At the age of sixteen...
Alji left the mansion for the first time without an escort.
It was not because his father trusted him.
But because he wanted to see for himself whether his son could survive in a world not governed by the laws of the nobility.
Before his departure, Edward stood before the main gate.
He did not embrace him.
Nor did he tell him to be careful.
He simply said:
"Remember one thing."
Alji looked at him.
"Out there... no one cares about your family's name."
Then he tossed him a small pouch of coins.
"If you die...
Don't come back."
Alji nodded.
Then turned away without looking back.
But as he walked farther away...
He glanced toward the garden for a brief moment.
His mother was standing among the flowers, holding a white rose in her trembling hand.
She was smiling...
But her tears came before her smile.
He raised his hand in a simple farewell.
Then disappeared beyond the stone road.
That was the last time he ever saw her.
The cities were nothing like he had imagined.
He had thought the nobles were the cruelest people.
But he discovered that the poor became even crueler when they were hungry.
During the first week...
His money was stolen.
In the second week...
A merchant deceived him and sold him a poor-quality sword for three times its value.
And in the third week...
Three men tried to kill him for his bag.
He killed all of them.
And felt no regret.
He sat beside their corpses and counted the few coins they carried.
Then muttered:
"Mercy is not a currency that can buy a meal."
He began working as a caravan guard.
Not because he needed the job.
But because he needed to travel.
He wanted to see the world.
And in every city...
He observed people more than he fought.
He noticed that the wealthy did not rule through strength.
But through fear.
And he realized that bread...
Was more powerful than the sword.
Whoever controls food...
Controls people.
And whoever controls hunger...
Controls kingdoms.
From that moment on...
A small idea began to grow inside him.
If one day he could control the people's food...
He would never need a war.
He would make them kneel of their own accord.
Months later...
One of the caravans arrived at a devastated village.
Famine had consumed everything.
Thin children.
Elderly people digging through the dirt in search of roots.
And mothers dividing a single piece of bread among five children.
The merchants were selling food.
But at prices impossible to pay.
Alji stood watching the scene for a long time.
Then asked the caravan leader:
"Why don't you lower the prices?"
The man laughed.
And said:
"Because they'll pay no matter the cost."
"And if they don't have the money?"
"They'll sell their homes."
"And if they don't have homes?"
"They'll sell their children."
Silence followed.
Then Alji looked at the village one last time.
He felt no pity.
Only admiration.
How easy it was...
For a human being to become a slave when hungry.
That night...
He wrote a single sentence in the small notebook he carried with him.
"Hunger... is the world's greatest weapon."
He did not know...
That one day, this sentence would become the foundation of his empire.
He continued traveling.
In one of the coastal cities...
He received an unsigned invitation.
"If you want work that earns rivers of gold...
Come to the old harbor after midnight."
He did not hesitate.
He went.
Heavy rain poured from the sky.
And the harbor was empty except for a black ship.
He approached it.
Suddenly...
Men dressed in dark clothing emerged from every direction.
They surrounded him.
But none of them attacked.
They split into two lines.
Then...
A tall man stepped down from the ship.
His eyes were blue like ice.
His hair was white.
He smiled a cold smile.
And said:
"So...
You're Alji."
He did not answer.
The man continued:
"I represent..."
He paused for a moment.
"...the Winter Mafia."
The name alone was enough to inspire terror.
Winter was one of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the continent.
But Alji's expression did not change.
The white-haired man smiled.
"I like your composure."
Alji replied:
"If I were afraid of names...
I wouldn't have come."
The man laughed for the first time.
Alji spent the entire night speaking with Winter's leaders.
They did not ask him about his past.
Nor did he ask them about their crimes.
The entire conversation revolved around only one thing...
Interests.
One of the leaders said:
"We want a man who knows no mercy."
Alji replied:
"Mercy interferes with calculations."
Another asked:
"And what do you want?"
Without hesitation, he answered:
"Power."
"Why?"
"Because power makes people carry out your orders... while believing they chose to do so themselves."
Silence filled the room.
Then the leaders exchanged glances.
At the end of the meeting...
The leader of Winter said:
"We'll meet again."
Alji left the ship.
But he did not join them.
Not yet.
He knew...
That a tool becomes worthless when it is held by only one hand.
But if everyone needs it...
It becomes a treasure.
That was why...
He decided to build his own empire first.
As the black ship sailed away from the harbor...
Alji stood watching the sea.
Then smiled, a smile so faint it was barely visible.
He had finally found...
People who thought the same way he did.
Months after his meeting with the men of Winter...
Alji disappeared.
He no longer appeared in training grounds, noble competitions, or even among the mercenaries who had grown accustomed to seeing his long black hair sway with the wind.
It was as though the earth itself had swallowed him.
But the truth...
Was that he was forging himself far from everyone's eyes.
He rented a small house on the outskirts of a trading city and turned its basement into a training room.
The walls held no paintings or decorations.
Only cracks, dried bloodstains, and shattered wooden targets.
He spent countless hours refining his Sound Element.
Every day, he discovered something new.
He no longer used sound only for attacking.
He began controlling its vibrations within his own body.
He repeated the same technique hundreds of times.
Five seconds.
Then he collapsed.
Five seconds.
Then he vomited blood.
Five seconds.
Then he stood up again.
After an entire year...
The technique no longer destroyed his body as it once had.
It had become a part of him.
One day...
He stood before a mirror.
He looked at his long black hair.
At the scars that had begun covering his arms.
Then he said quietly:
"Strength alone isn't enough..."
"I have to make them fear me before I fight them."
From that day onward...
He began creating a name instead of a face.
He killed anyone who stood in his way without leaving a single witness.
He never wore the same clothes twice during his operations.
Nor did he use the same weapon twice in succession.
And he never allowed anyone to see his face clearly.
He became like a ghost.
Appearing...
Then disappearing.
One night...
He attacked a massive grain warehouse.
His goal was not theft.
But fire.
He watched the flames consume thousands of sacks.
One of his followers said fearfully:
"Thousands of people will die of hunger."
Alji looked at him coldly.
Then said:
"And then..."
"The merchants will sell food for ten times the price."
"And whoever owns the warehouses will profit."
The man hesitated.
"But the innocent..."
Alji interrupted him.
"There are no innocents."
"There are only..."
"Winners and losers."
That night...
Was the first time his followers realized that their leader knew nothing of compassion.
It did not take long before rumors began to spread.
There was an unknown figure manipulating the market from the shadows.
Whenever a warehouse burned...
Prices rose.
Whenever a merchant disappeared...
His business passed to someone else.
No one knew how it was happening.
But everyone knew one thing.
There was a man...
Creating famine with his own hands.
One evening...
Alji returned to the mansion after years of absence.
He entered quietly.
His mother was still in the garden.
The years had aged her...
Yet she still planted flowers.
When she saw him...
She smiled.
She walked toward him.
And said nothing.
She simply embraced him.
He remained standing without returning the embrace.
After a few moments...
She stepped back.
Then, looking into his eyes, she said:
"You're no longer the child I once knew."
He did not answer.
She continued sadly:
"Your eyes have become cold."
She took out a white flower.
And placed it in his hand.
"No matter what happens..."
"Don't let your heart die."
He stared at the flower.
Then closed his hand around it.
But when he left the mansion...
He placed it on the first grave he passed.
To him...
Flowers were nothing more than plants.
As for his father...
He was waiting inside the training hall.
The two men stood facing one another.
Neither of them spoke.
Then the father raised his sword.
Alji raised his own.
And they clashed.
The battle lasted for more than an hour.
When it finally ended...
The ground was covered with craters.
Dozens of wooden dummies had been destroyed.
The father took a deep breath.
Then said:
"You've become stronger than me."
Silence followed.
Then he added:
"But..."
"You still don't know how to rule people."
Alji lowered his sword.
"Why would I need that?"
His father smiled.
"Because the man who commands a thousand warriors..."
"Is more dangerous than the man who defeats a thousand warriors."
Those words...
Were the last lesson he ever received from his father.
One week later...
A messenger arrived at his house carrying a letter sealed with a golden crest.
He opened it.
Read it once.
Then read it again.
Its contents were brief.
We have been watching you for years.
You have proven that you possess strength, intelligence, and ruthlessness.
We invite you to meet the Nobles of the Lions.
On the appointed day...
He entered a vast hall where men and women sat wearing robes bearing the emblem of a golden lion.
There was only one empty chair in the hall.
The eldest among them said:
"Alji."
"Do you know why you're here?"
He replied:
"No."
The man said:
"Because we want a leader."
Silence filled the hall.
Then he continued:
"We are not looking for a knight."
"Nor for a hero."
"We seek someone capable of making filthy decisions without hesitation."
Alji looked around at those gathered.
Then calmly said:
"If I become your leader..."
"I will obey no one's orders."
The elders smiled.
As though they had been waiting for that answer.
Their leader said:
"That is exactly why..."
"We chose you."
That night...
Alji left the hall.
He had officially become...
The Leader of the Nobles of the Lions.
He stood upon a high balcony overlooking the city.
Thousands of lights shimmered below.
He watched people walking through the streets, unaware...
That the man who would one day control their destinies was standing above them at that very moment.
He smiled faintly.
And said to himself:
"The first step is complete..."
"And the world..."
"Still doesn't know my name."