Chapter 7
[2nd day of the break, Position screening room...]
"Now then, since we're all here, we should start evaluating the Regulars and select which course they'll take during the Position Test." Han Sung says, standing on a podium, a giant screen next to him. Now that the preliminary tests are done with, the Rankers in charge of the preliminary tests can evaluate the performances of the Regulars to see what position would be the best for their skill set.
"Um, why am I here? Isn't this Lero's batch?" a dark-skinned man with striking red hair and red eyes asks, raising his hand. He's the Ranker responsible for instructing the people assigned to the Scout position, Quant Blitz. Position Instructors are informed of their students two days before the Position test begins, unless they're the Test Administrator.
"Well Quant, three people from your site were mixed with mine, so you have to be a part of evaluating them." Lero Ro explains.
"Fine, let's get this over with." Quant grumbles. He was busy planning how he would tortu-train, yeah train his students, that's what he meant.
"Good. We'll go alphabetically. I've already assessed that Akryung's skills fit the Spear Bearer Position, so first off is Aleksai Amigochaz." The screen shows the image of the tall red haired male with wings on his back, along with some video clips of him fighting during the tests.
"From what he showed during the first test and the crown game, I'd suggest Spear Bearer, any objections?" Lero Ro says, having seen how the Regular managed to beat his opponents with pure arm strength.
"Nope." Quant answers, not seeing anything wrong with that. He had watched the Lighthouse-feed from Lero Ro's site while his Regulars were slaughtering one another.
"Excellent choice. Next is Anak Zahard." Han Sung agrees, filing Aleksai under the Spear Bearer category, as the screen changes the image to Anak's with videos of her fights.
"From what she has shown, she seems to prefer directly assaulting the enemy head-on, making her fitting for the Fisherman position." Lero Ro explains. Although Princesses of Zahard could potentially fill any position, due to the enhanced physical strength granted by Zahard's power's, her mindset and fighting style is positively Fisherman.
"Yeah, what he said." Quant nods, not even listening to what Lero Ro talked about. All he'd have to do is evaluate the three monsters from his site, nothing else.
"Understood, next up, Androssi Zahard." Now the screen shows Androssi's feats and fights, mainly her massacre of the Regulars during Quant's 3-Minute death match.
"Fisherman, for the same reasons as Ms. Anak." Lero Ro explains. The two Princesses are similar, yet opposites in how they approach a fight. Anak goes in with overwhelming brute force, using her Green April to sweep multiple opponents away, while Androssi seems to be more of a duelist, using her Lapel Pins to block attacks and small Needles to strike at the enemy, using Shinsoo manipulation to control their movements.
Han Sung nods, smiling as he pulls up the data on the next "Regular". This should be most amusing...
"Next we have the boy who had a 13 Month Weapon, Bam." A new member to the Irregulars, people who could do the impossible. Whether he'd become someone who would kill a god-being, like Enryu did or someone who would try to do the impossible for his friend like Urek should be interesting to watch.
"Meh, he doesn't look like much." Quant deadpans, picking his nose with his pinkie, uninterested about what position the kid will end up in. He looks way weaker than everyone else who got through the three previous tests, but maybe he'd make it as a Wave Controller, or a Light Bearer.
"Sir, I insist that we put him in the Wave Controller position." Lero Ro stands up. His potential would be wasted in any other position. The way the Shinsoo reacted to his will and his Shinsoo resistance were amazing! Both as a instructor and as a person, he wouldn't let such potential be wasted.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Mr. Lero." Han Sung smiles, agreeing with the kindhearted Ranker. That boy has a natural knack for Shinsoo, and it shouldn't be chained down, but trained to perfection, something that the Rankers of F.U.G would make certain of.
"Thank you." Lero Ro with a satisfied expression on his face, sits back down as they continue selecting the best possible Positions for the Regulars. The selection process is fairly simple, until they reach another "Regular" who showed promise in multiple Positions.
"Ah, here's an interesting one, Edward Smith." Han Sung pulls up the info they have on him, which makes up his fights on the 2nd floor. While that is suspicious, it isn't all that uncommon. There are a lot of bastard children related to "special" families, such as the 10 great families in the middle area of the Tower.
"This will be difficult, but before we begin, may I ask something of you Quant?" Lero Ro asks, wanting to confirm something that had been bothering him. Although he believed that he had the correct answer, it wouldn't hurt to double-check.
"Um, sure?" Quant hesitantly nods, not sure what the blonde Ranker wants to ask. Maybe he'd complain about the poor job he did with his test site, holding a 3-minute death-match without checking the combatants, like the Supervisor did, but c'mon! He was bored, and they got the best Regulars in didn't they, so what's all the fuss about?
"It relates to Mr. Edward. During the Crown Game, he was capable of converting Shinsoo into explosions, and I wanted to know if he was related to your family." Lero Ro suspects that Mr. Edward is a illegitimate child to someone in either the Blitz or Yeon Family.
Although he lacks the physical characteristics of a Blitz, that would explain his ability. If he is an illegitimate child left at the middle area of the Tower, he wouldn't have access to proper Hwayeomsa training, which would explain his unorthodox, yet crafty method of using the flames.
Quant looks at the footage showing Edward's fights in the 2nd floor, analyzing it. While he might not be as talented when it comes to using flames like some of his other family members, he's proficient enough to tell if somebody's part of the family or not, and from what he's seeing, the kid doesn't seem to be a part of it. Even babies of their family are able to use proper flames, but that kid doesn't seem to able to do that.
And he somehow managed to spread his Shinsoo into others and detonate it, although the explosion he knocked the Princess of Zahard out with seemed to be weaker than the other ones, so building up a big boom might take some time.
"Nope, that guy definitely isn't part of the family." Quant shakes his head, confirming Lero Ro's speculations. Honestly, with that proficiency he seems to have with his weird way of using flames, he'd fit with those Yeon chicks and their man-slaves.
"I see. Anyway, I think he'd be fine either as a Fisherman or a Wave Controller." Lero Ro's reasoning is based on the observations he made concerning Edward's style of combat. He seems to prefer being on the offensive, using his explosions to draw attention. But, he's also skilled in manipulating shinsoo, or at the very least, skilled in converting it into explosions.
"I think he'd do pretty good as a Scout." Although the guy isn't exactly fast or subtle, but he seems to be pretty observant. When you're a scout, even if you're fast it doesn't mean jack shit if you don't find anything useful to report.
"Hmm, I think he would be best suited for the Fisherman position, but he also seems to have some skill as a Guide." Han Sung surmises. That boy somehow knew what they would be tested on, even when he appeared on the 2nd Floor with the other Regulars. He didn't pick fights with anyone, and when he came across two people, he didn't try and eliminate them, but opted to wait for the test to end. He even seemed to know about the people young Koon smuggled in, as they waited for him to use up the favor.
And his fighting style was well suited for a Fisherman Position, augmented by his skill with Shinsoo. And his last attack was similar to the F.U.G's signature 'Flare Wave Explosion' technique, spreading his Shinsoo onto another person, and using it to damage them. But that technique didn't utilize reverse-flow control, and it seemed to take time to build the Shinsoo up to dangerous levels.
"Hm, I see your point Supervisor, I take it that he will be put into the Fisherman course?" Lero Ro asks, wondering how chaotic the Fisherman course will get. 2 Princesses of Zahard and a person who's fought both of them, the ranker almost feels sorry for the young man.
"Yes, I think Hax is going to have a field with this batch." Han Sung mirthfully snickers as he wonders how the female Ranker will react to the calculative young man.
[2nd day of the break, Edward's room...]
Exiting the bathroom, Edward start's planning what he should do, or more specifically, what he should train. He obviously couldn't use the Zombie ID when he will unlock it after grinding his ID skills, since it would be awfully suspicious if he wouldn't be found anywhere on the 2nd Floor, and he just doesn't need that kind of attention on him.
Maybe he could make a Shinsoo version of a Mana Bolt. And with his explosive ability thrown into the mix, it would turn the little fart of a energy bullet into a missile. The question is, where could he try creating such a technique? Definitely not here, the scorch marks and bangs couldn't be hidden. And there is the issue about Regulars being unable to use Shinsoo if they haven't made a contract with a Floor Guardian.
Sure, he could pass the explosions he used as a side effect from Haensing, but launching using a attack like that? A snowball would have better chances surviving hell than that kind of excuse working
Maybe he should hold off on the idea of creating a projectile attack after the Positioning test begins, since the first thing they seem to do in all the courses is making a contract with a Floor Guardian. Maybe he should just hit the gym to level up his stats, or spar with some of the assembled regulars who aren't pushovers... Maybe Hatsu would be willing to see how he'd fare against a hammer, or that knight guy, who was hanging around that greedy Anima chick?
There's no way in hell he's going to even ask Rak to spar with him. The one thing he doesn't need in his near future is losing a limb or two from fighting a giant anthropomorphic crocodile with Blood Knight and Egomaniac Hunter Trope tendencies. While broken bones and minor cuts might not be a problem for [Gamer's Body] to heal, he isn't looking forward to testing if it can grow back limbs.
=So, what's on today's agenda?= Haensing asks as Edward picks him up. Hopefully, it would be something fun, and it wouldn't involve him being shoved into a dark void where all that is good goes to die. He shivers upon remembering Edward's so-called "Inventory". No sentient weapon should ever be forced to be in there, not even those 13 Month cunts... Ok, maybe some of them do deserve to be in the void, but just for a while.
"Honestly, I'm not sure myself. Maybe I'll hit the gym, or find somebody to spar with." He scratches his chin, considering his options. He obviously couldn't train in a ID, so that leaves the facilities of Evankhell's Mother ship as the only options. And maybe he could lie about Haensing granting him the ability to use Shinsoo, which would leave the option of creating his version of Mana Bolt.
=Please tell me that we aren't going to fight Lizard Jr again.= Haensing grimaces at the thought of having to fight the chibi who has the Green Psycho AND the Black Snob(1). Those two would probably be even willing to team up, just to kick his proverbial ass.
And although it could be a possibility to scratch a piece off the Black Snob, he wasn't willing to see what kind of reaction it would have with the Green Psycho's shard.
"That reminds me, what's the status on the Green April shard?" Edward asks. What would happen if a piece of a 13 Month weapon would be used to re-forge a weapon? Would the new weapon copy the abilities of the 13 Month weapon the piece originated from? And what about said piece put into a sentient Ignition weapon?
Considering that the 13 Month weapons seem to have a soul, it could create some sort of an imbalance or cause the two minds to fight for dominance, or that would probably be the case if someone attempted to fuse two sentient Ignition weapons.
=Eh, I'm not sure. It's being digested, but I'm not feeling any different.= Haensing shrugs, feeling the shard slowly being digested. He doesn't know why he started digesting the shard, but for some reason, it just felt right for the Ignition weapon. Who knows, maybe he would copy the Green Psycho's ability to grow multiple heads.
"I see." Maybe any form of change would occur when he fully digested the shard, which brings up a interesting question. Could Haensing copy the abilities of a Ignition weapon that he eats? If so, then the amount of material he ate would probably increase the amount of abilities he gains from the other weapon. With the tiny shard he acquired from Green April wouldn't let him replicate the proverbial forest that she was capable of.
'This requires further research.' he muses, leaving his room, stopping as he realizes that he doesn't actually know where Hatsu's room is, or where any of the canon team's, save for Anak's and Baam's.
"Ugh, damn it. I guess I'll have to spar with Anak." he groans, walking along the same path that the cursor during the quest showed him. Haensing tries dissuading him from "fighting the chick with a hook that wants to neuter us", but Edward just ignores him, continuing along his path, a resigned look on his face.
But as Edward makes his way towards the section where Anak's room resides, someone notices the look on his face. "Hey, what's got you looking like somebody died?" Turning to look towards the person who said that, he sees Androssi, looking at him with a teasing smile on her face.
"Well, You came just at the right time. I was looking for someone to spar with." Edward smiles. Hopefully she'll agree to spar, so he doesn't have to worry about having his limbs pierced by a oversized hook, just getting stabbed with small needles and getting a bruised ego.
"Hmm, I suppose that explains why you were walking towards the lizards room. And here I thought that you were going to do something naughty." Androssi teases, hoping to elicit some sort of response out of Edward.
"Well, I can tell you that she isn't exactly my type." Edward says, facepalming as he realizes the trap he stepped into a bit too late.
"Oh, so what is your type?" Androssi asks, leaning over to him, interested in what kind of girls would even interest a cold guy like Edward. Maybe a mature lady tickles his fancy. Or maybe a sadist would manage to light a fire in that calm and collected mind of his?
"Look, that isn't important. Do you want to spar, or maybe Anak will provide me a better challenge?" Edward tries derailing the conversation, fighting off a blush from coming onto his face as Androssi leans closer, a mischievous smile on her face.
"As if that damn lizard could provide a better fight than me! C'mon!" She fumes, proceeding to drag Edward by his arm, who is starting to ponder whether this was a good idea or not. Maybe he shouldn't have played the sibling rivalry card to distract her.
=Yay! We don't have to fight Lizard Jr and Green Psycho!= Haensing cheers, ecstatic about getting to fight someone who doesn't have a grudge against him with the weapons to actually damage him. The needles that this chick has couldn't even be used to give him a acupuncture treatment.
[Evankhell's mothership, sparring arena...]
"Well, this is rather underwhelming." Edward notes, looking around the hall that Androssi dragged him to have a spar. Instead of something like UFC Cages to go berserk, it's just squares painted on the floor to signify the sparring rings. Honestly with the tech the Tower has, he expected something a bit more... advanced, something along the lines of the Vytal festival arena from RWBY, but this?
That's just sad.
"What'd you expect, this is just the second Floor, so they're not going to waste resources on any grand arena's." Androssi explains, walking to one of the rings, about 30' in diameter, easily big enough for them to have a sparring match.
"I guess you're right. So, how do you want to do this, best out of 3, and stepping outside the ring counts as a loss?" Edward asks, lengthening Haensing to the proportions of a two-handed war hammer. This should be good experience, but probably not the same amount he got from the Crown Game.
"Yeah. And no Igniting that hammer of yours. we wouldn't want to ruin the ring, now would we?" Androssi asks, stretching her limbs a bit, already thinking of a plan to beat Edward. With the rules in place, she could just keep pushing him towards the edge of the ring, and block his attacks with her pins. Hopefully they can endure his attacks.
Edward nods, noticing a new data screen appearing.
[Optional Quest: Sparring with Ghost eyes.]
-Defeat Androssi in a 3 round match.
Rewards:
- 500 EXP for every round won.
- 250 EXP for every round lost.
Okay, so this is rather simple and useful. With Haensing's ability to change his size he could try to slam her from far away, but she would probably see it coming. She might not go for a direct assault, aware of his explosions. But then again, she might just ignore them and try to take him out quickly. He probably could use his Bomb Dash to attack from above, but she could easily dodge it.
He could tell that this was going to be a fun match.
The two fighters stand there, waiting for the other to make the first move, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. Then as if signalled by a bell, Androssi makes the first move, crossing the distance between them with incredible speed, nearly catching Edward off-guard, but he manages to block her punch with Haensing, and then attempts to counter attack, only for her to lean back to dodge the attack.
Not giving up, Edward continues his attack, trying to hit her with Haensing, this time doing a overhead strike, forcing her to jump back as Haensing hits the floor, a explosion kicking up a cloud of debris. As the dust cloud settles, Edward starts coming up with a new plan, since straight up attacking doesn't seem to work. He'll have to attack her so that she can't dodge.
Coming up with a idea, Edward lengthens Haensing's shaft, causing the hammer part to shoot out of the dust-cloud like a projectile. Androssi sidesteps the attack, causing it to pass by her and dig into the dirt.
"You might want to work on your aim." Androssi teases, looking at the shaft that leads into the dust cloud. It looks like the skills he showed during the Crown game was a fluke, if this fight is any indication. She runs next to the hammer's extended shaft, following it to where Edward is.
Hearing Androssi's heels click against the ground, Edward waits for her to get close enough, retracting the shaft at the right moment, pulling himself forward, as Haensing's head dug deep into the ground. Arm extended, he clotheslines Androssi, catching her off guard with the unorthodox attack[-45 HP].
=Huh, so that's what you were planning.= Haensing notes, smirking at how they managed to catch Androssi off-guard. But even that was only because she was being cocky. But now that she's been that with trick, so she won't fall for the same one again.
Getting back up, Androssi wipes away any dust on her, and then turns to look at Edward with a irritated look on her face. Now this guy's done it. "Well, I guess now I don't have to hold back." She flashes a predatory grin, cracking her knuckles.
=Hey partner.= Haensing speaks up.
"What?" Edward asks, careful not to make any sudden movements, to avoid agitating the wild animal in front of them. Not even the WS Eel was this scary.
=I think we probably should've asked Lizard Jr to spar with instead.= Haensing concludes.
"I think so too buddy." Edward agrees, backing away slowly as Androssi calmly walks towards them, fists clenched.
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AN: And that's that folks, I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. And yeah, I don't know where the bit with Androssi asking Edward what kind of chicks he likes. And once again, I apologize for being so late with the chapter, but I had a writers block for a while, and my internet connection was being sucky.
1: Little nicknames Haensing mockingly calls Green April and Black March, and he'll have nicknames for the other 13 Month series weapons.
And now to answer some Quest Reviews that I thought warranted an answer:
Overlord Susanoo: Well, ageing is a confusing thing in the Tower, but there seem to be a couple of rules.
1: People who live in the Tower live for a long time, and more Shinsoo control slows their ageing process down even further, possibly to the point it appears to be frozen.
2: Only Zahard and his 10 Warriors/the Family heads are "Immortal", as in unable to die of old age. But since they're Irregulars, hell, they're the FIRST Irregulars who got Immortality, save for Hendo Bloodmadder, after clearing the test that the Guardian if the 100th Floor gave them, it can be assumed That Irregulars who pass the 100th Floor Guardians test become "Immortals".
3: It can be assumed that the growth of the body is proportional to the growth of the mind, although that might be just a side effect. But skill in Shinsoo manipulation and control seem to have a effect on physical appearance as well.
4: Age is just a number in the Tower.
Redripper666: Well, if you're talking about Haensing, he was going find out no matter what. But if you're talking about Repellista, she sin't going to do anything just yet.
Kyros: Are you talking about the Soul thing that Daniel used, and Bam copied later on? And I might make Ed level up his Stats during the position training.
Quest (29.12.2015): Gotcha
Quest (30.12.2015): Oh you bet I am going to make him create some new skills, especially the always reliable Mana Bolt, or whatever I'll call the Shinsoo using version.
Quest (15.1.2016): Thank you for the support.
And my question of the chapter is:
What Teigu or Shingu should I give to Edward in "What goes around, comes around?" It can be a canon one or a OC one.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone