The dark sidereal void, a distant planet below and broken peaches of what had been one of humanity proud vessels now laid bare on the frigid darkness of space.

Manfrid had never been one for words, and now more than ever he would be silenced forever on.

Staring through the dead man's rigid pupils, a slight sigh escaped Mark's dry lips.

"I find no pleasure in doing this, you know, then why you may be asking right?"

A pained expression on his face, he held what seemed like an antique of an era bygone, a picture locket. Two blurry figures the men held dear till the end, his wife and daughter, those very people he lost and would never get back.

But then a cruel smile curled up, smirking through pure malincholy.

"The pain, tearing you apart more each day you pass alone without them, it grows, and it peaks till a certain point, when your whole world shatters, crumbling into dust.

But after that, as long as you don't give up, it slowly molds your despiration into madness.

And I do, I revel in my madness, this depravity, it keeps my gears spinning.

So please, do not pity me, but stop looking for guilt from my poor soul either, because I feel none."

His smile broadened, as he closed up the man's pendant, through psichich powers a dark aura enveloped his being, as the mad explorer flew up to a particular section of the wrecked ship.

"Wretched human! You dare to walk the path of darkness!

They will come for you, and your death will never come, only agony an- "

A blue skinned humanoid stood motionless under a metallic flight of stairs, damaged by some kind of impact.

Interrupting the forger' squeaks of anger, his right hand convulsed, as power surged from his very being it coiled around his skin, a dark red hue stretched around his fingers as Mark's terrifying grip closed on the forgers mouth.

"You thought I was weak, and helpless didn't you? That cornered to this extent I wouldn't be able to bite back, right?

Well, you guessed wrong, your loss!"

The rad taint of madness radiating from his hand intensified as his victim writhed in pain, trying to free themselves from the madman deadly grasp, but all was in vain.

"Shh! Quiet little one, stop your struggle and I'll snuff out your suffering way quicker."

The celestial through his pristine blue eyes couldn't but admit defeat, an arrogant lot they were, but still valued their honor and dignity to the bone.

'Than so be it, I won't beg for the mercy that won't come, nor make a fool out of myself.'

The quick change of demeanour didn't go unnoticed, as Mark clicked his tongue in annoyance. Not that it could actually be heard for that matter.

More power surged through his pitch black veins, as the grip of madness now engulfed the pale blue alien in soft yellow flames.

Yet this time screams of agony reverberated through the void, as if perpetrated by space itself, they lasted till the defiled corpse of the forger became nothing but charred ash floating through space.

Seeing Olga's worried expression, Mark's eerie smile widened up a notch.

"You knew this would happen, didn't I warn you about me? I'm completely crazy, a deranged man clinging to centuries of deep resentment.

Get away from me, leave the crew and save at least yourself from this chaos."

His inhuman laughter then kept on growing, only to be Interrupted by Olga's slender arms, embracing the lunatic in a heart-felt hug.

"You're not crazy, you're a broken man that needs to be pieced back together."

"You think so?"

"Mark, I think I've known you long enough, and I am certain you never hurt those you truly care about.

On the other hand, you've always made sure to put our safety even before your own. Look, even know your fighting by yourself, not putting the crew in danger. That's the Captain I know and trust, that much yes, I am sure."

Olga's soothing speech had its impact, noticeably calming Mark's rage down.

Yet dark thoughts never left the man free.

' You know she's wrong, stop deluding yourself, you'll never be free. This Is our burden, not theirs, and thus we must do things our way!

Their help would only slow us down, right?'

...

Then, back on the dark, metallic corridors of the ark, Mark kept on pacing toward his room, the captain's room. There he clenched Manfrid's keepsake, while glancing at a pile of such things, the only scapegote to his agony, redemption.

Yet still, even that couldn't cull the taint of madness. Smiling, and laughing, suffering and crying on the desolate cabin, of the star cruiser, Dominus Mark knew it better than anybody else.

"You're wrong Olga, not even a fragment of that man you once knew still remains. I am crazy, I am a madman, but there is one thing I will obtain at any cost, no matter what. Revenge. "

About the same time, on the stone cold, white marble floor of a splendid Palace, blood dyed it dark red as an alien figure appeared in the middle of this splendid Hall.

Exquisite golden motives, elaborate paintings and even large colored windows deeply contrasted with Maloria's pitiful state.

Sticking out like a sore thumb, she began lashing out at the small crowd of forgers that now circled around her inquiring the sorry state she was in.

"Get me a them medic you retards! Damned fools, can't you see I'm still bleeding?

I won't give you anything to gossip about anyway, you either help me or get on with your business! That's an order not a suggestion!"

"Another defeat I heard sister, not looking good either, are you?"

Gritting her teeth, Maloria refrained from the urge to get up and kick her stupid brother's ass, causing a scene here and now would only spell trouble for her, and that would mean dancing on the palm of this moron.

"Dane, my brother, shouldn't you be most worried about my health rather than mocking my battered appearance?

Am I not a valiant warrior of our people, wounded by the wickedness of our enemies? "

Yet instead, disgust and ridicule were the emotions visible on the young Aalari, even incredulity.

"Even thinking of you as a sibling disgusts me at this point. You lost... to a human?

Pathetic, I bet even I would beat you in a duel at this point. Ridiculous, I guess you do take after our eldest brother, a disgrace..."

"You have gone too far this time, you dare to speak to speak ill of Raykielt, but be warned I have my limits!"

The sky quaked, the ground trembled, as Maloria got up from her crouched position unleashing the fury of her powers to the onlookers.

She was about to show her younger brother why their race had such a fearsome reputation throughout the universe.

All of a sudden, the space around Dane changed, his vision blurred as he was now standing inside a seemingly infinite hall, even more so than the main hall of the royal Palace of Riverè, back in his home world Thèmare.

His body was hurting all over, the atmosphere was absolutely bone chilling, which was an entirely new experience for the young aalari. Their species was quite gifted in body thermoregulation, many never felt this much cold their entire life.

Dane new what the cause of it all was, his soul was being affected directly, rather than his physical body.

Sitting aloof, on a white crystal, frozen trone was Maloria, exuding almost tangible unbrled fury.

She knew that this wasn't much like her, her little brother could still be seen as an infant for aalari's standards, he couldn't possibly understand. He could have gone insulting her all day, she didn't care, but not Raykielt.

Dane couldn't speak, nor move at all for that matter, the cold penetrated deep into his flesh, not letting him chances.

He tried with all his might, he wanted to prove hiw weak Maloria was, that aunt Kassie let her into the higher circle only because of pity, to show mercy towards the old royalty.

Finally he moved, one leg after the other, slowly stepping over to the frozen throne. Yet the cold had not subsided at all, even intensifying.

"I thought you had at least something to back up your girth, how deluding, at your age I would have already defeated my first two trials. Yet I see you have yet to start walking the path."

The icy gaze of Maloria's blue eyes, sent a chill down his spine, as he started running towards her, his legs spinning but without any input by hist part.

"Blue conduit..."

It was an advanced form of stream manipulation that enabled an individual control over their victims. A dreadful ability only the most capable individuals of their species possessed.

It was so feared because said control was absolute. One could even manipulate the mind of their victim to make them forget about their puppet state each time they discovered of it.

Yet the most able masters would not even make you doubt of the wickedness in the first place. It was silent, and rarely missed the mark.

Coming just under the throne, Dane started slamming his head on the ice pavement of the frozen palace, hot blood trickling down his forehead.

As he kept excusing himself each time his head hit the ground, screaming in pain.

"I am sorry! I beg for forgiveness!"

The torture kept going, even as he blacked out, the torturer could just bring him back, a puttet was a puppet for a reason.

'An intruder... Have I gone too far?'

"Maloria that's enough, he's young, discipline must be brought in the right doses, too much and it'll transform into resentment."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

As the the slender figure of her superior entered the room, the mirage of the frozen hall slowly dissipated, bringing them back to Riverè. The crowd of onlookers gone, only the three of them remained in the silent, beautiful hall.

"You two go get yourself treated, then come back for a detailed report, I'll wait for you on our favourite saloon in the right wing."

As quickly as she came, she was about to depart, inflexible and emotionless as ever.

"Yes councilor! It will be done."

Mamoria had never like the high council, their members lacked the more vivid personality of the younger generation.

Most of them usually appeared very aphatic, still trapped in their past, clinging to an era long gone.

Annoyed, she quickly grabbed Dane's motionless body and headed toward the Palace infirmary.

...

Sitting on the soft, red cushion of a wooden chair, Maloria crossed her slender legs, waiting for Councelor Kassie to come back from the dining section of the saloon.

Wide windows gave out a great view of Riverè, an Important capitol of the aalari in one of their founding worlds Thèmare. White pristine buildings surrounded the Palace, which was probably built up a hill in the centering the city.

Birds sang, as a chilly breeze slid through the open French doors which gave way to a wide balcony.

Her twin tails swirled, as she observed the intricate paintings of the rooms, ritmically tapping her sharp nails on to the dark mogany table.

"Made me wait long enough."

"A privilege of the strong dear."

"Fair enough, take your time enjoy your meal then. I'll be out for a stroll."

"Hush child, go on tell me. How did you lose to a human, no even more you lost the entirety of the IHU research vessel and the other two aalari I sent down there with you.

You better explain yourself young one, or it won't end with a simple reprimand, I'll make sure you'll keep good company to the miners in Ganov-74. They'll be more then happy to have one more good pair of arms."

A deeply troubled expression betrayed Kassie that something must have really happened down there. Maloria was exuding some sense of discomfort, even fear in ricollecting her most recent fight with the human.

"It was... very much unexpected, what happened there was something beyond my capabilities could handle, I doubt even you could have done anything there. Probably not even my teacher could..."

It was hard to believe a danger of such scale could have been cause by Mark the human. As a danger as he might have been, Maloria herself was a powerhouse, walking the eighth tier of the path as an astral sorcerer.

If confronted with humanity most fearsome warriors, she had to be on par with the five conquerors, humanity's peaks. Coupled with another two aalari, even if weaker, and the IVS-42, a research cruiser of the IHU.

A well armed vessel ready to defend against the many unknowns of space while the crew researched, and studied whatever did catch their eyes.

It had to be something else, Lassie refused to believe a human alone could be so fearsome, not that she was underestimating her enemies, but it was simply not possible.

The human soul had its limitations, and could support human walkers only till a certain point. Usually a human walking the seventh was quite rare, one reaching the eighth was a miracle. Such miracles were called conquerors, the absolute dominators of the human species.

Well, truth be told, there were a few exceptions other than them, but calling them still 'humans' would be a stretch.

Thus even if Mark turned out to be such an exception, he would at best be on par with Maloria. That, of course, in paper. Combat was chaotic and unpredictable, one path level higher than your enemy wouldn't always spell victory for you.

Still it couldn't explain such a crushing defeat.

"He... H-He brought one of 'them' with him. At first I was worried, because of the human's strong psichich fluctuations I worried he intended to ruin the ship before escaping the scene.

So I called over the other two envoys to keep him busy while I set up a better barrier for the humans.

Yet all the accumulated power was needed to create a portal deep into space."

The proud aalari felt ashamed, sullen, she exhaled a tired sigh.

"I should have charged straight at the enemy, as I usually do, I could have easily overpowered him with the other two. But, I think I thought he could have had some of his weird artifacts and thus played it a bit more safer...

I don't really know why councilor, this is not like me.

Then I saw him. One of the first walkers simply stepped out of the portal. A being that defies reality itself, I couldn't do anything but eacape, escape and save myself from a horrible faith. I-I had no other choice..."

Incredule of such peace of information, Kassie gasped in horror. Such beings never involved themselves in the matters of mere mortals, gods walking the material plain was something unheard of. Yet it happened, this elevated the importance of this matter, much, much higher than the council had initially thought.

Soon enough, the old councilor resumed her stoic expression, pressing young Maloria to finish her report.

"So, who was it?"

"I'm sure was Lyeiran the walker of space, visage of exploration and mask of knowledge.

Ina split second before activating my emergency protocols to escape, I saw the purple star of Xereu, his signature move.

A dense, death star of stream energy that engulfed everything around it, bending space to unimaginable degrees.

I-I-m sorry but I don't have any more information. If you'd excuse me, I would like to have a meet with my mentor."

A true aalari indeed, she had kept an impassable vail all along since her return, while being quite shaked inside. Slowly coming to terms with reality, while calmly assessing the situation. They trained her well, not many youngsters would have been as capable these days.

"I see... It seems like your instincts kept you alive this time around, Princess. Have you been as close to the ancient one as the other two, you wouldn't be here talking to me right now. I guess you won't be seeing the mines any time soon.

Still, be ready, we will be assigning you a new mission in a couple of days. Take care."

"Understood councilor, I'll be taking my leave if you will."

"Wait!"

"What now?"

"I have just received a hold message, it's about your younger brother, he has started his first trial..."

"But, he wasn't ready yet...This dungeon is too dangerous for someone that has yet to walk his path."

It was in fact, tradition for the parents of young alaari to chose for their children their first trial, a dungeon offered by the system which would later chose the children's role in society later in life.

Of course usually, the harder the dungeon, the higher their prestige and future position. Yet more challenging dungeons meant a higher risk of failure and even death.

Those that missed their marks, because to scared to fulfill their destiny, or came back as failures would not seen fit to take part in society and rejected, enslaved to waste the rest of their lives into hard manual labor.

This barbaric, ancient organisation was often looked down about by the other sentient species. Yet guided by extremely old, ancient individuals, the aalari had still kept some of their traditions spanning back eons passed.

...

"Can you stop it? Stop it I said damn you! Stop or I'm gonna beat you up real good all right? Can't say I didn't warn you later!"

"..."

"Ouch! Dang you're tough!"

"Crunch-Crunch-Crunch-Crunch"

"Stop eating our damn cell you stupid, mundless beast!"

"Shut it will you? It does not care about you, me or whatever they'll have a headache replacing all the metal it has eaten from the cell.

It's shell is also extremely hard, many times over your scrawny human hands, little girl."

"I am not a little girl all right, as a matter of fact, I'm almost eighteen. An adult, a big one, got it? Blue man?"

"My name is Dane, and I'm not a blue man, but a proud aalari. Also, to me you are pretty much an infant, as I am a couple centuries old already. Have some respect respect for your elders."

"A weird alien, I get it. You can call me Brit, the scrawny little monkey is Trevor, my travelling companion. The serious dude sitting on the corner has yet to talk, with the weird bug eating the room we are down one more member for the party.

A saw them forming teams of six, taking them out to work in the 'fields', whatever that means."

Long, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, a couple of round sunglasses, brown shorts and a white t-shirt. Brit was sporting a big smile and an easygoing attitude, while still massaging her right hook now enveloped in redness.

Near her was sitting a small chimp holding some kind of energy gun on his right hand, he was curiously looking around the underground cell complex they were being held captive.

"This bars had quite the flavour I must admit, not bad indeed. But barely quenched my appetite... '

"Hey there little Trevor, would you mind passing your beautiful gun to the big bug over there?

He told me he's pretty passionate about fancy guns like yours! Would you mind?"

"Hey! I didn't say that!"

"Thank you little Trevor! Once we get back I'll reward you with some sweets!"

"Give it back!"

Brit frantically run towards Makhar and her friend chimpanzee, only to find the laser gun being digested by Makhar and his Insatiable hunger.