Fantasy System 290 The Gatekeeper

Mehen slithered up and nested on Ed's shoulders, while Merry and Sieg sighed slightly.

"Thanks," Sieg muttered. "If you hadn't done such a thing, I wouldn't have been able to meet my liege here!" He dropped down on one knee and pointed with both of his hands towards Ed's face. He shot a sidelong glance towards Merry, who understood his intention in a split second.

"Much thanks to you!" she said as she dropped on one knee as well, "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to eat-I mean meat so many good people!" Her hands pointed towards Ed as well.

"That's enough of the two of you!" Ed smacked their heads with a fist. However, he failed to notice Mehen who positioned himself just below Ed and started to grow. He lifted Ed above his head and sang, "Long Live our Liege!" alongside Merry and Sieg who were rubbing their heads.

Mehen seemed to forget that he was in a narrow room and grew too much; he pushed Ed's head through the ceiling. Ed was left dangling as his head remained stuck.

"What a noisy bunch," the old man said as he noticed the monsters approaching him; they hid behind him as Ed freed himself.

"Never thought you would hide behind someone you hated," Ed approached them as he cracked his knuckles. "Prepare yourselves, you imbeciles!"

As soon as Ed's fist collided with Mehen the old man spoke, "You guys are mistaken." He pulled out a pipe and ignited it with a small flame from his index finger.

"I am neither the creator of this tower nor am I the creator of the monsters residing in it," he said as he puffed small clouds of smoke. "What you guys came through is not the Tower of Origin; its actual name is the Tower of Strength. It was, simply put, a way for us to determine if someone has the least amount of capabilities to be able to help."

The four of them frowned upon hearing what the old man had to say. Ed took the initiative and said, "Put this conversation on hold," as he turned around towards the door. "You have another guest, I believe you knew already."

The old man nodded slightly as Ed pulled the door open. There, in the corridor, stood a familiar figure. Blond hair, blue eyes, freckles, and a scar that split the person's face.

"Long time no see, Johan," Ed said as Johan kept looking at the portrait of his ancestor; he reminisced the past he had with his family. Ed kept holding the door for Johan, beckoning him to come inside. "There are some things we need to hear about."
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Johan turned towards his Ed, his face full of determination, yet, it lacked any sign of hate or revenge. Ed knew this, and his Map confirmed it when he spotted Johan earlier as a blue, friendly, dot.

The old man turned his head to look at the two of them. "You two are enemies, I presume. The slash on your face was made by a weapon this young man uses, no?"

"We have fought before, yes," Ed answered truthfully.

"I don't consider a man with a crippled soul an enemy," Johan said as he took a seat on the ground and rested on the wall behind him.

"I see," the old scanned Ed with his milky eyes. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't notice. You must have pushed your body once too many to incur this sort of damage."

"I had no choice, it was a life and death battle," Ed said and he looked at Johan, "though we both survived in the end. Anyway, mind continuing the talk from before."

"What is there to talk about," the old man took to his pipe again. "The tower you call 'Tower of Origin' is actually the 'Tower of Strength'. The actual Tower of Origin is this place, and the wasteland that you fought in earlier."

"You said you are not the creator," Ed asked. "Then, who is?"

"He was a friend of mine. He created all the monsters, both in the two towers and in your world. He died a long time ago so you can't expect to ask him any questions," the old man used his pipe and again and added, "same as all my other friends."

The silence that took place was almost immediately broken by Merry, who started munching on some snacks she had hidden on her.

"Really, you and your monsters are an enigma in this world," Johan said while hiding a smile.

"The boss monster from the eleventh floor, huh…" the old man said. "I believe you were created to have a ruthless personality."

"You believed wrong," Ed shook his head. "Whatever personality she first had, I guarantee you it's different from what she is now."

"Want some, old man?" Merry offered the food she had.

"Keep it, Merry," Ed said.

"You'll deny a starving old man food. Nice going, Avalon." Johan scoffed at Ed.

"I was going to cook a meal for all of us," Ed answered, "I guess you won't need anything."

The old man looked towards Ed who started to prepare his utensils and cooking ingredients. The small room filled up in an instant, as Ed summoned the rest of his monsters to help him cook.

"Avalon and Mordred, right?" the old man asked the two humans besides as he sipped on some soup. "I'm glad the bloodlines didn't die out."

"Your companions were our ancestors," Johan said, "Otherwise; you wouldn't know my family name."

"I could guess it from how the two of you treat each other. It's almost the same as the original two."

The boisterous room quieted down after everyone had eaten. The old man stood up and beckoned Ed and Johan to follow him, outside of the castle. The three of them stood above the bridge and looked down towards the void underneath. Ed activated His Sharingan to get a better look. The white aura was receding, and hidden inside of it was a bluish-white orb.

"That looks like a portal," Johan said. "What exactly are you, old man?"

"I am the gatekeeper."