The air underground was cool.
Not cold.
Just quiet.
Feroz slowly walked down the stone steps.
Each step echoed through the darkness.
Behind him—
the entrance closed by itself.
He turned around immediately.
The opening had disappeared.
Only a solid stone ceiling remained.
Feroz took a deep breath.
"So... I'm on my own again."
No answer came.
Only silence.
He continued walking.
The staircase finally ended inside a large circular chamber.
Unlike the caves he had seen before—
this place was clean.
No dust.
No broken walls.
No ancient carvings.
The floor was smooth white stone.
At the center of the room stood a single wooden chair.
Nothing else.
Feroz looked around carefully.
"That's strange."
He slowly walked toward the chair.
The moment he stopped beside it—
a voice echoed through the chamber.
"Sit."
Feroz looked around.
There was no one.
The voice came from everywhere.
And nowhere.
He hesitated.
Then sat down.
The room immediately became brighter.
A soft golden light filled the chamber.
The same calm voice spoke again.
"This lesson has no right answers."
Feroz smiled slightly.
"I've heard that before."
Silence.
Then—
the first question came.
"What do you fear the most?"
Feroz answered almost immediately.
"Losing control."
The chamber remained silent.
Then the voice spoke again.
"Why?"
Feroz lowered his head.
Because he already knew the answer.
"I've seen what happens."
"I've hurt people."
"I almost became something I didn't understand."
The voice asked another question.
"If you lose control again..."
A pause.
"...who are you afraid of hurting?"
Feroz thought carefully.
Then quietly answered,
"The people beside me."
Haroon.
Younus.
Mrs. Aliya.
Yusuf.
Even Ayan.
He didn't want any of them to suffer because of him.
The chamber remained silent.
Then a second question appeared.
"What if saving them..."
A pause.
"...means becoming the very thing you fear?"
Feroz froze.
That question felt different.
It wasn't easy.
It reminded him of Vaheen.
The future version that had tried to synchronize with him.
What if...
One day...
The only way to protect everyone...
Was to become like him?
Feroz closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
For the first time—
the voice sounded pleased.
"An honest answer."
The golden light grew brighter.
The chair disappeared beneath him.
Feroz stood once again.
Another door slowly opened on the opposite side of the chamber.
He began walking toward it.
But before he reached it—
the voice asked one final question.
"If the world called you a devil..."
Silence filled the room.
"...would you stop protecting it?"
Feroz stopped walking.
He remembered Zarqaan.
He remembered the title.
Devil Among Angels.
He remembered how people feared him long before they understood him.
For several moments—
he simply stood there.
Thinking.
Then he smiled.
A small but confident smile.
"No."
The chamber became completely silent.
Then—
for the first time—
the voice laughed.
Not loudly.
Not mockingly.
Just softly.
"As expected."
The stone door opened completely.
Warm light poured into the chamber.
The voice spoke one last time.
"You are beginning to understand."
"Power does not decide who you are."
"Your choices do."
Feroz nodded.
That lesson—
he would never forget.
He walked through the doorway without hesitation.
As soon as he crossed it—
the chamber behind him disappeared.
Ahead of him stretched a long stone corridor.
At the end of it—
someone was waiting.
A man.
Dressed in simple white clothes.
His back was turned.
His hands were folded behind him.
He seemed to be quietly looking at an old stone wall.
The man slowly spoke.
"I've been waiting for you, Feroz."
Feroz stopped walking.
The voice...
It wasn't familiar.
But it carried a strange sense of peace.
The man slowly turned around.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Welcome."
"My name is..."
He paused for a moment.
"...Suleiman."
Feroz frowned.
Another teacher?
Or someone much more important?
He couldn't tell.
But one thing was certain.
The Learning Path had just introduced him to someone it trusted.