163 B.C.E.
Humanity made contact with an otherworldly species.
Because of their familiar appearance, resembling beings from myths, they were first termed Elves.
However, their true name was the Fil, and unlike the elves of legend, their skin was crimson red.
They were located within what humanity identified as the Alpha Centauri star system.
Through the Fil, humanity came into contact with one of the greater powers within the Milky Way Galaxy, those in whose territorial domain humanity supposedly resided.
The Overlords of the region.
The Mamons.
And from them, humanity learned far more than it had anticipated.
Apparently, Planet Earth had existed within an Energy Dead Zone, a region where energy was sparse to the point of near absence.
Only after the planet's awakening during the Null Year were external civilizations able to detect its increasing presence.
Because to them mortal races mattered less.
And with this revelation came further clarification regarding the Blessed.
These individuals were not random anomalies.
They had been chosen, selected by Earth itself for the future of humanity's expansion into the cosmos.
Humanity was also informed of something far more sobering.
According to the policies of the Mamons, and their non-intervention doctrine regarding developing civilizations, Earth had been granted a grace period of fifteen thousand years following its awakening.
During this time, no external power would interfere in humanity's conflicts with neighboring star systems.
However, once that period concluded, humanity would be required to choose its path.
It could become a subordinate race under the Mamons.
Or it could rise, prove itself and become their partners.
After all, these civilizations had existed within the cosmos far longer than humanity had known of it.
They had mastered the manipulation of that unknown energy – refined it, weaponized it, and woven it into the fabric of their societies.
Now that humanity understood it possessed limited time, the urgency of discovery intensified.
Historically, humans had never been a peaceful species.
And with advanced AIs evolving alongside the spread of energy, humanity did not retreat in fear.
It accelerated.
Research multiplied. Awakening rates were studied and optimized.
Energy cultivation methods were theorized.
Hybrid disciplines emerged where machine intelligence calculated what intuition alone could not.
Humanity did not wait to be judged.
It began to transcend itself.
And time passed…
5000 B.C.E.
Humanity had entered an unprecedented age. Yet this was also the era when something unsettling began to occur.
The Blessed started to disappear.
Or rather, the appearance of new Blessed ceased entirely.
Humanity had fully conquered its star system and had established contact with neighboring systems.
Expansion fleets moved beyond their birthplace. Colonies formed under foreign suns.
And in secret, humanity began developing weapons capable of planetary destruction.
Yet despite its rapid advancement, humanity was still weak.
With the emergence of Cosmic Energy, human society itself evolved.
Mages.
Swordsmen.
Cultivators.
Martial artists.
Genetic enhancements.
Cyborg augmentations.
What had once belonged to myth or speculative fiction became reality.
Lifespans lengthened as humanity learned to wield the energy saturating their world.
But amid progress, a disturbing discovery surfaced – one that, though subtle at first glance, was enough to send the highest authorities of humanity into fury.
Humanity had not forgotten its history.
Even before the Null Year, there had been cases of humans who mysteriously vanished without explanation.
Now, in retrospect, this phenomenon had a name:
The Loss of the Blessed.
[Mourning Music Playing in the background.]
Those who had possessed the potential to awaken as a Blessed had not simply disappeared.
They had been taken.
Kidnapped by unknown forces.
Or rather by other civilizations to other worlds.
They had targeted these individuals specifically.
At the time, the phenomenon had been jokingly referred to as Isekai, a cultural term born from fiction about people being transported to other worlds.
But it was no fiction and the reality was far more dire.
Each lost individual was a potential pillar of humanity's future.
A blessed. A general. A genius. A protector.
And the phenomenon had never truly stopped.
Even now, humanity lacked the means to defend against it.
The mechanism behind these disappearances was beyond science, beyond mana manipulation, beyond known mystery.
Humanity called it Ancient Magic.
With the assistance of allied civilizations, including the Fil, investigations were launched across star systems.
Dimensional traces were analyzed. Energy signatures were tracked.
Yet nothing.
No origin point.
No transit corridor.
No identifiable civilization within the Milky Way claimed responsibility.
Which led to a far more unsettling possibility.
Perhaps those responsible did not exist within the Milky Way at all.
Faced with this uncertainty, humanity responded in the only way it knew how.
Humanity prepared.
A classified initiative was established, hidden even from our closest allies.
A program designed to identify and cultivate humans with the highest latent potential directly on Earth itself.
If humanity could not stop the disappearances, it would ensure that those who remained would surpass all expectations.
The program was called:
The Frontier Human Institution.
And time continued to move.
Civilizations rose.
Energy deepened.
The cosmos watched.
And so much time passed.
10,000 B.C.E.
Today, we celebrate the glorious ten thousand years of our new history.
With the future of humanity in the hands of bright minds such as yourselves, we place our hope in you to surpass our limits, to grow beyond what we once believed possible.
For humanity is limitless.
You! The students of the Frontier Human Institution are the chosen ones of this new age!
–END–
[Credits]
[This program was brought to you by the World Government, in collaboration with the President of F.H.I.]
[We would also like to thank the sponsors.]
[Special thanks to the Head of the Student Body, Ri—]
CRACKLE!
The A.V. – Augmented Vision abruptly shut off and the room returned to normal, and a familiar, irritated voice cut through the silence.
"Bro! You're still watching these documentaries? Or don't tell me you were doing something highly suspicious within A.V!"