Chapter Text
3 years after rescuing Enne, and on the 75th Floor, Bam finally killed his first Family Head, the most detested of them all, Hendo Lok Bloodmadder, in battle. Bam had always been disgusted with the tales of how the Hendo Lok Family Head's immortality came, so even though he happened to encounter Bloodmadder while the latter was targeting Han Sung, Bam, wizened up after years of experience and learning, decided he would rather save Han Sung and kill Bloodmadder for all that he had done.
Bloodmadder had even stated he was quite willing to kill Bam and his friends to gain more notoriety in the Tower, but by this time, Bam had finally grown strong enough. It was still a remarkably difficult fight, of course, as Bam had already expected, but in the end Bam triumphed. As Gustang had predicted, his advice and training proved fruitful when he finally faced the Hendo Lok Family Head.
Bloodmadder was capable of fulfilling all other Positions to a remarkable degree, and he used his prowess in all of them to supplement his Defender skills. His size was also particularly huge, and he harbored the greatest amount of defensive power amongst the 10 Family Heads, still the weakest of them, but undeniably extremely powerful and skilled. However, he was also relatively slow compared to the other 10 Family Heads due to his abnormal size, although still incredibly fast compared to anyone else, but Bam was now powerful enough with both shinsu and physical combat, along with having mastered all the Positions after so many years of training, to make best use of his advantages and overcome his weaknesses.
Bam knew he couldn't finish off Bloodmadder through sheer power alone, as he might be stronger than Bloodmadder, but Bloodmadder's "dirty" defensive tactics meant he would be able to stand a chance at winning if Bam didn't fight methodically, so he didn't underestimate his enemy at all, using the Complete Thorn and manifesting the full extent of his Arms Inventory.
By this point, Bam was deemed worthy to have S-Rank weapons, and Gustang had made those for him already. His sword was named the Bright Moon, his needle the Star of Hope, and Princess Repellista had given him her Opera, as she didn't need it anymore due to Gustang providing her with a replica of it. Bam named his Spear Blooming Ice after Khun's Ice Quality. With all those weapons, combined with Bam's magnificent prowess in all Positions, honed from a decade of intensive training and various life-or-death experiences, Bam emerged victorious.
While Bloodmadder could seamlessly adjust his strategies for a considerably optimized approach of both offense and defense, Bam responded by overcoming him through expertly shifting between his various weapons while simultaneously blending in aspects of all Positions into one, steadily adjusting to Bloodmadder's extraordinary Defender skills and exploiting weaknesses through switching to an opposed form of combat or weapon against the one Bloodmadder was using, sword overcame by needle, spear brought down by archery, shinsu brought down by lighthouses, and vice versa.
It was such a dazzling display, as Bam proved stronger than the nigh-impenetrable walls that was Bloodmadder's defensive power and more skilled in every field of combat except defense compared to the Family Head, gradually but clearly outmatching the Hendo Lok Family Head as he fought with all the impeccable grace, the immense experience, and extraordinary skill over all forms of a fully seasoned combat master.
In the end, Bam's dual-blades pierced through Bloodmadder's heart and destroyed it, leaving Bam victorious, quite battered but undeniably the winner, achieving what no one else in FUG, not even Grace Mirchea Luslec himself, ever managed to achieve: Slay a 10 Great Family Leader. Gustang acted accordingly and spread video recordings of the fight all over the Tower, making it clear just how Bam was a bringer of changes and he was beyond worthy of the High Ranker status.
While the people of the Tower were deeply awed and impressed by Bam, the most beneficial result of the fight was the Hendo Lok Family approaching Bam. Grateful that Bam had spared them from dying due to the selfishness of Bloodmadder, they pledged their eternal allegiance to him, and Bam agreed, not wishing to leave them to rot after they were just freed from their abusive Great Family Leader. And so that meant Bam now had the military power of FUG and 2 Great Families to bring upon his enemies! To say that this caused a huge uproar in the Tower was an understatement.
The Hendo Lok Family would not be the last to join Bam, however. In fact, they were only the beginning. 2 years later after he slaughtered Bloodmadder, now on the 82th Floor, a letter was delivered to Gustang from Yeon Hana directed to Bam. The Leader of the Yeon Family challenged Bam to a one-on-one duel, with the promised result of the Yeon Family's allegiance if Bam won against her in single combat.
And so Bam arrived to the 21st Floor, where the duel would take place. He was welcomed abord the Yeon Family Mothership before the duel, where Hana revealed herself to be a gentle, but melancholic, soul. She professed she had gotten disillusioned over the years, as she wanted to create an age of prosperity and peace, but the Jahad Empire instead became a force of dominance and failed to achieve what she had always hoped for. However, Hana still wanted to ensure her Family would be in good hands, hence why she challenged Bam. Bam saw it was reasonable, and did not bear her any ill will.
To be honest, Bam also sympathized with her, as he learned that Hana had her heart broken by V choosing to fall in love with Arlene, and she even happened to be close friends to Arlene, so the conflict with them deeply hurt her, and she was horrified to hear what Jahad had did to the Grace Family, also compounding her desire to leave the Jahad Empire behind. Bam still believed firmly in second chances, so he accepted all her terms.
And so Bam engaged Yeon Hana in a fierce duel. Having fought Family Heads a few times already, sparring with Gustang for more than 30 times and dueling Bloodmadder to the death, Bam was now quite experienced in such high-level battles, and it showed as while Hana was stronger than Bloodmadder, Bam overcame her with only slightly greater difficulty than what he had with the Hendo Lok Family Head.
Oh, Hana might be the most beautiful of the 10 Great Family Heads, but her fire was just as strong as she was beautiful, if not even more. Inheriting the two Primeval Flames from the Ancients, Hana's fires were both unique and overwhelmingly potent, more than five hundred times above even High Rankers from the Yeon Family, with even those who inherited the special flames being incomparable to her original fire.
Her fighting style was remarkably graceful, perhaps the most graceful, although not the deadliest, of the Family Heads he would encounter. As a Wave Controller, in addition to the incredible destructive power of her flames, able to challenge even Edahn's own qualities in a pure shinsu fight, rather than using other elemental qualities, Hana instead adapted their forms to suit her fire that suited her the most, making her a truly formidable opponent, and every shinsu attack she used was that of fire. Not only that, she was a remarkable Fisherman, with a particular specialization on hooks, and could fight hand-to-hand with remarkable prowess.
The fight, needless to say, left both the grounds where they fought full of permanent burn marks and also caused Bam to suffer 3 long-lasting burn injuries as Hana threw thousands upon thousands of fire shinsu baangs on him, delicately shaped into considerable-sized needles and huge hooks or unleashed in the form of pure waves of fire so hot that even most Top 100 High Rankers would die just by being nearby.
Even her Hook, named Hell's Wrath, a name Hana was not fond of and was given by Yurin because of how much force she could use when angry, was constantly imbued by fire, which made her already remarkable Hook skills more devastating as she could leave burning pains whenever she hit him, although fortunately Bam was able to stay ahead of her when they fought with weapons as his skills with his dual-blades were greater than her Hook, allowing him to avoid much lashing wounds that would have been very painful indeed.
However, Hana's true power covered her entire body in flames, making it difficult for him when she engaged in hand-to-hand combat as he needed to put in a considerable amount of shinsu to cut her body and even his Piercing Techniques could not affect her much as her flames seemed to be a powerful protector and could even react instinctually. Her speed and strength were just as great as his while she had more protection. He was able to fight adequately with her in hand-to-hand combat due to being somewhat more skilled than her on that field, but her advantages coupled with her own skill meant he was unable to go head-to-head with her in hand-to-hand combat without getting a few painful hits in.
While Bam could equal her fire using his Shinsu Loop, he found he was completely matched while only using it and couldn't gain an advantage as his "nigh-infinite shinsu" was matched by Hana's "pure burning spiritual fire". So after 2 hours of a fairly close stalemate, for the second time, Bam unleashed his true shinsu quality, one-of-a-kind, said to have the power to "disrupt and destroy anything", to finally achieve victory.
Bam had been working on it for some time with Gustang, as it was quite hard to control at first and demanded more stamina. He didn't use it back when he fought Adori because he knew while it would have made the fight closer, it would have ultimately been impractical as it would cost him too much of his strength to successfully escape from her. Now, though, Bam was finally ready to unleash this power, and the results were more efficient than he expected.
Now, his shinsu could override that of Hana's own, his attacks were able to pierce cleanly through Hana's body, and he gained a slight advantage over her in terms of physical power, allowing him to gain a dominance that ultimately ended in his victory.
Hana, however, did not went down without putting up a good fight as she responded by covering the whole area in a blaze, allowing her shinsu to be more efficient against his as the whole environment itself became an entire repository of fire that she could shape into pure meteors by combining earth with her fire or manipulate the fires around into tidal waves, raising pillars of flame so huge that they could be felt a few kilometers away, and raining down bullets of fire from the sky in a manner almost similar to Enryu's own, along with even summoning lightning bolts coated by fire.
In the end, Hana eventually landed a singular permanent wound on his chest, a small burn injury, when she focused all her shinsu and managed to pierce through Bam's own, but Bam was finally able to bring her down with his special technique, Shinwonryu - Transcendental Technique: Spirit of the Moon, which compressed about 10 large baangs of Shinwonryu into a huge moon-like shape that fused together to launch a massive cage of Shinwonryu slashes that finally deprived Hana of her fire and knocked her to the ground in defeat.
Having confirmed Bam was strong enough, Hana proved true to her word as she declared the Yeon Family switching sides to Bam, and records of Bam's victory only further shook the Tower as they realized just how powerful and capable Bam truly was in fulfilling his hopes for the future. With 3 Great Families now turning their back on Jahad, Bam was now an undeniable powerhouse that even the Top 3 Families themselves were beginning to become invested in him, although blocked every way by Urek's presence.
On the 87th Floor, a year after his duel with Hana, it was Eurasia Blossom's turn to seek him out. She didn't bother to send a letter. She just straight up confronted Gustang on the Poe Bidau Mothership and demanded to see Bam as well as Enne.
Bam had just returned from a date with Enne when they saw her arguing with Gustang. Gustang didn't want Blossom to see Enne yet, but Blossom started threatening him, which didn't faze him as while he was weaker than her, he had Bam and every member of the Poe Bidau ready to fight her back and Enne would NOT side with her. Knowing this, Blossom knew better than to fight Gustang, but she needen't have to as Bam and Enne confronted her instead.
It was a quite heartwarming reunion, to see Blossom and Enne hug, Enne tearing up at seeing her mother after so long and feeling relieved she never forgot about her after all. As Bam was Enne's boyfriend, he had to admit he was a bit nervous, at first, how she would react to him, but he needn't have worried as Blossom thanked him for what he had done.
There wasn't any duel for the Eurasia Family's allegiance as Blossom had simply commanded all of her Family to band up with Bam's side, but they DID have a duel, albeit a friendly one, as she wanted to see for herself his skills, jokingly threatening to force him to be committed to Enne alone if she won.
They fought for 30 minutes, but the duel was still quite epic and left those that recorded it in awe. The fight was, naturally, primarily based on shinsu, and the fact that Bam was able to tie with the Blossom herself, while she was going all-out and he was still holding back a few cards of his own, made it clear Bam had potential that truly was a class of his own.
At first, Bam and Blossom decided to compete their water shinsu, with Blossom revealing she possessed her own Shinsu Loop technique as she was also among those "blessed by shinsu", able to use pure water shinsu and create up to 7 stable rotating rings of shinsu that functioned as the loops. They traded moves of quite astonishing power despite limiting themselves to basics for half of the fight.
Bam manipulated his pure shinsu in the form of creature-like shapes, having extended his arsenal so he could now create tigers, butterflies, and dragons, each of them of a considerable size and with the potency of a meteor, but he had also became comfortable in manifesting and controlling huge volumes of water to where he could unleash flood-like attacks.
Meanwhile, Blossom manifested her pure shinsu in quite the chaotic ways, shifting between forms such as creating thick clouds that could rain down dozens of water bolts, manifesting pure blasts of shinsu that split into three forms, waving her hand and causing several baangs of water that abruptly exploded into columns that she manipulated like tails. Bam countered her with strict discipline as she fought him with chaotically efficient techniques, succeeding in what Gustang could not do as he matched her blow-to-blow in a display that left Enne speechless as this was the first time she saw her mother completely matched. She had seen demonstrations from both her parents, but Blossom always had an edge over Gustang, so to see Bam equaling her like that was marvellous to her.
After having spend half of the duel warming up, both finally turned serious. Blossom now unleashed her wind shinsu, which Bam had gotten familiar with due to having been around Irure for some time, and combined it and her water with other elements in various proficient ways. Bam was fortunately used to this by now after relentless sparring sessions with Gustang, so he just had to adapt to her "performer" style compared to Gustang's "technician", as he also combined elements of his own. Fiery cyclones, icy winds, water-storms, and lightning-water lakes were neutralized as Bam continued to prove himself a match for Blossom.
They had also switched into other Positions. Bam had an edge as a Fisherman, of course, but Blossom was already used to this tactic so she combined Spear Bearer with Wave Controller to devastating effect: Whenever Bam got close, she would use a bow as a staff and fight with it while displaying a good deal of skill enough to fend him off and aim projectiles to push him back enough to get the time needed to warp. She was also quick enough that Bam wasn't able to land any hits on her, and struggled to block her attacks when she reappeared behind him.
Eventually, the duel ended in a stalemate, although Bam was assured if he had unveiled his true shinsu quality, he could have won, but Blossom was satisfied enough with that, so she agreed to end the duel. Bam swore Enne had never looked so love-stricken as she embraced him and told him how happy and proud she was of him.
Blossom didn't have much to teach him, and she wasn't suited to teaching anyway, but she still did help him learn a few of her particular style of shinsu control. It gave him more options, so Bam was happy with the results, even as Gustang kept snidely commenting about how Bam learned much more from him. Enne would sigh whenever Bam told her about it, as the rivalrly between her parents had always been there.
Anyway, speaking of Eurasia, Bam also found himself two more girlfriends at this time period, which made him realize his time of attracting women was far from over.
The first one was Phonsekal Irure. It was astonishing for Bam when Enne had her admit she didn't know how to approach him, but she still liked him. Enne, striving to reconnect with the Eurasia Family, had worked to be a good older sister for Irure, which was how she discovered her feelings. Enne was happy to share, so Irure joined Bam's "harem". She was on the side of the "Tsundere", cool yet would blush and compliment him when he really treated her well. She enjoyed sleepovers near a bonfire or watching comedic movies together.
The second one was even more surprising, and none other than Poe Bidau Tiara. At first, their relationship was strictly professional, of course, but it was when Bam fought so hard to rescue Enne, making it clear just how great of a man he truly was, that Tiara developed a crush on him. She had approached him further, and Bam treated her well as she gradually became nice to him and he started to see her as a friend.
Of course, Bam was unaware Tiara was falling for him, as she had a few suitors before, but none could bear with her cold, ruthless personality before she ditched them. It took Gustang himself stepping in to make Tiara confess, a bit stutteringly, that she had really grown to like him, and Gustang promised Bam that she would control herself, so Bam chose to try it out with her.
And she was on the "Wild" side, naturally. She loved to drink and eat with him, and had no qualms taking him around for swims in pools while wearing quite the revealing lingerie. She and Yuri were rivals, of course, and Tiara liked to get in her skin.
On the 90th Floor, the personal Floor of the Ha Family, Yurin Ha herself greeted Bam and was reunited with Yuri and Jinsung. Neither were happy with her, but it was then that Yurin revealed she had came to the decision she could no longer remain on Jahad's side, asking for them to give her a chance to let her make amends and repair their relationships. This took Jinsung aback and he was quite hesitant to accept it, but Yuri had always been closer to her grandmother, so she chose to give him a chance and Bam respected that choice.
In return, Yurin promised to teach Bam to the best of her ability, and also apologized for what happened to his parents. She used to be close friends with both of them, even being best friends with V, so she was quite dismayed to hear about what really happened to them. She wanted to change, she really did, and Bam respected that.
And so it was that Bam now had HALF of the 10 Great Families backing him AND FUG as well as Wolhaiksong, a completely unexpected chain of events that left many reeling as they finally came to truly realize that Bam WOULD change the Tower entirely. This sparked more reluctant groups to join Bam in his quest for a change, and the Ha Family was very much changed as Yurin took full command swiftly, finally taking her responsibility as a Family Head with complete seriousness, and forced both of her daughters to put aside their differences. It was no easy feat, but they both eventually fell in line and came to the agreement that after the war, they would settle their rivalry.
To put it simply, Bam was very much not prepared for Lady Yurin's approach into training him. He thought she would be strict and cool, but it turned out she was quite casual around him, but also brutal. She was astonishingly sophisticated, as she took in all he had learned from Jinsung and expanded it to whole new levels. Rather than just teaching him Fisherman or a singular Position, Yurin taught him how to best perform as a master of technicians in all Positions, rather than just Fisherman, so much so that it formed about 35% of his later developments.
Lady Yurin showed him dozens of her personal skills and techniques that she kept to herself, especially in regards to Reinforcement and Piercing Techniques, as she was second only to Jahad himself in that regard. His bladework was also further cultivated by Yurin's dilligent work as she was able to teach him more about V, Ha, and Ari style of bladework, refining his dual-wielding to quite the high degree. She was also responsible for Bam finally developing a "Flower" shinsu, although his were moon dahlias while Yurin and Yuri's were that of roses.
And of course, he couldn't forget how much she helped him in martial arts, as she put him through various intense paces and training to raise his physical fitness even further than he expected and taught him numerous deadly combinations and methods of fighting that made Bam develop strong respect for her.
So it was that after 30 years of climbing Bam finally reached the 134th Floor. Urek, Hana, Blossom, Yurin, Gustang, and Enne were all ready to intercept in case Jahad tried something as Bam was made a Ranker along with the rest of his friends, watching over Bam like a hawk. It was an intense atmosphere that even the Ranking Administration recognized.
Nevertheless, they did their job magnificently, and Bam was granted the rank of 11, the same rank as Tperie, on accord of him having surpassed a few Family Heads. His friends also passed the test and were all made Rankers too. Only Khun, Rak, Endorsi, Miseng, Yihwa, Elaine, and Irure made it to the High Ranker status, though, while all the others were given the status of Advanced Ranker.
It was a victory, and surprisingly enough, Jahad did not show up until just as Bam was about to leave the 134th Floor before Jahad changed his mind. Bam had went to a nearby garden when he was suddenly warped into the Jahad Castle by none other but Jahad himself. At first, Bam panicked, but prepared to hold his own until he could escape, but surprisingly enough, after casually brushing aside the few attacks Bam launched at him, Jahad had told him he did not came to fight. Instead, Jahad told Bam to sit as he poured tea.
Bam was naturally cautious, but Jahad showed no inclination of an aggressive movement. Instead, he congratulated Bam for getting as far as he did, even though he still had yet to discover the true roots of his power. Jahad then told Bam a few words that would foreshadow the coming of a storm, indeed.
Now is not the time for our battle, yet. I can kill you now if we fight, but that won't be fair. Go back to your friends, Son of Arlene. Enjoy a rest of 6 months, hone your powers more, and maybe even enjoy the company of your female friends. After those 6 months, you won't have much time to spend with your loved ones, after all. Not all your friends will survive, and no matter how powerful you are, you will not be able to save all of them.
With that, Jahad had simply left, and Bam immediately teleported back to his friends. He told them of what Jahad had done, and while they were all put on edge, they decided they would rather not push it with Jahad when he could pull a few unknown cards, especially as there could be other Family Heads around, ready to defend Jahad.
And so they all left quickly, and Bam celebrated the finishing of his climb and all the steps he had taken towards his dream. They had such a huge feast as Bam, Jinsung, Enne, and Yihwa all worked together to cook fine meals for everyone, and all of them were grateful to be alive and looked forward to the future.
Still, Jahad's words stuck in him, and Gustang's old words also came back to haunt him. Bam tried to shrug it off, but he couldn't shake the feeling of a foreboding dread...
So the time flows near, eh, Jahad? Your destiny is getting closer, only a decade or two left now. I must admit it has been quite the show the Son of Arlene has put on, don't you think?
I know. It's nearing, the Moment of Permanent Choice. Whoever wins shall be able to shape the future to their will, and I will accept whatever outcome with dignity.
Ha! Yeah. I suppose whether or not it's you or the Son of Arlene who wins, the Tower's change is undeniable.
Indeed. Go back to watching, would you?
As you wish. Be seeing you, though, Jahad.
I know. We'll see each other near the end of the line, regardless of the outcome, anyway.
Chapter Text
Although they might have won by virtue of all of them successfully completing their climb and getting to become Rankers, Bam felt, after hearing what Jahad foretold about his future, that he couldn't rest. Danger was certainly coming, danger unlike nothing before, and Bam wanted to do what he could to prevent it. So he abruptly gathered all his friends and honestly told them what Jahad had said, along with asking if they would be willing to learn from him.
He felt bad for disrupting their well-earned rest, but Bam figured he would rather have them a bit grumpy than causing them to die just because he didn't want to make them uncomfortable, and as if understanding this, none of them protested and instead promised to do their best. And so Bam began taking on a role he had acquired many inspiration from, that of a trainer.
He was doing astonishingly well, he supposed, as he began by having Shibisu and Wangnan, the weaker ones, steadily grow, even managing to control 10 baangs within one month as well as develop a few Piercing Techniques. Bam emphasized on both shinsu control as well as physical strength for both of them, as they were a bit lacking in such regards but managed to come up victorious due to Shibisu discovering a natural aptitude for Light Bearer and Wangnan for Scout, allowing them to fulfill their roles efficiently as they trained while inside the Poe Bidau Mothership.
However, that won't do if they were going to be forced into a war. Bam had to be a bit strict towards them, but it paid off pretty well. Bam tried to remain patient, gentle, and encouraging, but he knew when he had to put his foot down if they struggled. They all developed soon, and were grateful to Bam. They admitted that over the years, aside from a few warm time together or some tests, they had been growing conflicted if Bam would get so far ahead, but they realized Bam would never leave them and was very grateful, which further solidified their resolve to be a singular team going ahead.
He taught Hockney how to function as a tribid of Scout, Light Bearer, and Wave Controller, as he realized Hockney wasn't exactly suited for physical combat, but he did have speed and noticeable talents on the latter two Positions. He showed Hockney first how to be more competent in the field of close-range with knives to match his build, but soon focused on teaching Hockney lighthouse-supported shinsu combat, introducing him to numerous forms of shinsu manipulation that best suited him, such as the element of fire and several applications of Flow Control. Hockney's shinsu control wasn't all that good, but with Bam also teaching him lighthouse techniques, he was able to get noticeably stronger quickly.
Hatz was already a formidable Fisherman and Scout with his swordsmanship, but Bam didn't want to take any chances. While Hatz was a master of several schools of swordsmanship, Bam taught him as much as he could regarding the swordsmanship style of the Arie, Ari, and Ha. Hatz couldn't fully master the Arie, of course, but he was able to take in techniques from it along with what Bam taught him.
Hatz was among the most earnest learners, and he didn't complain when Bam also taught him other skills, such as advanced shinsu manipulation in the form of the ability to create swords out of shinsu, Piercing Techniques, martial arts and Reinforcement, and a few techniques of Observer and Lighthouse, determined to do his best and help make the Tower a better place. It was a start of an increase in friendship as Bam appreciated Hatz's dedication to the way of the warrior, even inspiring him that despite everything, he was doing things right. Hatz was more than happy to encourage him, too.
His growth was easily the most astonishing, as Hatz transformed from being a strong Advanced Ranker to an adequate High Ranker, proven when he took down 3 "Test" High Rankers simultaneously, elevating his status to that of a High Ranker. His example inspired Shibisu and Wangnan, but they only managed to get to the bottom of the High Rankers, which was still an improvement that made Bam proud and happy to see how far they were improving.
The others also excelled from Bam's training. Aleksai learned to truly fight as a hybrid of Fisherman and Spear Bearer, Bam helping him with Reinforcement, showing him more martial arts, and teaching him how to efficiently fight with a spear in close-range to deal maximum damage. Goseng also mastered Light Bearer and learned more shinsu manipulation and spear bearing from Bam, as she was a good and rational battle strategist but lacked physical prowess, Bam focusing on bringing out the best of his friends.
Even the ones he wasn't particularly close to still got his help. Hong Chunhwa and Sunwoo Nare didn't join his team, but they arranged to meet up with Bam at first, wanting to know why he was doing all this. Chunhwa admired Bam's spirit and desire to do good, while Sunwoo hoped to see if Bam could make a world where everyone could be happy, especially her, who wanted money. So Bam welcomed them, and he taught Chunhwa various martial arts, especially more swordsmanship, while Sunwoo learned how to be a Wave Controller and Light Bearer as she always preferred a "safe" method of combat.
Speaking of Chunhwa, another member of the Hong Family, Hong Danhwa, also joined Bam. He was quite angry at first because Bam killed Yura when he wanted to save her, but Bam insisted it had to be done. In the end, Danhwa chose to remain on the group, and he got along well with Chunhwa, as they came from the same Family and village. Bam taught him much of what he taught Chunhwa, with a few additions such as some dual-blade techniques to work on.
Khun learned to take more proper advantage of his elemental aptitudes, not only mastering ice truly, but also learning how to harness lightning, and Bam showed him how to create plenty of shinsu spears, fight with more archery, and numerous advanced Lighthouse techniques. By now, Khun no longer needed Beta for Enna Core, so Bam taught him his personal style of lighthouse control, Magnus Core.
It was a new lighthouse technique Bam came up with after learning from several esteemed Light Bearer, and it allowed Bam to manifest the effect of 14 lighthouses in a single one, a major improvement of Enna Core made possible due to Bam's extreme talents over shinsu control and sufficient grasp over Lighthouses. Unlike Enna Core's focus on "Mystery Sphere", his Magnus Core had numerous other functions. Aguero was admittedly awed by just how much Bam excelled, but he did his best and managed to learn the basics.
Although prideful, even Rak also agreed to train under him. Rak justified it as him wanting to "hunt" Bam, but Bam knew he didn't mean anything bad. Bam helped improve Rak's Spear Bearing techniques, especially in regards to using shinsu to create actual spears, as that was a particular advanced skill even some Rankers struggled with. Rak also improved his shinsu manipulation in regards to his earth shinsu, and became a much more competent brawler, but he also learned much about Defender, which was his main Position now.
Apparently, he wanted to protect Khun AKA "blue turtle", and so he sought to master Defender. Combined with his specialization over the earth shinsu, Rak became the strongest Defender in the team, although Bam doubtlessly far exceeded him, as he had long since surpassed all his friends in their respective Positions due to his personal wealth of combat experience and training. Still, Rak seemed happy to act as a protector, and it certainly helped him relate more to their friends.
Now, Bam also definitely trained his girlfriends who had just became Rankers, and they were VERY much happy to have some time with him.
Endorsi and Anaak often trained together, with Endorsi regularly pestering and teasing Anaak and Anaak getting uncharacteristically snappy whenever Endorsi got too close, always managing to get back at her later and forming a bit of a rivalry between them. Naturally, they all specialized in Fisherman most, and over the years, they had gotten much stronger, if the fact they were one of the few to make it as a High Ranker from the start was any indication, but they still had a LOT to learn compared to him.
Bam worked on refining their skills as a Fisherman, teaching both of them his special techniques with a Hook, blades, and hand-to-hand combat. They struggled more, of course, since those techniques were made from what he learned from the likes of Mirchea, Yurin, and Urek, so they needed time to retool their combat style, but they pulled it off in the end.
Bam wasn't just content with that, though. He saw that they also had good shinsu potential and long-range skill, so Bam trained them in Wave Controller and Spear Bearer. Anaak was the one more used to Spear Bearer as she used spears before, and she would regularly coach Endorsi as she struggled a bit more. Endorsi, of course, didn't take it lightly and got back at her due to being better in shinsu control. Her particular shinsu shape was easy to use.
Irure preferred to have him all by herself, and while she was still a bit of a lazy bum, she was still willing to learn from him. Seeing as she definitely wasn't the type to get up close, Bam decided to make her a tribid of Wave Controller, Spear Bearer, and Light Bearer.
Her shinsu control was always excellent, so Bam only needed to improve it by teaching her more diversified shinsu qualities and forms of shinsu manipulation. She learned how to manipulate lightning and ice from him, a few long-range Piercing Techniques, and also became an expert of Lighthouse control. Irure preferred to use lighthouses to supplement her shinsu skills, but at Bam's insistence, she did learn a few more offensive skills. Irure also wanted to learn Defender, as that was a Position she sure could use help with, and Bam showed her what Gustang taught him about shinsu defense.
She did seem to have a particular liking for Spear Bearer, stating she felt cool to be able to create and throw spears of shinsu. A decent amount of her new shinsu techniques was shaped as bullets, and she acquired sniper riffles from him to use.
Miseng and Yihwa was another pair who often trained together. Both had made it to the High Ranker status from the start, and unlike Anaak or Endorsi, they were very friendly around each other, like loving sisters instead of rivalling sisters, making it much easier for Bam to train them.
Miseng had became a Fisherman-Scout hybrid, one that excelled in hand-to-hand combat and shinsu reinforcement, and her growth was stunning as she actually surpassed Khun's skills, rivaling even Endorsi herself, as she grew over the years, undoubtedly the strongest of her team. She was just as eager to learn under him as she had always been, in fact even more so because she wanted to spend time learning from him.
Bam decided she was already strong enough in close-range, and just needed to learn how to fight with more weapons. So Bam had her train to use a Hook, which she quickly became proficient at as a Hook suited her "power type skills", and seeing it was the weapon she was best with, Bam helped her master how to dual-wield Hooks, a combination she took to rather steadily. Bam also showed her more efficient martial arts, and taught Miseng Piercing Techniques. He particularly passed on the Zero Piercing Technique to her, and she quickly improved on it, developing her own variants of Piercing Technique.
Not only that, Bam also helped her improve her shinsu control skill to function as a Wave Controller. As she was already proficient enough with shinsu, Miseng was able to develop a few strong ranged techniques and also master protecting herself without that much difficulty compared to her physical shinsu. Miseng also wanted to learn to be a Defender rather than just fight directly to protect her friends, and Bam was happy to accomodate her interest as he showed her various techniques and approaches that she quickly mastered, to where she became the second strongest Defender just under Rak.
Yihwa was primarily a Wave Controller and Spear Bearer hybrid, having decided she was better off aiming rather than taking to close-range as a Fisherman. She had serious firepower from her special flames, and with some help from Lady Hana, she was able to master her fire more, making her a strong Hwaeyomsa as she often dispatched most enemies with strong attacks of her fire. She was the first one to actually shape a spear made of her shinsu quality, even earlier than Khun, revealing her suitability for the Position.
Bam decided that she also needed to train on the more supplementary forms of shinsu manipulation for the war, teaching her how to heal, enhance attacks, and use Reverse Flow Control to more efficiently manipulate the field. He also taught her archery for a more quick-draw type of skill.
As much as Bam enjoyed training the two of them, he always felt an underlying sadness, just as when he trained Wangnan and Goseng, as he wondered if Prince or Arkraptor could have been saved if only he had done this from the start. Miseng and Yihwa noticed this first, and they had a solemn night on the second month where all of Sweet and Sour convinced Bam they never blamed him and they think Prince and Arkraptor would be happy to see them like this.
(Bam also wondered about Arkraptor's daughter. He had captured her when he went to destroy the Revolution and free Yihwa as well as Danhwa, realizing she was his friend's child and unable to bring himself to kill her. Last time he heard of her, she had escaped, but hadn't caused any more trouble. He could only hope she would not be an obstacle as Bam didn't want to kill Arkraptor's daughter.)
The last pair was Hwa Ryun and Elaine. Both had gotten along pretty well as their cool-headed natures fitted each other perfectly. They also worked together in the field well, Hwa Ryun with her exceptional Guide and Scout skills being backed up by Elaine's Anima and Fisherman abilities.
Hwa Ryun's fighting abilities had always been a bit inferior compared to her peers, but she was quite hard-working, so she became a "Jack of All Trades", fairly apt at all Positions, having became a decent martial artist after training with Jinsung who could handle a Needle well, a good staff wielder who was also proficient in archery, a capable shinsu manipulator who could launch strong attacks and provide decent support, and was one of the more proficient Light Bearers in the team.
Bam naturally wanted to make her lean more to being an expert on them all, so he helped her rigorously improve her physical prowess and increase her martial knowledge with both hand-to-hand and a blade, taught her to use both a spear and a bow proficiently, and especially trained her hard in Wave Controller and Light Bearer, her more capable Positions. He showed her the ways of using shinsu qualities and shaping shinsu, taught her how to more effectively reinforce herself and use Piercing Techniques, and taught her the Magnus Core for her Light Bearer.
As for Elaine, Bam helped her improve as a Wave Controller and a Spear Bearer, as she was already such a proficient Fisherman, on par with Miseng in terms of pure skill, good with all Fisherman weaponry but especially with Reels. He taught her various forms of offensive shinsu manipulation and finetuned her accuracy with the Reel so she could use a Spear or a Bow masterfully.
And so 4 months passed. Nothing had happened, but Bam knew Jahad had said 6 months, which meant there was still 2 more months left. Bam couldn't afford to take any chances, but unbeknownst to him, his girlfriends had been conspiring with one another to finally become intimate with him. As Bam had promised he would only consider having sex with them after they had all became Rankers, now was the time to finally get in bed with him. Practically every single one of them agreed and wanted to give their virginity to Bam. Even the "Tsundere" ones were actually showing excitement.
Besides, they all saw how Bam was focusing too much on them. They wanted to show Bam just how they were there for him, and not just him for them. So all 12 of them talked in private and eventually came with a plan.
Gustang suddenly asked Bam to go to a certain room in the Poe Bidau Mothership, the VIP room of the Ark of Knowledge, reserved usually only for Gustang himself, and Bam was confused why he would be asked to go there when he was confronted by all of his girlfriends. Bam was admittedly puzzled as to why all of them would be allowed into Gustang's Master Room, and Enne decided to be blunt and reveal her father had generously lent them the room because they all wanted to have sex with him.
Bam's mind froze a minute or two as he came to the realization that his girls were finally asking him to engage with them in that way. At first, Bam protested, but the girls calmly reminded Bam he had them promise to restrain themselves until all of them had became Rankers, but now that they had, Bam had no more defense.
They also stressed out that they want to help him, to alleviate his concerns for the future. Bam was still reluctant, as he didn't want to get any of them pregnant in such trying times. However, Enne revealed they had been planning this for a whole month, so Gustang had given them birth control means in the form of runes applied to the skin that would keep them from having a child.
Well, Bam was touched by their intentions of helping him out, and he would be lying if he said he didn't really appreciate their bodies, so in the end, he agreed, causing every single one of them to get up, lift him up, and drag him to the bed with such vigor. Bam was, needless to say, a bit wary as he realized he would be having sex with 13 women simultaneously, but fortunately they knew it would be overwhelming for the first time, so they decided to split up into three groups.
They had apparently decided this based on a card game. The first one was Miseng, Hwa Ryun, Yihwa, and Elaine, thanks to Miseng dominating the card game and choosing her friends. The next one would be Yuri, Endorsi, Anaak, and Garam, due to Yuri coming the closest second, and the third was decided from what was left, Enne, Tiara, Irure, and Aria.
And so the second and third groups left to the bathroom, leaving Miseng, Hwa Ryun, Yihwa, and Elaine alone with Bam. It was admittedly an awkward minute as Miseng and Yihwa in particular started to blush while Elaine was uncharacteristically silent beside Hwa Ryun, but of course, it came to an end when Hwa Ryun abruptly undressed. She told the other girls to start getting naked as well, as Bam stutteredly removed his own clothes.
It took two minutes before all of them were completely bare, and Bam had to admit their bodies were quite the sight. Miseng and Yihwa's body was no longer that of girls, but that of beautiful women, Miseng being toned and having short hair while Yihwa had grown out her hair and sported quite the bosom. Hwa Ryun and Elaine had gotten even more beautiful than what they already were, each having long hairs and with a few increase in muscles after all the training they went through.
Hwa Ryun, the one who happened to be the most knowledgeable in this kind of stuff, took the lead and began to wrap her breasts around his cock, earning a few stunned gasps from Miseng and Yihwa while Elaine merely smirked and started to stroke Bam's dick. Realizing what was happening, Yihwa and Miseng knew what they had to do and began to work on it. Miseng sucked on his cock while Yihwa licked it.
It took a full 7 minutes, but by the end of it, Bam's cock was quite hard. It was very odd for him as he had never felt like this before, but Hwa Ryun merely giggled while Elaine and Miseng were blushing at just "how much of a man" Bam could be. In the end, they agreed that as Hwa Ryun was the first one to meet him amongst them, she should be the first to lose her virginity.
And so Hwa Ryun laid on the bed as Bam made to take her, slowly inserting his hard dick inside her. Hwa Ryun let out a screech that alarmed Bam especially as her pussy began to bleed, but she assured him she would be alright. Bam took it slowly, allowing her to adjust and for the pain to be consumed by the pleasure. Soon, Hwa Ryun was able to tease him using her breasts on his face and start moving her hips against his.
Of course, the other girls weren't idle. Yihwa made the surprisingly bold action of kissing Bam's chest and licking it, causing Elaine to coo as Yihwa seemed to no longer be embarassed. Elaine was rubbing her breasts on his back, sending simulating shivers through his body, while Miseng smoothly ran her hands all over him.
Eventually, Bam let out his first orgasm inside Hwa Ryun. Surprisingly, due to Bam's stamina, he made Hwa Ryun cum three times before he did. She was very impressed as she coyly called him "her man". However, she also wanted to lose her ass's virginity, something that had even Elaine gasping, as it was known to be quite tight.
Bam had difficulty at first, but eventually managed to thrust his cock inside her butt and began to take her ass as well. Seeing Hwa Ryun completely lose her composure as she shouted out his name felt like an oddly arousing experience for him as he fucked her again and again, and having three beautiful girls working together to stimulate him even more was an additional bonus.
Next was Miseng at Yihwa's request. Miseng was particularly anxious, but she still composed herself and bravely allowed him to thrust inside her. Thankfully, her tough body allowed her to be in less of a pain for her first time, and soon enough, she started to become interested in the cowgirl position. Bam was happy to indulge her, while Yihwa gave her the thumbs up for being so brave.
And so it was that Bam allowed her to be on the top as she quickly used her strong grip from years of training to support her own weight as she pressed herself on the back of the wall. She soon showed some serious eagerness as she sported a smirk and began to thrust herself on Bam as she pushed Bam to the bed, all the while Hwa Ryun, who took over Miseng's spot before, laughed at Bam's shock. Miseng also screamed out his name particularly intensely, and praised him in ways that even Hwa Ryun couldn't match, even making Yihwa blush.
Bam supposed she was showing more of her true self as she began to genuinely enjoy having sex. She was surprisingly determined to have more than one orgasm from him, and after cumming for five times, she still had the strength to have him fuck her once in the ass, although it came at the cost of her being knocked unconscious. Hwa Ryun placed her on the couch as she admitted Miseng put up quite the show.
Afterwards, Yihwa took over. She was surprisingly the nicest one as she gently guided his cock to her pussy and asked him for some time to adjust to his length. She wrapped her arms on his shoulder as they made love and took over the part of touching him for additional arousal as Hwa Ryun switched to kissing Bam's chest or using her breast on it while Elaine did the same on Bam's back.
Her orgasm was fairly modest, but she made it clear she was just a woman by also being eager to have him fuck her in the ass. She had the hardest time with it, though, as she gasped and clenched her fists when Bam did it. Nevertheless, she adjusted to it and was able to go to the finish.
At last, it was Elaine's turn. Elaine was quite cool, regularly teasing him as they had sex but not really losing her composure unless she was orgasming, at which point she was VERY brazen. She seemed to like kissing him the most as she laid kisses all over her body, but only wanted to be fucked in the vagina. She did, however, do it with him five times, and switched between cowgirl to normal position repeatedly.
And so the first group was done. They headed to the bathroom, Yihwa grabbing the unconscious Miseng, and was soon replaced by the second group. Naturally, they were all naked from the start, and even Anaak seemed to have lost her inhibitions around him. Garam was also cool about it, and Endorsi even teased him while Yuri had a particularly devilish grin on her face.
All four women were undoubtedly some of the greatest beauties around, if their former status as Princesses of Jahad was of any indication. Garam's skin was the smoothest of them all, even if her body wasn't all that toned, while Yuri was the most well-built of the four and with the biggest bosom. Endorsi had a particularly "artistic" look from her time as a celebrity in the public, her body having absorbed much beauty from such times and her breasts nearly equal to that of Yuri's own, while Anaak's skin was hard, but a dazzling shade of green.
Yuri had straight-up jumped him as she eagerly took the first charge, stating she had to look strong for her two little sisters. Endorsi and Anaak were not amused, but that was replaced by shock as Garam also placed her pussy on Bam's lips. Garam had coyly smirked and asked if Bam would be willing to take the two of them on so they would put on a show for their little sisters to emulate.
Yuri didn't allow the pain of her first time to get to her as she vigoriously thrust herself down his cock, and Garam was quite eager to push her pussy further into his lips. It was quite the overwhelming experience at first as Bam took on both girls, slowly but surely adjusting. He soon managed to make them scream out his name and moan and gasp helplessly at his administrations, especially as his hands began to grope at Garam, Bam now enlightened and growing bolder as he saw how happy they were.
Yuri wasn't content with just her pussy, of course, and even after getting him to cum 5 times while she came for 7 times, she persisted on getting it in the ass. Garam, feeling good due to Bam's administrations on her body, didn't protest as she started to make fun of Urek, mockingly saying he wasn't nearly as smooth of a man as Bam was. Bam was admittedly a bit bemused as Garam ranted about why she couldn't return his feelings, and he had to admit she made Urek look like a bad flirt, with how some of what he did borderlining pervertism.
Of course, Yuri pushing herself proved to be against her, as she passed out the first after Bam was finished with her ass for the third time. It gave Bam a view of what Endorsi and Anaak had been doing, and imagine his surprise when he realized the sounds of moans coming from them wasn't from them masturbating. Instead, Endorsi and Anaak were pretty much having some "woman time", even as they challenged each other to do better, licking the other's pussy, ass, or breast, exchanging hard kisses, and even smacking each other's butt.
The display soon had Bam's dick hard, causing Garam to smirk and call out Anaak and Endorsi as they turned around and were shocked to see Yuri passed out on Bam's chest and Garam waving at them. Garam told Anaak to come here and enjoy him together, while she advised Endorsi to "pay Yuri back". Astonishingly, Endorsi let out an eager grin as she lifted Yuri and took her to another bed, while Anaak allowed a small goofy grin as she replaced Garam to enjoy Bam's mouth and hands.
Anaak's pussy was already wet from all of Endorsi's treatment, so it didn't take long for her to start screaming helplessly as Bam worked his newfound sexual skills on her, pleasing her breasts and pussy simultaneously. She had her back turned on him, so she was also helped on by Garam even as she was busy losing her virginity to Bam. Garam helped her out by pinching her tail, which turned out to be a particularly sensitive part of her.
Garam was happy with how Bam fucked her as she sang praises of how considerate he was, how beautiful his eyes were, how strong his muscles were while still being gentle, and so on. She liked it more on the ass, so as soon as she had finished two orgasms from Bam, Garam spend the rest of her time awake on the night focusing on getting his ass fucked.
And so Garam collapsed as the time had went as far as that of 2 hours and a half. Bam turned around to see Yuri now quite awake and allowing Endorsi to take her on some "girl time". Yuri seemed to be winning out, as Endorsi was quite annoyed while Yuri was very much amused. She saw that Garam had also been out of the count, so she decided to take her on instead while Endorsi took in Bam's lips.
It was Anaak's turn to lose her virginity as she thrust herself into Bam's cock just as Endorsi had made her way to Bam's bed, grinning and telling her to get sucked on. Endorsi had pouted and glared, but she chose to have what she could as Bam registered Garam moaning due to Yuri.
Of course, as she soon experienced Bam's other stuff, Endorsi lost all her displeasure as she started to scream out Bam's name, completely overwhelmed by pleasure as Bam licked her ass, pussy and breasts or used his hands to please her. He had to admit he was quite shocked to see just how sensitive she really was, and Anaak had, while gasping, admitted that she used to finger herself when she was alone and Anaak would help her out a bit on it, which was why they didn't hesitate to engage in such stuff while waiting for him.
Anaak completely lost her cool, to where it seemed like she had always been such a mess, as Bam continued to thrust himself up and Anaak could barely thrust her own hips, even wrapping her hands on Endorsi's neck to hold on. She came 7 times, 4 times when Bam fucked her in the pussy and 3 times in the ass, all while Bam only came once, and fell unconscious, causing Endorsi to shiver even as she gently laid Anaak down on the opposite bed.
Yuri jumped back on him, this time wanting to test his oral skills, while Endorsi lost her virginity to him. Both women soon started to scream as Garam rested up, too exhausted to keep going at it anymore, while Anaak was already unconscious. Yuri had been quite worn down, no matter how much she tried to remain energetic, so she soon succumbed to Bam's skillful mouth and hands. As for Endorsi, she spouted out screams and praises of his "manliness" that had Bam blushing despite everything, desperately forcing herself down to match Bam even as it became clear she could never keep up with him as Bam thrust up too hard.
In the end, after 10 orgasms from Yuri and 7 from Endorsi, they both fell unconscious as Bam placed his back on the wall deeply, trying to regain himself. This had been one hell of a night, and Bam needed some time to rest after 3 hours of fucking. Garam had taken all four of them and left, but not before kissing Bam's cheek and telling he was "magnificent".
And so it was that the last group came. Enne, Tiara, Aria, and Irure came forward, all of them having already gotten naked. Enne was quite worried to see Bam still resting up, but Tiara remained calm as she approached Bam and proceeded to place her hand on his chest and head while also dousing his body with a certain form of mist, causing Bam to regain strength. Apparently, Gustang had anticipated this and taught Tiara how to use shinsu to resuscitate a man after he was exhausted from sex.
Now that he was back to it, Bam realized just how gorgeous Enne truly was. She wasn't Adori's lesser in beauty either, as her body was quite smooth in skin, her breasts the biggest of all 12 women, her eyes a beautiful shade of pink, and her whole figure a voluptous one. She was even more beautiful than her mother, Blossom, although just a few bit short of Hana herself.
Tiara, on the other hand, was fairly beautiful, but not nearly as Enne, her breasts only as big as Yuri, her skin more toned than smooth, and her eyes a decent shade of orange. Still, she carried herself with a good amount of elegance. It was a bit uncharacteristic for someone usually said to be "psychopathic" to act so seductive, which did further add into Bam's impression of her naked figure.
Aria's skin was pale and her eyes that of a yellow cream. Her body was lean, and she had decent breasts. Irure's eyes were pink, her body small but having quite the seductive appeal with how her skin was just as smooth as Enne's.
Tiara had then coyly stated he should ready himself, as they sure won't hold back on him. With that, Tiara called Enne forth and had her wrap her breasts to stimulate his cock while Tiara herself sucked on it. Irure and Aria, not to be left out, began to lick and stroke his dick as well. In comparison to the first group, this was easily more intense due to Enne's bods and Tiara's skill. Apparently, both had came well-prepared. It took only 5 minutes before Bam's cock was hard enough, and they agreed to have Irure first, then Aria, before Tiara and then finally Enne. However, unlike the previous groups, all four of them laid down on the bed so Bam could also use his hands to please them while at it. It was a new thing, but Bam wasn't about to argue with how much they casually revealed.
Irure tried to keep her usual nonchalant demeanor, but it quickly faded as she began to moan and gasp with a red face, Bam's thrusts steadily overwhelming her with how intense it was. It felt as though Bam was getting used to this at such a quick rate, despite how he started off as an admittedly clueless and insensitive guy. He kept his thrusts intense and soon enough, Irure started to scream out his name as he kissed her breasts and all over her body as well. Bam didn't leave Aria out, of course, as she placed herself above Irure and Bam would use solely his mouth on her, which was more than enough to leave her quite the mess. All the while, Bam's fingers were working as Enne and Tiara soon began to let out pants.
Irure soon revealed herself to be quite the desirer as she had Bam fuck her 3 times on both her pussy and ass before finally stopping as she managed to make him cum once in her pussy. She was quickly replaced by Aria, who looked quite eager as she revealed how she and the others had actually masturbated for a while due to the moans and screams of the other girls, explaining why their pussy was so wet. Aria, needless to say, didn't hold back as she came about 7 times, focusing solely on the vagina as she wasn't ready to have it on her ass yet, falling unconscious. Tiara jeered at her, but still carried her out of the bed with Irure deciding to also go to that same bed as she was tired too, Bam having licked her up so hard as to make her whole body full of sweat.
And so only Enne and Tiara were left as Bam took Tiara first, the usually smug Poe Bidau soon losing her cool entirely. She had tried to goad him up more, but that backfired quickly as Bam got more intense and started to overwhelm her until she was crying and moaning hard, her face so red. Enne, meanwhile, was also quite brazen as she shamelessly screamed Bam's name, Bam sucking and fondling her body all over, switching at times to Tiara. Tiara finally screamed out his name when she orgasmed for the first time, and, deciding she might as well keep doing that, chose to not hold back her reactions and started to scream beside her idolized half-sister.
Quite unlike her previous behavior, Tiara actually begged him to not stop and to keep going until she fell asleep. This caused Enne to giggle as she gently encouraged Bam to do it. Bam agreed, and she submissively orgasmed for 10 times more after her first two before finally falling asleep. Everything was quite shocking to Bam with how each of his girls took it, and Enne simply pointed out how everyone always could reveal a hidden side to themselves, and sex was the strongest form of "connecting".
With that, Enne finally had Bam all to herself, and it was a truly great way to end the night as they embraced each other with more passion. Bam admittedly had more of an infatuation with Enne than the others due to her naked body being the first he saw, while Enne was very grateful to Bam for everything and had waited him for so long.
Enne's stamina was on a whole other level than the other girls, as was her skill and build. They did it in various positions, from missionary, cowgirl, to all fours, each of them done at least five times as they pushed their bodies to the limits. Enne was able to orgasm at the same time as he did, and her body took to his much more naturally than the others. Neither of them held back their moans or gasps for each other's name as they fucked each other into exhaustion. They came for 13 times, 7 on the vagina and 6 on the ass, before falling asleep.
From afar, Gustang had heard what was going on and had an acute idea of just how much his daughter had won out. The Poe Bidau Family Head kept a small smile to himself as he hummed in satisfaction. He also noticed that Hana was overhearing, and shook his head as he realized that the Son of Arlene's days of attracting women was STILL not over.
Ah... I see you have experienced the pleasures of the flesh, Chosen One. Good, since you won't have much time to engage in such pleasantries when the next stage of your journey begins. You and Jahad, the two Chosen Ones in the Tower, destined to fight to decide which fate suited the Tower, I wonder who shall came out victorious? What world shall you create?
My nephew is getting closer and closer to the end of the line. The time is coming near for me to reveal myself to him and help him fulfill his destiny. Arlene... The fate you chose for your son was not something I agree with, but I do hope your soul is at rest and you can enjoy the end results.
Notes
ScriptFic
Chapter 6: All-Out War: Night of Omens
Chapter Text
Precisely 6 months after Bam had became a High Ranker, Jahad's warning came true. Bam had did his best to prepare his friends, had even enjoyed the company of his loved ones, especially those who had became his lovers, but in the end, when the time came, war truly began through the whole Tower.
At that time, Bam was on the 2nd Floor, taking in the sights of the grass of the Floor of Tests alone. It was the place where he first saw the Tower's nature, and Bam had been spending 3 days there at his friends insistence that he take a break from them. Bam agreed, but the main reason why was that the time was nearing for the end of the 6 months Jahad had "given" him. If they were going to come after him, Bam should be alone and avoid as many casualties as possible.
A massively powerful presence close to the Family Heads appeared on the Floor on 16:00 PM, exactly, immediately alerting Bam, and it was none other but Adori as she warped in front of him and immediately attacked him with her Golden November on hand. Bam blocked the attack without much effort, but he was stunned by the audacity of attacking him in the middle of the very same Floor where new Regulars were bound to appear. Still, Adori didn't give him time to think much about it as she manifested her Carrier, making it clear she was going to go all-out now.
Naturally, Bam wasn't going to underestimate her either. Even though he had defeated Family Heads, Adori was still a formidable opponent. She made use of all her skills this time, her usage of the Carrier being much more seamless as she even combined Light Bearer with Spear Bearer or Wave Controller, and so on, and she was fighting with the Golden November and an equally powerful weapon she had been bestowed by Arie Hon himself, the Angurvadal, named for her ability to crush most opponents with pure force.
However, this time, Bam defeated her decisively. He still took quite a few injuries, but he was standing tall while Adori was brought to her knees by the end of it. He accomplished that through pure skill and mastery over all of his combat. While Adori would, by normal standards, qualify for being a "Master of All", Bam had surpassed her to where she was a "Jack of All Trades" instead.
Every combat form Adori threw at him, Bam surpassed her as he took her unarmed attacks, shrugged them off, and landed more than she could land on him while blocking a decent amount of hers, as he outmaneuvered her in a clash of blades and struck her again and again, as his shinsu overwhelmed that of the Supreme Commander of Jahad's Army, as his archery struck true and even shattered her spears with both raw power and great accuracy, and as his Lighthouses shone brightly over hers.
In the end, the finishing blow was recorded as one of the most astonishing combinations ever. Twenty-Fifth Bam Style Transcendental Move: Elemental Wrath: Falling Pure Stars kept her busy as she just managed to block the onslaught of meteor-like baangs, 10 baangs from ice, fire, lightning, water, and so on, forcing her into the defensive. What attack she could launch was swiftly dissipated as Bam manipulated lighthouses to block and reinforce his shinsu defenses as he neared her, while he also used a lighthouse-aided throw of the Blooming Ice and 2 more spears to strike her Carrier's weak spots, damaging it. The last was a swift bout of bladework as Bam managed to finally disarm her of the Golden November before blasting her back with shinsu, flooring her.
Bam didn't bother to finish her off as he quickly warped away and checked his contacts, only to find all of them could not be reached. Growing increasingly worried, Bam used the skills he had learned with Lighthouses to hack into the Wolhaiksong and FUG databases. To his horror, he found that dozens of the settlements of the 10 Great Families, FUG, and Wolhaiksong had been attacked. Some were able to push back against the invaders, his Master particularly destroying the assault of certain factions of the Ha who sided with Jahad, but some were still locked in fierce battle.
Bam had thought to go for his friends, but he swiftly was forced to change his mind when he received the utterly stunning news of Arie Hon, Ari Han, Lo Po Bia Traumerei, and Khun Edahn making their moves. 6 bases had already fallen to Ari Han, while Arie Hon had took out 7 settlements before Urek arrived and they were still locked in battle. Traumerei was attacking the Cage, with Yama, Paul, and Doom barely holding their own against the Family Head as soon as the Canines were able to warp into safety.
Realizing his friends were strong enough, but if he didn't act to save others, they were doomed, Bam wanted to travel to the Cage, but he was interrupted by none other but Tu Perie Tperie, the mysterious Leader of the Tu Perie Family finally making an appearance after being so distant from the war.
Having the signature purple-hairs of a Tu Perie that he knew from Jaina Repellista's connection to them and bearing a lighthouse Bam could recognize as the Opera from what he had seen of it, Tperie's face looked an enigma as he eyed Bam curiously, before humming. The Head of the Tu Perie Family then started by surprisingly admitting he might not be fond of Bam's ways and methods, but he still thought Bam deserved respect for what he had already accomplished, even lamenting that Bam chose the wrong side. At least that was more manners than the Family Heads who were on Jahad's side, so Bam didn't react to it hostilely.
He then wondered if Jahad had greater purposes from Bam rather than just seeing him as an enemy, revealing he had talked to Jahad about it, but Jahad was surprisingly evasive. Still, Tperie stated he was here to challenge Bam, but he did believe in making things a "fair game", so he used the Opera to warp Bam to a location where no innocent existed, allowing him to fight without worrying for anyone.
Realizing he wouldn't leave without overcoming Tperie, Bam fought with all he had, but Tperie was simply on another level compared to the other Family Heads he had fought before. It didn't help that Bam was also just slightly weakened by his fight with Adori, either. Tperie didn't use the Eyes of God despite them being superior to the Opera, but he still fought Bam to a stalemate over an hour.
Gustang and Blossom had repeatedly described Tperie as the most trickiest fighter among the Great Warriors, and that description proved to be quite apt. His lighthouse mastery was simply unlike anything he had ever seen before, a complete master of every single form of lighthouse combat, even the ones special to certain Families, and with a few more styles of his own. He also had access to dozens of powerful artifacts, and all that combined with his cunning mind for warfare made him a true god-like warrior who could come fairly close to even the Top 3 Family Heads themselves.
Light Bearers were generally meant to support teammates, but while that might have been applicable to other Great Warriors, in one-on-one combat, such was the might and skill of the First Light Bearer that Tperie made that rule look nonexistent. Instead, Tperie used that to support HIS own capabilities: What made him truly fearsome was how Tperie's prowess as a Light Bearer supplemented his ability in other Positions to where they could be compared to even the specialization of other Family Heads, completely overriding the concept of "Jack of All Trades" being not much impressive compared to specialists.
With his level of prowess in Light Bearer and the Opera, Tperie's shinsu control rivaled even that of Blossom, his Defender skills were almost equal to Bloodmadder while easily surpassing the Hendo Lok Family Head in terms of efficiency, while his accuracy as a Spear Bearer were the closest amongst the Family Heads to matching that of Edahn's own, all of it being such a deeply trained part of him that he could do it almost instinctually. Tperie did things unlike what he had seen before, both improving the common lighthouse techniques to unimaginable heights and performing feats anyone else would be completely awed by.
Practically every single technique of the lighthouse Tperie used not only was strengthened by the Opera, but also greatly improved by how Tperie had achieved such a mastery that every single move carried the force of over 3 Enna Cores in each Lighthouse, making it a true threat for Bam even with how much Bam had developed his shinsu resistance and control.
His Lighthouse Barriers was so strong even Shinwonryu could only land minimum damage due to just how much Tperie had been able to block the force of the attack, while few attacks beside Piercing Techniques at a close range and Lethal Moves of his dual-wielding even cracked the barriers Tperie used to protect himself in the fight.
Fortunately, Bam was able to get close a few dozen times and take the advantage with superior close-range prowess, but Tperie was such a master of Lighthouse Teleportation he could teleport himself so fast Bam struggled to deal damning blows no matter how aggressive he pushed the field, and either narrowly escaped a powerful counter or was struck and injured by one of Tperie's attacks. It was truly a delicate balance that Bam needed to focus on maintaining, even though he knew his opponent was still somewhat holding back due to not using the Eyes of God.
His Lighthouse Flow Control was strong enough to even hold Bam in place and use telekinesis simultaneously to blast Bam back, an ability that was his opening move for the fight and one he could most impressively use to even stop Bam as he was about to swing his sword at him until Bam learned to overcome it through serious concentration. He even could create intense black-hole like wells of Reverse Flow Control that Bam struggled to disperse.
Not only that, Tperie revealed he could also reverse the nature of a Lighthouse so rather than using it to perform Reverse Flow Control, he could instead use it for Flow Control. Such a feat was one even Gustang himself could not do, and Tperie made use of this liberally as he gathered natural shinsu from the surroundings and used it to unleash attacks that could even penetrate Bam's shinsu resistance, such as sharp rings of light that Bam needed to use a special defensive skill of his improved Blue Oar to block.
Even that, however, paled to Tperie's particular skills as he performed feats as grandeur as using thousands of lighthouses to manipulate space itself to catch and throw back shinsu techniques with greater power from simultaneously using amplification on it, calculating the degree of control needed to use the Opera to nullify spells, using the Opera to create literal fortresses that could perform shinsu attacks deadly even for him by imbuing a certain shinsu quality or manipulation into the lighthouse.
Tperie also used elemental shinsu with just as much finesse as Gustang and even greater strength due to the Opera, as he casually created small storms, explosions, and rained down bolts of various kinds. The lighthouses he compressed were thrown with the force of a noticeable-sized meteorite, causing booms to occur whenever it struck and Bam avoided or blocked it.
The weapons Tperie controlled through his Lighthouse were constantly enhanced and could release strikes of sufficient power to form craters and kill Top 100 High Rankers before they even knew it, and while normally Bam could block those shinsu-extended strikes with his bare hands without issue and only be pushed back even if he took it directly, it was different when Tperie threw them as a Spear Bearer, his accuracy unneering as he managed to pierce even Bam's exceptional reflexes and he didn't hesitate to use an uncanny application of the lighthouse's supplement for spears to manifest them behind his back and throw them with Bam hardly able to react, taking quite a few hits in process.
As Tperie calmly reminded Bam, he had lent a Tu Perie High Ranker to use the Opera on Urek, but didn't actually use it himself. If he had, even Urek would have some real trouble on his hands.
Bam's shinsu output and control was actually still greater than his and Blossom's due to having grown over the years, but Tperie compensated that with his superior accuracy and firing speed, allowing him to match Bam in terms of long-range combat as he was able to fire attacks consecutively. Tperie also managed to trick and lure Bam in no matter how many times Bam tried to adjust to his patterns as he kept using them in such unpredictable ways that Bam gave up on that soon enough and focused on simply overcoming him and doing his best to handle whatever Tperie threw him.
In the end, after Bam had landed a particularly reinforced punch that broke his nose and threw him a few kilometers away, as Bam reeled heavily, feeling the strain catch up to him after so long, Tperie had slowly got up and gave an ominous smile as he admitted Bam was truly "worthy". He told Bam he had seen enough, and that they would meet again, before teleporting away, leaving Bam alone and needing to focus on recovering his wounds for a full 5 minutes, having not been injured to such a degree ever since his first fight with Adori or his consecutive fights with Kallavan and Kirin.
By the time Bam arrived to the Poe Bidau Mothership, he found all the Great Family Leaders on his side, Urek, and Mirchea had gathered, each of them with their faces grim.
While Bam had been able to handle himself and only took a few nasty injuries, none of which was permanent, the results of the surprise attacks on the factions on his side was not as lucky. About thousands of Rankers died from the ambush, and while none of them were Bam's friends, he still felt for them.
Urek had repelled Hon while Gustang arrived to stop Han, but Traumerei managed to completely destroy the new Cage and Yama, Doom, and Paul were forced to flee as they proved barely able to survive as they were. His friends were alive, but injured. At this point, it became clear to Bam that while previously it was just limited to surprise attacks and defense, Bam helping certain oppressed parts of the Tower, now the Tower was truly going to be at war.
In response, the 4 Family Heads, Mirchea, Urek, and Baek Ryun had came to an agreement that they would put aside all differences and band together as one, co-leading together to oppose the Jahad Empire in one last war. Bam refused to be the leader, but they managed to convince him to be a commanding figure in the union, as they reasoned that Bam was the main reason why this resistance was even formed.
Uproar through the Tower had never been like this as some responded by criticizing the Jahad Empire and the Great Families responsible for such a sudden, careless attack that wiped out innocents as much as foes, some chose to focus on protecting themselves, and others straight-up joined Bam. Not only that, due to Bam decisively beating Adori Jahad, he effectively shattered the illusion that a Non-Irregular could be higher than Irregulars and did what Urek had done: Upset the rankings.
Due to that, Bam was swiftly propelled to the Rank of 8 alongside Tperie, with Yurin's ranking rising to that of 7 above Bam. The other Family Heads also had their ranks raised until they all earned their "rightful spots" on the Top 13 ranks, pushing Adori/Enne to the 14th place, Baek Ryun to the 15th, Molic One to the 16th, and Mirchea to the 17th.
Bam spend some time with his friends before they jumped into the war, unable to shake the feeling that Jahad was right and he would soon be losing some of his friends.
And so it begins. I'm going to do my best in this war to keep all the people I love safe and make a better world for both them and everyone else. I'll face Jahad and stop him once and for all if I could. For the sake of all those people who died, both before I came and after. But... Why does it feel like I'm going to lose a lot? I tell myself everyday that I won't let anyone die with all my strength, yet I can't help but worry if it would be enough...
It was the start of a very long war that would push the new hero of the Tower to grow, accept his truest power, and learn to let go of losses and honor dead friends, as the final battle between the Chosen One and the King slowly but surely approached.