The third level was quite different from the ones before. Stone gave way to veins of raw quartz emerging from walls and columns alike. Only the floor remained the same old path of grey stone. No one said a word upon entering the first chamber. Everyone in the party knew that this was it—their final trial. The next guardian would determine whether they would earn a mentor or would remain solo until the next selection.

Dallion, too, was wondering what the final outcome would be. Judging by the way Vend had reacted to his harpsichord headache, the man clearly knew a thing or two about the skills—and also was far less stuffy than the Adzorg’s echo. Getting him as a mentor, or pretty much anyone of that caliber, would be a huge benefit.

No doubt being in a city very different from life in Dherma village. When Dallion had initially awakened, it had taken him a total of three days to discover everything there was. Nerosal, on the other hand, remained enormous, and not only in terms of city size. There were so many things that Dallion hadn’t even imagined, more than the glimpses he had seen in Aspion’s memories. He could only speculate how many more layers existed.

“I see something,” Falkner whispered, as he stopped, hand raised. Dallion had taken the time to teach him a few “military” signs to keep the entire cave from learning what they were doing. It was refreshing how quick the rest of the group had picked on his advice. If Dallion had been with such a group of newbies when playing online games, he would have reached the top leagues in a matter of days.

Arthurows summoned his shield. The rest also drew their weapons.

“It’s hiding behind the columns,” Falkner continued. “I can’t tell what it is from this distance.”

“What do you think?” Cellano turned to Dallion. After the last guardian encounter, even he had started treating him as the party leader—a role Dallion felt unexpectedly comfortable with.

"It’s not fast, and it’s not hidden, so it must be smart,” Dallion said. “Any idea what smart creatures could be out there?”

“That’s a bit vague,” Bel noted. “Lots of things have high mind levels.”

“Copyettes,” Arthurows said. “Has to be copyettes.”

“Copyettes?” Dallion blinked. If this was what he was thinking it was, there might be serious problems.

“Come on,” Bel snorted. “Mimics can only be guardians. There’s no way we’ll be facing a copyette here.”

“There have been sightings. Besides, this is a sphere item. Everything’s possible.”

“Give it a break with the conspiracy theories,” Bel smirked. “All copyette sightings have been debunked. And how come it’s always one person who’s seen one?”

“Just because it’s a conspiracy doesn’t mean it isn’t true. They are out there, you’re just too closed minded to see.”

“Yeah. Next, you’ll be saying that they’re walking among us, right?”

Arthurows didn’t reply, but it was no secret he wasn’t happy. If it wasn’t for the present danger, no doubt more words would be exchanged. There was no guarantee that an argument would break out even now. Arthurows was currently biding his time, but Dallion had seen far too many MMO flame wars break out to know where this was going, he also knew he had to act.

“Seriously, what are copyettes?” he raised his voice just a fraction.

Everyone except Vend looked at him with momentary uncertainty. A few seconds later, Arthurows’s facial muscles relaxed.

“They are one of the imprisoned races,” Arthurows began. “You know how each race was created by one of the Seven Moons?”

Dallion nodded. That much he had read.

“The copyettes were one of those races. Since they had the gift of magic, they were pretty powerful, and because of that they wanted more. Each decade they would increase their domains by subjugating more and more of the other races, but that wasn’t enough. Wanting to take over the world, they started systematically conquering city after city, until everyone else formed an alliance against them. The War of Disparity—in which hundreds of minor and higher nobles merged into one won. The Empire was born, and the copyettes were sentenced to be forever imprisoned within the awakened realms, cursed to live there as item guardians. However, not all of them were caught.”

“Bullcrap,” Bel grumbled. “They were. End of story.”

“There’s talk that a few of them managed to escape capture and have been hiding in the real world ever since,” Arthurows ignored her. “Desperate they made a deal with the Twisted Star and are now plotting ways to free their race from the items they are imprisoned in. That’s why now and again there’s evidence of copyettes roaming the awakened realms freely, praying on awakened.”

“Okay…” That was slightly more dramatic than Dallion had liked, though it was an interesting story nonetheless. “But what are they?”

“They are shapeshifters,” Cellano said, annoyed.

“Way to ruin my presentation.” Arthurows gave him a glance. “But yes, they are creatures that could become anything within a certain size-range. They can become you, me, a five-foot sword…” he waved his free hand. “That’s what’s so scary about them. You never know when one’s among you until it’s too late.”

“They are nothing but a high-powered guardian,” Bel said. “Some people use them as an excuse for everything. Including failing the selection exam five times in a row.”

“I never said I failed the exam because of them. I’m just saying that they might be there, and that they were chosen by the Moon of mind.”

“So, if it isn’t one of those, any ideas what else it might be?” Dallion changed the subject. “Something that’s smart and acts the way it does?”

No one seemed to have any idea. Arthurows shrugged, and Falkner just shook his head.

“Okay, if we can’t be sure, we go in as a group. Arthurows is with Vend, everyone else, stick close. Even if it isn’t a copyette, I don’t want anyone charging off on their own.” Falkner got a brief glance. “Let’s go… slowly.”

The team advanced step by step. With each step, Dallion was ready to shout out orders depending on the type of creature they came across. In his mind, he was still thinking about the shapeshifter. If there really was such a creature, they were in serious trouble. Dallion wasn’t worried so much that it might become one of the group. Rather, he feared it might copy Vend. With the examiner being one of the test’s fail conditions, no one would risk harming him out of fear it might bring the end of the test.

“There.” Falkner pointed.

Dallion winced. Although the cave was well lit, he couldn’t see what the boy was referring to. The column Falkner was pointing at was there, yet that was all.

“I see him too,” Arthurows added. “Scrawny critter.”

“What is it?” Dallion asked.

“Haven’t seen one of those before. Must be something unique to the item… or a copyette,” he said deliberately to annoy Bel.

“Falkner, if you can hit it from here, go for it.”

The moment Falkner raised his dartbow, several nearby columns crumbled to pieces. Rather, that was incorrect; they didn’t crumble to pieces… they crumbled to goblins. Five groups of about a dozen each landed on the floor like large enemy patches surrounding the group entirely.

“Get Ven in the middle!” Dallion shouted.

An ambush? This was bad. He hadn’t expected the creatures to be this well organized, though thinking about it, he should have been. If this was the level focusing on mind, they would be just as smart as an awakened, maybe more. Of course, they would come up with something to obtain the advantage. The creature Falkner had spotted hadn’t been there at random—it had been the lure, and the group had fallen in its trap.

“Cellano, you’re up! Everyone else, back-to-back with Vend in the middle!”

Desperate times called for desperate tactics. One good charge, or a single area-based attack, had every chance of eliminating the entire party, but until then they had a chance.

“Take a few hits if you have to!” Dallion drew his harpsisword.

With these numbers of enemies, it was going to prove more effective than a dartbow. The rest shared his opinion, for they did the same. Even Bel took out a pair of daggers he had never seen her use before. Of course, Arthurows was the big surprise summoning a two part-sword which looked remarkably similar to the one Dallion had seen in the hands of Dame Vesuvia. The only difference was that Arthurows split his in two, holding each in one hand.

A ring of red and green markers filled the area around the group. Then the goblin hordes charged. Defend and counterattack, that was the only way victory could be gained. Initially, the exercise was difficult—every member had to adjust to the actions of everyone else. Thankfully, that’s where the markers came into play. Being able to see the attack and defend options of the rest, Dallion—along with everyone else—had the freedom to do what he thought best within the confines of his own combat space. It was almost like breakdancing in a group.

The more goblins came, the better the coordination between party members got. While clunky at first, they quickly adapted to the new dynamics, building the actions of their party members.

Dallion swung his weapon along a wide arc as Bel followed up, throwing a host of knives at the enemies that were out of reach. In game terms, Dallion provided her with space, and in return she gave him time to perform another arc slash without fearing damage.

Falkner and Arthurows had formed another team in their own unique fashion. At first glance there seemed to be no logic or coordination between their actions, each striking enemies at random while skipping others. After ten seconds, though, one would notice that none of the goblins had managed to perform a single strike.

And in the middle of all that stood Vend’s echo, observing with an academic, almost bored expression. Every now and again, his lips would twitch, as he itched to give advice on how to deal with the situation, but restraining himself so as not to ruin the test.

Meanwhile, Cellano was a thing of his own. The epitome of a solo player, if there was one, he hacked and slashed his way through the goblin packs, largely aided by the fact that they had little interest in him. Not only were the creatures proven they could be cunning, but they had worked out that killing Vend would bring them victory. To achieve this, they had all rushed towards the main group, avoiding Cellano altogether.

As the fight continued, though, one thing kept bothering Dallion.

“Can anyone see what creatures they are?” he shouted, while doing another arc slash.

The goblins had been reduced by two-thirds since the original ambush, and yet Dallion had yet to see a white rectangle.

“Goblins, though no idea what type,” Bel shouted back.

“Why isn’t there any rectangle?”

“No idea.”

And you don’t find that strange? Her behavior reminded Dallion very much of that of his own fellow villagers back in Dherma, when they were under the influence of an echo. But there was no way that could be right. The Icepicker guild would never not notice that, and wouldn’t be so cruel to place one of their own inside Bel’s room… or would they?

“Try to leave one alive.”

The fighting continued. As the goblins decreased, their tactics changed. No longer relying on superior strength, they copied the party’s approach, forming groups of five that mutually protected each other while simultaneously attacking. It wasn’t a bad approach, but the enemies lacked both in skill and ferocity.

“Falkner, go help Cellano mop up the rest,” Dallion shouted. “The rest of us will keep up the ring of protection. Remember, leave one breathing!”

“Okay.” the boy leapt forward, slicing two groups of goblins as he did so. His skills were outright scary. Dallion, Bel, and Arthurows quickly filled in the gap.

“Nice approach, though capturing one isn’t part of the test,” Vend said. “I can tell you what you’re fighting if you want.”

“And that won’t cause us to fail?” Dallion asked, suspicious of the sudden offer.

“It’s not like you won’t find out soon enough. Arthurows was right. You’re fighting against a copyette.”

Time seemed to stop as all three party members froze at those words. Even Arthurows remained petrified, as if surprised that his theory had turned out to be true.

“Good job. They won’t be able to surprise you anymore. With this you’ve pretty much made your way to the end of level three. All you need to do is to defeat the guardian and you’ll have passed the selection trial.”