The Gandis Empire.
Unlike the disciplined cities of the Gardenia Empire...
Or the peaceful villages scattered throughout its borders...
The Gandis Empire was a land of opportunity.
And with opportunity...
Came inequality.
Its capital shone like a jewel beneath the sun.
Towering buildings reached toward the heavens.
Markets bustled day and night.
Cultivators, merchants, mercenaries and adventurers from every corner of the Melika Realm filled its streets.
Yet...
Only a few miles away...
Another world existed.
---
The Ash Quarter.
A sprawling slum built upon the forgotten ruins of an ancient city.
Here...
The streets were narrow.
The buildings leaned against one another as if afraid to fall.
Children learned hunger before they learned words.
Trust...
Was a luxury.
---
A young boy darted through the crowded alleys.
His movements were swift.
Light.
Almost impossible to follow.
"Catch him!"
"He stole the bread!"
Three grown men chased after him, knocking over crates and market stalls.
The boy grinned.
"If you wanted it..."
"You should've held onto it better."
He leapt over a broken cart.
Slid beneath a wooden fence.
Then disappeared into a gap barely wide enough for a child.
The men skidded to a halt.
"Damn rat!"
"He vanished again!"
---
Several minutes later...
The boy emerged from beneath an abandoned building.
He dusted himself off before unwrapping the cloth hidden beneath his shirt.
Inside...
Half a loaf of bread.
His grin widened.
"Worth it."
He walked deeper into the slums.
Eventually stopping before a collapsed house.
Inside waited five younger children.
Their eyes immediately lit up.
"Big Brother Leon!"
"Did you get food?"
Leon smiled.
"I did."
Without hesitation...
He broke the bread into six pieces.
The smallest children received theirs first.
Only after everyone had eaten...
Did Leon take the smallest piece for himself.
---
An elderly woman watched from across the street.
"You spoil them."
Leon shrugged.
"They're still growing."
"And you aren't?"
"I'm already tall."
The old woman rolled her eyes.
"You've been saying that for two years."
Leon laughed.
"So eventually it'll be true."
---
That evening...
Rain began to fall.
Most people hurried indoors.
Leon remained outside.
He sat beneath the broken remains of an ancient stone statue.
Its face had long since eroded away.
He often came here when he wanted to think.
The city lights sparkled in the distance.
"So close..."
He whispered.
"...Yet another world."
He didn't hate the nobles.
Nor the rich.
He simply wondered...
What it felt like...
To never worry about tomorrow.
---
"You're thinking too much."
A calm voice sounded behind him.
Leon turned sharply.
An old beggar sat beneath the ruined archway.
His ragged clothes were soaked by the rain.
Yet strangely...
He didn't seem bothered.
"I've never seen you before."
"You weren't looking."
Leon frowned.
"What do you want?"
The old man smiled.
"Conversation."
"I don't have money."
"I don't want money."
"I don't have food either."
"I know."
The old man chuckled.
"You already gave it away."
Leon remained silent.
---
The old beggar looked toward the rain.
"Tell me, boy."
"If someone offered you power..."
"What would you do with it?"
Leon answered without hesitation.
"I'd make sure none of the children here ever go hungry again."
The old man nodded slowly.
"And if someone tried to stop you?"
Leon looked toward the distant Imperial Palace.
"Then..."
"I'd become strong enough that they couldn't."
The old man's eyes flashed briefly.
Just for an instant.
"So that's your answer."
---
He reached into his tattered robe.
Instead of money...
He produced a smooth black stone no larger than a thumb.
"Keep this."
Leon blinked.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
"...You don't know?"
The old man laughed.
"I found it many years ago."
"It never reacted to me."
"Perhaps it'll react to you."
Leon accepted the stone politely.
It was warm.
Surprisingly warm.
---
The rain gradually stopped.
When Leon looked up again...
The old beggar had disappeared.
"...Weird old man."
He slipped the stone into his pocket before heading back toward the abandoned house.
He never noticed...
That for a single fleeting moment...
The black stone pulsed with a faint silver light.
---
High above the city...
Standing upon the roof of a towering building...
The old beggar watched silently.
The wrinkles on his face slowly vanished.
His bent posture straightened.
His cloudy eyes became sharp enough to pierce the darkness.
His ragged clothing dissolved into elegant black robes embroidered with silver thread.
He was no beggar.
He was one of the Seven Shadow Elders of the Veiled Eye Pavilion, the greatest intelligence organization in the Melika Realm.
Elder Noctis smiled faintly.
"So..."
"A child with no cultivation..."
"No bloodline..."
"No backing..."
"And yet..."
"He answered without hesitation."
He looked toward the slums one last time.
"Let's see how far your resolve can carry you."
With a single step...
His figure vanished into the night.
Far below, Leon slept peacefully beside the children he considered family, unaware that his life had just attracted the attention of one of the most mysterious organizations in the Realm.
Some children were born destined for greatness.
Others...
Forced destiny to notice them.
End of Chapter 22