Chapter 6. Rak Wraithraiser, the Hunter

Rak continued scouting through the area for a worthy prey, but was rather disappointed.

The turtles that he encountered so far were mostly too weak, meanwhile the lizard girl and the sword-wielding turtle were both already fighting each other, while the lizard with her weapon even seemed a tad too strong.

There was one decently strong turtle that was just the right kind of challenge, but that guy refused to fight him, ignored him and just kept sleeping!

After shouting at that guy for a good while in frustration, Rak finally left that jerk alone.

After all, he would also hate it if someone was disturbing him when he's trying to sleep!

As such, Rak eventually decided to check out who was beyond that rocky mound which he warned himself about at the very beginning.

He wouldn't dare to fight that one especially powerful person, but the crucial thing was that he initially felt a mixture of powerful auras coming from that place.

Thus, Rak became very curious, hoping to check what kind of turtles were hiding in that place!

However, when he rushed into that area with spear in hand, ready for a bloody fight, what he saw was three turtles sitting down and enjoying themselves with food and drinks.

"What is this? A picnic?" Rak asked as he looked at the scene in front of him.

"Oh! A big talking crocodile. Do you guys know him?" The White Turtle spoke up casually as he glanced at the other two turtles with an annoyingly smug look.

Rak snorted coldly at that annoying turtle and introduced himself properly: "I'm not a crocodile! I'm the hunter, Rak Wraithraiser!"

"The hunter? So are you here to hunt us?" The White Turtle asked in a way that clearly didn't put him in his eyes.

Rak frowned and roared at this: "That's right! Hmm…"

He then appraised the three turtles.

First, he looked at the smallest Brown Turtle and immediately ignored him - way too weak!

Then he looked at the armored Iron Turtle and also skipped him - way too strong!

Finally, Rak settled his eyes on the White Turtle that annoyed him so much and frowned - around his own level, too boring to hunt.

As such, Rak's eyes turned cold as he looked back at the Iron Turtle.

"You, Iron Turtle, I will hunt you! Let's fight!" Rak roared as he presented his long red spear vertically, bending down and coldly staring straight into the armored turtle's eyes.

He had come here for a single reason of hunting powerful prey! Although that turtle was overwhelmingly strong, if he backed off now due to fear, what would be the point of him entering the Tower?!

"Ah, you want to hunt me?" Isaac raised his eyebrows in surprise, staring at the giant crocodilian.

He wanted to fight him, not Bam? But can't Rak sense just how much stronger he is?

By now, Isaac was forced to realize that even Khun was not his match at all. He was simply beyond the level of a Regular from the Second Floor!

And for Rak, he shouldn't be any stronger than Khun.

"That's right. I want to fight you and your weapon. Stand up! And FIIIGHT!!!" Rak roared loudly, sending spit flying.

The words 'and your weapon' reverberated in Isaac's ears, and he suddenly realized, a bit too late, that Bam no longer had the Black March. As such, Rak did not care about fighting him.

[Yikes! That gator got some tough vocal cords!] Mordred said.

"... Hmm. " Isaac pondered and then thought of something. Once Rak's roar faded, he presented him with an opened chocolate bar from Khun and said: "Calm down, Mister Hunter, have a Snickers."

"What's that? A chocolate bar?" Rak sniffed in exaggeratedly with his nostrils. He then grabbed the black bar from Isaac's hand, threw the entire thing into his huge mouth and chewed a few times, before swallowing. "Hmm, good. Now, let's FIIIIIGHT!"

[Eh, it didn't seem to work, Master.] Mordred commented.

"Well, the ads lied," Isaac muttered under his nose as Rak's mad roar nearly hurt his eardrums.

"Hey, stand up already and fight me, Iron Turtle!!!" Rak roared again, pointing his spear at Isaac.

[Hey, hey, Master! Let's just fight him! Then try making him your pet and mount, you should have the modified Riding Skill!]

Eh, what?

Isaac was stunned when he heard Mordred's idea.

Make Rak his pet and mount? Was that even possible?

"Stop dozing off, turtle! Stand up or I'll make you!" Meanwhile, Rak roared out once again, threatening to bring down his spear at Isaac.

Rak had already seen this before and had enough of it.

The turtles here are just too lazy! They are strong, but most of them only lay down and sleep or eat all day long, refusing to fight!

Isaac slowly stood up while looking up at the giant beast man with a cold look, picking up Clarent from the side.

"Haha, good! Let's fight!" Rak laughed happily upon seeing this.

At that time, Isaac stretched out his hand and stored Clarent inside the void, making it disappear from sight.

In truth, Clarent had only entered Invisible Mode, which was the modified version of a Servant's Inventory, but this gave the illusion of it disappearing.

Rak looked at this dumbfounded and blinked. "Huh? What are you doing, turtle? Bring out your weapon!"

"If I need to bring it out, I will bring it out," Isaac said.

Perhaps he might have been still wary of Rak otherwise, but his instincts told him clearly that he was not a threat at all.

The crocodile was stronger than the other Regulars he faced before, but compared to the White Armored Eel, he was nothing. And even for the Eel, Isaac still managed to slice it in half!

[Master, you're pretty cool!...]

"You're looking down on me!" Rak roared angrily.

"..."

"Well... This is fine too," Rak said after rethinking things. And that was because Isaac's weapon was too strong! "Then I will make you bring out your weapon! Now, Iron Turtle, take my spear!!!"

With a roar, Rak did not say anything more and suddenly thrust out his spear straight at Isaac's armored chest.

This kind of sudden straight spear thrust had amazing speed!

Isaac's eyes widened, but he followed his instincts and remained in place. Then, with a sparkle of crimson electricity, his hand shot out at lightning speed and grabbed the red spear's thick shaft just before the spearhead had reached him.

After catching the spear, Isaac pushed out with one hand, electric currents crackling along his arm to enhance his strength.

While still strongly holding the spear, Rak was suddenly flung back and was sent flying backwards for a few meters.

With a thud, he landed on his back with a groan.

Quickly, he got up from the ground, readjusted his stance and coldly stared at Isaac. "... You're a strong turtle!"

"Mhm." Isaac kept his eyes on Rak.

He acted cool and logically knew that he was strong, but truth be told he was extremely anxious during the exchange before. Fighting a giant crocodilian monster that wanted to skewer him with his spear. He was not used to this!

Meanwhile, Rak's heart felt a chill. He clearly picked a turtle that was too strong!

He can't win!

But what now? He had already chosen his prey! If he backed off, he would be too ashamed to keep calling himself a hunter!

Thinking this, Rak gripped his spear tighter and his heart filled with excitement. This is going to be the battle of his life!

This is why he entered the Tower! For this kind of thrill of hunting!

"Aaaaaa!" Roaring out madly, Rak charged at Isaac with his spear.

Isaac rolled his eyes. This crocodile had no common sense.

He prepared himself for another round. Hopefully Rak will understand the difference between them soon.

In the back, Khun watched this scene with a surprised and amused expression.

Khun thought, 'Isaac is even stronger than I thought. He's definitely worth keeping around. No, both of them are, both him and Bam… I still don't understand him, but his Bam is filled with mysteries. However, that crocodile really is an idiot. He's clearly not Isaac's match, but he still keeps annoying him.'

…

While Isaac was engaged in a heavily one-sided duel with Rak, there was actually another person secretly overseeing the fight.

That person was this test's administrator - Ranker Lero Ro.

Sitting inside his Light House, there were several monitors in front of him that showed the scenes of various battles. Among them was the scene of the duel between 'Anak Jahad' and 'Hatsu', the scene of 'Phoneskai Laure' sleeping on top of a tree and others.

What Lero Ro was fully focused on at this moment was the fight that involved the Regulars 'Isaac' and 'Rak Wraithraiser'.

Watching curiously, Lero Ro thought, 'This Regular 'Rak Wraithraiser' is not weak, but this boy called 'Isaac' is truly startling. It is a given that he has blood from the Ten Great Families, but even for a direct descendant of the Great Families, he seems quite strong.'

Lero Ro was filled with curiosity and interest he watched Isaac easily dodge Rak's spear thrust, parry it with his hand, then dash forward like a red lightning bolt to send a palm strike at the giant's chest, sending him flying back like a rag doll.

'Red-colored Lightning Shinsoo? Interesting. It's difficult to say from which Great Family he's from, but it doesn't seem to be just the Khun family. And he can already use Shinsoo Reinforcement to this degree, what a talent!'

Skills like 'Shinsoo Reinforcement' are usually only taught on the official floors of the Tower, because before that point those who are not true Regulars are not allowed to use sufficient amounts of Shinsoo as a result of their limited contracts.

But this Regular already learned how to utilize his Lightning Quality Shinsoo to use for Body Reinforcement only minutes after the tests of the Second Floor started! Rather than saying that he was a quick learner, Body Reinforcement and Lightning Shinsoo seemed to be the inborn abilities of his physique.

Lero Ro continued observing the fights while keeping note of the Regular called 'Isaac' inside his heart. 

'When I watch him, the feeling he gives me is not of a Regular from the 2nd floor, but more so a Regular from above the 20th floor.'

He had no methods to judge the Regulars' strength apart from just watching them, but Isaac was clearly outstandingly strong. He seemed around Yuri Jahad's level when Lero Ro had first met her.

'I wonder what is his relation to Yuri…'

…

Huff, huff, huff.

Rak breathed roughly as he got up from the ground again and supported himself with his spear.

He looked at Isaac in the distance and felt depressed.

This Iron Turtle was too strong!

Any attack that he sent at him was parried, blocked or dodged, and he was sent flying back each time as a result!

He was already flung back several times like this! His chest hurt, his organs felt as if they were mashed together and it even seemed that he broke a few bones!

"Hey, crocodile! For how long are you going to keep this up? You're boring," the White Turtle mocked him.

"Shut up, White Turtle!!!" Rak roared. "I came here to hunt strong prey! I will not give up, I will never give up!!!"

Rak knew that this fight was hopeless, but he still stood up proudly, ready to fight to the death.

Seeing this, Isaac's heart mourned. Can't this unreasonable guy finally realize that he can't beat him? He was already going easy on him to not hurt him too badly. He didn't want to kill or cripple Rak.

Rak's attitude was praiseworthy, but it was also utterly stupid. If he had bumped into someone else other than Isaac, he would have simply died a pointless death.

Apart from that, the matter about Mordred saying to make Rak his mount was just a joke. His modified Riding Skill clearly doesn't work on Regulars, and only on beasts.

[This dinosaur sure has guts, but he's quite stupid. If the enemy is too strong, it's normal to back off to fight another day. Master, why won't you just finish it?] Mordred also said.

Isaac thought for a bit and said, "Let's stop."

""Hm?"" Khun and Rak both looked at him.

"It doesn't seem like you're able to hunt me now."

Rak said, "Don't speak nonsense, turtle, I will hunt you!"

"No. You're not strong enough yet. When you feel you're ready, you can come and find me. I will wait for you," Isaac said coolly and slightly turned his body, faintly looking away.

Propping himself with his spear, Rak was silent for a moment, before he became stunned and then laughed out loudly: "HAHAHAHA! Good! What a good turtle!!!"

Rak's heart was filled with joy at that moment.

If Isaac had shown him mercy and had pitied him, then he would hate it and would even resent him.

But since that turtle had put things this way, it was completely different!!!

"Good! One day, I will hunt you! When I become stronger, I will hunt you, Iron Turtle! You are my prey, don't forget it!" Rak said loudly.

Isaac raised his left hand and replied, "Then don't die until then. And don't fail the tests."

Rak snorted as if in acknowledgement. He then turned and began walking away, leaving behind only the image of his proud back.

At that moment, Isaac turned his head to look at a masked figure that was observing them from a distance.

At this, the figure turned away and disappeared.

'Hm, that mask… Wasn't that the red-haired guide girl?' Isaac thought.