Chapter 182: All In

Back in his room, Moon went first for a quick shower to wash away the salt and sand all over his body and head.

His hair, especially, was hard to clean thanks to the wild, headfirst jump he’d attempted.

Once he was done, he gently put away the clothes Ed had brought him before putting on his usual mountain emblem reward set again.

A small paper bag was laid down on the side; Moon started emptying the contents.

The cat mask he picked. It had long, narrow slits for eyes and mouth lines that gave it a slight smile.

Moon took a long look at it, liking the mask all over again before laying it down.

There were a few more toys... a spinning block of wood, jumping ropes, and more. Moon wasn’t bothered with them now.

He was aiming for something else.

His hands found them... a stack of squarish pieces of paper that were a little thicker than usual.

Moon took them out and sat down to check them out.

A photo of himself and Kylo where they ate the sandwiches Ed brought. Moon was talking excitedly in the photo, and Kylo, who was a younger version of Joshua, was looking at him in amazement.

The next was of the two of them sleeping on the sand after they were done eating. Moon was sleeping like a coiled shrimp, covering his eyes from the bright sky.

There were a few more randomly taken photos while they were playing.

Moon checked them one by one, to the very end.

Passing by another where he was standing with everyone, all four of them gathered to take a photo using Ed’s Echo, startling Joshua again in the process.

Moon was posing with his hat slightly down over his face; his glasses were slid down a little, showing his eyes.

He paused at it for a moment, smiling involuntarily before moving to the next.

At the end of the stack, Moon finally found it.

He found the one he wanted to check. The one he had been looking for since the beginning.

Moon and Ed stood side by side, arms crossed confidently.

For a long time, Moon couldn’t take his eyes off the photo. He studied it over and over.

"I want to put it in that squarish wood and have it on my desk," he said to himself. Moon lay down in his bed.

His body was starting to look better; he ate too much good food, too. He went to the sea that was surprisingly salty and refreshing.

Before this day, if anyone told him about a wide expanse of salty water, he would have thought they were lying.

He closed his eyes, thinking of everything he’d been through and how much his life was changing these days.

It was temporary. He knew he was leaving this facility soon.

Ed held a very special place in his heart, even when they fought and cursed. Moon couldn’t help being reminded of his brothers.

Though, unlike how his brothers were, Ed was stronger and could cook tasty food. He was also by far older.

Deep inside, Moon was holding a deep concern. He was starting to feel the overwhelming sense of gratitude, and with it came another overwhelming sense that he couldn’t identify, but he needed to do something.

He needed to do something for Ed, too.

Maybe it was time he decided what he should do for him in return for everything he had received.

Moon thought long and hard.

Fighting the slight sense of dizziness that came from playing in the sea for long hours, the bed felt like it was moving under him like waves of water.

Of everything, Moon couldn’t find anything but the training Ed wanted to go through with him.

It was the only thing he could offer, the only thing he had that was his own to give.

They were meeting soon for the smithery session they would go through every day, but Moon didn’t wait. He stood and started sprinting to Hall 3.

Pushing the door, it opened for him.

"I thought you’d rest for a little; we jumped here in one go," Ed’s voice came from inside.

Moon looked around, not finding him. He headed to where they did metalwork for the last few days.

Ed was feeding the flame some wood to start the process, though it didn’t seem any cooler than usual to Moon, who gritted his teeth at the usual heatwave.

He watched for a moment. "What are you here for? I didn’t even begin," Ed asked again.

Moon thought for a moment. "I was thinking, since you wanted to sharpen your fighting without Echo, maybe we can increase it," Moon said.

Ed, surprised, raised an eyebrow. "That’d be nice actually, but how often do you want it to be?" he agreed readily.

"Since I won’t be staying for much longer here, maybe daily?" Moon suggested.

Ed looked deeply at Moon for a second. "That’s fine for me; what about you... Would it be fine?" he asked.

"It’s fine. I get to use my Echo in combat, and you get to experience fighting without Echo," Moon said, before adding, "That would work well for both of us... I mean, we don’t have that much time left."

Ed looked at the flame for a second before nodding. "Fine, let’s do that." He turned back to Moon. "Want to start smithing now or later?" he asked.

Moon locked eyes with him; both had a slight hint of sadness. "Yeah, let’s begin now."

Thus, today Moon became busier than ever.

After he was done with the smithery, he had his dinner in the eatery, and got a cheesecake on the way to the ring for his spar with Ed.

The day ended, and the next came.

Starting his morning with beating Basil and Barrett or finding Zera to beat them up, followed by a lecture with Uon or Samuel.

The first focused on teaching Arcane that was impossible for Moon to learn considering his lack of flowing Echo.

The second focused on Seal: using his own seals, making new seals, upgrading existing seals, undoing them, and rebuilding them. Though that was also impossible for Moon, considering how Samuel was also rushing into advanced topics beyond Moon’s capacity to follow.

Noticing how Moon was wide-mouthed during every lecture, Samuel brought something new to the lectures.

A piece of animal flesh and a set of needles for Moon to practice crafting seals by himself.

Thus the fifth and sixth days since the last round came to an end, with one day left before the new round.

Or rather, the duel - things were once again starting to get lively in the branch.

With Basil leading a large gambling wave, he no longer needed to take advantage of or trick anyone this time.

The opponent was Talia of the Knights’ Realm.

That was enough for everyone to place their entire life’s worth on her without batting an eye. Almost everyone but a few.

Very few.

Basil could only pray in his heart that Moon would win, even if he and a few others were the only ones believing in his ability to win.

"Boss won’t disappoint us," he affirmed this as he placed all the money they won last round without exception.

"Let’s go all in," he said with his hands shaking in excitement.