The Last Heroes' Guild The man behind the mask

Bernar

Active Member
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Who is Jack Payton?

CHAPTER I

The beginning​

I was standing in the hallway, holding the Master's head that I myself had chopped off. But maybe giving away the ending is not a good starting point for a story. I just felt like ruining it for you. You're welcome.

When the counterintelligence came to recruit me, I was a twenty-year-old kid, too busy studying and chasing ladies. (Yes you guessed it, my parents are rich).
They came to the Academy I was studying at, and offered me a job. Now, as I said, I was living the life. Getting a job was the last thing on my to-do list. I didn't even have a to-do list. In fact the offer offended me deeply. I politely declined and went back to my busy life, completely forgetting the matter within five minutes.

Obviously, they did not give up. My lazy days passed by slowly and about a month later, I was broke. My parents had decided to cut my funds, they thought I was old enough to take care of myself. They had a point, but a little forewarning would have been greatly appreciated.
I immediately abandoned my studies and packed up my things, ready to go home and make a scene.

I would like to skip over this part and just say that the counterintelligence had successfully recruited me. I don't care that you don't like the gap, it was boring and you would have skipped it anyway, trust me.

They took me to their headquarters, some shithole with more walls than furniture. There, waiting for me, was the man who had introduced himself as Master, the one who would train me to become what I am today. Needless to say that I was still not taking any of this seriously. I had been snatched from my life as a rich, young, charming nobleman, and landed in this concrete prison. I was not very motivated. The Master helped change this state of things. I still remember our first talk. To this day, those words shape every single one of my decisions. Unfortunately for him, those very words shaped my decision to chop his head off. But we will get to that later on.
 
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CHAPTER II

Master of deception

The Master was an intimidating man. Tall and with a muscular build. His clothes were always ragged and he never took off that mask of his. But then again, everyone there wore masks at all times. He looked at me --At least I assume he did, it was hard to tell -- and sit at my table.
"Well. A new recruit. You will love it in here." he said. I snorted.
"I strongly doubt it. You have no idea what my life was like a mere few days ago."
If he was offended by my lack of manners he certainly didn't give it away.

"A miserable one for sure. You had money and time. But you were a man with no future, no purpose." I tried to respond but he resumed before I could get a word in.
"Essentially you lived like an animal. Have you noticed? Animals live in the present. They have no notion of future. They live day by day. Their only purposes are to eat, shit and reproduce. But we can make you become more than that. We can make you a man!" he paused again and I took the chance.

"I liked my life as an animal. Eating, shitting and reproducing are very enjoyable activities. My future was guaranteed. I am the firstborn of an extremely wealthy family."

The Master let out a loud, genuine laugh, made all the more irritating by his mask.
"And tell me, if your future was guaranteed, how come you are here? No. Don't answer. It was a rhetorical question. I will tell you why you are here. Your family saw that you are a failure, and they pretty much disowned you!"

I looked at him and hesitated. I was angry. Angry that he was right and angry that he knew he was.

"Yes. You cannot count on anyone other than yourself. Humans are selfish. Not even your parents loved you more than they love their money."
I jumped to my feet, my anger had gone out of my control.
"Listen you shit! You know nothing about me or my parents so I advise you.. " before I could finish the sentence, two masked man grabbed me from behind, immobilizing me by slamming my face on the table. I was throbbing with anger and pain. I might have been a little scared too.

The master gestured towards the guards and they let me go. They picked up my chair and forced me back on it. I sat there massaging my nose.
"You are right. I don't know anything about you or your parents." he said
"But let me tell you what I do know: people are selfish." said the Master.

"Everyone works in line with their best interest. There is no part of a being, be it an elf, a dragon, a human or an animal, that is not selfish.

"Selflessness is a lie.

"A nice lie. They have to lie to themselves, in order to hide their true nature. We are all the same.

"Don't believe me? Take the most noble of sentiments: love. Now take the most noble of acts: self-sacrifice. Put them together. What you obtain is something that seems the best argument for selflessness. On the surface."

Silence.

"However one need only take a closer look to discover the truth: it is selfishness at its finest. Sure, he loved her. He loved her so much that he gave his life to save hers. He could not live without her. But, he stayed with her only to satiate his feelings. He did not choose to love her. He was not with her because she loved him back, no. He felt sad when she wasn't around. So he stayed with here so HE could feel good.

"And sure. He could not live without her, he loved her too much and, if you remember, he felt sad when she wasn't around. So he gave his life to save hers. Or did he?"

Another pause

"Of course not. He gave his life in order to spare his own feelings. He knew very well how it feels to live without your loved one, but he did not hesitate ONE SECOND to doom her to that very torture. All he cared about was himself and his feelings.

"They do not care what you want. It's always 'I love you' and 'I want to stay with you'. If you reject them they will resent you. Hate you, even. Kill you, possibly.

"If your parents loved you selflessly, they would finance every one of your vices asking nothing in return.

"So remember. You are alone in this world. If your fate does not affect someone's interests positively, they won't even grace you with a second of their time.

"Nobody cares."

He got up and left my table. All I could do was to sit there, dumbfounded. I did not want to believe this man. I was afraid of the consequences. But for as hard as I tried, I could not find any example to counter his arguments. I just sat there, lonelier than ever before.
 
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