers of rust…
Gold shone a little brighter.
[1] I was very unsure IF I should reveal Arti’s real name this early. BUT for anyone who read the Aux Chapter, they'll know there are influences from the NASUVERSE. So to anyone who has seen FATE, or just knows the legend in general, will instantly know who Arti really is.