Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Once Uon helped Moon to the kitchen, they had a meal together where Moon excitedly recounted the details of the round.

He broke down everything he had seen and every attack he could identify or remember.

Ed watched in silence the entire time. They didn’t speak of or discuss anything else.

Uon then walked Moon to his room so he could finally rest. After taking a shower and cleaning the drying sand from his wounds, Moon applied the sticky patches Uon had given him instead of burn-sealing them, adhering to Samuel’s recommendations.

The day concluded with Moon finally resting well, sleeping and healing after yet another victory.

The next morning, Moon stood in front of the mirror as soon as he was awake and safe.

He checked his hair, which was now noticeably less dense and much shorter. ”I really almost went bald, damn!” Moon exclaimed.

His hair had previously reached almost halfway down his back; now it was barely shoulder length again... with a few stray strands longer than the rest.

He brought his face closer to the glass. ”That’s better,” he exhaled, seeing that his eyes looked improved, still reddish, but no longer bloodshot, and more importantly, no longer blurry.

His eyebrows, however, didn’t look so good, having lost about half their density.

Moon pursed his lips. He was starting to look far too ragged. ”I was supposed to be dashing by now,” he lamented.

The wound on his forehead had scabbed over, looking incredibly ugly.

He took off his shirt, checking the state of his arm as well as his hand, which had peeling skin but was fine overall.

His body wasn’t in a much different state from his face. The skin was peeling gradually, much like ashes falling away.

He decided not to remove the patches on his leg and side just yet.

He went back into his room and slid his hand under his pillow, extracting his knife. Returning to the bathroom mirror, he gathered his hair together and prepared to cut it all off.

He blinked. ”Should I do this?” he paused.

It was how he—and everyone else—had kept their hair trimmed during the long wars. But he was no longer on the first floor, and moreover, he was no longer a slave.

”Should I do this?” he asked himself again.

After slowly considering everything, his hand slid down to shoulder length instead. He decided to just cut off the long, stray hairs that didn’t match the rest of his uneven mop.

Once he was done, he put his shirt back on, took a step back, and took a good long look in the mirror.

Chipped lips, a long wound on his forehead, thinning hair, half-gone eyebrows, peeling skin.

His exposed hands were two different colors; the right one was slightly redder.

”I look like shit!” he commented before returning to the room to sheathe his knife.

On his way, his eyes fell on the helmet he had taken from Dave the other day.

He saw it in a new light now...

That long blue plume... It looked more like a giant target and a death sentence than an intimidating feature a helmet should have.

”Like hell I’m using it like this!” Moon said as he stepped closer to it.

He grabbed the long blue hair with one hand—

Shu~

And cut it off entirely.

He studied the helmet again before nodding in approval. ”Much better.”

He held the long blue strands in his hand and played around with them for a moment. ”Maybe I can use these for something el—”

Knock~Knock~

”Little Moon, you awake?” Uon’s voice came from behind the door.

Moon stood up, tossed the severed blue plume into the empty chicken popcorn bucket, and went to open the door.

”Big brother Uon,” Moon welcomed him, waving a hand.

Uon lowered his face, which was usually quite far away thanks to his impressive height, studying Moon’s face and the condition of his skin and forehead wound.

”You look better than expected,” Uon nodded in approval.

”Ascension does wonders. I think I heal faster these days than ever,” Moon commented.

”That’s reassuring to hear. Well, Teacher Samuel sent me to summon you to his office.” Uon finally revealed the goal of his sudden visit.

Moon nodded and stepped out right away. ”Let’s go then.”

Moon and Uon walked across the facility, which naturally drew attention to Moon, who had seemingly disappeared yesterday after the battle.

No one seemed to realize he had been left behind in the ring.

Still, everyone was looking at him in a new light now.

Yet, there was only silence as he passed by, which led Moon to a very different conclusion.

’Ah, man, I really do look like shit!’ he cried in his heart.

Before long, they arrived at Samuel’s office, where Uon excused himself and left right away.

Moon walked inside, and there he found Talia waiting.

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked around with curious eyes, waiting near the back of the room for either of the two to state why he had been called.

Talia looked at him deeply for a moment. ”It’s about the duel,” she stated.

Moon raised his eyebrows. ”I didn’t agree to whatever you are trying to do,” he said flatly.

”That’s why we’re both here,” she said readily, as if she had fully expected him to say exactly that.

Moon walked closer to them. ”So?” he asked.

”Let’s start with the reward,” Talia said calmly. ”First, you’ll be getting the skirmish round reward regardless of the result.”

”Second, the winner keeps the loser’s proof of authority indefinitely.” She glanced at the window. ”It’s my first time seeing someone who isn’t from a clan using a pendant as proof of authority,” she commented, before adding, ”Third, the duel is pure physical combat. No armor, weapons, or Echo. All items, pills, and tools are strictly forbidden.”

Talia explained things slowly and thoroughly for Moon, detailing every single term and rule of their duel.

She spoke for a long time, explaining the timing and the winning conditions, which were pretty much the same as any standard skirmish.

She explained every detail without fail, even the scheduling of when the skirmish would take place.

Yet, no matter how much she spoke of the highly favorable conditions, Moon’s mouth only curved downward, and his eyebrows locked into a deep frown.

Her eyes pleaded for him to interact, but he only looked more and more disinterested in the entire situation.

After she had been speaking for a long time, Samuel and Moon hadn’t interrupted her in any way. They both just sat there, looking at her.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, she kept speaking, trying to make the offer sound more attractive, but the reaction she wanted simply wasn’t coming.

”Do you have anything you want to ask, or any demands?” she finally finished, stopping to wait for Moon to say anything at all.

Moon’s eyes darted to Samuel once before going back to Talia.

”Basically, you’re confident enough that I would get the reward regardless of anything, and you are dead sure that you would win considering the ’indefinite’ term you just added,” Moon spoke slowly, looking around the office as he did.

”Well, anyway... all your terms are not bad,” he nodded.

”So we have an agreement?” Talia smiled.

”No, I refuse them all!”