"This would have been better if it came from someone you knew. Someone more empathetic."
Hm.
Mingle continued, "Not after surviving a battle like that. We still don't know why he lost control… only that whatever caused it was far from gentle. It affects their souls directly. The blood samples are useless."
Scar furrowed his brow.
Mingle couldn't meet his eyes and had been dancing around the point for ten minutes. Worse still, he wasn't wearing his usual lustful smile… just vague words that didn't advance the conversation at all.
"Uhm… everything alright, sir? You look like you just hit your toe. Or, wait, did you get fired? That'd be disappointing. I was beginning to believe you weren't a pervert after all."
Huh?
Mingle exhaled deeply.
"That's not it, Scar…
"It's… hum…
"It's about your grandfather, Isaac."
Scar's eyes widened in horror. He trembled, unconsciously clutching his trousers in a white-knuckled grip.
Suddenly, everything clicked. The difficulty in Mingle's behavior, his refusal to just say it. This was about his father. Isaac Hide.
"No, no, don't tell me..."
Scar looked disoriented, shaken to the core. Now he was the one struggling to speak.
"It's true, Scar. He was found dead this morning. I'm sorry."
He couldn't bear to hear another word. He bolted out of the arena immediately. Julien saw everything, came down the stairs, and when he got to Mingle, he was asked to follow Scar.
The truth was unavoidable. Someday, the man who'd saved him eight years ago and become his father wouldn't be around anymore. After all, he was eighty-three years old, a rare age for anyone in this era.
But he chose not to accept it. Isaac had been all he had. Without him, there was nothing left but vengeance.
He had to see for himself. Strangely, despite not being permitted off the academy grounds, no one stopped him. His frantic speed and careless movements went unquestioned except by students who found his actions inappropriate.
The last time he saw Isaac, there were bruises on his hands. Bruises probably caused by someone insanely strong. Scar had an Inheritance now, an ability he should've used to help his old man.
But he'd been too naive, too stupid to think Isaac could handle it alone. Now he couldn't stop cursing himself.
Soon, he was off the academy grounds completely, weaving through the streets of Barbados, oblivious to Julien trailing behind him.
He was tired now, having run for more than an hour, his lungs about to give out. Still, he hardly noticed. Memories of Isaac filled his mind: sarcastic jokes, perverted remarks, and genuine care. He was already missing all of it.
Soon…
In his neighborhood, everyone: bakers, shopkeepers, ordinary people, they all wore the same expression. The worry and grief on their faces shattered Scar.
Isaac was an old bastard, practically had one foot in the grave already, but his kindness and gentle nature? Unquestionable. Even his enemies knew it.
As soon as he got home, he yanked the door open. First thing he saw: the brown sofa. Isaac's spot, where he'd sit and listen to those creepy comedy records on his RECO, those small audio amplifiers made for cheap entertainment.
He walked in like a zombie, tears streaming down his face.
He reminisced about his childhood, how the old man played and jumped around with him despite his crooked spine, and how he watched Scar go through his daily routine: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats.
When he gave Scar his Supreme Academy uniform. When he gave him his sword, a gift he'd saved every penny for across eight years.
The house was empty now. He could feel it in his bones. Everything hit him at once, crashing down on him, and he couldn't stop the scream that tore from his throat.
He knew Isaac didn't die of natural causes. Didn't matter what anyone said. Just like he had to avenge his parents' deaths, he'd do the same for Isaac.
Everyone he grew to love seemed to die by someone else's hand. Whoever killed Isaac, Scar would kill them the same twisted way, but more brutally.
Eight years ago…
Scar's father, Bryan Rover, felt the heavy breath on his family's neck. They were constantly being watched, their house occasionally broken into. At first, he thought it was thieves.
But everything changed when he noticed nothing was ever stolen. Everything was left nearly the same way they'd left it. As someone who valued his space and could spot the slightest shift, he knew the house was definitely being broken into.
There wasn't enough to file a complaint on, and he couldn't trust anyone, not even the Rovers. But he had to protect his son, the one who made his family complete.
The only person he trusted brought him to Isaac.
A perverted old man nobody cared about. Hell, most people wished he'd fall off a cliff and die. Bryan didn't hesitate to trust him with his child.
But walls had ears, and before the day when Scar could be put in Isaac's care, a Catastrophe-level threat Nightmare, Quagmire, Clown of the Living, struck. It was the perfect day for the family's stalkers to strike.
Bryan didn't know why they'd been targeted. But knowing his child might suffer for whatever he'd done, he and his wife fought to protect Scar.
During the fight, Isaac got the feeling he should visit their home. Scar was partially in his care already, and despite being a creep, he couldn't stop wondering if his soon-to-be son was alright with such a deadly threat out there.
Whoever planted that idea in his head was someone Isaac and Scar could never thank enough.
But now, what should've lasted forever had ended. The person meant to protect him in his father's absence was gone.
Scar sank to the floor, finally releasing the tears that wouldn't come when his parents died, along with new ones just as crushing.
It was all gone now… the only reason why he valued his life. He had no one to live for anymore.
Soon, Julien entered from behind. He said nothing, just observed, ready to take Scar back to the academy when the time came. It was the only place he belonged now.
Monsters aren't born, they're made. And if that was true, then today was the day Scar was perfected.