Six Warriors

Need to be Stronger - (Jack)

"So this Garm got another one of those weird and childish objects, huh?" Miguel said thinking aloud, with his hand on his chin, "What connections do they have to the academy's hidden treasures? No doubt I'll have to investigate this further."

Jack and the others listened to Arthur tell about his experiences in a clandestine tournament called Underground, according to him many of the strong criminals were there and their powers were indeed amazing.

"How about if we pretend to be friends with those guys?" asked Sam, "Dave and the others who wanted to be our allies, who knows so we could find out something from them? Now that you say it, that little music box was suspect."

"It's useless" Fenrir spoke with folded arms, "they never really wanted to be our friends, not even allies, what they wanted was to use us in some way. As Miguel said before, apparently some passages require one of the Kerds and they do they know we are the bearers of the Kerd crystals. We would be instruments for them, not allies."

"You're right" Miguel agreed, "the odds are all against us, if I were to calculate our probability of success I'd say it verges on 3%, maybe less."

"Well three is enough for me to believe!" Jack said excitedly.

"We're like a blind man in the dark" Fenrir said solemnly, "our only visible chance of getting another scroll is to win the tournament. For that, we're going to need a team."

"You can count on me!" Jack responded excitedly, "We're going to win, I believe!"

"Let's face it, at our current level we won't be able to win" Arthur said with a frown. It seemed to be hard for him to admit that sort of thing, "We have to train a lot if we want to be stronger."

...

Jack and his friends couldn't just sit still, they had to think about a lot of things at once and gathering information was one of them. Any secret passages they found would be a huge step forward, plus they were preparing to team up for the tournament.

As they walked through the academy, through the unorthodox corners of the academy, by the way someone just said something to Arthur.

"Well, if it ain't Stone Cow," said a random voice. Jack looked over and saw a skinny boy, with insane eyes and platinum hair down to the back of his head, who was grinning mockingly.

"Hm? You're talking to my partner here are you?" Fenrir asked the platinum haired boy "I gave him this nickname, Stone Bull. I would prefer Stone Taurus, but it didn't catch on as well as the first one."

"And who are you, little boy? Are you the so-called Slack Wolf?"

"Slack Wolf...? Who the hell are you?" Fenrir frowned.

"Fenrir, he is..." Arthur said, but was interrupted.

"Let me introduce myself, Stone Cow. I'm Garm the White Wolf. Leader of the Hell's Dogs."

Fenrir looked serious.

"Hell's Dogs, eh? I heard about you."

"Yeah. I know, and who hasn't heard? Tsk Black Wolf, what a joke you little plagiarist. But maybe you're a good rival, since my old one is a total failure."

"You only have one more victory than him!" Arthur purred angrily.

"What's going on right here, huh?" Jack asked. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Who's the big guy?" Asked in a mocking voice the leader of the Hell Dogs about Jack.

"I'm the…" Jack paused a little. The truth is, he didn't have cool nicknames like his friends. "I'm the... Er... Jack! I'm Jack the... The Fire Dragon!"

"Never heard of it."

"How come you never heard of me?! I defeated the..." Jack tried to remember the guy's name "What was his name again, huh?" he wondered, couldn't remember so he simply said, "Gartham's right-hand man in the battle we had in the woods."

"How is it?" Garm started to laugh. "Are you talking about that goofy Jaden? Get the hell out of you wimpy clown, I'm not interested in bash you yet. You look like a jelly ball."

Jack was annoyed.

"I can prove to be strong..." He trailed off when he noticed that Garm wasn't looking at him anymore and wasn't paying attention anymore. He inflated with hate.

"So the Black Wolf against the White Wolf." Garm spoke to Fenrir "Sounds cool, doesn't it? The battle between the wolves. There can only be one alpha!"

Fenrir scratched his head. Jack knew that he didn't like to fight very much, according to him, it was a lot of work.

"Look man, you might be disappointed. I'm not that great, and I beat Gartham with the help of some friends. Besides, I took a huge beating before I beat him, and in the end, the attack I used to beat him it exhausted me completely."

"Oh, really?" asked Garm, closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders "Well that's disappointing, too bad, huh? But..." It was like a shade, quick and deadly, Jack only realized when it happened "I couldn't get out of here without hitting you a little bit right?" He said as the swift punch went in Fenrir's direction. The blow, however, did not reach the boy. Fenrir was impressed, wide-eyed towards the White Wolf's fist, which was being held by someone.

"My, my, why do wolves fight?" asked the boy holding Garm's arm, a boy with straight purple hair.

"Tsk" Garm spat on the floor and let go of the boy's arm. Jack knew who he was.

"Nice catch, Dominick" praised a voice the boys also knew. Jack turned back and saw Seraphim smiling. Dominick smiled too, having arrived in time to prevent Fenrir from simply being punched.

"What do you want with this boy, Garm?" he asked.

"Don't get involved in this, you preppy. This is wolves fight."

"From what I saw, it was a unilateral attack on your part. Look, I'm in a really good mood today, alright? Why don't you just get the hell out of here before I lose my temper?"

Garm scowled at him but turned and walked away.

"I can't believe it!" Arthur exclaimed "I saw that guy as a rabid wolf, and now I see him as a pet dog who just got kicked," he looked at Dominick. "You must be amazing strong guy!"

"Just treat him nicely," laughed Dominick.

"I didn't even see that attack come" Fenrir said, still impressed "thanks for me... Er... I dunno, save me?"

"You're welcome, Black Wolf."

"Wait!" Jack chimed in, "he's from the Council, Fenrir. He was there when I was interrogated. He's under orders to watch over us."

Fenrir frowned and looked at Dominick.

"Oh that's true" chuckled the boy raising his arms as if he surrendered, "got me, Jack Zaek, you little naughty boy!"

"Order to watch over us, right?" Fenrir asked.

"Relax on that, the Student Council will ignore Lord Ghost for now. I took care of it myself."

"Why would I believe that? Why would you do this for us?"

"Thank our friend Seraph, little wolf. He asked me personally and we've been very close lately, well I concluded you are no threat. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make you official for now, but it's a start, right?"

"Well, thank you, er... Seraph. And Dominick too. Oh, and by the way, Seraphim really wanted to talk to you."

"Of course" Seraph smirked, "but be careful what you order, okay?"

"The tournament. You will be part of our team, right?"

Seraph smiled.

"Oh, sorry, Fenrir, but I can't accept it."

"Hey, why not?"

"I already have a team. You know, being friends with the authorities, the Council, takes its toll."

"Already... have a team? Which one? What are you talking about?"

"Our team" interjected Dominick, smiling "the Hoviding, I think you know us."

"The… current champions?" Jack asked in surprise, "Isn't that a team made up of Council members?"

"Well, in part, yes, but not entirely. Also, Seraph has been offered some positions, but he's been turning them down, he's such a stubborn."

"What can I say, I'd rather be friends with you, but not be a fop either." Seraph shrugged.

"So that's what you think of us, Mr Seraph?" scolded Dominick playfully.

"It's a strong team, I understand" Fenrir said, "well, see you at the tournament then."

“We are a level above Iron Fist, if I may say so. But don't worry, Fenrir,” Dominick said, “you can consider the Hoviding team as an ally. until then, we are friends, or at least we are not enemies." Dominick held out his hand to Fenrir.

"Oh, that's cool" Fenrir shook Dominick's hand "since you are so powerful."

"We really are." Dominick said, but without arrogance.

"That's right, Fenrir" Arthur butted in "for someone to scare off Garm like that..."

"Garm is a rebellious puppy that must be trained," smiled Dominick. "Well now I have to go, see you guys later." And then he was gone, with Seraphim with him

"Seraph shouldn't…I don't know, be on our side as Guardian?" Jack asked dumbfounded.

“At least he's got this nonaggression pact with the current champions and Council. That's going to help a lot.

"Too much strong" replied Arthur "I hate to admit it."

,,,

It was night, after dinner, and Jack was on Wolfs Hill, looking at the horizon, when he screamed in frustration. Jack felt that Fenrir, Arthur, and the others were surpassing him in powers, plus the academy's big fish, the strong ones, ignored him as if he were nothing. Jack was frustrated, he had struggled hard to reach that level of power and then be recognized. Thinking about these things, Jack screamed in frustration again, he needed to get stronger!

"You always come here when you're frustrated, when you want to think, right?" A soft voice asked Jack. He was a small, delicate-looking boy, with a turban wrapped around his head, and his blue hair fell in strands down his face. He wore the boy's uniform, with the exception of the overcoat. Jack had seen him before at the academy, at a glance, however, he remembered him best as he was one of the guys who were on the day of the interrogation, meaning he was on the Council. "I always see you coming this way, to be alone for a while."

"Another Council guy chasing me?" Jack smirked, "and Dominick said we didn't have any more issues with you."

"Don't worry, don't think of me as a mere council member, I also like to wander the quiet places of this school to think about my ghosts. Don't worry about me, I give you my word of honor. Anyway, you give me seems frustrated with something."

"Maybe it's a mixture of feelings," Jack looked up at the sky, "I'm waiting for the tournament to prove me, but still, I think I'm weak. I want to get stronger and achieve my goals, maybe that's my frustration."

"You strike me as a strong boy...er...Jack, right?"

"Right" Jack smiled, "you're one of the few who tells me that just by looking at me. What's your name?"

"Tha... Thalias. Thales. Thales, that's my name. I'm sorry I got distracted for a second. Anyway, yes, I feel you're pretty strong, but if you really want to prove yourself, how about a workout? A Fair Fight, without much effort. The first one to be knocked down three times, loses. I may not look it, but I'm also strong and I'm one of the members of Hoviding. Let's test your ability, Jack."

"Training with one of the members of the current champions?" Jack gave a confident smile, "okay let's see what you guys are really capable of..."

...

Jack was sitting flat-legged on the floor, dirty, sweaty, and a little injured.

"Damn it, you're even stronger than you look" Jack said, after being defeated, then he smiled, "but I didn't expect less from one of the champions."

Thales laughed.

"You're not weak either Jack, you're at a good power level."

"Something tells me…that you didn't fight with all your strength."

"Yeah, I didn't mean to offend you, but...yes...I didn't use all my strength, yet you made me sweat, it's a good sign, Jack, many of this academy wouldn't be capable of everything you can did."

"I still have a long way to go. Hey, I promise you that, I'll train a lot and come back a lot stronger and then, at the tournament, we'll have our rematch."

"That I will be looking forward to, Jack."