Chapter 179: World Below

Time ticked; Moon finished his meal and moved out. He had a lecture to attend.

Rushing to the room where he had his second arcane lecture with Uon, he was now an arcanist recognized by the Tower, and before long, the association would notice him. At that time, he would become an official member.

Until then, he needed to learn everything about arcane as a novice arcanist, so Uon was spending the time trying to give him the knowledge he acquired during his time being taught about arcane.

But Moon was acting weird today; he kept squirming in his seat all the time, making Uon uncomfortable.

"What’s up today, little Moon?" Uon asked, running his gaze over Moon’s swollen eyes. "Did something good happen?" he asked skeptically, knowing Moon got in a foul mood whenever he got beaten.

"Brat, come to my hall once you’re done with the lecture," Ed’s voice came to Moon’s ears.

Moon urged, "LET’S FINISH THIS LECTURE FAST!" he said excitedly.

With no other choice, Uon went on with his lecture and made sure to give all the important notes Moon needed today.

Soon enough, Uon dismissed Moon. "You can leave now, though remember, I’ll make sure to go through all the important notes of today’s," he said.

Moon jumped off his seat and sprinted. "Thanks!" he called while waving at Uon, who watched his departure with pursed lips.

At the entrance of Hall 3, Moon pushed open the door, which opened right away for him.

Inside, Ed was seated in a comfortable-looking chair; around him were a few bags, and in his hands was a warm cup of tea.

Moon couldn’t help taking a deep breath at the nice aroma the tea gave off.

"What do we do now?" Moon asked, looking around.

Ed signaled to him with his chin. "Take these bags, they have some clothes, change into them, and come back," he instructed.

Moon dashed to take them and run in the direction of Hall 1. "Stop," Ed pointed upstairs. "Go upstairs here instead," he instructed.

Moon ran upstairs, and soon enough, he returned.

A loose shirt with a pink and purple flower pattern on it, red waterproof shorts, and a pair of toed slippers.

"Damn, I look dashing again!" he said before running his hand over his face, his swollen eyes, and barely-existing eyebrows. "Fuck, who am I kidding?" he cried in pain.

Moon still had Liquid Mountain strapped around his waist. "Ah, wouldn’t the scent bring the crazy female banshee again?" he suddenly asked.

He was hinting at the scent of death he was giving off thanks to the status abnormality of having Death Echo running through his body while questionably still alive.

His clothes were the rewards from ’???’ through the Crimson status window to hide his abnormality. Now that he had taken off every single piece of his clothing, he was worried about attracting needless attention again.

Ed’s tone turned dismissive. "You don’t have to worry; with the number of seals Samuel placed on you, even outers won’t be able to detect it," Ed assured, knowing too well both his issue and Samuel’s capabilities, and how much time he spent making sure his body was in an absolute state of perfection when it came to seals.

Moon trusted Ed on that and nodded, still unhappy with the state of his face and hair.

Ed stood from his seat. Setting aside the now-empty cup of tea, "I’ll get ready as well; wait here," he said before he headed somewhere into the distance of the hall.

Moon waited for a short time; his eyes fell on the picture of the three teenagers again. He couldn’t help sighing bitterly. "Dude looked dashing without even trying," he said, looking at the third member, who looked like a dirty farmer- a dashing dirty farmer.

Soon enough, Ed returned, now wearing a white shirt with shorts red like Moon’s. On his head, he had a round straw hat.

In his hands, he had another bag.

"Here, take these," Ed said, handing the bag to Moon, who opened it and found inside another hat and an object he couldn’t identify.

Moon readily placed the hat on his head and ran back upstairs to take a look in the mirror. "Awesome, but—"

Sigh~

"Come here, brat, give me that bag," Ed instructed.

Moon did as he was told. Ed fished a pair of heart-shaped black glasses from the bag and placed them over Moon’s face, earning a "Wow!" from him.

Feeling like the world had darkened, Moon ran again to look, finding out that his eyebrows and eyes were now hidden behind the object he couldn’t identify.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Moon’s voice came before he did. "What’s that thing?" he asked.

"Black glasses, which people wear to make their eyes feel comfortable when the sky is bright, like on the second floor," Ed explained.

Without further delay, the two of them headed out and started walking to the edge of the facility again.

Looking down, Moon was greeted by the same breathtaking view and shaken sense of balance. He took a couple of steps back.

"How do we go down?" Moon asked, looking at Ed with a questioning gaze.

"How else?" Ed asked back, holding Moon by the scruff. "Hold onto the hat well," he reminded before—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh~" Moon’s uninterrupted, continuous screams rang all the way down.

After falling for a long time, Moon opened his eyes, only to see they were still falling, resulting in his scream failing to cease.

After a few more minutes, "Here you go," Ed said softly and placed Moon on his feet, which instantly went wobbly, sending him falling on his butt, clutching his chest.

Huff~

Huff~

Huff~

"What?" Ed asked. "I held on to you; what are you so afraid of?" he asked Moon, who was still in a state of panic, trying to catch his breath.

Moon looked at him, his face turned halfway yellow. He exhaled heavily and forced himself to stand up. "What are you talking about? It’s not that much of a distance," he said while still panting.

Ed chuckled. "Right?" He pointed ahead. "Let’s get going then."

The two of them walked to the huge gates of a city they had landed near. At the gates, Ed signed on the ledge and went inside with Moon.

"Whooo!" Moon exclaimed once they stepped inside. The street was clean, bright, and lined with food and merchandise stalls littered all over the walkway.

People were walking together; it was crowded and lively, unlike anything he’d ever seen.

"Let’s go," Ed said, patting his shoulder and leading the way.

Along the way, Moon looked curiously at some items, food, and other things he couldn’t identify. Ed took his time to explain things to him.

"You want one of these?" Ed asked while Moon looked at a stall grilling meat skewers.

One kind of food after another, Moon finished one skewer at a time before getting attracted to a new one.

He was someone who appreciated food to a frightening degree; never would he leave food for another, and never would he throw away something he didn’t like.

For Moon, food was precious.

"This looks like Mishu!" Moon said, pointing at an item on another stall. It was a cat face mask. Ed went and bought it for him as well.

Before long, the walkway was finally over; Moon was full and had lots of fun items he never thought existed.

Below his feet, the stones disappeared, replaced by bright sand, and before his eyes was water so clean and bright, reflecting the golden sky.

Ed guided him to where they would stay. He took the bags from Moon’s hands and placed them where he was seated.

"Go play."