Chapter 200: Busy Week

While Moon was getting busier with everything he needed to take care of before leaving, others were also getting busier and busier.

Basil and Barrett made an amount of money that was by all standards huge for them, money they never dreamed they would ever see, let alone hold, throughout their lives.

No one even questioned them, thanks to them going around with King Moon Insurance.

They still had to get beaten by Zera every day as part of their training; still, things were progressing better than expected.

Not so much about their training improvement, though; they did spend the time learning the arts Ed modified for them... still, they didn’t have the mastery or experience, so things were even slower.

Talia and Boa had a fallout. "This is the best possible outcome. I’m not on the same level of experience as he is, and again, Boa, you need to understand we need him."

For days, the two of them were in back-and-forth debates over the decision that Boa deemed unnecessary, while Talia was certain it was the right and best outcome.

Meanwhile, the ascender affiliated with the Church of the Sun joined their group after the duel.

He managed to reach out to Talia with a very precise statement.

"I seek to reduce bloodshed if possible, nothing else. I’ll join the side that would preserve more life, and yours happened to suit my goals," said Orin. He also sought out speaking with Moon, but since Moon didn’t yet know how to use his ring, he wasn’t reachable by anyone for now.

Lexie went around after Moon, trying to convince him to teach her fist fighting. Moon had to refuse; he barely had any time to flex his newfound 4-value Echo on Uon whenever he happened to see him in the hall.

Without any delay, his schedule was adjusted so that he would get beaten daily by Samuel, and he would also spar with Ed to improve the cutting qualities of his Echo.

The Echo provided by Symbiotic Spark was not a flowing Echo, but an external Echo stored in the Symbiote; thus, it couldn’t be used for Combat Art.

It could still be used for Arcane, though inefficiently thanks to the low value.

The real usage now was to inspect the capacity of items, control output, and use it as an emergency or urgency weapon.

Two days in, the new schedule started to set in, but Moon wasn’t looking very good. His coffee break time was now spent sprawled on the floor.

Either he had been sparring at an unusual time and was breathless or beaten badly, or he had a long lecture by Uon or Samuel until his head was on the verge of exploding.

"Can’t they just kill me instead?" Moon whispered, unable to force himself up.

He was healing rather slowly as well these days, unlike before.

Mishu had also disappeared somewhere after breaking Ed’s door; he couldn’t be seen anywhere anymore.

Still, Moon managed to walk around the facility every once in a while... though he either looked swollen or was holding his head.

Or both.

Still, Talia arranged a few meetings that she wanted Moon to attend. "I’m too busy; just do things as they should without me." Yet, this was all he said in response.

Thus, meetings were run by Talia, where those who held power or authority were invited to attend. Those of lower status, like Basil, Barrett, or the two younger knights of Colten, were obviously excluded.

The system grid was expanding as days went by, yet Moon made sure to never check it once. Nor did he check his status window during all these days.

Moon decided that he didn’t want to know.

Not knowing was always better than waiting for numbers to improve, for his faction to expand beyond Enzo’s.

He knew too well that they would be having less overall, both in troops and ascenders.

Kingdoms were smaller in size and usually didn’t have grand ambitions to expand, unlike empires.

That much, at least, was taught to him properly by Uon over the lectures he’d attended.

His training was becoming so intense that he was feeling worse as days went by. His stat increases helped him cope with the intensity of fighting twice or even thrice a day, attending lectures, and beating up metal until his arms gave out.

"No new attributes?" Ed kept asking him every single day, seemingly concerned about Moon’s suddenly slower recovery rate.

Soon, the fifth day had passed since the last round. On the sixth day, Ed decided to let Moon play or do whatever he wanted.

"Wanna go to the beach again?" Ed even offered, but Moon refused.

"I want coffee, cheesecake, and to lie down in bed and stare at nothing," Moon said instead, refusing anything that required energy.

"Why are you talking like an old man?" Ed asked, looking into Moon’s eyes that were barely visible.

Moon didn’t answer. His eyes were swollen; his body felt too heavy. Every single spot was bruised, overlapping day after day without being given enough time to heal.

Ed shook his head. "Fine, do whatever you want." He dragged a bucket of chicken popcorn over. "Here, take this with you."

Moon’s eyes lit up just a little bit. He walked closer to the counter and hugged the bucket, waved at Ed, and made his way out.

Ed watched his heavy steps with a heavy face.

"Why won’t it work?" he said in a low voice full of frustration.

"There’s nothing wrong with his body," Samuel said, seated in his usual spot. "If it keeps going like this, he’ll be getting all the cons and none of the pros," he added.

He was also more focused on Moon these days than usual, closely monitoring his physical condition.

"Is he accumulating Shockwaves slower than he should?" Ed asked, uncertain if that was where the problem lay.

"He isn’t. If anything, he’s accumulating them too fast," Samuel retorted.

"Should we slow down then?" Ed rubbed his forehead. "I know we don’t have much time, but—" He went silent.

"It doesn’t matter anymore," Samuel said slowly. "If we stop now, it’s the same as never attempting this in the first place," he advised.

"What if it doesn’t work after all of this?" Ed asked again, still worried.

Samuel stood up from his seat. "If it doesn’t work here for a few days’ drill, then he has to make it work on his own."

He turned around, making his way out of the eatery. "We did our part; the rest is on him," he said before leaving.

Ed took off his headwear and sat down. "I know we did our part... I know," he whispered alone.

Meanwhile, Moon was now in his room. He held his bucket of chicken popcorn, a cup of coffee, and a cheesecake.

Basil had been waiting for him near the eatery with both the coffee and cheesecake ready. Knowing Moon was too busy these days, he was trying to save him time whenever possible.

Today, Moon decided to distract himself for the first time in a long while.

He’d been ignoring even his status window to make sure he didn’t get distracted or disheartened by anything.

But today, Moon had a different plan.