Twenty-four years after the creation of the four zones, Kirata met a little boy named Seto. Even with Kirata's attempts to scare him, Seto shows no fear, and to Kirata's surprise, he asks for his name.
"Oh, umm, my name?"
Kirata instantly puts his guard down and answers the boy's question.
"My name is Kirata, and I'm also not a doggy I'm of the Draibnus race, so I might look like a giant dog, but I'm not. Plus, my pops told me that dogs went extinct when the four zones were created. So how do you know about them when you're so young?"
"Hey, excuse me, doggy. I'm twelve years old. I might be short, but I guarantee that I'm smarter than you!"
Seto sticks his tongue out in disrespect towards Kirata.
"Wait, you're twelve, but you're so tiny! Aye, did you just call me doggy again!?"
"Yeah, yeah, and so what? How old are you?"
"Hey, you ignored my second question!"
"Oh my god, doggy, if you were listing, you would already know."
"Tch, whatever, I'm ten years old."
Seto puts his hand on his mouth in an attempt to hold back his laughter.
"Hey, what could possibly be so funny?"
"Hahaha, the big doggy is two years younger than me, and you tried to play me like I'm a kid."
"Tch, are you forgetting that I just saved you from drowning to death? The least you could do is say thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess you saved me even though you sat there and watched me almost drown instead of saving me right away. It might be my fault since I got lost in the forest, but still."
"Oh well, it's just that, uhh!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know by nature we are enemies, but you still saved me. Why?"
"Umm, I have no idea why I did it. You were just in danger, so I saved you."
"Hmm, you're a weird doggy!"
"Hey, can you stop calling me that?"
"Never, but you know you're a nice doggy."
Hearing those kind words from the first human he ever met made Kirata start to think, "Maybe humans aren't so bad." He would later in life learn the hard way.
After Setos and Kirata's initial meeting, they became best friends. Seto lives in a village not too far from where Kirata and his family lived. Of course, the villagers were not aware of the beast since they avoided that part of the forest. Two times a week, Kirata and Seto would meet up to play with each other, but they made sure their family didn't find out since neither of them would approve of their friendship. They did this for the past five years without missing a day, but in those five years, the war has not slowed down. Both beasts and humans have taken great hits in the world; this is mostly because humans are starting to learn how to use OGI, making the fights more gruesome.
Within five years, Kirata grew up to eleven feet and turned fifteen. Kirata has now surpassed his father in strength, and now Jack is preparing him to become the first beast king. On the other hand, Lege has gone off on his own in an attempt to separate himself from his father as much as possible. Lege has destroyed many human villages and has become the number one threat to them. He only returns here and there to rest, but he makes sure not to stay there long since he hates Jack and Kirata. Being oblivious to his hatred, Kirata constantly tries to play with Lege but always gets shot down.
It's a shiny day in the Moro zone, and it seems like nothing could ruin this happy day. Kirata shows up at his and Seto's meet-up spot at the same time as usual.
"Hello, Seto I'm here! Where in the world is he? He's usually here before me."
As Kirata looks around in confusion, he hears ruffling in the tree above him.
"!?"
From the tree above him, Seto, who is now 5'8 and wearing all-white clothing, came down and jumped on his back.
"Ahh!"
"Hahaha, I see you're not observant like usual, huh, doggy!"
"Tch, Seto! Again with these surprise attacks!"
Kirata throws Seto off his back. When Seto hits the ground, he is met by Kirata standing over him.
"You thought that was funny, didn't you? But it's not!"
Seto starts to tickle Kirata, which makes him laugh. Kirata jumps away from Seto in excitement.
"Hey Kirata, you're the same as usual."
"Oh, shut up, you play unfairly! You must think that because you have OGI, I won't bite your head off."
"Yeah, yeah, but I actually don't have much time to play today, so pranking you makes this more fun!"
"Wait, what again?"
"Yeah, but please don't be upset; it's just that I have a duty to my village to uphold. I promise we will play next time."
Kirata looks at Seto with a disappointed expression.
"Fine, next time it is."
"Ok, I'm glad you understand. Same time next week."
"Of course!"
"Alright, then see you later!"
"Bye-bye!"
Seto has, in the last five years, become a level-one OGI user. Since reaching that level, he has been helping out his family in the war against beasts. Even though he is constantly fighting against beasts, he is convinced that Kirata is different and refuses to make him his enemy.
After Seto left, Kirata went back home to his father. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the return of his brother, Lege.
"Oh, Lege, your back; it's been almost two years now!"
"Tch, do you always have to talk to me when I return?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Lege?"
"Oh my god, please, just not right now. I'm too tired for this. I just decimated a nearby village, and I need my rest."
"Wait, did you just say a nearby village!?"
"Lege!!"
From the sky came Jack, who has grown old in the last five years.
"I see you came back to be a burden once again!"
"Stupid old man! The amount of work I put into moving the Beast Kingdom further in the war, and what have you done!?"
"I'm developing the person who's truly going to end the war."
"Oh, what could it possibly be, your beast, king? Tch, give up on this stupid dream of yours; the beast kingdom will never respect him."
As Lege and Jack argued, Kirata started thinking to himself.
"When he says nearby village, he couldn't be talking about!"
As he thinks, he notices something coming in the distance. When he does, he sees a whole army of humans marching toward the three of them with weapons and flaming sticks.
"Papa Lege, look over there!"
"???"
As Kirata and his family potentially face impending doom, Seto makes it back home. When he makes it home, he is surprised to see his home in ruins.
"What the hell happened here? It's completely destroyed!"
Seto starts rushing through the village, seeing blood and death at every turn. He kept running till he eventually reached his home, which had been burned to the ground. As he looks at his destroyed house, Seto starts to sweat out of nervousness.
"What the hell happened here, and where are Dad and Mom?" They can't be dead!"
"Hey, Seto over here!"
Seto looks over to the left and sees a 5'5 old man that looks to be in his forties wearing a torn shirt and pants. This is Seto's father, Darick, who is a general in the war against the beast, and right now he isn't looking too good. He's missing his right arm and eye. With many bruises on his body, Darick starts to speak with Seto.
"Seto, welcome back. Did you enjoy your little playtime?"
"Wait, what are you talking about, and what the hell happened here? The village is in ruins! And where the hell is Mother?"
"Oh, wouldn't you want to know?"
"???"
The village was attacked by a dog beast with lighting powers.
"Dog beast with lighting powers!"
The second Seto heard those words, he started to think of Kirata.
"Wait, that couldn't have been Kirata; he was with me; does that mean it was his family members? Did he know about this?"
"Hey, are you listening to me, boy?"
"???"
Tch, about your mother, look over there and you'll find out."
Seto looked to where his father pointed and saw a woman with her skull crushed to a bloody pulp. Seto covers his mouth in disgust.
"No way that can't be!"
"Yes, that is her! The beast didn't even pay attention to her; it just simply crushed her without remorse."
Darick's face turns from a calm expression to an angry one.
"You don't think I know about your sneaking around to go talk to that vile beast!"
"What?"
"I've known for the past five years, but I decided to let you do what you want because I thought eventually you would realize how disgusting that thing is and kill it, but I guess I was wrong."
"But father, you're wrong. This beast isn't bad; he's good and kind."
"Boy, do you not see your dead mother on the ground!?"
Seto jumps as his father screams at him.
"I already called in the cavalry and sent them to the beast that attacked us."
"What you can't?"
"Seto!! You need to pick between your family and that damn beast! I need your answer right now!"
Seto clutches his fist in frustration, wishing in his mind that he didn't have to make this decision.
"I...I pick my family."
Chapter 36 end