Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Moon sat in the eatery, slowly eating his food.

By the time he was fully awake, it was dark, and it seemed very late. There wasn’t a single person around the facility except for Ed, chilling alone in the kitchen.

”How are you feeling?” Ed asked Moon casually, or so it seemed.

”Not bad.” Moon stared at his food for a moment. ”Erm... I can use Echo now?” he asked Ed.

Ed nodded. He waved a hand, or rather a finger, in a circle. ”Yeah, once it was split properly, it didn’t come out again.”

Moon watched, his eyes staring intently at the hand. ”Is that, just now, what you said prevents others from listening?”

Ed raised an eyebrow. ”Did you feel it, or just notice the hand gesture?”

Moon thought for a moment. ”I found the movement rather unusual at first, but when I looked it felt like... I don’t know how to explain it...” He laid down his spoon and brought his hands close together, relaxed.

His lips produced a soft ”pa” sound along with his fingers stretching out at the same time.

”Your Echo seems to resonate well with the world too.” Ed closed his eyes while moving around the kitchen.

”Is that a good thing?” Moon asked. He felt Echo to an extent after it was sealed, but now he wasn’t sure how much difference there was.

”Don’t rush; you have been sleeping for a while longer than usual,” Ed assured.

”How long?” Moon asked.

”How long what?” Ed said playfully.

”How long did I sleep for?” Moon asked, rolling his eyes.

”Ah, that...” Ed grinned. ”Around 3 days.”

”Oh,” Moon exclaimed softly before focusing back on his food.

”You are taking this better than expected,” Ed stated.

”I don’t think I missed anything important,” Moon explained. ”And I feel fine too.” He took a deep breath, feeling slight pain in his ribs. He pursed his lips but didn’t show it to Ed, not wanting him to laugh at him.

It was too mild by any means.

’These usually take a while,’ he thought, knowing well ribs healed rather slowly.

He didn’t think further about it.

”A lot actually happened, more than you could imagine,” Ed said, his eyes looking into the distance.

Moon chewed on his food. ”Like what?” he asked.

”About that...” Ed’s playful look returned. ”Ask Samuel.”

Moon realized Ed was in a better mood than usual, making jokes whenever a chance came, but Moon himself was feeling his head heavy, slow, and groggy after these few days of sleep.

He couldn’t keep up with his sudden playfulness, nor did he feel very well. His foot was okay, his eyes and almost everything else too, but for some reason his head wasn’t feeling too well.

An hour or so ago, when he woke up, he searched for the source of the purring-like sound, the one he felt so comfortable around, but he couldn’t find it.

Still, he decided he wouldn’t talk again and focus on his food only for now, but he remembered another thing that he threw to the back of his mind a few days ago and forgot about.

The quest reward.

He didn’t check the reward since he was injured, had the deal to finish, and many things in a chain reaction found their way to him.

He looked at the window, ignoring the standard congratulatory messages and going straight for the reward.

On the table, a long leather strap attached to a sheath holding a small, kitchen-sized knife fell.

Across from him, Ed raised an eyebrow. ”About fucking time, you ingrate,” he commented, displeased.

”What?” Moon, who was reaching out for the knife to study it, halted. ”I didn’t do anything,” he stated innocently.

”This knife, that one is from my old collection. I gave it away, and you only remember to check it after so long.” Ed’s face looked angry.

Moon tried to explain. He didn’t think of anything but sealing the deal at that time, and everything that happened after.

Moon wasn’t trying to quell Ed’s anger because he wanted anything from him at this point; he felt genuine gratitude in his heart for everything until now.

He thought of what he was getting taught as something beneficial, not a necessity... He still had a long memory worth of teachings that he couldn’t make much use of.

Moon wasn’t greedy, but he also knew how to accept things offered to him.

Ed’s moodiness was one of the things that made Moon feel closer to the older man. It made him feel like they were more alike than they thought.

After taking his time slowly explaining to the angry Ed, Moon felt rather more awake now.

Still, his hand found the knife to check it out.

Moon unsheathed it. ”Beautiful,” he exclaimed.

Pleased, Ed nodded. ”Isn’t she?” He smiled.

The knife had a pattern that looked like three flat commas laid one after another, placed horizontally, with the one at the very left looking somewhat reddish.

The blade itself was no different from a regular kitchen knife in structure. Nothing fancy about it, and to Moon, such a perfect knife without anything distracting was beautiful.

The handle was made of brown wood with leather fitted perfectly into the gaps, making the grip both firm, comfortable, and nice to touch.

Though the three commas looked rather special, too special to just be an emblem.

After studying the knife for a few minutes, Moon raised the question. ”What’s that?” He had the engraved side facing Ed, pointing his finger at it.

”Our old emblem, the three of us each had our own placement on any item we created alone or together,” Ed spoke heavily. ”Mine was the red one on the left...”

He paused before adding, ”Anyway, that’s a rather old item of mine.”

”It’s a good weapon,” Moon said, feeling the heaviness in Ed’s voice, but he didn’t ask further.

”Anyway, get ready to start your training.” Ed changed the subject.

”When?” Moon asked excitedly.

”Now,” Ed replied calmly. ”While you eat, I want you to bring your Echo into your left hand and shape it into five small knives... rather... claw shapes, and maintain that shape for the rest of your time in the eatery,” Ed instructed.

Moon, as instructed, raised his left hand over the table, trying to gather the unfamiliar Echo of his into his fingers.

His Echo came, transparent without a hint of black.

Pleased and satisfied, he felt a heavy load lifted off his chest, though there was something he needed to ask. ”How is it not leaving my body on its own anymore?”

Last time, his Echo refused to listen, retract into his body, or act normally. It was like a black halo radiating off his body with a mind of its own.

”Hell if I know.” Ed raised his shoulders before adding, ”As soon as the black part was sealed, they started acting normal.” He explained what happened.

”Just like that?” Moon was amazed. ”I mean, it went back on its own, without needing much time or anything like that?”

”None,” Ed affirmed.

Moon suddenly remembered something. He dragged his shirt up, searching for the two-ring seal he had before. ”Ah...”

But they were nowhere to be seen.

A new problem came to mind... The fact that he fought twice shirtless and now these were gone. He was going to say tattoos or whatever he got on the first floor, but tattoos don’t disappear like that.

But as if he was reading his mind, Ed opened his mouth.

”No one saw them.”