I've had a spider-like symbol on my wrist since I was little.
Every time I looked at it, my stomach clenched in fear.
I couldn't explain it.
Parents
That's a glorious symbol, given only to the Kerr family.
You should feel honored.
That's what my parents said when I tried to
tell them how the symbol made me feel.
I got used to the symbol, without really understanding
what it stood for.
Then one autumn night...
A mysterious man murdered my parents.
Sylas
Father!
Mother!
He looked at me with unfeeling eyes,
then spoke.
Mysterious Man
Make a choice. Die here with your parents
or come live under me.
It was more of a statement than a choice.
I had to follow my parents' murderer.
He led me into a small house in the forest.
There, about 10 other children already lived with
the murderer.
The murderer's name was Ayle.
He gave me a suggestion, which was again
more of an order.
Ayle
Learn vision magic from me. If you grow stronger than me...
Ayle
You can kill me and avenge your parents.
Mastering vision magic became the only thing I lived for.
Mastering it, so I could kill Ayle and avenge my parents.
My skill grew quickly, thanks to my determination.
I eventually became better at it than Ayle.
But time had changed things, and two desires
warred within me.
One, kill Ayle and avenge my parents. Two, forgive him and
be a part of his family. I didn't know which to choose.
Ayle
Sylas. After you've killed me, live to protect others.
Ayle said the most ridiculous things sometimes.
His words could make me so mad.
Ayle
The strength you gain from hatred is temporary.
Once your target is gone, so is your strength,
Ayle
The strength you gain from helping others, Sylas,
never gets lost.
Sylas
Shut up!
The reason he made me so mad was because I believed him.
I asked Ayle to teach me healing magic.
Ayle
What? Not even a "please"?
I had reached an impasse. I couldn't kill him,
and I couldn't forgive him.
I thought I'd pick later, when the time was right.
While I wavered, the trackers from House Kerr found us.
They injected mana into the children,
and they became monsters.
That's when I learned the truth.
All of us, including Ayle, were children from House Kerr.
We all had the same symbol.
And that symbol... It wasn't a glorious symbol of our house...
It was merely a mark the witch doctors left on children
they planted monsters into.
Ayle had been trying to save all of us.
The trackers set the house ablaze and killed all of
the children inside.
Only Ayle and I escaped.
Suddenly, Ayle stopped me.
He handed my his favorite Phantom Dagger, along with the
Kerr house stone.
The Kerr house stone was like a charm. It stopped you from
turning into a monster.
Sylas
Why are are you saving me? I was going to kill you!
Why?!
Ayle
Because you've got a better chance at survival than me.
Ayle smiled softly as he spoke.
Ayle
You have to make it, Sylas. You're the only family I have left.
Got it?
With that, Ayle turned around and attacked the trackers.
The moment they saw that he no longer had the house stone
on him, the trackers injected him with mana.
Sylas
No!
To see someone I cared about turning into a monster...
Sylas
This is my fault. I wasn't strong enough...
I couldn't forgive the trackers or House Kerr.
They had destroyed my family.
Gripping the Phantom Dagger Ayle left me,
I made a decision.
I would use my power to console the souls of those
who had been killed by evil.
One year later...
On the back of Sylas's hand was a scar
instead of a spider mark.
Sylas ended up in a town while wandering around the world.
The town was famous amongst adventurers:
Colhen.
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