บท 7: Chapter 7. First Test ends, Evankhell’s Mothership
[Woah, Master, I never knew you were this type of a person,] Mordred said after she saw Isaac let the crocodile leave.
Isaac didn't reply as he got back to the group and sat down. With what he said, he hoped that Rak won't be clowning around during the team forming test anymore like in the manhwa and will advance to the second stage of the test with the desire to hunt him down.
Thanks to this little scheme Bam, Khun and Rak should all hopefully smoothly advance to the second stage despite his appearance and interference.
Khun looked at Isaac and said, "I understand you wanted to preserve his warrior's pride, but was it really fine to let that crazy crocodile go?"
"You mean, because he could cause me trouble later on?" Isaac said.
Khun faintly nodded. The crocodile was not a major threat now, but letting an enemy go that would later come for revenge and screw you over was a common trope, wasn't it? It was naturally an especially bad move to do during a test.
Isaac shook his head and faintly smiled. "No, I could tell that he's an honorable type. And if I can earn enough of his respect, he might even become an ally in the future."
"Oh?" Khun became curious.
As far as he was concerned, that crocodile was completely unreasonable and stupid. But Isaac entertained the thought of possibly turning him into a friend. How interesting.
Isaac didn't say anything more.
On the other side, Khun looked at the Pocket's timer.
At that moment it was over 33 minutes into the test.
'The test should be almost over,' Khun thought.
After noting the time, Khun turned to the two, smiled and said, "Bam, Isaac, I've decided to go up the Tower with the two of you. What do you think?"
Bam was still a mystery to him, but he saw that Isaac seemed quite protective of him. That boy should also be quite special to end up in this place despite looking quite weak and powerless - in a way it was way too abnormal and seemed as if he had some kind of secret power.
And there was one thing that Khun was certain of - he really wanted to climb the Tower with Isaac! In contrast, Bam was an extra, an interesting kid that he wanted to figure out and that seemed to be included in a package deal.
Isaac looked back at Khun with a small smile. "Sure! I think it would be interesting."
"Great," said Khun, smiling. Seeing Isaac look at Bam, Khun did the same and asked him, "What about you, Bam?"
"Uh… You want to go up the Tower with me? Well, I'm not good at fighting… And I know nothing… I won't be any help..." Bam stuttered in an embarrassed manner.
Isaac was about to reply, but at that moment a loud alarm sounded out from the tiny cube in the sky.
Whirrrrrrrrr!!!
"Like I thought," Khun muttered as he looked toward the sky.
The other two also looked upwards.
{Mic test... Everyone, stay where you are, the first test is now over!}
{All remaining Regulars... Stop what you're doing and listen carefully. Any Regulars fighting from now on will be eliminated!}
{To the 200 regulars who passed the first test…}
{Congratulations to all of you!}
Bam and Khun smiled at the message while Isaac thought of something else: 'Would it still be three per team? If it is four for some reason, we will need to rush to find the crocodile…'
Meanwhile the voice continued:
{It may seem a bit rushed, but a short second test will be carried out right now!}
"Eh? Right now?" Bam muttered, surprised and anxious.
Khun sighed nonchalantly. "Sigh. No time to rest, huh?"
{Ha, ha! Don't be so disappointed! The next test is really simple!}
{Now, here is the challenge for the second test... The challenge is: 'getting teammates'!}
{There are 200 remaining Regulars! Among those who remain, find two Regulars to be your teammates!}
{In short, this test is... to make a team of three!}
"..." The three of Isaac, Khun and Bam looked at each other with various expressions.
{For your reference, we're giving you a five minute time limit!}
"Five minutes?" A surprised expression appeared on Khun's face, before it quickly disappeared as he looked at the other two.
What five minutes? They were already set!
After a few moments of silence, the voice continued: {Ok, starting now, make a team of three!}
{Of course, if you don't make a team in five minutes, you are eliminated.}
{Oh! And one more thing. To be considered a team, you need to be touching some part of your teammates bodies when the time limit ends.}
{So, everyone… Good luck!}
"Test Floor indeed. It's actually quite a difficult test," Khun said.
"Difficult?" Bam asked.
"Yes. To make a team of three in five minutes, you have to make a team with those nearby. But the ones nearby are normally Regulars you were fighting with right before the first test ended… Which means to make a team in five minutes is to turn enemies into allies," Khun explained.
"But there's already three of us here…" Bam quietly muttered.
"Yeah, we're already set," Isaac said as he shrugged with a small smile.
"Yes, that's convenient." Khun smiled back.
…
For the next five minutes, Isaac proceeded to appreciate the beauty of nature around him while practicing some basic sword swings, putting memories of Mordred into practice.
In truth, he didn't quite need practice because these movements were now a part of him, but he felt quite good doing that instead of doing nothing.
As the Pocket's timer was about to reach 5 minutes, the three young men touched each other's hands.
To make direct skin contact with the others and avoid any mis-haps, Isaac magically de-equipped his steel gauntlets, to the amazement of both Khun and Bam.
For Isaac it was slightly embarrassing to hold each other's hands in a circle like in kindergarten, but a test was a test.
However, the other two men strangely didn't seem to mind it at all and held both his hands with gentle smiles.
'They say that Khun and Bam being gay is just fanon, but seeing this, I'm becoming a little worried here,' Isaac joked inwardly.
At that point, the voice from the sky sounded out once again:
{The Second Test is over!}
"Finally over," Khun let out a sigh as she looked upwards with a bored expression.
{Those who have made a team... Keep holding onto each other!}
{The three people holding each other at this moment are considered a team!}
{You'll be sent to the next test spot!}
…
After a bright white light faded around them, Isaac found himself in a completely new location together with his two teammates.
The three were in a wide and spacious room with an incredibly high ceiling. Many people, both humans and strange fantastical humanoid monsters, stood around them in small groups - all of them also holding onto each other one way or another.
As Isaac and the others were looking around, the familiar slightly excited male voice sounded out again:
{Mic test, mic test…}
{All Regulars who passed the first test… Welcome to Evankhell's Mothership! This is where you will take the second test.}
{For now there will be a short few minute break for all Regulars to have some rest. By the way, fighting is prohibited during the break.}
As the man finished speaking, Isaac, Bam and Khun began to silently make their way deeper into the gathering place while looking around.
[Woah! There are so many competitors here. And they all seem interesting. I'm pretty excited! But they're all weaklings. How boring.] Mordred commented, also seeming to look around.
There were also those who discussed Isaac.
"Wow, look at that guy's sword and armor."
"Damn, it had to be expensive! He's quite prepared."
"He might be someone from one of those Ten Great Families. It's better to avoid him."
At Isaac's side, Bam commented, "Amazing… There are so many Regulars here."
Khun lightly replied, "Well, it looks like there are more than a hundred. They are the chosen ones for sure. There's no doubt they qualified to pass the test."
As Khun spoke, Isaac was mostly expressionless as he glanced around, but his eyes still secretly glittered with excitement.
There were all kinds of people in that place, all kinds of interesting humanoid beasts and monsters - warriors of various species with varying weapons and fighting styles.
And unlike most people there, because of his strength and knowledge, he wasn't anxious or worried, but instead only excited to be able to see more of this world and grow stronger.
Meanwhile, Khun noticed Bam's naive expression and cautioned him, "Be careful, Bam. Some people here have unusual powers, some are cheap and dirty players. The chosen Regulars who came from the residential area must have at least one extraordinary talent. Don't underestimate any of them. All the Regulars here are… ferocious enemies."
"I understand..."
"Well, I'm sure we'll do fine, since we're the strongest team," Khun added with a cocky smile.
Bam smiled. "Haha, yeah."
Isaac also faintly smiled.
His expression then slightly changed as he noticed Rak's huge body in the distance that stuck out in this crowd like a sore dumb.
At the same time, the crocodile man also glared back at him with a cold expression, spear in hand.
Surprisingly, next to him was a thin masked person in a black full bodysuit, seemingly looking back in his direction.
'The Guide girl. Did she team up with Rak?' Isaac watched this with surprise.
On second thought, Rak was a strong and useful Regular to have on the team, so it wasn't strange that Hwa Ryun wanted to recruit him when it became an option.
"-Finally! I got'ya! I will kill you!!!"
Suddenly, loud shouts sounded out through the area that attracted the attention of most people on the field, including Isaac's and Rak's teams.
After turning his head, Isaac saw that the one shouting was a red-haired young man without an arm.
Looking enraged, the red-haired man was grabbing the collar of a teenager with spiky black hair, furiously shouting into his face as the latter remained unmoved.
As it turned out during the discussion, the red-haired man had apparently gotten his arm cut off by the other. So it was no wonder that he was furious because losing an arm would be a huge hindrance for him going forward.
The two fought verbally and their teammates tried to stop them, but things kept escalating in the direction of the one-handed man attacking the other for revenge.
'Is that spiky haired guy also an important character? He has that vibe. What was his name again? It shouldn't be Hatsu…' Isaac pondered inwardly as he looked at the black-haired swordsman.
At one moment, a clear voice spread through the crowd: "Did you not understand? No fighting during break time."
Everyone then looked toward the source of the voice, including Isaac.
The one who spoke up was a skinny blonde man that looked to be around 20 years old. He had two marks on his cheeks and he wore pants that were extremely wide at the thighs, which greatly contrasted to his seemingly skinny arms and calves, making him appear slightly comical in Isaac's eyes.
'Lero Ro,' Isaac thought.
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