Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Moon stood, ready to prove a point!

’I am the manliest man around here, you damn yellow bastard!’ He thought to himself.

”Big brother Uon...” His eyes flashed with fighting spirit. ”You are wrong!” He pointed at Uon’s, now tired, face.

”What makes a man, a man is not height or beard!” He shouted.

”It’s about something entirely different, and if you keep belittling me.” Moon’s face hardened with determination.

”You leave me with no other choice.” He announced before his left hand went for his shirt and his right thumb went deeper below, directly for the underwear.

Ding!

Fate Alert

30% -> 30.5%

Smack~

”Guh!” Moon spat.

Before he could see it, Uon’s hand, like a mace, went for his head. He couldn’t even see it nor could he react to the alert.

”WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME?” Moon shouted.

”Have you lost your mind?” Uon’s smile returned, full of dread.

”What are you talking about? We’re both men... you have one of these too!” Moon retorted.

Uon staggered in his seat, his hand covering his eyes. ”Social studies, etiquette... I have so much to teach.” He lamented.

’What’s with him? I was the one who got hit and wronged, dammit!’ Moon cursed inwardly.

He sat down again, and once he did... he was struck by the feeling of losing...

Or maybe...

Forgetting something.

His eyebrows got closed in a frown; he rubbed his forehead. ”Weren’t we talking about something that was rather important?” Moon felt suddenly lost.

Uon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His eyes squinted.

He seemed to be trying to remember, but nodded anyway, ”I think so.”

They looked around for something that might remind them of whatever they were discussing before Uon’s eyes finally found the notes lying in front of him.

As for Moon, his eyes found something else.

”Oh, about the other methods of using arcane.” ”Oh, how do I get one of these?”

They both spoke at the same time.

Uon pursed his lips, and decided to ignore Moon’s statement. ”I think I’ll start combined classes for you and the two guys you brought.”

”Aren’t they too weak to be in the same class as me?” Moon asked back; he belonged to a different level of fighting entirely.

”Well, I’m only teaching you alone because we’re still unsure if you have talent for arcane.” Uon explained, ”Once we confirm you don’t have the slightest talent for it, it won’t matter anymore.”

Moon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could. ”I’ll also teach the three of you the other subjects too; it would help them.” Uon threw another verbal attack.

’NOOOOOO!’ Moon screamed inwardly, face bewildered.

”They can even use Echo better than you anyway; you have a lot to learn from them.” Uon struck again; his face was finally starting to return back to normal after the strain Moon placed on him.

’No, no, no, I must have talent for arcane... Our grudge from last time has yet to be settled, you yellow bastard!’

”Show me that bastard arcane master already, dammit!” Moon demanded through gritted teeth.

Even though he was determined to settle the grudge himself, his mind was also drifting to a different possibility.

One he would use only as last resort.

The piece of the so-called ’Brain Rot’.

’Moon the free man is no snitch, but if I happened to have no talent for Arcane...’ Moon gave a meaningful yet sad look to Uon, who was still busy finding the video.

’I guess I have no other choice but to turn your ass over to Chef Ed for chopping’

Moon promised himself, feeling less stress in his heart and a slight sense of victory. His face relaxed, and his expression turned into delight.

Before long, ”Oh, here it is.” Uon exclaimed.

Moon snapped out of his grudge based thoughts and now focused on the Uon’s hand.

He extended his arm for both himself and Moon to be able to watch, ”Teacher Samuel was the one who said this method could work with, I honestly have never seen anyone do it anyway other than Grandmaster Zen.” He explained.

Moon nodded back; the video started playing.

On the screen, a man who seemed to be rather old, too old at first glance. His thick and long beard was white, and his long white hair was tied at the back.

Yet, his face that was struck with wrinkles running deep, was flushed with health and evident vitality.

Two orb-like masses floated over each of his shoulders. ”Is that his Echo?” Moon exclaimed, pointing a finger.

”Yeah, keep watching,” Uon answered briefly.

On each of the orbs, smaller circles started moving on the surface. They seemed to be engraved or etched into it. The circles integrated, gathered together, broke apart and independently regathered again into different shapes.

{I’m currently demonstrating the method of Arcane Projection, though it’s entirely different in practice from the traditional Arcane Scribbling we are all familiar with.} His aged voice came from the screen.

Moon, who luckily wasn’t seeing this for the first time thanks to Chef Ed passing time using the very same device, otherwise...

He might have gotten startled, or maybe just got along with it.

It was impossible to tell now.

Regardless, the old man on the screen kept talking. {Arcane Scribbling is to finely control your Echo into the standard shapes that would allow for an emission of result.}

Moon listened attentively; it was true that this fine control and the state of Echo that would allow him to form these shapes were impossible to him currently.

{Echo isn’t the same for all of us, and the way we train or not train. The time we spend not allowing our Echo to move freely. These factors always affect it.}

{Echo could be as free as wind, fluid like water, or closer to rubber in very rare cases.}

Moon nodded; an Echo that was almost in a solid state couldn’t move as freely as an Echo that was in a nearly loose gaseous state. That much he understood from his personal experience with his very own Echo.

{I trained certain arts that required my Echo to always stay in a semi-solid state. Thus, my path as Arcanist was bound to never exist unless this method existed.}

Moon’s eyes gleamed.

{This method I did not develop; I stumbled upon it. It was unusable for any normal arcanist to begin with.}

The old man paused for a moment and raised a hand.

{Also, remember. The better control you have, the more freely you can change the state of your Echo.}

On his hand, his Echo moved freely. ”Arcane Scribbling?” Moon exclaimed.

Moon expected an answer from Uon, but it was the old man who spoke first.

{There are countless states of Echo, one cannot say he has mastered the way of control unless he has found a state that is his own.}

{Regardless of your future aspirations, there are always countless ways one could stride. I know most of those who would come to watch this are troubled younglings seeking validation. Trying to find their path forward as Arcanists is valid or broken. But always remember, regardless of your talent, regardless of your path, regardless of the way forward you will pave, choose, or get lost at. Always remember}

The old man raised both hands; one held a normal circle the way Uon does it, the other held a mass of Echo, lump-like, similar to Moon’s but more refined.

”that...” Moon exclaimed, recognizing the art instantly.

Flowing light!