In ancient ruins, Rayan found himself lying there after that blinding light exploded in front of him. Instinctively, he turned around, but all he saw resembled a destroyed civilization. The most striking sight among the ruins was a massive monument covered in strange markings he could not understand. They were not like human language; it was a language unknown to him. Yet, among these markings, there was a text isolated from the rest, also not in human language. The strangest thing was that Rayan could understand what was written. The text read like an ancient legend:
"When the time comes, secrets will be revealed, borders will collapse, and the world will drown in destruction. A savior will be born who will restore the world."
This text was like a riddle. Rayan did not know its purpose or why it was the only thing he could comprehend despite not being in human language. He did not dwell on it long; his goal now was to determine where and when he was. He wandered through the rubble without reaching any conclusion. Suddenly, in the midst of the isolation he was in, he saw a light at the end of the path. He hurried to see what lay within. It appeared surreal, almost like a dream: a crystal-clear lake so transparent that its bottom could be seen. In the center of the lake stood a beautiful tree, bare of leaves, as if autumn had swept through and stripped it bare. A massive waterfall cascaded nearby, and as Rayan approached it, he discovered a cave behind the waterfall. Passing through the cave, and after hours of walking, he heard strange noises—cracking sounds. Before he could react, a group of monsters appeared before him: goblins.
Goblins had always been considered wretched creatures, even among their kind, one of the weakest of monsters. Their presence in this cave indicated Rayan's location: if goblins were here, it meant he was in the Human Continent. The only place goblins were hunted was the Human Continent. Due to their weakness, they were prey for other monsters, but what about humans? Humans were also weak, with only a few considered strong. Therefore, the Human Continent was the safest place for goblins to hide.
At this stage, Rayan had to eliminate these monsters immediately. However, the dilemma was that he had spent his entire life in a capsule. When he was abducted, he was only three years old and had no idea how to fight or wield a weapon. Yet his mind was relatively mature, able to understand and assess the crisis he was in, as his intellect surpassed his small body. The goblins attacked him, and he tried to evade their strikes. All he had now was a physically strong body due to being a mutant.
At the moment he tried to fend off one goblin, another appeared behind him, swinging its stone axe. Rayan narrowly avoided the blow, and attacks rained down on him from all sides. In a desperate attempt, he grabbed one goblin by the neck, trying to crush it, but the rest of the goblins swarmed him, beating him severely. His body, covered in bruises, looked pitiful. At that moment, he recalled the stories of the wizard who had worked in the laboratory, stories that Rayan had once thought were mere legends told by his grandfather—tales of the Black Wizard and mutants. But as he grew and nearly completed his development within the capsule, he realized he had truly become a mutant.
Rayan gritted his teeth under these harsh circumstances. If only he could harness even a fraction of his mutant power! But he refused to die here in such a pitiful state. Clenching his fists and ready for battle, he charged at the goblins with ferocity. In that instant, he felt his body surge with strength, enough to tear through the goblins' flesh and shatter their bones. He grabbed one goblin, took a deep breath, and crushed its neck, decapitating it. He continued this with the rest of the goblins. When he finished the last one, the place was a pool of goblin blood. He wiped his face, stained with blood, but his hands looked worse, completely drenched, making his appearance even more grotesque.
He then ran through the cave searching for the light. After a while, he finally found the cave's exit. It was on a high cliff, the wind blowing fiercely and purely. At last, he inhaled clean air and saw the sun once more. The feeling of freedom was indescribable. Now that he was liberated, what should he do? He wished he could save the other children who had been in the laboratory with him as experimental subjects. Their fate had been tragic; those who did not die in the experiments were killed by the world or incinerated by dragon fire. Rayan recalled some words of the laboratory wizard, who had said that all these experiments had failed—they could not create what they intended. The wizard suspected that the other sorcerers his companions had mentioned might have succeeded. Rayan immediately realized there was no other wizard in the lab. So, who were his companions? In a moment of reflection, he realized that there were other laboratories where similar things were happening.
Determined, Rayan decided he must save as many children as he could who had gone through the same ordeal. He would gather them all and rescue them; this was now his primary goal. But first, he needed a clue to lead him to the sorcerers' locations. Rayan set off on his exploratory journey, resolved to achieve his mission.
Two years after setting out into the wilderness, amidst a dense forest, he found a campfire surrounded by two small tents, from which noise emerged. There were Rayan and the three companions he had rescued over the past two years. First was Carlos, a mutant and the first friend Rayan had saved, a handsome fourteen-year-old. Second was Tala, a mutant girl Rayan and Carlos had rescued, a twelve-year-old with a sharp temper and volatile mood. Third was Til, an eleven-year-old boy with a weak personality. Finally, Rayan himself, the founder and leader of the team, aged twelve.
In the midst of a heated discussion, Rayan shouted that he would make the world acknowledge their organization and build them a great legacy. Carlos replied in a gentle tone, trying to calm him: "Wouldn't it be wiser to clear our names of the accusations first?"
Tala exclaimed: "Do you know what you did, fool? You kidnapped the daughter of the Phoenix Town's mayor!"
Rayan objected: "I only wanted to invite her to dinner, but the guards prevented me, so I used my own method."
Tala: "Your method?! If Carlos hadn't intervened and returned her, convincing her to hide the truth of her abduction, you would have been doomed! And you also stole one hundred gold coins from the Royal Bank of Terrafon!"
Rayan protested: "I only recovered them!"
Tala, sternly: "You didn't recover anything! You sneaked in at night and stole the money!"
Rayan: "It was all that accountant's fault! He refused to lend me ten coins, so I took them my way."
Tala: "Then why steal a hundred coins if you only needed ten?"
Rayan, hesitantly: "Fine, it doesn't matter. I'll return them when I get the rest."
Til added hesitantly: "I also impersonated a noble's son and caused chaos at a noble wedding, and I stole the Transformation Knowledge Book from the main library of Orphis Kingdom."
Carlos shouted to stop the argument: "Enough! First, we must focus on our new destination. We are approaching it, so postpone this discussion until later."
Tala, gently: "Fine, if you think that's best, we'll postpone the record of issues for now."
Til: "Alright, I think we should hurry to our destination and depart at dawn."
At dawn, Rayan and his companions set out toward their next destination.
End of Chapter