The difference between success and failure was like day and night. In his mind, Dallion considered both his sphere item experiences to be the same. In both instances he had failed to reach the point he should have, while those accompanying him hadn’t. In terms of the guild’s reaction, though…

The moment Dallion left the exploration room, he was grabbed by the hand by Janna and dragged down to the “eating garden”. There, she had made a point to tell everyone how he had finished, had completed his first exploration job, and done so successfully. Even Kallan had joined in, adding that the achievement that Dallion had helped them accomplish.

There was a round of cheers, some clapping, and a lot of people raising their mugs and glasses in his direction. At that point, Dallion expected things to calm down. After all, everyone had their own jobs to celebrate or worry about; and as Vend had correctly pointed out, the interest in Dallion had largely decreased after his selection failure. As it turned out, he was completely wrong.

First, the “waiter” giant came to Dallion’s table with a large dish that no one had asked for. As Dallion had found out, the man—referred to as Grunt by everyone—had been part of the guild for over twenty real-life years. No one knew details about his skills or level, or even how he fit within guild hierarchy. As far as everyone was concerned, he was the one constantly bringing food.

With a smile and a tap on the back, Grunt congratulated Dallion before taking the sibling’s food requests. Barely had the giant vanished when Estezol emerged from somewhere and sat at Dallion’s table and began a never-ending complementing session. Based on the brief conversations between Estezol and the siblings—in-between the bearded man’s praise—it became clear that was a frequent occurrence each time a job was completed with flying colors. The guild seemed to work very much like a corporation of sorts—the people who assigned jobs to teams also were evaluated on the ratio of successful and unsuccessful jobs. Stacking up job failures was just as bad for the job assigner as it was for the guild members who failed.

Ten minutes in, captain Adzorg also joined them. Using the lunch break as an excuse he provided a semi-compliment about a job well done, while not forgetting to share his opinion that such a success wouldn’t be likely if it wasn’t for the advice and information Dallion had received from his echo. Not wanting to get into trouble with a captain, Dallion wholeheartedly agreed.

Another five minutes later, Vend also pulled up a chair, and started chatting up the siblings about Dallion’s performance. While a lot of jokes there were made, some of which Dallion would have preferred not to have been shared, Kallan and Janna also pointed out his help in the fight against the Mirror Widow. Clearly, breaking the wing case had proven to be the key to victory, leaving the creature vulnerable to ranged attacks.

One by one more and more members joined in, moving their chairs from other tables to join in the conversation, until everything became one giant party. Food and drinks came and went in abundance, all of them made in such a way as to be enjoyed by the awakened.

Dallion was talking to people he didn’t know, often that he’d never met, as if they were close friends, listening to stories about their first exploration hunt, providing hints on how to act in the caves, even a few suggestions on how to combine skills.

Then, about two hours since Dallion had sat down at the table, March joined in as well. Her presence was immediately noticed. Several people quickly moved aside, forming a path for her to pass. A chair was emptied, its occupant preferring to stand in these circumstances. March acknowledged the gesture with a brief nod, then sat down.

This was the second time Dallion had seen her, and he had to admit that she was the type of person who looked more impressive without armor. A mixture of scars, brands, and tattoos covered most of her right arm, telling a story of their own.

“So, you almost survived your first exploration,” March said, stressing on the “almost” part. “Any thoughts?”

“I have a lot to learn?” Dallion ventured. It would have been easy to leave it at that, but something told him this wasn’t the answer March was looking for. Also, it wasn’t Dallion’s nature. ”I want to go on more explorations, but not as a packrat.”

“You think you have skills to offer?”

Dallion wanted to say yes. Given his track record so far, that might come as a bit arrogant, but then again, this was no time to be meek. This was a rare chance he had been given, and if didn’t take advantage there was no telling when it would occur again.

“Not yet, but I will.” Dallion smiled. “I need a bit of practice and guidance, which I’ll get faster if I take part in the action. That said, I should at least pass my selection trial. After that, though.”

“Covering all your bases,” March mused. “Vend, your thoughts?”

“He has the potential and the cockiness,” the man replied. “It’s worth the shot. Today’s mission proves it.”

“It proves he has the cockiness, but not the judgement. When I said you had the ability to learn, I didn’t mean it would be fast.” The woman turned to Dallion. “Everyone in the guild has more experience in using their powers than you. Don’t forget that, nor let it go to your head. At the end of the day, your skills will take you where you need to go. If you fail to achieve what you wish for, it’s because one skill or another isn’t at the adequate level.”

The phrase sounded very philosophical. To be honest, Dallion didn’t know whether the statement was deep, or March had just denied his request in polite fashion. Either way, all he could do at this point was nod.

“Or you can give him to me,” Adzorg said. “If he’s such a burden, maybe I will have better luck.”

“Don’t you have enough on your plate, Nitiello?” March frowned. “You convinced the guild master that all the training artefacts require remodeling.”

“Which I am in the process of doing.” The old man crossed his arms. “One can work while also doing nothing.”

“I’m sure.” She stood up. “The boy already has an arrangement with Vend. If that falls through, you’re free to do whatever you like. Something tells me, though, that if that happens, you’ll quickly lose interest as well.”

The old man didn’t answer. The two guild captains stared at one another in silence for over ten seconds, then March turned around and left. That marked the end of the celebration. The mood ruined, most of the gathered guild members returned to their tables or left the garden altogether. In less than a minute, the area contained only a small fraction of the people it had before.

“Those two are always at each other’s throats,” Janna whispered. “Don’t worry about it too much.”

“March is right about one thing, though,” Kallan added. “Captain Adzorg only wants you because March showed interest. The last time he’d shown interest in anyone in the guild was years ago. What’s your arrangement with Vend?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much,” Dallion lied, trying to dismiss the claim. One look at their curious expressions told him, it wouldn’t work. “I asked him to save me the dagger for the next selection trial. That must have impressed him, because he said he’ll become my mentor if I fulfilled the dagger’s destiny… alone.”

“Alone?” Kallan arched his brows. “That’s…”

“It’s not that difficult,” Janna countered. “We do it every week.”

“He’s not us. He couldn’t pass the fourth level on his own. What do you think will happen at the final guardian?”

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” Dallion felt he had to say something. “A few weeks of training and I’ll get the hang of it.”

“It doesn’t work that way… You’ll never succeed while you’re capped. Not with the skills you have.”

What’s wrong with my skills? Dallion wondered. He seemed to do pretty well in that last battle, excluding that one final mishap. On the other hand, maybe it was time to have a talk with Nil again.

ITEM AWAKENING

“Was wondering when you’d show up,” the echo said in greeting. “Quite the commotion you stirred again. Oh, and congratulations for completing a guild job.”

“Thank you, Nil.” That was surprisingly polite.

“And for almost surviving the final guardian.”

Dallion shook his head. He should have known it was too much to hope for a day free of sarcasm.

“I take it you have a few questions to ask me?”

“Just a few.” Dallion scratched the side of his ear. “The level cap. What’s its purpose?”

“The cap has no purpose.” The echo snorted. “It just prevents you from learning more. I guess you can call that a purpose in the same way you can say that the purpose of age is to make you feel old.”

An interesting comparison, but Dallion knew it to be a lie. There was always a reason for limitations in games, and from what he had seen so far, this was no exception. The five-level trial was there to ensure that only people who could handle the concept of echoes were allowed to make them; furthermore, it also ensured that those wanting to awaken an area on their own had the strength to survive. Having all skills and attributes capped at ten had to be done for some reason as well.

“I suppose you won’t tell me what happens when I become a double digit either?” Dallion tilted his head.

The echo’s behavior instantly changed. Mocking was replaced by deadly seriousness.

“No, I won’t. That is for you to discover, when and if you pass your barrier. I can tell you something else, though. The way you are going, you have every chance of becoming a double digit before the next selection trial.” Nil allowed himself a faint smile. “That is, if you don’t forget how much learning you have to do until then. Becoming a better awakened is not measured only through combat, there’s a lot of learning involved as well.”

“Yeah, I figured that out. Practice, learning, and cheats.”

“You put too much stock in the gorgon,” Nil scoffed. “Anything else, you’re curious about?”

“How much of the sibling’s skills can I learn?”

The smile on the old echo’s face widened.

“You’re finally asking the right questions. In one word—none. This isn’t a matter of missing the basics. Most of their combat actions rely on skills you don’t have. As for the rest, there is a major difference of what a skill at ten provides, and what if offers afterwards. The cap is not just a number, as you will hopefully find out. And as unfortunate as it is, for the immediate future the only thing you could do about it is read and save up. This is one of the dangerous periods of an awakened’s development. You are lucky, you haven’t spent a full day suffering the effects of your limitation. Some have remained at the double-digit barrier for years or even decades there, unable to progress forward or not allowed.”

A cold shiver passed through Dallion. He remembered how annoyed he used to get when he’d fight game mobs and get only a fraction of the experience needed for the character’s next level. Just hours ago, Dallion felt cheated for not getting anything after defeating a difficult guardian. Living like this for years… that must have been torture. Falkner was like that. He had made it a point to say that he was level ten at everything. How long had he remained there?

“Don’t feel glum, though. You have a good chance of pulling through. If you didn’t have so much potential, would captains be fighting over you?”

“I guess not.” Then again, Dallion had no idea what captains usually fought over. “Thanks, Nil. I’ll go get paid and finish this talk when I’m back at the inn.”

“Not a bad decision. Be sure to count the money, by the way. Estezol can be trusted, but he’s really not that good at counting.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dallion laughed.

“Oh, and one last thing. It wasn’t because March had an interest in you. You have a real spark, Dallion, and as long as you don’t lose it, you’ll get far.”