The story talks about a young boy known as Cloud who aspired to become the greatest pilgrim warrior in Agaroth (the first warrior realm of mankind) despite his flaws, however there is more that meets the eyes as Agaroth is on the brink of extinction...
In the halls of the Shard Court as Rish as walking alone, he suddenly paused as he heard the sound of something moving fast behind him and quickly rolled his eyes back to see but saw nothing. Rish continued walking but the sound resumed, causing Rish to stop and peek again but still saw nothing. Just as Rish was about to carry on, the sound started once again but this time with a myriad, which made Rish to turn back with an irritated expression. "Show yourselves." Rish said as his irises glowed. Out of the shadows stepped out teenage four hivelings: two males and two females, smiling as their eyes glowing. Meanwhile in one of the medical rooms, Juni, Garl and Rico each sat on their chairs, staring at Van's body as he laid unconscious on the medical bed. At that time they were staring at him, Rico had a recollection of a few months ago in Xondu forest as he was being held up off the ground by a huge angry Kenar with a curly hair that had the mixture of black and grey and behind the Kenar were eight other students, each with a smirk on their faces. "I heard you disrespected a member of my crew!" The Kenar said as he pulled Rico up close to him, "Today, I Aphosis of the Kenar tribe, will teach you some respect and beat out that arrogance from you. You're going to regret ever speaking to my crew like that, you hear me?!!" Unfazed by the threats, Rico stared at Aphosis for a few seconds and smirked. "Soiyo ni dogi ma." Rico said. "Huh?!" Aphosis said with a raised eyebrow. Rico immediately headbutts Aphosis on the nose, causing him to let go of Rico and stagger in the act. As Aphosis got himself back, Aphosis raised his head with a menacing glare as his irises glowed while covering his nose. "How dare you?!" Aphosis said. "Sorry for hitting your nose, i just couldn't stand the stench of your awful breath but again, i guess some things are genetic, huh." Rico said. Rico spat on the ground which led Aphosis to grit his teeth while glaring with his glowing irises. "This is rough." A braided black haired Ripar teen beside Aphosis said, "He first told you 'Screw your doggy mother' in the Ripar tongue and now he has gone further to disrespect you by spitting on the ground. Man, i never imagined tha-" "Shut up!" Aphosis said as he punched the Ripar in the face which sent him sliding on the ground face-first and rendered him outcold. Aphosis turns back at Rico while discharging his aura but Rico was unfazed at what was going on. "Come." Rico said as his irises glowed. "Hey, Aphosis, there is someone watching us from afar." A masculine voice said. "Huh? Who?" Aphosis said as he turned back to see the person. Aphosis finds the person to be Van who happened to be leaning on a tree while having his arms crossed with a bored expression. Among Aphosis's crew, a golden haired Tenplar girl stepped back in fear the moment she sights Van , leaving some of the crew a bit concerned. "Gemari is afraid?" A Ripar girl asked inwardly. "Hey, you there! What are you doing here?!" Aphosis asked Van as he was walking towards him, "Do you want to follow this disrespectful sh*t to his grave?!" "Aphosis, no!" Gemari said, "You don't know who you are dealing with!" "Hey, i'm talking to you, answer me!!" Aphosis said as he raised Van from the ground while holding his collar. During the time Aphosis was yelling, Van smirked at him which fueled his annoyance. "What the f**k is so funny, you little sh-!" In a flash, Van slams Aphosis's face to the ground thus leaving him unconscious and the others (including Rico) in shock. "Well, well, well." Van said in the time he was slowly rising up with a smile, "I came here to watch out of boredom but now i have been added to this fight, i guess i have to crack some skulls." "Now who is coming first?!" Van said with an evil grin as he slams his fist against his palm while his irises glowed. After recalling that moment, Rico stared at his clenched fists. "So, huh, does anyone know what made Van act like that in the tournament?" Garl asked. "You've asked this before and we told you we don't know." Juni answered. "He was so sad..." Rico said as he remembered Van crying in the tournament, "That was the first i have seen him like that." "Yeah, me too." Garl said, "He usually puts up a tough guy act even when we are all frightened. When all seemed lost, Van never faltered, so seeing him like that was so..." "Strange." Juni said, "We should talk to him and find out what made him act like that. It's what friends do." "Friends?" Rico asked with a raised brow, "Have you forgotten that it was you two that tried to stab him in the back, over and over again?" "And you, Garl." Rico said as he peeked at Garl, "You were the one who brought the grudge between Van and Cloud. You just had to get petty over a cake that Cloud had already taken when there were other cakes there. I mean, what the heck, man? It was just a cake! Why did you have to start threatening him over a cake? And because of the promise we made of always having each other's backs, we had to step in and with Van and Cloud being the way they are, things went out of control!" A flashback takes place at the dinning room in the midst of other students as Van was holding Cloud by the collar while the two were glaring at each other. "Last chance, jackass!" Van said. "You're the jackass! You and your weird ass dressing!" Cloud replied, "You look like a deranged street thug. What kind of guy dresses with one arm sleeveless and the other full of sleeve? Is your brain incomplete?!" Van immediately punched Cloud in the face which sent him crashing on a wall and began to pummel him there with his fists. "All this because of a cake?" Yulin asked inwardly with a blank face. "Even though Van beat the snot out of Cloud, the two of them ended up getting in trouble." Rico said after remembering that time, "And we all know that Van isn't the type to let things go easily. We've done a lot of things together. We've crushed so many that stood in our way, thus taking the titles of the Rulers of the academy but in all this as we kept on picking on Cloud, i started questioning myself if we have become so shameless that we would pick on a minor. And you were the one that started this, just like you were the one that caused our friendship to break apart by planning Van's betrayal!" "He didn't plan Van's betrayal. I did." Juni said while facing the ground. In that moment of revelation, Rico became stunned at her revelation while the fingers of Van's unconscious body twitched. "I was so jealous of him. So jealous and tired of being looked at as his lapdog by others." Juni said. "What the heck are you talking about...?" Rico asked with a wide-eyed stare while struggling to hold back his tears, "Juni, what are you saying?!" "Think back." Juni said, "When we first approached you with the plan to attack Van, did Garl ever say 'he' planned it? I created the plan and convinced Garl to join me. Garl... He... When he told Van he was the one that planned the betrayal, he only said that to protect me from Van, but it didn't work out as he thought." "What's wrong with the both of you?" Rico asked as he faced the ground with tears streaming down his eyes, "How can you both plan to do something like this to our friend? A friend that wouldn't think twice about helping us if we are in danger. Are you aware that most of the grudges Van has with others in the academy is because of us? Because he wouldn't stand by and let anyone mess with us. Heck! He even sent a couple of guys to coma for harming the three of us, so why the heck would you....!" During the time that Rico's tears were dropping on the ground while facing the ground, Juni struggled to hold back her tears. "Dammit..." Rico said as he was cleaning the tears from his eyes, "What was that part you said to him in the rumble? The part of us being Van's creators?" Juni, however, remained mute, leading Rico to grit his teeth in anger and discharge a blue aura. "GIVE ME AN ANSWER, DAMMIT!!" Rico said. "And you, Garl!" Rico said as he glanced at Garl, "Even if you weren't the one that planned the betrayal, how could you go along with it?! Do you remember when Van almost died saving you from Shinza and Yon of the Reptorix race when the Reptorixs invaded the academy? Yet, you still chose to do it? How could you...?!" "HOW COULD YOU?!!!" Rico asked as his blue aura increased in height along with his irises glowing, "WHY?! WHY?!! WHY?!!! WHY?!!! WHY?!!!!" Rico drops to his knees and began to sob while clenching his fists. "Why...?" Rico asked. Juni and Garl walks towards Rico and placed their hands on his shoulders while he still faced the ground. "Why would you think of something like that?" Rico asked as he looked up to look at them. Juni fell on her knees and hugged Rico, allowing his head to rest on her chest. As this was happening, Garl gazed at Van and sighed. "Rico, there is nothing we can say that will excuse us for trying to betray Van." Garl said, "But if i am to give a reason, it was because of that moment with Karma at Erishkal forest." "You mean the time that she broke his back?" Rico asked as he gaped at Garl. "Yes." Garl answered, "The time Juni and i were walking alone in Erishkal forest, we encountered Karma and she demanded to know Van's location. We tried to ignore her even she talked about us being Van's lapdogs; people always waging their tails and trying to seek comfort by laying on the laps of our 'master' and even went as far as saying we would one day crawl underneath Van and bark like the dogs the three of us are. In the end, Juni and i had enough and decided to shut her up." Another flashback takes place as Van and Rico were walking and discussing with each other at Erishkal forest and at that time they were discussing, Van and Rico took notice of Garl, laying on the ground bruised and injured all over his body, whereby leaving them both in shock. "Garl!" Rico said as him and Van rushed towards Garl. Reaching there, Van and Rico squats to check up on him; Garl showed some signs of life as he coughed out and opened the only eye left. "Hey, who did this?" Van asked while scowling. "Karma... Juni..." Garl said. Garl loses consciousness once again and Rico's eyes widened in horror; at that time, Van stood on his feet and was discharging a lilac aura. "Take him to Leorona... 'Quick'." Van said to Rico while facing forward. Van sped off, leaving Rico alone with Garl. Van arrived in the midst of students that had gathered in a section of the forest and his eyes (which were glowing) widened in shock as he sights Juni sitting on the ground unconscious with her back was leaning against a bloodstained tree while Karma sat on the ground with her head resting on her blood soaked knuckles. "So you have arrived." Karma said while paying attention to Juni's unconscious body. "You crazy bastard...!" Van said with a menacing glare. "I find that odd coming from you, considering what you have done and what you are planning to become." Karma said. "Save it." Van said while emitting a lilac aura, "Because right now, you're about to have a special reunion with your tribe." "Is that so?" Karma asked as her glowing irises rolls back at Van. Done recollecting those memories, Garl faced the ground and sighed. "After that fight, the words Karma said about us being Van's lapdogs kept haunting us and as we kept seeing Van progressing, the feeling of us being inferior kept building up. I... It doesn't matter anymore. A man that is willing to betray his friend over something like this, isn't worthy to be called a man." "But you, Rico." Garl said as glanced at Rico with a smile, "You didn't turn your back on him or any of us. You could have fought us and told Van about this but you chose not to because you didn't want the friendship between the four of us to break apart. Now that is what i call a friend and a man, so believe me when i say the friendship between us four will be mended." "Van still saw it as betrayal for not telling him." Rico said, "And since he is not the type to let things go easily, he won't listen to any of us." "Don't worry, he will." Juni said while smiling, "We still have some time left before we go back to our various tribes so before we do that, let's make some things right, especially with the minor. Hey, come to think of it, we have been protecting Van, too, especially from himself." "Yeah, i mean Van is quite unhinged and we normally tend to restrain him from creating further damage just like the one with Kardolac." Garl said while still smiling. A recollection occurs as the four of them were standing in Zenob forest and during that time, Juni, Rico and Garl took notice of Van emitting a faint aura as the upper part of his face was overshadowed. "Hey, I'm going to rough him up a bit. If i become too violent, feel free to restrain me." Van said as he gazed at the three with a sinister smile. "Or is it the one with Karma?" Current Juni asked while smiling. Another recollection takes place as Juni, Rico and Garl were struggling to restrain an angered Van from leaving the infirmary. "Van, stop it!" Juni said. "Hey, take it easy, man!" Garl said, "You just recovered from your broken back and the first thing you want to do is to go back and fight her?!" "Miracles don't happen twice!" Rico said, "Leorona admitted you would have been a corpse if you weren't brought to her quickly! Are you trying to make sure you're dead this time?!" "Let go!" Van said as his irises glowed while struggling to move forward. After recalling all those moments, Juni giggled while the others smiled. "Such memories." Garl said. "You know back then they weren't funny." Rico said. "Yeah, they weren't." Juni replied, "In all my life, being friends with you guys was one of the best things that happened to me. I was so stupid to let Karma's words get to me but now, i won't let anything tear up our friendship." "Yeah." Garl said with a smile. "Yeah." Rico said with a smile. "Yeah..." Juni said with a smile. While this was happening, Rico glanced at Van in curiosity. "What was it all about?"Rico asked within himself, "When we asked for your reasons in becoming a pilgrim... Why did you use those words?" . Rico recalls months ago as the sun was setting, Van stood at a hill, staring at his palm while Rico, Juni and Garl stood behind him with their arms crossed. "I'm not a failure." Van said. "Huh?" Rico, Juni and Garl said in confusion. "My older brother... He was always looked at as the good one, perfect in everything but me, i've always been seen as the bad egg. No matter what i do, it was never enough, i could never be as good as my brother. So i decided if my brother is so good at being good, then i should become so good at being bad. You know like two opposites of a coin." "Pilgrims are viewed as heroes of Agaroth but i don't want to be seen as a hero but as a villain in the pilgrim organization." Van said with a grin as he clenched his fist, "One who people whispers his name in fear and brings despair into the hearts of foes. "I will become the top fiend of the pilgrims and show the warrior realms my power." Van said as he slightly spreads his arms part, "That..." "... Is my goal." Van said with a smile as he turned his peeped at Garl, Juni and Rico. Hearing Van's reasons, Rico, Garl and Juni stared at him with wtf faces while their arms were crossed. "What the f**k?" Garl asked within himself. "I knew he is unhinged but what the heck?" Juni asked within herself. "Just how many crazies do we have in the academy?" Rico asked within himself. "I'm not a failure'." Current Rico said within himself, "The words used by Van multiple times. Van, what exactly happened to you? What made you act like that against Onak? When you awaken, I'd like to find out..." "Friend." Rico said inwardly with a smile. Just as Juni was about to leave the medical room, she swiftly turns around to look at the boys. "Okay, i'm going to get us something to eat." Juni said while smiling, "Please don't-" In an instant, Juni's head was sent high in the air while her remaining body to fell on the ground, leaving Garl and Rico dismayed at the sight. "JUNI!!!" Rico and Garl screamed. Behind Juni's corpse stood a teenage hiveling male with long black hair, and eyes, dressed in a sleeveless opened blue vest and black trousers with a cloth tied round his waist. "Greetings, humans. I am Bleid of the scorpion clan of the hiveling race." Bleid said, " And i have come for the one that is on the bed." "Van?" Garl and Rico asked within themselves. "Though, we were instructed to kill only if it is necessary but you humans are maggots and you need to die." Bleid said as his eyes glowed. Bleid's eyes rolls back and he became shocked as Juni was standing behind him with her entire body still intact (except her hair which had been reduced to a bob-cut) while resting her chin on her knuckles with a devious smile and her head slightly bent. "What the hell?" Bleid asked inwardly. "Greetings, Bleid. I am Juni of the Kenar tribe of Agaroth. Nice to meet you." Juni said, "How would you like to die?" "Oh and where would you like to be buried?" Juni asked as her irises glowed.
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