“Let the meeting begin.”

  The person who said this looked to be in his forties and had short, spiky red hair and glowing red eyes. If there was a hierarchy of power among the Seven Suns, he would surely be near the top. It was as if he radiated a demonic presence.

  His successor had short, spiky gray hair and gray eyes. His presence gave off a sense of perfection. Together, they would be a complete duo—if they were within the same range of power.

  “As all of you should know, we are the Seven Suns, and you seven are our successors, called the Seven Sinners. Among the seven sanctuaries, there is always conflict. The only time mutual peace comes is when the planet is threatened by evil. You seven will succeed us and change that by creating a bond and making all seven sanctuaries coexist in the name of peace.”

  “Together, you seven will take on missions. Do not let anyone know you are a part of this group. If your name is compromised, you will suffer a horrible fate that only ends in death. This group only exists between the fourteen of us. Do not break this rule.”

  All seven of the Sinners listened carefully. They looked around the room and got a feel for who they would be working with. Each of them examined the others and formed opinions—whether good or bad.

  “Your first mission starts today. There’s a rogue group of synergy users under the name Shadow Warriors. They betrayed my sanctuary and intend to attack. Normally, if I wanted to get rid of them, I could destroy them myself, but this is a test. A test for the seven of you. Show your might. Show your worth. Don’t let us down. Do not die. With that, this meeting is adjourned.”

  The red-haired man was the only one who spoke. He gave off strong leadership qualities. From Deniz’s eyes, he was in the presence of divine beings. The strongest known people in the world were all in the same room—with him!

  He was excited for his first mission. This would give him insight into how strong everyone was and what kind of people they were. He had one current goal in mind with this group: to become its leader. He had no other choice—this was part of his ideal which was to have people obey him. This was the first step in having everyone obey him.

  If he could become the leader of this group, he could form bonds. If anyone tried to attack him, they would be there to fight beside him. If he needed to overthrow someone, they would be there. This was the beginning of his journey—his journey until he could meet with his family once more.

  Portals opened, and all the members left of their own accord. Deniz and Aliz walked through the portal and entered the hallway, where they disappeared from view.

  “Your mission starts today, so I want to know more about who you are, Deniz. Whatever you do, don’t die. Remember, if you need help, crush the jade I gave you. If that doesn’t work, I’ll come. If you end up losing your life, I swear I will destroy everyone. You’re my disciple, so I will try my best to protect you. Now, follow me.”

  Aliz clasped his hands behind his back and continued walking, with Deniz following behind. Those words gave Deniz a sense of trust in Aliz. If one of the strongest people in the world was going out of his way to protect him, he felt he could form a bond with this person.

  Despite what the man said, Deniz remembered his mother’s words: Do not trust everyone. People will try their best to deceive you for their own benefit. This world is based on power, and people will do anything to achieve it. He decided to keep his guard up and watch to see if Aliz had any ulterior motives.

  After minutes of walking, they finally reached a door. Aliz reached out and opened it. The room beyond looked like a normal bedroom, except it had chairs instead of a bed. It resembled a living room more than anything. They walked in and sat down on two chairs, sitting cross-legged.

  “By now, Deniz, you should know the basics of synergy—how each ability you get is connected to your character and the strongest emotion you felt upon awakening. Being able to feel the aura of someone can tell you the type of person they are. To a degree, that’s mostly correct. But there’s more to it than just that. At your current level, none of it is worth mentioning, so when you get stronger, I’ll teach you more.”

  “Can you rotate your synergy for me?”

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  Deniz looked at him and nodded. He rotated his synergy base, and his aura began to manifest.

  “Ahh, I see. You’re an interesting person. You have a big life ahead of you. Stay true to yourself and don’t change who you are.”

  Deniz simply looked at Aliz. He understood the words, but he wasn’t sure how he felt toward this man. He’d never had his father in his life—he didn’t even know who his father was—so to hear a man say these things to him was shocking.

  “Deniz, what are your goals? What do you cultivate synergy for? What do you want your future to be?”

  Deniz sat silently and pondered. In truth, he had never really had any goals, and he didn’t have a true answer for any of the questions Aliz asked—except one. Before all of this, he lived a normal life and never imagined venturing into the world. So he simply said, “I don’t know.”

  Aliz nodded. There wasn’t much to know about Deniz yet, but the more time they spent together, the more they would learn about each other.

  They talked for hours, and then Aliz stood up.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t die on me.”

  Deniz nodded. No matter what, he would not die—at least not yet.

  Aliz waved his hand, and a portal appeared. They stepped through and returned to the room where the meeting had taken place.

  All fourteen members of both groups were already there. None of the younger members sat in the chairs—they were grouped together, separate from the Seven Suns.

  Deniz walked over and stood next to the others.

  “We have the location of their hideout. They aren’t strong and are in the same awakening as all of you. Don’t die and show us your worth. Don’t let us down because failing isn’t an option. When the mission is over—or doomed to fail—one of you will crush this jade, and a portal will appear that will bring you back here.”

  The red-haired man threw out seven jades simultaneously, and each of the students caught one.

  The members of the Seven Sinners all gave their agreements in various ways while nodding. This was their first mission, and it was their time to shine—not just for their mentors, but for each other.

  The red-haired man opened a portal. All the members of the Seven Suns silently stared on as their successors walked through it—until it closed.

  On the other side, a new landscape appeared. They were clearly outside the sanctuaries in an unknown location. They stood in a forest, and through the trees ahead stood a massive building—the hideout.

  Deniz looked around. In this group, there were two girls and five guys, including himself.

  Among the girls, one had long pink hair and dark purple eyes. She seemed joyous and had a bright smile. The other had short, straight black hair—cut like a boy’s—and dark brown eyes. She seemed quiet and kept to herself, distancing herself from the group. Both were relatively the same height—shorter than Deniz—and both had slim builds.

  Among the guys, one had bandages covering his neck up to his nose. The only part of his face visible were his eyes. He had long black hair and green eyes and stood the same height as Deniz. He looked cold and ruthless.

  Another boy was clad in white armor and wore a white blindfold. He had long white hair and was slightly taller than the girls but shorter than Deniz. Deniz couldn’t read him at all—he was a mystery.

  Then there were two older boys—the ones who had arrived before Deniz and Aliz during the first meeting. One had short brown hair and brown eyes, a physically fit body, and muscles that showed training. He gave off leadership qualities.

  The other had long, spiky gray hair and gray eyes. He was taller than Deniz, like the muscular boy, and was the successor of the red-haired Seven Sun.

  Deniz took in this information carefully, examining each person. Likewise, they were doing the same. After all, they would have to grow up together as comrades.

  Deniz gathered the courage to speak first.

  “Everyone should introduce themselves. I’m Deniz from the Sanctuary of Devotion.”

  Everyone looked toward him, taking in his appearance, his voice, and his tone.

  “I am Assassin, and I’m from the Sanctuary of Silence.” Their eyes shifted to the boy with long black hair and bandages—his voice was calm and quiet, fitting of his name.

  “My name is Valentine, and I’m from the Sanctuary of Secrecy.” This came from the pink-haired girl. Her voice was high-pitched and energetic.

  “Lou, from the Sanctuary of Perfection,” said the boy with long gray hair, emotionlessly.

  “You can call me Vii. I’m from the Sanctuary of Power.” This came from the short-haired girl who distanced herself from everyone earlier.

  “I go by Zazi. I’m from the Sanctuary of Creation.” This calm, soothing voice came from the blindfolded boy in armor.

  Last was the muscular boy’s turn.

  “I’m Aoto, from the Sanctuary of Retaliation.”

  His deep, manly voice matched his appearance.

  “Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get going.”

  Deniz took a step forward. This was the first step of his plan to become the leader. He began walking, the others following behind.

  He raised his right hand, palm facing the sky, and grinned. He flexed his fingers as if squeezing an imaginary ball.

  “Don’t hesitate to take any lives. This is our time to show our worth!”

  This is the first mission for the Seven Sinners! Will they survive this deadly hideout and they truly trust each other?!