"Geez, are you guys just going to stand there?"
Oliver asked, chuckling as he stood before Isaac and Zach, both students unmoving as they blinked a few times.
And as if the gears in their brain slowly started to turn, Isaac let out a subtle, "Oliver?"
"Yup, it's me." Oliver waved.
Slowly, one could see both Zach and Isaac's lips curl upwards as in a few seconds, wide smiles could be seen on their faces.
"Oliver!"
"Haha, you did it buddy!"
The both of them leaped on Oliver as Zach embraced him and Isaac grabbed his neck, grinding his knuckles on the boy's head.
"Ow ow, hey, that hurts."
"Yeah, that's the point, idiot."
Isaac laughed, soon joining in the embrace as a wave of emotions erupted inside him.
This feeling.
He couldn't explain it.
Relief, gratitude, or simple joy?
He didn't know.
This sense of comradery was something he'd never experienced. The emotion that clouded one's logic, making them live in the moment.
Everything Isaac had been preparing for in the past month, the stress, anxiety and pressure, all vanished in that moment.
It was as if he was in his own world with Zach and Oliver. Nothing else mattered.
Isaac slightly opened his eyes.
It was then Isaac realised what this was, looking at both his roommates.
He didn't know the meaning of it at first since he'd never had it.
This was what it meant to have friends…
No, it was more than that.
"Hey, guys."
Isaac spoke, drawing the attention of both boys as they looked at him.
-HUMMM
With a faint hum, Isaac summoned a knife into his hand, pressing the blade against his skin.
"Have you ever heard of a Blood Oath?" Isaac asked, as the two before him shook their heads.
"Nope."
"Blood Oath? Is that a real thing?"
"It is. With this blade, I'll cut my hand. With the same blade soaked in my blood, you both will do the same."
Both Zach and Oliver raised an eyebrow as they looked at each other, looking back to Isaac.
"Why?" Oliver asked with a look of scepticism.
"It's a promise. Our blood will be connected…"
Isaac smiled.
"...and we'll become Brothers."
Zach and Oliver paused as they heard this.
"Brothers?" Zach asked as Isaac nodded.
"Yeah. None of you have any, right? We'll be each other's first."
Upon saying this, Isaac slowly started to rethink his words.
"It's not as dirty as it sounds." Isaac mumbled defeatedly.
One could see the confusion on Oliver's face slowly fade, replaced with a grin as he snatched the knife from Isaac's hand.
"I'm in!"
He yelled as Isaac smiled, the both of them turning to Zach.
"Alright, let's do it." Zach declared with a nod and a chuckle.
-SCRRRRRR
Oliver, hearing this, pressed the knife against his skin, slowly cutting his palm as he slightly winced in pain.
Isaac was next, suppressing his healing and performing a low level Shu on the Knife to make the cut last longer.
-SCRRRRRRR
Tracing the knife against his skin, the previous blood of Oliver mixed with his.
Finally, Isaac handed the knife to Zach.
Since he couldn't control his healing, he needed to be last so that the Oath would be sealed as soon as he cut himself.
Zach looked at both of them for a second, breathing in as the cold blade of the knife touched his skin.
-SCRRRRR
"That's it. From today onwards, the three of us are Brothers."
"Brothers!" Oliver announced with a bright grin.
"Brothers." Zach followed with a nod.
Isaac watched as the emotions inside continued and increased.
So much so that he had to suppress the activation of his Scarlet Eyes.
With a deep breath, he smiled.
'Brothers.'
***
"So what kind of cool stuff can you do? Who's your character?"
Isaac, Zach and Oliver all entered their dorm room as they carried a few snacks and chatted, quickly throwing themselves on their couches.
"My character is Shinji Hirako, from the Bleach Verse." Oliver answered with a smirk, causing both Isaac and Zach to widen their eyes.
"The Bleach verse?! Isn't that an S-Rank verse?"
Isaac almost choked on the food he was eating. He'd learnt about the verse from his research with Merlin.
A verse with death angels called Soul Reapers, Hollows and far more aspects that intrigued Isaac.
It was one that intrigued him and made him rethink his decision on becoming a Hand-to-Hand fighter.
Although the Bleach verse weren't known for their expert level swordsmanship, the power they wielded with their blades was extraordinary, leading their verse to possess such a rank.
"Wait a minute, are you a Shinigami?" Isaac's interest piqued as his eyes sparkled and he leaned in.
"Hell yeah!" Oliver yelled, patting his flexed bicep as he did.
Isaac let out a squeal as he stared at Oliver in disbelief.
Despite everything he'd seen, the prospect of the Oliver he knew now being an agent of death amused him to no end.
"I'm in something called a Gigai at the moment. It's a human body for Shinigami. It's provided by Spawn to all those from the Bleach verse. Though, with your Nen, and your Ghoul eyes, you shouldn't have any problem seeing me when I leave this body."
Oliver explained as Isaac watched attentively, knowing Merlin was somewhere nearby listening in.
"What about your…Zanpakutō?" Isaac asked, taking a second to remember the name.
"Ah, I have it. I'll just have to wait a few days so that it adapts to my current body and soul. After all, this Zanpakutō is Shinji's not mine. It needs time to recognise me as its wielder."
Isaac nodded as Oliver explained. It made sense.
"Woah, that's amazing. Although, I'm not familiar with the character you named." Zach spoke, prompting Oliver to nod in response.
"Yes, I don't blame you. Though he is an important character, I guess you'd have to know deeper knowledge on Bleach, more than the basic crap the school provides."
Oliver puffed out his chest as he continued in a cocky tone.
"But I knew him even before my Scenario."
Isaac raised an eyebrow in confusion, but upon doing so, he let out an, "Ah." as he remembered who he was talking to.
Not only did Oliver possess vast knowledge on verses and everything connected to it, since that was all he could do as a late bloomer, he also possessed the means of attaining such knowledge.
However, Isaac was slightly incorrect in his assumption as Oliver answered.
"I have someone who's from the Bleach Verse in my family. My Aunt. She used to tell me a lot, so this verse was perfect for me."
"So much so that I was able to attain a completion rank of S. My quest was to stop a lieutenant of mine from killing a dozen Shinigami. With the knowledge I had, I was able to stop it before it even happened."
Isaac stared as he paused.
'This is the power of knowing all.'
As the days went by, Isaac understood more and more why Inheritors would kill for knowledge on verses.
With it, their Scenarios would be childsplay, ensuring their survival, a high completion rank and any loot they wanted to gain along the way.
It was overpowered.
-KNOCK KNOCK
The three boys turned their heads toward the door as they quickly noticed the knocking.
As Zach stood to answer it, Oliver beat him there as he swung the door open, revealing a large and burly man with sunglasses, fashioned slick black hair and a neat black suit.
'An S.A. Agent?'
Before Isaac could finish a thought, he was caught off guard as he watched the man speak.
"Young master Oliver. It brings me joy to see you were successful in your first scenario." The man bowed slightly.
"Donald, how have you been?" Oliver smiled, seeing the man he called 'Donald' raise his head once again.
"I've been well, master. Thank you for asking."
Before Donald could continue, Oliver turned his head.
"Hey guys, this is Donald. He's been my personal bodyguard since I was a child."
Oliver announced as both Isaac and Zach waved from the couch.
"Nice to meet you."
"Hey, Donald, want some Sashimi? It's from a fish called…Magikarp. I've never heard of it, but it's delicious." Isaac asked as he read the packaging the Sashimi came in.
[It's a type of fish Pokemon. All it took was a single Inheritor to bring it back from a Scenario and the Magikarp was able to lay hundreds of eggs as the newborn Magikarp soon layed hundreds of their own, popularising them in Spawn.]
[I knew you were spying from somewhere.]
Isaac tried to look around, but couldn't find Merlin.
"No thank you, sir." Donald bowed respectfully.
"Young master, your father would like to see you and celebrate your achievement." Donald quickly returned his attention back to Oliver.
"I'm in school, I can't just leave and visit him whenever I please." Oliver protested.
"Actually, you can. Your father has notified the Academy and they've allowed it."
Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.
"Well I haven't. Tell my father if he really wants to see me, he can do so when the first years are taken to Ashton City."
Donald paused as he looked around, soon replying as he lowered his tone.
"Please, Young master. Ever since you decided to hide who you are and reject your legacy, your father has been worried. Even more so after he was told you'd entered your scenario."
Isaac and Zach pretended as though they were busy as they played with their fingers, stared at the ceiling and inspected random objects, but they could very clearly hear everything that was being said.
"Good, then I'll be happy to finally ease his pain when we meet in Ashton."
"But Young Master…"
"My decision is final, Donald."
Donald paused, soon straightening his back as he looked straight ahead.
"Very well, Young master. I shall take my leave now. Once again, congratulations."
Donald gave a slight bow as he soon turned and walked away, allowing Oliver to shut the door once again.
"Sorry about that."
Oliver smiled as Isaac and Zach scoffed.
"No problem."
"Anyway, I think I'll head to bed. I'm drained. I haven't properly slept like a regular human since before my Scenario."
Oliver chuckled as Isaac and Zach nodded in understanding.
"Funny you mention that…" Isaac replied, looking to the horizon and noticing the sun setting.
"I actually have someone I have to meet right about now."
***
Oliver shut the door to his room as he looked around. It had been a month since he was in this room.
He paused, taking a second to look around.
Walking over to his bed and taking a seat, he said nothing, soon raising his hand as he started at it.
It wasn't long after this that he cracked a slight grin, one side of his lips curling upwards as his eyes were glued onto his hand.
***
"Isaac…you made it."
In a dark and expansive hall, a man wearing a floral shirt, shorts and crocs sat with his legs crossed, facing away from the large doors to the auditorium behind him.
"I came. Tell me what you promised." Isaac ordered, standing behind Xavier.
"Not so fast. First, I have a question for you."
Xavier rose to his feet as he turned to face Isaac.
But surprisingly, his eyes were wide open, no sign of the Sunglasses he'd usually wear, revealing his eyes to be completely white with no pupils.
"Tell me, Isaac. What do you know about the Dark Continent?"
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Next chapter title: Excursion [3]
NNext chapter title: Tracked [Single chapter]
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