Chapter 5. Making allies

Isaac smiled at the younger boy after noticing his anxious expression and said, "Bam, how about we work together from now on?"

"Oh?" An expression of pleasant surprise appeared on Bam's face. "Okay!... But I'm not that good at fighting…"

"That's okay, I can do the fighting." Isaac smiled.

He wanted to say something more, but then went silent.

He recalled Evan's words: <By the way, on Evankhell's Floor all tests are monitored and recorded using a Lighthouse, so be careful of your words.>

As Isaac thought of what he should say next while watching his words, there were a few moments of silence while the two observed each other.

"Uuh… Mr. Isaac? Are you a knight?" Bam first broke the silence as he asked.

"Hm? Not really…" Isaac muttered. After a while, he smiled and said, "Well, let's say, I'm a knight in training."

He had only told this to Yuri randomly on a whim, but he felt he might as well keep up this roleplay. Him being some kind of 'knight in training' might make the timid Bam feel more at ease with him.

Bam softly smiled at this and said, "I saw the images of knights in a fairy tale book my friend showed me before. I didn't think I would meet one."

Isaac smiled back. He didn't think he would be one either. 'His friend… It should be the blonde girl, Rachel.'

Bam continued, "Sir Isaac, why did you help me? How do you know Miss Yuri?"

After a moment's delay, Isaac slowly nodded and replied, "Big Sister Yuri told me about you before I came here. She asked me to protect you."

"Ah, I see. Thank you." Bam smiled embarrassed. "It seems Miss Yuri helped me again. Sir Isaac, are you her relative? Are you two siblings?"

Isaac heard this and chuckled. He explained, "No, calling Yuri Big Sister is only a figure of speech. We're not related."

'It's just to make our relationship appear closer than it actually is,' Isaac's heart thought.

"Ah, I see." Bam softly smiled in realization.

"... Anyway, it's very lucky that we met so early."

"Yes, it's lucky," Bam said in a relieved tone, not seeming to think much about it.

Isaac was silent for a moment.

There's no way that their meeting was a coincidence, but whether it was fate or someone's arrangement was unknown.

Isaac then looked at the black needle-like weapon in Bam's hand and said, "You borrowed that weapon from Big Sister Yuri, right?"

Bam looked at the Black March, then at Isaac and nodded with an honest expression. "Yes. Do you plan to give it back to Lady Yuri?"

"Yes. She asked me to keep it safe until she can get it back because you lack the strength to protect it."

"I see…" A defeated expression and acknowledgement appeared on Bam's face. He then stretched out his hand with the Black March to give it to Isaac.

Isaac was slightly surprised seeing how easily Bam gave up his weapon and slowly took the black needle from Bam's hands. 'I guess he doesn't know just how valuable the Black March is.'

Looking at Bam intently, Isaac said, "Bam, this weapon is very precious, so you shouldn't hand it out so easily to a stranger."

"Uh, oh… I'm sorry. I… thought that…" Bam stuttered.

Seeing Bam's apologizing and worried expression, Isaac shook his head and said, "It's alright. I wasn't lying to you, so it's okay. It will be safer in my hands, so I'll keep it for now."

"... Oh, okay," Bam muttered as he looked down with an apologizing expression, inwardly berating himself for giving out Miss. Yuri's precious weapon like this. However, it was true that he would not be able to protect this weapon, so it was better for Isaac to have it.

[Master, did you really have to manipulate that little boy?]

Isaac was confused by Mordred's words. 'What do you mean?'

[Forget it. I guess it's just a habit.]

Isaac ignored Mordred's random rambling and began to carefully observe and appreciate the features of the famous black needly, holding it in his hand and feeling out the tip and various parts of the weapon.

The core of the weapon itself was very thin, even thinner than a rapier. The handle was squarish and very simple with the only thing attracting attention being an embroidered text near the end saying: 'The Black March'. It had no guard at all.

After a while, Isaac said, "Pocket Visible Mode."

Following that, he placed Clarent aside and took out a piece of cloth from the Pocket's storage space that he received from Yuri. She gave him this special cloth to hide the Black March's aura from Rankers.

According to his memory of the manhwa, hiding the Black March was not a big deal on the Second Floor since no Ranker dared to snatch it from Bam, and it was even a plot device, but since he was asked to do this, he planned to do exactly that.

Especially with Mordred watching him, it would only be weird if he didn't do what he was asked by Yuri.

…

Some time later.

'Gosh, is there anyone here worthy of going up the Tower with?...' Khun thought inwardly as he proceeded to nonchalantly walk through the area of the first test.

So far the people that he encountered were all either too ordinary or too stupid and immediately attacked him on sight.

Some of them he might have a use for later on, but they were not worthy of being his teammates.

'Hm?'

At one point, his attention was attracted as he saw two figures chatting while sitting together next to a rocky mound. It was an armored blonde man and a little boy.

'Interesting. They're not fighting. And what is that fancy armor?'

As his interest was piqued, Khun walked over.

Som, his expression showed surprise as he saw that the armored young man among the two slowly turned to look at him.

The surprising part was - it seemed as if this person already knew in advance that he was approaching, but through his expression it was clear that he was neither surprised nor worried.

And the most peculiar part was that person's appearance. He looked very handsome and unordinary, looking so noble that it instantly made Khun think he would be from one of the Ten Great Families like him.

At the same time, the man's entire body was clad in meticulous full plate armor. It seemed that it was prepared for him in advance to help him when he entered the Tower.

As the armored person looked in his direction, the younger boy that accompanied him followed his sight and was also not worried at all upon seeing Khun appear.

And what was even more surprising at that time was that the older one even looked… 'relieved' and 'happy' upon seeing Khun.

'Interesting. Did he recognize me as someone from the Khun family?' Khun raised his white eyebrows, feeling intrigued.

"Hey!" Khun called out to the two and he raised his free hand with a friendly smile.

"Hey! How are you?" The blonde knight replied with a smile as he continued to sit on the rock, looking back at Khun with an expression that he could even judge as 'relief'.

Khun took a few steps closer with a small smile while casually saying, "Well, this test is a bit boring. Everyone is just fighting without thinking. What about you two?"

After speaking, he looked between the two peculiar Regulars.

Among them, the armored blonde seemed strong, but the other one looked strangely weak in contrast.

At that time, the younger boy replied with a wry smile, "From time to time some people attack us too, but they all get scared after seeing Sir Isaac and leave."

[Heh! They see how awesome we are and run away. But the enemies here are seriously too weak! It's disappointing to see after that first test with the huge snake.]

Isaac formed a wry smile as he heard Bam's words and Mordred's whining.

So far all the Regulars that came up ran away after seeing him for some reason, so he didn't even need to lift a finger apart from killing that one giant monster on the way here.

But rather than sensing his strength, it seemed as if they lost their courage after seeing his armor, appearance and weapons, and judged him as someone unusual and probably strong.

Isaac let all of those people leave, since they might be favorable toward him in the future tests after seeing him spare them.

Either way, by now he could feel thanks to his Instinct skill that he was indeed far above the level of any Regulars here. The contestants he met so far on this floor didn't feel like any threat at all.

Even Khun, who seemed far stronger than the others, was not registered as a threat by him at all.

"Ah, I see," Khun replied as he smiled, appraising the armored teenager called 'Sir Isaac'.

Seeing how relaxed he was, that person should be strong and at least worth getting to know closer, there was no doubt about it.

Khun then smiled toward the two, touched his chest and said, "By the way, my name is Khun Aguero Agnes. I'm from the Khun family. What about you?"

"I'm Isaac," the blonde said without moving his body.

"I'm Bam, the Twenty-Fifth Bam. Nice to meet you." At the side, the younger boy politely bent his head.

'They didn't seem moved at all after they heard my family name. Instead, they look especially friendly. It's as if they didn't sense much of a threat from this, but thought of being allies instead. But the knight didn't say his family name, I wonder why,' Khun thought inwardly.

Putting these thoughts aside, Khun smiled. "You two seem quite interesting. Can I sit down and chat with you?"

"Sure, go ahead." Isaac smiled.

In truth, seeing Khun find them made Isaac feel very relieved from the start.

After all, Khun was a character important for the plot and certainly someone very useful to befriend.

For a while now, Isaac felt worried about what would happen with Khun and Rak now that he was there and wondered whether he should pick up Bam and begin searching the area.

"Say, Bam, Isaac, where are you two from? If you don't mind me asking," Khun said as he sat down leisurely next to the two.

"Huh? Well… I-" Bam muttered and then paused when he suddenly recalled Yuri's words.

Since ancient times, Irregulars have brought chaos and change. Because they have extraordinary strength, they are feared by others.

'I can't tell them the truth,' Bam reminded himself.

Isaac spoke up at that time, "Sorry, but I can't tell you."

"Oh… Alright," Khun replied with mild disappointment as he looked at Isaac.

Isaac added, "But I'm from a pretty isolated place, so I don't know much about the Tower."

"I see."

"Ah, me too!" Bam suddenly spoke up. "I mean, I'm also from an isolated place… Haha, it's hard to explain…"

Khun noted Bam's awkward expression that was extremely suspicious, but he still felt that both didn't seem to be lying and didn't want to talk about their place of origin.

'Interesting. Who are they? Isaac seems like a trained and strong Regular, but this Bam looks so weak as if he was an ordinary child. Strange. How was he even chosen as a Regular?'

As Khun was staring at Bam, pondering, Bam spoke up, "Um, Mr. Khun, did you maybe see a blonde girl with freckles around here?"

"Huh, a blonde girl with freckles? No. Why are you asking?" Khun asked.

"Ah, she's a friend. She entered the Tower before me," Bam answered.

'Right. Bam is still chasing after Rachel...' Isaac reminded himself. The whole reason why Bam entered the Tower in the first place was to reunite with Rachel.

"I see. Well, if she's your friend, then she wouldn't be in the same test as us for sure," Khun said matter-of-factly.

"Huh? Why?" Bam asked, confused.

"The rules state that acquainted Regulars cannot participate in the same test. You didn't know this?" Khun said, looking at Bam with a strange expression.

"Ah, so it's like that…" Bam muttered, and his expression turned gloomy.

Khun cleared his throat. When his words made Bam become depressed, his expression turned a bit awkward, and he began to explain further, "If the two of you entered around the same time, then your friend would be in another testing area. I heard that there are usually around three tests performed simultaneously, and they last for a little over a month."

"... I see," Bam muttered.

"So if she manages to pass her tests, you will meet her on the 3rd floor after about a month," Khun added.

"I see. Thank you for telling me, Mr. Khun." Bam looked up at Khun with mild appreciation, even though his mood seemed to be down for the most part.

And Isaac could imagine why Bam looked worried. Normally, for a seemingly weak young girl like Rachel, it was hard to say just how she would do during these brutal tests.

Khun smiled at Bam. "You're welcome."

By now Khun was forced to realize that this little kid called Bam was also very strange. At first, it seemed as if he was too ordinary, but in this place it was the opposite - he was especially unordinary! He looked too weak to be chosen as a Regular! He didn't even have a weapon and didn't seem to know basic things about the Tower…

Yet he was still here, and even this strong looking Regular Isaac showed unusual interest in him for some reason. Was it due to his kindness and chivalry, or was the boy special?