Chapter 18. Moving on

Isaac immediately straightened himself up and leaned away from the giant crocodile.

"You woke up? Isaac?!"

[Master, you're up!]

After hearing the various voices, Isaac registered the scenery and people around him and was surprised.

The giant crocodilian beastman, a good-looking albino man, Clarent on top of his stomach and an unfamiliar room…

'Rak, Khun, and I clearly still have my powers…'

"So… I'm inside the Tower?" Isaac muttere quietly in surprise.

"Yes. We're still on the Test Floor. You suddenly collapsed during the Crown Game. The doctor didn't know what was wrong with you," Khun explained from beside the giant crocodile.

At that time the crocodile leaned away already and looked as if he didn't care about what was going on.

Khun thought and rolled his eyes inwardly. 'He's pretending to not care? What a guy…'

"Ah, right." Isaac suddenly recalled the Crown Game, then looked at Khun. "Uh. About Bam… What happened to him?"

The last of what he remembered was strange. It was as if Bam had died and was swallowed by him.

But how could that be true?

He might be the protagonist of his own life and his own story, but Bam was the protagonist of this world.

He felt that perhaps his mind was still hazy after whatever happened.

Khun looked at Isaac in surprise. "So you don't remember what happened? Bam… He was… How should I say this?... Uh, after he was struck in the head, something weird happened and…"

"-You ate him," Rak finished for Khun.

Hearing this, Khun frowned.

"Ah?" Isaac was surprised.

He 'ate' him? So what he remembered was right?

[The crocodile is right, Master. You absorbed that kid. It was similar to the Grail swallowing a Servant. But that happened after he already died.]

As Mordred clarified things, from within Clarent that was laying on top of his body, Isaac's eyebrows formed into a deep frown.

Bam died, and he 'swallowed' him, how could that happen?

This was not how he imagined the Crown Game to play out at all.

"By the way, can I eat those yellow things?" Rak suddenly said as he pointed at some yellow fruits at the side.

Khun frowned at him and brushed him away. Did the words 'ate him' suddenly made that simple-crocodile hungry? He couldn't read the atmosphere at all!

"Go ahead," Khun said unhappily.

As Rak began to gorge on the bananas at the counter near the bed, Isaac started to ponder.

Mostly, he was deeply confused.

Bam was the fated avenger, the long prophesied son of V that would receive the thorn left behind by Enryu and use it to kill Jahad. He had the plot armor, the insane luck and all the powers.

In the story, Bam repeatedly followed FUG's stupid plans that purposefully put him in harm's way, getting pulled into countless risky situations with 99 chances to die and 1 chance to survive, and he pulled through each time thanks to his plot armor, sudden power-ups and thanks to his 'destiny', only benefitting in the process.

He was the protagonist of this world...

But he died during the Crown Game.

'Is that because of me? Did I make a mistake?'

Isaac's eyebrows twisted into knots.

He allowed the original events to play out to test how much he can rely on his knowledge and Bam's plot armor, and to preserve his metaknowledge advantage. But it ended up killing Bam?

The truth is that he didn't care about Bam living or dying. They were strangers.

What he cares about is his life going forward and how it would impact him.

Since Bam died, what next? Does it mean he will need to take up Bam's role?

But without special powers and Bam's plot armor, could he do it?

'No… But did I not swallow all that was Bam back then?'

Isaac clearly remembered that in his wish he heavily emphasized a limitless potential for growth of his new body. Perhaps this is what this devouring Grail-like power of his was about.

In addition, wasn't his Luck/Fate statistic also at EX?

With those, couldn't he also fill Bam's role?

'It's very sudden and because of it, it feels uncomfortable. But if I have the tools to take up Bam's role… Then I don't mind at all. I don't mind… becoming the fated avenger, the protagonist of this world, and a God.'

Thinking this, a small smile formed on Isaac's lips.

From the start, even though he was not the 'main character' of this world and accepted his role as an intruder, he still had the desire to become the strongest. It was a desire that he had nurtured in himself for a long time.

If he could inherit all that was intended for Bam instead of searching for desperate ways to somehow just keep up with him, what happened would naturally only help him with this wish.

On top of his own efforts and powers, he might receive the Thorn fragments of the Administrator, the Blue Thryssa, the Red Thryssa, White's complete power, the Leviathan and so on… With Bam's death, all of that could be his. Instead of cutting corners just to keep up, he could truly become a supreme existence in this world.

Thinking of this, Isaac laughed in his heart.

"Isaac?"

Hearing Khun's voice, Isaac restrained his expression and shook his head. He let out a sigh, looked at Khun and asked, "So you're saying that Bam is… completely gone?"

Khun pursed his lips, then nodded. "Yes. Isaac… I don't want to blame you, but... What was it that you did to Bam?"

Isaac hesitated for a while, then slowly said, "I'm not sure myself. But it seems that I… swallowed his soul, or something. After he died."

Hearing this, Khun was silent. 'It seems he doesn't know himself what this power is. He didn't do it purposefully. He really is a very unique existence.'

"It's the first time something like this has happened," Isaac added.

"So the Yellow Turtle is a predator," Rak stated in a tone as if everything was clear to him.

Isaac and Khun looked at him.

After seeing these expressions, Rak felt he had to explain it to these stupid turtles: "Hm! A hunter chomps off the skin of the strong and gobbles them up to make their strength his! That's why I only fight strong enemies! A predator is strong by nature and feasts on the weak!"

"Feasts on the weak?... You make it sound evil," Khun quietly said.

"Evil? Don't babble nonsense, turtle! There are only the strong and the weak. The strong eat the weak, that's how it had always been," Rak replied bluntly and picked up another banana.

"Damn, you crocodile! Be more sensitive! Bam was his teammate and his friend!" Khun snapped back.

"But wasn't that turtle already dead? And I'm not a crocodile! I'm a hunter, Rak Wraithraiser, you annoying turtle!... By the way, do you have any more of those yellow things? They're good."

"Did you only come here to eat bananas?! Damn it, get lost! You're not even a part of our team! Here are the doors! Bye bye!"

As Khun began chasing Rak away from the room and the two argued, Isaac ignored it and thought of all that was said.

He did swallow Bam at his weakest, maybe also his powers, but what should have come with it was probably also V's soul.

'As long as I have this inside me, FUG will want me to be their God, huh? At least Luslec will treat me as his God. The problem is that because of that I might end up getting my body taken over instead.'

Isaac frowned.

Being the only protagonist was all good, but there was an even darker aspect to Bam's powers that he knew only thanks to reading the newest chapters of the manhwa. And it's that Bam from the start was created and raised as the vessel for V so that together they could achieve revenge.

As far as Isaac read the manhwa's story, V had only taken over Bam's body once and it was mentioned that it was temporarily. He didn't know whether V was meant to take over Bam's body completely or not.

However, in Isaac's case, when he isn't even the son of V but someone else who had swallowed his child, who's to say that V wouldn't simply prefer to completely take over his body?

That's why if Isaac doesn't have a way to prevent possession, it's possible that as the weak party he would be taken over in the future by V when he awakens - by the strong.

V was one of the demi-gods of this Tower, and might have mysterious powers of the Outside God. Bam was helpless to stop the possession even though at that time he already had the strength to kill High Rankers and various other powers inside him.

'I don't know how my absorbing power works and if it could prevent it, but it can become a problem…'

After kicking out Rak and closing the door shut, Khun turned back to Isaac. He reset his expression, slightly smiled and said, "Isaac… So how is your body after all this?"

"My body?... I'm fine. By the way, how long have I been unconscious?"

Khun slightly smiled and said, "It was just two days. You're lucky. There's a three day break after the Crown Game, and today is the second day of the break."

"Ah, I see. Just two days..." Isaac was relieved. It seems he still had some free time before the next test.

"By the way, you didn't wear any clothes below your armor apart from underwear, so I bought you a super rare Regular uniform from Evenkhell store! Check it out!" Khun said in a slightly cheerful voice as he pulled out some clothes from his Pocket.

"Ah, thanks…" After looking at himself, Isaac then curiously asked, "By the way, how did you take off my armor?"

At this time he laid naked in the bed under a sheet save from underwear.

Khun said, "Your armor? It disappeared by itself."

[I dispersed it when they were checking up on you, Master,] Mordred explained.

"Ah, I see."

Khun silently watched Isaac, thinking, 'I thought that his armor was only a set of steel armor to help him on the second floor of the Tower, but it actually might be something amazing, a kind of special Armor Inventory maybe. Not only this, but as a fresh Regular, he also has his own Ignition Weapon with a personality... This is simply incredible.'

Recalling something, Khun summoned an Arms Inventory and pulled out a black needle from it. He placed it at the counter next to Isaac's bed and told him, "By the way, Isaac, I picked up the Black March when the Crown Game ended. I also wanted to take your sword, but it asked me to leave it with you, so I did just that."

"Ah, my sword talked to you?" Isaac was a little surprised. So Khun already knows about Mordred?

Khun smiled. "Yes. I was shocked when I suddenly heard a voice."

[Yeah… I told him to leave me with you in the same room. I'm inside a sword now, but I can still fight in case of what ifs.]

"Ah, I see. Thanks."

Khun said, "No problem. By the way, was your sword the reason why you pressed the button back then? I remember you were shocked yourself that it happened."

Isaac slightly smiled. After thinking for a moment, he decided to be honest and said, "Yes. My sword was itching for a fight and pressed the button."

"Haha, that's just amazing, you know! It's only… too bad that we lost in the end." As he finished his words, Khun's expression darkened. He tried to avoid mentioning Bam, but he slightly slipped up.

Isaac smiled plainly. "It's fine. It only means we have to pass the other tests here. It could be interesting."

"Isaac?" Khun was surprised by Isaac's indifferent attitude.

Isaac let out a sigh, cast his guys downwards and faked regret. He felt little in regards to Bam's death, since it was something good to him, but still wanted to appear more human. He said, "It's only a pity that Bam died. I was so close, but I was still unable to save him…"

Khun saw this and regretted his earlier thoughts. 'I get it now... He clearly doesn't care about winning because… what's more important is what happened to Bam. In comparison, winning or losing doesn't matter. How wouldn't he be moved after Bam's death when he was asked to protect him?'

Khun said, "Isaac, you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to Bam. You did all you could. No one could have predicted this outcome."

Isaac didn't reply. From the start he attached himself to Bam because he felt he was useful; he wasn't completely cold-hearted, he felt a little sadness, but he hadn't grown attached to Bam much just yet.

Khun continued, "It was so sudden when Bam jumped off that anyone would hesitate. No matter how good you are, there was too little time to react. What you did also wasn't what you wanted, right?"

'... He easily believed me. He's really a good guy,' Isaac secretely thought. Because he simply painted his mask of confusion he felt with regret on the surface, it was easy for him to make it look natural. 

Following that, the two chatted for a while.

During the talk, Khun asked Isaac why he wasn't hiding his weapon in an Arms Inventory, but Isaac explained to him that he didn't have one.

At that time Khun lent Isaac one low rank Arms Inventory of his own to help him store his weapons. It was very useful to Isaac because otherwise he would need to worry about carrying his two weapons everywhere with him or worry about the Black March or Clarent being stolen if he left either in his room.

At one point, Khun invited Isaac out to visit the cafeteria where the two ate lunch together.

A few other Regulars were also in the cafeteria, but no one approached them. In general, Regulars kept a distance from them, seeming to fear them.

After taking a brief walk through the Regulars' area, Khun walked Isaac back to his room.

"See you later, Isaac. If you need something, call me over the Pocket."

After Khun bid him farewell, Isaac was left alone in his room.

At that time it was just shortly past noon.

'What's next?' Isaac thought to himself as he sat down.

'I would like to test the extent of my powers somewhere, but first I should take some time to make plans for the future. Hmm…'

He began to slowly sort his thoughts.

'Firstly, Bam is dead. He died during the Crown Game. And I absorbed his body and soul… I have to accept this change and move on. For me, it's a great chance! Without this I would have never fully spread my wings in this world and perhaps would have remained a side character...'

Next he'll have to test what changed or if he gained any new powers because he couldn't sense anything new yet; his abilities as a Servant at least didn't change.

[By the way, Master, I have a feeling that we're being watched,] Mordred said as Isaac pondered.

'Hmm?' Isaac raised his eyebrows when he heard Mordred's voice.

[I can't sense their presence, but my instincts tell me we're being watched. There are probably cameras in this room.]

Isaac casually looked around the room while acting natural. Once Mordred had brought this up, he also began to feel as if something was not right.

He quickly understood that there would naturally be hidden cameras on this ship and other spying devices. These cannot be sensed like people, but they would definitely be watched by Yu Han Sung and FUG.

Isaac transmitted back, 'Yes, I also feel that we're being watched.'

[Right. I wanted to leave Clarent for a bit, but I'll stay hidden. There are all kinds of powerful people here and it seems that talking weapons are quite rare. It's better this way.]

'... Well, as you wish.'

Isaac agreed. Just because Mordred talked to Khun, just because his sword could talk and slightly move, didn't mean that Clarent could also fight by itself, which is what Mordred mentioned him she could do to an extent.

Isaac thought to himself, 'I don't think other Ignition Weapons can do that. Anyway, if I'm now FUG's new God, this probably doesn't matter…'

[By the way, Master, that Yuri woman asked you to send a message to her.]

'Ah. Right,' Isaac suddenly recalled after Mordred reminded him this.