Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

A couple of days ago, Basil was standing alone behind one of the buildings littered everywhere around the facility.

A spot where shadows lurked; thus, he stayed within them.

He was having a drink with his mask down, unbothered by many things and admiring the moment.

A man whose face was only known to shadows.

”So, this is coffee?” He took another sip, enjoying the taste. ”Haaaa.” A smile of satisfaction was written all over his face.

”The stuff I used to drink before is nothing like this. Who would have even thought adding milk and sugar to coffee would change everything to such a degree?”

He took another audible ”SHOOO” sip from the steaming hot coffee before squatting, placing the cup down on the ground, and looking at it with eyes full of love.

”This cup, which I would have paid an arm or a leg for, I can have here for free.” He shook his head. ”What a generous facility.”

He placed his hand on his now bare chin without his mask.

”Next time, I should try the iced... This is a cup worth months of work.” He took a deep look at the cup made of paper, white with the facility’s golden shield printed on it.

He took a deep breath.

Too deep, he closed his eyes and elevated his head. ”The heavenly smell of freshly ground and brewed coff...”

Thud!

A rock came flying from somewhere, smashing the cup down.

Basil held his face at the sight; he screamed, but no voice came out.

His voice failed to express his pain; what came out was but silent agony and tears unshed.

”Uh, my coffee.” A sob finally escaped his lips against all odds; he held his chest tightly and shut his eyes even tighter.

”Who would do such an evil thing?” he whispered, before finally standing on his own shaky feet.

It was time for him to investigate.

He pulled his mask back over his face; swiftly, he moved within the shadows of the buildings. He went in the direction the rock came from.

Slowly and carefully... he finally approached them. ”The murderers of coffee.” His eyes shone as he started hearing their voices before seeing their faces.

”Zera, you weasel!” someone cursed. ”Your trickery is the reason we lost to that bastard,” he added, before—

Thud~

”Would you please stop throwing rocks?” the guy called Zera complained. ”I don’t care what you think or don’t think,” he dismissed the other guy. ”I only came here with a proposal my master suggested.”

The other guy seemed to tone down at the mention of the master part. ”What does the young master suggest?” he asked. His tone was less aggressive and more tolerant.

There, Basil eavesdropped on their conversation word by word. He scowled deeper at every word they said.

But he didn’t move, not until they moved.

Lest he give himself away; he was nowhere strong enough against guys like them. Thus, he waited patiently until their voices finally trailed further away.

”Criminals of all coffee,” he whispered to himself. ”They’re even after Boss Moon, the greatest Boss of all time.”

In his mind, Basil thought of Moon as the strongest and greatest boss he had ever had. He defeated everyone swiftly; he fought many at once.

He didn’t even beat him up excessively.

He led him to get taught by Assistant Uon, as well as giving him the luxury to walk around and drink his own coffee.

”These evildoers’ plan shall not pass,” he declared before moving out, planning on finding Moon as soon as possible.

Though he failed to find him.

Later on the same day, once his class started...

He sat next to Barrett, who also seemed to be doing better than ever. ”You look great, wanna grab some coffee once we’re done?” he greeted. ”Of course, we only grab it; I’ll drink by myself,” he corrected to avoid any misunderstandings.

Barrett nodded, his face relaxed. ”Sure.”

”Right, have you seen the boss?” Basil asked.

Barrett shook his head. ”I haven’t since he left the arena.”

Basil closed his eyes, thinking for a moment that was too short before—

Creak~

The door of the classroom opened; Uon’s impressive height towered over their seated faces with a huge shadow.

He smiled enthusiastically. ”Morning, young ascenders.”

Basil was startled at the first few classes, but he was now used to it. Uon was too excited about teaching them for some reason; it sometimes felt frightening.

He remembered how both Moon and Assistant Uon had conversations, as well as Uon being the operator of the facility, including taking care of the wounded.

”Urm, Assistant Uon...” He raised a hand. ”Did you happen to see Boss Moon recently?” he asked.

Uon raised his yellow eyebrows. ”He’s been asleep for a long while now.”

Basil squinted; he wanted to ask more, but Uon waved his long arm dismissively. ”Don’t worry too much; he knows how to sleep well,” he assured.

Basil’s mind kept going back and forth. He needed to deliver the intel as soon as possible. He also couldn’t allow anyone to know about it.

The intel must be delivered to Boss Moon directly, or so he thought.

Thus, he lurked around Hall 1 for the next few days, spending most of the time drinking coffee, one time iced, another time hot.

He even tried adding cream to it.

”Haaa, if only the boss would finally wake up.” He shook his head; it was the only thing he was missing at this moment.

His boss finally arrived again.

But he waited from morning until he was utterly spent at night without seeing a trace of him.

Until one time, ”Ah, Moon is finally awake. I got late giving him a lesson,” Uon stated.

Thus, starting tomorrow I’ll wait for the boss without going to sleep, even if I have to drink all the coffee in the coffee machine... I’ll make sure to deliver the intel.

Until the next day... he finally saw him.

When tomorrow came, his long-lost Boss was finally found again, walking slowly from Hall 1.

Boss’s aura is majestic, he praised in his heart while running at Moon, who didn’t react to his screams all the way.

What the hell, didn’t they say he was perfectly healed? He questioned both his eyes and the rumors he heard this morning the moment he saw Moon’s eyes.

He also saw the displeased look in his eyes at that moment.

The urgency on Basil’s face disappeared instantly, replaced by an amiable smile. ”Sorry to bother you first thing in the morning, Boss.”

Did he not heal, or did someone beat him up? he asked himself. Unless it’s Assistant Uon or Teacher Samuel, it’s unlikely. Basil assured himself in his heart, trusting Moon’s might to the extreme.

Moon only stared at him and didn’t engage in the conversation.

But it didn’t matter; he only came for the intel.

Thus...

He felt the pressure increase. Moon wasn’t very friendly today for some reason, nor did he want to be talked to; still, the intel comes first.

Basil rushed, ”Boss, I heard news that there’s a plot to take you down in the second—”

”I don’t want to know.”