Work was slow and uneventful. The morning’s events had brought in a few more people, mostly from the guild, but on the whole, there were two improvements and about a dozen mendings. The gains were far from what they had been when Dallion had started, but he didn’t mind. If anything, he welcomed the calm.

When everything was over and all but a few regulars had left, Dallion went to have his lunch at the counter. Hannah had gone to take care of some supply issues and left Jiroh in charge of everything. The fury wasn’t overly concerned, taking it as an opportunity to slack off a bit.

“What are you thinking about?” Jiroh asked.

“Huh?” Dallion looked up, startled.

“You’ve been stirring your food.” The fury pointed.

Dallion looked down. There were a number of circles on his plate dividing the food into several small piles.

“Aspan will be mad if he sees you playing with his food like that.”

“Yeah.” Dallion took a bite.

Jiroh was right, of course. Aspan was spending extra care to prepare the food of an awakened—an incredible achievement, despite the increasing difficulty. Even after Dallion had reached the level cap of his perception, the food tasted just as wonderful as it had upon first arriving at the inn.

“So, what’s up?” Jiroh pressed on.

“I’ll be going to the awakened shrine in a bit.” Dallion didn’t want to get into the entire chainling thing again.

“Ah.” Jiroh nodded, as if that explained it. “Don’t worry. You should be able to handle that without a problem. Eury tells me you catch on fast. Plus, you have some a-class gear.”

“That’s not the issue. What will happen when I enter double digits? No one talks about it much, but I get the impression that things change.” There was another pause. “Was that when Eury left the inn and opened her shop?”

“Is that what you’re worried about? Eury’s leaving had nothing to do with her level. Despite what Hannah thinks, it had nothing to do with her either. There was a whole set of different circumstances. Besides, you’re not Eury. If you like it here, you can stay. You don’t have to work for your room, you know, you can pay like everyone else. It’s a good place, better than most, and not that expensive when you start doing the higher-class jobs.”

That made sense, and in a weird way it also made Dallion feel a bit better. True, he didn’t have to leave the inn, and yet there was something troubling him… Back on Earth his parents would have said that was a sign of maturity. Here, he had no idea.

“My advice—the sooner you go, the better,” Jiroh said. “The more you delay, the more doubts you’ll have. Get it over with and then fret about the consequences, if there are any. After you finish your meal, of course. Getting Aspan angry is never a good idea.”

Dallion laughed. Deep down he knew that she was right. Finishing his plate, he then went up to get his gear. There was one last moment of hesitation, after which he grabbed the coin purse and headed out of the inn.

So, we’re really going? The shield asked.

“Yes, we are,” Dallion whispered beneath his breath.

Okay. Will be nice to see what awakening trials have become after all this time.

According to Dallion’s conversation with Nil, there were several awakening shrines in the city. The closest was about half an hour away, although the echo didn’t recommend going there. Instead, Dallion was told to go to the central shrine, where the big crowds were. The reason, apparently, was that the city shrines, similar to small businesses, tended to maximize their time-money ratio. The more distant shrines did that by making the trial more difficult so that people had to take it more than once. In contrast the central shrine was at such a location, that it was more beneficial for it to have people complete the trial as fast as possible. Thus, the challenge was believed to be easier there. Dallion had no idea how an external force could cause a guardian to do anything, but he decided not to argue.

The streets were quite packed, despite the afternoon heat. After consulting the map in the ring library, Dallion decided to go along some of the more shaded alleys of the city. In addition to being cooler, most of them were far less crowded. Resorting to them would increase the walking distance by a few thousand feet, but at this point Dallion hardly cared.

Twenty minutes later, the shrine became visible in the distance. Unlike the one Dallion remembered from his village, this one had a massive structure surrounding it, rising four stories high. The entire building was made of flawless cyan marble—possibly to indicate they were linked to the moon of awakening.

So much fuss for a single instant, Dallion thought. An observer would probably see nothing but a long line of people walking up to the shrine altar and touching it for a brief moment before walking on. That single second, though, could last for hours. Given the number of awakened in the city, it wouldn’t be surprising if the cue were there every day.

Suddenly a knife split the air. Thanks to his improved senses, Dallion heard it long before it approached and quickly jumped back just in time to see it hit the ground. Had he delayed even with a second, the weapon would have sun in his leg.

“Well, well, well.” A figure appeared in the alley ahead. Much to Dallion’s alarm, he had not sensed the figure’s presence. “Off to the shrine, right?”

Dallion didn’t answer. The appearance of the person ahead, along with her manner of speaking, made it clear that she wasn’t here for a casual chat.

“How about you give it a pass for today? Seeing how you’re a guildie you can make up the money to try again in a month or two. So, why don’t you hand over the coins like a nice boy and get on your way?”

Damn it! Dallion looked around. Was he being robbed in broad daylight? Considering how isolated the alley was from the main streets, there was little doubt. More alarming, his senses told him that the woman wasn’t to be trifled with. Wearing a set of adventurer’s clothes, she had knives all over her belt. The lack of hood or mask suggested that the woman wasn’t afraid to be identified, the numerous rings and bracelets on her left hand indicated she was carrying quite a few item realms with her. And still, why wasn’t she armed with anything other than throwing knives?

“Don’t bother. The city guard doesn't come around here. And even if they did, I’d knife you long before they get close. You can have my guarantee on that.”

Dallion reached for his harpsisword. The knife that suddenly made its way into the thief’s hand made him reconsider.

“You’re a thief?” Dallion asked.

“Sure, why not?” The woman kept her focus on Dallion. If this were the awakened realm, there probably would be target markers all over him. “The purse, if you please?”

Dallion calculated the odds. If she were alone, he had a pretty good chance of evading her attacks and running out of the alley before she could catch up. Failing that he could enter in a fight, although something told him that she would be tougher than the group of awakened he’d come across in Drunkard’s End. This one meant business.

“And if I don’t?” If only his dartbow was easily accessible and loaded with boats… that would have made this far easier.

“You’re not new. If you were one of the five guilds, I’d know about it. That means you’re part of some small insignificant group which wouldn’t be able to do crap. I’d prefer not to hurt you, but—”

Dallion dashed forward. This whole time he had waited for her to blink to gain the upper hand, and when she had, he had descended upon her, Harpsisword in hand.

The thief didn’t take long to react. At Dallion’s fifth step towards her, she had already left her spot. To Dallion’s surprise, she hadn’t run away or moved to the side. Instead, she had charged right at him. At this point there was no way for him to evade her. Relying on his training, Dallion swirled to the side along a semicircle. In the awakened realms, he would have instantly slashed at her, but here he hesitated. The thought of injuring a person was still foreign to him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for her.

Without a moment’s pause, the thief slid beneath his shield arm, throwing a knife at his sword hand.

The pain felt like a prick that kept increasing until Dallion found himself dropping the harpsisword. There was nothing elegant or deep about it—a simple disarming attack then left him completely open. A sharp kick to the side of the head followed, knocking Dallion to the ground and very much unconscious.

When Dallion next opened his eyes, he was alone in the alley. His pouch was missing, as were his shield and harpsisword. His first reaction was to check whether his boots were gone—they weren’t. The relief was short-lived as Dallion realized what had happened. He had been robbed for the first time since he’d arrived in the city. Shock combined with disbelief kept him on the ground, frozen as a statue, for several minutes. His mind was still trying to process the notion.

How was it possible for there to be an awakened thief in a city like this? Didn’t the nobles see everything that happened within the city’s realm? They should have been able to prevent this, or if not, they should have reacted fast enough to catch the perpetrator.

No, Dallion thought. No, no, no. This can’t be happening.

How had he managed to lose the harpsisword hours after seeing the guardian? Not only that, but the shield still belonged to the general. Now not only was he penniless, but he didn’t have the gear needed to complete the trial, or any trial for that matter.

Overflowing with panic, Dallion looked around in the hopes of finding a clue to the thief’s whereabouts. Some of the tracks were clearly visible, only to vanish completely after a while. It was as if she had jumped out of existence.

Left with little choice, Dallion rushed down the alley. His only chance was to catch up to her. With luck, the equipment she was carrying would slow her down enough so he could claim it back.

After running for ten minutes, though, there was still no sign of her. The new passers by Dallion had asked, hadn’t seen anyone matching the thief’s description. There was the option to go to the nearest bastion of the city watch. Given the lines and bureaucracy there, Dallion would most likely be asked to fill in a report of some kind, and wait. No, if he wanted to get things done, he had to resort to alternative methods.

Running as fast as he could, Dallion made it back to the Gremlin’s Timepiece.

“Hannah!” he shouted upon entering. The room was completely empty. The few regulars had left until evening, and neither Hannah nor Jiroh were anywhere to be seen. “Jiroh!”

Please be here, Dallion thought. He had no idea how either of them might help, but at least they could do something. Never before had he felt so vulnerable. It wasn’t only because he’d been mugged—something similar had happened back on Earth—it was the ease with which it had been done. The thief, whoever she was, hadn’t even put in any effort, disarming him and knocking him out with one single action.

I should have just handed the money over, Dallion thought with regret. At least then he would still have his equipment. Now he had lost pretty much everything.

“Dal?” The fury emerged from the kitchen. “What’s the matter?” She stopped mid-step upon seeing him. “You’ve bleeding.”

Dallion looked at her, then at the blood dripping from his arm. That was right. He had been injured, but the pain had been driven away by anger and panic at the loss.

“I…” he said, eyes burning with rage. “They took my harpsisword. They took everything.”