The Trials exist for a simple purpose: To destroy the weak and raise the strong.
There's no telling how many races have been sacrificed to The Trials without even a sliver of a chance of survival. Put up against beings that can boil the oceans or create and destroy matter at will, there are some species which hardly qualify as cannon fodder.
So when humanity's turn came at last to join The Trials, one of the powerful arbiters decided on an experiment. One human, a 'Mason Nevels,' was selected to enter The Trials months ahead of his race, and granted several small advantages in the hopes that he may be able to find the power to give humanity a fighting chance.
As a human, Mason's body burns at even the slightest exposure to mana, and the path to power he must walk will require a transformation through sacrifice that may strip him of the very humanity that leaves him so weak.
