God of Combat: Prologue

Darkness was all that could be seen through the wide, barren caverns. Rocky walls enveloped a peculiar individual holding a torch walking through its depths. Strands of dark red hair, as vibrant as the setting sun, was the only characteristic that could be observed poking through the tall figure's dark hood; even with the minute amount of light produced by the torch. The only other features that makes up this tall (6ft) figure's appearance is a black scarf around his neck covering the lower part of his face, black combat boots on his feet, and a long black coat covering most of his body.

After some time, the individual stands in front of a large stone door, which seems to signal the end of the tunnel. On the door, there is a picture of a tall building surrounded by clouds, and reaching for the height of a sun that hangs over it. The strange door seems symbolic in nature, feeling as though it is a gateway into a completely different world. A place close to the gods themselves, should someone be worthy enough to enter.

The strange figure then puts his palms on the door and pushes onto to the smooth surface. As the door opens, a blinding light assaults the vision of the figure; lighting up his face to the point of visibility. Bright silver eyes, with stunningly young, handsome features make up the man's appearance. While no facial hair frames his face, anyone could pinpoint the maturity and confidence he holds through his gaze and physical presence. As the light engulfs the man's body, a resolved expression comes across his face.

"Finally." the individual said in relief, "I finally found it. Wait for me, brother."

—

[Headon POV, 1st Floor]

"Hmmm? Seems we have another 'visitor' entering the tower."

It has been some time since an Outsider has been deemed important enough to enter the tower. He will no doubt spice things up around here; the tower has been a tad bit boring lately.

With a flash of light, the new Regular appeared in front of me. He seems to be unconscious, which commonly happens whenever someone enters through the gate. Though, he does wake up quickly and is on high alert; if the look on his face is any indication. He carefully surveys the dark room with a careful eye. Heh, reminds me of when those 13 little twerps first appeared at my doorstep; especially Arie Hon with his long hair. This outsider's hair is more eye-catching however.

Oh? Haven't noticed me yet, have you? I don't blame him though; my stealth skills are top-notch if I do say so myself. Hmm, quite an interesting appearance he has. Handsome, tall, and overall an attractive guy, by human standards anyway. Based on first looks, he is definitely a lot more mature and experienced than the last outsiders that came through here. Hmmm, his affinity with shinsu also seems to be high; it's reacting well to his presence. We might have a future monster on our hands, similar to other Outsiders that came in here.

After my quick evaluation of the Outsider, he finally looks in my direction. Though he appears to be surprised by the time he figures out my location, but he quickly gets into a combat stance, ready to defend himself. Seems to be a cautious individual from what I see.

"What the hell are you? You monster." The redhead spoke with venom lacing his voice. However, the language is very different from the normal Macsethian spoken in the tower; it's a language different from the 13 Warriors when they first arrived. I've never been called a monster before though. While I can be quite devious, monster just sounds harsh. Oh well, to each their own.

"I am merely a simple Guardian(!) who follows the will of the tower, you're the outsider here," I said, while matching the language he's using so he can understand me: perks of being a Guardian. The outsider narrows his eyes, and surveys his surroundings a second time, as if he's trying to solve the puzzling situation he finds himself in. I do not know the specifics of him entering the tower, but it's a bit strange for this Outsider to be this hostile towards me. Did I scare him at some point? I don't think I did anything, but he could just be distrustful towards new people. Meh, wouldn't be the first time such a problem occurred. He'll just have to deal with it for now.

"Welcome to the tower, young man. My name is Headon, the Guardian of the first floor, and the caretaker of the tower. What is your name?"

The redhead took a moment to ponder something, possibly my question, then slowly lowered his guard, and answered calmly, "My name is Jun."

(pronounced: Joon)

The man spoke in resignation while answering my question. He has a deep, masculine voice; one fitting for a battle-hardened warrior.

"Nice to meet you, young Jun. Now, what's your reason for coming into the tower? We don't get many visitors like you here."

The human in front of me seems to finally remember something, and asked in slight desperation: "Will my wish be granted if I make it to the top of this tower?"

Interesting, the first person who actually has some knowledge of the Tower before he came inside.

"Anything you desire, is at the top. Whether it is dutiful honor, endless wealth, unimaginable power, satisfying revenge, or even something that transcends them all; they can all be achieved if you climb the Tower."

Jun takes a moment to digest my words. He then responds with: "Can I raise the dead if I reach the top?"

Oooh? That is a first. Must be someone important to him if he came to this place just to bring them back from death. Also, from his tone, this must be one of his last options to revive this person; I can practically smell the desperation coming off of him. Surprising considering how mature he felt at first glance.

"Many things are possible within the tower, young warrior. The real question is: what are you willing to do to achieve your goal?"

He immediately replies: "I've come this far already; I'll do anything to bring him back."

I smirk. With that steel gaze in his eyes, I'm confident he will reach unimaginable heights. Jahad and the Ten Family Heads better prepare themselves; things are about to get interesting.

"Excellent! To climb the Tower, each floor has a test that you must pass in order to move up to the next Floor. These tests are to determine those with the proper skills and capabilities needed to continue climbing the tower. Each floor's test increases in difficulty the higher you climb, and the tests are determined and supervised by the Test Administrators and Directors of each floor. Those who climb the Tower are called 'Regulars,' and those who reach the 'top' are referred to as Rankers. Any questions so far?"

Jun looks at me for a moment, thinks for a second, then shakes his head.

"Good! Even though Guardians originally gave out the tests for each floor, with the Jahad Empire being built, that job now goes to the Rankers who now make up the Testing Administration that lies on each floor. This organization is mainly run by the Empire. Since I like you, If you manage to pass my test, I will tell you some more information if you like. Any problems?"

"I'll get more information anyway, so no questions at the moment," he replied confidently.

"Hehe, you sure have spunk. Alright! For my test," and I tap my staff on the wall behind me. "You must kill this."

The wall suddenly vanishes, and in its place lies a massive cage glowing with the thick blue shinsu that lies within. In the cage, lies a massive shinheuh, with a snake-body, spikes littered all around its black, steel-like armor that acts similar to skin, and six long, sharp fins protruding out of its upper body. Its head and beak is serrated, with four devil-like horns coming out of its head, and bright blue eyes. The ferocious beast is also at an outstanding length of 40 meters, yet still swims swiftly through the shinsu in the cage; which is large enough for the shinhueh to not feel cramped.

"The fish and animals in the tower are commonly referred to as shinheuh. This shinheuh is a species of white-steel eel called the Barracuda. If you manage to kill the Barracuda, I'll give you all you need to journey up the Tower, and send you to the next Floor. Pretty simple, right?"

What isn't so simple however is how dangerous the Barracuda is. It's actually the most aggressive out of the white-steel eels, and one of the species' strongest variations. Even Regulars on the 100th floor would have problems defeating this beast. While I normally wouldn't give such a difficult test to outsiders, I could tell this one was stronger than the others that first came in here.

The redhead seems to analyze the large creature for a moment, then starts to slowly walk towards the cage. He completely ignores me in favor of approaching the cage. Well, I guess I have my answer. I open up a gap to the cage and allow the warrior to step inside. After I close the gate, the monster roars in agitation of its territory being invaded by Jun. The red-headed outsider however, just stands there; completely unintimidated by the creature's actions.

I smirk in approval. "You'll fit perfectly in the tower, young Jun."

The Barracuda proceeds to charge at its prey with blinding speeds in an effort to eat this intruder. Jun stands there until the Barracuda is right in front of his face and jumps. He must have a high shinsu resistance if he is able to move that well in such a high concentration of shinsu.

With his massive leap, Jun lands behind the Barracuda as the shinheuh crashes into the gate behind Jun's previous position. Jun, seeing the Barracuda take no damage from the collision, draws a katana from the sheath on his waist. I did not see that blade on his body or in his hands earlier. As a matter of fact, he didn't have any weapons on his body; I would easily notice, even with that coat he has on. Where did he get that?

Jun then blitzes towards the large eel before it can get its bearings, while throwing kunai at its armor-like skin; with so much force, the wind curls around the tip of the kunai. The kunai merely bounces off of the armor, leaving only light scratches; even with the insane amount of force Jun threw them with. He is undeterred however, and stabs at the Barracuda after a short jump; causing the ground to crater under him.

*CLANG.*

The sword meets the steel skin with unimaginable force provided from the powerful jump; piercing through it with added pressure from Jun.

*FWOOSH.*

Jun lands on the skin and starts running at high speeds towards its head while dragging the sword through the skin.

*SSSHHKK.*

Only a small amount of blood pops out of the long gash on the Barracuda's back.

All of this happened before the Barracuda could even recover from smashing into the gate. Very impressive speed and power. Unfortunately, he'll have to do better than that if he wants to severely injure the Barracuda.

When Jun finally reaches the head of the Barracuda, it flails wildly in pain. Jun responds by jumping off its head towards the ceiling. The Barracuda then finally get its bearings and charges up towards Jun. At this point, Jun reaches the ceiling, and uses it as a foothold to crash downwards towards the Barracuda.

*BOOM.*

The force from his jump leaves a large crater on the ceiling.

The Barracuda sees Jun coming towards it, so the Barracuda opens its mouth; ready to devour the redhead. Jun, however, starts spinning with his katana whie in mid-air. By the time he reaches the Barracuda, he gathered enough momentum to deal significant damage to its neck, after spinning around its mouth to avoid being eaten.

*SWOOSH.*

*SCHLLK.*

"*ROOOAAARRR.*"

I could hear the Barracuda roar in anger because of its new injury by the time Jun lands on the ground. Now the Outsider is about to see the true danger of the Barracuda.

With pain and anger fueling its movement, the giant shinheuh's eyes go red, and it charges at Jun, significantly faster than before. A look of surprise flashes his face for a mere instant, before he jumps into the air; similar to the first time the Barracuda charged at him.

This time however, the Barracuda whips its sharp tail at him while Jun's in midair, but Jun manages to deflect the sharp appendage with his katana; only to have a raging Barracuda near his face in an instant. Jun, however, disappears in a flash of light when he sees the Barracuda that close to him. Hmmm?

I look around the cage for a second, and finally see Jun. He's standing next to one of the kunai he threw at the Barracuda earlier. How did he get there? This is the first time I have seen an outsider use such an ability when they've just entered the tower. Not only that, but there was absolutely no shinsu manipulation involved in whatever technique he just used. This outsider just keeps surprising me.

The Barracuda also looks confused, searching sporadically for its prey. Blood soars through the air through the grievous wound on its neck, reminding the beast of the pain inflicted by the annoying little redheaded creature. By the time it finally sees Jun, a powerful kick meets its face, sending the Barracuda flying across the cage. When Jun kicked the beast, I notice his body glow white for just a split second.

*WHOOSH.*

As the beast flows through the air, Jun pulls out ten kunai, and flings them in the Barracuda's direction.

*FLASH.*

When the kunai surround the shinheuh 's head while in midair, Jun's body is engulfed in a flash of light, and appears above the Barracuda, next to one of the thrown kunai; his katana in position to attack.

I see, he can instantly teleport to any kunai that he possesses, even while the kunai is in motion. Only I can teleport freely within the Tower as the Tower's Guardian, so I wonder exactly how his ability works. The only other way for people to teleport in the tower are usually technology, spatial manipulation, or the help of a Guardian.

After Jun teleported to one of his kunai, he slashes at the Barracuda, aiming for the deep gash he left on its neck earlier.

*SSHK.*

*SSHK SSHK SSHK SSHK SSHK SSHK SSHK SSHK.*

Blood flies in every direction at the additional damage done to the beast's neck. Jun then flashes again to another kunai, and attacks again. He keeps repeating this offense until the Barracuda reaches the wall in the back of the cage with a large amount of force; shaking the entire cage with its body.

*BOOM.*

The creature then roars in pain:

"*OOOOOH.*"

*FLASH.*

Jun appears right above the Barracuda and starts to spin. With the momentum from his spin, gravity pulling him down towards the large shinheuh, and the previous injuries he inflicted on its neck, Jun manages to cut off the Barracuda's head. As he is about to strike however, I notice the same glow around his body as when he kicked the Barracuda, and a flash of orange in his sclera.

*SWOOSH, SSSHHHLLLKKK.*

*THUD.*

The Barracuda's heavy body, alongside its head, lands on the floor, making a resounding noise in the otherwise silent cavern. Blood pools all around the carcass through the large openings where the head used to connect to the body Jun stands next to the corpse; bloody, but victorious nonetheless. After he sheaths his blade, nothing could be heard in the 1st floor, besides Jun's calm breathing; as if he just got done taking a relaxing walk, rather than killed a raging beast.

*CLAP.*

*CLAP.*

*CLAP.*

Well, until I start clapping in appreciation of Jun's impressive display of power.

"Well well well, that was quite the spectacle you put on right there. To be honest, this test was a lot more difficult than what I would normally give Outsiders. However, you completely blew my expectations out the shinsu." I spoke in genuine surprise of his abilities. If he's this strong before he even entered the tower, how far will he grow in the future? I can't wait to see his growth.

Jun looks at me for a moment, seemingly used to others' compliments by the looks of it, and responds: "Thanks. Now, tell me all you can about this 'Tower.' "

I smirk deviously. Another star has entered the stage. The real question is: will he succumb to the tower's temptations like the other outsiders, or will he carve his own path through history? Only one way to find out…

—

(!)The Webtoon uses the translation: "Administrator." My story will use the translation: "Guardian," as to not confuse the reader with the Testing Administrators, who are Rankers.

IMPORTANT A/N:

AND DONE. Welcome, you beautiful people, to my story: Godof Combat. I hope you enjoyed reading the prologue, I myself enjoyed writing it. Also, how was the chapter? I tried my best for it, and would love some feedback for ways to improve in the future.

I don't know whether or not I am a good writer, but I will try to give my best for this story, and would appreciate it if you stayed around to see where it goes in the future!

With that out of the way, let's talk about my story for a moment. As you might've noticed, this here is a story set in the world of Tower of God (abbreviation: ToG). What you don't know however, is that this story is an AU of Tower of God, set 15,000 years before the main timeline starts. This is the main reason Headon uses the term "Outsider" rather than "Irregular," as no other Outsiders has entered the tower (that we know of) besides the 13 Great Warriors.

While the main characters from Tower of God may not appear here (Bam, Khun A.A, Rak), those who know of the youtuber Dr. Bonehead will find some future parts in this story familiar. You see, Dr. Bonehead has a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, called Towers and Gods (TnG), also set in the world of ToG, and set 15,000 years before the Tower of God storyline (you see where I'm going?) Yup! I am basing my story, The Combat God, off of TnG, rather than ToG!

Towers and Gods, for those who don't know, is about a group Regulars, played by 5 friends of Dr. Bonehead, going up the tower in order to achieve their individual goals and dreams. Throughout the story, you see them grow and overcome all types of diversity as they climb the Tower, while fighting their own demons.

If you want to watch Dr. Bonehead and his friends go through the TnG storyline and campaign, go to Dr. Bonehead's youtube channel, and the first few episodes of TnG should be on the home page. Bonehead also streams a new episode of Towers and Gods every Friday at 4:00PM Pacific Standard Time. I highly recommend going through the series, or just listen to it in your free time. It's a great story crafted by Dr. Bonehead, and a fun experience to travel the tower with such a unique cast of characters played by such lively people!

The discord for TnG also is a good place to interact with fellow fans of both TnG and ToG, so I recommend joining. There is even a wiki you can look up for information on characters in TnG, so if you're curious about someone you see in my story, there is a good chance they will be in that wiki.

I will put my own twists and interpretations to the TnG and ToG storylines, characters, and world for the purposes of my own story. However, a lot backstories and characters in my fanfic belong to Dr. Bonehead and the actors who play the main cast of TnG: Isaiah from AoA, Hannah Helwig, Son Wu, Joseph Ryan, and xXMiliosXx. PLEASE, support these people on whatever socials they have, and show them the love they deserve for making such a great and fun story like TnG!

Bonehead also makes some good Tower of God videos on YouTube, so I would especially check him out.

Moving on, it's important I talk about the MC for a moment. As you could probably guess from the title, I took inspiration from the short animation film "Combat Gods," which could be found in YouTube under the channel: "Jhanzou."

Of course, I couldn't just toss a stick figure into the world of TnG, so I had to get a bit creative in order for him to become and look like an actual person within my fanfic. Parts of the MC is creative property of Jhanzou (skills, parts of personality, and parts of backstory), but the MC is definitely a character I wanted as the lead for my story. Any further development for him done in the story is done by my own hands however, so please keep that in mind.

I myself enjoy strong (but not ridiculously OP) MCs, so writing about him will be fun. I hope you'll enjoy reading about his journey up the Tower, and uncovering his full past, which will be spread out little by little throughout the story.

I don't like explaining the backstory of a character, but past events is what makes people into who we are today. So to understand the MC better, I will show (or tell) about some of Jun's past before he entered the Tower. It's not essential to the plot or anything, so it won't be focused on much. As a matter of fact, I probably won't even give full details of his entire past, only the essentials for the purpose of the character and the plot.

—P.S, sorry for the long A/N, but it's important I give you this information, as other people deserve some credit for parts of my story besides the obvious ones like the author of ToG, SIU. Also, if you enjoy Combat God, be sure to leave a constructive review (no needless unproductive hate please) to help me improve my skills for the story!

For those who made it through the long A/N, here's a couple of sneak peeks for future events that will come later :) TnG fans could probably guess where these scenes would take place, and this also helps me keep the future in mind while writing.

—

"All of your planning, schemes, and strategies will amount to absolutely nothing. If I can take you on at this level, Regulus will no doubt kill all of you."

—

"You have this grand dream to change the minds of Regulars, yet here you are, in this pitiful little village, taking away the lives and dreams Regulars fought so hard to strive for. For what? To prove a point? To show that the system is flawed? To "help" people? To make others feel the pain and sorrow YOU felt when you realized how weak and feeble you truly are? How shallow and short-sighted for someone of your age."

—

"If there's one thing that I learned while climbing this Tower, it's that no matter where we are, who we are, or what we want: power will always triumph over anything else. Once you finally come to terms with this truth, maybe then you could truly move on from the loss of your family."