Vow of Boundless Gratitude

'Why are you bowing?' Tang Wulin asked himself, his heart clenching painfully but he ignored it, merely thinking of it as the universal orders punishment. Instead, his mind moved through every possible option of why they would bow to him. Gratitude seemed the most likely.

"You were the one to save us when we need to be saved!" The twins said at the same time, large smiles on their faces yet they didn't break from the bow they found themselves in. For the first time, they felt like they could rely on somebody other than each other.

"You were the one to free us." The oldest of them all 178-F said stoically yet she bowed even deeper than the others. As the oldest she had been there the longest and so she desired freedom more than any other.

"You were the one to bring light into our dark world!" The second youngest spoke, her dirty body not hampering her bright smile that looked forward toward a future that once seemed so bleak mere moments before.

"You were the one to save us at the brink of despair." One of the older ones with long dirty blue hair spoke, her gratitude more hidden than the others yet not less intense. She was a free soul in the past, being chained up was the worst thing to happen in her life.

"You were the one to give us a chance for a better future." An older male with dark skin and somehow wearing sunglasses said sincerely, his words full of conviction, the conviction that they had not made the wrong choice.

"You were the ones to restore peace in our lives." The second eldest female answered in a serious and professional voice. She valued balance above all else and peace was an integral part of that balance that had been stolen from her.

"You were the one to grant us the blessing of choice." An oddly mature twelve year old child spoke seriously, his slightly goat like face more serious than should reasonably be possible. He had many dreams and yet he never got to accomplish any of them, the choice was never his.

"You were the one to give us the opportunity to learn more about the world around us." A young adult roughly fifteen with short, curly hair that was red on one side and white on the other spoke seriously. He was in the peak of his youth, he was interested in l o v e~!

"You were the one to give us the chance to become strong." The tallest of them all said in between sobs, tears leaking down his face like a broken faucet. While he was by far the largest at over two meters tall he was also the crybaby of the group.

"You were the one to allow us to see the world once again." The eldest male of the group said sagely, respect and gratitude practically rolling off him in waves yet it seemed oddly calm, like relaxing in the comfort of a grassy plains.

"You were the one to allow us to stay with our loved ones." A male and female ranging on the older side said at the same time, glancing at each other with a blush out of the corner of their eyes. Oddly enough, something within Wulin resonated with the scene in front of him but he ignored it.

"You were the one to save us when we were in pain!" The most naive and idealist of the group said happily, a wide smile on her face though it was hard to see as she was facing the ground. She was worried as the adults were weird with her, always talking about things that grossed her out.

"Why?" Tang Wulin asked in utter bafflement. He simply couldn't understand why they would accept to join them. In their place, he almost certainly would not have made the same decision yet even 178-F, an individual with a similar type of issue chose it.

"It's only right that we dedicate the lives you saved to you, my God." Subject 13 spoke sincerely, his face pointed directly at the ground yet it was obvious to all but Tang Wulin that he was speaking from the bottom of his heart.

"I… understand." Tang Wulin agreed after a moment of silence, a sigh leaving his lips. Standing upright the naive members of the group ran toward one another and celebrated while the more mature members waited in peace.

While he could not understand their decision, he would respect it. He could instinctively tell that it would be impossible to convince them otherwise and if danger were to befall them because of this incident, perhaps it would be best for them to become strong themselves.

"What are your names?" Tang Wulin questioned then. He knew the names of some from Seto's reports however some were grabbed at such an early age that they simply didn't have a name, the most relevant example being 178-F.

"I believe I speak for us all in saying that we would like to forget those names." Subject 13 said between gritted teeth. The most common ways talented children were brought into that facility wasn't actually by force. To take a child without raising alarms there was a much easier way.

Buy them.

The Spirit Pagoda had purchased a vast majority of the people they possessed. Some were bought as soon as they were born if the parents were talented enough while most were purchased after their martial souls have awakened.

The parents who raised them sold them without a second thought, any normal person wouldn't want to think back on those times. Nobody wants to be reminded of the pain of the past nor the suffering of betrayal.

"I see. In that case, I shall name you myself." Tang Wulin began. In truth, this was not the first time he had done such a thing. He had already done it with the Second and Third Slayers who had similarly tragic backstories so he was expecting the situation

"Thank you, my god." They all spoke at once, proud smiles on their faces.