“I’m really sorry, Dal,” Falkner said. The boy was struggling to keep his tears to the point that one would think it was him that had failed and not Dallion. “It’s not that I didn’t want to help.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dallion smiled, patting the boy on the shoulder. “It’s all on me. I shouldn’t have pushed it. Besides, it’s not like anyone forced me, right? I could have stopped at any time.”

In the back of his mind, however, Dallion was starting to wonder why he didn’t. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. He knew why he hadn’t. It wasn’t about claiming the dagger—he could have made the request that it be saved for him even after he completed the trial. The truth was that he wanted to prove he was better than the rest, both to himself and to everyone else. If he was the one who had cleared even one level on his own, people would have treated him differently. No longer would they refer to him as March’s selected, but as the one who had soloed an entire level. Instead, now they were likely going to refer to him as the guy who had passed the trial and thrown it away for no good reason.

“Life is nothing but a series of lessons,” Arthurows said. “Just keep looking on the bright side. Look at me—I had to go through five tries before I finally made it. And it’s not like you lost a lot. You’re still in the guild, you still get to go on jobs. Pretty much, nothing has changed.”

If that’s true, why did you bother with trying to get selected? Dallion thought. On the outside, he laughed and nodded.

The selection process continued. All that had passed were called back somewhere, to have their mentors be known, while the rest were given a free lunch, to restore their strength. Initially, Dallion was about to refuse and just return to Hannah’s inn, but Estezol convinced him to stay a bit longer.

The garden was packed with people, all of them eating. A large number—the first timers—had chewed their food with glum expressions. Even so, one of their groups would say or do something to cheer them up. Unlike them, Dallion remained alone, leaning on the building while holding a plate of grilled sausages.

“That wasn’t a smart move,” a voice said next to him. Turning in that direction, Dallion saw Vend. His clothes were different from the echo inside, but there was no mistaking him. “You were discussed a lot, just to let you know. No doubt about it, you showed a lot of adaptability for a natural this young.”

“I’m guessing that didn’t change the outcome?” Dallion asked, hoping for the contrary.

“No,” Vend shook his head. “A lot of things could be forgiven, but not going against the selection rules. With the number of people who’ve failed it’s very likely that the next test would be easier. It’s not a good image for the guild if there are too many packrats.”

Too many packrats. It was almost funny how even in this world, guilds worried about what was good optics. The fact that Vend had shared it at all suggested that he didn’t agree.

“You’ll only be offered basic tasks until you pass your selection,” Vend went on. “That also means that you’ll have to come here to get your training. Estezol can explain all that, but there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

Vend took out a dagger from his belt and offered it to Dallion. The intention was obvious—he wanted to have a conversation in private. If that was the case, Dallion saw no reason not to accept.

He put his finger on the tip of the dagger.

Item Awakening

The dagger room was spacious and high, very much like the attic of a tower. Everything around was made of dark grey metal.

The DAGGER is Level 15

Not bad for a level. Dallion could assume that from here on most of the gear he’d see would be in the double digits.

You are in a small metal hall.

Defeat the guardian to change the DAGGER’s destiny!

“Dark iron,” Vend said, seeing how Dallion was looking around. “I’ve got a lot of gear that’s much better, but I keep it for sentimental reasons. It’s also a reminder of where I started.”

“Right.” This must be what it’s like being an elite in the guild. Dallion was going to need a while to reach that level. “I already know that I messed up. No need to thrash it in me.”

“What you’ve done you’ve done. I didn’t want to talk to you about that. If you had passed, we’d be having this conversation in another room of the guildhall, but the talk would be the same.” He paused for a moment. A metal chair emerged from the ground, letting Vend sit in it. “The entire city’s been buzzing how March conducted your entry trial. The way rumors spread many secretly think you’ve been chosen for her next apprentice. As you’ve seen, that has made people react differently. Some want to get close to you to take advantage, others are envious of the attention you’ve got and will try to bring you down. And then there are all those who’ll want to crush you just to measure their strength.”

Dallion swallowed. He hadn’t imagined things to get so serious, so fast.

“In a way, your silly mistake back has made things a bit better. Failing to pass your selection will get a lot to convince themselves that you aren’t anything special. It’s up to you to prove them right or wrong.”

Dallion blinked. This he didn’t expect.

“Before the trial, March asked me to consider taking you as my apprentice. I agreed to observe your performance, but never had any intention of becoming your mentor.”

Ouch, Dallion thought. “But you changed your mind?”

“Sort of,” Vend smirked. “You showed some serious leadership skills down there. Better than a lot of the older members, to be sure. I would have said you’ve had experience in that, but I know that isn’t possible.”

In a way Vend was correct, but he was also very wrong. Dallion indeed had received quite a lot of experience, at least as much as any person back on Earth with a healthy MMO experience would have. The hours spent grinding in a group and watching strategy videos had paid off big time in the most unexpected way.

“That’s not the reason I’ve decided to give you a chance.” The man paused. “In the dagger, you told my echo that you wanted to fulfill the dagger’s destiny, that half a victory is no victory. That showed me you are really bad at determining your strength. However, there’s a possibility you have the will to finish what you’ve started. Since only my echo was there, I can’t be certain, so here’s my offer. In one month, I’ll conduct the test again. Only this time, I’ll personally be observing. There will be no echo you must protect, no party members to help you out. You’ll fight your way through the levels of the same dagger alone and without help until you fulfill its destiny. Show me you can do that and I’ll make you my first apprentice.”

Dallion was at a loss for words. For one thing, he couldn’t tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Usually there were only two reasons someone would have no apprentices—either they were that good that no one could keep up, or they were so terrible that no one wanted to. Given that Vend was an Icepicker guild elite, the former was more likely.

“Think you can manage that?”

“One month.” Dallion repeated. That meant little when it came to true time.

“I know it sounds like a lot, but it isn’t. You’ll need to bump up your skills a lot, and I’m not only talking about your personal ones. To have a chance you’ll need to enter the double digits and be able to use your gear adequately, not at ten percent as you did today.”

“No worries. You can count on me!” Dallion grinned, feeling his confidence grow.

“We’ll see.”

The awakened reality collapsed, returning both to the real world. Without saying a word, Vend put his dagger away and left. After finishing his food, Dallion did the same. There were no two minds about it, luck had been on his side once again. The important thing now was not to slack off during that time, and that included reading.

Filled by a new high after the low of failing the trial, Dallion rushed back to The Gremlin’s Timepiece. This early in the day there were only a few patrols—regulars who liked to come here to enjoy some calm minding their own business. Hannah was present as always, having a conversation with what looked like a guard of some standing. Dallion took advantage to sneak up into his room. There, the first thing he did after barring the door was to go enter his ring library again.

“Well,” the echo of Adzorg greeted him. “Can’t say I’m surprised. I had hoped you wouldn’t do something that foolish, though.”

Dallion remained silent for a few moments. Even now he still couldn’t get used to the idea that the echo knew more about what was going out in the real world than him.

“Still, you did manage to display some adequate skills,” Nil went on. “And you’ve finally started using your music skills adequately. All in all, I’d say not bad.”

“Was that a compliment?” Dallion smirked.

“It was.” The echo frowned. “It isn’t anymore. So, what would you like to check on today? Sphere items, I assume? Or maybe a full and detailed history of the copyette race and their falls… in pictures, if possible?”

“I want to learn more of the Seven Moons.” To the echo’s surprise, Dallion went to the single table in the library and took the scroll. “After that I want you to tell me about attack and defense skills starting from the basics.”

“Are you certain that you’re feeling alright?” Nil asked, with genuine concern. “That’s a very mature request that requires a lot of focus and huge amounts of reading before you start practicing.”

“I have to start somewhere.” Dallion looked around. “Also, a chair and a desk would be nice.”

In the blink of the eye, they were there, built exactly to Dallion’s needs.

“Thanks.” He sat down and started reading.

The process of reading was just as boring as Dallion imagined it. The author of the scroll seemed to love using long metaphors between every two facts, making the information more difficult to obtain. Dallion felt like a gold miner sifting through mud so as to get a grain of precious metal. After an hour, though, his attitude changed when he came to a simple realization—the authors of this world weren’t as obsessed with time as people back on Earth. Not pressured by time, the awakened could enjoy reading more than bullet points on a power point presentation. Here, instruction manuals were made so that the readers might enjoy the language as well. Dallion wasn’t used to his instruction manuals being written in the fashion of a Shakespearean epic, but given how much time he had, he was willing to learn.

As he remembered from before, there were Seven Moons that granted the awakened powers to humanity. Each moon was said to be a deity and patron of a race. What was more a moon was also associated with an awakened attribute as well.

The first moon—the blue moon Astreza—was the moon of humans and awakening. Considered the strongest and most important moons, it dominated over all others. Interestingly enough, there was nothing explaining why the human race had become so abundant. In several instances it was explicitly stated that all species were equal in number and spread throughout the realms to do as they wished.

The second moon was called Berennah. Cyan in color, it was the moon of mind and copyettes, a race considered smartest of all. While not explicitly mentioned, Dallion knew what had befallen that race.

Next was the red moon Centor, moon of dwarves and the strength they possessed. Apparently, it was also considered the patron of craftsmen, soldiers, and athletes. Revered as the second most important of the moons, it continued to play an important part of society, especially among the non-awakened.

Fourth was Dararr, the yellow moon of lightning. Moon of the furies, such as Jiroh, it was linked to reflexes, although little else was mentioned. Apparently, there had been a schism ages ago that had caused it to be temporarily excluded from the main pantheon, before being returned a few centuries later. The exact cause of both these events was not specified.

Finally, there was Emion, the white moon of gorgons. From what Nil had explained, it was the reason the snake-headed species were granted with such good perception. Ominously enough, the moon was also referred to in the scroll, as the moon of assassins. Given the weapons and abilities the awakened had, Dallion could imagine it being of vital importance for snipers.

“Nil,” Dallion looked up from the scroll. “How come there are only five moons described? I’m sure that I read about two more last time.” Not to mention that that title of the scroll had the words seven moons prominently mentioned.

“Oh, they’re there. You just can’t see them.”

“What does that mean?”

“You mentioned a cleric called Cleric a while back? The reason he has no name was that his name was removed from all realms in the empire. Think of it as an echo that isn’t an echo. Even the awakened are bound by the rules of a realm. If a powerful enough prayer is used, the rules could be made to influence our perception.”

“You’re telling me that someone erased the names of the moons from us?” Dallion gasped.

“Of course not.” The echo shook his head. “What I’m saying is that a rule has been set, and that we are the ones that have been punished to abide by it. The reason you cannot see the names of the final moons is because they don’t want you to.”