Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

”Welcome to all of you, a new wave of ascenders honoring the Normalization Facility.” The first line from Lucen came the moment he completely materialized, but what he said made Moon’s face twitch.

His voice was even too smooth; it didn’t sound feminine, but it was smooth almost like a musical instrument spewing words, which made Moon gradually lose interest.

The speech was progressing, and not a single thing seemed to be of the slightest importance. Moon even felt he was speaking in slow motion.

”We all pursue the glory of the tower, to reach the utmost peak and provide a better fate for all...”.

Moon gradually started to lose interest in the guy he had been curious about, the one he even wanted to question.

A man who looked saintly, or even angelic, and spoke loads of nonsense that didn’t match the reality of anything.

”For under the system, all of us are equal without exception.”.

Even though he was saying a line that felt like a closing statement, it wasn’t close to finishing in the slightest. Uon said he was too old, but he looked too young, and he was also too tall... not just tall, but gigantic. How big was he? Moon questioned, wondering how he ate, slept, or even washed up. He also wasn’t standing in the arena; instead, he kept floating left and right, looking around at everyone while speaking.

”Did you know the speech is happening in all branches at the same time?” ”What do you mean?” ”Sir Lucen is speaking to all four branches at the very same time!” ”For real?” ”I also heard he is using only his abilities; no tech or artifacts are involved.” ”I heard he’s over 3,000 years old, but he looks younger than my older brother.”.

Moon, in his seat, sat listening to a bullshit speech that was nothing more than a formality, and the nonsensical discussions around him as well. Not everyone was praising him, though; some held scorn, for everything he was saying was challenging their authority.

”Integrity, all are equal.” ”He must have gone senile.” ”I know, right?”.

Moon was fed up with everything around him. This was just stupid, he exclaimed to himself. He had long realized that there was no way he could ask or even make contact with the guy anyway. He had expected that if Lucen was involved with anything that happened to him, slight eye contact would be made, but it didn’t happen.

Not even once. Nor did his facial features move beyond an amiable smile.

The more Moon looked at him, the more he felt he was too perfect... perfect to the point that he shouldn’t exist or felt artificial. Demanding answers from that person was deemed stupid in Moon’s mind; he also had a feeling he might be stronger than Samuel or Ed, and there was no way he could get answers from such a being to begin with. As long as he meant no harm, he would rather not have anything to do with him.

Once this ease started to set into Moon’s mind, it finally allowed his thoughts to go back to where he was. To kill, or not to kill... this was the question. He felt like he needed to take another look at Dave’s insufferable face one last time to decide, and he started looking around for him. His eyes darted back and forth amongst the crowd in the arena.

But the more he looked, the more he was starting to get angry. Especially when he found Colten and his other future henchmen, but couldn’t find the face in question. He also saw a few familiar faces in the process that he ignored, like Dorbish, Roran, and the two girls he saw at the platform, but not Dave.

Did he try to ditch the fight?

Did he try to run away?

Will Colten pick someone else?

He was so mad at everything now; even the sight of Roran and Dorbish was throwing off his mood. Why was everyone avoiding fighting him?

Moon was unsure.

While he was drowning in his own ruined mood, the speech finally came to an end. What made Moon notice was the sudden silence before everyone started clapping rhythmically.

Moon was confused for a moment before he clapped a couple of times with everyone else, since it seemed like another thing he was unfamiliar with. Back in the day, speeches ended with battle cries.

Once the clapping noise died out, Lucen suddenly smiled wider. ”The southern branch seems to have a few fun things happening these days.” His tone was feeling rather more casual.

Moon squinted slightly; he felt Lucen was starting to feel more like a human all of a sudden, but he wasn’t given time to think, for once his words faded, the giant body scattered once again as if it were a lie. Moon wasn’t exactly impressed; he had fallen into someone else’s body before.

As for the fact that he gave the speech in four places at the same time... it didn’t sound right, so he didn’t bother thinking about it. All he could think of was that this trick felt too cheap.

But before his thoughts ended, the space where the giant floated suddenly twisted, looking like a water surface that started to spin. And there, another Lucen emerged from the vortex. The Lucen that came this time wasn’t a giant; he was just regular human height and size. Moon’s mouth opened slightly and stayed open for a while; he was only now impressed, but not by the appearance of the vortex. His thoughts were different from what his face indicated.

All he had on his mind was...

Can I become a giant too and one-slap anyone to death?

It was random violence.

The thought was too beautiful for him; he at first thought Lucen was a giant, but now that seemed to not be the case.

Could he learn that too?

He almost drooled at the thought. This is Moon the giant, run for your lives! His eyes sparkled, and giggles escaped his lips.

Amidst his giggles, Lucen made eye contact with him and smiled. Moon’s giggles halted. Ah, this bastard... He raised an eyebrow. What is he trying to say?.

”Lucen came to watch your duel.” A familiar voice came from behind Moon. He turned to look at Samuel, who was moving past him.

”Hmmm... does my duel seem that interesting?” Moon asked, but he paused suddenly. ”Wait a minute, how does he even know?”

”He’s the facility owner; of course he’ll be notified of all issued quests without exception,” Samuel explained.

”Oh.” Moon’s eyes opened wide; he didn’t know such a thing existed.

Lucen looked Moon’s way, or Samuel’s way... He wasn’t sure now. Though it was more probable, he realised he might have been looking at Samuel instead.

He landed on the staircase between the newcomers under their stunned gazes, for regardless of how one could think of Lucen, he was without a doubt a living history of the tower. Samuel approached him as well in his usual demeanour.

They stood just as close to Moon, who was sitting in a human vacuum with a few seats empty from all directions, avoided by almost everyone.

This, Moon found himself cursed to still hear their voices, conversation, against his will.