Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

"What was that?" Moon scratched the back of his neck a couple of times, turning around. He looked in a certain direction.

There, Lucen, who was watching the scene while hiding himself from Moon’s eyes, found Moon’s eyes passing by where he was standing more than once.

"What’s going on now?" Ed asked Moon, his tone full of genuine ignorance.

"I... am not sure." Moon squinted again and looked back. "It’s similar to that shrouded bastard the day before yesterday."

"Hmm?" Ed raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"That nasty feeling of someone’s gaze on my ass, disgusting as hell." Moon’s body shivered all over once as he said it.

Ed placed his hand on his face, his body shaking slightly before his laughter rang in Lucen’s ears.

"Looks like I’m not the only one."

Ed removed his hand off his face. "Don’t worry, a few nasty old men came to watch the show."

"Oh, there is more than one?" Moon asked, skeptical.

"There might be soon. Don’t forget that feeling anyway... It might save your life, or save your future," Ed said casually.

"Um... okay. Ah... I have a question," Moon said, not giving the advice much thought.

"Say it."

"Does blacksmithing burn food? It’s too hot, I’m not sure if my muscles will make it," he asked, his voice concerned.

Ed nodded. "Valid question."

He then started rolling up his sleeve all the way to his shoulder. "Look here, brat."

Moon’s eyes shook behind the visor at the sight. Arms thick, every muscle perfectly visible, running over another.

Ed wasn’t done; he moved his arm around, flexing in different poses.

"DAMN!" Moon couldn’t help exclaiming.

"These are the arms of a blacksmith. Even if I eat trash food all day and ruin my body entirely... these arms cannot be corrupted by bad food," he declared.

Moon previously thought Samuel’s body was awesome, but now that he saw Ed’s arm, he was starting to question his previous judgment.

"Don’t get too excited, brat; we have something else I have to talk about before we start." Ed cut off Moon’s beautiful dream of having large, strong arms.

Moon nodded. "Yeah, let’s get it done and begin," he said as he secured the weapon he had.

Ed straightened his face. "Have you ever thought about why your Echo that’s that big," Ed said as he opened his hands wide like a ball, "can go in and out of your hand that’s this thick?" He shrank the gap between his hands to the minimum.

Moon moved his head around; his face wasn’t visible.

After a few seconds, "Isn’t that some part of the bullshit outside the first floor?" he answered the obvious.

Ed rubbed his chin. "You aren’t exactly wrong, but there’s an actual reason... I, for example: how much Echo do I truly have?"

"I don’t know." Moon shrugged.

At this moment, Ed released his Echo... All of it.

Moon couldn’t help taking a few steps back; the Echo was red in color. It spread rapidly, covering the arena and the sky.

Going beyond what his eyes could reach.

"HOLY!" Moon staggered slightly, even when the Echo didn’t have the slightest hostility.

"This is called natural compression; your body will compress the Echo you have to be perfectly aligned inside... Sometimes it’s one to ten, some other times it could be one to a million..." Ed explained.

Moon nodded, watching the red mass disappear. "Why are you telling me this now?" he asked.

"Your body will hold much more Echo than what you currently have, and soon enough you’ll start questioning if your body can handle it," Ed spoke in a voice and tone that hinted at his experience and his previous contemplations.

Moon nodded, though he secretly was still eyeing those muscles.

Ed seemed to have realized it; he pursed his lips. "You aren’t listening, are you?" he asked.

Moon kept nodding, not answering.

Ed helplessly rolled down his sleeve. "May the system have mercy on this foolish one we have here," he prayed.

In his hand, an item that looked like a large iron bracelet made of golden material appeared.

Ed put one on his right wrist.

Click~

It locked on, before he proceeded to place the other four.

Moon watched the scene. "What’re you doing?"

Ed ignored him and tapped his chest, or whatever he had underneath his shirt.

Bzzzzzz~

A thread made of gold erupted and connected his chest, arms, and legs instantly. "This is very unpleasant," Ed commented.

Moon raised his eyebrows. "That can’t be a weapon, right?"

"You idiot, I don’t have seals like Samuel to bring down my power to your level; I had to ask him for artifacts that could do the job," Ed explained, stretching his arms back and forth.

"Ah, so that’s what it was." Moon heaved a sigh of relief... He was secretly rejoicing; he was afraid something weird would be used on him again, like last time with Samuel.

Meanwhile, Ed spent a few minutes moving his body around. He didn’t seem too comfortable with his current state.

Even when he tried to use his Echo, it didn’t flow as he desired it. It was constantly failing.

"Maybe we rushed this; I needed to try and see how this thing works before coming here," Ed whispered to himself.

At the outer edge of the arena, Lucen was still watching the scene. He didn’t comment or say anything, his face held not a single reaction and his eyes showed not the slightest emotion.

Shua~

Someone entered the bubble he made to hide himself.

He turned around, watching Samuel walking closer with his hands clasped behind his back.

"You sure did make some interesting toys while staying here," Lucen praised, his tone holding genuine admiration.

Yet Samuel didn’t make any eye contact; he walked to his side and looked down at the ring.

"Did you choose this spot of all others to watch?" Lucen asked. It was like Samuel had walked in by sheer coincidence... But it was far from it.

"I thought it was rude for guests to arrive in my branch without notice, and stay without greetings," Samuel said rigidly.

"Oh, right..." Lucen chuckled softly. "Sorry about that; I was invited to watch a show and didn’t want to interrupt whatever you were doing," he said with a gentle smile.

Samuel looked Lucen in the eye. "You were invited?"

Lucen nodded. "Edmond invited me; he also said I should try this... unpleasant-looking thing down there and have a go with that child," he explained slowly.

Samuel averted his gaze, looking down at Ed and Moon for a moment.

Lucen cut the silence again. "Your artificing skills sure are becoming more profound with time," he praised again.

"A tool that could restrain someone as strong as Edmond himself, and force him into a fight against a second floor ascender." He shook his head. "If anything, it’s magnificent to look at."

Before he was done speaking, Samuel turned around, looking like he came here for something and now it was done, so he should leave.

"Leaving already, not gonna watch this with me?" Lucen asked, looking curious.

"I didn’t come here to watch," Samuel answered without looking back.

"You’ll leave that friend of yours unable to use this artifact? Did you deliberately make it to get him humiliated against a kid?" Lucen said with a light laugh, jokingly.

Samuel didn’t pause nor did he look back; instead, his voice trailed as he walked ahead.