Free Web NovelChapter 19: Inner Noise
Before Moon could thank Uon, the gentle giant had more to say.
"Once you’re done, you’ll find me outside. I’ll guide you to the eatery so we can have dinner before guiding you to where you’ll sleep for the next few days before the new batch of ascenders arrive."
Moon couldn’t help feeling warmth in his heart. ’Only these bastards who died by themselves were nice to me.’ He lamented.
But it was still not the time.
One day he will go back to the 1st floor.
The matter was not over for him, and it’s not settled by any means.
Uon walked away, leaving him to take a shower, and the bitterness that started creeping into his mind.
Once the door was closed, a mirror was fixed on the back.
He stood there for a moment.
He stood frozen; he listened to the loud silence. He listened, but there was nothing... just silence.
The cabinet was too clean. There were no growls, glaring blades, screams... no mud, no stench of blood assaulting his nose and guts.
Just... silence.
He exhaled slowly.
Before long, he was back in motion, taking off his clothes piece by piece, placing them on each of the two circular platforms.
The arcane circles dimly reacted, faint rune-like lines glowed as if acknowledging his touch.
He watched silently. At first, his eyes held awe at the scene, but soon... the awe faded.
In the mirror, he looked at his own, well-trained, yet stiff and malnourished body.
The large scar on his lower abdomen, the one that should’ve killed him.
But it wasn’t the only scar on his body.
His body held a few.
One on his chest, piercing through his right shoulder blade.
Three horizontal cuts on his left thigh.
A deeper one near his ribs, right below where his heart was.
’Looks like I could always avoid minor injuries...’ he muttered inwardly. ’Always got hit with what would either kill me or cripple me.’ He laughed lightly.
A dry, hollow laugh.’
’Though my back didn’t have any, brothers...’
He rubbed his face, turning his back on the mirror.
As Uon had instructed, he tapped the circle in the center, and water started flowing, like droplets of heavy rain... but warm, soothing, and gentle.
He didn’t even notice when it started.
As it poured down on him from above, soft and steady, his body froze.
Second by second, he was entranced.
His body didn’t react. It wasn’t threatening... but something cracked.
Something inside his mind cracked.
The warmth of the flowing water... something he was experiencing for the first time in his life... ignited a wave of yearning and agony.
His shoulders relaxed, his breathing deepened.
His hand slowly rose, touching the falling stream.
His fingers trembled slightly. Memories flooded in.
Like rapid noise assaulting him, everything that was lost, lamented for these long years.
The small things he desired in his pursuit to survive these four years on the battlefield.
Dragging bodies of dead friends.
Sleeping in dirt.
Sealing wounds with mud.
And now...
Only now could he feel what it was like.
"So this is clean what clean water feels like."
Only he, out of everyone he knew, got to see clean water in his lifetime.
Clean water he didn’t even dream of drinking in his life. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
He clenched his jaw. He had to stop this somehow.
He tilted his head forward, letting the water run through his long hair.
The grime disappeared almost instantly, pushed out of his tangled hair.
The water was strange in its own way. It could wash away everything almost instantly without effort.
He let it run.
He let it clean him.
He let it erase what it could.
He still had the pendant around his neck.
For some reason, he didn’t think he should place it on that cleaning arcane thing.
He left it there.
It felt wrong to include it.
The steam blurred his reflection in the mirror.
...
Meanwhile...
Somewhere, far away, in another part of the facility.
Teacher Rowa was walking alone.
She moved under the bright structures and the dark sky, her steps light and controlled.
She looked calm and collected like a proper teacher.
Her raven hair swayed slightly with each step.
Her bright amber eyes reflected the artificial lights.
Her leather full-body suit clung tightly, practical and intimidating, with a large cloak over the armor.
She looked younger than she should, or maybe older...
It was impossible to tell.
She stopped.
Took a slow breath.
The breeze passed.
Pleasant, cool and quiet.
Then—
Sniff.
Sniff.
Sniff.
Her expression changed.
She took a deeper—
Sniffffffff.
Her brows furrowed before a final confirmation.
Sniff.
A vein bulged and throbbed at her temple.
"Rotten bastards..." she growled.
"You bastards managed to get here as well!" she shouted.
Her calm shattered instantly.
She burst into a maddened sprint, too fast for the eye to catch, toward a certain direction.
...
Back in the toilet.
Moon touched the circle again, and the water stopped flowing, and once it did.
An invisible wave radiated from the circle, hitting him gently.
The water on his body evaporated instantly.
No droplets.
No moisture.
Just clean Moon, reborn.
’Convenient...’ he nodded in approval.
’Maybe once I have my own place, I should get one of these.’ He dreamed, but the thought felt strange.
"Own place," he repeated audibly.
He put on his clothes again.
The fabric slid over his skin easily.
He adjusted them slightly before fixing his blade to the hind side of his waist again.
He let his long, wavy hair flow freely now that there wasn’t any grime to bind it.
He looked at himself one last time, nodding in approval.
’Dashing!’
...
He stepped outside, only to find Uon was still waiting for him.
The sky was still dark.
"Did you enjoy your shower, little Moon?" Uon asked.
Smiling, "More than I should," Moon answered.
"Let’s have a meal then," Uon encouraged.
"Yeah..."
Moon followed him.
The structure of the facility once again took hold of his attention.
It was like everything was floating.
Yet perfectly attached to one another.
Bridges connected platforms.
Lights hovered without support.
Paths extended into places that didn’t seem physically possible.
It didn’t feel like anything he had ever seen in his life.
Swishhhhhhhhhh~
A gust of wind thrashed into Moon and Uon.
Too sharp and sudden.
A shiver ran down his spine as his hand raced to find his blade.
Ding!
[Fate Alert]
30% → 40%
