Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Twenty-Fifth Bam was a lonely child. He had no friends. No parents. No one... Well, that may not be entirely true. He had conversations with the funny-looking guy every once in a while.

The funny-looking guy had introduced himself as one of the many guardians of the Tower. He never told Bam his name – or maybe he did and Bam had just not bothered to remember it – but he had, after a few meetings, disclosed that he was currently guarding the 135th floor.

The 135th floor… Bam mused while trying to remember. How many floors existed in this tower now again? He couldn’t recollect whether that floor was among the top ones or much farther down. He supposed that the reason was because it didn’t really concern him.

The boy was a lonely child, after all.

All Bam had known in his life before meeting the guardian was the cool, hard floor beneath him, the open sky above him and the occasional breezes of fresh air. During the day the boy did nothing but stare at the clouds and at nighttime he entertained himself by finding patterns of stars under the light of the moon.

Since the grey floor and the endless sky were the only things he ever saw, Bam had once tried to wander around to find something. He didn’t know what he wanted to find, but he was fed up with his tedious life.

Sadly, after countless sunrises and sunsets, all Bam had found was an end of the grey floor. At first, he had been thrilled to discover that the floor wasn’t infinite, but his hopes soon deflated when he saw that nothing existed beyond the edge. He had bent over to look down, but all he could see was more blue sky with a few clouds.

The lonely boy had then sighed forlornly, wanting the funny-looking guy to appear next to him. Bam didn’t mind his company despite his unfriendly nature. He never did. The guardian taught him many things like his name, the things you could find in the sky and, of course, stories about the Tower of God.

Although he often explained things in a haughty manner, the guardian was a good teacher. Or Bam liked to think so. He didn’t really have anyone else to compare him to.

Bam knew, however, that the guardian was hiding something from him – even to this day. He was hiding something important about why Bam was stuck up here and who he really was. The brunet was sure of it, because the funny-looking man tended to avoid answering questions related to the boy and occasionally give him odd glances.

Bam wanted to know more about himself. He really did. He wanted to know the purpose of his existence...

While reminiscing about the time he found the edge, Bam dropped down to the cool floor and stared at the sky for the umpteenth time. One cloud in particular looked like the funny-looking guardian, which brought him back to the time when he first met him. A small smile plastered on his face. It was one of his favorite memories.

— — — 

The sky was clear tonight and the brunet absolutely loved it. The white dots shone prettily, and the round thing was extra bright, illuminating every surface it could reach. He had no idea what these things above him was, but he thought they were very pretty.

Suddenly, the brunet felt a disturbance of the peace that usually surrounded him. It was coming from his left. The air shifted slightly and the brunet quickly rose from his position on the ground only to stand rooted to the spot, his heart beating fast and loud.

It was the first time he felt fear. It was an ugly and repulsive feeling, making him even more terrified. He tried to figure out what was happening. It had never happened before.

The brunet swallowed and decided to approach the potential danger. He couldn’t just ignore it. He slowly walked towards the hazard, feeling slight discomfort from his bare feet against the cold floor.

After a while, he saw a dark silhouette of something that looked somewhat like him. As he went closer, the brunet could finally see what he was staring at. Under the moonlight, there was another living being, with limbs and eyes and everything, in front of him.

Maybe they were the same? They did look similar. Although, that being looked a little funny compared to him.

“Hey! Who are you?!” the living being exclaimed angrily, his posture tense and ready to fight or run. He was breathing deeply but didn’t seem to be in much pain. Out of fascination with the being in front of him, the brunet decided that the being posed no immediate danger and relaxed.

“I said hey! I thought I would be the on–“

“I don’t know,” he responded almost inaudibly, but the being stopped in mid-sentence and returned to stare at the brunet warily. However, it didn’t take long until he got aggressive again and stepped forward.

“What do you mean, huh? I’m asking for your name!” the being spoke once again but didn’t seem to dare to take one more step closer.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what a name is,” the brunet answered honestly with a tilted head. Yet, that seemed to only further anger the being. He felt the air shift once again and saw multiple shiny things appear behind the being’s back.

“If you’re intent on playing dumb, I’ll gladly end you. It doesn’t matter who you are! No one will remember you anyways! I’m sure this is what God wants after all...!” the being grinned and sent forward the shiny things.

Golden eyes narrowed as the brunet recognized the shiny things. He brought out a hand to extinguish them in order to avoid the destruction they brought. Less than a moment later, the shiny things exploded loudly in the air.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to let the being linger around after all... With his hand still in the air, the brunet manipulated the air around him to create a dozen similar shiny, destructive balls.

“Impo- Impossible! How did you just–?!” the being cut himself off and stared apprehensively at the display of power. He looked at the brunet, once again looking alarmed and afraid for his life.

“Stop!” he gestured with two open palms exposed before him, signaling his defeat. The brunet frowned but stopped the incoming attack, letting his hand fall to his side as the shiny balls disappeared.

Silence hovered over them for a while, but it felt like an eternity. They stared at each other, one in wonder and the other with caution. Finally, the being opened his mouth and said,

“What the hell? I thought I was the most powerful one in the Tow– Wait… Don’t tell me that the legend was true after all!”

He locked his eyes on the brunet momentarily before moving his eyes to look at something in the sky. The brunet followed his gaze but couldn’t find whatever the being stared at.

“Oh God, why did you want me to meet him?! I’d rather live a life believing that it all was made up for entertainment… And how the hell does he understand speech? The legend said that he was all alone?” The brunet now watched the being mutter to himself. He had no idea what was going on.

“Um… What–“

“You said you didn’t know your name?” the being suddenly asked. The only response he got was a tentative head shake so he continued,

”Well, I have to call you something… I don’t know your name, but I could give you one if you’d like to?”

This time, the brunet nodded eagerly. He was going to get something that would be only his? He would be something more than just a living being with brown hair and gold-colored eyes? The brunet was getting very excited and could barely wait for the other to continue.

“Hm… Okay, your name will be Twenty-Fifth Bam. Get it? Because today is the twenty-fifth and it’s nighttime right now. Aaand, it’s a tasty name!” the being laughed, seeming to enjoy the puzzled, albeit happy, look on the brunet’s face.

“My name is Twenty-Fifth Bam!” the brunet– no, he was Bam now – proclaimed cheerfully. 

”Good, good. Well, it seems like I haven’t introduced myself yet,” the being straightened and put a hand to his chest. ”I am the most fearful guardian of the Tower! My name is …... !”

Bam didn’t hear the last part, his mind was reeling on what the being, the guardian, had said. The Tower? What was that? Judging by the exasperated look on the guardian’s face, Bam guessed that he had accidentally voiced that thought out loud.

“Are you kidding me? You don’t know anything about the Tower? The Tower of God?” the guardian sighed, “You know, you are quite literally standing on the very top of the Tower.”

Bam’s eyes widened as he looked down to the ground. So, this is a tower… And he has been living on the top of a tower all his life? He definitely wanted to know more. Bam was about to ask more about the Tower but got distracted by the noise of the guardian slumping down heavily on the ground, making himself comfortable.

He now noticed that the guardian no longer had any difficulties breathing – which was good! He didn’t want his name-giver to be in more pain than necessary.

”Man, the shinsu density here is crazy. If I were anyone else, I probably would’ve died. You are an exception, of course,” the guardian smirked, once again locking his eyes on the brunet. Bam nodded tentatively, pretending to understand what he was talking about.

The guardian sighed, shaking his head. “It seems like I have a lot to teach you… What a pain in the ass...”

The guardian continued his defeated mutterings, but as soon he saw Bam’s joyous expression he quickly added, “However! Don’t expect it to be a common occurrence! I can’t be here all the time!”

Bam didn’t care. He just didn’t want to be alone anymore.

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.

.

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“Oh, by the way, are you a boy or a girl? I know that the legend says that you’re a boy, but it’s not exactly authenticated... With your long hair and big eyes, you do look like a girl… Hm…”

“Am I what now?”

“... Why did I think that you’d know that. Don’t worry, just because I’m so kind I won’t let you go around dumb and pitiful”

“Thank you, funny-looking guardian!”

“You’re welco– Hey! Excuse me?!”

— — —

The cloud that looked like the guardian had long disappeared when Bam came to his senses. He was suddenly once again aware of the hollow feeling in his body, the emptiness in his heart. Bam was still alone most of the time. The guardian did come to visit him sometimes, but not as much as he would like him to.

It seemed like Bam didn’t even know true loneliness until he had met another person. He just didn’t want to be alone. Was it too much to ask for?

As if on cue, Bam sensed a new presence coming from above. It was immensely powerful and nothing like the guardian’s aura at all. It was approaching at an increasingly rapid pace, coming closer and closer each second.

Bam should probably feel more scared than he felt, since he had never met someone stronger than him, but this new presence felt strangely enough familiar. He couldn’t remember from where though.

Gold eyes caught on an exceptionally bright star coming his way, and in less than a second, the bright star was just before him. It was enormous and shone beautifully in its ethereal form. Bam was immediately captivated.

“Pretty…” he whispered; the ominous feeling long forgotten. A boisterous laughter snapped him out of his trance and Bam was quickly on his guard again.

”Well, thank you for the compliment.” A deep voice came from the star.

Bam could only stare in confusion as the star started to shift and form into a tall, faceless human shape. The light was no longer as bright as before, but still shiny.

Stars shouldn’t be able to talk. That was not expected from non-living things, according to the funny-looking man. Therefore, this could only mean one thing: this star wasn’t a normal star.

“What… Who are you?” Bam questioned, unable to shake off the lingering familiarity that came from the being (star?) in front of him.

The deep voice surprised Bam once again, “Oh, it really seems like I’ve left you here far too long. You don’t even remember me...”

The boy narrowed his eyes. He did not expect that answer and was now hesitant. Did they know each other? Or was he being tricked? The guardian said that other people weren’t kind, and if they were, they always had hidden ulterior motives.

The shiny being noticed his prolonged silence and continued, “Don’t fear me, my boy. It might seem unbelievable, but you are one of the most precious things I have these days. I regret that I neglected you for too long.”

Bam’s breath hitched, ”What do you mean? Who are you?!”

There was a tint of desperation in his voice, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care if he was getting pitiful looks. He just wanted answers. The shiny light stayed silent, to Bam’s immediate disdain. He didn’t like how long it was taking the being in front of him to respond.

“This might come as a surprise,” the deep voice finally started, “but I’m your father… I was in love with your mother and wanted to fulfill her wish to have a baby despite her infertility and health issues. She got you with my aid, which makes me your father.”

To say that Bam was shocked would be an understatement. He couldn’t find his words.

“Wh-What… What…” The boy couldn’t believe it. His father? He had no parents. It had to be a cruel joke! If he had parents, he certainly would have remembered them!

Bam tried to recollect himself, taking a deep breath before fixing the shiny light a glare.

“You’re lying! It can’t be true. You’re probably one of those evil people that exploit others. The guardian warned me to be cautious around your kind!” Bam raised his palm, gathering shinsu into a powerful baang. He was determined to eliminate the liar, not caring whether that was a good idea or not. He was angry. How dare this stupi–

“I’m sorry, I have to stop you there,” the shiny liar’s tranquil voice interrupted his chain of thought. Without any further ado, Bam’s incoming baang instantly disappeared against his will.

The brunet stared at his hand in shock and then lifted his gaze to the shiny thing-person. He had no chance against him. Hiding his discontentment, Bam decided that the next best move probably was to play nice and ignore what just happened.

“How can I trust your word? How do I know that you’re not lying?” Bam asked, not believing how something that shiny can be his father.

”Well…I can tell you a little about your origin story,” the shiny person suggested, and Bam promptly got excited at the prospect of learning his past. “But first, I have to tell you who I am since you seem to not have caught on yet,” he continued. “I am what people of this tower would call God.”

“Wait, what...?”

“I once created the world of living, including the Tower – for entertainment,” the light, or apparently God, brightened and Bam still wasn’t sure if he had heard that correctly.

He raised his brows, “Are you telling me that you are the God that the funny-looking guardian often speaks of? The God of this tower?”

The most powerful being in the world, literally, nodded – if the boy interpreted the faceless’ movement right. Bam was stunned, his mind trying to process everything.

It couldn’t be true. The thought of God being his father seemed impossible to him. But if Bam had to be honest, if that was true, everything would be falling into place.

”There are other people like you in the Tower?!” A young Bam asked, astonished.

“Of course, idiot,” the guardian sighed. “Did you think that I lived all alone in the Tower? Nope. Not possible, unfortunately.”

“How come that I’m not in the Tower then? Am I not a person, a human like you?” The boy was now staring at the guardian, not once blinking.

“Twenty-Fifth Bam, you are someone greater... Perhaps that’s why you’re stuck up here.”

“... What do you mean?”

Bam didn’t understand back then, but now he could see what the guardian was hinting on. He was the son of God. Which also was the reason why he was so lonely...

“God…” Bam called out.

A gasp, ”No, no, no. That won’t do. Call me Papa!”

Bam gave him a reluctant look. ”No, but I can call you Father…” he gave no room for arguments.

”If you wish so, Viole,” his father muttered, a bit dejected judging from how the light diminished momentarily. However, that was not what caught Bam’s attention; it was the name his father uttered.

“My name is not Viole,” Bam scowled, he didn’t want a new name, or rather his old one.

“Yes, it is. Your mother–“

“No,” Bam interrupted. “I’m sorry, but my name is Twenty-Fifth Bam. It’s the name the guardian gave me, and the only thing I own.” He had whispered the last part, but he was sure God heard it anyway.

At his father’s silence Bam continued. “Maybe I am rude, but I don’t know my mother – and you for that part. The funny-looking guy is the one who has been teaching me many things about the world, not you. Please, let me keep the name he gave me.”

He fixed his eyes on God, his long ponytail blowing in the faint wind. His father let out a sound similar to a sigh. “Of course, Bam... It’s not a bad name, I have to give him that.”

Bam smiled at that, small and contented. He was glad that his name was now established, but that wasn’t why he had called his father’s attention. He had a bigger goal in mind.

“Father,” he began, turning serious again, “please send me to the bottom floor of the Tower. I want to climb it.”

Bam was determined, but he had not expected that his words would have such a negative impact on his father. The atmosphere changed and the sky darkened, heavy with thundering clouds circling around the tower. God’s previous golden light was now pitch black and his aura was fuming.

“No! I absolutely forbid you to ascend the Tower! I am not letting you go down and associate yourself with humans!” His father’s voice was now even deeper than before, but Bam decided to not be intimidated. He, too, was getting angrier as time passed.

The brunet shot him a glare, “Yes, you will. I’ve been spending my whole life up here in solitude. I don’t want that. I want to be alive with a purpose – not just because I was born!”

His eyes were glowing with anger. He knew that his powers were useless against his father, so he hoped that he could use his words to change God’s mind.

“In addition,” Bam continued, “you shouldn’t really have a say since you are the one who left me here. You clearly do not care about me that much, or else you would have come back sooner!”

God stayed silent. The atmosphere returned to its usual tranquility and the heavy clouds disappeared, letting sunlight hit the Tower again. His father was no longer as furious as before and the blackness faded as golden light took its place.

“I have no excuses… But I thought you wanted to learn more about your past?”

Bam nodded, “And that still stands. But right now, I have a greater wish: to not be alone anymore. I want to discover the opportunities the Tower might bring.”

He looked at his father earnestly. God’s light wavered slightly in silence, as to show that he was contemplating his words. Giving him a smile Bam added, “Aren’t you the one to grant people’s wishes at the top of the Tower, Father? The funny-looking guardian said so.”

 “Very well, my son...” His father made another sighing sound, now defeated, “I wish you good luck on climbing the Tower. You may, or may not, need it...” If God had a face, he would probably be smiling sadly.

Bam widened his eyes, almost not believing his ears. He was finally going to leave this dull place. He would soon no longer be alone. For the first time in a long time, Bam felt hope bloom inside him.

“Thank you.” Was all he could say before he felt unconsciousness claim him.

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“Oh? What a surprise...” A grin appeared. “I welcome you to the Tower of God. What do you wish for, the prophesied one?”

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 1: The Lonely Child
End

Chapter Text

When Bam opened his eyes, he was met with darkness. For a split second he thought it was midnight, but soon remembered that he wasn’t even on the top of the Tower anymore.

He rose from his lying position and looked around, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. The space around him was cramped and his eyesight was limited to within the tall walls surrounding him. He was in a room, he supposed, with nothing except a few pillars and flying lights. The guardian had told him that each floor was constructed with different biomes and buildings.

Although Bam wasn’t used to moving around in a limited area, he didn’t feel claustrophobic or anything similar. He was elated and wanted to explore his surroundings, but unfortunately, he wasn’t alone.

A white creature with dark blue, short one-piece clothing stepped forward from the shadows. “Oh? What a surprise...” A grin appeared. “I welcome you to the Tower of God. What do you wish for, the prophesied one?”

Bam stared at the creature before him. He didn’t look human, and he probably wasn’t. He had a featureless face, only leaving a few slits to reveal his eyes and mouth. In addition, he had two long ears on top of his head – which looked a little funny in Bam’s opinion. He probably shouldn’t voice it though.

Realizing that the creature was awaiting a response Bam quickly returned his attention back to what he had said and answered, awkwardly. “Ah… Thank you, I guess?”

Bam just wanted to climb the Tower, not to stand idly and talk with a non-human being. He had looked forward to meeting other people like him – like the human part of him, of course.

Wait… Maybe this was a test? The funny-looking guardian had told him that there were tests on each floor to determine whether one is worthy to continue climbing the Tower or not.

He supposed that he had to answer the creature then. “As for your question: I don’t wish for anything in particular. I just want to see what’s in the Tower.”

The brunet tried to appear nonchalant, letting his eyes wander to avoid eye-contact. He figured that it was probably best to not reveal his past and true motive. This weird guy didn’t seem trustworthy...

The creature smirked, twirling his yellow staff lightly. “Is that so? You make it sound like you’ve never been in the Tower. Are you telling me that you’re an outsider?”

Bam stopped breathing and snapped his gaze back to the white creature’s onyx eyes. How could he be so stupid? His plan of not telling anything related to his secrets failed before he even thought of it.

Furrowing his brows, he tried to lessen the damage. “No, I mean–“

“Just kidding!” the creature smirked, looking very amused with Bam’s confused look. “What do you take me for? Of course, I know you aren’t from the Tower. You’re a special case.”

Bam sighed, giving up on trying to figure the creature out. However, if he played his cards right, he still might be able to hide his identity as God’s son. The funny-looking guardian had mentioned the Tower’s politics once or twice, but since Bam had found it boring, he couldn’t remember much. What were they called...? Those who lived outside the Tower and opened the gates on their own… Oh, right!

“Yes, okay.” Bam thought he made a rather good impression of a defeated sigh. “I’ve heard that I would be an irregular if I ever entered the Tower. However, that doesn’t make me that special right?”

Maybe, the creature’s weird interest in him would subside if he tried to downplay it all, right? Intent on doing just that, Bam soon realized the white creature had said something else too. Oh no… He had said something about him being prophesied.

The creature laughed. “You can’t trick me, child. I am Headon, the oldest guardian of the Tower. I know a lot of things; including you.” Seeing Bam’s apprehensive stance he continued. “Don’t worry, no one else knows as far as I am aware. The prophecy of your return is classified information and not a common knowledge to the public. The Tower decides whether prophecies should be revealed or not. Interesting, right?”

“Uh… Yes, but what do you mean by my ret–“

“Okay, no more questions!” Headon swiftly interrupted him. Bam frowned but decided to let it slide, for now, with a small sigh of resignation.

“Although, for your sake, I will tell you this…” Headon started, his eyes serious. “You won’t be able to trick anyone in the Tower. They’ll know that you aren’t like them, probably immediately. Your aura will tell them that much. You will appear as a god in disguise to the others – quite ironically.”

The guardian’s eyes bored into Bam’s with a grin, making him uncomfortable. Bam opened his mouth, wanting to know what he meant, but Headon spared him from asking.

“You’re emitting powerful shinsu. Everyone does, but to different extents. In your case, your shinsu is exceedingly powerful… It is so powerful that it gives you certain features most people don’t have, like the faint aura of light radiating from you,” Headon pointed at him with his staff. “If you can’t change your aura, your shinsu and those bright eyes of yours will definitely expose you.”

Bam hadn’t thought of these things when he was with the funny-looking guardian, but now he was very conscious of his appearance – and his, apparently, too bright eyes...? He wanted to climb the Tower without having to reveal his identity; he wanted to appear as a normal regular...

The brunet brought a palm to his chest and focused on his shinsu, trying to change it. To his own surprise, concealing part of his aura was easier than he had thought. He forced a good portion of his shinsu to turn invisible and undetectable. Bam smiled to himself, pleased. Maintaining this appearance would probably not be too hard.

“Hm… Good enough. You’re still significantly above average, but you will perhaps have better chances posing as an irregular now,” Headon gave him another grin. ”Well, no more of that. You’re here to take the test, right? Let’s start!”

Headon pointed his staff to his left side, its blue orbs attached to each end swirled, and a new scenery appeared behind the creature. The wall of solid rock had disappeared and was now replaced with a gigantic cage. Bam could feel that the shinsu density on the other side had changed too. It was more solidified, probably to make it harder for novices to breathe.

Suddenly, an enormous creature swiftly swam past the cage’s gates. Bam had felt the presence of something hostile, but he hadn’t expected something that weird looking. He stared at it in awe.

“What is that?” he asked Headon.

“He’s a White Armored Eel, a big fish that lives in the shinsu flowing through the Tower,” Headon locked his eyes on Bam’s. “They are usually quite manageable. However, this time of the year is the spawning season and he hasn’t eaten anything for a good while – which means he is quite aggressive at the moment.” A grin appeared on his face.

Bam wasn’t really intimidated by the guardian’s implication. If anything, he was even more fascinated with the monster before him. He couldn’t wait to see what more species he would find farther up.

Pointing his staff towards the fish, Headon continued. “In order to pass the test, you have to go inside the cage and pop the ball, all while avoiding the big fish.”

Pop the ball...? Bam searched for anything that resembled a ball and soon found a human-sized black sphere in the center of the cage. The task seemed too simple. There had to be something more to it… Something Headon chose not to reveal.

The creature leered at his extended silence. “Perhaps you’re too afraid? It is your first time encountering a vigorous monster with the intent to kill you, no?”

“Not really,” Bam shook his head. The funny-looking guardian appeared in his mind, but the thought didn’t stay for too long. Bam turned his attention back to the huge fish, deciding to finally get it over with. There might be a hidden agenda behind the test, but he didn’t want to stall anymore.

He didn’t see the mysterious look on Headon’s face as he stepped forward, approaching the cage. Bam hadn’t even reached the gates when he suddenly felt two other presences from above, one of whom was coming his way at a high speed.

A blur of red, black and white appeared in his field of view. Bam realized this person was trying to hit him and dodged last minute to catch them by surprise. He wouldn’t have wanted them to predict his action and change their course to land a hit. The person landed next to him and glared.

“L̵͎͝ä̶̬́d̴̜̅y̵̧͝ ̷̣̏Y̵͍̌ȗ̷̗r̵̫͂ĩ̴͜!̶̖̂ ̶̰̔Ṁ̷̻y̷̥̿ ̵̬̓l̵̝̈a̷͖͌d̷͇͛y̵̹̏!̴͚̐ ̵̧̀W̸̨̽ọ̸̐u̶̲͑l̸̢̊d̴͇͝ ̴̭̈́y̴̜̾ȍ̷̪u̷̓͜ ̴̧̈p̶̺̔l̶̛͖ẹ̶̉a̸̧͂s̶̥̑e̸͕͋ ̸͖͊l̵̤̐ḭ̸̒s̸̩͑t̸͓͘ȅ̴̘n̷̥̎ ̸̘̈́t̴̝̄o̶͍̿ ̷̨̃m̸̞̄e̸̬̎ ̸̧̕a̷̤̐t̶̺̀ ̶̰͠l̷̥͋e̷̤̽a̸̱̿s̸̗̿ț̶͐ ̶̜̽ó̴͕n̶̥̾c̵̨̀e̴̳͛?̸̭̿ ̸̢̀I̶̹͛n̷͓̿t̶̳̉e̴͋͜r̷̘̈́r̷̻̊ụ̸̃p̶̡̀t̴̘̓ì̴̼n̴͙͆g̶̢͆ ̸̛̜â̵͇ ̶̻͒ṭ̵̓e̴̠͑s̸̘̈t̶̜͊ ̸̨̐i̴̫͝s̷̫̐ ̸̺͑ń̸͕e̴͉͠v̵̙̅e̴͚̔ŕ̴̻ ̶̝̂a̷̮͛ ̵̰̍g̴̨͆o̵̼͆o̵̰̽d̶̨̑ ̷̟͒ḯ̶͎d̴͌͜ě̵̦å̷͜!” A voice hollered and another person landed next to the first one. Bam couldn’t understand anything they were saying.

The two unfamiliar people started bickering with each other and judging by their body language the person who tried to attack him seemed to be the shorter one’s superior. While they were arguing with each other Bam took the opportunity to study them.

The one who had tried to attack him with their foot appeared to be a girl. She fit into the guardian’s description of one. They didn’t look too different from guys, only softer. He shouldn’t be one to judge too quickly though... Their appearance could probably differ arbitrarily – like guys’, because Bam definitely liked to believe that he didn’t look like the funny-looking guardian.

The girl was powerful, both in character and in terms of power. She had long hair similar to Bam’s, but black and put into a high side ponytail with a red ribbon. She wore a white long-sleeved jacket, red skirt and black tights. Her red piercing eyes stood out in the semi-darkness. Bam thought she was really good-looking compared to everyone else he had met so far.

Turning his gaze to the other person bickering with the girl, Bam concluded that he was a guy. The guy was very short and had short silver-colored hair. He was wearing a matching jacket and pair of pants, both in green, and a black belt. He was also carrying… cloth… on his back...? Bam didn’t know what that thing was, but he presumed that it was there for a purpose.

The two people quieted down, and the girl approached him, saying something he still couldn’t  understand. The girl frowned at Bam’s silence and put her hands on her hips as she turned to Headon.

”H̷͓͑ẹ̷́y̷̺͒,̷͍̒ ̷̛͖H̵͙́ė̶͔à̵̟d̸͓͑o̶͉͘ņ̶͝,̸̳͘ ̷͉͊ḣ̷͍ä̴̻ṿ̸̽e̴̘͐n̶̝͐’̸̞̓t̶͈̚ ̶̧̌y̷̖͛ọ̵̀u̵͖͗ ̵̡̋g̵͙͝ì̶̟v̵̦̚e̶̯͗n̴̮̕ ̸͓̉h̸͚̄i̵͍̓m̴͓͒ ̷̫͂ḁ̵͂ ̷̱́ṕ̶̩o̶̥͗c̶͎̽ķ̵̐e̶̺̅t̷̥̊ ̵̡̈́y̸̹̏e̶̕ͅt̴̥͋?̵̎͜ ̴̻̈A̶̰͊r̵̫͂ȇ̶̡ ̶̬̌y̵̢̿o̴̼̐u̷̠̅ ̴̹́ǵ̸͚ę̵̄t̶̬͒ṭ̷͆ị̵͗n̸̞̅g̶̛͉ ̶̲̓s̸͓͝e̷͛ͅn̷͓͊ĩ̸͙l̴̩͑é̶͙ ̷̙̍o̶̻͊r̸̭̈ ̵͎͠w̸̥̔h̷͈͂a̶̖͂t̶̬͝ ̵̙͒a̸͎̔r̷͙͝ę̵͂ ̴̌ͅy̸̼͆o̷̬͊ủ̵̗ ̸́ͅc̶̡̈o̶̡͆n̵͎̍ș̶̓p̵̥̌i̷̡̚r̷͚͆i̸̧̔n̷͚͊ǵ̸̻?̸̞̋”

Headon returned her stare, putting his free hand up. ”No, no, Princess. I simply forgot. It happens to even the best of us,” he smiled and the girl gave him a distrustful look. Bam watched their interaction, confused while wondering why he could only understand one of them.

“Ē̴͖v̶̟͊a̴̬̕n̷̢̚!̶̙͝ ̷̡͝G̴̞͂i̸̡͊v̴͖͠e̴̱͐ ̸̝̑h̷̗͐i̸͉͠m̴̬͛ ̶̜̈́a̶̭͛ ̸̢̇p̴̦̄ŏ̵̞c̴̗̉k̸̛͚e̸̬͝t̸̫͗!̶̱̾” The girl’s voice demanded something from the shorter guy. The guy muttered but seemed to comply as he sloughed off the cloth with straps. He started digging in it and at that point Bam realized it was made to contain things inside.

He watched the short guy finding a black marble. His dark eyes found Bam’s and he went closer, holding it out. He said something unintelligible, but Bam understood that he wanted him to take it.

With only slight apprehension, the brunet reached out and touched the strange marble. The ball abruptly made an explosive sound and Bam flinched against his will. Nothing dangerous happened though, in fact the marble was still intact.

“So? You can hear us now, right?” the short guy asked and Bam could only nod in astonishment. He could understand them now. Was it the marble? Anyhow, he was impressed.

“Good! Well, let’s start with introductions. My name is Evan Edrok and I’m a guide in the Tow–“

He was rudely interrupted by the girl who pushed the guide aside to place herself in front of Bam. “I’m Ha Yuri Jahad, one of the princesses of Jahad! How are you liking the Pocket? It’s ranked way too high for you, so you better be grateful!”

Bam just smiled nervously, not knowing what to say. They seemed nice, but he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Maybe they, too, were a part of the test? Kindness came with an ulterior motive after all.

The girl, Yuri Jahad, went closer and scrutinized his face. “Hey, what’s your name, pretty boy? Or perhaps you’re a girl? Wouldn’t surprise me.”

“... My name is Twenty-Fifth Bam, and no I’m not a girl, I’m a boy,” Bam said, giving her a genuine smile. He didn’t mind compliments.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Bam the irregular!” Yuri put her hands to her hips again. “You know, I expected a lot when I felt an irregular open the gates. I thought I would be meeting another Urek, but your pretty face caught me off guard,” she laughed. “That isn’t a bad thing though! I can feel that you’re very powerful too.”

Bam was surprised she could sense people entering the Tower, and she seemed adamant on believing that he was an irregular. He didn’t want to correct her though; it was better off if she continued to believe that he was one.

“However,” Yuri interrupted his chain of thought, “No matter how strong you are, I wouldn’t want your pretty face to be wounded due to lack of experience.”

Turning and pointing at Headon she continued. ”You! What is going through your mind? This test is way too advanced for a newbie! The difficulty of this test is equivalent to floors above 20.”

Headon smirked, shaking his head. “Princess, I’m the one administering the test, no? I assure you that this test isn’t too hard. But,” the guardian’s eyes glinted, “if you’re worried, why don’t you lend him a weapon of yours – like the Black March?”

”..!” Yuri hesitated, looking unsure for the first time now. Bam frowned, he didn’t want the girl to give away something that seemed to be precious to her. He was about to speak his mind, but the short guy was faster.

“My Lady! You must not give him the Black March! If you do, the King will kill you if he ever finds out!” Evan was visibly panicking, and Bam felt even more bad.

”Shut up! I’ve made up my mind!” Yuri turned back to Bam. ”Arm’s inventory, visible mode.” Something that looked like a flying holster containing multiple swords appeared out of nowhere, surprising him. The princess took out a black slender sword, marked with three red eyes, and held it out to the boy.

“Here, I'll lend you the Black March. Use it so you can pass the test.” Yuri looked expectantly at Bam, but he shook his head.

“No, sorry, I won’t need it.”

She frowned, “You shouldn’t be too overconfident in your abilities! Accept–“

“Ms. Yuri,” Bam cut her off sternly, rather abruptly. At the shocked stares coming from both the princess and her guide, he averted his eyes bashfully. “Ah… Sorry… I just… Look, Ms. Yuri, you’re very kind and I appreciate your concern. But… I’ll be fine. You can keep your sword.”

Bam shifted his gaze back to Yuri who sighed but complied. “Fine,” she muttered.

Bam smiled and turned his head to the guardian, giving him a small nod with renewed resolution. “I’ll be taking the test now.”

He didn’t wait for Headon’s permission and approached the cage once again. Just as he was about to enter, the monster fish swam towards him at a high speed. The fish smashed into the bars, letting out an aggravated growl as the gate thundered at the collision.

Bam didn’t falter and stepped inside. He felt the shinsu around him shift, but it didn’t affect him. His plan was to go straight to the black sphere and smash it with a pointy spear made of highly concentrated shinsu. Yuri had warned that this test was more difficult than normal ones, which could mean this ball wouldn’t be easily breakable.

Walking towards the sphere, he prepared to manipulate the shinsu around him. He gathered shinsu in his right hand, using his left to strengthen it while molding the shape. The fish returned and swam straight into him with its full power, distracting him.

Bam’s almost completed shinsu manipulation dematerialized to his dismay and he got pushed back a few meters. The aggravated fish opened its mouth, intent on devouring him, but Bam was faster. He held up his hand and quickly created an enormous baang. He put in a great amount of shinsu, making the baang tenfold bigger than a normal-sized one.

He shot the thundering baang into the fish’s opened mouth and watched as the fish exploded almost instantly. Wasting no time, he ran towards the black sphere. Reaching the big ball, he pushed his bangs out of his face to get a better look. It didn’t seem suspicious, so he once again manipulated shinsu into a spear and impaled the ball.

The black ball broke, and pieces started to fall off. Not too long after the first pieces had fallen off, the ball emitted an ominous-looking black mass. It reached out to the boy, appearing to want to engulf him.

Bam heard upset shouts from Yuri, who most likely believed that the mass was dangerous, but he knew it wasn’t. Despite its appearance, it had good intentions. It was probably trying to reach out to him in order to teleport him to the next floor.

The brunet moved his head to meet Yuri’s eyes, waving to her in both reassurance and gratitude. The funny-looking man was wrong, people could be kind without having ulterior motives.

This probably wouldn’t be the last time seeing her, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t meet her in a while. Yuri seemed to be an important person, as her title implied, and ranked far higher than newbies on the lower floors.

“Gosh, Evan! Did you see?! He’s both handsome AND amazingly powerful? Totally my type! We have to follow him!”

“Princess, I don’t think that’s a good idea–“

“Shut it!”

Or… Maybe not…

He smiled as he fell into darkness once again, his last thought lingering on the other presence he had felt when he first met Headon. This person was hidden away from the rest of them, but why? Who was this person...?

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”Yes, it seems like he has finally arrived. No, why would I be lying to you? I’m the oldest guardian in the Tower, I wouldn’t waste my time on something futile. We both want the same thing.” A pause. “Yes, I admit that I had doubts about the prophecy, but his display of power undeniably confirms his destiny. He will be the one to take over the Tower of God. Quite fitting, no?” The call ended with a malice smirk.

“So… Do you understand your mission, girl?” The guardian glanced back over his shoulder, his dark eyes locking on the pathetic little blonde – who was worth nothing, quite literally, but still useful for the time being.

Yes… The Tower will soon be at the mercy of an extraordinary boy, who was fated to bring changes.

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 2: The First Floor
End

Chapter Text

This time, when Bam woke up, he was greeted by brightness. Above him, he found the blue sky. Or… Wait… It looked kind of weird to him. He squinted his eyes. The clouds were off, and the sun’s rays were, to a slight extent, exaggerated. 

Right… Of course, this sky wasn’t the real one. The sky he had grown up under was at the top of the Tower. This one was a replica; not perfect, but still pretty.

Bam rose from the ground gradually, taking in his surroundings. He probably was in a test arena, judging from how he could sense multiple presences scattered all around him. Some were stronger than others, but no one stood out remarkably – like Yuri Jahad.

He wondered what kind of test this one would be. Hopefully, he could make friends this time. Headon wasn’t really friend-material, in Bam’s opinion, and Yuri, as well her guide Evan, were definitely out of his reach for the time being. They were experienced and probably started climbing the tower ages ago. Bam himself was still a rookie.

Still in deep thought, while admiring the tall yellowish things that were all around him, a voice brought Bam’s attention back to the present moment.

”WELCOME REGULARS!” The voice was strong and thunderous. “You have made it to the Tower and are now on the second floor, Evankhell’s Floor!”

Bam felt the other participants shift, preparing for whatever was coming. Personally, he didn’t know what he wanted to happen, but he had a feeling that the number of regulars was too high.

“On this floor, we will carry out the final test to determine whether you actually are qualified to climb the Tower or not! While each floor has tests, this floor will dispose of those whom it finds unworthy. You regulars who fail here, on the Floor of Test, will not be able to advance and should quit!”

Bam wasn’t worried, but it seemed unfair to the others. If he had interpreted the information correctly so far, only very few people would be able to pass. He supposed the Tower had exceptionally high standards.

“Well! Let’s start with the first test! The rules are simple but please listen carefully! Right now, the number of participating regulars is too high. There are 400 regulars. Your task is to narrow down that 400 to 200! Any possible means are permitted! The test ends when only 200 of you remain! Good luck!” The announcement ended with a long beep, signaling the start of the first test.

Everyone was immediately on the move, searching for other people to fight in order to secure a spot among the remaining regulars when the test ends. Bam chose to stay and wait for the test to be over. He didn’t want to take on any unnecessary fights. If he was lucky, no one would approach him.

Unfortunately, his luck was short-lived. In less than a minute, Bam was confronted by a man who had been sneaking up to him. The regular had of course failed to catch him by surprise, but that didn’t seem to affect him. The man was bare chested and wore only a pair of black shorts. He flexed his muscles, trying to appear menacing with his strong-built body and gigantic sword.

Bam didn’t know exactly what to do. Yuri had been right; he had no experience with fighting other people. He didn’t want to accidentally kill someone – not that he was against it, but it seemed futile in this situation.

The big regular positioned his sword in front of him and smirked. “I can feel that you are strong. Fight me, and we’ll see who’s stronger!”

Bam shook his head, “No.”

“What?! Are you looking down on me, boy?” The man was getting angrier. ”Fight me! Or I will force you to!” He closed the distance between them and raised his sword. Bam quickly dodged and the sword unmercifully hit the ground to his right.

Furious black eyes met Bam’s gold ones. “Oh? Or maybe you are too afraid, huh?!” The regular raised his sword anew and swung it to the brunet’s direction.

Bam felt annoyance build up inside him. Maybe killing him was a good idea after all, especially since he wouldn’t stop attacking him. The brunet held up his hand and reversed the shinsu flow inside the big man, making him freeze with his sword still in the air, centimeters from Bam’s neck.

The man’s expression was frozen in anger and Bam couldn’t help but note how unsightly it was. He started coating his hand with light blue shinsu, making it sturdy and sharp, and was ready to stab the man to give him a quick death. 

However, another regular was faster and impaled the man with multiple arrows. The body fell to the ground noisily, now still and unmoving forever. Bam broke off his attack and relaxed his tense posture as he turned his head to the attacker.

A woman was standing on a hill, prepared to shoot another arrow aimed at him. Bam didn’t bother to act and instead turned around to find someplace safer. A second later, just as he predicted, the woman soon fell victim to another regular’s greed.

The Pocket he got from Evan appeared before him, displaying numbers that decreased rapidly each passing second. Bam guessed the numbers showed him the remaining regulars; those who weren’t either dead or unconscious yet. Bam frowned. There were still too many regulars left...

He let out a sigh, already tired and wanted this test to be over with. He wanted to get to know other people without having to fight them to death. He continued walking around, avoiding the other regulars with careful distance.

Unexpectedly, a rather strong presence – although nowhere at Yuri’s level – was coming his way at a high speed. Bam stopped in his tracks momentarily, contemplating his options. Should he run or stay and fight...?

Not wanting to be bothered with another murderous regular, he quickly decided to run in the opposite direction. Hopefully, the regular chasing him would soon get tired of him and settle for fighting someone else.

Bam’s luck seemed to be adamant on being short-lived, much to his dislike. The regular was, apparently, not going to give up like Bam wanted him to. He had tried to make the regular lose track of him several times the past five minutes, but to no success.

The brunet was getting short of breath and he could feel agitation grow inside him. He wasn’t used to running for an extended period of time. Why couldn’t this person just give up? Was this normal behavior for other peo–

He didn’t see the other person until it was too late. He was too focused on shaking off his pursuer while regulating his breathing that he didn’t detect another regular standing in front of him. All Bam could see were a pair of cobalt blue eyes, widened in surprise, before they collided and fell onto the ground with a heavy thud.

The regular beneath him let out a small grunt in pain and Bam quickly recollected himself and stood up. He was very embarrassed, not believing that he actually had run into someone. Physical activity was beyond doubt his biggest weakness.

“Uh…” Bam awkwardly started, his eyes focused on the person trying to get up. ”I’m sorry… I didn’t see you and...“ He trailed off, not finding his words as the regular now stood up in front of him.

He had pale complexion, almost bordering on a white-bluish tint, and silvery blue hair that reached just before his shoulders. He wore a white dress shirt along with a black tie and had a blue bandana tucked in his hair.

He was so pretty. This regular was undeniably the prettiest person he met so far, and Bam doubted that position would be taken by someone else anytime soon.

At the regular’s questioning frown, Bam quickly came back to his senses and smiled nervously. “And I– I… Accidently… I didn’t mean… You–“ He stumbled over his words, getting even more embarrassed.

“Hey… No sweat. No one got hurt,” the blue-haired guy shrugged with an amused look on his face. Bam almost lost himself in his beautiful face once again but got a hold of himself. He wanted to talk with this person, and to do so he needed to pay attention.

“Ah… Yes… But still…” Bam didn’t know what to say. The regular bent down to pick up a brown thing, which he supposed had the same purpose as Evan’s cloth – to store things, and stepped closer.

He stuck out a pale hand, looking at Bam expectantly. “My name is Khun Aguero Agnis. You seem interesting… Want to team up with me for the time being?”

Unlike the other regular, whom Bam would describe as big and bloodthirsty, this Khun before him was the opposite. He appeared to be friendly, having no intent to kill.

Bam definitely wanted to be his friend. But why was he holding out his hand like that? Did it mean something? Not knowing what to do and instead trusting his instincts, he reached out and clasped Khun’s hand firmly, bringing it closer.

Khun’s eyes widened in surprise, but Bam didn’t care. “Yes, Mr. Khun, of course! I’m Twenty-Fifth Bam,” he smiled and Khun’s hand relaxed somewhat.

“Bam… Weird name, but strangely fitting for you,” Khun smirked again, but not unkindly. Bam was mesmerized once again.

”Mr. Khun...” the brunet stared intensely into his blue eyes, “has anyone ever told you that you’re really pretty?”

“W-Wha… What...?!” Khun's face was turning red. “Y-You can’t just say that with such a straight face! Especially to a stranger!”

Bam raised one brow. “But you’re not a stranger, Mr. Khun. You’re my teammate now!”

Khun sighed, freeing his hand from Bam’s hold and put it on the brunet’s shoulder. “Well yes, but listen, don’t…” He looked unsure what to say but quickly continued, “compliment… yes, compliment people you just met. Most people would probably not take that well because they would think you’re mocking or belittling them.”

Bam nodded earnestly, “Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll meet someone prettier than you.”

Khun tightened his hold on Bam’s shoulder momentarily, before letting go and averting his eyes. “Okay…” he finally whispered. “But let’s move on! I have been meaning to ask you a question. Why were you running? You could’ve just–“ 

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Bam interrupted, suddenly turning left. “A regular chased me and wouldn’t leave me alone… When I ran into you, they disappeared for some reason... I had been hoping that they went to fight someone else, but seeing as they are approaching us right now, they didn’t give up…”

Khun’s eyes followed to where Bam was pointing to. A second later, a gigantic creature showed up, roaring,

“GODDAMNIT I HATE FAST TURTLES!”

Bam’s eyes widened at the sight. This regular was positively not a human. His face didn’t look human and he had conical teeth – a lot of them. His teeth weren’t his choice of weapon though, judging by the long red spear he was carrying.

“Bam,” Khun’s voice called, and Bam could almost hear the smirk in his voice. “When you said a regular, I didn’t expect a crocodile to show up.”

“A crocodile...? What–“

“WHAT?! I’M NO CROCODILE, I AM THE MIGHTY RAK WRAITHRAISER!” the not-crocodile stood proudly while glaring at Khun. The blue-haired teen didn’t pay him any attention though and instead continued,

“I must say that I’m shocked. Have you ever met a talking crocodile before...? No, me neither, yet we have one here before us,” he shrugged. “Nature really is a beautiful phenomenon... See? This crocodile even understands the concept of names! We got to be careful, Bam, in near future crocodiles mi–“

“YOU!” the crocodi– Rak Wraithraiser, now pointed his spear at Khun. “IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP, I’LL–“

Rak stopped mid-sentence and warily turned to the brunet. Bam was glaring at him, making sure that the other could sense his anger. “You will do what? Are you threatening Mr. Khun?” His eyes stared straight into the other’s red ones.

Rak lifted his spear again, no longer pointing it at Khun. He was at a loss, seeming to have an internal conflict. “I–“ 

“It’s okay, Bam.” Khun laid his hand on Bam’s shoulder again, bringing his attention to him. “This crocodile is no match either way,” he winked, to Bam’s confusion, before turning his gaze back to Rak.

“You shouldn’t be so easily provoked, alligator. Your pride will lead you to your death,” Khun taunted, making Rak bristle.

“I’M NOT AN ALLIGATOR EITHER!” This time Rak was pointing with his finger aggressively.

“Sheesh...” Khun made an obvious act of covering his ears. “Are you capable of not talking loudly?”

Rak just looked at him, with a smug look of his own. “And… Isn’t it funny how you are the one talking about pride, son of the Khun family?”

Khun’s expression suddenly turned serious and Bam got even more confused. He had to be missing something. What was going on?

“What? Did you think that I wouldn’t recognize that blue hair anywhere?” Rak’s eyes narrowed, “Does your friend know about you? How you–“

“I suggest that you shut up right now.” Khun’s voice cut like ice. He had taken out a knife out of the brown storage-thing and was pointing it at Rak.

Bam was getting worried. Both Rak’s and Khun’s postures were tense, ready to fight at any moment. He didn’t want them to fight and he certainly didn’t want Khun to get injured. The brunet watched the two regulars glaring at each other as he readied himself to intervene if a fight would occur.

A loud beep interrupted them before anything could happen. “AAAAND STOP FIGHTING!” the familiar voice from earlier yelled and Bam checked his Pocket. It read the number 200 with big and flashy numerals; the test was over. It looked like he had some luck left after all.

”The first test is over! All remaining regulars… Stop fighting and listen carefully. Any regulars still fighting will be disqualified promptly!” Khun reluctantly put away his knife and Rak made a disgruntled noise but loosened up as well.

“That being said… Congratulations to all of you remaining regulars! You’ve passed the first test! Now… Let’s carry on to the next test right away!”

Bam frowned. Right now?

“Yes, I know what you are thinking: what, another test right away? Don’t worry! It’s an easy one! Or… Maybe not… We’ll see that! Your next task is to form a team of three! Your challenge is to get two teammates out of the two-hundred remaining regulars. To form a team, you must touch some part of your teammates’ bodies when the time limit is up! You have five minutes. Good luck!“ The announcement ended with another beep.

… Five minutes? Bam wanted to sigh loudly. That meant having to team up with those who were nearby. He didn’t mind teaming up with Khun, but to team up with Rak? He’d rather not team up with someone who threatened his new friend.

“Bam,” Khun turned to him. “I know what you are thinking. I don’t want to team up with him either, but we don’t have much of a choice.”

Bam nodded, he was right. The brunet opened his mouth to announce the proposal but Rak was faster.

“HAH?! As if I want to team up with you turtles! True hunters never form alliances with their preys! I am the true hunter Rak Wraithraiser!” He glared at them, daring them to challenge his conviction.

“Must you be so difficult?” Khun sighed. “You don’t have a choice either. Just get over it and team up with us.”

“NO! I WON’T TEAM UP WITH MY PREYS!”

Khun narrowed his eyes a few seconds before continuing, “You want to climb the Tower, right? You’ll meet even stronger people to hunt. Why waste your chances on losing an easy way up? Team up with us, or else you’ll regret it.”

Rak let out a boisterous laugh at that. He continued for a good ten seconds before quieting down to give Khun a serious look. “Blue turtle, don’t try to fool me! You’re an idiot! I’m here to hunt, and here’s two perfectly fine preys in front of me. It doesn’t matter which floor I’m on!” He stepped forward, ignoring Khun’s offended look. “Now, brace yourself! I’m going to hunt you!”

Rak gripped his red spear with both hands and swung it to Khun’s direction. The blue-haired regular quickly brought up his brown storage-thing to protect himself from the attack, but still got pushed back several meters.

“Mr. Khun!” Bam called out, worried for his safety. Khun seemed to be fine from the attack, but he wouldn’t let it continue. He turned to Rak who was focused on trying to land a second hit.

“Stop,” Bam raised his palm and reversed the Shinsu flow inside Rak. The crocodile froze mid-step, unable to take another step. His spear was still in the air, pointed to Khun. Said regular raised both his brows in surprise before moving towards the brunet.

“Wow, you can control shinsu?” He asked, rather unnecessarily but Bam nodded in response anyway. Khun gave him a lopsided smile. “That’s impressive, Bam.”

Bam suddenly felt embarrassed, weirdly enough. “Really? I have been doing it for as long as I can remember.”

Khun didn’t answer, only giving him a mysterious look. It didn’t last for too long, though, and he averted his attention to check his pocket.

“Seems like we’re about to hit the time limit. Let’s touch the alligator and form an alliance.” This time Khun fell back to his snide grin, seeming to enjoy Rak’s torment. Rak’s eyes widened in protest, but since he couldn’t move, he couldn’t do anything but resort to glaring at them.

By the time of the announcement of the second test’s end Bam and Khun were holding firmly onto Rak’s legs. They passed the test and were now being sent to the next test point.

If Bam had to be honest, he had a good feeling about this team. If they could get along and have a civil conversation without fighting, of course...

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’Bam… He really is a strange person. At first, I thought he looked too ordinary to be a regular. However, as soon as I understood the power I had felt belonged to him… It felt wrong... It still feels wrong to see that power in a person with such innocent eyes. Bam isn’t ordinary – he’s an enigma.

’He doesn’t seem to know much of the Tower either. He didn’t react to the mention of my family name at all. Most people tend to avoid or try to use me when they hear of my status as one of the Ten Great Families. But… Bam doesn’t seem to care at all.

’Strangely enough, I kind of want to protect those eyes of innocence… The kind of eyes I lost long ago… Just who are you, Bam?’

———————————————————

Son of God

Chapter 3: The Blue Regular

End

Chapter Text

Bam entered a room full of regulars with his two teammates bickering behind him. Unfortunately, they had started fighting the second they arrived at the second test point. However, they never got physical and seemed content with sticking just to verbal insults.

“Turtles! Just because we are a team doesn’t mean that I’ll stop hunting you! As soon as this team disbands, you'd better watch your backs!” Rak grunted, probably glaring at both him and Khun.

Khun let out a sigh. “Suit yourself, Alligator. You will lose either way. Right, Bam?”

Still walking, Bam turned his head to look at Khun and then at Rak who was giving the blue-haired regular an offended look. Bam didn’t get enough time to form a response to gratify both regulars before Rak started yelling,

“I’VE ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I’M NOT AN ALLIGATOR! I AM RAK WRAITHRAISER!”

“Whatever. If you’re adamant on calling us turtles, then I will definitely not stop calling you alligator,” Khun shrugged, putting on an indifferent expression.

“Mr. Khun, Mr. Rak, please stop fighting. We don’t need more attention than necessary,” Bam quickly interposed, stopping Rak from taking Khun’s bait. He didn’t want more stares and was getting uncomfortable with the number of eyes fixed on them. Bam subconsciously faltered his steps to fall behind his teammates.

He wasn’t used to being put in a room with this many people. Worried that he would do something wrong to gather even more attention, he became quiet. Khun seemed to realize his change of behavior and moved closer. Bam smiled, feeling comforted by having a supportive presence.

“I’m thirstyyyyyy!” Rak started again, “I want a drink! Blue turtle, get me something to drink!”

Khun gave him a blank stare in response. “Not my problem. Get over there and buy something yourself,” he pointed to a big box that contained drinks, apparently.

“NO–“

“Ah, Mr. Rak! Please don’t cause a ruckus!” Bam hastily said, preventing him to yell further. “I don’t mind getting you a drink. You both wait here.”

Khun frowned, “Bam, you don’t need to–“

“It’s okay!” He turned around and walked towards the box, missing the glare Khun shot at Rak. On his way to the drinks he suddenly realized that he had no idea how it worked. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too hard to understand.

He was wrong.

Bam stopped in front of the box, trying to understand where he could obtain the drinks. He could see all the drinks available on display, but they were put behind a panel of glass. Maybe if he tried to press on it...? He lightly poked on the screen to no avail, making him sigh in frustration.

He wished someone could teach him the simple things in the Tower. The funny-looking guardian had taught him a lot, but not nearly enough. He was taught different weapons and clothes, yes, but nothing about the stuff that existed in the Tower except a few buildings and plants. Of course, Bam couldn’t blame the guardian because neither of them would have known that he would be in the Tower one day.

The brunet felt a rather average presence appear behind him. Not too long after, he saw a hand coming from behind press on the screen, making the box rattle and spit out a drink. Bam stared at it in confusion before turning around.

A guy wearing a purple tracksuit grinned at him. “Hey! It looked like you had a problem with this vending machine, huh?” he slapped said machine lightly. “I hope you don’t mind this drink. I didn’t know what flavor you wanted.”

Bam smiled in gratitude, watching the teen pick up the drink and hand it to him. “It’s fine, thank you.” The drink was cool in his hands. He hoped that Rak wouldn’t mind a banana flavored one…

“I’m Shibisu!” the teen pointed a thumb at himself, then over his right shoulder. “And this is my team. I may not look like much, but I promise you I’m as great as them!”

Bam looked over Shibisu’s shoulder, finding a green skinned girl with a tail and a black-haired guy proudly carrying two swords. They were definitely stronger than the guy before him, making him feel a tinge of pity for him.

“Of course!” Bam said anyway. “I’m Twenty-Fifth Bam. As for my teammates…” he paused, looking around but couldn’t find them. He could feel everyone’s presences, but he still found it difficult to pinpoint their identities perfectly.

“Don’t worry!” Shibisu cut in. “I saw you guys earlier. You’re with that crazy big crocodile and the Khun guy, right?” Bam nodded.

This Shibisu didn’t seem particularly strong, but he was without doubt kind. He even helped him get a drink. Maybe Bam could ask others to teach him a few things without raising suspicions. Shibisu didn’t get suspicious of him not understanding this machine-thing… Perhaps it was common for people to not know?

Bam decided to leave those thoughts for later. He had a test to do at any moment. He returned his attention back to Shibisu. “I better go find my team. I have a feeling that the next test will start soo–“

“Good day, regulars!” A new voice called out, gaining everyone’s attention. The voice belonged to an older, tall male wearing a white coat with black trousers and gloves. He had short blond hair and black spots under his eyes. “I’m Lero Ro, your test administrator.”

Sudden whispers erupted from the crowd, many of them shocked to meet a real Ranker. Bam frowned, the test administrator appearing now probably meant that the next test will be announced soon. He had to get back to his teammates.

Shibisu seemed to notice his unease since the other guy put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey, Bam don’t worry. You can hang with the awesome me ‘til you find your team!”

“Thanks, Mr. Shibisu,” Bam smiled, deciding to stick around with the nice guy. He would find Khun and Rak as soon as the next test started. For now, he needed to listen to what Lero Ro had planned for them and hope that his teammates would continue to uphold their truce without him.

“Okay, regulars!” Lero Ro’s voice called out again, but this time it came from his left. “Over here! I’ll explain the next test now when you’ve had some time to rest from the previous round!” 

Lero Ro was now standing on a podium. Bam heard confused murmurs around him, wondering why the test administrator had moved to another spot. The brunet surmised that the ranker simply wanted a better overview of the crowd.

He grabbed Shibisu’s hand, ignoring his surprise yelp, and dragged him closer to where Lero Ro was standing to both see and hear him better.

The blond ranker put his hands on his hips. ”Good! Before we move on to the next test, I’ve decided that we’ll need a pretest to reduce the number of you regulars. There are, in fact, too many of you who are unworthy to climb the Tower.”

“What?! Are you kidding me?!” A voice complained loudly.

Lero Ro ignored it and continued. “Those of you who don’t pass this pretest won’t be allowed to take the next test!” He had an easy smile on his face.

“Huh?! Doesn’t it mean that this is another elimination test? Isn’t that too harsh?” More complaints were heard.

“Don’t worry. It’s an easy one. Now, please allow me to proceed without you interrupting,” Lero Ro’s eyes hardened. ”Unless you want to be disqualified on the spot?”

Silence hovered the room and Lero Ro soon reverted to his easy-going persona. “Okay, all good then?” A few nods. “Well, let’s begin!”

The ranker brought out his palm, murmuring as the regulars stared at him with bewildered expressions. Bam recognized what the older male was doing and quickly grabbed Shibisu to keep him close to himself. He would protect him if Lero Ro planned to launch a destructive shinsu attack.

“Boom!” the ranker smirked, releasing the shinsu he had been compressing. Bam tensed, ready to deflect the attack.

To his surprise, the attack never came, or rather it never was an attack. The shinsu was weak, molded to function as a big barrier, and not made with the intention to harm. Bam relaxed, Lero Ro was right, this pretest was easy.

The barrier of shinsu swiftly made its way towards the regulars, and in a second Bam lost his grip on Shibisu’s and the teen was pushed back by the barrier. Bam turned around and realized that not only Shibisu, but the other regulars as well got pushed back.

Oh… Maybe he should have pretended that he, too, got pushed back… Now he would be the center of attention for sure. Bam didn’t want that… He didn’t want to be put in a spot where he would be forced to answer questions he’d rather have unanswered.

Well, it’s too late now.

“Yes, as some of you might have already guessed,” Lero Ro started. “I created a barrier of shinsu to push you all out. I’m sure most of you are familiar with shinsu, since it exists everywhere in the Tower. However, shinsu could also be a tool, a weapon, if it’s used right. People have different reactions to shinsu, and most of them can’t handle shinsu well. This test is to eliminate unfit candidates; those of you who have adverse reactions to shinsu. The only thing you have to do is to get past the barrier! If you succeed, you’ll be able to take the next test with your team.”

”Wait! Are you implying that the whole team has to pass the test for us to advance?” A guy stepped forward, looking anxious.

Lero Ro raised his brows. “Well, yes of course. If one of your teammates can’t pass the barrier, the whole team fails. Isn’t it obvious?”

The guy was now fuming. “Are you kidding me?! My team is super weak! I had no other choice but to team up with them in order to pass the previous test! It’s not fair!”

“It’s not fair?” Lero Ro shook his head. “With that mindset you’ve probably already lost. The Tower isn’t fair. In fact, one of the most important things to have when moving up the Tower is… luck.”

“Hah, luck?! Wait until I get–“

“Now please be quiet,” the ranker smiled coldly, and the crowd fell silent. “And let’s start the test!”

“But hey…” Another regular’s voice quickly died out at Lero Ro’s glare, but soon got his confidence back as he pointed at Bam. “That guy over there didn’t get pushed back by the barrier… Shouldn’t he get back here and take the test too?”

Lero Ro’s eyes moved to where the regular was pointing, and ultimately met Bam’s gaze. Bam was careful to not show any emotion on his face, but the same couldn’t be said for the ranker. He saw Lero Ro’s yellow eyes widen a fraction but the other quickly hid his shock behind a composed mask, and Bam was grateful for that.

“Oh? It seems like I’ve made a mistake… But that is part of your luck, I suppose. You passed.” Lero Ro gave him a smile and made a slight motion with his hand towards himself. Bam guessed the blond wanted him to move closer and stand next to him, so he did exactly that.

”Please keep me company while we wait for the test to end.” Lero Ro sat down and patted on the space next to him. Bam complied and sat down, trying to figure out what the ranker wanted from him. He knew that the blond had suspicions about him, but hopefully he wouldn’t voice them.

Bam let his eyes wander to the crowd of regulars. He found Shibisu staring at him in disbelief but then pulled himself together and looked rather determined. He gave Bam a challenging smirk as he stepped forward, only to face-plant into the shinsu barrier. Bam internally shook his head with a smile. If he wanted to challenge him, he had to at least pass the barrier first.

The brunet continued to look over the crowd, in search of his teammates. He quickly spotted the blue hair that belonged to Khun and found Rak behind him. They were talking, and Rak tried to take a step forward but Khun stopped him. That, of course, angered the self-proclaimed hunter but Khun quickly put him in his place. 

The blue-haired regular then looked up and met Bam’s eyes. He gave him a faint smirk, making Bam smile almost automatically. It hadn’t been too long, but he missed talking with Khun… And Rak, of course, but mostly Khun.

“So, young regular…” Lero Ro’s voice brought him back to reality. “What is your name?”

Bam gave the adult male a silent look. He wasn‘t stupid. The ranker was regarding him with hidden wariness – even going so far as to say the word ‘regular’ with a skeptical voice.

But he answered all the same. “Bam. Twenty-Fifth Bam, Mr. Lero Ro.”

“Hm, nice to meet you Mr. Bam,” the ranker smiled. “While we are waiting, do you want to play a game?”

At Bam’s silent stare he continued. “It’s nothing too hard. Let’s guess which regular will be the first to pass through the barrier. The one who guesses right gets to ask the other a question of their choice, and the loser has to answer them truthfully.”

Bam paused before responding. The game sounded a bit risky, but if he won it would certainly work in his favor. Deciding on taking the risk he nodded. “Sure.”

”Okay, I’ll start,” Lero Ro watched over the crowd. ”I pick that green girl. I think her name is Anaak…”

Bam moved his eyes to where Lero Ro was looking. It was the same girl from earlier; she was on Shibisu’s team. If he stared hard enough, he could see a rather unique aura of shinsu radiate from her. Bam might have seen something similar from the Princess, Yuri Jahad, too... Perhaps they had something in common...?

“I choose her as well,” Bam finally said.

Lero Ro gave him another contemplative glance. “Is there a particular reason why you are choosing her too?”

Bam met his eyes for a second but quickly averted his gaze. “Just a feeling…”

They both had been right. The green girl, Anaak, stepped forward and passed through the shinsu barrier with no difficulty. The other regulars stared at her with both awe and jealousy.

“It seems like we’re tied. How about we ask a question each?” Lero Ro smiled once again. Bam inwardly frowned, if he had known that it would come to this, he never would have participated in the game. Well... He didn’t have a choice.

“Yes, okay,” Bam, too, answered with a convincing smile, in his opinion.

Lero Ro clasped his hands. “Good. Excuse my bluntness, but how are you so familiar with shinsu? I’m of course thinking about how you didn’t get affected by the shinsu barrier at all, or how you knew the green girl would pass.”

Yes, the ranker was very straight forward, but Bam was glad that he had chosen to ask such a vague question. That way, Bam could answer him without revealing too much about himself.

“I grew up with nothing but shinsu. I soon learned how to manipulate the shinsu and use it to my advantage. I knew the girl would pass because I can see that she reacts well to shinsu.”

Bam couldn’t tell if his answer satisfied the ranker or not since the blond masked his reaction well. Hopefully, he hadn’t said anything too strange.

“Okay, thank you for answering honestly,” Lero Ro said at last. “Now, go ahead and ask me your question.”

Bam hesitated, “To be honest, I don’t have a worthwhile question right now…” It was the truth, kind of. He did have a lot of questions he’d like answered, but if he asked them, he would probably raise even more suspicions from the ranker.

“That’s fine. You may ask your question anytime later. However, remember that the question may lose its value as time passes.” Lero Ro stood up and Bam did too.

“Thank you, Mr. Lero Ro,” Bam said, giving the older male a real smile this time. He would save his question for later, when he needed information that would help him out in the future.

The brunet shifted his attention back to the crowd. By now at least fifteen regulars had made it past the barrier and were chattering with each other. He saw Shibisu push himself through the barrier with a black-haired woman. They were fired up, both wanting to prove themselves, and finally succeeded. Shibisu didn’t even seem fazed by the fact that he barely made it. He just stood there, in front of his unimpressed teammates, looking proud of himself.

“Bam!” A familiar voice called out and Bam turned to see Khun waving at him. Rak was walking beside him, muttering about something he couldn’t hear. He felt his spirits lift as he waved back.

“You’re friends with a Khun?” The Ranker’s question prevented him from heading over to his teammates. Something in the older male’s voice told him that he would not like what he would hear next.

Bam just nodded carefully and Lero Ro leaned closer, whispering. “Take my advice: Don’t get too close to him. He comes from a dangerous family.”

There it was again. Rak had implied something similar as well. Why was everyone insulting his new friend like that? Bam didn’t like it and made sure to let the other know that.

With an angry glare he spoke in a low tone. “I don’t know what you have against Mr. Khun or his family, but I don’t care about his past or family. He has been nothing but kind to me so far.”

Lero Ro became still for a few seconds, but then shook his head. ”Well, okay, Mr. Bam. I only wanted to warn you. Mr. Khun has a bad reputation.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need it. I like Mr. Khun. He’s my first friend,” Bam said before turning around. It maybe was weird of him to defend Khun to such an extent, since he had just met him and didn’t really know who he was, but the blue regular was his friend. He didn’t want others to talk bad about him.

When Bam approached his team, he had a bright smile on his face. Rak crossed his arms, standing proudly, while Khun let out an exaggerated sigh and smirked.

“Oh, thank god you’re back. The gator never stops talking and complaining, but now when yo–“ Khun abruptly stopped as Bam put his arms around him before continuing, in a considerably lower tone, “H-Hey… Someone’s touchy today, huh?”

Bam looked up to stare at Khun in confusion. The regular didn’t meet his gaze and his body was tense. Bam didn’t get it. He just wanted to touch his friend for some reason, to remind himself of Khun’s warmth and kindness. Maybe it wasn’t normal? Didn’t other people want to be close with their friends?

Rak’s boisterous laughter broke off his chain of thought. “Blue turtle is saying that he would rather have his personal space for himself.”

Bam frowned at that. “What’s a personal space?”

“Don’t listen to the crocodile,” Khun quickly took over the conversation. “Look, Bam, I personally don’t mind you hugging me. It’s–”

“Do you even hear yourself?! A Khun not minding hugs? Is the Tower about to collapse?!” Rak laughed so hard that Bam could almost swear he saw tears come out from the alligator’s eyes.

Khun glared at the bigger regular and continued from where he was cut off, “It’s just that I’m not used to it. However, just because I’m fine with it doesn’t mean that other people are… So, don’t do that with others, unless you’re absolutely sure that they are fine with it. Personal space is important to most people, which usually includes no sudden touching, okay?”

Bam nodded, releasing his friend to take one of his pale hands instead. “You don’t mind me touching you?”

“No… It’s just a bit awkward since, like I said, I’m not used to it… But if it comforts you somehow then it’s fine,” Khun tried to smile reassuringly, but it looked too forced. Rak was still laughing.

Bam’s eyes widened, feeling sorry for the other teen. “No one has ever hugged you before? That must be sad…” he murmured. “I always felt happy when the guardian hugged me or patted my head.”

Rak and Khun both looked at him with a raised brow. “The guardian...?”

Oh… “No matter!” Bam quickly said with a smile. “My point is now that we’re friends, I’ll make sure that you’ll get lots of hugs!”

At that, Khun shook his head. “Whatever makes you happy, Bam.” His voice might have been nonchalant, but the brunet didn’t miss the small smile Khun had on his face as he walked past him.

Bam turned around, about to follow his blue-haired teammate when he suddenly realized something. He turned back to Rak, giving him an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Rak. It seems like I’ve forgotten your drink…  Somewhere...” Bam stopped, trying to remember. Rak just crossed his arms and gave him a hard stare.

“Hmph. Black turtle, I’m no longer thirsty so it’s fine. Now, let’s ace the next test and show the Tower who’s the strongest hunter around here! They better fear the MIGHTY RAK WRAITHRAISER!” A few regulars shot his teammate dirty looks for being too loud but Rak didn’t seem to care and walked ahead with purposeful steps.

Bam smiled. Climbing the Tower was the best decision he had ever made – he was happier than he had been in a long time. However, he had a foreboding feeling that something unpleasant would happen soon… Hopefully, it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

.

.

.

.

It wasn’t.

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 4: The Pretest
End

Chapter Text

The next test was nothing like the previous ones. Bam and his team entered a dark room. They had been waiting for about an hour because the test was instructed to be conducted one team at a time.

The air was suspenseful, and all three walked with caution. They didn’t get any information beforehand, which meant they had no idea what they would be tested for this time. Bam just hoped they wouldn’t get ambushed in the dark.

A neon-colored regular had approached them just before their turn, wanting to give them a hint. Khun wasn’t having it though; he had glared at the regular and warned them to not trust a word this man said. Rak stayed quiet the whole time, so Bam had done the same.

The regular had given them hints about time being an important part of the next test. He mentioned something about the teams that had screamed loudly from the testing room had not passed in five minutes. It was a helpful tip, really, but Khun still seemed suspicious. Bam concluded that the blue-haired teen probably had issues with trust and perhaps cynicism. One day he would find out why, Bam had decided.

Bam and his teammates weren’t left in the dark for too long. Multiple red doors suddenly appeared all around them, and in the center sat another person in front of a low table.

“Nice to meet you, regulars. My name is Hansung Yu, and I’m usually the test director on this floor, but today I’ll be the test administrator of your next test,” the person said, with a sly smirk. The test director’s appearance was feminine, but his voice indicated that he was male. He had long blond hair tied in a tight bun and wore a blue and yellow hanbok. Bam could feel that this ranker was strong, maybe as strong as Yuri Jahad.

“Shall we start the test?” Bam nodded for all three of them. “Okay, you see all the doors around you? Your task is to find the real door and open it within ten minutes. It’s simple, isn’t it? Among the twelve doors, you’ll have to open the real one to come outside and pass the test,” Hansung gave them a smile that looked too forced.

“However…” he continued, “If you don’t find the door within the ten minutes time limit, or open the wrong one… You’ll die.”

Rak immediately took it as a challenge. “Hah?! I will not die! Watch me get the right door on my first try!”

“Stop it, Gator,” Khun quickly stopped him before he could take a step towards one of the doors. He shifted his glare from the test director to their biggest teammate. “Don’t screw this up. This is obviously a test of brains, which we all know is something you lack.”

Bam sighed and started thinking. Which door was the right one...? They weren’t given any more clues, which meant they already had been given all the information they needed to pass...

The brunet watched Rak walk around and inspect every door. He was already getting impatient, judging by his quick steps and the occasional grunts. Khun wasn’t better. The blue-haired regular had been staring at the floor in deep thought the past three minutes, looking more and more anxious as seconds passed. It was probably for the best to not interrupt him.

Bam let his eyes wander to the test director and was surprised to see Hansung stare at him back behind a mug of coffee. He felt a bit unnerved by his unblinking gaze, watching him like a hawk. What was his deal...?

Bam crossed his arms and continued to keep his eyes fixed on the older male. He was certainly not going to back down until he learned what the blond wanted from him.

It went on for a good thirty seconds, nothing changing except the smirk that found its way on Hansung’s lips. Bam frowned, about to confront him when a loud bang broke off his thoughts.

“You damn crocodile! What are you doing?!” Khun yelled angrily as Bam turned to see what Rak had done. He saw an opened door and was instantly brought back to reality. Right, he was in the middle of a test… And Rak opened a door?!

“Calm down, puny turtles. We didn’t get any hints – then isn’t obvious that we had to guess which door was right?” Rak said, staring at Khun with hard eyes.

“What? Are you that stupid? No, of course not, you–“

“Congratulations, regulars!” Hansung’s celebratory clapping suddenly cut through and all the doors turned green. “You passed the test.”

All three of them turned to the test director, wearing surprised expressions on their faces. Hansung smiled at them, but it didn’t reach his eyes, again. “To pass the test, you just had to open any door within five minutes.”

Khun stepped forward, “What? You gave us no clues and all we had to do was to open any door within five minutes? I can’t accept that!”

“Mr. Khun, we did give you hints, but you didn’t trust them. Perhaps that’s your biggest weakness, abandoned son of the Khun family…” the test director smirked.

Khun was rooted to the spot, now silent. He had a blank expression on his face, showing nothing, but Bam had a feeling his friend was having an internal conflict.

“I did expect that from you. Isn’t it sad how you can’t do anything without complete assurance? Well… Luckily, it seems like you’ve found good teammates that can open doors without hesitation to avoid death. The Tower won’t wait for you, Khun Aguero Agnis,” Hansung bowed and finished,

”Now, you have passed. Let’s say goodbye for now and good luck. We have high hopes for you,” the test director looked up and gave Bam another fixing stare at the end of his sentence. Bam gave him a side-look in return before turning around and walked through the opened door.

He heard Rak boast about his intelligence behind him and Khun reprimanding him, stating that he had seen Rak’s surprised look when they passed the test. Of course, that only led to more short-lived quibbles between the two regulars.

They approached a new waiting room, a considerably smaller one this time, and Bam quickly spotted Shibisu waving at him. “Hey, Bam!” he ran over to his team. “You passed the test too, huh? That’s good! Especially considering how many teams who’ve failed this one…”

Shibisu looked thoughtful for a moment, but soon returned to Bam and his teammates. “So, this time you have your team with you? Yo, I’m the coolest guy Bam ever met: Shibisu!”

Khun cocked an eyebrow in response, turning his head to Bam in silent questioning. Rak just crossed his arms, giving the tracksuit teen an indifferent stare. Bam shook his head and helpfully supplied, “This is Mr. Shibisu. I met him when I tried getting drinks at the… machine. He helped me out and stayed with me during the beginning of the pretest.”

He then turned to Shibisu. “You already know my team: Mr. Rak and Mr. Khun,” he gestured to each of his two teammates with a smile.

“Hmph, I’m leader Rak! Not just ‘Mr. Rak’, turtles,” Rak stated loudly and Bam almost winced.

Shibisu’s confusion was evident to all of them. “Leader Rak...?”

“Yes, I’m the true leader of this era! You better watch–“

“Don’t bother listening to him,” Khun interrupted the gator as per usual. “Or else you will lose brain cells.”

Shibisu laughed and started slapping Bam’s back. “Bam, you sure have funny guys on your team! It’s almost a pity that I have those guys on my team… Not! We’re really powerful!” he pointed to his teammates on the other side of the room. They seemed to be minding their own business, not caring what Shibisu was doing.

Bam faked a smile to appease the other regular. Sure, this guy’s teammates were among the strongest in the room, but Bam thought that his own could do just as well as them. It seemed like Khun and Rak thought the same, judging by their expressions.

“Hello again, regulars!” A familiar voice spoke, and everyone turned to see Lero Ro enter the waiting room. “Have you had enough rest yet? I’m here with exceptionally good news!” the blond clasped his hands and gave them all a smile.

“What do you mean with good news? Have we passed all the tests already?” A regular inquired.

Lero Ro shook his head with an amused look on his face as he noticed their confusion and curious anticipation. “No, of course not! But don’t be too dejected! I spoke with the test director earlier and he told us to give you a bonus game.”

“Uh…” This time it was Shibisu speaking. “I don’t know what you think… But more tests aren’t exactly good news for us.”

“Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with the tests. In fact, participation is voluntary!” Lero Ro paused, as if to gauge everyone’s reactions. Most of them now had even more confused expressions. He then continued,

“If you choose not to participate, then nothing will happen! You’ll just have to wait for the next test. However, if you agree to engage in the game... The winning team will pass the final test and may proceed to the next floor – which means they don’t have to take the remaining tests!”

That got everyone’s attention. The winning team of this bonus game gets to skip ahead to the next floor? Bam thought it was a great advantage, but there had to be something more to it. Something must have happened to make this possible...

“What happens to the teams that participate in the game but then lose?” A buff regular looked at Lero Ro with suspicion.

“Nothing,” the ranker smiled in return. “The losing teams won’t get any penalties. They just have to continue taking the normal tests and pass them to advance.”

Bam turned to his teammates. They were already looking back at him with determination on their faces.

“Let’s join the bonus game, no? We should try to take every opportunity we can to get to the next floor. This bonus game doesn’t seem to have any drawbacks either,” Khun said with a challenging smile, and for once Rak nodded in agreement.

Bam agreed as well, and all of them got transmitted to the game spot, along with many other teams. They arrived at an arena with a big throne in the center. Lero Ro then proceeded with explaining the rules of the so-called ‘Crown Game’.

“Each team has a common goal: to seize a golden crown and then protect it. The game consists of five rounds, which are ten minutes long respectively, and only five teams can participate each round. In the first round, the participating teams have to compete for the crown – and as soon a team takes it, they must protect it by having a teammate wear it while seated on the big throne. The round will automatically end when the team has successfully protected the crown for five minutes straight, or when the other teams are defeated,” Lero Ro paused to give the regulars time to process what he had said before continuing,

“In the next round, the winning team from the previous round will remain in the arena and face four new teams. They must continue protecting the crown while the other teams attempt to steal it. Quite simple, no? And don’t forget that the team protecting the crown has to sacrifice a teammate to stay on the throne at all times. Another thing that might seem disadvantageous is participating in the game too early, but don’t let it scare you off since you might miss your chance to even participate in the later rounds.”

The ranker finished explaining the rules with a smirk on his face. No one seemed to have any questions and most of them were eager to just start the game.

“Oh, right!” Lero Ro suddenly exclaimed, demanding their attention as he lifted his index finger up. “I almost forgot to tell you, but a team from another test spot will be joining you in the Crown Game. It’s a long story…”

Another team from another test spot? Bam frowned and saw that he wasn’t the only one since many others had confused looks on their faces as well. Maybe this new team is the reason why the test director wanted to arrange a bonus game… Something must have happened to them, or the others in their testing area...

Lero Ro just shrugged off the questioning stares and smiled. “Well then, let’s start the game! You’ll see a button when you arrive at your waiting rooms, press it when you want to participate in a round. Good luck!”

With that, each team was sent off to separate, smaller rooms. Bam laid down on a bench in their assigned room to take a short rest. He was tired and wanted to close his eyes for a short while. Rak settled for slumping down on the hard floor as he and Khun looked out through the bars separating them from the game arena. Now… It was time for them to wait.

They all had agreed to not participate in the first round, which turned out to be a good decision. Shibisu’s team had, without doubt, dominated the first round.

“Who’s that lizard-turtle...?” Rak grumbled in annoyance. Bam hadn’t really paid attention to the first round until he heard the green girl causing a ruckus by independently seizing the crown for herself. He knew the girl was strong, but he hadn’t thought she could easily outmatch the other regulars like she just did.

“Mr. Lero Ro told me her name was Anaak, I think…” Bam informed the gator and got up to stand next to him. Rak just grunted in response and laid down on his back.

“Well, it looks like we don’t have to worry,” Khun gained their attention with a small smirk on his face. “I don’t know why, but the lizard decided to sit on the throne.”

“What?!” Rak abruptly rose, his eyes following to where Khun was pointing. “Haha! She might be powerful, but she’s not that smart!” Rak laughed at the top of his lungs. Khun sighed and shook his head, fortunately deciding to not give Rak another offensive remark. Bam quite liked the peace they had for now.

“Yes…” Khun said instead. “Either way, I’m sure we can steal the crown from her. We have Bam,” he gave the brunet a small smile, which Bam returned.

“And the strongest hunter, Rak Wraithraiser!” Rak added with a proud grin. “No one has a chance against me!”

Khun looked unimpressed. “Please, we both remember how you had no chance against Bam during the first test.”

“That was just a fluke!” Rak crossed his arms, putting on a hard face. “Just as expected from a worthy prey.”

None of them bothered to argue against that, instead deciding to focus on the second round of the bonus game. They decided to participate in the third or fourth round, depending on what would happen next.

At first, the second round seemed a bit dull. Anaak was just sitting on her throne while Shibisu and their third teammate fended off the other teams. The other teams trying to steal the crown were nothing much, except the weird guy sleeping on the floor. Bam could feel that he wasn’t like the other regulars. He could control shinsu – a feat most newbies couldn’t do, according to what Bam had learned since he entered the Tower.

When three minutes had passed, the sleeping guy suddenly woke up and chose to take part in the fight. He shot a beam of concentrated shinsu, to the other regulars’ surprise, towards Anaak. Luckily for Shibisu’s team, the girl was fast and swiftly jumped to avoid the attack. She landed on the throne again with an irritated expression that soon turned into a manic grin.

Her anger deprived her of the capacity to control her emotions, and apparently of rational thought as well. Anaak raised her green weapon and suddenly it decompressed itself. The hook extended its length and the girl swung it at the sleepy guy. He barely dodged it.

Bam had never heard of a weapon that could enlarge to such a giant size, but the green weapon still felt a bit familiar to him. Realization hit him as he remembered the black sword the Princess tried to lend him back on the first floor. The Black March… Bam couldn’t help but to find more similarities between the green girl and Yuri. They had to have something in common…

His thoughts got interrupted as the fight in the arena escalated. Anaak was going out of control and swung her weapon in all directions, even successfully splitting it into several parts to achieve a multi-attack. The regulars tried to avoid her attacks and made a run to get back to their rooms – except the sleepy guy who only looked even more determined now.

He brought out a palm to launch another shinsu attack, but the black-haired woman he had seen with Shibisu during the pretest stopped him by grabbing his blanket. He was protesting, but the woman didn’t care as she dragged him to their room. Anaak wasn’t letting them escape though and attacked with her weapon. She broke the bars to their room and jumped down from the throne, approaching them with a smug look on her face.

“Nooo! Anaak what are you doing?!” Shibisu desperately called out, maybe a teeny bit more dramatic than necessary, and fell on his knees.

Bam saw Anaak get stopped by Lero Ro for breaking the rules. Probably both for continuing fighting after they had lost and for breaking into a waiting room. Anaak almost had to be dragged away by the ranker and her teammates back to their own waiting room. She was complaining loudly, once again reminding Bam that she still was a child. He felt a bit sorry for her.

“Now’s our golden chance,” Khun put a hand on Bam’s shoulder. “Let’s steal the crown and win this game.”

Bam turned his head to Khun, smiling. “Yes. One question though… One of us has to stay on the throne… Who–”

”You, of course!” Rak answered, cutting him off before he could finish his question. Khun was nodding in agreement.

Bam raised a brow in confusion. He had thought they would have trouble figuring out who was the best option to sit on the throne, but he seemed to be an obvious choice to both of his teammates. “Not that I’m opposed to it, but why?”

“You’re the only one who can attack everywhere from the throne,” Khun explained. “I can only deal with close range combat and Gator will be utterly defenseless after one throw of his spear.”

“I will not! True hunters always have more than one trick up their sleeves!”

“Okay, stop,” the blue-haired teen sighed, “We both agreed that Bam was the best option, right?”

Rak narrowed his eyes but nodded. Khun turned around and pressed the red button.

“Good, now let’s go. We have a crown to steal and a game to win,” he smirked and stepped into the arena with Bam and Rak close behind him. They would definitely win this round, and hopefully the whole game.

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The petite girl couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. It was soon time for her to meet the boy-god again.

‘I can’t believe I saw him with my own eyes. He was so beautiful and powerful, just as expected from such an esteemed individual. I could, almost impossibly, feel his powers tingle on my skin... And more importantly, his eyes had shone brightly in the dark. Just like the stars...

‘I want him… Or rather… I want to be him! And there can only be one of him… It should be me! Why is it him, and not me?!

‘The task Headon gave me… If I fulfill it, I’ll become the heroine of this story. Everyone will worship me and take me to the top of the Tower...! I want to see the stars! I want to be a star!’

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 5: The Crown Game part I
End

Chapter Text

Four other teams entered the third round as well, everyone looking eager and ready to secure the golden crown placed on the throne. Bam looked around, judging his opponents. None of the regulars stood out in terms of power, and they were all familiar faces. The team from the other test spot wouldn’t be participating in this round, apparently. He supposed they would show up in the next or last round.

Lero Ro announced the start of the game with a beep, and all the teams hastily made their way towards the crown. Surprisingly, Khun was fast and made it to the throne long before everyone else.

Picking up the crown, he put on a new smirk on his face. “Wouldn’t it be a pity if I sat here with the crown? The game would immediately be over for you, since my team is obviously much stronger than you guys...”

“What?!” More than one regular shouted angrily.

Khun paid then no mind and put the crown in his briefcase, Manbarondenna. Bam had asked about it earlier and learned that the brown thing wasn’t really a normal briefcase.

The blue regular continued, “No, let’s make this more interesting! Fight me weaklings, and you’ll maybe get the crown…! Or wait – I changed my mind.” Khun pulled out the crown from Manbarondenna again and tossed it to the other regulars. “You guys fight instead. I’ll face the winner.”

At that, the other teams got even more agitated. Some of them had even agreed to ‘teach him a lesson’ and take down Khun first before fighting for the crown. That plan didn’t last as one of the regulars went for the crown anyway, causing the others to forget their agreement and join the fight.

Bam was impressed by Khun’s strategy, albeit a little surprised by his cockiness. He was glad that Khun was his friend, and not his enemy.

The brunet didn’t get to admire Khun for much longer as he felt a presence trying to sneak up to him from behind. Bam quickly dodged a sword swung his way and spun around, kicking his attacker’s leg in the process. The regular yelped in surprise and fell to the ground.

Bam looked at him, now unsure what to do since he didn’t want to reveal his shinsu powers this soon. He then decided to leave him on the ground and instead head for where Khun was standing. He knew that the blue-haired teen could protect himself, but he had made himself quite a wanted target with his arrogant attitude towards the other regulars. He wanted to be there and protect him just in case.

The third round of the game went on unchanging. Everyone was fighting each other, desperate to have their hands on the crown. Bam fought off his enemies with his mediocre hand-to-hand combat, trying to dodge the occasional sword attacks and bullets shot his way.

Khun and Rak were definitely faring better. Rak was big and used his weight to land powerful attacks while Khun was skilled at fighting with his extendable knives. Maybe he should ask them to teach him sometime in the future. He knew that without his shinsu, he wouldn’t have a chance against anyone further up the Tower.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Bam’s arm and yanked him backwards. He tensed and prepared to attack, but instantly relaxed when he realized it was Khun, and let himself be pulled to the throne. Khun pushed him down on the seat and put a hand in Manbarondenna to reveal a golden crown.

Bam raised his brows in surprise, his eyes quickly moving to the other crown in the hands of a very small regular and then back to his teammate. All the other regulars seemed to be in shock as well.

Khun smirked, “And now, let’s crown the king…” He carefully put the crown on Bam’s head, mindful of placing it just above the brunet’s ponytail. “Looks good on you.”

Bam felt heat creep up on his neck and he averted his eyes, embarrassed by the compliment. Luckily, he was saved from saying anything when a loud beep rang through the arena.

“Ten minutes have passed, and we have a last-minute winner!” Lero Ro’s voice came through. “Now, Mr. Bam’s team may stay for the next round while the rest of you regulars return to your waiting rooms. Don’t forget to press the button within the next minute in order to participate in the fourth round!”

With that, the losing teams went back to their rooms, but not before shooting Khun a few glares. When they were alone, Rak turned around and approached them with two assertive steps.

“What kind of magic did you pull, Blue turtle?” Rak was for once not yelling, just staring at Khun with an unreadable look.

“I’ve already told you that Manbarondenna isn’t a normal briefcase.” Khun sighed in response, deciding to sit down next to Bam. “I stole it from my father’s treasure hoard before entering the Inner Tower. One of its functions is cloning, which means I can clone anything I put in this briefcase, like the crown.”

Bam stared at Manbarondenna in amazement. It was a really useful weapon… Rak seemed to be thinking the same and suddenly went closer to put his face in front of Khun’s, making the other yelp in surprise.

“Does that mean you can copy bananas?! Why haven’t you told me that you have been carrying around an endless supply of bananas?!” Rak was back again to yelling, making Khun cringe as he tried to lean away from the gator.

“Stop shouting and put your enormous face somewhere else!” Khun tried to push away Rak’s face while continuing to lean away into Bam’s side, forcing the brunet to steady himself with a hand against the throne’s arm. Rak wasn’t giving up, still waiting for a response.

“You’ll get bananas later, ok? Now, move away!” Khun’s gave him an annoyed glare. The gator seemed content with Khun’s answer and stepped away – much to the other’s visible relief. He muttered something about bananas and Rak being insane.

Another beep rang loudly, signaling the start of the fourth round. Bam immediately put his guard up, ready for what the next round might bring them. Khun stood up, doing the same as he pulled out a new set of knives from his briefcase.

The fourth round went on without any difficulties. Their opposing teams were average at most, which meant Khun and Rak easily overpowered them. Bam’s team succeeded in protecting the crown for ten minutes.

Now, the fifth round was announced. It was the last round of this game; the last chance to win and, without delay, proceed to the next floor. Bam had a feeling that this round would be the most intense one. He saw three unfamiliar figures enter the arena along with the other teams. All three of them were wearing brown cloaks with their hoods up. It was the team from the other test spot.

The brunet could tell the three of them weren’t ordinary regulars. Especially the tall figure standing behind the much smaller person. The huge being felt off – like he wasn’t really supposed to be here on the second floor. The third person standing next to the other two was strong. Bam noted that her aura was similar to Yuri’s and Anaak’s; but more to the former than the latter.

However, the person who intrigued him the most was the smallest one of their team. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that this person was too familiar to him. They must have met somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember from where. It was strange… He hadn’t met anyone else outside this test spot – except Princess Yuri and the guide Evan.

Realization struck him as he remembered his last thoughts on the first floor, just before he advanced to the next floor. He had sensed another person in the room, hidden and weak. This small person was the very same person. It did make sense… His or her aura was very similar to the weak one he had sensed back then.

Bam inwardly shook his head, dismissing his thoughts in the process. He wanted to know more about this person, but right now he had to focus on the game. The small figure wouldn’t be a threat either – in fact, he was more shocked over the fact that this weak person was a regular at all.

Khun and Rak were fighting against stronger opponents this time but seemed to manage quite well. Even so, Bam was still worried. The team from the other test spot and another regular in a black full-body spandex suit had yet to move. They were, without doubt, their strongest opponents this round.

The spandex suit regular abruptly ran forward, attacking the other regulars with something that looked like a heavy golden stick. The regular was skilled and took down their opponents with just one blow. If they hit either Khun or Rak with that…

Bam stood up, his gaze zeroing in on the spandex suit regular approaching him. Rak was on the move as well, wanting to block the regular with his big frame. Instead of trying to attack Rak with their stick like Bam had feared, they bent their knees and leaped over him. Rak let out a sound of surprise and speedily turned around.

The regular landed right in front of Bam, pointing their stick to him. A female voice spoke, ”Put the crown down.”

Her voice was apathetic, as if she didn’t really care about the crown or winning the game. Bam frowned. Who was she...? Shouldn’t she want to take the fast way to climb the Tower? If not, then why would she even participate in this bonus game? Bam understood that something wasn’t right. 

The regular seemed to realize that he wasn’t going to comply with her demand and swiftly raised her stick. Bam held up his hand just as fast, ready to block her attack with his shinsu.

In the next moment, all he saw was brown along with a sweet fragrance. He quickly recoiled and saw one of the regulars from the other test spot standing in front of him. It was the one whose presence was similar to Yuri’s.

“Oh, please. Aren’t you embarrassed to wear that suit?” Another female voice called out and the regular removed her hood, revealing short brown hair. Bam had no idea what was going on, but apparently this girl had blocked the attack for him – her supposed enemy.

“Bam, don’t let your guard down! She’s still our opponent!” Bam heard Khun shouting to him.

Right… He couldn’t afford to trust or rely on the other teams. As if noticing his unease, the brunette turned her head to him, smiling.

“Don’t worry, pretty boy!” her yellow eyes were filled with mirth. Bam noticed the small horn on the right side of her face. “I won’t take the crown from you, so please stay seated while I take care of this shameless weirdo!”

With that, she took off to fight the other regular. Bam could only stare dumbfounded as he sat down again. What was going on? He was confused, and judging by the faces of his teammates, he wasn’t the only one. Sighing, Bam watched them continue fighting the remaining regulars. So far it was going well.

The other two regulars from the other test spot moved to stand beside his throne. Bam tensed once again, ready to attack if necessary. 

“S-She’s right…” A meek and feminine voice came from the smaller figure. Bam couldn’t see much of her, except that she had two blonde locks sticking out of her hood. “We aren’t interested in... the crown…”

While Bam thought it was weird for them to not care, he decided that he would question them after the game. If they were trying to deceive him, then he would deal with them when the time came. Right now, he had to be ready to protect his teammates.

Khun took down a red skinned regular only to be faced against an even stronger one. This regular was carrying two swords and started attacking Khun without hesitation. He was skilled, leaving to room for the blue haired teen to strike back. 

Bam could see Khun get more and more annoyed with having to focus only on defense with his briefcase. He was gritting his teeth and wore a frown on his face, his mind probably reeling for solutions to turn the situation around.

A darker figure holding an unrecognizable blunt instrument slowly sneaked up behind the unsuspecting Khun. Bam promptly detected the potentially hazardous situation and stood up, starting to manipulate the shinsu around him to create a baang.

If Khun were to get hurt… No… He wouldn’t allow it. Khun was his first and most precious friend. He would protect him at all costs.

Just as he was about to shoot his baang to the dark regular, Bam saw a shadow in the corner of his right eye. Automatically, his eyes went to his right and he saw the spandex regular in the air, only a few meters from him and her heavy stick raised to attack. His eyes widened, his mind only now registering her presence.

He had no time to dodge it. He wouldn’t be able to protect his teammates...!

As if his shinsu baang had a volition of its own, it suddenly moved to strike the spandex regular, and not Bam’s intended target. The baang hit her face, breaking her mask into two pieces. In the next moment, she was down on the floor, crying out in pain as she clutched her wounded eye.

“BLUE TURTLE!” The sound of Rak’s loud roar pulled Bam back to reality. He hastily returned his attention back to Khun, only to see him lying still on the ground. Blood was seeping out of his head, coloring parts of his blue hair red.

Bam froze.

Without a second’s delay, he jumped off the throne and appeared next to Khun’s unmoving body. As he looked down at the beautiful face, all noise in the arena was drowned out. With all his attention on his friend, Bam was struggling with the inner turmoil growing inside him. He felt a lot of unfamiliar emotions simultaneously and he didn’t know how to deal with them.

The brunet kneeled and gently lifted Khun’s head to his lap. His hands were shaking, and his breathing started to become irregular.

“Mr. Khun…” Bam cradled the regular’s face in his hands. Khun didn’t move or show any signs of hearing him.

Death… Was this what death looked like? Was Khun dead? Bam stopped breathing as he let that possibility sink in. Slowly, the mere possibility became the truth in his mind. The frenzy of emotions inside him went still and two emotions were now apparent to him: sorrow and anger.

He put down Khun’s head with the same delicateness as earlier and stood up. The noise returned, loud and irksome. Rak was yelling unintelligibly and the girl in the spandex suit was still crying in pain.

None of that mattered though, Bam had only one goal in his mind: to take down Khun’s killer. With his gaze glued on the dark regular, he ran towards him, manipulating the shinsu into a razor-sharp, crescent-shaped mass. His blazing creation brought out multiple shocked gasps, but Bam didn’t care.

He didn’t care anymore. He just wanted the other to feel the same pain as he did. Showing no remorse, he stared into the frightened eyes of his victim as he struck him with his shinsu.
The dark regular had tried to protect himself with his blunt instrument over his body; but it was a futile move. The crescent cut the weapon in half and then proceeded to slash a vertical line from his head to his abdomen, leaving a vicious wound. Warm blood spurted all over the floor, painting it dark red. Bam quickly stepped aside, avoiding the disgusting stream of blood.

The regular pointed a shaking finger at the brunet, his mouth moving as he tried to utter his words. “Y-You–“ was all he managed to say before he fell to the ground with a loud thump. He didn’t move again.

“You’ll regret that!” Bam, having felt the angry presence, turned around with an open palm. In the next moment, he had reversed the shinsu flow inside the girl approaching him. Her body froze, but he could see the anger and surprise in her eyes.

“Black turtle!” This time, it was Rak shouting out to him. The alligator drew closer to him with fierce steps. “Listen now, you stupid, dense, puny, mindless, bone-headed idiot!” he paused to give Bam a serious glare. “Blue turtle isn’t dead!”

A moment of silence followed that sentence, giving Bam time to process what his teammate just had said.

“Wha– What...? Mr. Khun...?” he couldn’t find his words. He wasn’t dead? So… They could continue climbing the Tower together?

“I’ve been trying to tell you that since we lost the game, but you wouldn’t listen,” Rak harrumphed, crossing his arms. “Now, we’ve lost the game and the sooner you back down the faster Blue turtle gets medical care.”

”Oh…” Bam still couldn’t fully believe that Khun wasn’t dead. He had seen him… And the blood… Blood oozing from his head… Nevertheless, Bam released the girl and backed away. He decided to trust Rak, and hope that everything would get back to normal soon.

“... The Crown Game is now over! The remaining team has decided to not take the crown, resulting in the game ending without a winning team!”

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“Oh? The game ended without a winning team? That’s… disappointing. Well, I suppose we have more chances in the future tests… Don’t give me that look, Mr. Lero Ro. How are you liking the coffee? It’s good, isn’t it?” A secretive smile. “By the way… Who do you think is the most dangerous among the regulars taking the test this time? Did anyone stand out to you?”

An image of the brown-haired teen with golden eyes came up in his mind.

“... No. I don’t know.”

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 6: The Crown Game part II
End

Chapter Text

After the Crown Game, all regulars were given three days of rest. They were also given a small room each to make themselves comfortable for the time being. Most of them chose to spend their time sleeping in their rooms, checking out the food at the cafeteria or bonding with their teammates.

Bam spent all his time in Khun’s room, never leaving his side. He sat on a chair next to Khun’s bed where his teammate was sleeping. The brunet found comfort in watching the blue-haired teen’s chest rhythmically rise and fall. Khun would be fine. He just needed some rest to recover.

Rak was out somewhere, but he dropped by a few times a day to chat and give him food. During the gator’s first visit, Bam apologized for making them lose the game. To his surprise, Rak didn’t care at all. He had said that he was content as long he could fight them, ’his preys’, in the near future – the crown didn’t matter to him even the slightest.

Today was their third and last day on their break. Bam let out a small sigh, taking a hold on Khun’s left hand. It was pale and soft, but most importantly, it was warm.

”Please wake up soon…” he muttered, his thumb rubbing circles on the other’s hand. Gold eyes moved to stare on his friend’s blue, soft hair, and then on his flawless face. Khun was beautiful. He looked perfect in every aspect.

Perhaps Bam was too obsessed with Khun’s appearance, but he couldn’t help it. He was too fascinated by the fact that other people could look so good. The funny-looking guardian wasn’t this pleasant to look at, and neither was any other regular he had met so far.

While it was nice to look at Khun, Bam wanted him to wake up. He wanted to apologize to him for not being able to protect him. It wasn’t his responsibility to protect him, Bam knew that, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty. He was born with an exceptional shinsu control, yet he was easily distracted by another regular he hadn’t sensed.

Pursing his lips, Bam fell into another spiral of thoughts. He needed to gain more experience using his abilities… To work on multitasking so he wouldn’t momentarily lose his ability of sensing others’ auras. Furthermore, he must find the answer to why his shinsu had attacked the spandex regular and not his target.

Khun could have died… He needed to get better at fighting…

Realizing that he had been clenching Khun’s hand too hard, Bam quickly released his hold on him. Fortunately, the pale hand was fine, since Bam wasn’t particularly strong in physical terms. He briefly imagined Rak holding Khun’s hand. If Rak were the one to accidentally grip too hard then Khun’s hand would, without doubt, break into pieces.

He shuddered, trying to abandon that thought as quickly as possible. To distract himself, he stood up and moved closer to Khun’s face. His hands found the other’s hair almost immediately, intertwining the blue locks in his fingers. It was soothing and Bam felt tension leave his body once again.

He smiled, cupping Khun’s head with his hands still tangled in his hair. He wondered how Khun would look like in long hair… Or gathered together into a ponytail… Or with twin braids… Maybe Khun would let him experiment with his hair sometime. Probably not… He seemed like a person who cared a lot about his hair.

“Bam...?” A hoarse voice called out and Bam returned his attention back to his teammate.

He met two cobalt eyes staring back to him, tired and confused. It took a moment or two for Bam to realize what was happening before his face broke into a cheerful smile. “Mr. Khun! You’re awake!”

“Yes… I suppose I am…” Khun responded, still a bit disoriented. His eyes wandered around the room, taking in his surroundings. “Where am I?” he frowned and met Bam’s eyes again. “And… Why are your hands in my… hair?”

“Oh! I’m sorry… I couldn’t resist, your hair is so smooth...” Bam murmured and to prove his point, he bent down and put his lips on Khun’s bangs. “So soft and smells good. How come your hair smells so goo–”

“Bam!” Khun cut him off, making the brunet straighten up again. Khun’s face was red, his expression turning flustered. “Don’t do that! I mean… Thank you… But… You...” he faltered and didn’t continue.

Bam released his friend’s hair and sat down on the chair he had been sitting on the last three days. Khun’s eyes followed his movements, his face still looking slightly embarrassed and confused. Bam put on a serious look on his face. “Do you remember what happened?”

Khun was silent for a few seconds, audibly exhaling. “Yeah… I got knocked out, right?”

Bam nodded tentatively and Khun continued, “What happened to the game...? If I remember correctly, only one or two minutes were left befo–“

“I’m sorry…” he interrupted his teammate before he could finish his sentence. “I made us lose the game… by leaving the throne’s seat.” Bam lowered his gaze to his own hands clasped together in his lap.

To his surprise, Khun just hummed and gave him a shrug. “Well, what can we do? It’s okay, Bam,” he gave him a small smile, to which he returned, but with more uncertainty.

“Really?” His doubt was evident in his voice, but Khun just nodded. “Okay…” Bam smiled wholeheartedly now, shifting in his seat to make himself comfortable.

“As for your first question,” Bam started again. “You’re in your room. We all got assigned a room each, containing… hmm… bathrooms and beds I think he said...?” He wasn’t fully sure what Lero Ro had said, but Khun didn’t seem to have any remarks so he just continued,

“Anyhow, you’ve been out for three days. The nurse checked on you this morning and removed your bandage – saying something about the wound looking better already!”

Khun groaned, “I’ve been unconscious for three days? What happened with the remaining tests?”

“Don’t worry, we were given a three-day break,” Bam quickly reassured him. “Today’s the last day, or rather, the last evening. Mr. Lero Ro will give us more information about the next test tomorrow morning.”

“That’s a relief,” Khun smiled and tried to lift himself up on one elbow. Bam moved to assist him to a sitting position on the bed and placed the pillow behind Khun’s back. ”What have you and Gator been up to? Got any new information about the other regulars?” the blue haired teen continued with his questions.

Bam shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure what the others have been doing these past days… Mr. Rak says he has been touching up his hunting skills. He also says that he finds the other regulars noisy, which is why he has been bringing food to eat here instead of sitting in the cafeteria,” he gave the other a secretive look. “Although, if you ask me, I think it’s because he’s worried about you as well.”

Khun frowned at Bam’s smile. “Huh...? Are you saying that you haven’t been with Crocodile or the others, like that tracksuit guy?”

“Oh no, I haven’t seen Mr. Shibisu since the Crown Game… I’ve been here all the time, looking out for you,” the brunet answered while shrugging.

“... Why?”

At that, Bam frowned too and tilted his head. “Why?” he parroted in confusion. “Because we’re friends, and I was worried about you!”

Khun went silent again for a while, as if he couldn’t comprehend Bam’s actions. Maybe he wasn’t used to people caring for him? If that was the case, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for his teammate. He would definitely try to show him how important he was to him, despite the fact that they hadn’t known each other for very long.

The blue haired teen finally gave Bam a small smile. “Thank you… You didn’t have to, though.”

“I know that, but I wanted to!” Bam smiled brightly back and hugged his friend. He felt Khun’s arms move and place around his waist, making him smile even brighter and tighten his hold.

Their small bonding time got interrupted a few seconds later by a loud slam. Rak appeared behind the door frame with a tray of food.

“LESS MOPING AND MORE EATING, BLACK TURTLE! I WON’T ALLOW MY PREYS TO STARVE THEMSELV– Hey, you’re awake.”

Khun returned Rak’s impassive stare. “Yes, I am,” he answered rather pointlessly before returning his attention back to Bam. “You didn’t eat properly?”

Bam automatically put both his hands up, letting out a nervous laughter to appease the other. “Of course I did!” Khun’s face was still stern, unchanging, and the brunet hurriedly shook his head. “But let’s not worry about me. Mr. Khun needs to eat!”

Khun sighed, probably giving up on confronting him. Bam turned around and took the tray from Rak’s hands and brought it to Khun’s lap.

“I’m glad you’re awake…” he started as he sat down on his chair again. “And so is Mr. Rak. You should’ve seen his face of disappointment every time he stepped inside this room and saw that you still were unconscious.”

“NO! I did not wear a face of disappointment!”

As Bam tried to convince the alligator to be more honest – which only caused more protests – he glanced at Khun taking a bite of his food. His face was relaxed and contented, free from any signs of discomfort. He even had a genuine smile on his face, making Bam feel happy as well.

They finally returned to their peace again.

— — — 

”Long time no see, regulars!” Lero Ro was standing in the center of the room, greeting everyone who was gathered around him. “I hope your three-day break went well and that everyone got enough time to rest. Now, I will introduce the next test that will begin right after I’ve explained the details!”

Bam and his team were getting more than one curious and apprehensive glance from the other regulars in the room. Rak fended most of them off with his threatening glares while Khun ignored them. Bam tried his best to ignore them as well but considering what he had done in the Crown Game, he couldn’t exactly relax.

He had definitely caught the others’ attention. Nothing went according to the plan and he ended up revealing his powers too early. While it wasn’t much, he had shown that he didn’t have any difficulties with controlling shinsu. It probably wouldn’t be long until someone started questioning his identity as an average regular.

He sighed, trying to put off his thoughts for the moment and instead focus on what the ranker would say next.

“The next test you are taking is… the positioning test!” Lero Ro proceeded to introduce the five most relevant positions for regulars on their level: fisherman, light bearer, spear bearer, scout and wave controller.

Bam vaguely remembered hearing them before, probably from the funny-looking guardian. However, there must be other positions as well, since Evan had introduced himself as Yuri’s guide. Was princess also a potential position in the future? He supposed he would find out sooner or later.

“Today, you will be assigned to one of these positions and train in your own position for a month. When a month has passed, only those with the highest results will be allowed to take the next test. The number of regulars who pass this test will differ in each position.” Lero Ro’s voice was final, not letting the regulars protest about unfairness.

Bringing forward a big yellow cube, Lero Ro continued. “I’ll show your positions using my lighthouse. Here, look for your name beneath each category – you’ll find your positions and your assigned instructors,” he brought out his arm to introduce the small group of people entering the room. A few of them waved to them, smiles on their faces. They all held a board with their names on.

Bam turned his attention back to Lero Ro’s yellow cube, lighthouse, and searched for his name. He soon found the words ‘Twenty-Fifth Bam’ below the wave controller position. On the end of the list, he saw his teacher’s name: Yuga. His instructor seemed a bit weird, wearing a strange, white and furry one-piece cloth that covered their face. The cloth had a fake mouth, probably to make it easier to breathe, but no holes for eyes.

Before heading to Yuga along with the other wave controllers, Bam briefly checked his teammates’ positions. Khun was apparently best fit for light bearer and Rak spear bearer. Khun seemed satisfied with his position, but Rak was loudly voicing his disapproval of not being put in the fishermen’s category, almost throwing a tantrum.

“Please, what did you expect? You’re literally carrying around a spear – a trait which is prominent among spear bearers,” Khun sighed and Rak’s eyes immediately bored into the other’s but otherwise stayed quiet.

The blue-haired teen turned around, meeting Bam’s gaze. “Bam, we’ll see you later.” The brunet nodded in response with a small smile and headed over to his instructor.

He, along with the other potential wave controllers, got led to an empty room with tables and seats. He chose to sit on the row furthest away, by the corner, so he could have some privacy and steal glances to the other regulars sitting in front of him.

They were six in total, all of them familiar from the previous tests. The sleepy guy who could manipulate shinsu and the spandex regular were in this group. Bam frowned inwardly at the latter, still feeling animosity towards her and her late teammate. She was wearing normal clothes now, no longer concealing her face and long red hair. However, he noticed that she had a mask covering her right eye – the eye that Bam’s shinsu had mercilessly lashed into.

“Welcome, regulars!” Yuga’s voice called out, demanding their attention. Bam reluctantly shifted his attention back to the instructor and listened to him lecturing about the dangers of controlling shinsu.

”Therefore, as a precaution, you must make a contract with the floor’s administrator to get permission to freely control shinsu. It’s something you need to do on every floor. As soon as you advance, you have to form a new contract with the new floor administrator!” Yuga was quite easygoing, but he had a serious tone in his voice.

He turned his form to the sleepy regular. “You’ve already made a contract with this floor’s administrator, right Mr. Laure?” Receiving a weak ‘yes’ and a tired nod, Yuga continued. “I expected no less from a member of the Ten Great Families! Well, I guess that no one other than Mr. Laure has made a contract with the administrator yet?”

Silence stretched out in the room.

“Don’t worry! Today’s special little test will be making a contract with the administrator. I’ll guide you the first steps on contracting the administrator, but you’ll be on your own when you meet them!” their instructor nodded solemnly, his tone still equally playful and serious.

“First… Close your eyes and call forth your Pockets.”

Bam closed his eyes and silently muttered, “Pocket, visible mode.” The next second, he felt his Pocket appear in his hands.

”Now, say ’contract with the administrator’ to your pockets.”

As Bam uttered those words, his Pocket made a buzzing sound and he felt his consciousness leave his physical body. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dim space, face to face with a colossal creature (monster?). He couldn’t help but stare in awe.

“I’m the administrator of this floor.” Bam heard a deep voice rumble from the being in front of him, but their mouth wasn’t moving. “Are you gonna continue staring or form a contract? You are here for a contract, right? Don’t waste my time, boy!”

The brunet raised his brows in silent surprise. The administrator’s quick impatience was as clear as day. He should be quick, lest he become the victim of their pent-up frustration.

“Ah… Yes, I–“ Bam started but got interrupted immediately.

“Wait… There is something peculiar about you,” the administrator fixed their giant eyes on him, sharp and almost eerie. “Who are you? What are you?”

Bam stayed silent, his mind trying to find answers. How did the administrator know? What should he say? He didn’t want to reveal his secret… He had no idea what the administrator would do with that information.

“Hm. It seems like you’re not very keen on answering my questions. However, don’t think you can hide anything from me. Us guardians are the supreme leaders of the shinsu on our floors. I have complete authority over the shinsu on this floor, yet I’m unable to control your shinsu or the shinsu surrounding you,” the administrator’s voice rumbled, their eyes narrowed in what Bam assumed to be both annoyance and suspicion.

Bam himself was surprised at the information he had received. “What… Really? The shinsu...?” he trailed off, caught up in deep thought once again. However, it didn’t last long as the second floor’s guardian started talking again.

“Yes. Something about you makes the shinsu stop operating according to the rules of the Tower and instead respond to only you… It’s as if the shinsu has a volition of its own, wanting to protect you.”

That caught Bam’s attention and judging by the other’s stare the administrator saw it too. “Oh? You’ve noticed it too?” the big creature sounded amused.

The brunet frowned, pursing his lips slightly to avoid accidentally voicing his thoughts aloud. He did indeed, but the guardian didn’t need to know that. The shinsu having a volition of its own… He had thought the same when his baang attacked the red-haired girl and not his target. It protected him… But Khun had paid the price…

“I’m growing tired of you not answering my questions. I won’t let you out here until you tell me who you are,” the administrator glared at him. “Now, tell me. Why does the Tower love you so much that it’s willing to break the rules?”

Bam glared back at the creature. He didn’t appreciate the threat and neither the stalemate. If he was in any other situation, he would have tried to get out from wherever he was by now. But he couldn’t; he needed the contract.

Sighing, Bam decided to humor the administrator. “Okay, fine. I’m neither a regular nor an irregular. I used to live on the top of the Tower, surrounded by nothing but shinsu.”

“I see…” the administrator smirked. “So, the legend is true… You’re the child of our creator – our God.”

“Yes, but don’t tell anyone that,” Bam said, his face serious. He got a rumbling laughter in response.

“Don’t worry, I’d like to believe that I’m good at keeping secrets. I never mentioned the irregular Urek Mazino’s powers to anyone who asked when he still was on the lower floors. You see, Jahad and his supporters want to eliminate those who threaten the Tower’s hierarchy. Mazino would be a dead man today if I had reported his powers back then.”

Bam wasn’t sure if the administrator was reassuring him or just bragging about their benevolence but he nodded and smiled brightly. “Thank you!”

“You sure are polite, but I don’t need your gratitude. You’re the son of our God. We’ll do anything for you, just let us know.” The hostility in the guardian’s voice was long gone.

Bam made a face, showing his displeasure at the mere idea. “No… Don’t give me special treatment, please treat me like a normal regular.”

The administrator gave him another smirk. “You may say whatever you want, but it won’t change to the fact that you’re nowhere close to a normal regular.” Ignoring Bam’s frown, he continued. “Now, it’s time for you to go. I look forward to seeing what kind of changes you will bring to the Tower.”

”No, wait!” the brunet reached out a hand as he felt his consciousness pull him away. “I need the contract! What about the contract?”

The guardian let out another rumble of mirth. “You don’t need a contract. Haven’t you understood yet? The shinsu won’t listen to me, only you. You’re already breaking the rules by existing. Therefore, a contract wouldn’t change anything,” the colossal creature turned around and Bam relaxed, letting himself be pulled away. 

“Farewell, our next God.”

.

.

.

.

The night before:

“Out with it, Gator. It’s tiring to see you fidget all the time. Did something happen with Bam?”

“How did you know it was about him?!”

“Ever since I woke up, which only sums up to about four hours, you’ve been acting all secretive while giving him weird stares. He’s not here now, so tell me what’s on your mind.”

A humph. “Fine, you presumptuous turtle. I suspect Black turtle is hiding something from us. Something big and dangerous… Maybe we should–”

”Oh? We should do what? Turn our backs on him? If you’re suggesting what I think you are I’ll–“

“Hey, calm down! That’s not what I was trying to say! How dare you think that I, the leader, would abandon my comra– preys! That’s something I would expect from you, Mr. I-don’t-trust-anyone-but-myself turtle!”

”... Fine… What were you trying to say?”

”During the Crown Game… I don’t think he realized it himself, but for a split second… No even less than a split second… When he saw you fall to the ground, he was almost unrecognizable. He emitted power I didn’t know could belong to a human, and someone like him… We should either ask him or try to find more information about him.”

”I see… Do you think anyone else noticed?” An uncertain shrug. “Fine, let’s assume that at least one did… We need to be alert; I’ll try to find information about him.”

“Good. But I must say I’m shocked you’re not running away. Did you hit your head too hard?”

“Shut up, Crocodile.” A smile. “There is something with Bam… that makes me want to take him to the top of the Tower.”

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 7: The Positioning Test
End

Chapter Text

When Bam regained his consciousness, he found himself back in the classroom. Turning his head, he was greeted by the sight of another regular standing right beside him.

“Hello. It took you longer to get a contract than the others. It sure is difficult, huh? I must admit that I’m a little tired, but you must feel exhausted…Oh right, my apologies – my name is Hoh!” the regular introduced himself with a smile, holding out a hand.

Still a bit disoriented by his sudden appearance, Bam stared at Hoh and then on his hand. Hoh had long blond hair and wore a white kimono with a few dark red details. He also had a single red horn sticking out from the right side of his head, longer and more noticeable than that brown haired girl’s small one. This guy looked kind, but he still didn’t know what to do with the other’s hand.

“I’m Bam, Twenty-Fifth Bam,” he finally answered, ignoring the hand and hoping that it wouldn’t offend the blond. He didn’t have the same urge to take it in his hands like he had when he first met Khun, for some reason…

Hoh just smiled as he lowered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Bam,” he said with a small nod before turning to Laure who had seated himself next to Bam when the group entered the classroom. “Wake up, sleepy-head! Don’t be rude and introduce yourself!”

The blond started hitting him and Bam felt bad for the other. “Ah, no it’s okay!” he hurried to say. “I already know his name. It’s Mr. Laure, right?”

“Yeah,” Laure let out a grumpy affirmation, turning his head to stare at Bam with lazy eyes. “I heard your name too, so you don’t need to introduce yourself. Now, I’ll return to my utopia.”

With that, he closed his eyes and snoozed off immediately, dead to the world. Hoh sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “I must excuse my teammate’s behavior. He’s like this all the time, apparently, so don’t take any offense!”

Bam gave the other a smile before letting his eyes wander around the room. Yuga and most of the other regulars were gone, which probably meant they were done for today.

“Are we free to leave?” he asked Hoh just in case.

“Oh, yes,” the blond nodded. “We will start training tomorrow morning. We’ll get further instructions on our Pockets later today.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hoh. I’ll see you and Mr. Laure around,” Bam waved him and the sleeping guy goodbye, leaving the room with a small sigh. Hoh had tried to hide it behind his polite attitude, but even Bam could see the fake smile the other had been wearing. It was weird and he was confused but soon decided to let it go. 

The brunet walked down the hallway, heading to their dorm area. Hopefully, Khun was done with his tasks for today as well. He wanted to talk and spend some time with him to make up for the days they lost when Khun was in a coma. Maybe he should ask him a few things about the Tower… But only if he found a way to ask without making it obvious that he didn’t know anything!

Lost in his mind, Bam barely registered a weak presence standing behind a vending machine. He passed them without much thought and was about to turn around the corner to the dorms when he heard a quiet voice calling out to him.

“W-Wait!” Bam stopped in his tracks, now recognizing both her voice and presence. It was the timid regular who had been hidden on the first floor and later appeared in the Crown Game.

The girl stepped forward as he turned around, meeting her yellow eyes. ”I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Rachel,” she smiled nervously and fidgeted with her hands.

This Rachel girl had abandoned her brown cloak and was now wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt with a simple pink dress on top. Her otherwise plain face was full of freckles, resembling a night sky with countless pretty stars.

Bam put on a neutral smile. ”No worries. My name is Twenty-Fifth Bam.”

”Oh, really?” the blonde wore a face of confusion, making Bam confused as well. Upon seeing his confusion, she seemed to pale and quickly added. ”I mean– I’m just a little surprised you have such an odd name!”

“Why…?” Bam didn’t understand why she would be taken aback by his name. Seeing her shifting her gaze to anywhere but him, he suddenly realized something. He felt a cold dread knot in his stomach as he stared at her.

“You expected something grander, didn’t you?” Bam almost whispered and Rachel immediately tensed, her eyes glued on the floor.

He knew it. This girl was a threat to him. She was the only regular who had seen his true form and powers. She had definitely heard everything he and Headon had been talking about on the first floor and could at any moment expose him. He couldn’t let that happen.

“N-No!” Rachel hastened to object. “Why… Why would you think that?” she added a shaky laugh, trying to ease the tension but Bam wasn’t fooled.

“Rachel… I know–“

“What do you want from me?!” she quickly interrupted him, her voice bordering on hysterical. “I’m just– I’m just trying to be nice here, and you’re cornering me! Stop it! I get that you’re so perfect, but I am… I am…” she trailed off and bored her eyes into Bam’s, giving him a fierce glare.

To say that Bam was confused would be an understatement. The girl was acting weird. Her anxious demeanor had suddenly turned hostile without warning, putting him off. What was she playing at? The previous distress he had felt before was beginning to return. He didn’t want her to reveal his identity to the others. If she did… No… He needed her to promise him that she wouldn’t say anything to anyone.

Bam stepped forward, trying to not appear as threatening but serious. Rachel tensed and her hands were shaking slightly. The brunet exhaled and tried to relax. “Don’t lie to me. I know you saw me on the first floor… Please, just don’t tell anyone what you saw.”

Silence hovered over the two of them as they stared at each other for what seemed to be several minutes. Finally, Rachel leisurely clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. Her tremors ceased.

With a placid smile on her face, she responded, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about, Mr. Bam.”

Now, Bam stood petrified. His body was overtaken with a surge of anxiety and he could almost feel cold fear coursing through his veins. The girl was obviously lying, but he couldn’t understand why. He tried to force himself to calm down, but it was futile.

Bam was at the mercy of a frail but dangerous girl.

Rachel had the power to end the friendships he had made so far – the power to make Khun either fear or despise him. No… He couldn’t let her take away his reason for climbing the Tower. He didn’t want to be separated from him. Khun was… special. Something about Khun made him want to grant every wish the blue-haired regular had.

“Now, pay attention, Bam… There’s this famous legend in the Tower that says when you reach the top of the Tower, you will get all your wishes granted. You will face hardship and struggle along the way to your goals; however, people say it’s worth the misery because God will have mercy once you’ve reached the top.”

“...”

“I’m sure you realize what I’m trying to say. You’ve been living on the top of the Tower for as long as you can remember, then shouldn’t your wishes have been granted long ago? Neither of us knows why. Is it because the legend is fake or is it just not the time yet? What I’m trying to say… Sometimes not everything is given to you on a silver platter. If you want something, you will have to fight for it yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Grant your own wishes, Bam, even if you have to kill for it.”

Right… He could still solve this… In order to protect his secret, he could just eliminate the one bearing the threat. It wouldn’t be difficult. The girl was weak and Bam wasn’t above killing, if he deemed it necessary.

He would kill her right now. A quick clean death. That way, he could continue to climb the Tower without having to worry about her. She wouldn’t be able to blackmail him or whatever she was planning to do.

Y̸e̵s̸…̷ ̷H̴e̵ ̷m̴u̵s̷t̴ ̶k̸i̷l̷l̴ ̶h̷e̷r̶…̵

Rachel seemed to notice his animosity and took a few weak steps back. Her face got even more pale and tiny beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. His gaze zeroed on the pathetic girl as he let shinsu gradually build up around him.

N̴̠̿o̷͓̍ẉ̴͠,̸͎̔ ̵͉̿ḛ̴̂l̵̖̽ȉ̵͙m̸̞̐i̶̘n̵͇̍a̸̩̿ţ̴̛e̵͎͌ ̸̣͌t̶̡̏h̷̭̅e̸͓̎ ̴͈̓t̶̟͆h̶͉͋r̸̜̋e̴͎̿ã̸̪t̷̩̐!̶̮͛!̷̯̈

”Bam!”

A familiar voice pulled Bam out from his stupor and time seemed to resume its normal pace again. The fog in his mind disappeared and Bam turned around, meeting the beautiful azure eyes that belonged to Khun.

Still a bit distraught and overwhelmed, he casted a quick glance back over his shoulder to see that Rachel had already disappeared. She was gone... He tensed, realizing his fate. The girl would soon tell everyone his secret, making them hate him.

“Bam…?”

The brunet faced his teammate once again, this time with more fear than before. He hurriedly willed his heavy feet to move towards the blue-haired regular, only stopping when he was right in front of him. Confusion was written all over Khun’s face along with a tint of worry. ”Are you alri–”

Bam cut him off by wrapping his arms around him, his arms gripping the other’s shirt as he buried his face into his chest. “Please… Don’t hate me, Mr. Khun…”

Khun’s body tensed and Bam felt two strong hands grab his arms to pull him away gently. Not wanting to let go of his teammate, he tightened his hold in protest. Khun sighed but stopped his attempts to release himself.

“Bam…”

“No. I don’t want to. Please, let me stay like this for a few more seconds.” Bam pressed his head even deeper into Khun’s chest, if that was possible. The blue-haired regular didn’t respond but he felt arms encircle his shoulders, embracing him. Bam relaxed at the warmth and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Khun was a very considerate person. He was kind and always patient with him… If he found out that Bam was different from the others, he would surely feel deceived… and even worse, hate him. What if he wouldn’t want to be his teammate anymore? What if–

“Bam!” This time, Khun succeeded in pulling him away by using more force. Cold air replaced the warmth against his body and Bam found himself missing it immediately. He looked up to find two concerned eyes staring straight into his own. “Please… Tell me what’s bothering you. Your shinsu is acting up so don’t even dare to pretend it’s nothing.”

Bam stayed silent, not sure what to say since he didn’t want to reveal his actual reason. Khun seemed to notice that and gave him a smile. The brunet’s heart clenched at the sight; he had never seen a sadder smile and he definitely didn’t want to see that on Khun’s face.

Khun raised a hand and cupped Bam’s face, moving his thumb to wipe off a tear from his cheek. He hadn’t realized he had been crying.

“I care about you, Bam,” Khun murmured. “You are kind, selfless and surprisingly easy to like. We only met recently, yet I have never once received such kindness from anyone else growing up. I can’t help but selfishly want to stay by your side, even though I don’t deserve it.” 

Now, Khun was using both his hands to caress Bam’ face, ever so tenderly. “I want to climb the Tower with you. I promise to take you to the very top, if you will allow me.”

Bam stopped breathing, his eyes wide. He couldn’t believe his teammate had beat him to it. He didn’t need to climb all the way up to the top, that was something he had planned for his team. Both Khun and Rak had their reasons for climbing the Tower and he wanted to help them achieve their goals. That was his only wish for now.

”Mr. Khun… I want–“

“TURTLES!” A loud voice cut Bam off and Khun immediately removed his hands, putting on a stoic expression as they both turned to their third teammate.

Rak looked absolutely livid, wearing a permanent glare on his face while he approached them. Something must have happened during his first class with the spear bearers for him to look this annoyed.

The alligator stopped right in front of them, pointing aggressively with his finger. “I’m here to declare that I’ll be going back to the wild! Don’t try to stop or come and search for me! WATCH ME COME BACK STRONGER THAN EVER! I’LL BEAT BOTH OF YOU PUNY TURTLES! FAREWELL!”

And with that, he disappeared just as loud and fast as he appeared, leaving both Khun and Bam confused.

“What just happened?”

Khun shrugged indifferently in response. “I guess something happened which made him finally realize that he isn’t as overpowered as he likes to believe himself to be,” he smirked. “Don’t worry, Bam. It’s only good for him.”

Bam nodded and they stood staring at each other in silence. It wasn’t necessarily awkward, but the air was more tense than usual. The thing he wanted to tell Khun before… He wanted to speak his mind, but his earlier courage was completely gone – as if Rak had robbed it with him when he left them.

Khun turned his body around but was still facing Bam. “Let’s go to the dorms. There’s no point in standing here in the hallway. And I’d rather not run into any of the other regulars either… They all look bothersome.”

Bam could sense a group approaching their way farther down the hallway and nodded once again. “Yes, let’s head to my room. I want to talk to you…” he gave the other a half-forced smile to which Khun responded with a frown.

“You don’t have to, I–“

“I know,” Bam quickly cut in. ”But I want to… Giving you some kind of explanation is the least I can do for wetting down your shirt.”

His teammate opened his mouth, probably to tell him that he didn’t care, but Bam grasped his hand and started walking before Khun could say anything.

“Now, let’s go, Mr. Khun!” he smiled and Khun’s frown disappeared as he obediently followed Bam’s lead.

The walk to their dorms wasn’t far since the dorms were only a few meters away, but Bam’s room was the one farthest down the hallway. His room was next to Khun’s, who had Rak’s room on the opposite of his.

Bam called forth his Pocket and unlocked the door before entering with Khun close behind him. He turned on the lights as his teammate looked around, taking in his surroundings. When his blue eyes landed on the bed, a thin line between his brows appeared once again.

“Is your bed still unused? Where have you been sleeping?” There was a tint of incredulity in his voice.

Bam let out a nervous chuckle, against his will. “The bed is too comfortable…?” he didn’t mean for his statement to sound like a question, but it did. “I’ve been sleeping on the floor.”

At Khun’s raised brows he quickly continued, “But don’t worry! I’ve been using the extra blankets and soon I’ll be used to sleeping on a soft surface! It’s just that I’ve always slept on the floor and–” Bam stopped, realizing that his words didn’t make it sound any better. God, why did he have to make this even more awkward?

His anxiety ceased when he heard a small chuckle escape the blue-haired regular’s lips. Khun shook his head, looking amused, much to Bam’s confusion. “You’re a peculiar person, Bam.”

He didn’t add anything more, but it didn’t sound like it was a bad thing. Bam smiled in response, and as if his own smile was contagious, a soft smile appeared on the other’s face as well. The smile was very pretty on him – but admiring Khun wasn’t the reason why they were here. He needed to tell him something, at least.

His face turning serious, he started, “Mr. Khun… About what happened before…” he stepped forward and sat down on the bed with Khun next to him. “I met a girl named Rachel. You know the small one of the strange team that appeared on the Crown Game?”

Khun nodded. “She’s in the same position group as me. She’s quite a loner and doesn’t talk a lot. What’s with her? What happened?”

”Well, we talked. Kind of. It was mostly just me trying to get her to talk,” Bam sighed, his eyes downcast to his fidgeting hands. “The thing is… She knows a secret about me that I don’t want anyone to find out. If anyone were to find out, they would hate me.”

Bam fell silent for a moment, reliving the previous anxiety he had felt talking to the girl. He didn’t want his teammates to abandon him. He would be completely alone again, just like he was most of the time before he ended up on the second floor.

”You won’t be alone again, Bam,” Khun’s words interrupted his increasingly turbulent thoughts. The brunet looked up to find the other looking at him with a soft expression. He didn’t understand. Had he accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud…?

Khun gently took Bam’s hands in his own, giving him a reassuring smile. He shouldn’t really be surprised, but he was once again astonished at Khun’s ability to calm him down almost instantly.

“I don’t know anything about your past or what kind of secret Rachel has about you, but I will not ask about it until you’re ready to tell me,” Khun’s eyes hardened with conviction. “I promise you no matter what your secret is, I will not leave you. I’ve already made up my mind to climb the Tower with you.”

Bam wasn’t entirely convinced but smiled anyway, appreciating his teammate’s assurances.

“I’ll look out for Rachel and come up with a way to ensure her silence. We will just need a little blackmail…” Khun smirked,

“Don’t you worry.”

.

.

.

.

‘I must admit that I wasn’t impressed at all at first. He looks nothing like the god I saw on Headon’s floor now. Sure, he still has the same hair color, build and all that but ever since his small transformation, he looks like a cheap version of himself.

‘However, being the only one knowing who he really is, I can’t help but still be a little skittish around him. It was a miracle that I even managed to talk to him… But I failed… He knew that I knew about his identity… If it wasn’t for the arrogant Khun son, I would be dead now.

‘I need to keep a low profile for the time being. Maybe I should get Mr. Hoh to do it instead… He does seem to be the most suitable person to do the job now, doesn’t he? I don’t think he will be able to turn down his best chance of passing the upcoming test!’

———————————————————

Son of God
Chapter 8: The Yellow Girl
End