In the ruins of a town of the outskirts of the Kingdom of Perseus, a group of bandits were celebrating their successful pillaging. An entire village had been laid to waste by them and they now drank the wine from the local tavern they had destroyed and ate the food the farmers had worked hard to harvest and make. Some of the homes were still burning, but the only sound to be heard was the bandits' laughter. All of them were covered in mud and blood. They carried a couple swords, some knives, and a few poorly made clubs. Nearby, there was a wagon with four chained and beaten boys in it. The bandits planned to sell these young men to the neighboring kingdom as slaves. Three of them had lost hope, which their leader said is essential for slaves, but one still had a strength in his eyes. Light that had not even dimmed.

"Hey, Thomas, I think we should get moving." One of the bandits said to their leader.

"Well, I say we are in no hurry." The leader, Thomas, said, then spat on the ground. "What? You worried the King Barron is gonna send a Clipper here to kill us? Even if one shows up here, we will just kill him. All Clippers are is soldiers with a fancy title."

"Please don't joke about that." The grunt replied. "I have seen a Clipper in action. Clippers are demons in human form. They kill without remorse or pity. One is more than enough to kill all of us in a matter of moments."

"You seriously think so?" Thomas spat right in his lackey's face. "Then you are a paranoid coward. No way one man could kill all of us. No chance in hell!"

"I beg you, listen to-"

The grunt stopped mid-sentence and fell to the ground. Dead. A knife lodged in his back. Now, the leader shouted to his men to ready themselves. One second later, two more bandits dropped dead with knives in their throats. The bandits were growing quite nervous now; they were sweating rapidly, holding their weapons tightly and glancing in every direction. Another bandit died with a knife in his chest. Thomas would not stand for this any longer.

"Come out, you coward!" He yelled in anger. "A real man does not fight in shadows! A real man faces his enemies with pride and without fear! Face us like a man!"

"Alright." A voice pierced through the dark silence of night.

On top of a nearby building, a figure appeared. This figure wore a red cloak and his face was hidden by his hood. Strapped to his back were two swords and attached to his belt were empty knife holsters. What struck fear into the bandits' hearts was the symbol of the figure's cloak. The symbol resembled the head of a lion that had been set ablaze. It was the symbol of King Barron's most elite warriors, the Clippers.

"Nooo!" One of the bandit's screamed, dropping his weapon and running away.

He did not get far, because the Clipper used his last knife to kill him just before he made it out of sight. The knife went straight into the bandit's spine. His death was instant. Now the other bandits knew it was pointless to try to escape. Before any of them even had a chance to consider attacking, the Clipper jumped off the roof of the building and made a graceful landing right in front of Thomas. In a flash, the Clipper drew his swords and struck down their leader. The other bandits did not move, they were simply too scared to attack first. So they waited for the Clipper to attack. They waited and waited and waited. However, the Clipper remained as still as a statue. For what felt like months no one moved and nothing happened. When the waiting became too much to bare, a young bandit charged at the Clipper, wildly swinging a knife. Once he was close enough, the Clipper dropped his swords and caught the bandit's arm. In one fluid motion, the Clipper broke the bandit's arm, grabbed his knife and slit his throat.

Then the slaughter began. Two more bandits came at the Clipper from opposite sides with swords. The Clipper grabbed his swords and the deflected the grunts attacks. It took three seconds to deal with one by thrusting a sword through his gut. The other had decent sword skills, but the Clipper still cut off the hand holding the sword and stabbed the bandit. Another attacked him with a club in one hand and a knife in the other. With one kick, the Clipper broke his neck.

Before the Clipper could kill the bandit trying to sneak up behind him, someone knocked the bandit out from behind. The person who did was one of the kids who had been chained in the wagon. He had managed to unscrew the screw that bound his chains to the wagon. Once he got free, instead of running, he found a rock and helped by taking down a bandit. This impressed the Clipper. It was clear the kid had courage and inner strength.

The kid had dark-brown skintone, brown eyes, and very short brown hair. He was clearly injured. His left eye was swollen shut, there were bruises all over him, and his fingers on his right hand were bleeding. The fingers were probably the result of him using them to unscrew his chains. Clearly, the boy possessed great will to suffer that much harm and not lose the hope that was burning ever so brightly in his eyes.

"Nice job, kid." The Clipper said. "Do you want me to finish him, or do you wish to exact vengeance for your village and kill this man yourself?"

"Does he have to die?" The boy replied. "Can't you just take him back to Capital city as a prisoner? I know it would be difficult to transport a prisoner that far, but please!"

"I could do that." The Clipper answered. "But I need you to answer one question. Why show mercy and compassion to someone who help slaughter your entire village? To someone who has wounded you so deeply; and I don't mean physical wounds. I mean wounds of the soul."

The boy avoided the Clipper's gaze.

"Don't pretend I am wrong." The Clipper said. "I can see the pain in your eyes. I can also see you do want vengeance, but you fight against the urge. Why?"

Now the boy looked him straight in the eye and said, "Because if I kill him, I would be no different from him. A killer, and that is something I will never be."

"I hope so." The Clipper said. "My name is Sunny. You?"

"Merlin. I am Merlin." The boy replied.