Cold Cavern

Soft footsteps could be heard as Bam laid, with an exhausted body. Cut and bruised on every inch of his body, it was a miracle that he was even still breathing. This was proven when the footsteps spoke, or more precisely, the beautiful crimson haired lady spoke.

"It's true that stars can shine, no matter where they are"

Bam opened his heavy eyes and felt a thin bubble around himself burst, allowing the cold to ravage his body.

"Where am I? What happened?"

A plethora of questions swamped his mind, to the point that nothing made sense.

"You're awake?"

The red haired lady questioned Bam as he struggled to lift his body.

His limbs felt heavy and numb.

Bam found himself in a stone cavern, similar to the ones he had seen during the final administrators trial.

As his mind slowly awoke from its stupor, Bam immediately asked the question which had come to mind.

"Where's Rachel?"

A disbelieving look appeared on the red haired girls face as she questioned Bam.

"You are still concerned about that girl after what she did to you?"

Those words resonated in his mind as images flashed through his mind, images he wished he could throw away.

The person who meant everything to him, the one person he trusted unconditionally, had pushed him. Pushed him to his death and left him.

Her face as she shoved Bam off the platform was seared into his brain.

There was no regret and what seemed to be little to no sadness, rather a look of relief dominated her face.

A deep stabbing sensation pierced his heart as he desperately tried to forget it.

"Rachel pushed me?"

His mumbled those words before tears began to well up.

"You poor man, you possess power that others desperately dream of, yet-"

Before she could finish, Bam interrupted the red haired lady as he pushed his destroyed body up.

"None of that matters!"

His voice sounded raspy and weak, but the intent behind his words felt powerful.

"You could become the saviour of tower or the God of the tower, you have the power to do this."

Like the whispers of a devil, the girl spoke of grand positions to the defeated Bam. Any normal person may have succumbed to them.

Yet, Bams expression did not change.

"That's not it, I want to know, I want to know why Rachel did this"

His expression was pained but determined as he sat up.

"Then climb, the answers lie at the top of the tower"

Bam froze briefly at her comment before shaking his head in defiance.

"No, they're not there! I will find them, and to do that, I will climb!"

A small smirk grew upon the red haired girls mouth as she heard his words.

'He truly is different'

He was following along the dark cavern, putting his trust in the girl in from of him.

From what she had said, her name was Hwa Ryun and she called herself a guide.

To Bam, this meant nothing except she was probably the only one he could rely on to get out of that cavern. While it was true that she could be leading him into another trap, at this point, Bam had nothing to lose. 

They walked in silence, Bam focused on having his body recover its lost energy and stop the wounds from opening too much.

"We will be there soon"

Hwa Ryun spoke from up front, causing Bam to focus on the path in front.

From what he could tell, they had not been walking for too long.

'Wait... where is my pocket?'

With that thought, his pocket appeared in front of his face.

'I should tell Khun that I am at least alive'

He didn't want his friend to worry after all.

"There's no point."

With a disinterested voice, Hwa Ryun denied his attempt immediately.

"You won't be able to contact your friends from the testing area, you can try, but it won't be successful"

Bam tensed as he felt himself being read like an open book. Regardless, Bam continued with his attempt to contact Khun, yet no matter what function he used, it felt like his Pocket was offline.

"If you have any questions, I am certain they will be answered at the end of this path, until then, please be patient. This will be a dangerous path after all."

Her words sounded very ominous.

Bam continued to silently follow, after all, he had no other choice at the moment.

Hwa Ryun was the staff wielding fighter from the Crown Game who ran circles around even a Princess of Jahad.

In his current state, Bam was nothing more than a child. Even if he wasn't exhausted from the fight with the bull, he wasn't confident he could beat her in a genuine fight yet.

'Shinsu is helpful and from what Khun and Laure said, it can change the tide in a fight, but that doesn't help if I can't protect myself from getting slapped around in close combat...'

This wasn't a test, it is reality, fighting now would only cause more damage to himself.

The cavern eventually opened up with a bright light, something he had no experienced in hours.

"Welcome Bam, to the Tower"

Hwa Ryun spun around in a much more animated fashion than before.

Her smile was like a temptress, aimed only at Bam.

Sadly, Bam had no intent to fall for that temptation.

'I will get strong, I swear'

This conviction filled his very being.

'So for now, I will listen, listen to their raving about the tower so I can break away from it with my own power'