Tower of God - Climbing the Tower as/with Mordred (fanfic)

Rak continued scouting through the plains of the Second Floor for a worthy and strong prey, but was rather disappointed.

The turtles that he encountered so far were mostly too weak while the lizard girl and the sword-wielding turtle were both already fighting each other, and 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 would rather avoid fighting that one especially powerful person, but the crucial thing was that he initially felt a mixture of strong 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 held 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 in the first place?!

Wherever there is a strong enemy is his hunting ground!

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

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

As Isaac looked at Rak, despite his size, he didn't sense much of a threat for him; it was similar to when he looked at Khun. Rak was on a level far below him.

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

[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 when the crocodile began to shout even louder.

"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 lay down and sleep or eat all day long, refusing to fight him!

'I guess there's no helping it.' Isaac slowly stood up while looking up at the giant beast man with cold eyes.

He saw that Bam no longer had the Black March, so that's why Rak wanted to fight him instead.

Since it is like this, he must entertain Rak and beat him up until he realizes the difference between them.

"Haha, good! Let's fight!" Rak laughed happily upon seeing this. After a moment, he became stunned when he noticed that Isaac stood up without picking up his powerful weapon. He blinked his eyes. "What are you doing, turtle? Pick up your weapon!"

"If I need to pick it up, I will pick it up," Isaac said.

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

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

Isaac said nothing. It's easy for him to stay calm and cool when he's so much stronger than the other party.

"Actually, turtle, that's fine too…" Rak said after rethinking things. And that was because Isaac's weapon was simply too strong! He said, "I will make you pick up 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!

Even so, in Isaac's eyes it only looked like a lousy attack. As he saw it slowly flying at him, he didn't even move from place.

Then suddenly, he shot out his right hand at lightning speed and grabbed the red spear's shaft behind the spearhead two inches before the spear's tip had touched his chest.

After catching the spear, he then pushed out with one hand.

While still strongly holding his spear, Rak was suddenly flung back through the air for a few meters with great force and then landed on his back on the ground with a groan.

Isaac slightly frowned. 'Uh, I only wanted to make him fumble back. I used a bit too much strength in that one hand.'

In front of him, Rak quickly got up from the ground, readjusted his stance and coldly stared at Isaac from a distance. "What a strong turtle!"

Isaac was silent as he kept his eyes on Rak.

Meanwhile, Rak's heart felt a chill. After that one exchange, he already knew that 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 and prepared himself for another round. Hopefully, Rak will understand the difference between them soon enough.

As the red spear descended at his location, he bent his body and easily evaded the attack without a change in expression.

Before Rak realized what happened, Isaac suddenly appeared right in front of him and sent a palm strike at his chest.

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

Khun thought, 'What great speed and physical strength. 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 this Bam is filled with mysteries. But that crocodile really is an idiot. He's clearly not Isaac's match, but he still keeps annoying him. Does he have a death wish?'

…

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 Lighthouse, there were several monitors in front of him that displayed the scenes of various battles. Among them was the scene of the duel between the Regulars '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 beastman is not weak, but the Regular called 'Isaac' is truly startling. With his physical strength and speed, it is a given that he has blood from one of 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, grab the spear, then flung it overhead like a pendulum, raising the large beastman on the other side and then smashing him into the ground.

'This level of strength without using Shinsoo. Interesting. He doesn't look like it, but would he be from the Ha family like Yuri? It's only strange he didn't use the name of one of the Great Families…'

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

The truth is that had no methods to judge the different Regulars' strength apart from watching them fight, but Isaac was clearly outstandingly strong and he hadn't yet shown the full extent of his strength.

…

Huff, huff, huff.

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

He looked at Isaac in the distance and felt depressed.

This Iron Turtle was simply too strong!

Any attack that he sent at him was parried, blocked or dodged, and he was sent flying 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, Cocky Turtle!!!" Rak roared. "I came here to hunt strong prey! I will not give up, I will never give up!!! Wherever there is a strong enemy is my hunting ground!"

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! After all, he didn't want to kill or cripple Rak.

Rak's attitude was praiseworthy, but it was also utterly stupid.

Apart from that, Isaac knew that the matter about Mordred saying to make Rak his mount and pet was a joke. His modified Riding Skill clearly didn'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 gathered his thoughts and said, "Let's stop."

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

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

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

In response, Isaac balled his armored hands into fists and made white-crimson electric currents began to dance around his body.

'He's a Jeonsulsa! Tha't surprising.' Khun was surprised. He didn't expect that Isaac would also be a 'Lightning User' - a 'Jeonsulsa'.

Propping himself with his spear, Rak was silent as he stared at Isaac with red electric currents surrounding it. He blinked. He was simply at a loss.

This turtle was so strong, he didn't even manage to push him to use all of his abilities yet!

A Super Electro Iron Turtle!

Way too strong!

Looking at Rak, Isaac said, "You're not strong enough yet. When you feel you're ready, you can come and find me. I will wait for you."

Rak was stunned for a while, before he laughed out loudly: "AHAHAHAHA! Good! What a good turtle!!!"

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

He knew that he couldn't defeat Isaac, but 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 clearly, "Then don't die until then. And don't fail the tests."

Rak snorted as if in acknowledgement, then with one hand turned and began walking away while slightly clutching his hurting stomach, leaving behind only the image of his proud back.

At that moment, Isaac turned his head to look at a masked figure that he noticed 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.