He started to shiver and his body was covered by an uncomfortable blanket. All the fun, if there ever was any, was instantly sucked away into an abyss. Joaquin could sense that Ruben was nearby and he didn't like it in the slightest. He stopped in the middle of the long hallway they had just arrived in and looked back at the desperate eyes of the students. The curiously bright eyes of the Idol Prince, and ever so deceitful ones of Beipan.
"Why did you stop," the Idol Prince Wang asked in his native language out of excitement.
Joaquin frowned but quickly calmed himself, his pride as an adventurer and tomb raider was on the line as Ruben slowly approached them. He sighed and raised his head while pointing back at the students.
"That way," he pointed behind himself, "is the way back to the checkpoint and the bus. Along the way you will be able to meet monsters to hunt and most likely hidden items to scavenge and without a doubt pass this month's test. And as it was intended in the first place the Idol Prince will lead you guys until the very end. I just hope we never meet again."
"And where are you going?" Beipan asked as he walked over to the front, he kept a distance between him and Joaquin as to allow for the other students to hear their discussion.
"It's none of your business, just take the others and leave. You should also meet Ruben along the way, because I assume he came here for you."
"After facing life and death many times over under your guidance. Are you telling us that we should just tuck our tails in between our legs and retreat with mere passes?" Beipan questioned with a smug on his face the Idol Prince tried to get him to stop.
"I will not keep quiet about this. Every step that Joaquin took was too calculated for him not to know of what dangers laid ahead, had he previously warned us about them we would've been prepared and people wouldn't have died." Beipan continued this time having covered the Idol Prince's mouth.
The Idol Prince tried to reach out to Bence but even he seemed to agree with Beipan.
"I will not repeat myself," Joaquin turned to Ains and she got up to walk towards him. "Try not to get anymore people killed." The two of the disappeared into a wall and the group eyed each other nervously.
"There are treasures in there are of unrivaled value and most likely even stronger power. Joaquin knew he could not pass through the swamp without sacrificing a few of our comrades, he knew that he could not make it through the traps without our contribution. And now that he has found what he came for he tosses us aside like we are some baggage, he acts as if we were bringing him down so that he can hog all of the glory for himself…" Beipan could finish talking a light breeze blew the Idol Prince out of his arms and the Idol Prince called out worriedly to them to stop their accusations.
Beipan bowed, "young master. Using your enthusiasm, along with your naive and childlike sense of adventure, that traitor known as Joaquin Z. Alder got you to lead innocent lives into the deepest parts of hell. I want you to know that I don't blame you for thinking that he was your friend, even we trusted him with our lives at some point. But I also want you to look at the people behind you and tell them to let Joaquin walk and forgive him for his actions."
"You can't just…" the Idol Prince tried to say something but Beipan lowered himself even further now groveling on the ground. He looked at Bence and he also knelt and bowed his head. The Idol Prince's heart chilled and pumped near frozen blood through his veins as soon as he saw that the other students had bowed at him and some even were shedding tears.
He recalled their journey here, the goblin shark, the mana draining swamp, the lion statues with piercing gazes and the other trails that followed after then. All the while Joaquin remained secluded from the others with AIns by his side and he only came back to give instructions.
"Are you just going to stand there like a whip or are you going to start making decisions like a real man." Kristen screamed from the back of the croud, she her ability activated and it was heating up the area.
"What do you plan on doing, even if following Joaquin caused the death of comrades it doesn't justify killing him in exchange, it also won't bring anyone we lost back. Unlike you Miss Kristen, most of us aren't related to the Phoenix." the Idol Prince nervously uttered as he avoided the gazes of the students.
"It's not about who is related to who, it's about justice, even if we don't kill him he should at least face consequences for his action." Another student screamed as he lowered his head completely making him nearly invisible.
The other students screamed while agreeing with him, the Idol Prince had completely lost the crowd.
"Young master, please treat this as hands on training to prepare you for your future. When we leave the academy you will be faced with more of these issue, and when that time comes you'll need to be more proactive. As your loyal sword I ask you to give us the permission to get justice for our fallen brethren." Bence said as he stood up and towored over the young Idol.
Idol Prince's world collapsed all around him, he unconsciously took steps backward accompanied by huge breaths. Words, voices, and pictures alike ran amok in his brain. He couldn't see straight and felt as if he was going to collapse at any minute.
It was fuzzy, but he could still see eyes leering back at him, scanning for a promise of justice. It was in this moment he remembered hearing an old man tell him that, "a king who isn't for his people is not a king at all…" It was settled, although he had promised Ruben that he would watch over Joaquin, he had to be punished.
As the Idol Prince finally made up his mind he lost his footing and fell backward, Beipan caught him and whispered in ear."You cannot show any sign of weakness in front of your subjects, young master."
The Idol Prince raised his fan along with his right arm into the air and the students shouted with a new found hope in the form of an Eastern royal son.
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"Achoo!" Ruben let out a loud sneeze and stumbled forward.
"Are you okay, what was that about?" Noelle asked as she caught him.
"If I don't hurry up it will be too late." Ruben exclaimed as he took off at amazing speeds, Noelle followed behind with questions and Kyle followed with an obligation to protect her in the back of his mind.