'Planet Earth, the year 2019.

The time when the beautiful blue skies of Earth turned bright white, humanity's concept of reality has been flipped over so easily. The sun is no longer visible in the day, but the skies have become bright white--even rain clouds have become bright white.

At night,  the white moon had turned into Red moon, and it is now accompanied with 2 more moons, colored green and blue.

This bizarre phenomenon alerted NASA and called back their Space Explorers. But somehow,  The astronauts outside, could not see the strange phenomena--as if all of it is an illusion.

The astronauts safely came back to Earth, but when they launched to go back to space, they crashed into something similar to a barrier.

Earth has been blocked off from the inside. We can't leave, but objects from space can still get in.

Impossible things also started to occur. Humans started to gain supernatural abilities.

For example, one human who was chopping trees in the mountain suddenly gained strength to chop a thick tree in 1 strike. Another case was the swimmer who gained the ability to breathe underwater.

Even non-living things also gained an ability. For example, a pebble from the streets suddenly became a huge mountain. Truly bizarre.

Most horrifyingly of all, some animals also gained abilities. For example, a dog that was always been physically harmed by neighborhood kids transformed into 3-meter tall dog beast and ate them.

These supernatural things were not well-received by society. Some jubilantly accepted them, and called them 'blessings'.

These changes caused panic and chaos worldwide. A lot of civilians were harmed by the crazy 'blessing' holders. 

Later, wars started. Instigators are naturally the big ones up in the ladder of wealth and power. The laws have been broken. It's the rise of a new era.

In the end, individual strength and capabilities reigned supreme.

Heroes rose and fell, wars started and ended, countries fell, and new powers rose. In just hundreds of year, Planet Earth's size became at least three times bigger.

Everything within Planet Earth also changed. Everything became bigger and stronger...but humans' physique did not grow bigger, it became tougher and stronger instead. Human's brain also became better, some humans could even function better than Artificial Intelligence. 

It was when humans started to feel the presence of energy within their body and from their surroundings.

This energy was called 'ki' in ancient times. Humans started 'ki' arts and eventually incorporated them into various arts, which was later resulted in the rise of Martial Arts.

Humans, however, are very clever. They even managed to find out a way to manipulate the 'ki' in the surroundings using their latest technology and infuse it to types of machinery.

'Ki' infused weaponry dominated the world. Because of the horrifying attacking capabilities of it, the instigators of chaos became wary of each other and became reluctant to wage war.

Thus, Planet Earth gained peace and order once more.

And now, the year 2666, countries have flourished and became Kingdoms. Empires also rose to power. 

The Church also gained greater prestige as humans believed that everything was according to the plan of God.

Throughout the years, humans made a wide range of diverse inventions. They created flight equipment such as flying cars, battle suits, etc.

Of course,  at exorbitant prices.

***

I am Astra Vorn Andromeda, 20, Single, Male. The disowned son of Andromeda Clan.

2 years ago, the year 2664, I gained a 'blessing'.

That day...

I was beyond happy when I noticed the slightly shining, tribal-like mark that covered my whole torso like a tattoo when I looked at the mirror that morning.

The mark also spread to my neck and shoulders, which gave me a dangerous bad boy look. Although every 'blessed' individual has different blessed markings, I daresay mine looks the coolest.

It's the proof that one is a 'blessed'!

It was a joyous day of celebration!

My stoic father was full of smiles. My mother very proud of me. My siblings and clan members looked up to me in admiration and awe. The first-born son of Duke Andromeda will lead the family to a golden age!

My family arranged a grand banquet on the same day. Various members of the nobility were invited, even the Imperial Family of the Empire will send members to join in.

The revelation of Andromeda Clan's future rise rapidly spread. Our status unbelievably skyrocketed.

Since every 'blessed' must immediately report to the authorities of the empire to be tested, I immediately headed towards the 'Blessed Test Grounds' with a flamboyant entourage.

Fancy flying cars flew like a flock of birds. Seeing the fancy looking cars lined up at the Test Ground's entrance,  it made a ruckus and caused the people around to gather up in curiosity.

The 'Blessed Grounds' is a massive facility where they train the blessed ones. Every empire has one, and it is where they test the new blessed ones.

The blessed one's ability will be assessed and evaluated by them accordingly.

Depending on the results, the blessed individual will be given a token of prestige. This token is the symbol of status around the world!

That's because gaining a 'blessing' is a rare case!

When I came in to report that I'm a blessed to the authorities, I underwent a series of tests, like stay underwater, play with fire, dive through the skies, and much more.

However, after hours and hours of tests, the results were opposite to my expectations.

I was declared to be a fake--a human with fake blessing marks.

In the past, the Blessed Grounds didn't exist yet.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

A number of people imitated the blessed markings and declared themselves to be 'blessed', and gained the recognition of people.

These 'fake' people abused their authority and prestige, causing countless problems throughout the world.

It was then when a 'fake' was married to a favored Imperial Princess of a certain powerful empire.

It was discovered that the blessed markings he possessed were fake.

He was immediately beheaded on the spot and the powerful empire issued a grand gathering that brought all the powerful figures of the world.

Therefore, the 'Blessed Grounds' was made.

The security immediately kicked me out of the 'blessed evaluation grounds'. They also threw the parchment of results in my face mercilessly. Their eyes full of disgust and contempt.

The entourage I brought sneered at me in disgust and left.

Everyone looked at me like a big pile of smelly shit full of worms.

I was paralyzed and stood still like a tree. Moments later, I realized that I'm the only one left around.

'Why? Why did this happen to me? How could this be happening to me?' are the only thoughts that filled my mind.

It's about to get dark and the 3 moons revealed themselves beyond the skies.

My heart felt heavy, the pressure was killing me. I thought of running away from home and avoid the similar sight of me being treated like a pile of shit.

But the truth of me being a 'fake' will soon spread. I clenched my fists tightly that my knuckles went white.

I can't escape my destiny...

I drove my fancy flying car back home. In the distance, I could see the grand hall's lights illuminate the surroundings.

I could see a massive amount of vehicles parked around the streets. The waves of laughter could be heard from afar.

The atmosphere was truly cheerful, but my negativity became even heavier and the pressure was enough to kill me.

I clenched my teeth and submitted to my fate.

I slowly approached my father, who is full of smiles, and gave blessed ground's result parchment to him.

When my father finished reading it, he frowned heavily. He looked at me in anger.

He walked towards the stage, his expression grim.

Seeing that, my heart seemed to stop beating. The time seemed to slow down.

I know full well what he's about to do, and I could only stand still and watch.

My father gathered the attention of the visitors, and read the content of the parchment. With his voice infused with 'Ki' energy, everyone could hear his worlds loud and clear.

After that, he shamed me on the spot and declared me to be disowned and exiled.

I received all the shame, hate, and disgust of everyone as I stood still. What a déjà vu

I already know what would happen to me...

But still, its too painful...

That night, my world crumbled. My father disowned me. My mother who was supposed to be full of motherly love looked at me in disgust.

My siblings and all my clan members scorned me.

They all threw away the pretenses and openly shamed me.

'What wrong did I do to deserve all of these?'

I turned around and saw my beloved fiancee. I know she will understand me. We love and care for each other so much. We have known each other since we were kids and we were destined to marry.

However, her expression dealt the most devastating blow to me.

I clenched my teeth and fists. Since I am disowned and now an exile, I no longer have the right to have any of the nobility's possessions.

I calmly removed my clothes, my accessories, all of my possessions, only leaving my tight fitting inner shirt and my underwear.

I turned towards the exit, my lonely back facing everyone.

They already burned the bridges. There's no point in bidding my farewell.

The people on the street would cast me a strange look and ask me if I'm okay since these commoners didn't know what happened inside the clan.

...And ever since that day I became an exile, I lived my life as an independent, lowly commoner.

Leaving the empire would cost me a lot of money, and because of my status as 'fake', it only made it harder to cross the border.

Therefore, I remained within the Excelsis Empire and endured.

Thanks to my upbringing, I entered a certain restaurant that accepted me.

Although the salary as a cook at the restaurant was low, it was enough to cover my living expenses.

I didn't lose hope and continued living. The people around me still looked at me in contempt and disgust. People of my age would attempt to beat me up on a daily basis.

It was truly a tragic undeserved lifestyle.

But I believe that something will change soon enough.

I received a 'blessing'; a rare occurrence!

Every day, after work hours, I trained my body and mind to the limit.

For example, training my body and mentally reciting the 'Book of Knowledge for Dummies: Nobility Edition Volumes 1 through 100' at the same time.

It sounds absurd but I do it on a daily basis. Although I do not know what my 'blessing' was, I never gave up to discover what it truly was.

30th day of May, the year 2666

I'm having my jog to complete my daily training when suddenly a man in black robes blocked my way. His height is around 2 and a half meters. His physique was abnormally huge compared to today's big guys. The veins on his hands are bulging like crazy too. Is he a 'blessed' person?

Cold sweat trickled down my face and back. I'm just commoner who went outside for his evening jog and somehow managed to run into this person.

I scanned my surroundings quickly and found out that there are security cameras. He simply stood in front of me, his aura urging me not to do any needless actions.

I can't rely on the city's security in this situation and people around us will only think that we're acquaintances having a staring contest.

'Why me? I don't have anything valuable on me but this robber still decided to rob me. Or...maybe he's here for needless slaughter?!-'

My racing thoughts were cut off when the robed man in front of me stomped his heavy foot forward.  My body tensed up and unconsciously crouched slightly; ready to flee at any moment.

The atmosphere grew heavy and my alertness reached the peak.

The person in black robes step forward once more and my body unconsciously leaped backward like a cat.

Contrary to my thoughts, the person did not attack me but instead pointed his fingers towards the dark and narrow alley.

After I realized what his motives are, I turned tail and ran for my life.

He's planning something sinister! I ran with all my might, exceeding my limits.

But the huge person in black robes came crashing down up front. He jumped over above me!

His aura even more threatening, I decided not to flee anymore and abide by his demands. I reluctantly walked towards the dark narrow alley he pointed to a few moments ago.

I stood in front of the dark and narrow alley that we are about to go, unconsciously gulped and tighten my fists. As if my mind was split in two, one encouraging me not to go and one insisting to go.

As I am internally struggling, the black-robed man stepped up forward. He clapped his hands together and uttered 'Force links Persona and Anima'.

After he muttered the words, I felt a slight tremble on the ground. Then the black-robed man stepped aside, hinting me to walk before him.

This dark alley gave me chills as if we are going inside the mouth of a beast. I clenched my teeth and stepped forward.

We walked through the dark and narrow alley, our footsteps the only sound I could hear. This alley appears to be infinitely long. We have been walking for at least half an hour but there is no sign of its end. I clenched my teeth and endured.

'It's pitch black. I don't know what's in front. Where are we going? When will it end? Is there a way to go back-'

My thought was cut off again when I heard the black-robed man's footsteps come to a stop.

It's dark and I couldn't see anything, so I stood still in place.

Surprisingly, the man behind me started to talk.

"Your planet is truly fascinating. The origin energy is thicker even within the world I came from. It even has inexplicable elements mixed within. Truly marvelous!" the man said with his gravelly voice.

"You Earthlings are truly lucky to be in living in peace and prosperity. If a greedy existence found your planet, everything within will be turned into energy!"

Shocked by his words, I found it all impossible to disbelieve. His words are like the truth and impossible to refute.

"And there's you... a mere human, within you, resides a power I'm extremely familiar with. I believe you call it a 'blessing' in your world? Hehe, don't lose faith and train hard!"

'A  power he's extremely familiar with!? It's my perfect chance to ask him what it is!'

I clenched my fists and mustered all the courage and decided to speak up. But when I tried to do so, I suddenly felt a stinging sensation everywhere on my body.

I howled in pain, and suddenly luminescent lines started appearing on the ground, myself as the center.

'So we were not walking on an alley after all!'

The luminescent lines spread endlessly as far as my eyes could see.

Surprisingly, my 'blessing mark' seemed to have resonated with it! The dim light in my blessing mark shined blindingly.

Suddenly, three gigantic globes of light showed up above, colored cyan, gold, and magenta.

My heart raced nervously. What exactly is going on? Is this something dangerous?

While being engrossed by the unbearable pain, the luminescent light that has been spreading around lit up explosively and some sort of energy invaded my body and mind, which caused an even more painful sensation throughout my body.

Black mist also started to engulf my body.

I persevered to resist the pain but in the end, I collapsed and fell face down on the dark floor.

**

I felt excruciating pain all over my body. I tried to open my eyes but to no avail.

Apparently, I'm in a state of paralysis.

I decided to relax my whole body and gave myself up to destiny. But right after I did so, I heard heavy footsteps towards me. That person must be the black-robed man.

"Very good. You truly are worthy of the Great Goddess' praise." the man said as he approached closer.

"Congratulations, you are the first to arrive."