The Ascension Age

Plants, which were noted to also have the ability to absorb Stellar Energy, haven't changed much during this time. They simply used it to grow taller and stronger. Though, ultimately, they were still just plants.

But at this moment, a certain tree located in an area of high Stellar Energy density suddenly passed through a transformation. It was as if the plant had reached the Stellar Manipulation Level itself. After the scientists analyzed it, they finally found the very first material in the world capable of storing Stellar Energy!

It didn't stop there, though. Soon, deep down in an iron mine, a shining ore had been found as well. Just like the plant, it had the power of storing Stellar Energy. Not only that, but Stellar Risers were even able to drive their Stellar Energy inside it. Such changes began to happen everywhere. It was slow at first, but the pace gradually increased as time passed.

Only then did the smart heads of humanity understand. It wasn't because there were no materials that they could use with technology and Stellar Energy. It was because they didn't get to evolve yet. And now that they did, they obviously became useful for their Stellar Risers.

With that event, the world once again passed through a huge transformation. Before, humans had the industrial revolution, which was soon followed by the technological revolution. Now, a new era had started, the Stellar Technological Revolution!

Once again, they weren't the only ones. Be it by coincidence or not, the other races also began to find these materials at the same time. In a certain way, the real technological race between all races had just started! Well, at least for those who had discovered technology. Nevertheless, those new discoveries made all races' technological advancements experience a boom. They could finally apply Stellar Energy to something else other than their bodies. Not to mention that they soon found out that its use was far beyond what they initially thought.

Unfortunately for humanity, their speed of development paled against some other races in the Universe, and this fact would pull their legs later.

Year 1638 after Stellar Energy first appeared. This year, the human race became a lower member of the Baulmu Stellar Alliance.

Well, it wasn't as if Earth had much of a chance to refuse. By the moment the Baulmu Alliance, which consisted of three main races at the forefront, arrived on Planet Earth, humanity still hadn't figured out how to use Stellar Energy to travel above lightspeed. In fact, their best efforts only reached a point where they could achieve 3% of that velocity, let alone surpassing it.

These three races were called Zamal, Ortan, and Spiritas.

The human race was akin to a sitting duck waiting to be eaten compared to them. There was nothing they could do when the Alliance arrived. Their Stellar Risers surpassed them in power. Their technology had left humanity eating dust as well. Their Risers didn't even need to take action. Just the weapons on their spaceship could vaporize humanity from existence.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn't happen. Humanity wasn't turned into slaves. That's because humanity had at least discovered the technology and could use it. The majority of races didn't even know what technology was. Those races had an even more pitiful end since they couldn't measure the difference between themselves and the Baulmu Alliance. In humanity's case, they understood how passive their situation would be the very moment the Alliance appeared on their doorsteps.

Of course, it wasn't as if everything was bad news. With the appearance of the Baulmu Alliance, they also received many of their technologies. After all, intelligent races, especially those that already knew the principles of things like atoms, cells, and so on, were just too rare. Humanity would be much more useful if they were integrated into the Alliance instead.

Of course, such a change only happened on the surface. In fact, humanity was gathering the resources of their own system and a few nearby ones for the big shots. Without the power to refuse, the Earthlings joined this endeavor.

Other intelligent races were put under their commands, which they used to help with the extraction of the resources. At the very least, the Alliance wasn't wicked. As long as a race didn't resist, they wouldn't forcefully enslave them and even give several benefits. Humanity made sure to make full use of that, which in turn also increased their own power. They couldn't challenge the top nine races of the Baulmu Alliance, but they weren't at the bottom either.

Then again, humans had always been opportunistic creatures, so this trait was at full display during the years.

One thing worth mentioning was the origin of the name Baulmu. In the end, that was how the top nine races called the Milky Way Galaxy. Thus, the Baulmu Alliance. Humanity was quite surprised at first to see that so many intelligent races existed in this galaxy. That being said, just how many others existed outside? One must not forget that races with technology were less than 1% of the total at first, but there were already 12 at this level in the Baulmu territory. Let alone the races who didn't know of it.

Well, there was a problem between the races that weren't technologically advanced. Most of them only had a basic level of intelligence. That being said, they weren't good to be used. Between the races without technology, the Alliance only took in the races that had the brains to understand it, while they left those who were too dumb alone. Well, it was more like those races would need a very long time to evolve their brains, just like humans did in the past.

Year 1856.

Earth didn't have separate countries anymore. Because of how many races were part of the Baulmu Alliance, Earth couldn't be taken as several separated entities. They only had one global currency that was used in their trade through the galaxy. Well, that and many other amendments were made during the years. Today, humanity had finally reached a stage of pseudo-unity that some would laugh at if told several hundred years prior. They had to do it for their own sake.

In this new single country called Earth, which spanned all world's lands, was a new city. People from all over the world came here, looking for their own chance at a bright future. The place was called Star City and was also Planet Earth's hub to the cosmos. Any human who ever dreamed of one day leaving the planet would have to start their journey here.

Today, a Stellar Land Train had just arrived in the city's Main Station. From inside, a young man of no more than 14 years old stepped out. He looked around helplessly, not noticing that he was blocking the people behind him who arrived on the same train.

*Pah!*

Suddenly, an older woman hit the young man's head, bringing him back to reality as she asked, "How much longer will you block the path? Get out!"

The young man quickly apologized and stepped out of the way. He didn't care about the pain. He only paid attention to all the different races around.

It was possible to see many other races walking in Star City. After all, Earth wasn't a bad planet to live on. Things like a race's type of breathing air, if they breathed at all, or any other environmental issue ceased to be a problem long ago with the advancement of technology. Obviously, that was all thanks to Stellar Energy.

There was one thing that would shock a human from the past, though. Be it coincidence or not, other races ended up evolving to have similar humanoid forms as well. It was called evolution by convergence, which, in fact, had also happened to the human race itself in the past. Of course, other races had their own special traits, but they weren't too different from humans, save for a few exceptions. After all, there were always exceptions to the rule. Nevertheless, those intelligent races with non-humanoid bodies were very rare.

All of that only made the young man's eyes more dispirited. He came from a small town on Earth, so it was extremely rare to see other races there. Earth was still a human planet, after all. In the end, he couldn't help but mentally remark.

'Aire Ruehnar, you really are out of luck...why must I be obligated to enter the Ascension Age School?'

The reason for that was simple, aptitude! However, don't misunderstand this word. Aire was anything but talented. There was one thing called Stellar Measurement. If a human was found to be inside the threshold, they were obligated to receive Stellar Riser Training. In other words, going to the Ascension Age School in Star City.

Aire Ruehnar... was at the very limit of acceptable aptitude. If he had done just slightly worse, he definitely wouldn't have gotten it. Worst of all, he himself didn't want to take part in all of this. Ascension Age? The Exploration Era? The path to breaking out of the Universe? Become a powerful Stellar Riser? He couldn't care less about all of that.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans for him.