Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Ed handed Moon something that looked like a black, neatly tied piece of cloth.

Moon stood and whipped it out, checking to see what it was.

”A hooded coat?” Moon said, looking at the somewhat heavy-feeling fabric.

Surprised, he put it on.

He moved, jumped, even ran... he went to check how he looked in the mirror. ”What’s that thing made of?” Moon asked.

”It’s our first attempt to make something shared,” Ed explained. ”It was that bastard who did the cloth work; yeah, before you ask, he was talented with many things. He wasted all the money we had one day to buy premium cloth that would support a normal ascender for long years, only for the piece of cloth to be enough for one coat only,” he added, looking grumpier than usual.

”The size is a little big,” Moon said in a joyous voice.

He rubbed his chin, locking his gaze with his reflection. ’Should I go beat that purple bastard up while dressed like this?’ he thought. ’Or should I go and ambush that one-eyed bastard?’ He considered a different possibility.

Still, when he wiggled his body, the fabric didn’t flutter around.

”This fabric is hella weird; is that cloth at all?” Moon couldn’t help asking.

Ed nodded. ”It doesn’t falter in the wind or when you run,” he said before pulling a knife from somewhere.

Stab~

He thrust it into Moon’s side.

”Ack!” Moon exclaimed. ”What the hell was that?”

Ed shrugged, throwing the knife away. ”As you can see, it cannot be cut under normal circumstances, but—”

He punched Moon’s side.

”Aw!” Moon frowned.

”As you can see, it won’t be cut, but you can still get beaten casually wearing it,” Ed elaborated.

”You can check it on your status window... it will show an unregistered item, unregistered creator... no abilities, no grade,” he added. ”It’s just something he made casually; I nagged him and took it to sell later, but never got around to selling it until now.”

Ed shook his head, smiling.

Moon didn’t bother checking anything.

With that done, Ed kicked Moon out, giving himself some time to relax and letting Moon play with his new toys.

The last few days of his stay in the facility began, but Ed rescheduled everything for Moon for whatever time was left.

He planned for him to rest for the last two days before the trial began, so everything was moving more rapidly than the previous week.

In return, Ed started cooking new dishes for Moon: no more stir-fried rice.

He started with grilled meat, pasta, grilled chicken, seafood, and more.

Moon was eating new dishes every meal; even Samuel seemed to be in a better mood now that he was finally eating anything that wasn’t stir-fried rice.

Dorbish would also occasionally visit Moon after he was done training to chat for a little while.

Moon improved considerably over the last few days, both in handling his Spark Echo and even the lump Echo’s practical uses.

Time was ticking rapidly, and the uncertainty in Moon’s heart kept growing day after day. The closer he approached the new checkpoint and the new alien reality he was about to enter unwillingly, the harder fear clutched at his heart.

Maybe that was why Dorbish was visiting him daily; maybe he was also afraid. Everyone was shaken to begin with, yet they would still joke their fear away and talk with others casually to normalize themselves and the changes they were about to experience.

Moon didn’t miss his daily before-bed training, trying to tie a knot using the control of his Echo and nothing else.

Every day he would sit and use whatever remained of his Echo, if anything remained at all, to try hard to tie a knot.

He still kept failing, but at least the threads were starting to move to his will—not enough for the complex movement of tying a knot, but enough to coil on themselves, extend, and retract.

”I’ll keep your matrix active at all times to defend you until you manage to activate and deactivate every function at will. I’ll let it be on passive defence at all times,” Samuel slowly explained. ”Also, only the two of us can see it; no one else can unless you or I allow it,” he added.

He was being more talkative than usual, and less edgy even though his tone was still dry and his face was as hard as stone.

Moon noticed some changes, small and doubtful, but he decided to believe he was seeing right.

Meanwhile, Talia was making sure not to disturb Moon. She always took care of everything regarding recruitment, meetings, future plans, and such.

Moon was never disturbed during these days; even Lexie stopped nagging him to teach her fist fighting.

He heard from Dorbish that she asked him to teach her, but he still declined.

”As expected of a scammer,” Dorbish mentioned was how she responded to his refusal.

Before he knew it, the days of training were finally over.

Bruised and swollen, Moon was still grateful.

He went to take a shower after a day of getting beaten and beating metal. Moon paused in front of the mirror, looking at his body for a moment.

It was almost unrecognizable at this point.

His ribs and shoulders were bruised badly; a few other spots around his chest and stomach were bruised as well, but not as badly.

His chest was no longer just ribs underneath skin; there was a slight roundness. His shoulders no longer looked like protruding bones; now there was a considerable amount of muscle covering them.

His stomach was just as flat, but more ripped.

Even his arms, the forearms especially, were looking better by far, with the upper section becoming rounder and fuller thanks to working in the smithy every day.

He struck one pose in front of the mirror; his body wasn’t as good as Samuel’s, far from it, but it was better now.

”I’m so ripped,” he praised himself, admiring the progress that he was finally getting a moment to appreciate.

His hair was also starting to look better—not longer, but fuller.

He only needed the bruises on his face and swollen eyes to heal; only then would he look cool again.

Moon slept soundly that day, more soundly than any other now that he was finally done preparing for everything.

He was tired to the point that he didn’t have the energy to worry or fear the incoming changes. He didn’t even have the will to resist sleep.

For one night at least, Moon closed his eyes and slept.

He slept until he woke up casually the next morning.

Staring at the ceiling, Moon couldn’t help remembering that day Mishu ambushed him while he was sleeping.

”Where did that bastard disappear to?” Moon whispered, bitterness dripping from every word. ”I guess we’re splitting a little earlier then.”

Moon tightly shut his eyes. ”Guess I have enough energy to ruin my own mood after resting well for a night,” he mocked and stood.

Moon fastened Liquid Mountain to his waist, put on his shoes, and clipped the armor over his body, leaving behind the black coat.

He was going to make sure he was used while he still can.

Moon stepped out of his room. ”Let’s enjoy whatever is left.”