Premise:
It started small.
People were tired of seeing the city fall apart, tired of the police looking the other way, tired of waiting for someone else to step in. Inspired by comic books and internet forums, ordinary people began putting on masks and taking to the streets. At first, it was laughable—DIY costumes, stun guns, and cheap batons. A few did good. Others turned to crime. Soon enough, “heroes” and “villains” were everywhere, and the city became their playground.
But then came the Awakening.
A single explosion tore through a building, leaving it both ablaze and drowned in water. No one knows what truly happened—who the first hero was, what weapon they summoned, or even if they survived. But from that day forward, everything changed. People began to manifest powers: weapons summoned from myth and fantasy, brought into reality through sheer will.
Every Awakening begins with a vision where time itself halts. Heroes see a woman in the still waters of a mountain lake, presenting their weapon and speaking a personal message. Villains see a hooded figure in a burning village, offering the same gift but cloaked in smoke and fire. Both leave their mark: an impossible weapon in hand.
And with the weapon comes transformation. The magic that flows into a person through their weapon reshapes them—sometimes subtly, sometimes drastically. Some emerge as a “peak” version of themselves: healthier, stronger, sharper. Others undergo complete changes, their body altered to better suit the power they’ve inherited. No two transformations are the same, and each reflects the bond between wielder and weapon.
Guilds quickly rose to control this new power. Newly Awakened individuals are assessed to determine their power level and rank—a measure of how many weapons they can summon:
• 1st Rank: One weapon (rare)
• 2nd Rank: Two weapons (most common)
• 3rd Rank: Three weapons (uncommon but not unheard of)
• 4th Rank: Four weapons (exceptionally rare)
The Weapons of Fiction
Every summoned weapon is drawn from story and legend—not science fiction, but myth, folklore, or fantasy. A blade of Gilgamesh, the staff of Merlin, the spear Gungnir, or even iconic creations like Save the Queen from Final Fantasy.
But strength isn’t just in the wielder—it’s in the tale. The more well-known the weapon, the greater its power. For example:
• Master Sword – strong, but overshadowed by greater legends.
• Buster Sword – iconic, but not as deeply rooted.
• Excalibur – one of the strongest possible, rooted in global myth.
This makes each Awakening not only personal but tied to the stories humanity remembers. However note some weapons will be off limits for story purposes - if this happens, I'll shoot you a PM as to try and keep spoilers as low as possible. Of course, not everything is thought out just yet, as I'm hoping to see some interest before putting more work into the idea. ^^
