159 Chapter 83: Mortifer Psychica And Mortifer Moribus Part 1

Born in a family of doctors, with his mother and father both being doctors as well, Ro was bound to be sucked in the world of medicine at some point in his life. And to add to that, he was quite good at academics from the very start.

He doesn't remember all too well but he may have only been around 6 or 7 years of age when his parents' profession had already captivated him enough to want to go in the field of medicine.

However, it wasn't until the age of 10 that those around him started to realize that his interest lied more in just studying and researching medicine than it does in using that knowledge to treat patients. It was still too early to decide then but his parents had indeed come to realize that he could be more suited to becoming a scientist rather than a doctor.

Following that point, his parents gave him their full support in that direction and started introducing him to more scientists than doctors. Slowly but surely, it became clear that he was made to be a scientist.

As far as academics went, he had always excelled. However, with his goal shifted from doctor to scientist, he was given even more to study outside of his classes. Surprisingly though, he was never overwhelmed by any of it and was always able to complete his lessons on time.

By the time he reached the age of 15, his life had already been mapped out so he could become a successful scientist.

However, at that time, something happened that shook the entire world. A massacre the likes of which has rarely been seen before occurred on the other end of the world from where he was living. As such, even though it was big news, all he could do was pray for the people who were killed there. It wasn't something that should have directly affected him in any way.

But, for whatever reason, it did affect him. The culprit of the massacre was unknown. And that part of it did affect him. Ro wanted to find the culprit, and felt like if he went to that nation where the incident happened, he'd be able to do that. It didn't make sense why he had suddenly grown a desire like that but it was there regardless, and he wasn't sure how to confront it.

And that was when he came across an executive of a large tech firm, Vermillion. That man introduced himself as Gin Hanks.

It didn't take long for Gin to realize that Ro had a Psychic ability, one that gave him a knack for solving problems. Whether it was academics, close sports matches or mysteries like the identity of the man who committed that particular massacre, he would get an urge that would lead him in the direction towards the correct, or closest to correct answer. All he had to do was follow that urge. While this gave him no fighting prowess, it made him an excellent man to handle missions, a man very fit to be an Ember.

In a mere one night, Halogen put those dear to him, essentially his family, to sleep and took them hostage. Then calling Ro to his church where he had put all of them on display like they were remakings of Christ, he told Ro what he needed to do in order to gain his family's freedom.

While this was the usual way of Halogen coercing useful Psychics into joining Vermillion, for Ro, this was the absolute worst thing that had happened to him in his life up until that point, making him see his own powerlessness.

As that absolute worst thing led to Ro Garland joining Vermillion, and coming to know about the world of supernaturals, he had a disgust towards that world. In his eyes, Vermillion was a bunch of villains, with Halogen Dietrich easily reigning supreme in the list of people he hated to his core.

However, it wasn't long before Halogen's position as the most hated was challenged by another Hellfire. It happened when he was sent to be a guard at an underground prison for a month, when he came across the man known as Julius Rome.

From his lack of morals to his sadistic and twisted way of having 'fun', everything about that man was repulsive, and the very face of his made Ro want to puke. He was the most disgusting existence in the world and Ro could just not keep standing in the crowd and agreeing to him like those around him were.

So, he spoke up. Knowing that he is no match for Julius, he still confronted him as he was going to torture a man in front of his son.

And the smile Julius showed him, and the condescending laugh that came after, it only served to agitate him even more. But once again, he realized how powerless he was as he was thrown out and his stepping up ignited no flames in those who called them Embers and Flares.

But, even in that pit of darkness, he saw a light. He saw a light as he met a man without a proper name, who said his name meant death. He met Abgere.

He was the first friend Ro found in the world of supernaturals.

And while they were brought together by a hate for Hellfires and the Phoenix, their bond didn't end with hate, it started to grow beyond that.

Regardless of whatever had happened in his life, Ro Garland was still the son of Mathew and Ursula Garland, he was still the son of doctors, who by profession were known for saving lives. As such, even though the idea to kill consumed him, his morals were strong enough to hold him back from doing so, and it also started to hold Abgere back from doing so.

Despite their desire to bring final judgement to the Hellfires, they were both able to stop themselves from going through with it … for the time-being.

Following those incidents, he met Mohammed, Garfield and others who he befriended, and he started to slowly but surely see the world of supernaturals in a different light.

As both his connections and his mind grew, he realized that it wasn't the entire Vermillion that should be hated, but those few who were in power, who were corrupting everything.

With Garfield, his friend and a Volcano, helping him out, he was able to somehow complete his studies. That, if nothing else, gave him a bit of satisfaction, though it also left him with the regret of not being able to use all the knowledge he had gained.

And that was all there was to the 27-year-old Ember of Vermillion.

He had a relatively happy childhood and relatively unhappy life past childhood but with some bright aspects still.

That's right. Ro Garland was an ordinary Ember of Vermillion, knowing bare minimum about the war he was helping the organization fight, not even knowing about the existence of Vampires and Ghosts. He was just a Half-Psychic, rather good at his job because of his ability but not quite qualified to be promoted to the rank of Volcano.

He was just an ordinary person in the lower ranks of Vermillion.

So, how did things change so drastically? How did he suddenly become such an important figure in the war?