"Basically that's it." Endorsi concluded. Her eyes spied the Irregular to catch a glimpse of his reaction.

But unfortunately there was none… At least to the world outside.

'What kind of place have I landed myself in?' Mark thought to himself, as his eyes turned hazy at the heaviness of the situation.

Clenching his teeth hard enough that it triggered a dull sensation on his skull, the half-breed was once again stunned at the new information being given to him.

'This whole Tower is just one big hunger game.'

When the girl said she was given him an abridged version she really meant it. The tradition of this Tower was one of 'The strong survives, the weak perishes.' It had also answered the puzzle he had when he saw those corpses that looked to be quiet fresh, but definitely not some minutes old.

To think that all these people here reveled in participating in these kind of things.

That… How was he supposed to partake in that?

"So, what are you going to do?" The girl cut him off from his musing, prompting him to look at her.

"What?"

"This battle, it isn't going to end even if you say so…"

She pointed a hand at the crowd behind her. "Everyone has something they want desperately, maybe even you. And the rules of the test is a death match for thirty minutes. It's been less than seven minutes passed. Still nowhere near the goal, so what do you think we Regulars should do?"

Honestly, Endorsi wanted to use this chance to suggest a team-up. Nothing against her old teammates of course, but someone like this blood-soaked Regular was just too interesting to pass up.

His sheer strength was another scrumptious bonus.

But what had stopped her was his eyes. Endorse knew that the boy before her wasn't a normal one. Whether he was really what she was thinking was left for latter, but for now she just has one important issue to solve.

To continue the test. As unlike Mr. Flying man here, she was banking too much to fail this early.

It was too morbid to imagine a Zahard Princess failing at the test of the Second Floor.

'What the main family might just do to me, may just make death seem like a sweet release.' To make things worse, there was no way she could strong-arm the boy before her into continuing the test – just that earlier show of power had told her enough-

So unfortunately, she was on time constraint to cajole him to continue… But that appears to be unfeasible with each passing second.

'Ah… Hurry up and decided already.' She groaned at the indecisive look on the boy's face. Discreetly looking over at the floating Light House above them, the Princess wondered what the Test Administrators were doing.

Because there's no way they didn't see all this.

Mark's mouth suddenly felt dry not knowing what to say. 'Stop it, no more fighting, that's enough…'

He could see in some of the Regulars eyes. Desperation, insanity, each contained a hint of maniacal gleam that took only death to stop.

There was no way, he could say that, much less try to enforce that. Mark knew that his brutal execution was enough to keep the crowd at bay, but as every second passes by, he felt that it wouldn't be long that everyone gets pushy.

The son of Omni-man was afraid that he might have to kill again.

But what was he supposed to say. ' Alright I understand. Let's all kill each other.' Nope! His mom and dad didn't raise him to be that way. So that only left one option… That is knocking out everyone at once.

Not to sound conceited, but he knew such a thing was possible for him to do. None of the people here could even react when he gathered all of them, so to knock them all out without them countering was hellishly possible.

As that was much better than the gory alternative.

It seemed like the change in the half-Viltrumite disposition suddenly got the mob jumpy.

"What are you planning to do, Mr.?" Endorsi asked secretly anxious. Where were the Test Admins when you need them? The air around the blood-soaked Regular was disturbing to say in the least.

"Don't do anything rash." She cautioned warily.

For the girl could see it, whatever the boy was about to do will not end well for her. Subtly clenching her fist while trying to appear non-affected, the Princess of Zahard wondered if it was time to beat a retreat no matter how futile.

'Dammit!' She cursed, as her fist turned white from lack of blood. 'It's down to fight, huh.'

"I'm sorry," The Irregular said softly as he ascended the earth, looking apologetically towards the crowd. "You all have to fall asleep. It's better than what you were gonna' do to yourselves."

The gathering of Regulars prepared themselves for a fight, some ready to die rather than surrender.

Just as Mark's perception began to slow once more, from above him the floating box sparked to life once more with its eerie childlike voice.

{ Ahem. To all surviving Regulars, please cease all forms of combat at once. A change has occurred concerning the contents of the test.}

All participants halted their movements, Mark included.

Looking up, the half-breed narrowed his brows regarding the piece of news that was just given.

"Change?" He muttered. Sparing a glance at the oblivious crowd, revealed to the half-extraterrestrial that he too wasn't alone in the confusion.

While Endorsi let out a mental sigh of relief, she too was bewildered by what just happened.

'A change in tests? I don't think that has ever happened in this Tower ever since… The coming of those individuals.' She mulled. But still she wouldn't scoff at the reprieve being given. As she knew if the announcement had not arrived, she would had been among those eliminated from the qualification tests.

Puzzled mummers arose within the crowd, but still as the voice continued while they hastily quiet down to pay attention.

{ As of this moment, the Thirty minutes Killing Spree had been abolished as a result of some complication in numerical values. But do not be discouraged. A new test is at hand!}

Some individuals in the gathering let out sighs of relief, as that horrendous phase of the test was over. To be watching your sides, back and front while hunting was very tiring and nerve wracking.

But still that doesn't mean it was all over, that just meant that there is now another test. With bated breaths they all waited for the more information while wondering what it could be.

'No matter what, let it not be another form of killing spree test.' One of the female Regulars prayed to the King, while spying a glance at the being who was floating. 'Facing that guy, is just the same as saying goodbye to all my dreams.'

{ As of this moment, there are over 199 remaining Regulars. So listen well, for the new test will be begin now. All remaining Regulars are to form a Team of three, and for the duration of the remaining minutes, remove the other opposing teams until only Four Teams remain. The time starts now.}

"I don't really get what that floating apparatus is saying. But does that mean the slaughtering test is no more?" Mark asked the crowed.

"Yeah… Yeah that's right." Endorsi nodded quickly capitalizing on that. "It seems like there's no need to do what you were about to do, because this test does not require us to kill each other."

But she left the fact that while it was no more required, it wasn't exactly prohibited.

"So how about it, wanna' team up with me?" She slyly fluttered their eyes, seeking to make the most of this new chance.

Mark appeared nonplused as the Princess continued. "With both of us working together, we can be capable of acing this test. And I'm also better than these unknowns behind me. So what do you say?"

There were brash grumbling from the crowd behind the Princess, but she didn't care about their useless ramble. While this was not in her plans, with the both of them working together, she could already see it. Both climbing the Tower at a rapid pace, even overtaking the record of latest High-Ranker, the Zahard Princess…

'Ha Yuri Zahard.'

But what the unknown Regular did was not what she anticipated.

Turning back without word, Mark disregarded the puzzled sound from the small horned girl, heading towards the gathered little kids.

Even though they were four in number, it still felt unreal to Mark that Headon would actually chose children to participate in something that could may as well kill them.

No, not really, he amended. Recalling the air around the First Floor Administrator, made Mark to think that Headon might actually have the cruel disposition to do it.

'The next time I see that guy, I'm gonna' box his face in. I swear it.' The half-breed thought darkly.

Breathing out loudly, seeming to disperse the rage inside of him. Mark forced on a smile on his face to appease the kids. He didn't want them to climb the Tower if it is like this. Hell, the half-breed wasn't sure if he wanted to even climb the Tower.

Biting the insides of his lips, as his smile felt forced. He crouched, placing one knee on the ground. "You know I haven't asked this, but can you all please introduce yourselves?"

They all looked at one another, before a blonde girl with catlike blue eyes, dressed in a frilly dress and a beanie, stepped forward and placed a hand against her chest. "My name is Han Yue. A pleasure to meet you."

To Mark, her name sounded strangely Asian, and not to mention that her introduction felt a tad too mature. Maybe he was imagining it, but there was something in her mannerism that he was sure that when he was at her age he wasn't capable of mimicking.

A bit disturbed by that, the half-breed nodded waiting for the others to introduce themselves.

Sure enough, seeing that the introduction of the girl went well, they all began to follow.

"Hi, I'm Manny Star! Upcoming Ranker extraordinaire, nice to meet you!" A young boy with bright black hair and neon teal eyes dressed in a white shirt and shorts, beamed.

"I'm… I'm Laxus Redholt." The boy with an auburn hair and tired eyes bowed, squeaking. "Th-Thanks for saving me, Mr.!"

Mark ruffled the boy's hair before wincing as the blood on him rubbed against the kid. Thankfully the boy did not mind.

Winking, the half-Viltruimite said. "No probs, kid. That's what a normal grown up should be doing."

He turned to the last one, the little girl who was formerly trying to hide herself from the Regular he had just killed. His tongue suddenly felt bitter when he thought of it that way.

'Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! The pain will kill me! I don't want to die!'

Mark swayed as a wave of dizziness washed through him, causing him to sigh. It seems like his body would not let him forget his first murder that easily.

'No, that piece of shit deserves it. After all, what in the love of God could actually make someone want to hurt a child?!' He assured himself.

The cerise haired girl dressed in a black hoodie and blue skirt moved a step forward, presenting herself. "I-I-I am Jasmine…" Her voice said quietly while in stutter.

"Hey you, don't you know you're being very disrespectful." Han Yue interjected as she chided the cerise, pointing a finger at her. "He asked for your name, the least you could do is not answer so inaudibly? It's getting on my nerves."

'Ah~ so she's the prima dona type.' Mark nodded to himself about Han Yue. To the blonde, he said. "No its ok, Yue. Let her answer at her own pace, I'm not in a hurry."

The girl reluctantly nodded, while the black hair cut in.

"So your name, my greatest rival?!" Star asked the half-breed animatedly.

But then, Yue abruptly scoffed.

"Ha, rival?! Oh~ hoh, hoh, hoh! I wonder from what dreamland did you made that up. I can see it is really doing wonders for your brain." Yue sardonically said in amusement.

"Ei. Shut up, beanie girl. I am Manny Star! Upcoming Ranker, and I don't have to make rivals with your permission!" Star shot back.

Letting out a gasp, Yue said, "Beanie girl! How dare you?" From her shadow, something stirred.

"Now this is not the time for fighting kids." Mark interrupted, ruffling their heads. To Star he said. "I'm honored to actually be considered your greatest rival, Star."

"Really?!"

The half-Viltrumite nodded. "Really. As for my name, I'm…" He paused just as he was about to say his name.

To always be introducing himself as Mark Grayson, while it wouldn't hurt him as where he was is quite a different world literally. It still brought him a feeling of vulnerability, like he just had to be looking back for all that he has, is and will do. So for now, he decided to give himself an alias.

A heroic alias.

' You are ignorant about this Tower, both you and Baam. So why do you struggle, even though you know that you are not Invincible! '

Remembering the words that Ha Yuri said to him made him smile a little.

"Invincible… I'm Invincible. Nice to meet you all."

"Oh! What a powerful name, as expected of my greatest rival!" Star said with sparkles in his eyes.

'Invincible…' Laxus thought to himself, while looking at the blood-soaked Regular in awe. 'How cool!'

As for Jasmine, she blushed.

"Glad you like it, Star?" Invincible's face turned staid as he continued. "So I want to ask for you all a question. Do any of you want to drop out from climbing the Tower?"

"Huh?!" Was the collective answer from all the children.

"Drop out. What are you saying, Invincible?" Yue asked, bemused that he would even ask such a thing.

"While it is true that Headon chose us as Regulars to climb the Tower. To enter the gates is of our own volition. To give up now is just asinine."

'I thought that might be the case.' Invincible winced, but still persisted.

"I don't know what you all might have been wishing for when you decided to climb the Tower, but you tell me. Is it really worth your lives?"

"Yeah, I do. At least, I think it's worth mine." Star answered without any hesitation. The other kids and the half-breed whirled to the boisterous kid who continued on solemnly.

"There is something I want to achieve, and the only way I have to do it is by climbing the Tower. I don't care if it really cost my life."

Invincible narrowed his eyes, "Are you saying that even though there's a great possibility for your death?"

Star nodded, "You know, the worst thing that could ever happen to me isn't actually my death, I've made my peace with it. But what scares me is when there is a chance in front of me, and because of my cowardice I refuse to take it. For me, that's worse than a painful death."

Yue sighed begrudgingly, "While it pains me to agree with this loud mouth." Star's outrage look and the squawk he gave out was worth it.

"Invincible. Please do not insult our determination. We all knew what we were going into when we agreed to the test. I accepted the fact that I could die when I crossed the gates."

A haunted look flickered pass her eyes, but Yue quickly caught herself.

"So know this Invincible. No matter what, I will take this test, and I will pass it. While I'm glad you were able to bring about a modicum of orderliness to the test. But if you think that gives you the right to tell me what to do. Then you got another thing coming, sir?"

Even as she was saying that, Invincible noticed the slight quiver of her legs. For she understood that all this was just formality, because if he wanted to disqualify here, she wouldn't be able to stop him.

Giving a quiet curse, Invincible stood back up looking at the kids once again. Even Laxus and Jasmine had that determined glint in their eyes. But even so, there was no way in hell he was letting them participate in this bloodbath called a test.

"Alright I understand, I give up. If that's what you want to do, then I won't stop you." Invincible acquiesced.

"As long as you understand my rival!" Star nodded sagely, while folding his arms.

Invincible quickly raised a finger, "But!" He paused, as the kids all waited for the conditions. "It won't be in this test. You all will show me your resolve in the next one."

Jasmine was surprisingly the first to speak up, "What do you mean by that?"

It was only Yue that had a wide grin blossoming on her face as she understood what the half-breed meant. "Are seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting?!"

The half-breed nodded. "Yeah… You all are going to pass this test." Thumping his chest. "This Invincible guarantees it."

Laxus raised a hand that prompted everyone to look at him. Suddenly feeling bashful, he still gritted his teeth and continued. "Bu-But the rules said it must be Teams of three. We are four here. How are you going to do it?"

The hidden question behind that was, who will be the odd man out?

Before Invincible could say anything, Jasmine interjected. "You three should form the Team, don't worry, I'm sure I can manage."

Star sighed loudly, "Really? You look pretty cool. So why don't you join the Team and you, Yue be the odd man."

Throwing a sharp punch at the boy's shoulder who deftly dodged, Yue hissed back. "You are supposed to feel grateful that someone as magnificent as me is in your Team, ungrateful brat."

The black hair boy replied at her back by blowing a raspberry. "I'd rather be an ungrateful brat, than put up with you, beanie girl."

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The girl hissed balefully, while the boy grinned nonchalant. But thankfully that was where it ended.

"That's enough, both of you." Invincible said sternly, tapping lightly at the back of both their heads which still elicited painful hisses. Looking at the two kids who were busy rubbing the back of their head, Invincible had a sinking premonition.

That this wouldn't be the last time he would say something this.

"Jasmine agreed to be the bigger person to give you all a chance to form a Team, your Team. And what do you both do? You argue. Not really showing me any determination here."

With chastised looks, Yue and Star swerved simultaneously bowing at Jasmine direction, "Sorry." They both chorused.

Waving her hand mollified, Jasmine replied. "No, I did not take offence at all." She spotted Laxus at her peripheral nodding at her which she quickly returned while flushing.

"Yeah, I knew this might happen so…" The half-breed looked back at the fretting crowd, then at the brown girl who folded her arms appearing exasperated, before nodding to himself.

While Invincible would have wanted to partner with Jasmine, he knew that wasn't feasible. By God, if he had the choice he would have accepted being her teammate. But it might end up too dangerous for her.

Slowly, Invincible came to realize that he was somewhat an anomaly in the Tower. How? It wasn't exactly explained by Ha Yuri, Evans or Headon, but still to be on the safe side, he had to keep himself away from her team.

'What's with the pragmatic thinking process, Mark? No, Invincible.' Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he knew there was no time to dawdle.

Moving away from the children's, he went to the girl's side.

"So Invincible, huh." The girl hummed, "Catchy, but pretentious name, don't you think."

Invincible's brows raised. How did she hear that? While the distance wasn't exactly far, he and the kids were not exactly speaking loudly.

'So she has some form of enhanced senses, then.' The half-breed deduced. Begrudgingly, he acknowledge she might have perfect as a teammate for Jasmine. But there was something about her that did not sit well with him, so she's a pass.

"I've got a preposition for you… What's your name by the way?"

Endorsi eyed him for a moment before letting out a sigh. Well this was a great opportunity to check her supposed hypothesis. With a fake smile, she said. "Endorsi. I'm Endorsi Zahard, nice to meet you."

Without blinking, Mark nodded, "Invincible, nice to meet you as well."

'What that's that, not even an iota of surprise?' The Princess thought incredibly.

Endorsi had revealed her name, stressing the word 'Zahard,' to see how he would respond. Of course, when one insinuates to be a Princess of Zahard, the proper emotion would be one of total wonder and envy, even hatred would have been understandable.

It was a fact that, no one who did not know the significance of bearing the name of the King of the Tower react would react so nonchalant.

But this individual here did not even twitch in surprise!

Blinking at the intense look sprouted on Endorsi's face. Invincible wondered if there was anything that he said that was strange.

"W-What?"

The brunette hummed, before a sly smile bloomed on her face. Shaking her head, Endorsi replied. "Nothing~"

'He really might be one of them.' Endorsi thought, looking thoughtfully at the half-Viltrumite. 'An Irregular… A being, the same breed as the Head of the Ten Great Familes, and the King of the Tower.'

Her smile widened, 'How lucky, for me that is.'

"So let's hear it then, your preposition that is." She said adopting a serious tone.

"What I want is simple." Pointing back, Invincible said. "You see those kids behind me. For the duration of this test, I want you to play bodyguard for them."

Tilting her head to get a view at the children, who all reacted at her stare.

Yue, and Star faced her boldly, while Laxus and especially Jasmine looked to the other side when they caught her eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Endorsi asked in bewilderment. "You're seriously asking me to team up with them."

It was apparent in her expression and tone, what she thought of that.

'This is why I don't want to team up with you.' Invincible groused to himself. Shaking his head, he replied.

"It's not like I want you to team up with them. I'm sure you already have someone as a teammate. What I want is that you look after them just for the duration of this test. I'm sure you've probably noticed, that I couldn't find all of the Regulars."

The Princess nodded, that was one of the first thing she noticed when doing a headcount. There were only 197 Regulars here. Two were left, probably were still back in the fields, teaming up if they ran into the other, and trying to find a teammate as well.

"So you want them as teammates instead of me?" She assumed taking his silence as confirmation, then she pouted. "Now I'm not sure, your rejection of my offer in itself is not helping you."

"It's not like I will pick them as teammates, it will depend on what I see." If they were like the Regulars before him, he will probably deal with it later. Because while it seemed bizarre, there was something egging Invincible to look for the missing two.

The why? Was irritatingly silent as always.

Slowly nodding, Endorsi replied. "Alright, I will agree to it. But only if you give me one thing."

The half-breed eyes narrowed, "What?"

While he chose her because of how she held herself which strangely enough gave him confidence in her strength. If what she asks is too much, he'll just have to ask another…

The Princess of Zahard's eyes dimmed despite the brightness of the fake sunlight and her smile changed into something more manipulative, while she leaned forward while lifting a finger.

"One favor. I want you to do for me a service of my choosing… Don't worry, I get how you work, so I'm sure what I want won't go against your principles."

'My principles, eh…' Invincible dryly droned to himself.

The only thing she could get from all that he did was one of a demanding bastard, bossy turd, and a slaughtering maniac. So when Endorsi says it won't go against his principles.

The son of Omni-Man wonders. What principles?

'Well as long as it is not too outrageous.' Sighing, Invincible ran a hand over his face. 'Ha Yuri and now, Endorsi. I just hope I'm not racking too much promissory debts. Well at least, Ha Yuri's request isn't as vague as this girl's.'

"Ok, I agree."

Clapping her palms, Endorsi smile lost its snakelike edge.

"It's a pleasure Invincible. But there are only four kids, and from how you have been talking, it seems like you aren't teaming up with any of them. So what are you going to do about it?"

"Yeah, about that…" Invincible trialed off, turning back to the crowd. His eyes drifting from Regulars to Regulars, wondering who he should pick as partners for Jasmine. If possible he didn't want to use anyone from the crowd, but the rules of test made that impossible.

He wondered of the two he was about to go check, but again the irritating vague sensation told him that they were for his Team not Jasmine's.

From the Regulars, Invincible narrowed at a particular two –a tall man with an acquitted face and with a thin scar on his right cheek, his long orange hair was tied into a ponytail and he was dressed quite casually. The other was a woman with lime green hair who looked more pretty than beautiful dressed in what looked like brown combat garb only that it was freer than the one he sees back in his own world.

'Hmm… Those two.'

They both flinched when his eyes met theirs. While it probably wasn't much, Invincible noticed they do not possess the amount of bloodlust as the general crowd. Funnily enough, it was even lesser than Endorsi's who hid hers well.

"You two. The one with orange hair with a thin scar, and the lime hair dressed like a solider. Come out." He pointed out.

The crowd all began pointing at themselves, but the two he was addressing stood still like a deer before headlights.

For how were they supposed to react when the one calling them out was probably an Irregular coated in blood? They both were short of throwing a seizure right there in fear.

Was it their turn to die as well?

Looking at their reaction made Invincible wince, it felt like he was a high school bully –to people older who appeared older than him no less- raising his hand to show amicability, Invincible said. "I don't mean any harm, I just want to talk."

They looked skeptical about that, but the crowd was not willing to wait for the Irregular to take any action.

Like the proverbial Red Sea, a division was formed as the Regulars cleared away from the two.

"Why you, bastards!" The man gritted out, as he scowled at the Regulars beside him.

The woman surreptitiously looked around while the others gave her space with her face was set in indifference, but one could see the sudden film of sweat on her forehead.

"Well?" Invincible asked.

Both indicated Regulars looked at each other, twitching and nodding heads, as they engage in an unspoken conversion. An interjecting cough form the half-Viltrumite made them halt in mid argument. With resigned slouch and painful faces, they began taking measured steps to what they saw as their doom.

"This is too amusing." Endorsi chortled at the approaching Regulars, "Is this who you want as Teammates for the kid? While they both look kind of strong, surely you could do better."

"Combat power is not what I am looking for, Endorsi." Invincible half-glance at her then back to the approaching Regulars. "You wouldn't understand anyway."

The girl folded her arms, "Well Mr. Invincible, please tell this Endorsi, what you see in them."

Seeing that the Irregular didn't reply, she folded her arms, turning her head sideways and huffed. "No girl likes a high horse, you will do well to remember that."

Rolling his eyes, Invincible turned to the newcomers as he began with introducing himself. "I'm Invincible." He raised an arm for a handshake.

"Lin Claire…" The girl replied, as she took the hand shaking him briefly.

"Hoaster." The man replied, shaking the Irregular, while he calmed down as he saw there was nothing to worry about. "You really aren't going to kill us huh?"

"Well that depends…" Seeing their horrified expressions, Invincible quickly amended. "I'm kidding. Can't take a joke?" The half-breed asked in humor.

"If it's coming from a man covered in blood, then no." Hoaster replied firmly.

"Touché."

"So Sir Invincible. Why have you called us both here." Claire interjected.

Letting out a breath, Invincible observed the two before looking at Jasmine. "Do you both have any Teammate at the moment?" At their shaking of heads, he relaxed a bit.

"Good, I won't feel bad doing this. How do you both feel getting an automatic pass?"

"What?" Claire tilted her head.

"Unless you decided to be our partner, I don't see how that is possible." Hoaster shot in skepticism.

"Before you ask Claire, I am not going to be your teammate." Invincible quickly said to the lime hair who brightened at Hoaster's suggestion, and pointed a hand behind him. "Rather I want you to be her teammate."

Beckoning at Jasmine, he presented her to the group while she held his finger for assurance. Shaking his held finger as Invincible was afraid that he might hurt as he couldn't control his strength, the half-breed gave her an assuring smile before directing his attention back to the others.

"Jasmine, this is Hoaster and Claire, they are going to be your teammates."

"Surely, you must be joking!?" Hoaster cackled, "This little brat… Gah!" His mocking tirade paused, as his face paled snow white. The amiable eyes of the Irregular was glowing menacingly at him.

"… …!"

Suddenly it became hard to breathe as he swayed clawing at his throat to get a handful of air. A moment felt like an eternity before it abruptly stopped, collapsing with both knees to the ground, he greedily gulped down air, while baptized in sweat.

'What the fuck was that?!'

The Regular screamed in his mind. Everything still felt like a blur but what had happened still remained vivid. One moment he was laughing, the next he felt he was about to die.

He shook his head. No… That wasn't it. Hoaster felt like he was dead, those blue eyes overrode his entire soul sucking his psyche into its dark abyss. It held such power it left him wondering how he was even alive.

"Hmm. Perchance was there anything funny in what I said?"

His arctic voice contained a tone the made Hoaster to flinch, looking up to the Irregular he finally remembering who or what stood before him.

'A monster…' Gritting his teeth, Hoaster placed a hand to calm his heart that struggled to beat out of its fleshy cage. Shaking his head he replied formally. "No sir."

"Good," Invincible continued with his demeanor changed. "Now this is what I want you both to do. Protect her, be good to her and you ascend. Don't, and I will chose another and you both fail. What do you both say?"

Honestly Invincible was half the mind to reject the man. Claire aside, Hoaster's rude dismissal of Jasmine was annoying and also dangerous. But these two were the only Regulars he noticed that were different from the rest.

Although if they both even dare to harm Jasmine. His cerulean eyes turned chilling at the thought… They will forever rue the day they were born .

"Sir Invincible." Claire called, not minding of Hoaster who was now struggling to his feet.

At this point, Invincible did not bother to correct Claire. It seems like he had to appear stern for people to take him serious.

"Hmm? Are perhaps unsatisfied with my offer, Claire?"

"No Sir! Not that I don't agree to your offer, rather quiet the opposite. But how are you going to arrange for our automatic pass, and who are you selecting as teammates for your own Team?"

"Astute question Claire. For my teammates, I've got things covered." Invincible replied. "As for the issue of your pass."

Endorsi seeing this as her turn to speak, interrupted. "That is where I come in. I will be the one to guarantee you and the kiddie's safety."

Claire looking bemused at the unknown girl, asks inquisitively. "You are?"

"Let's just say I'm someone very strong and leave it at that." The brunette ambiguously replied.

Seeing that Sir Invincible did not disagree with the brunette's reply, Claire acquiesced taking it in stride.

"So Hoaster, are you in or not?" Invincible asks coolly. He still had not forgotten what had happened some moments ago.

'Like I have any choice.' Hoaster thinks bitterly, while he nodded, spitting to the side. "Yeah, I'm in."

Invincible rustled Jasmine flowing hair, speaking to her fondly. "Why don't you and your new Team go meet the others, I'll join you by the end of the test."

"Hmm." With reluctance, Jasmine relinquished his fingers sauntering back to the others.

Invincible gestured to Jasmine new teammates to join her, taking the tacit message. Claire gave a curt bow while Hoaster nodded trailing after their underage teammate.

"Whew~ for a moment there, I thought you were going to turn the entire area into a gorge." Endorsi commented after they were alone once more.

Humming, Invincible decided not to tell he exactly did that by mistake some minutes earlier. Summoning his Pocket his checked the time.

[9:10]

'Just over ten minutes gone, still time, huh.' He absently noted.

Focusing on the Regulars, Invincible realized in the time he took to sort the kids, they all had formed their own Teams. Glancing at the kids, Invincible extinguished the feeling of guilt that suddenly welled up in him that the Regulars will not be passing the test, reassuring himself that it was for the best.

He was aware of the hypocrisy of what he was about to do, the passing winds from the dried fields rustled his hair and fluttering his cape trying to remind of why he was doing this.

"Alright everyone listen up!" As all eyes turned to him, the half-Viltrumite took a shallow breathe, ascending to the air until he was once again overhead the Regulars.

"Thankfully now that the test is no more a Death Match competition, there is no reason for me to hold you back from starting the test. But there are some stipulations I want to add before you all begin."

Pausing to scour for anyone who disagreed with what he said. Invincible took a moment before he continued.

"One: there will be no killing of any kind! That means no weapons," Seeing that the crowd had begun to grumble, the son of Omni-Man loudly cleared his throat as a strange pressure descended on the crowd.

"I will repeat myself , there will be no killing in this test. But injuring your opponent is allowed, that is the limit I am willing to consent, nothing more." For there to not be injury in such a competitive test was just a fantasy Invincible did not bothered to conjure up.

"So as long as we don't kill our opponent you won't bother us, is that right?" A purple tank top Regular asked from among the crowd.

"That's right! Don't kill and we're crystal."

Seeing that the crowd began to calm down at that. Invincible quickly dropped the other bombshell. "As for the second. This test would not be for four Teams but rather two Teams, as two of the spots has already been claimed."

"What?!"

"This is too much no matter how you look at it."

"I refuse to accept this!"

"You might be strong, but don't think you can stop me from ascending simply because you say so!"

"I don't care how strong he is. He is just one man, we on the other hand, are over more than a hundred Regulars! He can't possibly touch all of us!"

"Yeah!"

What were once shallow grumblings, had changed into a ragging discordance. The Regulars were prepared to go to war, no matter how futile it seems. No matter what, for their dreams and ambitions, they will not let anyone tell them what to do.

'No my dear Irregular, let me see if my investment on you is worth the upcoming headache I'll have to put up with.' Endorsi thought snidely as she observed from the sidelines. "Let me see if the show you will put up will just be as entertaining as the first."

But what followed was something the Princess of Zahard would never had suspected, even all her insidious speculations of his strength paled before what was displayed.

Without any expression on his face, the Irregular clenched his fist cocking it back, his form poised to throw an unassuming punch. The Regulars all pulled out their weapons, some their special skills gained as a result to their unique biology or the little shinsu they could tame from the Outer Sector.

But when he punched… All resistance ended.

"BOOM!"

A bright flash of light shown from above as the air itself was distorted around the fist thrown. The regulars were lucky that the punch was not aimed at them all as they all would have been vaporized there and then. But the grazing force still contained enough force to blow all of them like fluttering feathers!

Stringent sounds followed the focused shockwave as it tore into the earth carving a field trench that kept on going for kilometers before it stopped exploding in sand geyser.

A little approaching half of the Regulars had been eliminated, but the ones who were still conscious saw what happened with dumbstruck faces, dropping their jaws without any sound coming out from their mouths.

"Eek!" From the crowd, a female Regular squeaked terrified, but there no one who had the strength to tell her to keep shut.

His strength… Was not normal. For were there speculations, now there were conclusions. This man… This being, is… An Irregular.

"If you want me to throw another punch. Please just say so." His voice drew some of them back up, while the others were just afraid to look at the monster.

"You see the groups behind me." Invincible pointed at the children and the two older Regulars. "They each hold a spot in the test, that's making it two. I too will make my own Team but it will not be from any of you. The last spot can be determined by you all. Is that understood?"

The crowd while mummed, but Invincible asked again. "I said, is that UNDERSTOOD?! "

Like frightened children the crowd all but roared their cognition of his question.

The half-breed looked at the children who returned to look at him in awe and in Jasmine's case bother-line fanaticism, he smiled at them while Star enthusiastically waved back. To Endorsi who appeared to be sweatdropping, he narrowed his eyes, as she regained her wits winking back.

'I got it.' She mocked whispered.

Heaving a sigh, Invincible turned away and disappeared leaving behind a sonic boom, his form faintly vanishing into the cloudy distance.

…

'Wow that was intense.'

The Princess of Zahard merrily hummed while skipping daintily over the unconscious forms of the Regulars, not minding while she landed on some of the unconscious bodies.

'Now where are they?' She thought while scanning for her teammates, although it wasn't till long that she sighted them.

"Heya guys, guess who's back~" She chimed to the silent duo, who were -unsurprisingly- among the very few still up. The giant without words stood protectively over little Miss blonde with his giant cleaver like sword out as a silent threat.

The group made no move to acknowledge her arrival but it suited Endorsi just fine. The fact that they were still two means that there was still a spot remaining for her. Although…

"Big guy. Are you perhaps still keeping your sword out, after all the strange Regular said and did?"

For the first time, the giant turned to look at her before looking down at his sword for a few moments, and then promptly sheathed it back.

'Yeah, thought so.' Endorsi thought amused.

The groans around her reminded the Princess that some the Regulars were beginning to stir up, which meant that it was time to burst some skulls out… No she meant put them to sleep, as roughly as possible, all while keeping an eye out for some snotty kids .

Clenching a fist while trying to keep a maniacal smile of her face, Endorsi rocked off into battlefield filled helpless lambs, with the blood of Zahard boiling in her veins seeking to establish dominance.

'Oh, this is fun~!'

-II-

In midair Invincible paused glancing back from where he came from. Now all that was left at the moment was to find the mysterious two. Hopefully his show of power will reign the others from doing anything to the kids.

'But man, to think a day would come when I will be throwing chasm creating punches.' Invincible thought in wonder looking at his hands.

His dad was still the stronger hero Invincible knew that. But never has he been happy that he was born a Viltrumite, well half till now.

But still, to think just earlier this morning, my main goal was to save some bucks for that nice figurine back at Mr. Jones store… And now it to pass a goddamn test.

Looking over the plain of grass and strewn rocks, Invincible could not find it in himself to appreciate the scenery, lifting his hands only to see the red blood which made him feel nauseous, he quickly descended before he decides to empty his dinner while on air.

Taking a deep breathe to get the dead Regular's face of his mind, he quickly got to the matter at hand. "Now where will two unassuming Regulars be?"

"Where I wonder?" A sultry feminine voice suddenly incanted behind him.

"… …!" With a gasp, Invincible visibly shook taking into the air some meters above the ground, turning back to the voice that spoke to him.

'How did she get behind me?' He wondered. Looking back where the two Regulars he had been searching for… The half-breed could feel his jaw drop in the enticing female looking beings he saw.

The one who smirked of the two had a beguiling sense of beauty it was almost enchanting, Invincible could honestly say that in all his life, he had never seen one possess such kind of physical appearance. Her lustrous black hair that passed her waist line had a velvety feel to it as it swayed in an enchanting manner, giving her an enigmatic feel.

Her face was well structured her purple slit eyes held a presence of her own, a raise of her lips made Invincible feel like he was a shy kid before his secret crush. Her dress could be described in one word… Stimulating.

A sleeveless dress that crisscrossed exposing her midriff which showcased her toned abdominal, which gave way to a slit that dangerously showed the side of her hips which was thankfully covered in a…

Invincible gulped unsure of what he was seeing, 'Is that a pantyhose.'

He shook his head to get rid of any budding perverse thoughts as he ended his observation with the dangerous looking spear she rested against her shoulders.

But if that was all maybe the half-breed wouldn't have been so attentive… The thing was that she had ears and a tail… Yep, ears that hung at the base of her head, rather than the sides of her skull flickering about occasionally, and a tail that wouldn't stop swishing around.

That was all it took for him to stare so dumbly.

An interjecting cough from the other individual gave Invincible a feeling of embarrassment. "Not like I should stop you from ogling her, but don't forget I am also your partner here."

Invincible blinked unsure of the tone he could make out. The girl's? tone did not suit the body's appearance, rather the lethargic masculine baseline beneath the tenor was rather too strong. "Excuse me, are you perhaps… A boy?"

"Of course! Do I really look a girl to you?" The now revealed boy cried out in embarrassed indignation, suddenly killing his cool persona.

'Well yeah.' Invincible thought to himself.

With a face that beheld such androgynous looks, mixed with that of an alabaster beauty with red markings at the side of his eyes, long ashen snow hair that gave him a cool temperate. Invincible was sure that back in his world the boy before him would have be the face of any fashion company.

Not to mention his oversized looking robes with the prominent red cased sword at his hips, reminded Invincible of those Chinese web-novels he used to read back in the days.

The raven hair superstitiously invaded his personal space sniffing over him body, looking an inch away from involving her hands as well.

'This was not how I wanted this was supposed to go.' Invincible thought uncomfortably, as he gently pushed away the beauty who had a euphoric look on her face when he touched her arms.

'Who have you led me to, my intuition?!' This cat girl… Is a pervert!

Suddenly Invincible was stuck in a rock and hard place. He obviously did not want to partner with the Regulars and there was still that annoying persistent itch that told him that these two were his ideal partners.

Observing them he noted –surprisingly- that their bloodlust were absolutely non-existent. He wouldn't call himself a specialist in determining danger signals in people, but from what he could gleam from most of the Regulars he had seen, it was like a thick murky haze that enshrouds their entire chassis, but these two, try as he might he couldn't find the haze he saw in the others.

Hell even he had a level of bloodlust, which he had released again some minutes ago.

'That just means they are good people… I hope.' Clearing his throat, Invincible began. "Hi I'm Invincible nice to meet you."

The girl smoothly adopted a courteous demeanor, all traces of debauchery gone like it was never there, "La Po Bia Yruvette. My spear is yours now and forever." A dust of red surfaced on her cheeks, "Master~"

"Eh?" The son of Omni-Man blinked, "What did you just call me?"

"Master."

"Huh?! But why!?"

"Because you are my Master."

"What kind of reply is that?!"

The alabaster boy sighed indolently speaking in a reprimanding to Yruvette, "Hey, he obviously does not understand what you are doing, so quit it, Yruvette."

Turning to Invincible, raising his hand, he said. "Arie Yin. Nice to meet you."

'Thank God! A normal one!' Invincible internally jubilated while outwardly he calmly took the hand shaking it.

"Nice to meet you both. I'll skip the small talk for time's sake. So you both have heard of the new rules of the test, so I want to ask if you both could join…!"

Yruvette raised a hand animatedly, "I want to join!"

Yin cupped his face exasperatedly, muttering silent invectives between the holes of his hand. "Couldn't you just have let him finish?"

Placing a hand on her hips, the raven hair regarded replied airily, "But wasn't he going to ask us to join his Team?"

"Yes."

"Then there is no problem." Swerving to her unnerved Master, she genuflected, "A pleasure serving by your side, Master."

"Y-Yeah…" Invincible replied numbly as he wondered what the fuck just happened.

{ Last Team eliminated. Congratulations to all the remaining Teams, you have passed the test.}

'How quick.' Invincible thought in surprise as he had speculated that it wasn't even two minutes that he had left the place, but Endorsi had already disqualified the others in that short amount of time.

Either she is stronger than he gave credit, or he had already eliminated more than enough. But he placed his bet on the first assumption.

A hand pulled his, which prompted him to see Yruvette beckoning him. "Now Master, there is no time to waste, we've got a Tower to climb."

Sighing the half-breed followed along, "Please don't call me Master, it's embarrassing."

"Yes Master."

'Does this girl not understand simple English?'