Free Web NovelChapter 30: Echo Math
Uon raised his eyes to Moon. "None of these brats are worth teaching anything." His bright nature was suddenly replaced by evident disdain.
Taken off guard, Moon raised his brows. ’What’s with the sudden change?’
"What do you mean?" Moon was concerned about himself most. What if the second trial starts the same without him knowing anything?
What was Echo?
What even was the Tower?
His heart was full of questions that he needed answers for.
"Most of the new ascenders belong to major factions, and those who don’t belong to one are affiliated one in a way or another... and if not affiliated, they will join a group to ensure their survival..." Uon explained.
"What if they don’t belong anywhere?" Eyes wide open.
"They’re either forced into a group or—"
"Or what?"
"They are forced to give up the trials and climbing, and if they don’t—"
"Do they get killed?"
Uon nodded. "Sometimes, or just forced into giving up ascension entirely"
Moon’s eyes shifted to his untouched platter, staring with empty eyes, trying to process everything he just heard.
The needlessly long introduction Uon gave, and the branch he fell into.
So, this facility wasn’t just about surviving better, but sponsoring unaffiliated ascenders. This was the main reason.
Now that they also arrive in waves, they’re bound to start second trials in groups as well, and that means—
Unaffiliated ascenders have become something rarely seen, or so, Moon concluded.
"What if you fake joining, only to ditch them later?" Moon asked. He was no longer a slave, so he could leave whenever he wanted.
"That actually is possible in very few cases." Uon’s eyes shone. "Unless you have a special talent or get accepted within one of the syndicates, production guilds, and such."
Unable to tell if he actually had any talent for such things, he also had a different question in mind.
"What about Big Brother Uon?" Moon asked.
Uon lifted his robes. Underneath the shield emblem, another emblem was etched on his white shirt.
A golden outer circle, and another silver within it, and inside the circles was a strange ten-cornered star, looking rather hypnotic. "I’m an arcanist," Uon explained.
’Arcanist, arcane arts... ah...’ Coming to a realization.
"No wonder." Moon’s face relaxed slightly.
"I’m not very smart and not very talented, but I managed to join the Arcanists’ Association," Uon explained, in a very self-aware manner.
For a moment, Moon felt embarrassed.
How Uon just said everything wrong about himself without restraint... it was admirable to see.
Uon, who wasn’t aware of Moon’s thoughts, said, "After finally succeeding in the test, I applied for an assistant position in the facility here."
"So, how do I know if I have any talents for anything?" Moon asked.
"You won’t know until you try."
"How can I try?"
Uon didn’t answer. He was unsure if Teacher Samuel would be teaching this time around.
Samuel’s eyes passed by him, who was finishing his platter, seemingly unbothered by their talk at first glance.
Samuel stood. He tapped the table once, and the platter moved by itself to the counter.
"We will be teaching this time," Samuel finally spoke. His gaze fell on Uon. "Teach him about Echo, Arcane, and flowing light for now."
Uon, for the first time in a very long time, felt excitement he couldn’t contain. He jumped to his feet.
"YES, TEACHER!"
For the next 2 days, Moon tagged behind Uon, learning about everything he needed to know to survive as an unaffiliated ascender in the Tower’s current political and power struggles.
First, he was told tales about the times before the Tower existed. The world was devoid of Echo. People had short lifespans, suffered from diseases and famine.
Echo was the blessing of the Tower on the living.
The Tower shares Echo with everyone, and the Echo each individual takes hold of becomes his personal Echo, and once used for attack or arcane arts, it returns to the owner after a time.
Echo capacity is different among individuals. Ascension is the act of increasing the capacity of Echo, or so arcanists believe it to be.
Others believe ascension is the process of shedding the limits of existence.
As for warriors, they believe that Echo is but a tool to unleash the potential of their own bodies, to break their physical limitations.
"Both approaches are actually correct, but it depends on the user," Uon explained, inside Hall 1, in front of a large writing board. "As for ascension itself, you will have to find your own belief in the matter?"
"How high should my Echo actually be right now on average?" Moon asked.
"It should be somewhere between 4 to 16, or so the records say, the lowest and highest recorded numbers on the second floor."
Moon glanced at the blue status window, checking the data thoroughly for the first time.
Status Window
Personal Data
Name: Moon
Age: 16
Origin: First Floor
Ascension Track: Second Floor fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Vital Data
Strength: 6
Agility: 7
Stamina: 8
Echo: 16
Ascension Gift
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Undefined
Skills and Arts
Blade Mastery (Beginner 80%)
Spear Mastery (Beginner 30%)
Axe Mastery (Beginner 66%)
Sword Mastery (Beginner 52%)
Acquired Traits
Pain Tolerance (Intermediate 55%)
Berserk (Beginner 98%)
Status Abnormality
Death Echo: 9
Unrecorded Entry
Disabled Rewards System
The list was too long. He didn’t bother checking everything. There also seemed to be another list, different from this one, on the crimson window.
He wanted to avoid distracting his mind with anything that contributed nothing to his survival or identity for now.
But since it was relevant, he decided to do what he needed.
He did the math. 16 was the highest possible on the first trial, ’but out of that I have9 damn Death Echo.’ He thought.
Thus, for now, publicly at least—
"My echo is 7," Moon answered firmly.
"That has taken longer than it should, anyway..." Uon said, as chill as ever.
Moon was thankful. In his heart, he felt lucky he met Uon first here.
"It’s time to explain Arcane arts," Uon moved on to the next topic.
Moon listened attentively.
Echo applications are increasing every day, but for now, there are only two ways for new ascenders to use echo.
First is to use it directly for combat, but that was not an area Uon was going to teach yet. For now, he was going to teach simple utilization of echo.
Uon started drawing patterns on the board. "Here is one of the simplest sparks known."
It looked like a rune, open from three sides, round, and empty.
"This could also be called the simplest arcane circle."
Puzzled, Moon was still unable to understand. "What am I supposed to do though?" he asked.
"Simple, release your Echo, a small amount, and let it flow in this very form."
