Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Moon’s mood was over the top; he ditched the dumbfounded Dorbish and started running around the eatery, checking what the snack dispenser gave first while grabbing a couple more cubes of cheese.

Meanwhile, Dorbish leaned forward, resting his chin on his fist... his eyes sharpened as he looked at Moon.

”What the hell is a scorpion cow...” he muttered. ”No, no, it can’t be—”

He shut his eyes tight and shook his head. ”Impossible, it can’t be...”

Within the same branch, in the dorms, in a certain room.

Zera knelt before the screen. ”Master,” he greeted in reverence.

His face was down, but a strap of black leather ran across his head all the way to the back of his head.

”Zera, I can’t say I’m disappointed, and can’t say I’m satisfied either.” The one who spoke was of shoulder-length, silk-like blue hair, blue eyes and a horn over his forehead. It was none other than Enzo himself.

”I have no excuses,” Zera said softly, loud enough to be clear. ”It’s thanks to Master that I regained my consciousness that early.”

”It’s fine, I’ve seen everything I needed, so you don’t have to be.” Enzo smiled. ”Do you have any difficulties with that eye gone?” he asked, seemingly concerned, though his tone remained casual.

”None at all, it’s but a small price I had to pay,” Zera said in absolute confidence.

”I’m still surprised you chose to hold back in that situation; it’s amazing.” Enzo’s smile widened.

”Holding back or not, the result would have been the same.” Zera didn’t linger.

Enzo nodded. ”You are not wrong; the upcoming trial is going to be a mess,” he said with an apologetic face. ”Don’t concern yourself with the sealed Echo you are suffering through now, I’ll make arrangements for you to pass the trial with us,” Enzo assured.

”I’m grateful, always.” Zera raised his head, showing an eyepatch where his eye should have been.

”Don’t be; you did your part, I do mine.” With that said, Enzo ended the call instantly.

Zera gritted his teeth. Couldn’t help it, his hand clenched his chest tightly. It’s been a day, and he woke up earlier than others, yet the pain, or the memory of it was beyond anything he could have imagined possible.

Back in the eatery, Moon tried different flavours of snacks. He wanted more... He ate six cubes of cheese while at it.

It was then, when he finally felt full, that he decided to do something else.

”DESSERT!” he said, as he jumped from his seat, once again leaving Dorbish perplexed.

He marched to the dispenser, looked at the different names, and decided to make a choice.

”Cheesecake, how bad can it be if not heavenly good?” His finger aimed at the arcane circle, but another was also aiming there at the same time.

Moon wasn’t bothered, and...

POP~

The sealed cheesecake fell from the dispenser; he took it and decided to go back on his way.

”HEY YOU,” someone shouted.

Moon turned around, pointing at himself. ”Me?”

”YES YOU, I ALREADY DECIDED I WANTED THAT!” He saw it was Lexie speaking; behind her, Nola was holding onto the hem of her sleeve.

”Take another one then,” Moon said, about to turn around, and started whistling, ready to leave.

”That’s what I’m saying, this is the last one today!” she said again.

Moon gave her a side look. ”Hey, look, it’s in my hands, that makes it mine. Want it, fight me for it!” he declared.

Lexie opened her mouth wide in disbelief. ”You’re going to punch a lady in the face?” she exclaimed.

Moon squinted at the unusual claim. ”I can’t?” he asked, unsure of the real meaning behind her words.

”Of course you can’t; are you crazy?” she said with absolute confidence, unaware of the current thoughts Moon was experiencing.

’Did I get tricked... girls cannot be punched in the face?’ he thought. ’That girl’s duel; she cannot be punched. How do I win?’

’What do I do now? Should I stab her instead?’

’No, I’ll get disqualified right away, but how do I punch her? If I don’t punch her, I won’t win.’

’Wait, how does that no-punching work anyway? Another bullshit fantasy setting that exists only outside the first floor.’

”HEY HEY, ARE YOU LISTENING?” Lexie’s voice snapped his thoughts.

Dorbish, who was watching the entire scene, had facepalmed himself at least 5 times since the beginning.

He saw Lexie standing, choosing what to pick, Moon passing by, scanning, smashing, taking the cake, and leaving smoothly, knowing too well this was going to happen.

He wanted to go, intervene, but ’YOU SCAMMER’ rang in his ears every time he thought of doing so.

”What a mess,” he exclaimed.

Moon weighed his options, before looking down at the cheesecake in his hand.

He made his decision.

Moon squinted his eyes. ”Catch me and take it then.” He started running, not risking damaging the cheesecake.

”HEY, WAIT HERE,” Lexie shouted again, ignoring Nola’s pleas.

”So what if you can’t be punched, you can’t catch me either,” he said, looking back.

At that moment, he ran into—

Thud~

Someone who was passing by.

Moon turned around, looking at what, or who, he had run into... Someone so weak that they got knocked down to the ground so easily.

Black hood, features hidden... Only a long strand of straight black hair and sharp eyes hidden behind it.

Moon instantly recognized the person. ”Oh, it’s you, bitch... as expected, you’re weak as fuck.”

Lexie was still running at him; he decided not to linger. ”I’ll throw a knife between your eyes if I feel that gaze of yours on me again,” he said quickly and started running again.

Outside of the eatery, far beyond where Lexie could get without using any Echo.

After ditching everyone, including Dorbish, who didn’t take his face out of his palm for a long time, Moon finally arrived at the eatery.

’Was that knocked down weakling in black a girl... how did she fall if they can’t be attacked?’

The first thing he saw was Ed’s tired-looking face. ”What are you doing now?” he asked as soon as Moon entered snapping his thoughts apart.

”Eating, gaining muscles,” he clarified, his cheesecake still held carefully in his hand. He sat at the table where he usually sat.

”Why don’t we have this cool stuff here? I mean, your cooking is best, but no cheesecake, no potato chips, no cheese cubes... That’s too sad,” he said as he opened the seal of the cheesecake pack and picked a spoon from the table.

”You can always go there to get them; as one of the students, you can always enjoy them,” Ed clarified.

”Gah!” Moon’s head whipped back.

The first bite stunned him completely for a moment. ”I don’t know what this taste is. I never tasted anything like this on the first floor.”

Ed looked at him but didn’t say anything.

”You know, I kinda feel like I belong here rather than the students’ eatery... I might go there to pick a few of these... But I wouldn’t have gone there if that dude didn’t bring me there,” Moon clarified.

”Well, as long as you enjoy it,” Ed smiled. ”The taste you don’t know the name of is probably sweet, the taste of sugar... you never saw sugar on the first floor, I presume.”

”Sugar, that I never heard of,” Moon nodded, taking another spoonful. ”Does it give me muscles?”

Ed pursed his lips. ”It gives you one of these.”

Moon looked at Ed; his hands started shaking.

Ting~

The spoon in Moon’s hand slipped, falling on the table. He stood and took a couple of steps back.

”What... did you say?”