Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to SIU. Except for my OCs.

Chapter 6

I ran my hand through my hair as exhaustion took over most of my body. My legs began to struggle to hold up the rest of my body, my balance unstable with my head constantly moving back and forth. Despite this, my mind was still wide awake.

The rest of the training session was nothing exciting, just going through the same motions as we have for the past few weeks. I had gone back to my room soon after we ended, but this time it wasn't just for rest. I finally had the opportunity to figure out what was happening to me, or at least some of it.

I stared at myself through the mirror, the only light coming from a lamp near the bed. Something had always felt a little off whenever I saw myself, like I could never recognize the face in the mirror. I pinched the tip of some of my messy brown hair and narrowed my pitch-black eyes. My jaw was round, and my neck stretched from my shoulders a bit. I slumped my shoulders, looking at my body from around my tank top, glad to see some development of muscle. I didn't know what age I was supposed to be, I looked anywhere from fifteen to the mid-twenties. I wondered if I looked the same, back where I came from.

I went over to sit on the bed and closed my eyes, ready to face whoever this Z person was. I grabbed the flow of shinsu and slowly began to interweave my own control into the flow. It took a while, but I managed to strengthen the shinsu, just as I had done during the spar. It feels easier to do, I should go thank Khun tomorrow.

"If you're going to thank that Khun brat, you mind as well thank me as well. Not just anyone can utilize body reinforcement so quickly without being a direct descendent or a princess of Jahad." A voice spoke within my head. "Or by having someone like me."

"Z." I paused a bit to gather my thoughts. "So, you are what Headon gave me?"

"Yes I am. Will you continue to speak out loud for this?"

"I mean, it helps me feel like I'm not going crazy. Don't worry, I won't speak loud enough for the people in the other rooms to hear." I laid myself down on my sheets, not minding the fact that I hadn't changed yet. "Someone like you, what do you mean by that? Are you a ranker?"

"I was once, and just like many before me, I was forsaken by the tower. However, I had made a promise with the rabbit during my last moments. This promise was that he would bring me back but to another's body, someone without any shinsu to act as my holder. As you must've noticed that person is now you."

"Someone like me. So, I imagine it could have been anyone from my world. Do you…do you know anything about my world?"

Z stayed quiet for a moment. "Unfortunately, I don't know anything about your world. When I died, I remained in a frozen state, barely able to process anything I was exposed to."

I felt as though I was sinking into the bed. "Oh. Well…anyway, you mentioned something about reading my knowledge?"

"Yes. This world you came from, how odd it is that our world is just a story to you. Though it would be hard to believe, it could be a possibility an oracle of sorts escaped our world to yours. Although I am still not entirely convinced, the events so far have followed the knowledge you have. As of now, I am willing to say that coming events will happen just the same."

A thought crossed my mind. "Hold on. I know that you said that you don't know anything about my old world, but is there any chance you saw my memories when you starting to read the story?"

Z paused once more. "No, I didn't see them. It could be a possibility that a certain rabbit guardian was involved, but I couldn't say for sure. You should be alright without them, however. Don't worry."

"Oh." It was my turn to fall silent. I turned to stare at the light from the lamp. The alluring golden aura threatened to shut my eyes, but I managed to keep them half opened. Melancholy rolled over me as I began to drift towards particular thoughts.

"You know I-"

"I've noticed some of the doubts you've been having. But you should know, Shun, you are here now. This will not change, for I am with you. This tower is ruthless and only cares for those in power, any doubt you should have is unnecessary. Take my advice, care for the people you have now, then grow powerful enough where you can change what you despise about the tower."

"Right…unnecessary." A few moments passed as I shut my eyes. "You're a lot different then what I expected."

"Different? What were your expectations?"

"Vengeful? Hateful? Maybe just angrier. But there's a decent amount of consideration for what you're saying."

"I was fully prepared to compromise when I made my deal with Headon. I can't risk my goal for the purposes of inflicting a one-sided relationship. It's good to take care of each other so that the climb up will go smoothly. I would have been a fool to create a hostile relationship, with all the attempts Headon had to take for this to work."

I narrowed my eyes. "Attempts?"

"…Did he not tell you? I do not remember much, but I do recall that many others came before you. Things did not go as well for them as they did for you."

The excruciating pain that came from Headon stabbing the shimmering ball into my body came back to me. I grabbed my chest as phantom pain pulsated throughout my body. Both my heart and thoughts began racing. "How…how many tries did it take before me?"

"You would have to ask the rabbit itself for the actual number, but I estimate around 10000 trials took place."

My heart sank down to the bottom of my chest, and a cold shiver went up and down my spine. You're kidding me. I lost control of the body reinforcement, and deafening silence overtook me. I stared at the ceiling for what could've been hours, unable to fall asleep. My body didn't listen to me when I wanted it to move, and my mind was too disturbed to rest. During this, I learned how frightening it was to be a prisoner of time.

I did not remember losing consciousness but woke up in the same position, with my light still turned on. The continuous thought of Headon killing thousands before me sunk down to my stomach. I thought I was going to throw up, but nothing came. I didn't move until Hwaryun knocked on my door to get some breakfast.

"Regulars participating in this joint position test! Congratulations to all of you!" Lero Ro announced to all the gathered regulars. The group was split, with 14 regulars on one side of the room, and the rest on the other side. "This joint test is for the 28 of you excluding the ones who've already passed or failed. These groups that you are in will make up your teams. You will be taking the test with these teams, so learn to work together!"

"Hey Shun, you alright?" Khun whispered towards me.

"Yeah, just a little tired," I responded. I was doing my best, but my exhaustion had carried throughout the day. "I wasn't able to catch much sleep last night."

"What a day to be sleep deprived."

Lero Ro continued to speak. "Teams have been fairly assigned based on the previous test results. There is an equal number of each position in both teams, except for one more spear bearer on team A and one more light bearer on team B. The teams are balanced, so you can't say you were put at a disadvantage because of your team."

The rest of the rules and details for the hide and seek game were given to us by Hansung yu after Lero Ro explained how the grading worked. Though I dared not to look back, I could swear that a majority of his eye contact was placed onto me. Once the rules were set in place, and the seeker revealed himself, both teams moved to their safety zones. Once at the safety zone, the regulars of my team began to prepare themselves for the test. Anaak, checking her weapon inventory, Laure sleeping on a nearby couch, while the rest of the regulars sat down to discuss the plan.

"You alright?" Hwaryun walked up to me. We both stood by the edge of the group who were discussing the plan for the test. "You look tired. Well, more than normal at least."

I shrugged. "Just wasn't able to get any sleep last night." We idly listened to Khun solidify himself as leader. He really was a natural at getting people to listen to him.

"Well actually, it was more than just a bad rest. I found out what Headon put inside me. A ranker, calls himself Z." I looked towards the ground.

Hwaryun paused for a moment. "I guess I should have figured as much. I was thinking about this possibility after the crown game, but it didn't make sense to me. How does your shinsu and his shinsu exist within the same body?"

"I've never had shinsu within me, at least before I entered the tower. I'm pretty sure that shinsu doesn't even exist back where I come from. When I got summoned into the tower, my body couldn't handle shinsu at all. Felt like it was crushing my insides, until Headon gave me Z. I guess he's the one that's been sustaining the shinsu in my body all this time."

Hwaryun raised an eyebrow. "I have questions."

I sighed. "Me too. Anyway, we talked about a few things last night, but what really has been disturbing me, is the fact that Headon snatched at least ten thousand people from my world before he was successful with me. And if all of them went through the same thing I did…they probably all ended up dying. We weren't made to handle shinsu."

"But you don't know why Headon had to sacrifice that many people just to have one person make it out alive." Hwaryun guessed.

"Yeah. It's probably to have someone affect the things that will happen in the future, but from what I know, no one like me is needed to change anything. You all do alright on your own."

"I'm not sure how comforting that's supposed to be." She began fiddling with her staff.

I paused for a bit. "I don't know if I knew anyone he killed, but I still think that I should be feeling more than I am right now. I just don't really know what connection I'm supposed to have towards my people." I ran my hand through my hair. "I mean, even calling them my people feels a little weird. I don't know…or even remember any of them. Do you know how you would feel if ten thousand red witches suddenly disappeared?"

She didn't change her expression at all but noticed that her arms stiffened up. I grimaced slightly, wondering if I had crossed some sensitive territory. Before she could give her answer, Khun came over and pat me on the back.

"Besides, we have this guy. Our wild card." Khun pointed out. "I am sure you all know Shun from his display during the crown game."

All eyes were on me now. I could see levels of uneasiness from some of the other regulars, but whether it was from the pressure of the test or from me, I couldn't tell. I slightly turned my head towards Khun. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Just play along." Khun answered, barely turning his head. "As we all know, our brilliant Shun here has shown some immense force of shinsu in the past. The rankers, including our seeker, must have taken some notice of this. What that means, is that even though the seeker is a ranker, he must have some doubts in his mind concerning Shun. Naturally, he won't be worried about facing him, but rather anticipating something. His limitations, underestimation, and curiosity will be our best chance at a distraction in order to catch him. Even if this doesn't fully work out, I'm sure that he'll be able to give the seeker a fight he can't ignore." He gave me a very cunning smile. I could do nothing but give him an annoyed look.

"Well, I'll work something out." I forced out, addressing the rest of the regulars. I could feel the strain on the side of my head as I did my best not to hit Khun on the spot. To my side, Hwaryun looked more relaxed, even stifling a laugh. Basterds.

I walked onto the testing stage filled with darkness, only being able to see Shibisu and the blue lighthouse above him. I followed close behind him, waiting for the ranker to take the bait. Khun's plan wasn't too different from what I knew, I was just an added surprise factor than anything for the ranker. Even though I knew what was coming, anxiety began to seep through every part of my body, just waiting for the seeker to make himself known. Khun and Shibisu exchanged a few words before a few footsteps could be heard. Shibisu went silent and took up his stance.

"Khun." Shibisu breathed out. "The ranker's here."

Quant walked into the light of the lighthouse slowly, with both hands behind his back. He had a distinct appearance, with bright red hair and a clean lab-like coat. He was definitely intimidating, with a presence that normal regulars didn't have. It was like he was the researcher, and we were only mice. "Walking in the dark with such a bright light. Are you trying to make it obvious that you're the bait? I bet you've been left here to distract me so whoever's it can escape. What a boring plan."

I walked up into the light, getting into my stance beside Shibisu. There was no point in hiding in the dark, since he already probably knew I was here. "Hello Mr. Quant."

"Making yourself known already? I thought you would've hidden yourself for just a little longer, baby shark." He laughed." Let's see, I suppose you guys have 4 more teammates in the dark. Facing me as confident as you are, even with a full team, is a little headstrong no? I heard from Ro what happened during the crown game baby shark. I'm going to have to disappoint you if you think this is enough to distract me."

I grit my teeth while I prepared to use body reinforcement. But before I could even grasp the shinsu in my body, Quant quickly rushed at Shibisu, pushing him far back with his shoulder. I instinctively moved towards the ranker, ignoring the fact that I hadn't achieved body reinforcement yet. I stepped in and threw a punch at him, where he quickly stepped back. As he had moved backwards, I moved forwards, throwing a barrage of punches towards him, which he stealthily dodged with minimal movement. He kept his hands behind him the entire time. This was nothing like Hwaryun dodging my attacks during training, here it was like he knew where my fists were moving at all times.

"Hm, not quite what I was expecting." Quant began to speak while dodging my attacks. He suddenly whipped out both of his hands from behind his back and grabbed both my fists, forcing me to curl my back in order to face him. But there was no way I could beat him in a match of strength. Immense force was put onto my legs as I tried to push back against him, but to no avail.

"Maybe I should show you what it means to be stronger than others, baby shark." Quant dropped his tone as his grip on my fists grew stronger and stronger.

"Now Khun!" I shouted out, almost entirely out of pain. A red spear dove towards the ranker at a high speed. Quant immediately let go of my fists to jump onto the spear.

"Still too obvious." Quant used the spear to jump above to the lighthouse and smashed it to the ground in one kick. Light disappeared in an instant, leaving both Shibisu and I to the chilling blackness. "Listen here my pupil, a scout's most useful plan, to get rid of the lighthouse. You get rid of the enemies' means of communication and information."

"Damn it!" Shibisu shouted out into the darkness. "The observer is too far away, and we don't have a lighthouse anymore."

Quant's sharp voice cut through the air. "Even without light, a good scout can read shinsu within the dark. Versatility within any situation!" I could feel something approach my backside.

"As for you," Quant breathed behind me. "There's more to shinsu than what you have shown me. I'm sorry to say but I'm disappointed."

The moment he finished his sentence, a bright light cut through the darkness to reveal the ranker. "That's my fault, I'll make sure to make it up to you." I smirked.

Anaak shouted a few words before slinging one of the items in her reel inventory towards the ranker. At the same time, I swerved myself around to launch my arm towards the tag as well. But as I knew, this plan would not be successful.

Quant muttered something under his breath and disappeared for just a moment, only to grab my arm and Anaak's reel. If it weren't for my naturally resistant body thanks to Z, I would bet that my arm would've shattered under the pressure. I bit down hard and did my best to pull out of his grip, but I couldn't move an inch.

"What's this?" Quant held his voice dangerously low. "Were you trying to catch me instead of running away? Did I look that easy to you?" His expression turned from care-free to precarious in an instant. Hair rose on the back of my neck as I knew he could kill me right then.

Moments passed with no action from anyone. "Oh, I see." He continued. "I don't even look like a ranker to you guys, right? Wow. This really feels bad." Tension lingered as Quant took an uncomfortable amount of time gathering his thoughts and emotions. He began to laugh. At first it was slow, then he began to laugh out loud, which unnerved me even more. He let go of the reel along with my arm and I jumped back to where Shibisu was.

"You alright?" He asked.

"For the most part. I'm just glad to know he's only here as a test administrator." I quickly replied, rubbing the place that was grabbed with my other arm.

"You regulars have some spunk!" Quant boomed out throughout the stage. It was clear that he was doing his best to remain calm. "That's how it should be with you newer regulars! Courage is brilliant! Good one!"

He managed to calm down just a little. "But now, with your ambush failed, there is no chance of you guys catching me here. But tell you what, since I'm such a nice, patient, calm, and reasonable guy, why don't you guys have 32 minutes and 13 seconds to run." He was still trying his best to look composed.

Khun spoke to both of us from his lighthouse. "We don't have a choice here, let's move to plan B. Scatter." With that, Shibisu and I retreated into the darkness. It felt cowardly, but after facing him, I understood that there was no chance in hell we could fight him head on. My first encounter facing a ranker was expected, but the absolute power difference felt like I was fighting a great mountain. The ranker held true to his word, and didn't move for 32 minutes, and 13 seconds.

Lero Ro

Lero Ro sat back in relief. "That could have been bad. I know it must have been hard for him. Still, it's a bit odd…"

Hansung yu lifted up his cup to drink from. "What is?"

"Although Quant's got some restrictions, he's still a ranker. Quant isn't so weak as to get caught in such a simple trap. Something like that could only be thought up by someone who does not know much about rankers. The other regulars wouldn't know much about rankers, but Mr. Khun is on that team. He should know what rankers are like, with rankers in the Khun family being far more remarkable than Quant. His plan was lousier than I expected."

"Well," Hansung yu put down his cup. "I think he's doing well on this test. Shun on the other hand… what do you think of him Mr. Ro?"

Lero Ro crossed his arms. "He's an odd regular I suppose. His show during the crown game was definitely a surprise, but other than that, he hasn't shown to be an outstanding regular." He paused. "I know he has been training every night with that guide. I understand the need for training but still, something doesn't line up for me."

"He looks to be a beginner with his experience and fighting skills, yet his intentions have a sense of urgency around them." Hansung yu spoke, still nursing his coffee.

"Yes. I've never seen a regular like that." Lero Ro admitted.

"Well, let's look at what he does. I hope he doesn't betray my expectations. I believe you feel the same way no?"

Lero Ro didn't answer, only turning his attention back to the screen. It left a bad taste in his mouth to be without the knowledge he wanted. He supposed that the test director was right however, he wanted to see more of what Shun could do. But anyone would be a fool not to.

The ranker made it through the first line of defense by the time Shibisu and I made it back to the second line. I was short of breath, but I wasn't about to allow myself to rest. This time I wouldn't make the mistake of not applying body reinforcement far before the battle came. Shibisu talked with Khun about the ranker, while I made my way over to Hwaryun.

"How was it?" She asked.

"Not the best." I answered. "I was careless." I started to take control of the shinsu within my body like I've done before. Integration of control and flow. As thoughts about the previous night began to flood me, I did my best to ignore them. Focus on this test, that was what I needed I aimed for.

"Already doing body reinforcement?"

"He'll be here soon enough. Are you going to fight?" I breathed slowly, tracing the flow of shinsu. Almost there.

"I'll think about it."

I forced a grin. "Alright then."

The ranker entered the scene to face Shibisu and a couple other regulars. Shibisu almost immediately latched himself onto Quant, resulting in a beatdown of Quant repeatedly kicking Shibisu. He made a few last heroic statements before I heard Z's voice in my head once more.

"Hello Shun." Z greeted me. "You have such foolish bravery to face a ranker a second time. I am not sure why you want to do this, but will you be ready to face this certain defeat?"

I took a slow breath. "Yeah, as much as I'll ever be." I walked up to a few paces away from the ranker as he shook Shibisu off of his leg.

"You look serious, baby shark." Quant smirked. "You can't think that anything will be different from last time, do you?"

I took up my stance, shinsu flowing rapidly within me. "Sorry, but yeah I do."

Quant barely took a step to launch his knee towards my face. "A little too cocky to face me, regular!"

As his leg came towards me, my eyes were able to follow exactly where it was. I ducked to my left, raising my left arm to my head as a block while launching my right fist towards his abdomen. He immediately grabbed my right arm and threw me to the side in one motion. My side crashed onto the floor, and I rolled for a bit before using my feet to stop my momentum. I climbed back to face Quant once more.

Quant raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I have time. Let me give you about 3 minutes to entertain me regular." He got into his own stance, placing his left foot behind him with his arms slightly outreached to his sides. "Let's play."

I ran up to strike his head with my right arm. As I had anticipated, he rose up his own arm to block it, while I lunged in to drive my left arm towards his chest. He moved back to catch it with his other hand. I quickly withdrew, then launched myself back in to try and force him back even more. I drew every blow with as much power as I could into his arms which he threw up to match every punch. There were no attacks that he made, only adjustments to my actions. Just as I had done during the practice with Hwaryun, I began to speed up, but there was no difference in how Quant was taking the blows. But he did lose the grin he had on his face, more focused on handling my attacks. Resonating strikes filled the air, and suddenly I could see no one on the stage but me and the ranker.

Eventually, I was able to knock one of his arms away, giving me the opportunity to close in on him. But as I moved in to place my foot to deliver another blow, Quant rebalanced himself in an instant, swerving around to strike the foot I had just placed down. I realized too late that was his intention. I couldn't regain the footing I had and began to fall. Quant moved directly in front of me to deliver his only connecting blow to my stomach. With that one blow, I found myself crashing to the floor, a large distance away from the ranker. I could hardly breathe, let alone hold my control of the body reinforcement.

As he advanced towards me, I tried to get up, but my arms couldn't find the strength to lift me up.

"That's one minute gone." Quant gloated over me as he walked towards me.

Gasping for air, I looked up to see a figure stand before Quant.

"Having a little trouble Shun?" Hwaryun questioned.

"I-I've told you this before, hah, and I'll tell you again." I barely breathed out. "I hate when you ask questions like that."

Quant had an amused look as Hwaryun swung her staff at him with one arm. He moved to the side and ran at her. She dragged him a little ways away and exchanged attacks with him, keeping her distance with her staff. I dragged myself to my feet.

"Are you not putting in more effort than needed here Shun?" Z asked in my head. "Surely you know that you will pass even without doing this for the test."

I hung my head and held my stomach. "I know that. I don't really know why I'm doing this. But fighting is something I've been doing for a while; wouldn't it'd be a waste to let him go without a challenge?"

Z didn't answer immediately. "…I see. I wasn't planning on teaching you this technique right now, but if you really desire to continue this fight, prepare to change the way you hold your body reinforcement. This wasn't something taught in your class because not many people can handle it, but with the shinsu in your body, release it into more strings of flow. Deliberately cut the shinsu with your control so that multiple strands of flow are created."

I narrowed my eyes. Hwaryun was still facing Quant, but he was gaining distance between them. "Are you sure about this? I won't blow up or anything right?"

"I will assist you so that you won't implode. Normal regulars wouldn't be able to achieve this, but with two separate people controlling the shinsu, we should be able to pull off the most minimal requirement for this technique."

"Alright, here goes." I seeped into the control I had within the shinsu and did my best to create another flow. But the shinsu rejected the action and went against my will. It took more concentration to strike within the shinsu and eventually, a few strands began to form and flow on their own. I held on, making sure the control was held within each strand, but I'm sure Z gave me all the help I needed to maintain the entire process. Shinsu rapidly flew throughout my body and the exhaustion I had felt evaporated. I could feel my focus sharpen almost instantaneously.

Hwaryun was breathing hard, clutching the arm that held her staff. Quant ran at her once again, but I intercepted, with a direct blow to his chin. He flew back but landed smoothly. He looked surprised.

"You really will end up killing yourself at this rate." Hwaryun said to me.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." I quickly replied, preparing myself for Quant.

He got back up and I found his shock had turned into excitement. "Another trick regular?" He laughed. "I'm glad you still have some fight in you. But I'm afraid I'll have to keep this short. You only have 1 minute left."

"I promise I'll make do with that minute." I grinned.

He started with a sharp kick toward my side in which I blocked cleanly with one of my arms. I began to load a multitude of attacks with my fists onto Quant which he began to block with the same rhythm as before. But I could feel the difference this body reinforcement had. More dynamic movement allowed me to force the same attack almost instantly. It was almost like I had an afterimage that would mimic what I did but with real force. I launched myself towards the right and drove Quant backwards. It looked like he was trying to figure out what was happening, with his arms struggling to keep up with the pattern I had made up. I ended up blasting him back, forcing both my arms into him, which he used to backflip away.

The moment he touched the ground however, he instantly vanished. I became alarmed and looked around to find nothing. Instinctively, I looked behind me only to find Quant sink his knee within my back. I wanted to scream but forced myself to look beyond the pain and placed my foot forward to rotate my elbow into his stomach. As it connected, he fell backwards, and I launched myself towards him. I gave up a cry of pain, pushing my fist into the place where he was but he recovered too quick and was gone once more. I was forced to hang my body, barely able to sustain the shinsu anymore. My vision was getting blurry, and I knew that I would not be able to handle another one of his attacks. Still, I wished that I could've faced him once more. I wished that I wouldn't have to fall after his next advance. But a sharp feeling stuck those wishes dead. The agonizing feeling of defeat.

"Shun, you won't be able to handle it anymore." Z echoed within my head. "The body reinforcement will be gone within a few seconds."

I let go the breath I was holding in. "Yeah. I know."

"2 clean hits, not bad regular. But time's up." This was all I heard before crashing into the ground, smashing the stone around me. My eyes rolled up to the back of my head, impact rattling my brain. I almost lost my consciousness right when I hit the floor but managed to hang on for just a bit longer to hear Quant run off. I lost control of the body reinforcement, and the shinsu within my body slowed down. Immense pain settled in to guide me into oblivion.

Lero Ro

"What on earth have you been teaching in your classes?" Yu Bok-Dol asked in disbelief.

"I certainly didn't teach that." Hax replied. "I'm not even sure what that was."

"I don't know how he didn't die from that. Such precise control, he could have been such a good wave controller." Yuga added on. "I wonder where he learned that from."

Yu Bok-Dol shook his head. "Such a reckless young boy."

Lero Ro found Shun's performance, far outweighed his expectations. The questions in his mind began to swarm faster as he turned to Hansung Yu to see what he thought. "That was certainly something, wasn't it test director?"

But it was Hansung yu's turn to not answer the question. Instead, he was intent on looking at his coffee, not moving a muscle. Lero Ro could see a faint smile appear, causing his skin to rise up a little. He decided to not try asking the test director again and looked back at the screen to see Quant meet up with Khun on the bridge. He frowned a little, sad to see Shun's efforts barely make a mark. Team A was still in trouble with an excited ranker on their hands.

A/N

Thanks for the follows from AhmedF16, Commander Nine, Genesis56, GeoHandle, JPhoenix6474, KoboGoblin, RawrrrImaDinosaurRawrr, Yuu Sumeragi, ceasa20, checom127, ethanhunt07, hyaxia, lagoonsnake, martinliliana169, , and rivo! Many thanks!

Any comments or suggestions are really appreciated!

Hey, I did better this time, only 12am.

Edit: 07/19/2021

Once more, thanks for reading!