1 Prologue

On one of the small islands on the Pacific ocean in the research facility single old man was concocting weird formula. It wasn't looking amazing but the purpose of this medicine was remarkable. The formula was improving human potential on a genetic level. A short time after leaving his wife he sacrificed his entire time on researching the way to break the shackles of his low potential.

"HAHA! It's done! I found a way to modify the human DNA. It will change humankind! HAHAHAAA."

He was very excited, it took him many years to finally achieve this. This research combined knowledge of many science fields and ancient ways. He gathered many inheritances from many countries. Chinese medicine? Buddha spiritual techniques? All of this knowledge was inside his head. He had a perfect memory and thanks to this he could remember anything after reading or seeing it once. It was a gift and a curse at the same time. He couldn't forget anything, it didn't matter if it was a painful memory or a happy one.

"I gave up many things in this life. When I gave up being a warrior and wanted a peaceful life, they used it against me! They threatened the love of my life, so I gave up my happiness for her safety."

A tear appeared in one of his eyes during his monologue.

"Enough. From now on I will be one that decides people's fate and I won't let them mess with me anymore!"

His formula was almost ready, just a few minutes and his work will be finished.

Boom! He heard explosion not far from his laboratory! All monitors immediately changed color to red. The sound of alerts started ringing in the entire laboratory.

"ALERT! ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY!"

"What's happening? Why now? None should be able to find me here it's an artificially made island with cloaking." He was shocked, it was the most important moment in his research, this intrusion wasn't a coincidence.

BOOM! Doors were completely destroyed by a powerful slam.

The group of man entered his workplace with guns. They were covered in black clothes with a layer of Kevlar.

"PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" They started pointing their guns on him while shouting.

"What do you want?!?" Their purpose was obvious, yet Derek started conversation find some solution from this grave situation. His situation was hopeless, one old man alone versus many armed men in the peak of their youth.

"Illegal research on bio-weapons. Human experiments. These all only beginning of your crimes Mr. Derek." Another person entered the room with a confident expression on his face. It was probably the leader of this group. He didn't have any distinguishing features, however, some feeling was telling that he was the leader.

"Stop with your bullshit! You are after my research! You greedy bastards! It's obvious, people without any skill can only steal from other people.ASSHOLES!" He began to regret, not hiring helpers, working alone and most importantly leaving Rose.

(If you think stealing from me easy you are mistaken. I will take this formula with me to the grave!)

When the island was being built, one of his friends recommended creating a safety system. He laughed at first, however later he agreed and safety system was built. The autodestruction system was one of the safety measures, the final one.

"ACTIVATE AUTODESTRUCTION SYSTEM! PASSWORD ROSE I AM SORRY..." The leader of the group was shocked. It wasn't something that he could predict. Derek decided to bury himself with his lifetime research, only to not let them get it. BANG! One of his men shot him into the head. The body of scientist fell on the floor with a loud thud.

"CRAZY BASTARD! OPERATION FAILED! RETREAT!" The auto destruction was set up to explode after 10 seconds. It was impossible to run away from this island in so short span of time. The expressions of men were horrified. One thing was sure, they won't come back from this mission.

Hut in outskirts of the city, middle of the largest room. The small boy was crouching before his mother with tears in his eyes. His mother was lying in the bed, she didn't look very healthy. Dark circles around eyes, pale expression and blood stain under her lips.

"Mother, you will get better. You cannot leave me! I have only you." The entire world of this boy collapsed when his mother got sick. He didn't have friends in the city and the only person, he cared for was lying on the bed suffering and waiting for death.

"A cough...cough. Son, it's OK. I am sorry Darius. I cannot accompany you anymore. Before I ... a cough...a cough...leave I want you to promise me one thing! It's important Darius!" She was coughing blood while talking.

She was a beautiful woman before falling sick. The sickness destroyed her body and mind. There were not much left from her previous appearance. It was like she became a shadow of her previous self. The only thing that made her struggling for so long, was her son. Today everything was going end, her body couldn't handle the pain anymore.

"Promise me... Promise me that you won't hurt people and you will be a good person."

"Mother, I promise you. Don't leave me, please!"

"Goodbye, my son..." Her voice became weaker and she closed her eyes.

"Mother!MOTHER!WAKE UP!"

The kid cried to his heart content until he passed out of exhaustion. The next day wasn't easy either. The body of his mother needed to be buried. Luckily one of his neighbors helped him bury her in the local graveyard. After the short funeral, he was left alone inside of the hut.

The world became gray, no one cared for a little boy without family. The misfortune continued, a few days later groups of though came and threw him out of the hut in excuse of forged "debts".

No family, no shelter and no food. It wasn't live anymore, it was a constant fight for survival!

A few months later...

Time wasn't merciful to Darius. The lack of proper nutrition made him skinny and weak. He tried to ask for help, however, people ignored him and despised him. The hunger forced him to steal and beg on streets. Life of street beggar is tough and full of problems. People treated beggars as parasites and tried to get rid of them. The local thugs used them as punching bags to vent their frustration. The citizens didn't care about their fate, some of them eve were happy that they are beaten.

How to survive in such a society? You need to become like them. There is no place for kindness and compassion. It's survival of the fittest or you could say, the fastest.

"Mother. Why did you leave me in this terrible world alone?!?" He wasn't the innocent boy from before his world became dark without light.

He was walking on the street and searching for possible targets for stealing, but he was spotted by a group of thugs.

"The look isn't that famous black trash?" One of them shouted with a grin on his face. It was easy to bully the weak beggar like Darius. He couldn't even run away. As long, they didn't kill him none would bother about it.

"I think we should take care of this trash for good. It's an annoying sight to my eyes!" One of them exclaimed.

"We cannot kill him, but we can make him die!" One of them suggested a cruel idea.

"I know what do you mean let's make him go to the forest! Hahaha! Eaten by wild beasts is a fate worse than dying of our beatings."

Darius wasn't aware of the contents of their conversation. He knew that trouble is coming, but he was helpless about it. Running? Impossible, he cannot even walk because of lack of proper nutrition.

The thugs approached him. From one look, you could see that they are up to no good. Behind innocent smiles, were ugly monsters coming to torment their prey.

"Hey, little brat. You seem happy about yourself. We are bored with beating you so we came up with a solution. You will go into the forest bring us some herbs and after that, we will leave you alone."

"What do you think? Haha! I forgot to tell you that you cannot refuse anyway."

"I am too weak to reach the forest. I need something to eat." It was a risky move, but he had nothing to lose. Food or beating? If they have beaten him, he would not go to the forest and they might encounter some slight trouble because of killing.

"YOU LITTLE!..." One of the thugs wanted to attack Darius, but he was stopped by his boss.

"Guys, that's reasonable he won't reach the forest, and he will come back after walking a few meters from the city. Give him some black bread." It sounded like sincerity, yet it was part of the bigger and more vicious plan.

They gave him some food and escorted him to the town gate. Gatekeeper didn't even ask about anything, he just shook his head. They watched Darius walking in direction of the forest with grins on their faces.

"Forest? City? All these things don't matter anymore. At least pain will stop."

The last months didn't give him any hope for the future. Torments, hunger and the constant struggle for survival. What's the point of living like this?