Bruce surveyed his surroundings. Though he knew he was in an illusion and everything here might have happened in the past, he still felt a chill creep over him when those low female murmurs sounded in the basement.
It felt so incredibly real, as though he had actually been there.
Those murmurs alone left his whole body cold, his hands and feet numb.
Some terrifying presence had arrived.
Bruce heard the word "Witch" from the black-robed figures. He had heard of Witches before.
Witch was another Extraordinary identity, though a special kind. Bruce knew about Witches because of the Rune Kingdom's history. The Rune Kingdom oppressed women; its restrictive inheritance laws, which excluded women outright, were the clearest example of that gross unfairness. Witches were a major part of the reason things had become this way.
Bruce had never studied that period of history in detail. He only knew that, shortly after the Rune Kingdom was founded, its second king had fallen in love with a woman. For her sake, he had murdered ministers and nobles, even sending his own son to the guillotine.
And that woman was said to have been a Witch.
In fact, if one traced their history further back, Witches should have been called Witch Priestesses. Like Wizards, they wielded witchcraft and magic, but their magic was distinctly different. It came from a tree, a Magic Tree containing immense energy. This Magic Tree was said to have been planted upon countless Demon corpses, so the Witch Priestesses' magic had more demonic traits, such as control over desires and distracting thoughts. They themselves were also driven by desire.
It was another case of specialization versus a full range of disciplines.
Gradually, Witch Priestesses became Witches-sinister beings associated with Demons.
Witches were still active within the Rune Kingdom.