I Wonder As Well...

"Till today, I have no idea what happened. I had just come back from clearing an extremely hard dungeon, under the guidance of his Majesty himself. I was extremely excited to tell my father. But when I got home, the house was empty. I was then notified of the execution and shown his corpse. I had a complete mental breakdown and destroyed the lab where they showed me his headless body. I didn't kill anyone but I injured many. Some lost limbs. When I came to I had been restrained by Supreme Martial's hands."

"He had restrained me and captured me. Before he dropped me off he told me these words, 'I can't tell you what happened, but what I can tell you is that the Witch is behind this.' Those words have been haunting me for a long time. And I don't know what I should do about it. It took a while but I finally got my head straight. The empire had raised me to be a priest type class meant to heal or boost others, but I needed strength of my own. Only that way do I have a chance at confronting Supreme Tidal."

As soon as Will heard this, a name came to mind. Tidal Witch, rumored to be one of the strongest supremes! She was a hydromancer rumored to be able to cause tsunamis. An extremely powerful warrior who was nigh impossible to kill, due to her ability to turn her body into water.

Merlin could not help but feel guilty, as Supreme Tidal was her teacher. They were not close, but it would not be a stretch to say that Tidal Witch was the reason Merlin's potential was brought out. Yet the other name mentioned is the one that truly struck Will. Supreme Martial, aka Martial Knight. Leader of the Supremes and one rumored to be legendary, together with Tidal Witch and another Supreme.

Martial Knight also had another name. The Ultimate Defender. The man was well known for his defensive abilities and was publicly acknowledged to be the world's best tank. The man never left the capital unless it was to accompany Arthur on a difficult mission.

Woodsy then pointed at Merlin, "I talked, now it's your turn." Will was curious and turned around to Merlin. She didn't want to talk but something about Woodsy letting out her past made her want to open up, and open up she did… albeit partially.

"I was an orphan living on the streets over a decade ago. I was then taken in by an assassin organization that took children from all over the world and turned them into hired guns. It's a painful process, really. Scary, to be precise." Said Merlin as she hugged herself, as if she were freezing. Her eyes looked at the ground, but the true object of her gaze was far, far away.

"Each year, the worst-performing ones would be killed and thrown away like garbage. I failed my 2015 assessment and I was scheduled for execution. Then, it happened… I became a user. I was a teenager at the time and one of the first to be chosen. That saved my life, I was not alone. Many in the organization were chosen. Due to years of brainwashing, we were trained to be very loyal, even when we gained new powers.

"Eventually, the organization was absorbed by his majesty during one of his many conquests. This happened about three years ago. Due to certain circumstances I was taken out of the organization and became a student of Supreme Tidal…"

Merlin looked at Woodsy guiltily and sighed. Woodsy did not blame her as she also had her reasons to get stronger, but Woodsy was not that good at communications, so she just gazed at Merlin a lot. Merlin took it as resentment and treated Woodsy differently from the others. Will looked at the duo, "Everyone has a story huh. Sometimes it's easy to forget that they are also human." Will touched his chin and also sighed.

The girls then both stared at him, like hunters eying prey. Will knew what they wanted. He scratched his head shyly and said, "Sorry to disappoint you guys but my story is pretty plain. Raised by my dad and my step-mom. I have two blood siblings and two step-siblings, and they all out-performed me. I had the classic middle child syndrome, I guess. But I took what I had for granted, and now…"

Will squeezed his fist in frustration. He was honestly expressing himself.

Woodsy blurted out, "What about your real mom?"

This was followed by a quick elbow from Merlin.

Woodsy cried, "Ouch! What was that for."

Merlin palmed her face and said, "Read the atmosphere. If he wanted to talk about her, he would have."

Woodsy promptly ignored Merlin and held Will's hand. "Hey, you didn't answer my question. What happened to your mum." Merlin was about to shout when Will outstretched a hand, signaling her to stop.

Will smiled cheerfully at Woodsy and said, "When I also get the answer to that question, I will tell you."

Will was smiling but there was no hiding the sadness in his eyes. Not even Martial Harmony could do that. Will walked ahead leading the girls down the road. Just when he thought all was done, woodsy huffed and puffed to him and held both his hands. "When you get the answer, promise you will tell me first? Pinky swear!" Will was flabbergasted, he wasn't sure what to do, but he found his own pinky locking hers.