Marth. A little village located right beside the giant’s forest, on the right side of the Murland continent, on the world of Muros. The village itself, is nothing special or of note, but there is one famous inhabitant living there.

His name is Serion, the “Blessed Saint”.

It’s said that Serion is capable of healing any wound, no matter how big or small. Some even say he can revive the dead…

He has been scouted countless times by the capital to work as an official healer, but he refuses to leave Marth.

He has been asked countless times about the source of his power, but he also refuses to answer this question.

Most believe it’s a blessing given to him by god. Others believe he obtained it through a pact with the devil.

But, the answer to the origin of his powers can only be answered by him and one other person…

That other person is his son, Reed.

Reed is a strange boy, who came out of nowhere.

Suddenly, one day a battered up beautiful pregnant woman appeared on the village. She was immediately taken to Serion, the local healer (not yet known as a saint), so he could care for her.

The woman’s name was Seiria.

Over the course of the few days that he treated her, they both fell in love with the other, and ended up marrying each other.

Of course, once her son was born, whose father was unknown, they both cared for him deeply.

They named their son Reed, due to his brightly shinning red eyes, who marked him since birth.

However, one year after Reed is born; Seiria dies, due to her weak constitution.

Serion was devastated. But he recovers, and his healing powers increase exponentially. two years after the dead of seiria, on Reed’s third anniversary, word of Serion ability to heal starts to spread.

The fame of Marth spikes, and Serion gains his nickname.

The death of his wife right before the spike in his power and the red eyes reminiscent of a demon on his son, though, caused some people to question the true nature of his powers.

Red eyes are a symbol of the devil, of the hated demon race. On the continent of Murland, that’s common sense.

Reed’s eyes caused him to be hated by most villagers, and since young he had been bullied.

Today is Reed’s 14th birthday, but he isn’t at all happy about it. After all, that only causes the kids playing outside to tease and bully him even more.

The adults won’t help, they want nothing to do with him. Even the people who are nice to him on occasion didn’t show up today.

It’s already night, and the only thing he did today was run around and hide from the children in the village. He was tired, and wondering why he even bothers going outside.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He ask himself that question every day, and every day the answer is presented to him once he gets home.

After all, at home is…

* Good, you’re here. Go down the basement and wait for me there, understood?

* …Yes.

A man with kind looking eyes and a cheery awaited him there, on the entrance home. He must have been about to go outside call for him.

Serion is his name. The famous “blessed saint”.

And now they would start something that has been a daily routine for years now, since a few days after Seiria died.

Serion’s “study session”.

On Serion’s house in Marth there is one place that is locked away in secret. A basement, that no one but Serion and his son know about.

In there, empty flasks of potion are scattered across the floor, papers lay everywhere on the ground, and on the very center of the room, there’s a table. A bright, white table.

Right now, reed lays on that table. And looking over him, is Serion, Holding something is his hands.

* I already have a vague understanding of what this does, but I guess I’ll review it today.

* …

The object on Serion’s hands is strange looking, with viscous, red liquid covering it’s surface and flowing down on the floor.

What he holds is…

* This one is, as I call it… the “stomach”.

* …

An “organ”

The true reason why Serion’s powers have increased so much is something no one would believe, or understand.

By thoroughly slashing apart his son’s body, Serion reached a deeper understanding of the human body than anyone else on the world of Muros.

Through the use of that knowledge and his magic, he’s able to perform his miracles.

In order to restore someone’s arm, he had to first take out Reed’s arm.

In order to restore someone’s leg, he had to first take out Reed’s leg.

And in order to recover someone from the verge of death, he had to first…

* This liquid inside the stomach is, I believe, some sort of dissolving agent, that…

* …

Reed remains silent, and gazes at his rambling father with dead eyes.

Serion has a habit of speaking about his discoveries and thoughts to Reed during their sessions together.

Reed, in response, keeps quiet.

He feels no pain, even when he is cut apart thoroughly.

The first study session still hurt, a lot. And the second. And the third. And countless others after…

Reed’s screams in the middle of the night caused people to fear, thinking monsters were approaching. That’s how guttural his screams were.

However, after some time passed, Serion came up with a spelt that deactivates someone’s ability to feel pain. From then on, there as no pain. Or the pain was so weak compared to before, Reed no longer felt it.

And so, he remains quiet, a numb feeling running through the emptiness of his body.

After some time had passed:

* Alright, that’s all for today. You can go to bed now.

After removing Reed’s restraints, Serion said so, going up the basement.

However, Reed didn’t move. He simply stared at Serion’s fading back.

* Finally, today, I will…

He rapidly moved toward one side of the wall where a block was very slighty out of proportion with the others.

He put his hands on the block and… pulled it out.

Immediately a bag that appeared to be stuffed full appeared.

* Here we go…

Reed had found this block roughly one year ago. And then, he started planning his escape from the hell that was Marth for him.

By asking villagers that sympathized with him around town, he was able to get some fresh food during this week.

The bag he had found in Serion’s study, old and dusty.

He had even gone through the trouble of preparing some healing elixirs by gathering herbs in the forest close to the town.

He obtained the knowledge necessary for their preparation by listening to Serion’s countless rambles.

And now, one year after he first planned it, he was finally going to escape.

He had no directions, he only knew that if he went a certain direction, he would end up in a city. Still, even if he wound living in the forest, it would be better than here.

He picked up his bag, and went up. After seeing the unlocking the front door as quietly as possible, he started running.

He immediately saw the forest and went in its direction.

He felt a sensation of something breaking, as he entered the forest.

And then, he ran.

And ran.

And ran, without ever looking back.

After he was unable to run anymore, he fell down on the ground exhausted, and looked back over his shoulder.

In the direction of the village.

After noticing that he couldn’t see Marth anymore, he smiled.

And passed out.