The evening sky enveloped the valley and the dojo with a soft golden light. The air still held the heat from the scorching afternoon training, but the shadows began to stretch, giving the illusion of time passing slowly.
In the middle of the courtyard, I sat down at the corner of the dojo, my body covered in sweat and my breathing irregular. My fingers trembled as I held the wooden sword, and my vision began to blur, as if the world around me was fading into gray.
The sword finally slipped from my grasp, falling with a soft clashing sound. Silence. Then everything disappeared into darkness.
Faintly, a blinding white light shone. The smell of metal and antiseptic wafted into my consciousness, which was suspended between dreams and reality. Voices echoed, distant and layered.
I opened my eyes—or rather, I just felt alive. There was no sound of a baby crying. No warmth of a hug. All I saw was a man standing behind a three-inch thick glass wall. His face was blurry, like it was shrouded in mist that I couldn't penetrate. But one thing was clear—a smile, flat, measured, and cold.
"Subject E-355 shows a stable initial response. Hmm... interesting," the man said, his voice hoarse yet light, like he was evaluating an object, not a human.
He glanced at someone outside my field of vision. "Take him out of the incubator. It's time for him to enter the real world phase."
"Will he be sent to an orphanage like the usual procedure, sir?" asked another voice—younger, perhaps an assistant.
"Yes. The outside world is part of this experiment. Let's see if the clone from the DNA of a late-stage cancer patient who just passed away can survive without memories, without direction, and without identity? Let him live as a human. If it can be called that."
Then everything flickered. The light changed. The setting changed. A dirty sky, the sound of children chattering in the noise. A rundown orphanage with peeling walls, filled with children with sad gazes, and hunger. They would become enthusiastic when the lords and ladies came to adopt them.
I, or the nameless child back then, just stood in the corner of the room. I didn't know why I was there. Didn't know who I was, or who brought me. I grew into a timid figure lacking confidence, so I only dared to stand in the corner of the room, watching other children play, and sharing food with my peers.
A large man, wearing tattered robes, gazed at me with a sharp stare. "This child is strange. No records, no background. But there's something in his eyes," he muttered.
He crouched down, rubbing his chin. "A pitiful child. You're not worth selling, but... maybe I can make use of you. Come with me."
For some reason I couldn't remember, my small hand accepted the man's outstretched hand. Then he patiently led me out of the orphanage. I didn't know if it was the start of my life or the end of my humanity.
The mysterious dream suddenly vanished, shattered like shards of glass. I woke up abruptly, startled by a cold touch on my cheek. In front of me stood Master Jian Chen, my teacher, with a sharp gaze, calling out to me. Beside him, Alexandria waited patiently.
"You fell asleep again," she said softly.
"Alexandria has been trying to wake you up for a while now. But you didn't move at all. Are you tired? You look really pale."
Now he looked very worried about me. I was silent for a moment. There was still a heavy feeling in my chest, as if the pressure from the dream hadn't fully gone away. But when I tried to remember, everything disappeared like dust blown away by the wind.
"I... don't know. I think I had a dream, but I couldn't remember it," I replied softly.
Master Jian Chen nodded slightly. He said, "Go have lunch and take a bath first. We'll continue later. This training is far from over. Stand up. If you keep moving stiffly like that, you'll die on the battlefield before you even get to shout."
The afternoon passed in a flurry of sweat and heavy breathing. I repeatedly practiced the maneuvers taught by my teacher. Dodging, parrying, and counterattacking. But my body wasn't synchronized. My muscles felt stiff. I didn't understand why this was happening, whether it was because I hadn't done intense physical activity in a while and was too busy playing games, or if I simply didn't have a talent for martial arts.
Master Jian Chen demonstrated his technique once again. His movements were swift, as smooth as flowing water and as precise as a needle pricking the skin as he spun with his sword slicing through the wooden dummy in front of him.
"Don't be afraid of getting hurt," he said after landing smoothly. "Wounds can heal. But fear will lock up your instincts. Let your body flow like a river."
I tried to digest his words and put them into practice. But my mind was chaotic. It was as if my body and soul weren't speaking the same language. Behind the shadow of the dojo, a bespectacled man observed from a distance. He stood still, monitoring my training with an expressionless face. His left hand grasped a small communication device.
"Headquarters calling. Helix Industries is mobilizing elite troops to the Izu Islands. Maximum security escort. Even Charlotte is being deployed," the voice from the device was clear.
The man didn't respond directly. He just muttered, "Charlotte... If a Rank-S Valkyrie is involved, there's definitely more to this than just an expedition. The Overseer is planning something. And if that's the case, that kid needs to be ready to face a dangerous battle soon." He glanced at me once more, his eyes darkening, and remaining sharp as usual. Just by looking at that darkness, I could feel a bad omen, and a huge warning of danger.
The night sea was turbulent. Waves crashed against the hull of the Helix-flagged military ship, hard as a giant hammer pounding metal. A thin mist began to envelop the surface of the water, hiding the glow of the moon hanging low on the horizon.
On the main deck, Charlotte stood tall. Her silver hair fluttered wildly in the cold salty wind, and her magnificent Valkyrie armor reflected the moonlight like a divine shell from ancient times.
From behind a steel door, Liliana emerged carrying a metal tray with hot soup and dry bread, her steps cautious as she followed the rhythm of the ship that was starting to rock gently.
"Eat, before your body temperature drops," she said, sitting down beside Charlotte. "You haven't eaten anything since morning."
Charlotte exhaled softly, but her voice sounded tired. "If I cooked myself, we might have died from food poisoning. Thanks, Liliana."
"Don't mention your cooking. I'm still traumatized by the burnt rice two weeks ago." A small laugh warmed the deck for a few seconds... before everything collapsed.
Suddenly, a massive jolt hit the ship. A loud boom echoed from below deck, like something enormous had collided with the hull. The sirens immediately blared, echoing through the ship's corridors. Red lights flickered on one by one, casting a vibrating shadow along the walls.
Liliana stood up quickly, the tray of food tumbling to the ground. "That's not a normal collision!" she cried, staring at the portable sensor screen hanging from her waist. "The sensor detects Honkai energy! The radiation is too strong! This... this is impossible...!"
A gigantic wave, as tall as a tower, rose from behind the mist. The ship rocked violently. From the darkness of the sea, a massive creature emerged. Its body was covered in dark blue scales, its eyes glowing like embers from the depths of hell. Its voice was not like the roar of a beast, but like the scream of a world that had died.
The Pureborn Leviathan, a sea monster from the depths that was only mentioned in secret reports. Honkai radiation pulsed from its body in invisible waves. The ship's metal began to hiss, the protective paint melting, and part of the deck's surface cracked under the massive energy pressure.
In one swipe of its tail, the ship's hull, thick as a fortress, was destroyed like rotten wood. Seawater poured in like a devil's spout, flooding the engine room in seconds. Some crew members were swept away by the waves before they could activate their protection.
Charlotte gazed fearlessly. In the chaos, she moved swiftly. She headed to the personal armory on the middle deck. A row of Valkyrie combat equipment was mounted on the wall like a collection of war gods. She chose one: a combat armor layered with black and silver metal-crystal, adjusted to a high-level synchronization system.
It took a few seconds for the armor to fit perfectly, but in those seconds, every movement Charlotte made was like a dance of death, trained for decades.
She activated the weapon generator integrated into both her arms. A pale blue light emanated, forming twin plasma swords. The helmet's sensors adjusted to her body's pulse and the surrounding environment, providing real-time data on water pressure, wind direction, and radiation concentration.
Liliana, although her body was trembling, stood behind her and activated her personal energy shield. "I'll help the other crew members to the lifeboats! Charlotte... be careful!"
Charlotte didn't turn around. She stood at the edge of the deck, the wind and energy swirling around her like a thunderstorm waiting to erupt. "All units!" she shouted through the open communication channel. Her voice was heavy, yet steady, vibrating the hearts of everyone who heard it. "Prepare your weapons! Defensive formation! This is not a drill. We're facing a real disaster creature!"
The Leviathan roared, its voice shaking the ocean. Its Honkai radiation vibrated the air and water like a death grip. The ship began to tilt. The tidal wave crashed against the side of the deck with almost impossible strength. But Charlotte stood firm.
Lightning flashed above them. The sea roared below. And I knew that in a place far from there, the world was once again preparing to open a new chapter in the war between humans, technology, and ancient creatures from the depths of time.
However, no one realized that all of this would lead to me, a teenager without a past, who didn't even know that I wasn't human, but a leftover experiment from human ambition. And deep inside my head, like an echo from a past I never knew, the voice whispered again. Softly. Unfamiliarly. You're no one, Ethan. You're the result of tragedy and hope forced back to life. But one day you'll understand. And when that day comes... this world will burn.