“Here,” the elder put a bowl of freshly baked potatoes on the table. “Your mother made these.”

Dallion nodded while stuffing his face with the remaining few pieces of bread left. He had been gulping down food with the speed of a vacuum cleaner for the last ten minutes and was only able to reduce the craving. Up to today, the boy didn’t think that such hunger was possible. The experience in the realm of the Well, though, had taken a lot from him.

“She sends you her best, as do the rest of the family.” The elder smiled. “Try to chew better. Even awakened can choke.”

“Mhm.” Dallion replied, reaching for the potatoes. In the past he had always hated them, but in this world they tasted like the best thing ever, and would even better if he had some salt and butter to add.

“You’ve increased your awakening level, haven’t you?”

The question made Dallion freeze. Suddenly he felt full to the brim.

“Don’t worry,” his grandfather smiled. “It’s a good thing. You couldn’t have completed the well with just one skill. What level are you now?”

“Three.” The boy leaned back, leaving a half-eaten potato on the plate in front of him.

“Three. Not bad.” The elder nodded a few times. “Skills?”

“Guard and attack.” There was a moment’s hesitation. “I could have had forging.” Dallion paused again. “Why didn’t you tell me about the tests? You knew what the village chief would do and still said nothing.”

“Didn’t I?”

“Everything you and mother taught me were things that I already knew.”

Strictly speaking, that wasn’t true. His grandfather was the one to show him how to mend things and mentioned a few of the other skills in existence. As much as Dallion wanted to fault the old man, without his help, the boy would never have gotten used to his skills as he had. On the other hand, Gloria had helped him far more.

“You didn’t tell me about the awakening shrines or the Order of the Seven Moons,” the boy continued. “I don’t even know what they are exactly. Just that aunt Vanessa wanted my parents to send me off in a monastery of theirs.”

“I can tell you now.” The old man reached forward and took a potato from the bowl. “Want to hear about the five basic types of awakening?”

“Yeah right.” Dallion crossed his arms. “Sure, go ahead. Don’t let me stop you.”

“The first type of awakening is personal awakening. No one knows exactly why it takes place, but it is said that through luck, genetics, or intense training, one could achieve their first level. That is the key to unlocking your powers—the first step to your inner room. The more you improve, the larger your inner realm becomes. That was where you were offered your first skill.”

“Two,” Dallion corrected. “I was offered two.”

“I was offered three,” the elder grunted. “Doesn’t matter because you can only choose one. Through that choice you’re allowed to do other things, like awakening and mend items. Preferably small ones. That is the second type of awakening.”

“I’m still waiting to hear something new.”

“Each time you awaken an item, the level of one skill increases. Also, if you’re lucky, you can achieve unexpected feats, boosting your other stats. Have you done any of those?”

“A few.” So that’s something rare. “What about the shrines?”

“The shrines are a shortcut. They allow you to undergo a personal awakening without actually doing it. Depending on the shrine, you can boost your awakening level to five, ten, or twenty. Provided you complete their trials.”

Dallion leaned forward. Things were starting to get interesting.

“The Order of the Seven Moons built them centuries ago. At one point there were lots of them scattered throughout the land, but with time less and less were maintained to the point they ceased to function. Most monasteries have them, but it takes years before a devotee could attempt to pass their trials. Also, they are almost always for internal use.”

That was interesting. The one Gloria had shown him was a relic from the past. The shrine didn’t look like a shrine in anything but name. What would it have been like centuries ago? Maybe the battle of the ogres was more than a myth and they were linked to the shrine’s destruction? Lucky that the altar had somehow remained intact.

“Just like standard personal awakening, there is no punishment for failure. If you don’t succeed, you can always try again. That’s not the case for item awakening. Fail there and your awakening is locked away for good.” The elder sighed. “And also worse.”

“Worse?”

“Failure doesn’t destroy the mind or the body. All skills and abilities you have gained remain, however. They’ll continue to help you in everyday life, but you’ll never be able to awaken anything else. Each time you try you’ll end up in your starting room, the doorway sealed off—a reminder of what could have been.”

Chills went down Dallion’s spine. He remembered how frightened and confused he was the first time he had appeared in the small dark room. Being condemned to be locked there each time you try to use a skill would probably be terrible.

“You never explained that to me before…”

“I’m explaining it to you, now,” the elder sighed. “The third basic type of awakening is area awakening. It’s like awakening an item, but larger. Each item is its own realm.”

“Mending is different.”

“Mending is different. And so are the number of guardians. The larger the area, the more guardians. Defeating each one increases the level of one skill.” The elder then peeled off the skin of the potato he was holding and slowly ate it.

“And?” Dallion said after a while.

“And what?”

“Grandpa…” the boy sighed. “Is that all? How can I invite someone to help me improve something? When do guardians give up? How do I leave an awakened realm without defeating the guardian?”

“Quite a lot of questions,” the man laughed. “Tell you what. Before I answer, how about you do something for me? Enter your awakening room and go as far as you can. Once you’re done, come back here and I’ll tell you everything I can.”

“That’s it?” It sounded suspiciously simple. “What’s the catch?”

“So young and so cynical. Just do it, alright?”

“Fine.” Dallion stood up. “How do I enter my room?”

“The same way you awaken everything else. Just think of yourself as an object.”

Yeah, right. This is the stupidest thing I’ve—

Dallion found himself in a small room.