Chương 34: Administrator's Test
"I felt something was wrong with Bam... but I didn't guess that he was an irregular." Shibisu spoke, breaking the silence among the regulars that stood around the stage.
Bam's confession came as a surprise for everyone. No one had suspected him for being an irregular, except for Winston who had all but concluded the fact already.
After Bam's confession, Hansung Yu agreed for him to be able to take the administrator's test and sent him to meet the floor administrator.
As for the rest of the regulars, Hansung gave them a choice.
Either take the test with Bam, or take the next test separately. Even if one could pass the administrator's test, that would entail that they had helped an irregular go up the tower. If they didn't, it would probably result in Bam's failure as no one would be able to assist him in the test.
"Excuse me?" A small girl with a backpack raised her hand. "What's an irregular? And why is everyone so surprised?" She asked.
Shibisu replied, "An irregular is someone that isn't chosen to climb the tower. They open the gates by themselves and arrive into the tower. They are considered dangerous as everytime an irregular arrives into the tower, chaos has followed. They are all known to possess strength beyond that of any regular."
The small girl nodded in enlightenment.
Then, she turned her head towards the others and asked.
"Then! What should we do?!"
Paracule who stood quietly spoke up.
"Of course we won't help! We can't ruin our lives to bring some girl up! What has he done for us anyway!?" Paracule yelled, "Think about it! It'll be insane to help him! Don't you agree!"
Just when the others were about to speak up, a singular comment shut everyone up.
"Yeah... I agree." Everyone's eyed turned to Khun to stood with his head lowered. His eyes couldn't be seen, hidden by his hair.
Winston smiled, seeing his calm and collected emotions.
"I feel sorry for Bam, but I can't help an irregular."
Oh Khun. Even now, manipulating people to your liking. Winston shook his head with a smile.
Hatz turned to Khun and snarled.
"Khun! You sick piece of crap!" He yelled. "How can you say that!?"
"I don't like it either okay?!" Khun yelled back. "But it can't be helped?! If it gets out that I helped an irregular, I'll be ruined! I might even get expelled from my family!"
Hatz gnashed his teeth in anger.
However, just as he was about to move, a rough sound rang out.
Crash!
Khun fell down onto the ground, his lip bleeding crimson. Everyone looked in surprise towards the small crocodilian creature that had smashed it's head right into Khun's face.
"What the hell are you doing, you crocodile?!" Khun yelled.
Rak looked down at him, his eyes filled with unbelievable contempt.
"Look at you turtles. Cowering beneath your shells in fear." He said. "That's why you're nothing but a turtle. You're too afraid to hold your heads up."
Khun propped his upper body up from the ground, taking support with his arms. "You don't know what you're talking-"
"I don't care! The Black turtle is my prey, so I'll follow him!" Rak declared, his voice echoing through the hall.
"You turtles keep cowering inside your own shell! I'm following him! I don't want to lose my prey!" Rak yelled and began to walk out of the hall. As he closed the doors behind him, Winston walked forward.
"I'm going with him as well." He said, making everyone look over to him.
His eyes scanned Khun, who was sitting on the ground with a guilty expression. Winston's eyes were clear as he said with a strange smile, "I don't think anyone would want to be with a cowering traitor that betrays his friends to keep his family name..." He shook his head.
Zarhan held his hands behind his head and turned his head.
"I agree. Let's go."
With that, all of three of them began to walk out.
As they did, many other regulars also followed.
Anaak, Shibisu, Hatz, Endorsi and everyone else that was in the room, even Paracule at the end.
Everyone left, leaving Khun laying on the ground at the end.
~~~
"..." Khun looked towards the ceiling, lost in thought.
His eyes were slightly glazed over, appearing a lighter shade of blue than normal.
Then, a voice sounded from the side.
"Hey... turtle."
Khun's eyes turned to the speaker, finding Rak standing with his arms crossed.
"Stand up. All the other turtles are joining the test." He said.
Khun, with a smile stood up and said, "You're pretty intuitive... Rak?"
Rak's maw adorned a strange smile that looked more menacing than happy.
"I'm the only crocodile... that knows what's inside the shell..." He said.
Khun smiled in response as he looked on towards Rak.
He could not help but reminisce about the moments they had spent together.
"You know... you just called yourself a crocodile." He said with a chuckle.
"W-What?! No, I didn't! I'm Rak Wraithraiser!"
Khun laughed, making Rak fume in annoyance.
However, as he watched on for a few seconds, he too began to chuckle. Then, both began to laugh together. A sweet melody of a deep friendship, reverberating through the test floor.
~~~
Winston stood alone in a hallway of the mothership.
His eyes were lying in wait, looking around the corner of the path where a door stood.
After some time, the door opened up and out walked a young man with short brown hair.
The young man didn't notice him and walked forward without issue.
"You should be more aware of your surroundings." Winston chuckled. The young boy jumped in surprise and looked back.
"Ah! Mr. Winston." He scratched the back of his head.
Winston smiled, "Everyone will be joining in on the test with you. You can rest assured."
Bam's eyes widened a bit in surprise.
"Really?! That's great!"
Winston walked towards him, prompting Bam to walk along. Their footsteps were the only thing heard in the hallway for a few moments.
"Everyone was pretty shaken up about you being an irregular." He said.
"Is that so?" Bam's face held a rare expression of regret. "What about Mr. Khun and Rak?"
"They were too in some ways. But they were the ones that didn't take any time to consider following through with you."
Bam heaved a sigh of relief.
Winston quieted down again for some time, before speaking out again.
"Bam." Bam looked at him. "Are you really sure about this?" Winston's eyes met his, a strange smile still on his face.
Bam nodded in resolution.
"I am!"
"The tower doesn't take well to irregulars entering it. You could very well be in for a world of pain."
"It doesn't matter. Because I will take Rachel to see the stars." He nodded.
"But is it even worth it?" Winston asked, tilting his head. "Are the stars worth risking your life over? Is that girl worth risking your existence on? Is she worth all of that importance you place on her?"
Bam nodded again. "She is."
Winston sighed.
He looked at Bam again.
"...what if the stars aren't as beautiful as they say? What if what's up there doesn't satisfy you?"
"It doesn't matter. Because Rachel will be there with me."
"You're like a lost puppy. You wouldn't get anywhere with that attitude."
"Maybe. But I will make it work."
"How?"
Bam went quiet for a moment.
"I will. Somehow."
Winston's eyes narrowed at him. He was unsure of what to say next. He wasn't sure why, but the boy's over dependence on the girl was sure to cause some problems down the line. It didn't matter what, or how, but it was surely going to cause some, that was what Winston felt from his intuition.
And one thing was for sure, anything Winston's intuition told him, he would follow through with it.
Eventually, Winston nodded.
"Then I say good luck to you." He said, motioning Bam to keep walking.
Bam nodded and walked away without another word, except for a particular phrase.
"Thank you." He said.
Winston stared at his back for a few more moments, the same smile on his face still.
The stars... He remembered how Bam rushed towards Rachel in the Hide and Seek test, his face enveloped by confusion and fear. Fear of losing the person most important to him.
I suppose you already have your star. Winston reminisced about the sky. The thousands of colours, pale coloured dots littering the sky, covering the black canvas in an ocean of light through which occasional pieces of black space peeked through.
He remembered himself trotting through lands, barefoot for miles and miles, looking for a place to find food and shelter amid the watchful eyes of the stars.
He looked over again. Bam had already disappeared at the edge of the hallway.
Winston's thoughts were a mystery.
~~~
With Bam getting the permission of the floor administrator to take the test, along with the agreement of every other regular to take the test alongside him, the last test for the test floor was to be conducted 2 days after.
Within this day, the regulars were to recover and train for the test, getting ready for it.
Within this time, Winston got better acquainted with his mystical powers and the abilities shinsu provided him with, getting stronger overall.
He had already tried using ritualistic magic to pray to himself, and the results were also somewhat satisfactory. The first thing he noticed was the fact that Macsethian could indeed be used to trigger the power of nature around the user, and could be substituted for Hermes and Ancient Hermes, or any other mystical language in Lord of Mysteries.
The second thing he noticed, was the fact that ritualistic magic was made stronger through shinsu around him, allowing for an increase in efficiency and decrease the expenditure of his own spirituality.
And finally, the shinsu around him could be substituted for the spirit world of Lord of Mysteries.
He had already had some doubts about it from the moment he had first activated Spirit vision, but now, his doubts had been made clear after the use of ritualistic magic. But there were still obvious differences between the two.
Spirit world and Shinsu in the tower were completely different domains. One was a different aspect of reality that transcended the very concept of spacial dimension, while the other transcended reality in some forms.
Spirit world houses creatures of various forms and could be used to travel in the blink of an eye, while the shinsu does all of that and more pretty commonly all over the tower.
There were also a lot of differences to name, but all of them were crossed by the utilization of shinsu.
There was nothing the spirit world accomplished that the shinsu could not. The resource seemed almost omnipotent.
This made Winston conclude one thing.
The shinsu was not, in fact, synonymous with the spirit world; but only acted as such because he needed it to. It perfectly fulfilled the role of the spirit world in terms of both ritualistic magic and divination, along with the empowerment of even Mundane language like Macsethian, allowing it to blaze up with power of nature.
Shinsu truly was, a power source that could be described as 'limitless.'
It also made him conclude a very important question he had since arriving in the tower.
The difference between spirituality and Shinsu.
Honestly speaking, there was no conceivable difference, solely because shinsu could simply act as spirituality and more. In fact, his it had somehow managed to transform his spirituality to mimic it's own properties, making it stronger.
That was the reason there were no differences to name in case of spirituality and shinsu.
~~~
A/N: Throw me dem stonez.
Chương 35: Submerged Fish Hunt
"The submerged fish hunt?" Zarhan said, looking at Hansung with a raised brow.
Hansung nodded.
At the moment, all the regulars that had agreed to take the administrator's test were standing in a room. Hansung Yu and Lero ro stood in front of them, explaining the rules of the test.
"That's right. You have to hunt the submerged fish and catch them." Hansung spoke.
At that moment, Rak exclaimed, "Ha! Hunt some fish!? That's my speciality!"
Endorsi and Anaak also expressed their expertise, remembering all the training with the reel inventory.
Winston stood quietly, listening on to the explanation of the test.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you won't be the one hunting the fish." Hansung said, instantly making the regulars stop talking.
"That's the headers' job." He pointed behind him where a picture of a black seal like creature was kept. The creature had bright sea green eyes and a layer of fur on its neck of the same colour.
"That's the herd fish?"
"It's kind of cute!" As always, the reactions were variable.
"The name of this fish is the Goby Dolphin, also known as the chaser." Hansung explained. The picture behind him changed to now display a strange creature, eerily resembling an elongated jellyfish.
"At the center of this down hole is the queen of the goby dolphins. And beyond this hole, lies another hole filled with water.
"Below the deeper hole lies a small tunnel that connects the structure to underground waters. At 10 am, the water level rises, and at 5 pm, it drops due to changes in the tunnel water. Due to the structure's shape, we call it the wine glass." Hansung smiled.
"When the wine glass is full of water, the fish will gather here. That's when it's meal time for the queen. The goby dolphins can weave a net of shinsu in the water; and when the wine glass is full they will stand around in a circle that will start to narrow.
"Eventually, the net will reach the mouth of the queen and it will feed."
Winston spoke out, "That's how the goby dolphins hunt, but what's our role?"
Hansung nodded.
"What your role is, is to protect the Goby Dolphins?"
"Protect?" Shibisu asked.
"That's right. You need to protect the net until Bam and Rachel, who have become fishes can reach the queen."
"B-become fishes? What do you mean?" Bam's voice came with a stutter.
"When the test begins, you both will be placed in a shinsu bubble that will be placed in the big circle. When the herding begins, the bubble is designed to move along with the shinsu net weaved by the goby dolphins. Your goal is to reach the queen's mouth and come out through the other end. Don't worry, the bubble is especially made to withstand the digestive juices of the queen."
Winston raised his hand.
"Then what do we have to protect the dolphins from?" He asked.
Hansung grinned.
"The goby dolphins are not without their natural predators." The screen behind him changed again, now displaying a strange humanoid monster with a lizard like mouth. It stood around with a worm like organism orange in colour.
"The first is the Thief." He said. "It's real name is the Barnacle Goblin. They don't eat the dolphins but they steal the fish that the goby dolphins have herded. The worm that they grow can extend it's mouth freely. It can extend it's mouth through the shallow soil and scoop up water from the wine glass, bringing along the fish with it."
His eyes looked across the regulars.
"The thieves get the fish by cutting open their stomachs. If Bam and Rachel are caught by them, everyone will fail the test."
The screen changed again, now displaying a pig with dark brown fur on its body, stripped by lighter shades of brown.
"Amother enemy is the Dog. It's real name is the striped earth pig and it eats the Goby Dolphins. Because of that, it does not get along with the thieves."
The screen changed yet again, this time displaying a silhouette of a humanoid entity with a long tail behind it, and what looked to be a needle like appendage that it held in it's had like a weapon.
"The Bull. It's a strange creature that dominates this ecosystem. It's named as so because of its ferocious nature and bad temper. Some time ago, some regulars ran into it by mistake and were all eaten." Hansung narrowed his eyes and smiled at the regulars.
"If the bull wakes up and decides to go on a hunt during the test... things will become very dangerous for you all." He said.
Winston nodded.
"Seems easy enough to understand." He smiled.
Hansung chuckled.
"Then, let the submerged fish hunt... begin!"
~~~
Winston walked through a cave like structure, the overhead rocks connecting down through gigantic pillars that held them up. One side of the cave structure was open to the outside, making the light filter through the air, dimly lighting up the entire area.
Winston held a rare expression of annoyance on his face.
Amon had been assigned with Hatz to keep an eye on the Barnacle Goblins. While Zarhan was with the other spear bearers, stationed up top in order to impale the worms when given the signal.
Khun was in his lighthouse overlooking the entire test, while Shibisu was stationed in another part of the cave, on the lookout for both the Thieves and the Bull.
As for him... Well...
"Shut up you freaky eyes!"
"Who are you calling freaky eyes?! You vertically compromised jerk!"
He was stationed with Anaak and Endorsi Jahad, the two Princesses of Jahad and standing in station for the possible invasion of the Bull into the wine glass.
He looked back to see them still arguing. Among the two, Endorsi seemed to be the better one at insults. The only thing Anaak had on her was the fact that Endorsi was easily riled up by comments on her appearance. Though Endorsi was also not too great at throwing insults. She was just better than Anaak, which wasn't too high of a wall to cross.
"Would you two shut up already!" He said with a pissed smile, the corner of his mouth almost twitching. Almost.
"You stay out of this!"
"This is between us!"
The two princesses shot at him with scowls on their faces.
Winston shook his head with a resigned sigh. For a moment, he even felt like knocking them out after casting freeze on them, or making them fall repeatedly by casting Tumble over and over again.
But he decided against it. Infighting was something he wanted to avoid in a test.
Though the offer was always tempting.
"Winston! Any updates?" Khun's voice came from the floating pocket near him.
"Why did I have to be with these two idiots? Shibisu would have been much better company." He said with a hushed tone, not wanting to alarm the two princesses and have them shouting at him. He didn't think he would lose in a battle of provocation. As he said, he didn't wish to engage in a fight as of now.
"Well, it can't be helped. If the bull appears, you guys would be the only wall between the Dolphins and it." He said.
Winston shook his head.
"It would've made sense to spread us out more and have us operate individually. With our speeds, if anyone spotted the bull, we could've rushed there on the moment's notice." He sighed.
"We can't be underestimating the bull. It is an unknown variable and it can't be assumed that any of you wouldn't be injured by the time the other two get there. Besides, the greatest chance for the bull to appear is by the site where the dolphins dive into the wine glass. That's why you're all near that area." Khun explained.
Of course, Winston knew about that. He was just feeling wrong about being grouped with the princesses.
He didn't know why, but he just did.
Heh. Is it my intuition warning me? He joked.
"Whatever." He said.
Khun went quiet for a moment before his voice boomed from the pocket.
"Everyone! Bull spotted! It's near Shibisu's position! Head there immediately!" Khun yelled.
Winston's expression, along with that of the princesses' immediately turned serious as they all collectively began to rush in a direction.
Their footsteps echoed in the moderately dark cave.
~~~
"It's so beautiful... it feels as if we've really become fishes." Rachel droned as she looked on towards the waters in which schools of fishes floated. Hundreds of fishes shone with a strange gleam in the shinsu, meakint then appear like magical lights in the dark water.
Rachel sat with her back supported by the frame of a bed. She laid there, unmoving, her legs enveloped by the bed sheets. Bam stood behind the bed frame, silently looking on towards the water. His eyes were unfocused, seemingly lost in thought.
Ever since I came here... he thought. It feels... like a strange force is flowing into me.
He looked down and clenched his fist.
It feels... weird... He narrowed his eyes.
Just then, he heard Rachel gasp.
He turned back.
"What happened?" He asked.
Rachel pointed upwards towards the water surface, where strange movement seemed to be happenings as holes drilled into the water.
"The... The thieves are moving!" Bam exclaimed.
~~~
It was a strange place. On a precipice stood a variety of people, one of them giant, one dwarf and a boisterous looking young lady.
There were about 6 people in the group, all looked down from the precipice towards the abyss it held.
"So.. I just have to jump from here to get into the regulars' testing area right?" The lady asked, her red eyes shining strangely.
"That's right." The sliver haired dwarf next to her scratched his head.
The lady looked back and said, "I recall telling you to lead the way, but I don't remember saying I want to go to hell, Evan." She said distastefully.
The silver haired man, Evan, flailed his hands around.
"It's not my fault. This is the only way to get to the testing spot without getting caught. I know it looks more like a cliff thought. But every other way we could have potentially gotten caught by Evankhell." He said.
"But didn't you previously say Evankhell wasn't on the test floor for the time being?" She asked.
"That doesn't mean there are no observers. Being a ruler of a floor comes with it's perks." Evan shrugged.
The lady nodded.
"Then I guess we have no choice but to go from here." She said. Suddenly, her eyes held a mischievous glint.
Then, she kicked Evan in the back, throwing him off the precipice.
"You go first." She said offhandedly.
"Aaaarrrghhh! You crazy princess!!!"He yelled as he disappeared into the abyss.
The other members of the team sweatdropped.
"Hmm? There wasn't a sound of him hitting the ground... The fall's quite deep." The lady nodded.
~~~
A/N: Throw me dem stones.
Also, is Evankhell a male or female? I don't think it's ever been confirmed, or has it? I think Evankhell's referred to as being a female more often, so I'll just use that in the future.
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