Free Web NovelChapter 16: Tabula Rasa
Unable to resist the insanely strong old man, Moon’s neck was finally exposed.
’It’s over, everything.’
In his mind, he was doomed to be sent back to the first floor, become a war slave again.
Become someone’s property.
Become these bastards’ sword and shield against his will.
His dead brothers, his own recent death, everything was now... meaningless.
Moon looked into the teacher’s eyes, unable to see the slightest emotion in them. His gaze fell to the floor, unable to say a word or explain a single thing.
"There’s nothing at all," Teacher Samuel stated.
"Huh?!" Unable to believe his ears, Moon jumped.
He hurriedly unsheathed his weapon, staring into his own reflection.
His neck.
The faded slave mark.
Or where it should have been.
But he found... nothing.
Completely nothing. Just his own skin, clear.
His reflection was flawed on the blade. He needed a mirror.
He started looking around mindlessly for a place where he could find one.
Looking like an idiot, the old man wasn’t really bothered nor did he plan on interrupting whatever he was going through.
"Uon, guide him to the toilet." He instructed.
"Yes, teacher," answered Uon, who stood right behind Moon. "Maybe you need to wash your face, the rift transportation might have been tough."
Moon turned toward the familiar voice, the same voice he heard when he entered the floor.
It was gentle. A little childish, one might say.
But...
What he saw was far from gentle or childish.
A man over two meters tall. Long arms and eyes so round they felt like they could pierce a soul. Hair so yellow. Eyes so yellow
He couldn’t help being reminded of that smiling face, seemingly gentle. But...
"You are huge," Moon exclaimed.
"Oh, am I? Haha... You’ll grow big too. You’re still young," the giant called Uon replied gently.
Pulling himself together, forcing ease to wash over him, Moon stood and followed Uon to the toilet.
His resilient mind nearly collapsed this time, but he still somehow managed to pull himself together.
Or rather, he might have been just lucky this time... Too lucky even.
Along the way, he kept looking around at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
The second floor.
It was so much different from anything he had ever seen in his life.
Different from the first floor entirely, and of course different from the swamp.
Though he might not have explored every corner of the first floor, and there might have been different places...
His worldview was still as small as a slave’s thrown into muddy arena.
’Is this an entirely different world?’ He thought, unable to believe his eyes. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Giant buildings, domes, platforms hanging in the sky, and everything connected by multiple bridges.
It was a magnificent sight.
Yet not a single word of awe came. Not even a sound.
Now that he just needed to confirm one last thing, his new life could begin.
"Here, at the end of this corridor, on the left, is the men’s bathroom," Uon said with a smile, raising his unreasonably long arm and pointing with a proportionally long finger.
"Thank you," Moon said, smiling back at the gentle giant.
At the bathroom, which was by all means too big for a bathroom, with enough space to accommodate a battle squad, or maybe more.
He stood there, just focusing on the mirror.
In front of the mirror.
Moon stood.
Squirming right and left.
"Where did it go?" he asked out loud, staring at the mirror.
The mark.
Or what was left of it.
It was completely erased.
Not a single hint it ever existed.
Or any indication he was ever marked as a slave.
Once he couldn’t find nor feel completely, "How the faaaaaa—?" He screamed in happiness.
It was a surprise, but a pleasant one.
Among so many things he had no business understanding, he was the happiest now in his life.
He didn’t know how to contain his feeling, smiling at himself widely in the mirror.
"You made you stupid bastard!" He pointed at himself in the mirror.
He heaved a sigh of relief, finally relaxing and taking a good look at himself.
His clothes looked dashing, but that didn’t hide the grime, blood, and mud of his now longer-than-usual hair.
His face was also marked by two stress lines cutting down his cheeks diagonally, and his eyes looked like they could barely stay open, like two lines threatening to go in parallel and never meet again.
But things didn’t stop there.
Growl!
It was then that his body finally caught up to the reality of the passage of time.
"It’s fine. I’ve seen people in far worse states than you," said the gentle giant as he stood at the entrance of the large bathroom hall.
Unfazed, "There was?" Moon questioned curiously, his eyebrows rising.
Nodding, "Yes, there were a few who had never even hit a bug, but ended up fighting goblins..."
He paused for a moment, thinking of how to phrase his next words.
"On the first trial, some people will be forced to do what was unthinkable just to see it end."
Blinking slowly, Moon felt that this was the most relevant thing to what he had experienced.
He couldn’t help asking, "Usually, how many does each person face in the trial?"
It was time to confirm. He was unsure of a few things.
Whether his current situation was the baseline, or if he was an anomaly. And if he was an anomaly, how far he was from regular standards.
The slave mark was finally gone, and now was the time for him to live as his own person.
On Uon’s side, he thought for a moment before answering.
"Usually around 5 for most trial takers. For stronger candidates, it can go up to 30. In some cases, the trial would assign a group, and it goes up to around 150 goblins. In rare cases, wolves might appear as well," Uon answered honestly, every possibility he had seen.
And by the time he was done, Moon had already set the numbers he would live with.
He expected a question to come.
And Uon, that nice guy, did not disappoint.
"If I may ask, though you can decline to answer if you wish... How many did you face on the first floor?"
Moon’s admiration for the giant grew.
He couldn’t help smiling faintly.
