“Dal!” the innkeeper shouted. “Got a chipped mug here.”

“Be right there,” Dallion said, making his way to the table in question.

Being an awakened in the city had turned out to be very different. Back in the village, people were in awe of the achievement, even if they were afraid to show it openly. Here, Dallion was treated like a Rockstar, or at least like someone with IT skills after a major system’s update. Non stop people would slam mugs and glasses, kick chairs, and occasionally carve up something on tables with the full expectation that Dallion would come by and fix it.

On his end, he didn’t complain. The room and board were more than enough to compensate him, not to mention that Hannah had already given him an advance payment in the form of his guild registration fee.

“Where’s the patient?” Dallion asked, in humoristic fashion. A table of six looked at him with expectant smiles as one of them pushed a cracked glass to the edge. “Oh.”

It was another test. People had been doing that for the most part of the night, mostly for their amusement. This group seemed friendly enough. All of them seemed to be in their mid-twenties, wearing what Dallion had come to call renaissance casual, and armed with small weapons.

“Think you’re up for it?” a black-haired woman asked.

“Hmm,” Dallion took the glass. “I’ll have to see.”

Fixing an item, especially made of glass, usually took six hours and half awakened time. In most cases Dallion had to deal with the occasional chip. This glass was cracked to such an extent that it was almost split in two. There was no doubt that the damage was deliberate. Then again, that wasn’t Dallion’s concern. Triggering his awaken power, he entered the glass and started to work.

As expected, the mending labyrinth was at one percent. The slightest amount of additional pressure would have destroyed the glass beyond repair. As things currently stood, the task of mending it wasn’t trivial either. For hours Dallion roamed the transparent labyrinth, searching for pieces and the spot to put them in.

Once done, Dallion spent another four hours napping. That was one of the advantages of mending—no one could tell whether he slept on the job or not. As far as the real world was concerned, an instant had passed either way.

“To tell you the truth,” Dallion said upon returning to the real world, “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

He handed it back to the woman at the ovations of the table.

Definitely more rock star than IT guy, Dallion thought. Or maybe a Vegas magician? Either way, a bit of showmanship went a long way. Also, he’d get the occasional tip.

“Can you improve it?” A bulky man next to the woman asked.

“Improve it.” Dallion put his hand on his chin, as if he were thinking. “For that…” he paused. Across the filled room, from behind the counter, Hannah whispered something.

“Make their day.” The words left Hannah’s lips, too quiet to be heard by anyone else. Thanks to his improved perception, Dallion got the message perfectly.

“For that I’ll need a moment of concentration.” He reached out and grabbed the glass, staring at it with an intense glare.

“Come on!” The man laughed. “Awakening doesn’t work that way.”

You’re right, Dallion thought. Awakening didn’t work that way, and yet there was no denying that the group at the table was enjoying the show.

Item Awakening

Once more, Dallion entered the glass. This was the first time he’d face a glass guardian. Given the shape of the item, Dallion assumed it would be a golem or colossus of some sort. To his surprise, the glass turned out to be a crystal bird with glass shards instead of feathers. Upon seeing him, the creature spread its wings, clearly indicating that it didn’t appreciate his meddling. Given that the life of a glass in a tavern was harsh to say the least, Dallion didn’t blame it for disliking people.

Thankfully, it hadn’t initiated combat, probably because Dallion had mended it recently. That was a relief and also a good excuse for him to exercise his music skills.

“Calm, now.” Extremely slowly, Dallion took the lyre from his back. I want to play, he thought.

Blue markers of various shades covered the guardian’s head and chest, as well as the strings of the lyre.

MUSIC skills activated.

Follow the suggested markers for best efficiency.

That was all and good, though some details would have been nice. The only thing Dallion knew from his mother was that music had the ability to play on others’ emotions—people and guardians alike. Doing it properly, on the other hand…

“Let’s try this.” Picking the string that matched the guardian’s heart, Dallion played a note.

As the string vibrated, so did the glass bird’s heart. For a second the guardian froze still. Its wings then folded, and it took a step forward.

“Go on,” Dallion smiled. Maybe he was finally getting the hang of this?

Step by step the guardian approached in tact with the notes Dallion played. Soon the distance between them was reduced by half. Just a little more and—

COMBAT INITIATED

“Damn it!” Dallion hissed. And just when he thought he was making progress. Habit took over. Before the guardian could take another step, Dallion drew his dartbow and shot a bolt at its head. A loud shattering sound filled the air. Glass fragments rained down, covering the floor.

GLASS Level increased

The GLASS has been improved to quartz

Dallion sighed. Another improvement and still no skill increase. The battle was easy, but then again it would have been shameful if he had lost to a common level one glass. Hopefully, next time he’d achieve a victory using his lyre.

“Whoa! Look at that!” One of the customers pointed at Dallion’s hands. The glass he was holding was no longer fully transparent, now acquiring a tinted amberfish look. “You’re the real thing!”

“Only because you’re the best customers.” Dallion smiled despite his disappointment. “Sadly, I must now rest for a bit.” He placed the glass on the table.

“Sure, sure.” The group was barely paying attention to him, focused more on the new glass.

Dallion took the opportunity to make his way to the counter. As expected, a plate of food was waiting for him there.

“Good work,” Hannah said. “You didn’t have to go overboard.”

“That’s not overboard. It’s just a simple improvement.” Up to a moment ago, he himself didn’t know what the results would be. “Is it like this every night?”

“Usually, it isn’t this crowded. Word spreads fast when a tavern hires an awakened. The first few days everyone flocks to see the results.”

That explained the number of cracked and chipped glasses.

“Also, there’s a few guildies that’ve come to check out the competition.”

“Where?” Dallion looked over his shoulder. Using his perception, he scanned the faces and reactions of everyone in the crowd. At first everything seemed normal, then he started seeing them—several men and women who had barely touched their food, looking at Dallion with dedicated intensity.

“I doubt they’ll cause trouble, but best keep an eye out,” Hannah said loud enough for the rest of the awakened to hear. “Some like to start fights even in a tavern.”

At those words several of the people in question stood up and left, leaving a few coins on the tables. Jiroh quickly passed by and snatched them.

“Same thing every time,” Hannah sighed. “Are you well enough to go on?”

“Mending, sure. Improving might be tricky.” Dallion had only improved two items today, but didn’t want to create the impression that he was easy to boss around. Thankfully, the innkeeper seemed to fall for his lie.

“Just mending, then. And don’t bother with the tables. You’ll be fixing those tomorrow morning.”

That suited him quite well. Finishing his food, and a mug of water, Dallion returned to his normal duties. The good thing was that even when drunk, the patrons followed a certain etiquette. No one bothered him during meals, and no one urged him to mend their item before someone’s else’s.

By midnight, Dallion had mended a total of a hundred and seventeen glasses, forty-three mugs, three dishes, nine daggers—for which the patrons had individually paid Hannah—and two stool legs. It was quite a lot of work that only took one second in the real world. Now, Dallion understood what his grandfather had meant when he told him that awakened kept the city in a good state. It was an exhausting job, but so far, an amusing one, also it beat having to repair cobblestones.

“Hanging in there?” Jiroh asked during one of Dallion’s breaks. As the only barmaid in the inn, she was remarkably energetic. Dallion hadn’t seen her rush once, and yet she managed to get all the orders taken in and the food delivered without fail.

“Barely. You?”

“I’m a fury, this is nothing.”

“Ah.” Dallion nodded.

As he did, she moved her head closer.

“You’ve no idea what that means, do you?” she whispered.

“Not a clue.”

“One day you might find out. Bottom line is that I don’t get tired like humans. If I did this for a week straight, then maybe I’ll break a sweat. Sort of like you. How much time have you spent in awakened realms?”

“Tonight?” Dallion tried to remember. “About three weeks, give or take.” Time was starting to blend together. Back in Dherma village, Dallion had spent at most half a week mending items when he first tried to get a hang of his powers.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing fine.” The fury winked, then returned to helping Hannah serve the customers. A few minutes later, Dallion returned to work as well. Looking around for chips and cracks, he was just about to head to a table in the corner to fix a slightly bent fork, when the door to the inn opened.

Normally, such an occurrence would merit little attention. People had been coming and going since the late afternoon. The person who had appeared, though, was someone special. Dallion knew that because he had seen him once before.

“Captain Adzorg,” Hannah said in such a polite and cheerful tone that Dallion felt genuine concern. “You didn’t tell me you’d be passing by. I would have saved your table.”

“Now, now,” the white-haired man said with a warm smile. “There’s no need for that. I’m sure I’d be fine anywhere.” He looked about, scanning for a suitable table. “There by the window, for example.” As he said it, two people stood up from the table in question and quickly made way.

“Of course. Your usual, I assume?”

“Hmm. Surprise me.” The man nodded and went to his seat.

“Psst!” Hanna made a sign to Dallion to approach. “Go there and mend that table. The chairs too if you have to.”

“I thought you told me not to touch the tables.” Dallion arched a brow.

“Don’t be a smartass and do it!” She hissed, trying to keep her voice down as much as possible. “And if he asked you to mend or improve anything of his, do it right away. Got it? No performance act!”

“Got it.” What’s gotten you in this state?

Dallion knew that the old man was a big shot in the guild he had just joined, but that didn’t amount to much. Or did it? From what the boy could tell, the city was overflowing with awakened guilds of various sizes. Why would the Icepickers be any different?

Still, Hannah was the boss, so Dallion diligently made his way to the old man’s table.

“Evening, sir,” Dallion said, placing his hand on the table as he did. An instant later, all marks and deformities in the wood were gone. “Nice to—”

“Sit,” the captain said in the same tone of voice, Dallion’s high school principal used when someone was in trouble. Understandably, Dallion quickly complied. “You did quite the performance earlier today. I had a talk with the training echo.”

“Well, sir, I only—”

“Your form was atrocious. It was like watching an elephant on a tightrope. And your battle strategy…” Caption Nitiello Adzorg sighed. “Headless chickens have more sense. Have you really won any fights? Or did you constantly rely on your dartbow?”

So much for compliments… Just like in high-school. “I reached level three without it, sir.”

“Level three. Well, it shows. Your knowledge of the basics is so lacking that it’s a wonder how you haven’t had your powers sealed. And don’t get me started about your handling of the dartbow. When the weapon was first constructed, it was believed to be so devastating that it would end all wars. And you use it like a slingshot. But…” there was a long pause. “You seem to have impressed March enough to pass you, so I’m willing to give you a chance.”

The man placed a small ring on the table. Dallion looked at it, then cautiously picked it up. There was nothing special about it, just a small silver band of metal with a symbol of a scroll on the inside.

“I’m giving you a library. If you want to get ahead, better read up. You might be a natural talent, but that makes you nothing more than an oddity. And the thing about oddities is that in time people lose interest in them.”