[Ding! Cleared Floor 1 of the Amber Tower!]
Damon was swarmed as soon as he reappeared…
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually won!”
“What was that move at the end? It was so goddamn badass!”
“C’mon guys, can’t you see he’s hurt! Bring him to the Medic Tent ASAP!”
Half-Conscious, Damon could feel a group hoisting him in the air and carry him away. Why did it seem like he was the MVP of a football match with very eager teammates?
But that’s when Damon murmured them to halt…
“Wait… wait a minute, you guys…”
“Shhh, you all! He’s trying to speak!”
“Miaow!” (What is it, master?! This cat is listening!)
What was he about to say? Victorious words? Profound wisdom? What he had in mind was a bit different: “I won that bet. Don’t forget to collect my earnings…”
“….”
“….”
“Miaow!” (On it, Master! I’ll make them cough it all up!)
The cat went with resolute steps, leaving a flabbergasted group behind. Even on his deathbed, money was still the first thing on his mind?! Was this impressive or disturbing?
Still, it didn’t take them long to reach the infirmary, where a bunch of medics freaked out…
“W-what happened to him?! He’s so pale!”
“Life readings…. 10%?!? He’s at death’s door!”
“Quick, we need the second in command’s help or we’ll lose him!”
The medics were like bees having just lost their queen, running every-fucking-where as they panicked, their white gowns flying all over the place. But then, IT arrived:
Transparent, jelly-like, full of tentacles… and somehow wearing the medic getup with the red cross all the same?! This was a slime, one that jiggled all the way to Damon’s bedside.
[A Medi-Slime Has Appeared!]
[Please Get Ready For Inspection!]
Inspection?! Wouldn't it discover his corrupted Soul? Before Damon could even protest, the creature sent a tentacle down his throat, the entire thing invading his body as it searched for injuries.
A Medi-Slime, a slime that was ONLY fed medicinal herbs until its entire body morphed to have medicinal properties. One could say they were the cure-all of Medic Beasts.
This meant that their body itself was medicine…
— BITE! MUNCH! MUNCH!
Damon bit it hard, swallowing.
[Devoured Medi-Slime! Vitality Restored!]
The poor Magical Beast retreated quickly, one of its tentacles cut in half. H-Had that human… eaten it?! It may have been a Soul Beast, but it was still an Academy Doctor! Where was the reverence?! Where was the—
“Ah! That hits the spot. Thanks for the help!” Damon rose to his feet, no trace of his earlier weakness as he turned to the Medi-Slime, the latter now shaking with rage.
It wasn’t the only one raging either. The medics in the back had already summoned their Soul Beasts: Powderling, Vineator, was that actually a Flaming Monkey? They were shaking with rage:
“H-How dare you eat our leader’s Soul Beast?!”
“We’ll report this to the Academy for sure!”
“Have you no shame?!”
Faced with such criticism, Damon calmly spoke to the Medi-Slime, ignoring the medics:
“You were about to use Phantom Pain, right? Good thing I stopped you, else you’d be dead…” He shared, not an ounce of guilt on his face. At this moment, many trembled. How did he even know about that move?!
| Phantom Pain |
Reproduces a patient’s recent injuries unto oneself to understand their condition better. Medi-Slimes loved this move since they were immune to most ailments.
That’s when the Creature spoke up…
“Wiggle! Wiggle!” (Nurse, do we know what happened to this young man?)
The poor medics were at a loss. What were those wiggles even supposed to mean?! If only the Head of the Medic Corp had been here. Only he could understand his Pet! But while they were despairing…
“Sigh. I’m sure those guys recorded it, just see for yourself.” Damon shrugged, gesturing at his new groupies.
“?!?”
“?!?”
“?!?”
He could understand the Slime?! But that was beside the point. One of the spectators had indeed recorded Damon’s ordeals, and quickly shared it with the creature. Then, as the Curse stacking scene came…
“Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle!”
The poor Slime wiggled even more, this time terrified. If it had tried to Phantom Pain this, it would have straight up perished from low magical power, its kind’s greatest weakness.
The way it gazed at Damon changed. This tiny human had just saved its life!
It fished something from… inside its body?! It was a pin with the medic emblem: a cross with double wings. Then, it handed it to its savior, wiggling even more.
“Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle!”
“Free Healthcare? Sure, I won’t ever say no to that.”
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Damon nonchalantly accepted, his companions already giving him awed and slightly jealous glances. How many contribution points would he save with this? Tons!
But before he could celebrate…
[Ding! The Entrance Exam Has Come to an End!]
[Please Assemble in the Amber Plaza!]
“Sick! With this, they’ll announce the rankings! Since you’re number 1, they’ll probably ask you to make a speech and—” A senior suddenly shut up, confused and worried.
Damon, who had been the definition of health a second ago, was now wriggling on the medical bed and clutching his stomach?! Ashen, he barely spoke a few words:
“You guys go on without me. I’m still weak from Tower Braving…”
“I-Is that so?! We’ll stay with you and—”
“Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle!”
Before they could protest, the Medi-Slime kicked them out and even grabbed Damon, bringing him toward a single-partitioned room. Then, as they were left alone…
“Wiggle! Wiggle!” (How surprising. Anyone else would have LOVED to give a speech at the Amber Academy, and here you are hiding in the medical tent. Why?)
“Pride, glory, fame… that’s what it’s all about. I need none of that. I’m just here for the Amber Tower. No need for me to be a wet blanket on their celebration…” Damon said as if an immortal sage.
“Wiggle! Wiggle!” (So you’re one of those, eh? Here to actually grow stronger, no care for status. How admirable and deplorable…)
“Deplorable?”
“Wiggle! Wiggle!” (The Headmaster was planning to air the entire ceremony on TV. He’ll be quite disappointed, but it’s a good thing for— ….Student?!)
The poor Medi-Slime finally stopped talking, realizing it was talking to empty air. As for Damon, he was already rushing toward the Plaza. Air on TV? That changed EVERYTHING!
As for what followed, it was the most grandiose of welcoming ceremonies ever. How long had the Amber Academy been preparing for this single moment?!…
First, it began with… a Fire-Breathing Squad?! They put the Pyro in pyrotechnics, Tamers carefully directing their Soul Beast into creating intricate sky patterns with their fire breath attacks!
Then, the Aquatic Squad got involved. Geysers, were added, turning the fire scene into a canvas of fire, water, ….and steam?! With the two groups' coordination, an enormous fog dragon soon appeared!
As if that wasn’t enough, then came the Air Units, their flying Beasts doing acrobatics all over! This was freaking amazing! Heck, one crashing even allowed the medics to shine too!
As for how the applicants received it…
“Wow. So that’s a Taming Academy?!”
“They’re so majestic! I can’t wait to join them one day!”
“Crazy! They have OP Soul Beasts merely running tricks!”
The applicants watched shellshocked, the seniors grinning by the side giving them knowing looks. They too had reacted the same back in the day. But, it was time to celebrate the newcomers, the principal arriving.
“Now, now, enough cool stuff. Shall we announce the results?”
He read the names of those accepted, one by one, as if a rap god. But, the closer he came to first place, the slower he became until only one name was left…
“Usually, I’d just announce the results, but the next student is special. How long has it been? Five, six years even? Let’s be honest, Tower Braving’s for madmen. Well, let me introduce a madman amongst madmen: Damon Malum!”
With a grin, the principal invited him to the stage…
“Wait… he actually succeeded?! He didn’t fail?!”
“It was a Pyramid, too! This guy fucked THE Pyramid!”
“I-I can’t believe it. He did it with a weak Fortune Neko to boot?!”
Seeing him go up, many couldn’t help but hold their breath as they awaited his speech. Would it be awe-inspiring? Would it be domineering? They couldn’t bloody wait! The Headmaster gave a genuine smile:
“How about it? Why don’t you share your Tower Braving experience?”
“Thank you, Headmaster!” Then, without waiting, Damon began. “You know, I really thought I was gonna die in there, my greatest regret being that I’d never eat delicious BBQ ever in my life. I was really…”
Wow! He was a fucking natural! He addressed the thousands of Tamers like it was the most natural thing to do and had even started with a joke. The BBQ part had to be a joke, right?
But the more he talked, the weirder the atmosphere became. Was this guy really sharing a life-and-death experience? Why was he using terms such as juicy, tender, delicious, mouth-watering… and more?!
Before long, countless found themselves craving sausages, salivating all over the place. As soon as this happened, a few jerked in shock as they realized what he was doing. This guy was freaking insane!
Give a speech to cement his #1 position and inspire other students? NOPE!
Give a speech to promote his sausage side business? All the fucking way!
Indeed, every word of his was laden with subconscious messages that would give people the ardent desire to eat BBQ meat. Naturally, they’d associate this feeling with his face, which was Damon’s master plan!
“T-That sure was enlightening…” A certain Headmaster didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was a promotion platform all the Amber Academy was worth in the youngster’s mind?!
On such an uncertain note, the welcome ceremony finally ended. Those who had been accepted celebrating to no end, and the ones who had been rejected long gone.
Damon was quickly assigned a dorm room, a class plan, and an Amber Badge. The latter was especially important here: it would allow him to enter and exit the Academy as he wished!
“Miaow?!” (Wait… the Emblem’s needed to enter the Academy? Don’t tell me…?!)
“She’ll be fine… for now. With the entrance ceremony, the classes were halted anyway. Also, it’s technically possible to get a a new Badge, it’s just a HUGE pain!”
Damon reassured, the cat heaving a breath of relief. No, the real issue wasn’t how she’d fare, but how THEY’d fare, especially once the Geisha realized they had been utterly tricked. Still, the cat sure was curious.
“Miaow!” (Can we look at the room?! Master, please!)
“Pfft— Sure, why not.”
The two quickly navigated the campus, heads turning all over their passage. Oh, and not just human heads, as plenty of Soul Beasts were happily roaming the campus. This place was a Tamer’s world!
Not wasting any time, they arrived at the dorms. Compared to the apartment they knew, it was the difference between heaven and earth. The whole thing smelled of money!
Fluffy bed, soft lighting, espresso machine, state-of-the-art decoration, and there was even a freaking indoor spa. This was to a regular student room what a five-star hotel was to a carton box. It was phenomenal!
“Miaow!” (Master, we did it! It’s like we’re royalty!)
“Yes, but I wouldn’t rejoice that fast…”
Damon’s expression seemed so serious. What was this about?! Gesturing his pet to remain silent, he slowly went around the room, exposing small black things all over it. As soon as it saw them, the cat trembled.
B-Bugs?! The entire place was bugged?! Heck, there was even one in the sauna… waterproof coating?! Only then did it understand that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
“You know what… this is too luxurious for my taste. Let’s go back home, alright?”
“Miaow!” (Yes, way too luxurious! This stray cat is overwhelmed!)
The duo left the dorms as if running for their lives, shivers running across their skin. This place was SCARY! Then again, Damon being watched was to be expected, given his placement. Thus, they sneaked back home.
Damon had barely touched the door when he sighed…
The paper he had left in the hinges? Still there. Yet, it was clear that someone had touched the doorknob. That, combined with the pulsing of a certain contract in his soul, and he instantly knew who the intruder was.
He entered and… SLASH!
Damon’s perspective changed as he saw… his headless self?!
His head flying, he saw himself from above, blood filling his eyes as he had just been decapitated. Below was the one who had done it, a bastard who was neither male nor female, the Geisha. They chuckled:
“Hehe. Did you really think you could trick us? Your future, was it? That Academy Badge wasn’t yours to give away in the first place! This is what happens to those who—” They froze, glancing at the severed head.
Fright? Despair? Regret? There was none of it! A bored severed head sighed, even as it bled all over the floor. “That so? I never said it was mine, though.”
“Y-You?! Do you realize the situation you’re in?!”
A certain severed head raised a brow.
“This shitty illusion attack? You couldn’t even get the curtains’ color right. The navy blue’s a bit off. Then there’s the smell; it’s too clean. Until yesterday, we had a rat infestation here. Well, whatever, you tried.”
Why did it feel like Damon was trying to console his would-be killer?! But as if that wasn’t crazy enough, the Geisha’s phone suddenly beeped, their eyes widening in surprise.
| New Payment! Damon sent 102 237 Credits! |
“T-This… HOW?!”
This didn’t make any sense! This was the entire loan being repaid at once, interest and all. How had he gotten so many Credits so fast?! If he had that kind of money in the first place, why ask for a loan?!
“That? I got a few thousand credits this morning and bet all of it on myself. Did you know the payout for a Newcomer successfully Braving the Tower’s 1:10? Crazy, isn’t it?”
Damon’s severed head happily prattled on, not bothering one bit about the scary illusion. Seeing this, the Geisha was at a loss. So much for coming out of their way to intimidate him! By now, it could even sense their contract dissolving, leaving them with one burning question.
“Seriously, who the fuck are you?!”
“Me? The man who will conquer this world…”
At this moment, the Geisha fucking believed. Defeated, they quickly left with a smile, leaving the Academy Badge behind.
Still, Amber Academy, was it? Did they know what kind of Monster they had just accepted in their midst? They couldn't wait to see this play out.
This would be fun…