Guardians carry a heavy responsibility. By settling the conflicts of Nations in single combat, they prevent the horrors of War. The Nations that emerged from the chaos of the Pangaean War know that another war could destroy everything they rebuilt. The last war’s weapons not only shattered the old world, they unbalanced its Ki, creating both reshaped monsters and super-powered warriors. The greatest among the new Nations created the Guardian System to resolve their disputes, with a World Council to enforce that system’s dictates. Guardians not only fight one another, they lead each Nation’s Protectors, lesser heroes tasked with destroying dangerous beasts and capturing criminals. Some Guardians are noble and skilled, like Dynas of Xymetria, but others are corrupt or barely competent.

Dynas is the world’s third most powerful Guardian, the inheritor of powerful Ki arts, plus enough wealth to perfect his skills. Under his talented care, Xymetria has prospered, but too many Nations are not as well-managed as Xymetria nor as loyal to the Guardian System. Disasters, crime, and rebellions grow in the corners of the world furthest from the stable Nations… troubled Nations like Gaison, where the wild warrior Turlok plans a revolution against a stagnant aristocracy and their puppet Guardian.

Worse still, Dynas has neglected his own legacy: he has no disciples to share his duties, much less an heir to succeed him as Guardian. At the insistence of the World Council, Dynas finally agrees to train students… but only three, and only the strangest candidates he can find: Noina, an apparent Ki genius and conduit to the spirit world, but an isolated refugee in Xymetria until she was discovered by a priest; Elamno Vortis, a humble coal miner whose potential emerged when he survived a mine collapse; and Ligo Bamboo, a farmer from Xymetria’s outskirts whose natural talents alone were sufficient to defeat a bandit gang. Inviting these unlikely candidates to Sunsteel, his manor home, Dynas hopes to mold them into worthy successors. From his own experiences, he believes that the world needs better Guardians… worthier than the proud, self-important paragons of the official training Academies.