The sun looked extremely bright that morning. In the ashram's training ground, many children were exercising. Along with Pashito and Vaden, all the children had gathered in the field, and there was a strange excitement in the entire ashram.
Meanwhile, Mara suddenly woke up. Slightly confused, he murmured,
"What time is it… and where am I?"
He walked to the window and looked outside. Seeing the bright sunlight, he suddenly said,
"Oh right… today is—"
But before finishing his sentence, he quickly ran toward the ashram's training ground. When he arrived and saw the crowd of children, he muttered to himself,
"Ah… I'm in trouble now."
Suddenly, Alpha Core stepped forward and spoke in a loud voice,
"Listen, all contestants! Today you have been given a chance to prove your abilities. I, along with Sir Jeron, will take you to the Red Moon. The rest of the rules will be explained by Sir Jeron."
After saying this, Alpha stepped aside.
Sir Jeron took out a small note from his pocket and said in a serious tone,
"My name is Jeron Junin. I will explain a few rules so that neither the Red Moon nor the contestants are harmed. So listen carefully."
He looked at the note and began reading the rules —
Rule Number 1: To hunt souls on the Red Moon, the contestant must be 10 years old.
Rule Number 2: Contestants are not allowed to fight each other there.
Rule Number 3: Each contestant can hunt only one soul.
Rule Number 4: No one is allowed to carry weapons. Weapons must be created on the Red Moon itself.
Rule Number 5: Those who already possess natural powers such as water, fire, or wind cannot participate in this competition.
Also, those with metal powers cannot participate, as they have already taken part in another competition.
Then Alpha Core stepped forward and said,
"For your information, there is something you should know. On the Red Moon, there is a tree with yellow leaves. Around that tree resides the soul of a great lion. Does anyone know whose soul it is?"
Suddenly, a boy wearing glasses spoke from the crowd,
"Scarface."
Alpha Core smiled with satisfaction and asked,
"What is your name?"
The boy replied,
"Vasuki, sir."
Alpha then asked again,
"Tell us your full name."
The boy hesitated slightly and said,
"Tri… Trilok Vasuki."
As soon as he said this, all the contestants fell silent.
From the middle of the crowd, a boy mocked,
"So now servants will become warriors too."
Vasuki only hears the voice.
He silently lowers his head.
Laughter spreads through the crowd —
except for four people, who remain silent.
Inside his mind, Vasuki thinks,
"Because my caste is considered the lowest, people mock us.
They keep their distance from us.
Because this world knows nothing about the true stories of Trilok society."
The voice he heard at that moment
remains in his memory forever.
Alpha Core raised his hand, signaling everyone to calm down.
For a moment, his gaze rested on Vasuki.
Inside his mind, he thought—
"Perhaps this is the boy…
who will one day absorb the soul of the lion and make the world bow."
Then Alpha spoke loudly to everyone,
"Whoever hunts the soul of the great lion
will be given the opportunity to study in this Ashram.
And people will respectfully address that person as Scarface."
Hearing this, a storm of thoughts begins inside Vasuki's mind.
He thinks to himself—
"This world is so selfish.
If I defeat that lion,
they will give me free admission,
just so their name can shine."
"And people will call me Scarface."
A faint smile appears on his face as he continues thinking—
"But… I am selfish too.
Because I also want admission to this Ashram."
He slowly shakes his head.
"Anyway… forget it."
At that moment, Mara turns to Pasito and says,
"Vaden can't participate in this competition.
So why don't we go talk to Vasuki?
He knows a lot about animals."
Pasito said,
"No, bro. That boy is foolish. Let him go. We will only try to obtain the lion's spirit."
Mara replied,
"I heard that you wanted to hunt a monkey, you greedy guy."
Pasito smiled. Mara then said seriously,
"Brother, we should have hunted together. But you should hunt the monkey because you worked very hard for it. I'm not trying to manipulate you, I'm telling the truth. Vasuki and I will try to hunt the lion. I'll go talk to him… and sorry for leaving you alone."
After saying this, Mara walked toward Vasuki.
Mara said to Vasuki,
"Hey friend, how are you? If you don't mind, why don't we hunt together?"
Vasuki thought in his mind,
"What a selfish world…"
Meanwhile, Jeron looked toward Vasuki and said to Alpha,
"I have heard that the Triloka people possess three types of powers. It means that from birth they have one of these powers: metal, nature, or spirit. And according to the law of our kingdom, every child must have two powers. So do you think this boy is suitable to go to the Red Moon? What if he cheats?"
Alpha Core replied,
"Yes, I spoke with him. I warned him not to cheat."
But as Alpha stepped forward, he thought to himself,
"What I said was a lie… God, forgive me."
Then Alpha addressed all the competitors,
"I will give you 10 minutes. Go freshen up quickly. After that, we will begin our journey to the Red Moon."