Far beyond the bustling cities of the Gandis Empire...
Beyond the trade routes and villages known to ordinary people...
There existed a place that did not appear on any map.
A valley where even the wind seemed afraid to linger.
The Black Lotus Sanctuary.
To the outside world...
It was nothing more than a myth.
To those who knew of its existence...
It was a nightmare.
For centuries, the Black Lotus Organization had operated from the shadows.
Assassinations.
Espionage.
Forbidden research.
Trafficking in ancient relics.
There were few crimes they had not committed.
Yet despite countless attempts by the great empires to eradicate them...
They endured.
Like weeds growing through stone.
---
Deep within the sanctuary...
Children stood in perfect rows beneath a blood-red banner.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Each child wore identical black robes.
Each had been taken from somewhere different.
Some had been abandoned.
Some had been sold.
Others...
Simply disappeared one night, never to return home.
To the Black Lotus...
Their pasts no longer mattered.
Only their usefulness.
---
A man dressed in black slowly walked before them.
His silver mask concealed everything except his cold crimson eyes.
He was known only as...
Instructor Zero.
"The weak..."
He spoke calmly.
"...die."
"The strong..."
"...survive."
"No one will protect you."
"No one will save you."
"If you wish to live..."
"Become stronger."
His words carried no emotion.
Only certainty.
---
Among the dozens of children...
One boy remained unusually calm.
His name...
Was Cassian.
He appeared to be around six years old.
Unlike the others, he wasn't trembling.
Nor was he trying to appear brave.
He simply observed.
His dark gray eyes studied everything around him.
Every guard.
Every exit.
Every weapon.
Every expression.
Nothing escaped his notice.
---
Instructor Zero stopped before him.
"What is your name?"
"Cassian."
"Your family?"
"I don't know."
"Your village?"
"I don't remember."
Zero stared at him for several moments.
"You lie."
Cassian met his gaze without flinching.
"Yes."
"...Why?"
"Because names and memories have value."
"If I tell you everything..."
"I have nothing left."
Silence.
One of the instructors standing nearby quietly reached for his blade.
Zero raised a hand.
"Leave him."
The instructor immediately stepped back.
---
For the first time that morning...
The masked man smiled.
A cold...
Almost imperceptible smile.
"Interesting."
---
That evening...
The children received their first meal.
A single bowl of thin soup.
Before anyone could eat...
Several older trainees entered.
Without warning...
They began taking food from the younger children.
Most cried.
Some resisted.
Those who resisted were beaten.
Cassian quietly watched.
When one of the older boys reached for his bowl...
Cassian simply handed it over.
The older trainee laughed.
"So you know your place."
Cassian nodded.
"I do."
The older boy walked away.
Several children looked at Cassian with pity.
"He gave up..."
"He didn't even fight."
---
Hours later...
The older trainee collapsed unconscious behind one of the buildings.
The stolen food had been laced with crushed Sleep Moss.
A harmless herb.
But enough to incapacitate someone for several hours.
Cassian calmly recovered his bowl.
Along with every other bowl that had been stolen.
He quietly returned them to the younger children while everyone slept.
One little girl looked at him in confusion.
"...Why?"
Cassian shrugged.
"They were hungry."
"So were you."
"I've gone hungry before."
"They haven't."
---
High above...
Instructor Zero watched everything.
Without interfering.
Without speaking.
When Cassian disappeared into the shadows once more...
The instructor murmured quietly.
"He doesn't seek victory."
"He seeks efficiency."
A woman in black robes appeared beside him.
"Should we eliminate him?"
Zero slowly shook his head.
"No."
"Watch him."
"He'll either become our greatest weapon..."
"...or our greatest mistake."
---
Later that night...
Cassian sat alone upon the roof of an abandoned hall.
The stars stretched endlessly above him.
He remembered very little.
A lullaby.
A woman's gentle smile.
A warm hand holding his.
Nothing else.
He slowly closed his eyes.
"I don't know who I was..."
"But I won't die here."
The wind answered with silence.
Far beneath the sanctuary...
Hidden within a forbidden chamber...
A black lotus carved into an ancient stone altar suddenly released a faint pulse.
For a single heartbeat...
The petals appeared to bloom.
Then...
They closed once more.
No one noticed.
Not even the elders.
But something ancient had acknowledged the boy.
Whether it was a blessing...
Or a curse...
Remained unknown.
---
Far away...
Across the forests and mountains of the Melika Realm...
Six children slept beneath the same night sky.
Kieran...
Who walked the Forgotten Way.
Alya...
Whose heart burned like fire.
Ethan...
Who sought to understand the world.
Ronan...
Who dreamed of forging miracles.
Leon...
Who refused to let others suffer alone.
Liora...
Whom the Worldroot had blessed.
And now...
Cassian.
A child being shaped by darkness.
Each walked a different road.
Each carried a different destiny.
None yet knew...
That the greatest mysteries of Gaia would one day bring all of their paths together.
End of Chapter 25