If I tell you I have function f with f(a) = 10 and on it's path from a to b, the graph first increaes by 5 units then by another 10, and then later on drops by 25 units, you can immediately deduce that f(b) = f(a) + (+5 +10 -25) = 0. The fundamental theorem of calculus uses the same concept:

To see why \int_a^b f(x) dx = F(b) - F(a) with F'(x) = f(x),

we replace f with f' (and hence F with f) and get

\int_a^b f'(x) dx = f(b) - f(a).

Re-arranging terms, we get

f(b) = f(a) + \int_a^b f'(x) dx.

The last line just says: The value of function f at point b is is the value at point a plus the sum of all the infinitely many changes the function goes through on its path from a to b.

how does this work for these two different paths which arrive at the same endpoint:

+5 +10 +0 -25 = -15

+5 +12 -2 -25 = -15

They have different graphs if you consider the values above sampling points, this is what parent is asking.