Chapter 35 : The Wave

Sho walked into the Odd Samson house, and once he stepped fully inside, he had a good view of the entire living room.

The living room is pretty precious with multiple white couches lined up, with a coffee table in front of it, and there was a 90 inch TV on the wall in front of you.

At the end of the living room, there was a hallway, and that hallway led to the kitchen that could fit at least 50 people in it. The walls were white, and there were silver tables sitting around the room, with the actual kitchen right behind it.

To Sho's left and right, there were multiple staircases, leading to different floors of the house, even leading to different rooms.

Sho thought, 'Sick.'

Sho started to walk around, inspecting the living room, and he looked at the TV.

'This TV is big as hell. How would it look for my game to be played on it? I checked my inventory before walking in here, and I still have my things in it. I guess they were automatically put in there once I registered in the new guild and new house.'

Sho walked in the large kitchen in the cafeteria area, walking past the tables, touching them as he walked past.

'Surprisingly clean tables.'

Suddenly, sitting on top of a table behind Sho, was Rudy.

Rudy grinned, "Like it?"

Sho jumped in shock, turned around holding his glaive blade, and dashed over to Rudy, putting the blade to his throat.

Rudy was still grinning, saying, "Easyyyy son. I definitely didn't mean to startle you."

Sho put his blade away, saying, "What the hell? Are you following me?"

"I was already in here, as a matter of fact."

"Yeah right."

"No, really!"

"Sure."

"I was!"

"Is there something you want?"

"I wanted to tell you this, for a few minutes now. I know you have something to do with this Tower of Valhalla. I wanna know what it is."

"Apparently I do. What does it matter to you?"

"Nothing actually, I'm just really nosey."

"Sometimes it's not good to stick your nose in places it doesn't belong."

"My grandfather said those same wise words. But does the name Akio Takahashi ring a bell?"

Sho gasped silently, "My grandmother.."

"Ooo that's your grandma? Sweet."

"How do you know her?"

"Well, I AM from earth, ya know? The name Akio Takahashi has been spoken for quite some time. Many rumors were surrounding her name."

"What kind of rumors?"

"Stuff like she's been inside the Tower and made it out alive. Or that she's never been in the tower but knows the people who made it. People came up with these rumors due to information given to them by a tribe of Zaiyen's. Even some of the tribe members believed these rumors. Even though they believed different things, they all had one goal: which was to find out the origins of the Tower."

"Why was my grandmother involved with some random tribe people?"

"Only thing a few people know is that they followed her like a cult leader. That's pretty much all I know. I was invested in it for like a month, then gave up because it didn't lead anywhere. I had friends who were some dweeb history nerds."

"And you're telling me this..because..?"

"Please.."

"Hm?"

Rudy got down from the table with his head down, and he got close to Sho.

Rudy grabbed Sho's shoulders, and he whined with puppy eyes, "Pleaseeeee tell me anything you hear about your family and the tower! Pleaseeee!"

Sho stepped back, "Get offa me, freak! Why should I tell you? You're probably a bad guy!"

"We already established I was a good guy who would have an epic ass betrayal scene! But me and my earthly friends have been studying these things! Please!"

Sho thought, 'This guy..a grown ass man..is begging me to tell him secrets of the Tower and my family, anything I hear or see it seems. Hell, even I don't know everything. All I know is that I met my grandmother in my head, and she made me a Conqueror, whatever the hell that exactly is. And that my family has a family goal, in which the chosen Takahashi Conqueror has to complete. And I know that the Takahashi's slaughtered Sun Rukong's entire world.'

Sho sighed to Rudy, "You won't stop whining, will you?"

Rudy nodded up and down.

Sho continued, "If it'll shut you the hell up, I'll only tell you minor things. Not the major things. Deal?"

"That's good enough!"

"Why are you interested anyway?"

"Whatever I find cool, I take interest in. I used to love space and the entire Galaxy system and how it works, and I studied that ever since I was a kid, until the Tower of Valhalla was brought up. I like to study cool shit, so I can be in a museum one day saying, 'Rudy was the first one to find out the origins of the Tower of Valhalla!' How does that sound?"

"Uh.."

"I know I know, it sounds cringe at first, but it'll catch on eventually. Then I would be known for doing something positive at least."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Back on earth, I was a bounty hunter."

"Lame."

"Not the boring law abiding kind of guy, but a literal bounty hunter, who worked for bad guys. I go to mob bosses' houses, beat them up until they are close to dying, and demand money from them to give to my temporary boss that hired me for just that job."

"Mob bosses houses? And you didn't get shot?"

"Oh yeah a lot. It's not like I walked in there naked, haha. I never killed anyone, I simply beat the shit out of everyone. Fighting was all I was ever good at, and I had a record, so I couldn't land a decent job anywhere. With my parents kicking me out, despising me, and not claiming me, I had nowhere to go."

"So you want to climb to the top of the tower to.."

"To prove to my parents I'm actually worth a damn. Yeah, I made mistakes in the past, assaulting people. Oh yeah! And I was a stand up comedian at one time."

"Oh shit, a stand up comedian? What happened there?"

"A guy in the crowd insulted me through my whole set, and I beat him up in front of his girlfriend."

"Maybe because your jokes barely land."

"T-THAT'S NOT TRUE! Anyway, I've been working on my anger issues, my goal is to be better at controlling it and not acting out of impulse. I'm always trying to lighten the mood to keep myself from slipping into darkness."

"Cool."

"COOL?!"

"What do you want me to say to all that?"

"HAHHH?! SOMETHING LIKE, 'DAMN RUDY, YOU'RE LIKE, ACTUALLY A BADASS!' OR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THAT!"

"You should know I suck at trying to talk deep shit with people. That's why I don't usually partake in it. It's a waste of time on my end. But at least now I know you're not a one dimensional cardboard cutout."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Tch. I don't know. Later, freak."

Sho walked out of the cafeteria, shutting the door behind him.

Rudy stood there, thinking, 'Interesting indeed. What actually goes on in his head?'

Sho started to walk down the hallway, and saw Kell and May's room, in which both of their separate rooms were beside each other.

'Of course their rooms are beside each other,' Sho thinks.

Sho started to walk up a nearby staircase, going two steps at a time. When he reached the top of it, there was another living room in front of him that looked identical to the room on the first floor, but the walls were red, and there was no kitchen. To the left and right, there were hallways with bedrooms.

Sho thought, 'Ain't this a bitch. I feel like I'm looping all over this house. It looks good though. I'm going to find a room.'

Sho started to walk down the hallway, and he looked at the doors to the right of him.

The doors already had names on them, in which those names showed that the Fighters in the guild had already claimed them.

Sho said, "Bebop..Gideon..Kaiju.."

Those were the only bedrooms on that floor, and so he walked up another pair of stairs, going to the third floor.

The room on the third floor looked the exact same as the living room, but with blue walls.

Sho thought, 'Again. And again. Wonder what's on the fourth floor.'

Sho walked down the hallway on that floor, looking at each room.

The doors said:

-Rudy

-Darthen

And then there was an extra room at the end that hasn't been claimed.

Sho walked to that room, and he opened the door, walking inside.

The bedroom was also pretty spacious, with the walls being pure white, with two large windows, a large king size bed near the wall, a large TV hanging on the wall, and a large closet beside the TV.

Sho walked around the bedroom, softly touching everything.

Sho almost got emotional, remembering how he used to sleep outside in warehouses, dumpsters, and abandoned houses.

Sho held it in, saying, "You seein' this, Red?"

Red spiritually came out of Sho's back, standing on the floor, and he sniffed around.

Red said, "A lot of room. A lot of places for me to shit."

"Not happening, mutt. You're a familiar, do you bastards even take shits?"

"If I eat a lot while using my growing power, then yes. But I wouldn't poop out literal shit, I would poop out residue energy from my power."

"That's..confusing."

"It's pretty simple."

"Whatever. You think all the rooms look like this?"

"Probably."

"..I'm taking it. Man..it's been awhile since I had my own room."

"Oi..don't go crying on me, brat."

"Shut up, mutt. Or no food."

"Oi Hold up! I need food as energy for me to use my powers more often! As well as resting inside of you!"

A holographic screen appeared in front of Sho, and there was white text in front of it, saying: *Would you like to claim this guild room? Yes - No.*

Sho thought, 'They're even giving me a yes or no option.'

Sho tapped on the yes option, and the walls began to start turning red and black in a camo design, and red and black camo curtains appeared over the large windows, and the bed had red and black camo on the blankets and pillows and sheets.

Sho and Red said together, "Whoa.."

Red said, "This room definitely suits our aesthetic."

"You mean mine."

"Huh? It's not like red and black is your favorite color…is it?"

"It is."

"Hmph."

"I'm about to go check out the fourth floor. Later, mutt."

Red ran to the bed, and hopped on top of it, getting comfortable.

"Don't mind if I rest here, do you?" Red asked.

Sho replied, "Don't shit or piss in my new bed, dumbass."

"Just because you said that, I just might. Where's the remote for this television?"

Sho walked out the room, and he started walking up another set of stairs that led to the fourth floor.

Once he reached the top of it, it looked completely different from the other floors. It was like a large rectangle shaped room, and there were bean bag chairs, game systems, and TV's all over the wall, and foosball tables and hockey tables. There were doors on the wall, in which those doors led to the movie room, a small library, and a boys and girls hot spring. And they were all labeled.

Sitting in bean bags chairs, was Bebop and Gideon, and they were playing a fighting game on the TV.

Bebop exclaimed, "Woo hoo! I'm winning, Gideon! Oi, big brother Sho! I'm beating Gideon!"

Gideon laughed, "You sure are!"

Gideon was actually beating Bebop, and his game character had way more health than Bebop's.

Sho was about to call it out, but he decided to keep quiet.

Sho looked at another bean bag, and he saw May sitting in it, on her phone, and drinking a soda.

May looked over at Sho, and they stared at each other.

May said, "Well well well."

Sho replied, "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Sho thought, 'This is a girl I'm talking to. Don't be awkward, start a conversation.'

Sho said to May, "Weird as hell that your brother picked his room to be right beside yours."

"Tell me about it. He may be strong or whatever, but he's overprotective. Just like how our dad was."

"Oh?"

"Seriously, my dad would never let me go out with friends. He was paranoid as hell."

"What happened to him? You keep saying 'was'."

"Oh, he's dead. Along with our mother."

"Shit.."

"But I don't think about it too much. I'm an emotional and edgy bitch sometimes, ya dig?"

"I guess."

"Also.."

"Hm?"

May stood up off of her bean bag chair,

and she asked Sho, "Wanna do a raid with me?"

"A raid?"

"I mean, are you scared? Are you chicken or something?"

"No fucking way in hell I'm scared. You must be delusional."

"You stuttered once I asked, it seems like your kinda pussified."

"I'm not, dumbass. Fine, I'll do a raid with you. But if we're going outside, I need to get some things first."

"We'll do the raid tomorrow morning."

"Wouldn't your dumbass brother be mad at you?"

"Do you care?"

"Not really unless me and him fight to the death over something stupid."

"Then I don't care. Ain't nothing more enticing than going to a class B raid. Be up bright and early."

May started to walk out of the room, leaving Sho standing there.

Sho looked to the right, and Bebop and Gideon were grinning at him.

Sho asked, "What?"

Bebop snickered, "Big brother is going on a dateeee."

Gideon added, "Oooooh, Sho is growing uppppp."

Sho scoffed, "Y-You're wrong! Fools!"

Bebop and Gideon laughed at the same time, and both said, "Sureeee. Have funnnn."

"Tch!"

Sho stomped out the room, and leaned against the wall.

Sho just remembered that he gained 50,000 Fighter points from killing Rukong. Sho didn't want to think about how he won, at all.

Sho lifted up his wrist watch, and the red and black smoky holographic screen popped up, and Sho went to his weapon stats.

Sho gasped when he saw what he saw.

Sho's physical stats:

Strength - 110/??? (??? = Infinite)

Speed - 100/???

Agility - 130/???

Toughness - 200/???

Energy - 110/???

Sho thought, 'Question marks..and it says it means infinite…when did I get this? Do other Fighters have this as well? I don't understand. Fuck it. It looks cool. I'm gonna spend my Fighter points on my weapon attributes, spreading them out to affect all areas. Hopefully I unlock new skills.'

Sho's weapon stats:

Attack : 20,000/??? (11,0000 points spent on weapon Attack attribute.)

Defense : 14,000/??? (10,000 points spent on weapon defense attribute.)

Power : 20,650/??? (13,000 points spent on weapon power attribute.)

*16,000 Fighter points remaining.*

Power Level : 15,000 (Class B)

*You have reached class B.*

'I'm class B now and shit I ranked up hellishly high! And on these stats too, it has the ??? as the limit, meaning it's infinite. This is insane..'

The system said: *Three new abilities unlocked. Black Hole : Create a red orb of energy around you to absorb your opponent's power energy and shoot it back at them in the form of the orb. (Limits to Black Hole: can only create seven black hole orbs at a time, and if each one is wiped out, it cannot be made again until 10 minutes pass.) Thunderclap: dash at 9,000 mph one time which will cause destruction all around you as black and red bolts surround you for protection. (Limits to Thunderclap: only can be used twice every 10 minutes.) Beast : Impale yourself in the thigh with your blade, and gain red and black armor that emits hazardous energy that only effects those who you wish for it to effect, with a red and black horn on your head that dramatically increases battle awareness and agility. (Limit to Beast: can only be used 5 minutes at a time. Cooldown, every two hours.)

'Now this is what the hell I'm talking about. I'm definitely gonna be testing these in my training room. But I'm hungry as hell. I'm gonna go out and get something.'

Sho turned to the right, and saw Darthen looking at him.

Sho couldn't tell what expression Darthen was making, since Darthen's face was covered by a helmet.

Sho asked, "What is it? What do you want? Are you just gonna stare at me or..?"

Darthen wrote in the air: "A red and black system screen? Really unordinary, I wish mine was decorated."

"Actually, I don't even know how it got like that. It looks cool as hell though."

"It does. Sorry for being nosey, I'm going to go watch the news or some good shows."

"Wait. Don't be sorry. And don't make me feel bad. I hate that shit. I'm about to go out and get food, just in case anyone asks where I'm at. And if they question you first, tell 'em to fuck off. Then give them an answer after they continue to want to know my whereabouts."

"I will do that."

"Don't tell them I told you to do it either."

"I won't do that."

"Good."

Sho started walking away, and Darthen wrote in the air: "I hope we all reach the top of the tower together."

Sho just looked at it, and he didn't respond, walking past Darthen.

Sho thought, 'Don't..don't say shit like that. Saying stuff like that..leaves room for tragedy.'

Sho started to think about how his mother said the same thing to him.

Sho finally walked out of the house, and the skies were looking pretty dark, almost.

Sho stopped as he stepped out further out in the yard…and Stacen was right in front of him.

Sho and Stacen paused for a moment, letting the silence commence for a few seconds.

Stacen says, "Sho.."

Sho replied, "You..what are you doing here?"

"I…came to join..thy guild. Odd Samson."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yes, sir Sho Takahashi."

"Why? And how did you find us?"

"Bebop texted me the location. Thy little girl informed me of the Odd Samson guild. I shall join due to it being difficult for me to run in solo, I cannot let arrogance overrun thy brain, a warrior and fierce tribe member of the northern tribe of Asteran. I came to thy conclusion that I cannot do things alone on this floor of peril."

"…So that's your deal. Where's that Raiden girl?"

"Raiden..she..has moved on to thy greater arrangements."

"She's dead..isn't she?"

"..Um..I.."

"No need to hide it. I've seen it before, heard it also. You don't wanna bring it up so you can stay focused on being content. I won't bring it up again. I know how that shit feels. And uh..I guess sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

"About that guild shit, talk to Rudy. I'm gonna get food from a spot that I wanted to try for some time."

"Bye, Sho Takahashi."

Sho walked past Stacen, leaving the area.

Stacen looked up at the Odd Samson guild house, and walked straight in.

(30 minutes later)

Sho was walking down the sidewalks, looking at all the shops and stuff around him, seeing all the city lights lighting up.

'Missed these views. I used to walk the streets at night, and at that time, I was finding places warm to sleep. Stores on top of stores, I feel rich, I feel like I can buy anything, and do anything I want. And for this fucking moment, I'm glad I got into this tower.'

As Sho walked, he heard rumbling, and he heard tons of chatter and yelling, and roaring.

Sho looked to the right, and he saw lights overheard in the sky over some buildings.

Fighters around him said:

"Is that a Wave?"

"Another Wave?"

"Which disaster level is this one?!"

Sho thought, 'A Wave?'

Sho asked the Fighter, "Oi, assholes. What's a Wave?"

They answered, "Do you seriously not know?! Wait..you're Sho Takahashi! You beat Sun Rukong, the class S Fighter! I hear your name everywhere, dude!"

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew, fool. Enlighten me."

"Waves are different sentient super giant monsters or giant humanoids that randomly appear in large empty areas! They are ranked in different disaster classes 1 - 4. With 1 being low level with power levels of 1,000 - 10,000. 2 being around 11,000 - 20,000. 3 being around 21,000 - 100,000 . And 4 being around 100,000 to 1,000,000. And the ones who cause the most damage on the Wave monster or humanoid will get the most magic crystals and one magic rubie. You know what those magic rubies are right? The rubies that give Fighters temporary perks. And if you get the most damage on the Wave monster or Wave humanoid, they drop you maps of exotic locations to other magic rubies. But all locations are guarded by something sinister."

"Oh awesome. I'm gonna go to it."

"Yeah go ahead and blindly run to it!"

"How would I know what class it is?"

"The same way you see other people's stats."

"Thanks."

Sho ran off, and left the Fighters standing there.

They commented:

"He's an icon to me."

"Ew you sound like a groupie."

"Whaaaaat? No I don't."

The Wave was happening near a beach, with over 50 Fighters standing on the shore, waiting for the Wave monster to arise from the water.

The Fighters said:

"It's best not to go in the water!"

"Right! This is a disaster level 3 Wave monster!"

"Stay vigilant, Parade guild!"

All the Fighters looked ready, and they sweated with the tense anxiety overriding them.

Coming out of the water, was a 90 foot monster.

The Fighters yelled:

"Here it comes!"

"Attack!"

The Wave monster was named "Tetraas Demon."

He had a glowing red scorpion torso, a snake tail for legs, light brown muscular khaki arms, in which he had large muscular arms around his body, large glowing red shark fins on his back, giant glowing red and khaki color horns on his pointy face, sharp teeth, and a long tongue.

Tetraas's tail and body was splashing water all around the place, and red energy was visible around him.

Tetraas screeched with a snicker, "Now then…! Which one of you humans and other worldly beings want to be eaten first?! Step right up!"