New Developments

"I am ready!" exclaimed Ethan White while gritting his teeth, getting ready for the electric shock.

Ethan White could see Thor pressing his hand into the square device, his eyes taking a shade of blue. His body's electric currents turned fierce, rotating rapidly around him.

A tiny electric shock traveled from the wires to Ethan White's patches, forcing Ethan White to take the examination more seriously.

'That electric shock felt like hell!' thought Ethan White. He just started and was already panicking.

Thor was focused on his work, trying to regulate the amount of power he was using. He did not even notice that Ethan White was shaking.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" yelled Ethan White, almost crying in pain after getting a more potent shock than the previous. Only at this moment, Thor noticed what was happening.

"Hey, little guy! What's with the crying out loud from a mild electric shock? Are you sure that you are an Ascended? Hahahahaha!" laughed Thor while getting his focus back to the device.

"I am sure. Proceed on! You will see, I will shock you with my exceptional ability!" Shouted Ethan White, not sure if he was saying these words to assure Thor or himself.

'What if I am mistaken, and I did not get Ascended? But it is impossible. My hair and eyes have changed. How could you explain this without being an Ascended?' thought Ethan White while holding down the pain from the newest electric shock, with some blood pouring out from his mouth.

While Ethan White immersed himself in his thoughts, Thor was eyeing his reaction. After pondering for a few seconds, he increased the power.

Ethan White was waiting for the next shock, thinking he was getting the gist of it, until he felt a strong electric current. His hairs stood up, and Ethan White sensed a wrecking pain filling his entire body. He could not even complain about the pain, feeling his whole body in complete numbness.

"So my guess was correct, you are not an Ascended. You are a little trouble, don't you? Hahahahaha. In a few minutes, the pain will go away. Do not forget to cry for your mama after leaving. These installations are only for Ascenders." muttered Thor while thinking about several unpleasant ways to deal with troublemakers. Unfortunately for him, the law abided equally for Apprentices and Ascenders.

'Apprentices' was a term being used lately by society to call the people who were training to be Ascenders but still did not get a Heart Core. Even though initially this term was used in a friendly tone, Ascenders used it to despise people with a worse body quality, boosting their ego.

After Ethan White heard these words, his mind crumpled. Keeping some of his tears, he left the Ascended Center. When he walked near the beautiful receptionist who helped him, she noticed him, and Ethan White could see her looking down on him.

'This is developing into an unpleasant world.' thought Ethan White while going back to the streets and taking a taxi to his house.

Even though Ethan White was feeling down, he still gained something from this experience. He noticed the purple mist going into his body while he was getting shocked. It was a negligible amount, but this helped Ethan White to understand what the purple gas is.

'The Stellar Energy seems to be purple, but I wonder what the reason is for me being able to see it.' Ethan White realized, wishing he could train right now to confirm his suspicion.

After waking up from a short coma and being repeatedly shocked, Ethan White only wished to arrive home and rest.

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'What good sleep I had!' exclaimed Ethan White in his mind.

Yesterday, after he arrived home, Ethan White expected to see his parents waiting for him, but the house was empty. Being slightly disappointed, Ethan White went to sleep.

After brushing his teeth, Ethan White cooked a Spanish omelet and ate while checking the last news on his phone.

'A Hollywood superstar got Ascended? I am not interested. A trick to get a million dollars? I am already rich. Is a panda 1 kilometer away from me? Oh, it is a nature reserve that opened a few days ago.' scrolled Ethan White on a news website.

'Oh, this is interesting! The gateways from The Second Descend, Earth have already found one! The North Pole? It is too far. I wish to see how it looks...' thought Ethan White, being disappointed.

"Alright, Ethan White! You have checked your phone enough. It is time to train!" Ethan White exclaimed to himself. Fortunately for him, no one was around. And like this, he went to his garden.

One could say the garden of the White family was as big as a park. These were just some exaggerations heard from their subordinates and other families who wanted a good relationship with the Whites. But it was not your typical garden either.

A row of Japanese cherries was adorning the surroundings of a majestic lake, with white swans moving around the water, taking care of the insects. One could see a wooden bridge crossing the lake from the shore to a small island in the middle. Carved tables with white oak chairs beautifying it.

Ethan White could see the purple fog being slightly denser than in the hospital. Looking around to see if he was alone in the garden, he prepared himself for warm-up.

'Luckily, the ones in charge of taking care of the land come during the night.' thought Ethan White while running at full speed.

Ethan White noticed the purple fog being absorbed by his body each time he took a breath. He was feeling faster, but the change was negligible.

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Ethan White repeated the same series of exercises for an entire week, even ditching his studies. Becoming faster was the only thought on his mind. But he had to stop his current schedule after his mother called him to ask about the academy.

He did not want to tell his parents about his obsession with getting Ascended. Therefore, he made a schedule: morning for the academy, two hours after coming back home for studies, and after that, he would exercise until the hour of dinner.

Ethan White wanted to show Thor and that not-beautiful-anymore receptionist that he was not to be looked down on! He already envisioned himself surprising them with a powerful ability.

And with these thoughts, Ethan White continued training, his body getting tougher. He only paused his exhausting new schedule to look at the news.

"Here Julia Motos from TV90. I find myself in the North Pole, near the zone where the gateway appeared. As you can see, many warships of the Earth Alliance are getting concentrated in the area. We can also often hear the roars of the warplanes flying over."

"We were told that this area is now a military base, and it is forbidden to go near it. Some of our reporters were detained after documenting the terrible state of soldiers who entered the base." informed Julia Motos, a reporter from TV90, while adding the evidence on a smaller screen.

In the video, Ethan White saw several wounded soldiers with blood on their uniforms going into the military base. Some of them were carrying large black bags. After a few seconds, a pair of soldiers guarding the gate noticed the journalists recording the situation and charged into them.

'I have a bad hunch about this.' thought Ethan White while going back to train.

In the following days, more TV channels were turning their attention to the North Pole. Some pictures and videos were leaked. Ethan White saw some leaks with destroyed airplanes and platoons of Ascenders regularly going out from the military base.

Rumors about Ascenders being called out by the army were spreading, and on a fateful day, an important announcement was made.

"War has broken out against the Golden Civilization!"