Chapter 52: After The Speech
Moon’s proud face was unwavering; he even hit his chest twice while mocking all the clan kids around there.
He was utterly clueless to what Colten was thinking, or of what he was deducing of everything he just said, of that small sentence of his.
Colten was not even done; he had also deduced that the increase of Echo capacity Moon underwent after his first trial ascension wasn’t much, considering that even when he can’t properly use it, it was impossible to feel.
Unless he actually broke the rules and got his Echo sealed as a penalty, that is, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
What could a guy who doesn’t even know how to use Echo hurt? How much damage can his Echo inflict?
Colten glanced at the men by his side, then at the frightened duo behind Moon, then at Moon himself.
He to a certain extent understood Moon’s behavior; he had only heard of Ashspawns coming off the first floor, but Moon didn’t seem to be an Ashspawn.
But his behavior wasn’t much different. Ashspawns only believed in battle, skill of combat... most of them, after getting selected for ascension, just return back to the first floor to resume their fighting without a regard to climbing the tower or increasing their strength.
Only a small portion of Ashspawns are actually climbing, but all of them are unhinged in one way or another.
Overall, Ashspawns are one-battle companions but not people anyone could work with for a prolonged period of time.
And the guy standing before him had survived living and fighting; he even came to the second floor with his warrior’s pride intact.
A rarity, alas short-lived.
He could have been useful; Colten wasn’t very satisfied with how things ended.
But he had one last thing he wanted to try. "Moon, you said you were once a mercenary."
Moon’s eyes fell on Colten again. "What about it?" Looking unimpressed.
"I have a commission for you," Colten lured him with words.
"Say it," Moon impatiently demanded.
"Work for me, I’ll pay you handsomely... more money than you could ever imagine." Colten tried to ignite his greed.
He wasn’t going to let today’s events go peacefully, but he would rather hold authority over the savage first.
"Naaah, I don’t work for those weaker than me," Moon said flatly, disinterested while whipping his hand in boredom.
Colten rolled his eyes; he wasn’t as angry as before now that he understood the guy, but he also was less confused about his behavior.
"You want to fight us, right?" Colten tried to lure him further; at least now... it was time for him to lose an arm or a leg, if not his head.
"Beat y’all up, not fight; you don’t even qualify for a warm-up," Moon taunted.
"But as a warrior of the first floor, you are currently fighting at your 100%, minus weapons of course... We are the ones handicapped in this situation, don’t you think?" Colten tried to reason, similar to what Dorbish did, but for a different purpose.
Moon scratched his head in frustration. "Why am I surrounded by pussies who don’t want to fight after picking a fight?" He turned around, starting to walk away, not bothered with the duo he claimed.
"Fucking pussies calling themselves warriors, running around with toy swords." Moon kept ranting audibly while walking very slowly, dragging his feet; he wanted everyone to listen.
"One ass says we’re tired, the other says we can’t use Echo." "Bastards think battlefields are playgrounds..." A bystander was nearby; Moon marked his face, he said how dare he speak of the clans or something... Moon remembered him.
"And there’s this bastard who called me something I don’t remember." Moon pointed.
The bystander took a step back. "No no I—"
"Shut up, bastard." He punched him in the nose, knocking him out. "Badmouthing me behind my back."
Moon turned around facing the masses and Colten. "Every one of you backtalking bastards, I remember your faces, every one of you... come willingly to the skirmish ring to settle our score unless you want me to find you myself."
With that, he turned around. "Daddy clan, save my poor ass, my fists can’t punch." He kept ranting nonetheless.
Colten was not mad; he was actually satisfied. "Hey, how about a Duel?" he offered.
Moon stopped in his tracks, placing a hand on his face. "When?"
"Tomorrow, there will be a speech in the morning, right after the speech is over," Colten clarified.
Colten had finally gotten what he wanted; now he’ll control this unhinged savage through the pride he has... or so he thought.
Moon, on the other hand, had no idea there would be a speech tomorrow. ’What speech, who’s sbitching?’ he thought, dismissing the whole idea.
But he was holding his face, grinning widely... he made sure his face was hidden by both his hand and hair. ’Anyhow, this sassy young master fell for it at last.’
"How many of you are fighting?" Moon asked.
Colten proudly spoke, "Only one, of course. We are warriors as well; we don’t place ourselves or our opponents at a disadvantage," Colten assured.
Moon finally managed to control his face; he turned around and pointed at the duo further away. "Does that include a sneak attack?" Moon asked, mockingly.
Colten was prepared, though. "I wanted to hire you, of course I would want to test you first, plus, as you can see, these two are too weak to be a threat to you," Colten smoothly clarified. "As you can see, if they had managed to hurt you, my efforts recruiting you would have been meaningless," he added.
Moon nodded. "You are right, I suppose a sneak attack every once in a while doesn’t hurt no one," he assured, his smile returning.
Colten smiled softly, unbothered. "Of course not," he said dismissively. He turned his face to the side and called, "Dave."
The blond one who got slapped just a few minutes ago stepped forward. "My lord," he lowered his head and placed his fist on his chest.
"You will fight Moon," Colten stated curtly.
"My honor and sword belong to you, my lord." Dave accepted his task readily, but looking at his lowered face, Moon noticed the malice he radiated from his eyes, aimed at him.
"Hmmm, this is too weak," Moon commented, unimpressed.
"You don’t have to worry about that. He’s received formal training since he was a child; he will be a good opponent for you," Colten assured, trusting his underling.
Moon, unimpressed as always, was not assured... He knows how well he fights; a random underling, one who could be slapped like that, wasn’t exactly the valuable type.
Adding to that the malice the guy radiated, Moon didn’t like him or the way he looked...
’Ah my days, have I been playing back and forth with these clowns only to fight this wiggly boy?’ he thought, lamenting in his heart.
But it was all for the hierarchy; one must begin somewhere...
He nodded at last. "Fine, whatever you throw, or afford to lose." He spoke slowly while watching Colten’s face closely.
Watching Colten’s tensing expression, he knew he hit the nail on the head to an extent.
But it didn’t matter; he turned around, ready to leave.
"Where are you going?" Colten stopped him.
"What else do you want?" Moon questioned flatly.
"This is a duel; of course there will be terms."
