One year later

One year later.

"Did you hear? The bully from Old Era Academy got expelled because he killed someone."

"Do you really believe that? What a fool. I also heard about his fight. Let me tell you. It is impossible to destroy the skull of a person with only one punch." A teenager sneered, believing he was the smarter of the group.

"But what if it is true? My elder brother told me there is a new drug that strengthens you and makes you become faster. Ethan White, what do you think?" The third teenager said.

"No one knows what is going on, Luke Cage, but if I were you, I would not buy these drugs from your brother. Who knows where they come from" Ethan White said, using a comic tone. After noticing the group's reaction, he decided to ignore the laughs at Luke from the other two teenagers.

Ethan White has always been a loner, even more since he lost his only friend. But recently, he got used to the company of his classmates. He appreciates the brief warmth of society before reaching home.

…

At home, Ethan White found himself alone, as usual. His father was in the company's offices while his mother was attending a business banquet in Japan. Everything became easier for the White family after the culprit of the murder was found out.

The police found out that the culprit was Oscar's father, who enjoyed a prominent position in the company. The police suspect that he wanted to incriminate the White family to become the controlling shareholder. However, his plan failed after the police found Oscar's blood in his house.

The discovery led to a rigorous examination of the house, in which the police found a severed finger belonging to Oscar. After Oscar's father went to jail, the shares of the company increased again, and the White family got back to normality.

Ethan White cooked some dishes and took a seat on the table facing the TV in the dining room. The TV was as boring as always. If it were some other day, Ethan White would not be watching the TV. He would rather be reading some web novels on his laptop.

However, today the Earth Alliance will be making an announcement about the latest changes to Earth.

The screen changed to a mountain scenery from Canada a few minutes later. Three men were taking their positions, facing the cameras. These men were the three most important people on Earth, the presidents of the Earth Alliance.

"The Earth Alliance had been researching every change in our world, and after exhaustive efforts, we had found conclusive results. After the phenomenon we called The Descend, Earth has changed. A new form of energy is being irradiated constantly from the insides of the world, surrounding us." The President of the United States said.

"Calling it a form of energy could not be adequate, since it can not be transformed. According to the information given to us by a sphere found in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, this new form of energy is called Stellar Energy."

"While researching the sphere, we found out that the sphere is the source of Stellar Energy, or to be more exact, the sphere is connected to the entire world. This sphere seems to have two purposes: to maintain the form of the world and to give us basic information about it."

"The basic information given to us by the sphere includes the way about how to use the Stellar Energy surrounding us. Through daily exercise and pushing yourself to the limits of your body, a small amount of Stellar Energy will be absorbed each time." The President of Russia said.

"The amount can differ based on how you breathe, your mind's state, and the quality of your body. All of this can affect your absorption of Stellar Energy."

"The Stellar Energy has the capacity of improving and overcoming the human limit of our bodies. While the body is absorbing the Stellar Energy, the heart will be being molded into a sphere. At the time the heart is a complete sphere, your Heart Core will be formed. This Heart Core will give you an ability. We call this stage Ascended."

"At the moment, the world already has a hundred Ascenders, who are supporting the Earth Alliance. Their abilities go from shape-shifting in different beasts to being able to move objects with their mind." The President of China said.

"The strongest one of the hundred, named Thomas Wilberg, can manipulate and enhance the fire around his surroundings."

"For security reasons, we have set up an Ascended Center in the capital city of each country. From this moment, every new Ascended has to go there to register himself."

"An illegal Ascended, or an Ascended using their ability to do ill, will be detained and taken to a new prison for Ascenders. This is the end of the press conference. Thank you."

One can imagine the consequences of these declarations. While everyone was in shock, a wave of desire for getting stronger was spreading around the world. Numerous people were seen running in the streets, the gymnasiums were being filled to the brim and the TV News was reporting each new Ascended.

With a minimum of one Ascended per week, the world started a new era. Some called it the era of abilities, while a few wiser ones called it the Stellar Age. And just like this, Ethan White also proposed himself to be Ascended.

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"Oh man, it hurts!" Ethan White exclaimed while lying down on the grass.

In the park, hundreds of people were seen running around, jumping, having boxing fights... everyone was busy trying to improve their bodies and turn into an Ascended.

Ethan White had been training for three months. In these three months, new Ascenders appeared with new impressive abilities. Ethan White trained hard every day while wishing for a wonderful ability.

"I would not mind being able to manipulate thunder using a hammer or fire a laser beam from my forehead..." Ethan White exclaimed, getting ready to do some push-ups.

Ethan White felt nothing different since he began to train to become an Ascended, his body remaining the same. He was starting to be worried. He even began to doubt himself.

Everyone he knew had improved their bodies, and some even got Ascended. Even his parents got Ascended, while he only improved his body so slightly that he almost did not notice it. Ethan White even suspected that the mild improvements of his body were not related to the Stellar Energy.

Ethan White even tried the experimental rooms of his parent's company, a new sort of room that increases the absorption speed of the body. Developed by the Earth Alliance to train the army, each prestigious family had at least one of these rooms.

But Ethan White still did not make any improvement, even after several weeks of using the chamber. If it were not for his perseverance, Ethan White would already have admitted defeat.

At this moment, a familiar loud rumble echoed around the surrounding cosmos.

Ethan White became disoriented and dizzy, not knowing what was happening.

Earth began to tremble, a deafening noise coming from the insides of the world itself. In the air, a purple gas appeared everywhere. Ethan White felt his vision spinning, and his head was about to explode. At this moment, an ancient voice resonated in his mind.

"Galaxy C3Z2A1 has fulfilled the initial requirement for the Stellar Project."

"Locating Primitive Core planets."

"Analyzing the distribution of population."

"Opening a gateway in a safe zone."

Ethan White fell on the floor unconscious, his orifices starting to bleed.

"Gateway opened successfully."

...

After that, an unknown number of hours passed.

"Hello, are you awake?"