Chains Of Pride

"Who's responsible for the changes made to the Armis this time around?"

Tiel and Miyata looked at each other for a moment before Miyata looked at the Shepherd, tightening his fist before replying "Uh, well the changes that caught your eyes should be from Tiel and me right here." Knowing he and Tiel made some minor tweaks to the suit, Miyata twisted the truth to give him and Tiel the credit leaving none for Kia.

"This is simply incredible, the modifications made are ingenious" this time it was the burly man who commented, obviously pleased with what he saw. He was the captain of Team Proelius, Himiya Genju. "This'll give the guys from Perbia Academy a run for their money hahaha!"

Lanzo stared at the changes made and had to admit that they were impressive. Lanzo was undoubtedly an unusual individual within Proelius. He did not necessarily act like his other teammates. His trait was extremely reserved, only ever letting go when he was fighting in Engage.

Still, even though he was...different, it didn't warrant them to treat him any differently than the others, but it did cause the other members of the team to not really accept him in their hearts. This did not sit all that unwell with him as he found that as he grew, he was becoming more annoyed with everyone else around him, why? He had no idea.

He suddenly took a step forward "Hhmm excuse me a bit, I'd like to get a closer look at this Armis" the member who was in front was a bit surprised that Lanzo chose to act and speak. Among everyone on the team, only the captain was able to really hold a conversation with him.

The surprised team member quickly got out of his way

Engage fighters were a bit special in the sense that they did not contribute to the academy like how the rest of the Digiums did and unless they chose to undertake any research they did not belong to any Class. Although they are brilliant by societal standards, their purpose was geared towards Engage itself.

What was Engage though? Even though Cendo Academy aimed to be a place where intellect and contributions were valued above all, this didn't stop Engage from being one of the most talked-about subjects among the Digiums, especially the females. As one did have to physically inclined to handle the strain of wearing an Armis. The team members for Proelius of Cendo Academy were especially well built, usually causing blushes and furores among the females mostly.

The shepherd looked around the room as if searching for something before he asked "Where's Kia?… It's hard to catch him if any at all."

"Hmph, you can't mean Red Creep right sir?" one of the Proelius fighters couldn't help but ask. The shepherd turned his head back to the young man who had just spoken and narrowed his eyes. The young man saw this and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. No one dared to disrespect a Shepherd after all their position and power were near-absolute.

So when the young man saw the shepherd saw threw such a gaze his way, he immediately wished he could find a hole to bury himself. "I don't condone the insult nor discrimination towards another student" the shepherd stated in slow and measured words.

The fighter who had just spoken received an additional glare from his captain before he looked back to the shepherd and bowed several times "Y-yes sir, I am sorry sir, it will not happen again!"

The shepherd's expression slightly softened before he stated, "I am not the one you should be apologising to so when we see Kia, it is then you will apologise, understand?" The Digium's eyes widened in indignation, a fighter such as him had to bow his head and apologise to another Digium?! and to the Red Creep no less?

However, he didn't say this to the Shepherd. He simply gritted his teeth before replying "Yes sir, I will follow sir's instruction."

At this time the Shepherd talked to the two young Digiums who were a part of Kia's team a bit longer before they finally left. Apparently pleased at the new Armis that could very well be used in the next Engage Sequence.

As the team was making its way outside Building C, Kia was at the same time making his way back to the novre room. "So it's Kia...Pelerion, I believe an apology was in order," it was not the Shepherd who spoke but the Captain for the team.

Pelerion was the name of the fighter who had spoken beforehand, at this moment he looked at his Captain as if he had been wronged. "Captain Himiya you can't be serious, you want me to lower myself and apologise to him?"

At this point the Captain glared in his direction before saying "I was not the one who told you to call him what you had, this can be considered getting off lightly in the presence of the Shepherd!" the captain's sharp and crisp voice left no room for negotiation.

At this point Pelerion knew there was no escaping the punishment, so he took a few giant strides and got ahead of the group to stand in front of Kia who was heading in the opposite direction.

By now, Kia stopped and stared at Pelerion with a regular and uninterested expression. Pelerion, seeing his 'couldn't care less' attitude was quite angry, but he quickly suppressed his rage and clenched his fist before he executed a proper bow.

At this point one of Kia's eyebrows shot up, wondering the reason for this before he heard. "I referred to you as something that was disrespectful, and for that, I am sorry" every word was said with great effort and mostly through clenched teeth. Kia heard the apology then looked in the direction of the Shepherd and understood everything that happened.

He simply placed his hand on Pelerion's shoulder before responding, "it is fine, the comments of the others would not move me" At this point, Pelerion started shuddering in rage, he could hear the meaning in Kia's words. He was basically saying that he did not have enough qualifications to warrant his anger or effort.

How could he take this lying down?! Him, a member of the Engage team, he who enjoyed a status that others could only dream of. He will never forget those eyes that looked down on him as he passed by. "I'll get you back for this Red Creep, count on it!" He inwardly thought to himself, formulating a plan to erase the shame he felt.

Kia didn't bother to think anymore about Pelerion, he realised his somewhat aloof personality wouldn't meld over all that well with other people, and it had been that way since he was young. Still, he had a particular skill to cope with that, he simply didn't give a damn.

At this time, however, he made his way to the Shepherd and cupped his fist before extending a bow "Greetings to Sir Shepherd." When he saw this, the Shepherd's expression softened considerably.

The shepherd's name was Akiu Edo, he always appreciated Kia, simply because his skills were on another level which is why he was a bit surprised when no mention of Kia was made regarding the Armis he saw earlier. After receiving Kia's greeting, he finally said "I was by your novre room earlier today, it seems the Armis there has made great progress, those mods are breathtaking. Those partners of yours are really something."

At this comment, Kia's face slightly twitched, before he asked "Oh? And may I ask in what ways they contributed? The Shepherd, hearing the slight change in tone of Kia's voice, had an idea that something was off and was about to ask Kia if he was the one to implement the changes.

However, he could see from Kia's expression that this was something he did not wish to pursue in the slightest.

This entire time Kia was being watched by Lanzo, who sensed a familiar pressure from him. He didn't know why but the normal annoyance that he felt from others, was nowhere to be found when he faced Kia. Of course, Kia also felt the gaze and turned his head in Lanzo's direction an action that had them lock eyes with each other.

When their gaze lengthened, everything else slowly disappeared, the Shepherd, the other fighters, everything, leaving one to stare the other down. There was no animosity within the stare, only a type of instinct to not back down. As Kia stared him down, he inwardly thought

"He's just like that other one from before."