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

Not two months. Close though.

Chapter 10

"Have you finished setting it up?"

"Of course, sir."

"Regarding our last transmission, I assume there won't be an issue?"

"It won't be a problem; the director is willing to comply with our goal. The boy I had mentioned earlier however-"

"We won't be able to interfere. Until we can observe him more, it will have to be put on hold."

"That's too bad, I wanted to have some more fun. Will you still be coming down sir? I assure you, I will be enough to retrieve the 13th months."

"There is no doubt in your abilities. The commander simply asks that I figure something else out for him."

"Has something caught his eye? How rare. Heehe~~ I wonder if he's as excited as I am?"

"It seems he is preparing for a large shift within the tower. Powers on the upper floors appear to be getting anxious. However, our goals will not change, remember that. Do not let politics intrude your work. Retrieve the 13th months and erase only the one who is an enemy of Jahad."

"Yes, sir. I wouldn't dare think of getting in the way of the precious princess."

"I will leave it up to you then. Farewell for now."

"…this is so thrilling! I wish I knew what the commander was thinking. Perhaps he'll be eliminating the rest of the regulars here once he's found what he wants. Maybe he'll do it regardless! Hehe~~What bad luck for all these regulars!

…Except of course…

…For that little lizard…

I just cannot wait to see that precious face…

…and tear it to shreds."

After about a week of preparation and training, it came time for the final test. Standing beside the rest of the regulars who agreed to help Bam, I clenched my hand, trying to calm down some of the anxiety I had built up. Time to see if my gamble paid off, or if I risked my biggest advantage for nothing.

Across from the assembly of regulars stood Hansung Yu, with Lero Ro a little ways behind him holding his hands behind his back. The room was mostly empty, filled with only a single circular table. The room itself was held within the air, with what I assumed to be suspendium. Below it was a dome shaped area, surrounded by large, curved plates of terrain that covered a great body of water.

"Now that we are all here, we can begin. Our final test is named the submerged fish hunt test." Hansung Yu addressed the gathered regulars.

"The submerged fish hunt test?" Someone in the crowd questioned.

Hansung Yu nodded. "It's like it sounds. You will be hunting the submerged fish and catching them."

"YOU WANT US TO CATCH FISHIES? THAT'S MY SPECIALTY. I'LL CATCH THEM ALL!" Rak's voice boomed out. The regulars that were standing around him backed up with their ears covered.

Hansung Yu seemed amused. "Sorry to say, but you won't be the ones to catch the fish."

He continued to explain the rest of the plan, pulling up a small board that had a picture of a small black creature with a floral necklet known as a goby dolphin. He then pulled up a diagram of the arena, showing the insides of the water hole, as well as the outer structure of the chasm.

"For your reference, there will be a map of the arena on the table over there. It will be for your own use after everything has been explained." Hansung Yu pointed. He continued on to describe how the water would rise and fall, depending on the time of day. Once the body of water was at its peak, the goby dolphins would use the opportunity to herd all of the fish into the center of the arena so that their queen could eat.

Bam and Rachel would effectively become fish within the test, only passing if they were eaten by the queen. The rest of the regulars were assigned as bodyguards to make sure they made it to the queen safely. The goby dolphins would be targeted by creatures known as dogs, who had a bad relationship with the thieves, who used worms to take the fish the goby dolphins had gathered. It became apparent that neither one could make it to the water, or else Bam and Rachel wouldn't make it to the queen.

Then there was the Bull. It had a long, black figure, complemented by red outlines and a needle that matched its height. Just from its picture, it seemed to emanate malice. A shinhueh controlled by one of the test administrators, with the front of just being an invasive species.

"Well then, I'll leave the rest up to you regulars. You'll have 30 minutes of preparation within this room before we send you down to the testing grounds. Best of luck!" Hansung yu finished off. He and Lero Ro went toward the back of the room, where a small table with cups and a coffee maker was set up.

Khun immediately gathered everyone at the table, reading the layout of the arena while Shibisu began the session. "With Bam stuck being a fish with Rachel, we'll be reduced to one wave controller."

"But that shouldn't impact us that much right? I mean all we need to do is stop the worms from catching up to the shinsu bubble that protects Bam and the Rachel girl, right?" One of the light bearers spoke up.

"That's the issue." Khun kept his eyes on the map. "If we focus on the worms, we'll also have to handle the thieves, which makes it difficult to manage the dogs." He looked up. "That's why we'll have to match the dogs against the thieves. Spear bearers will stay out of sight and focus on killing the worms while the thieves are distracted." Rak grunted in response.

"Ok, that makes sense," The fisherman who fought with the ignition weapon spoke out. "Then the light bearers, wave controllers, and scouts are in charge of monitoring the thieves and dogs to make sure they meet."

Khun nodded. "It's just that the biggest problem in this equation is the Bull."

"But… the test director said that the bull might not appear at all." The little blond girl pointed out.

"It definitely will. Knowing the coffee addict, there's no way that the bull doesn't show up." Khun responded.

"Then I assume you want to use our fishermen to intercept the Bull wherever it appears." Shibisu surmised.

"That's the idea." Khun traced his finger over the map. "It looks like only the southern hemisphere of the fishbowl is open. The other side looks like it's blocked by rocky terrain. Although that makes things a little easier for us, the arena is still very big. We'll have to be thorough when rounding up all of the dogs and thieves. For starters, we can evenly spread out our scouts across the arena to identify where our enemies are."

Khun really was quick to gather up all the information inside his head. If I didn't have my own knowledge, I doubt I'd be able to keep up with him. It was fascinating, watching him work.

"Once we find out where they are, the scouts will maintain their position, reporting for any movements while the spear bearers move into place. The thieves should start moving when the fishbowl is completely full, which should give us around an hour or so when the test begins. Is everyone comfortable with this?" Khun looked up.

There were murmurs of agreement, with no one looking to speak out. I looked around the table, seeing most of the regulars nodding their heads.

"This is just a brief sketch of the plans because the actual conditions are hard to predict. So, we'll adapt the plan when we need to." Khun finished up.

One of the regulars raised their hand. "Sorry, but what are we supposed to do if any of us meet up with the bull?"

Khun looked over to the princesses of Jahad. "We can use our own wild cards. If you aren't able to handle it, retreat and we can send over our strongest players. Assuming they'll be up to the challenge?"

Anaak looked at him with scorn, while Endorsi rolled her eyes. "Ah, it's awfully nasty of you to leave the hardest task to the jewel of the tower." Endorsi smugly stated.

"Jewel? You fit the description of scrap much better, ghost eyes." Anaak shot at her.

"What did you say, lizard?" Endorsi stood up.

"Ladies, you can handle your differences later." Khun attempted to dissolve the tension, only resulting in both of them shooting daggers at him. He promptly backed down.

He then continued to flesh out the details of the plan, talking back and forth between the regulars. As he finished, a few of the regulars, including Hatz, Anaak and the one with the ignition weapon, stepped away to prepare their weapons and inventories for the test. Bam and Rachel quietly moved to the side of the room to stare at the outside.

I ended up walking away to another side of the room to get some space. I could feel pressure continue to build up within my body, causing me to breath harder than normal. I grabbed my right arm to stop it from shaking.

Even after Z had shown up to disapprove my actions, he continued to stay silent. It had gotten frustrating, applying body reinforcement during my training sessions with Endorsi and Bam, or just by myself, to receive nothing. No communication. He better have some brilliant explanation, or at least some kind of excuse, because we really needed to figure out how to deal with the big ass target on my back.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice jolted me out from my thoughts. Hatz came up beside me. "You seem shaken up."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm just...just nervous."

Hatz looked down a nearby window, then put his hand on my shoulder. "You won't be alone in the test, Shun."

"You're right." I sighed. "I just hope things go as planned."

"So… I have to jump down here to get to the regulars' testing area, right?" Yuri turned around after looking down the large cliff. It seemed to go on without an end. "I recall asking you to lead the way, but I don't remember telling you that I was planning on going to hell Evan."

"There's no other way!" The silver haired dwarf defended. "This is the only way we can get into the test without getting caught, although it is a giant cliff."

Yuri sighed. "I guess we have no other choice then. Let's go." She then suddenly grabbed Evan by his collar.

"Eh?"

"You go first."

"YOU CRAZY DAMN PRINCESS!" Evan's voice could be heard echoing throughout the cave as the princess chucked him into the dark abyss.

Yuri looked behind her and addressed the rest of her squad. "You guys better make it to the other side." As she finished, she jumped in.

Most the other members followed in after her, muttering some complaints. Blueberry walked toward the edge of the drop, then glanced toward Kinjin.

"That does not sit well for my stomach." Blueberry ran his hand through his hair.

"Don't worry, I'll treat you to something nice if you happen to throw up." Kinjin offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I heard that last time you offered food, even Urek Mazino couldn't stand up straight for that day. You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with meals being cooked in the corpses of rotting shinhueh."

"But that's how it gets that great unique taste."

"…I think you're just old. None of us can handle it at all."

"I'm not even that old, you guys just don't have any appreciation for how things used to be done."

Blueberry stared at him until shrugging and jumping off the cliff. Kinjin let out a heavy sigh. As he was about to follow, he hesitated, digging his foot into the ground. He stared down the hole, double checking that he was sure what he was sensing. Someone else is here…

I stepped onto the mountain of rocks, looking toward the sky. There was a large overhang of rocky terrain that blocked out some of the sunlight. The moment we moved into the arena; I could feel it within my gut. The feeling of intrusiveness. This natural ecosystem was about to be changed for our own purposes of beating this test.

I surveyed the area, finding no immediate threats. Not far behind was the small group of Laure, the swordsmen with the ignition weapon, and the small blond girl. We were all in the process of modifying the tunnels that the dogs traveled through so that they would meet up with the thieves.

I took a deep breath, filling myself with the cold air that surrounded the body of water. Although it wasn't a big difference, the shinsu felt somewhat sharper within the arena. I wondered if it would allow me to achieve body reinforcement at a quicker pace, since it had felt better to grab onto.

"Were you guys able to make it to the tunnels?" Khun's voice came out through my pocket.

"Yeah, we've severed most the options. Nothing has given us too much trouble." I responded.

He sighed. "That's good to hear. Just make sure to finish up soon, the thieves are beginning to make their move over here. We've also located the bull on the southeast part of the caves, so you guys shouldn't have to worry about running into it."

"You sure you'll be fine handling the bull?" Even though I knew the Jahad princesses would be more than enough, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. I had told myself that I wouldn't need to interfere with Anaak and the ranker, but nonetheless, it still made me anxious.

"Yeah-wait hold on." Khun shuffled around. "Shibisu just told me that the bull ran off, further into the caves. It might be heading towards you, actually. I doubt the princesses will let it go so easily, but just in case, could you post up near the eastern entrance of the caves?"

"Can do." I turned my head towards the other regulars. "Could I let you guys finish up here? Khun asked me to secure the area around the caves."

The swordsmen nodded while the blond-haired girl waved me off before I jumped down the rocky terrain. Laure didn't give me much notice, probably more focused on his stolen pillow and blanket. I descended a little further down, before deciding to stop, as to put on my body reinforcement. The moment I finished strengthening my body, I continued to run off towards the caves.

As I made it to a more earthy section of the arena, the air felt sharp against my skin, and I began to notice something. It was as though I could feel each individual hair brushing against the air. This felt different then when I usually put on body reinforcement, it was very-

"Shun." Of course, my thoughts were cut off by this bastard.

"Oh, hello again Z." I curtly replied. "How was your break? Having a real fun time inside my head?"

It seemed as though he was taken back. "This was very sudden of you. Is something bothering you?"

"Well, I don't know what could be bothering me. The weathers gotten drafter, there's no more hot water, there's a fucking ranker on our trail? And you don't seem to care about it at all. I thought you wanted this to be a mutual relationship, but we can't do much if you just choose not to talk to me."

"I have been…occupied. I needed to make sure I was familiar with everything you know."

I could see the entrance to the caves now. "Well, you really should've just told me that. I don't see how keeping me in the dark is going to-"

"Shun."

"Don't interrupt me while I'm telling you off, I'm almost done."

"Shun, stop." He rose his voice.

"Really? Dude, I only have like one more thing to say."

"Stop talking and move!"

The moment he spoke I could feel something prickling the back of my neck. Dread filled me, causing me to tense up. The alarm spiked his voice, enhancing my instinct to dig my left foot into the ground, launching myself toward the right. As I fell, it felt as though time had slowed down. Inches from my head, I saw the heel of a black shoe that would have caught me in the head if I hadn't dodged.

Landing on all fours, I looked up at the tall figure before me. He wore a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and sleek black dress pants. The upper part of his head was covered in some sort of animal mask, with short, flat ears and white scars stretching across the eyes.

"Hm." The person voiced out, softly placing his foot back on the ground. "A fluke?"

As I pushed myself to my feet, the man was already in the middle of his next attack, slinging his right foot toward my face. I desperately pushed off my heels, barely making it out of range. The air around his kick hissed as I stumbled to catch my balance.

Holy shit, how the hell does a kick even sound like that? My breathing sped up, with my heart thumping loudly in my chest. Is this a ranker? Is this the ranker that Hwaryun told us about?

"Considering how his flow of shinsu is moving, he's most definitely a ranker. It looks like he's restraining himself to try and not catch the attention of the administrator. But I doubt he's the one that the guide told us about. Look at his mask." Z calmly addressed. "It's one that resembles more of a bear than a serow. Although it's a high change that they're associated with one another, it is also a possibility that he's acting alone."

Another ranker? Seriously, what the hell did you do in your past life? I started to prepare myself for another attack, moving into my usual stance. The unknown man frowned, raising up his chin towards me. Each second that passed made me more and more uncomfortable as the man seemed to assess me.

"How did you dodge those?" He asked.

I cautiously raised an eyebrow. "…by moving out of the way?"

The man did not seem amused as he launched himself at me, shooting his left leg toward my abdomen. He moved incredibly fast, forcing me to block the hit instead of moving out of the way. I slammed my teeth together as the blow resonated throughout my body, blasting me into the air. I hit the earth hard, rolling until my momentum died down. My vision was blurred, and I could barely feel the arm I blocked the strike with.

"Shun, hurry, you need to get up." Z's voice rang throughout my head.

"That's… easy for you to say." I slowly replied, struggling to make it to my feet, holding my left arm in pain. "Do you have any ideas on how to get out of this mess?"

"Do you remember the body reinforcement we performed during the last test?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Are we going to do it again?" I looked up to see the man walking towards me.

"Split the shinsu into strands once more, than focus on making it run through your body as fast as you can. Don't worry about integrating it properly, I'll be in charge of that." Z paused. "When I give the signal…run."

I began to do as he said, breaking the flow of shinsu into individual strings. I noticed each piece had a more distinctive feel, making control over each of them a lot easier. I began to force the shinsu to flow at a much faster pace than before, which it resisted.

"Shun, have you made it to the caves yet?" Khun's voice came out of my pocket. "Endorsi and Anaak have been out of contact, so I wanted to make sure that you got us covered."

"You need to move the shinsu faster Shun." Z's voice sounded strained.

Fuck, yeah, I will, just give me a second. The ranker was getting closer. "Khun I'm… well, I'm not going to be able to make it to the caves. Just focus on the test, I'm going to be occupied for a bit."

"What are you talk-" I shut off my pocket, directing my attention to the shinsu within my body once more. I pushed with everything I had, moving the shinsu as fast as I could. I could feel the sweat coming down my neck as the man came within reach. He looked down on me, slowly prepared his next attack, like a predator stalking its prey.

"NOW." Z shouted in my head, drawing me out of my passive state. The man threw another kick, but by the time it would have reached me, I had already sent myself into the air. I was surprised how far I sent myself, but quickly pushed the amazement down. I needed to make sure I was taking the ranker where the others weren't, so I couldn't go towards the way I came or the caves. So, as I hit the ground, I dashed away from the ranker, toward the fishbowl.

"How are we supposed to play the rest of this out?" I asked Z, ignoring all the air crashing into my face. "Should we try to grab the attention of the test administrators?"

"I don't believe that they'll be able to help us now." Z hesitated for a brief moment, then began to lay out his plan. "We'll have to try and approach one of the rankers from Yuri Jahad's team, if not Yuri Jahad herself. It's not guaranteed that they'll help, but it's the best chance we have. For now, head toward the caves."

I cursed under my breath, having just decided that I wouldn't lead the ranker there. I didn't want to run the risk of finding another regular in the caves, but I couldn't see any other option than the one that Z presented. "Alright Z. This better work." Just as I was about to change direction, I was met with a knee that dug into my stomach, hurling me backwards. The air was knocked from my lungs as I hit the ground once more.

"Now that's curious. Who were you talking to?" I looked up to see the ranker looming over top of me. My gut was screaming at me to get away, but I could barely move an inch.

"My…" I struggled to inhale. "My teammates."

The ranker tilted his head slightly, placing his foot on top of my head, forcing my head toward the ground. "Not a lie, but not the truth. Quite bold for a regular." I placed my palms on the ground, attempting to lift his foot, but nothing moved. "Tell me, with a direct answer this time, why did you call someone by the name of 'Z'?"

I struggled to move my mouth. "What the hell… are you talking about?" I started to lose all confidence that we would be making it out of this place. Damn it! Do you have anything else up your sleeve?

"…I could have something…" Z wavered.

The ranker sighed. "Perhaps they don't teach regulars this anymore, but there existed an ancient ranker from before the time that the Jahad empire was fully established."

Is he really monologuing? Whatever, we really don't have time to be thinking, do you have something or not? I mostly ignored the ranker, focused on finding an escape plan.

"If we were to use this technique, your body would almost surely implode. I cannot risk overloading your body with shinsu it is not ready to handle." Z said uneasily.

"He was very powerful, matching some of the strongest high rankers. He had used that strength at Jahad's service, until he ultimately fell at the hands of the enemies of Jahad. A glorious story for the textbooks. But a rumor had gone around, that this ranker hadn't been defeated when the enemies of Jahad attacked, but instead when he went to attack king Jahad himself." His foot dug deeper onto my head.

I think I've been at the risk of imploding for a long time now. We'll have to take the risk if we want to get out of here alive. I tried to reason. I don't think the ranker was fully sure if I was the one holding Z, but I didn't want to bet that he'd let me live once he confirmed it.

"…Alright then. Prepare yourself." Z reluctantly agreed.

"Over the course of time, people haven't been able to agree what really happened to this ranker, and he would ultimately be treated as nothing more than a myth. Yet, the Jahad empire has always been weary, for reasons that people could not figure out. Then the question arose, if the ranker's intentions were lying around, would it come back to haunt the Jahad empire? So, you should realize, what a problem it would be, if even a hint of his existence lingered on."

Ready? I asked Z, tuning out the ranker's words.

"Yes. Brace yourself." As Z responded, I could feel the change of shinsu within my body.

"Shun?" A voice came out to pull the attention of Z, the ranker, and myself, stopping Z from manipulating shinsu. Although I couldn't see where the voice came from, I recognized it instantly. Fear rose through my body. If the ranker wanted me dead, I probably wouldn't be breathing right now, but I couldn't say the same for anyone else.

"Oh? A regular? What a good teammate, to come check up on you. Terrible for him, but good for you." The ranker lifted his foot, presumably to move towards the person who spoke.

"Shun, now's our-"

I ignored Z, scrambling to my feet and jumped toward the ranker. I locked my arms around his body and dug my feet into the ground. "HATZ! GET OUT OF HERE!" I cried out in desperation.

"Oh? You still had the strength to get up?" The ranker spoke, then quickly shot his elbow toward my head. The impact rattled my brain, and I loosened up my hold. He then escaped my vision, replacing it with Hatz, who was standing not more than a few hundred meters away. He had his weapon out with widened eyes, gripping his sword so hard I could see the tip trembling.

I opened my mouth to warn him once more, but it was suddenly slammed shut as my body sunk into the ground. It felt as though an anvil fell from the heavens onto my back.

"Stay down." The ranker moved from behind me and began walking toward Hatz. Putting in the last amount of strength I had, I hurled my right hand towards the ranker's foot as it passed by, latching on to his ankle.

"D-don't do it." My body was a wreck, with barely any trace of body reinforcement left. My left arm was completely destroyed, pain growing each second. Blood seeped into my eyes, as I tried to open my mouth again but failed.

"Shun, you have more than your entire leg in the grave right now. Let go of him." Z's voice was growing faint.

You were the one that told me to make friends here. What kind of friend would I be if I let my hand go? My strength was diminishing, as I struggled to get a solid hold on the ranker. My grip fell apart and the ranker's leg jolted from my hand. I closed my eyes in shame. I'm sorry, Hatz.

"I can't believe it." A foreign voice entered my mind. It was smooth and alluring; the kind of voice that would read bedtime stories. I forced my eyes open to see the back of another man, standing in between me and the ranker, who held his hands up defense. "You really made it back."

"…Jin?"

Khun

"What the hell is going on?" Khun muttered to himself, standing within his lighthouse. His control panel was laid out in front of him with rays of blue light surrounding him.

The test should have been a smooth ride. It was looking good during the early stages, with the bull being occupied, and the plan to have the dogs meet the thieves undisturbed. But things began to turn sour when Shibisu reported that Endorsi and Anaak had lost the bull. They ran off to find it, and because both princesses absolutely refused to link their pockets with his, he couldn't contact them by himself.

Khun knew it wasn't the worst thing in the world, since they could both take care of themselves, but concern started to poke into his head as Shun also went out of commission. And for whatever reason, before Khun could ask him what was happening, he shut off his pocket. That gave him a terrible feeling in his gut. He always knew something was up with Shun but didn't expect something to happen now. Khun ended up deciding to send Hatz off to see what was going on, while the other light bearer took over watching the thieves.

Before Khun could reassure himself, the Pickle just had to make everything even more difficult by jumpstarting his plan. He had to improvise, leading the spear bearers who were being chased by the thieves into another site. Using Laure as support to save the Alligator and the Pickle, the dogs successfully made it to the thieves through the tunnel network they had modified.

"Now, it's time." Khun notified everyone who stood on standby. "Get ready to kill every worm."

"Move along the lighthouse!" He guided the spear bearers, while signaling to the rest of the team to strike. It was an easy collapse, even without their main force of fishermen. As the numbers of the thieves and worms dwindled down, Khun decided to leave the rest of the assault to his team, while turning his focus onto the missing members of his team. The administrator's test was a lot simpler than he thought, which worried him. If the test came with a catch… but it simply hadn't caught up to them… or if it were intended for someone else…

Suddenly, Khun felt a strange presence behind him, causing him to reflexively grab his knife and swing it towards whoever was making the presence.

"Oh?" His knife was stopped in place by the speaker. He had only used his fingertips to grab the weapon. "A gutsy regular."

As the man let go of his knife, Khun jumped back to create distance between himself and the intruder. "Who are you?!" Khun demanded.

"Haha." The man grinned. He had scruffy blue hair and a pink dress shirt, along with a short necktie. "But a regular is just a regular."

Khun narrowed his eyes. "You didn't answer my question. Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Ah, relax blue. I'm just here to borrow this lighthouse." The man pulled up a small device. Behind Khun, the lighthouse began to operate without his control.

"What are you doing to my lighthouse?" Khun was on the edge of shouting. "I'm in the middle of something!"

"Sorry, I lost my teammates on the way here."

"Teammates?" Khun's eyes widened.

"Yeah. I should go quick with how bad some of their tempers are. Should just be about done." The man's smile grew. "That looks fun."

After a moment the man's smile was lost but replaced with a look of curiosity. "And that looks like even more fun. I wonder why he's here."

"Who?" Khun interjected.

"Ussuri."

A/N

Thanks for the follows from 2Prophecy2, Hiro Dragokid, Kiukun-Nadralexe, RyanTBS, Lord Jarvis, Surfing cipher, YhwachTheIrregular, User Name 9897, db246, Daoisttian3, Divide bye Zero, Fool's joke, Lihangin, MerlinMagia, Pewz, Silver ideas, futszakx, and lisarussell687!

I hope I didn't miss anyone but I could have. My emails are getting screwed up. If I did miss you, you are still very appreciated!

Reviews:

Chifle: Thanks a lot! I'm glad you liked it. I'll be honest, I didn't have any pairings in mind, sort of forgot they even existed. I just kinda wanted to start off the story and go from there. I don't really know how to write romance but we'll see! Hwa Ryun is going to be another important character, so I might not try to write her in...but then again it could be pretty simple to write in...uhhhhhh don't know! I'm fairly open to the idea but I'll have to get further into the canon divergence.

Scarlett Uzumaki-Chan: I'm glad for your understanding lol. Writing Shun is fairly difficult just because this is my first time doing a fanfic. I hope to get into his character a little further in after uh... some reveals.

YhwachTheIrregular: Thanks! I'm glad you're reading it!

Surfing cipher: Hahaha, thanks for the compliments it helps a lot. I will be trying my best for chapters!

FearMeHorrer: I see. Thanks for bringing it up. I still have a lot to decide with Z's backstory and era (can't give a lot away but its not just tower things) he grew up in, so I'll see if I have to change that or not. I didn't know that SIU stated that Jahad said he couldn't do it.

A/N

Just wanted to say, writing fight scenes is damn tough. Anyway, we're almost at 100 followers for this story! I'm glad to have had this much attention, it gives a boost in confidence for other writing projects I have. Thank you all so much! I hope you continue reading and excusing me for the lack of updates. We should be nearing the end of season 1 around maybe 2-3 chapters.

On another note, Chifle reminded me that pairings exist. If anyone had suggestions or advice, I'll keep them in mind. If it doesn't fit into the main story, I might try a one-shot idk.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I'm starting to post this to Ao3, just because I thought that the format over there is a lot more pleasing to the eye. So if you want to read from there, it's just the same user and the same story title. I'll be updating the rest of the chapters there soon, I just wanted to do some minor editing.

Any comments or suggestions are really appreciated!

Thanks for reading!