Chapter 209: Second Cup

Moon spent the rest of his day doing the things he thought he would miss once the trial started.

After his breakfast with Basil, Moon spotted Talia, and they had a conversation while Boa glared daggers at his face.

She looked as tired as he was, only not swollen or bruised.

Apparently, managing a huge number of people was too draining to be done by a single person, which explained why Boa also looked tired as well.

Sitting down, "Sorry, I left everything for you to take care of," Moon said apologetically.

"It’s fine." Talia shook her head.

"I’m done training, actually," Moon said with a hint of heaviness.

"It’s wise to stop now and focus on recovering, given how little time we’ve left," Talia said with a nod. "Did it go well?" she asked with a hint of concern.

Moon pursed his lips, pausing for a moment. He wasn’t sure how he should react to this; still, he thought lying now would only make this worse in the future.

Moon exhaled sharply. "It’s impossible for me to use Combat Arts," he said flatly without overexplaining the situation or saying hopeful words that made it less significant than it was.

Moon couldn’t use Combat Arts, and that was a fact no matter what he did at this point.

A few days ago, he tried to place his lump of Echo into the flames Ed used for forging. But Ed nearly slapped his eyes out of their sockets.

Turns out it was more of a bad idea than he could’ve thought.

Ed didn’t elaborate on anything; he only told him, "This flame isn’t some heat source, you brainless bastard. Don’t ever do this again."

It was rather obvious, considering that Ed never gave him the suggestion. That much was enough for him to know it was a bad idea.

Still, now that his Echo, no matter what he did, left it bouncing every day, heating it to block Ed’s and Samuel’s attacks, and even Mishu punched it a few times.

No matter what Moon did, it didn’t change its nature in the slightest.

Moon’s only way to use Echo that actually flows was to use the sealed Death Echo, and probably get killed within the next 10 seconds.

Hypothetical Prospective didn’t help either. Moon couldn’t find a path that allowed his Echo to become normal by any means after abusing the 0.02% probability for days.

Moon spent his time failing everything he tried, wasting the good stuff he was given. Even something as overpowered as Samuel’s seals was a decoration on him.

His self-esteem was damaged, but he wasn’t backing down.

Talia smiled. "It doesn’t mean it’d still be impossible in the future," she tried to comfort him.

Moon shook his head. "No, you can consider me a cripple at this point; it just won’t work."

Talia’s face turned heavy. "May I ask, what are the exact limitations other than Combat Arts?" she asked softly.

"Only combat arts; I can do everything else just fine," Moon elaborated.

’Including Arcane, of course; I’ll leave this as a surprise later,’ he said inwardly.

Talia exhaled. "Maybe it’s a side effect of your gift; still, being able to use items and artifacts is very pleasant news to hear."

Moon nodded; the false Gift everyone believed in was the perfect complementary part of the equation.

He ended up shrugging, "Who knows?" not giving it much a thought. He also noticed that Boa was grinding her teeth in silence.

He ignored her, looking back at Talia. "You also need to rest; I mean, we did our best." He opened his arms helplessly. "If it fails, so be it, there’s nothing else that could be done."

Talia shook her head but smiled.

Moon blinked. "I think there’s something fun we could do, though."

Moon stood before Talia’s questioning gaze and started walking. "Yo, follow me." He signaled for them to come.

Moon made his way to the boys’ dorm; on his way, he found Dorbish strolling aimlessly and had him join as well.

Before long, they all found themselves standing before Zera’s room.

Knock~

Moon knocked once gently on the door. Very gentlemanly.

Everyone waited; Moon didn’t explain anything. Talia and Boa dug their gazes into Dorbish’s face, who shrugged innocently.

Zera opened the door, finding Moon and everyone he brought in front of his face. He froze.

"Yo, I kinda missed the tea from last time," Moon grinned. "I came for a second cup," he said casually.

Zera swallowed hard, audibly dragging his saliva down his throat, but didn’t say anything.

The grin on Moon’s face disappeared. "Are you not going to invite us in?" he asked.

Zera gritted his teeth; he opened the door wide for everyone. Still wordless.

Moon entered under the questioning gazes of everyone, who helplessly followed him into the room.

Moon unceremoniously sat comfortably on the bed again. "Get everyone seated," he ordered Zera.

Zera only had 2 chairs in the room. "I only have 2 chairs."

Moon rubbed his forehead and leaned forward. "You want us to stand because you don’t have seats?" he asked before his eyes darted to where the teapot was. "Are you also going to say you don’t have enough cups?"

Moon rested his hand on his fist. "Are you trying to kick us out?" he asked in a low and slow tone.

Zera’s neck stiffened to the point of shivering. He made his way out of the room while everyone waited for him.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Boa suddenly asked, unable to hold back any longer.

"Something fun," Moon studied the room, ignoring her.

Before long, Zera returned with a pair of chairs and cups. He got everyone seated before starting to brew the tea.

Moon sat on the bed, and the extra chair was reserved.

After he was done, Zera passed the tea to everyone seated. "Now call him," Moon ordered.

Zera exhaled, but he didn’t oppose him this time; it was meaningless anyway.

Boa stared daggers at Dorbish, suspecting he knew something; he still drank his tea in silence, not bothered with anything.

Soon, Zera placed the ring on the chair and the screen lit.

Enzo’s face appeared on the screen. He looked at the room in confusion, while Talia and Boa were in the same confusion.

"Yo, didn’t catch anyone from your side stalking for a while; thought you were busy," Moon greeted casually.

Enzo froze for a second, then chuckled. "Didn’t see that coming." He shook his head. "I ordered them to leave you be; there wasn’t any point spying on you any longer."

Moon nodded in understanding. "Makes sense." He smiled gently. "Is everything going well on your side, the preparations and all?"

Enzo nodded. "Going perfectly."

"Hmm, that’s disappointing." Moon shook his head. "Well, I just wanted to say hi. I mean, we didn’t get to talk recently now that we got busy," He said apologetically.

"It’s fine," Enzo played along.

Moon brought the cup of tea closer to his nose, exhaled slowly, then took a sip. "Damn, this tea never fails to amaze me every time I drink it."

"I’ll have Zera pack some for you," Enzo said.

"That won’t be necessary," Moon dismissed. "I also wanted to ask you something," he started, unfolding his true intentions. "Did you consider the offer I made last time?"