The further Dallion ran on along the surface of the innermost cube, the more it became obvious that there wouldn’t be any entrance. What windows he had seen before had disappeared, along with edges, cracks, and even seams. It was as if he was running one solid chunk of concrete. There was no place he could turn, nowhere he could hide from the three echoes pursuing him and their ranged attacks. However, if there was one thing this world had taught him, it was that nothing was as it seemed. Actually, that wasn’t correct. Things were exactly what they seemed, as long as one had the ability to see beyond the surface.

Music, he thought.

The solid surface changed. Dallion could now see the fragmented emotions running through it: reluctance, fear, resistance. Every inch of stone was set up in such a way so as to repulse him. That was why the closer he got the less openings there were. However, even with that much effort, cracks remained. Dallion could see them like threads of electric current moving about, constantly sliding between other emotions. From time to time several of them would converge, creating a small well, before branching off in different directions once more.

So that’s what it meant, seeing chinks in one’s armor, Dallion thought. He never had expected it would be music that would allow him to see them, though. With the cube being part of his awakening realm, which was also part of him, right now Dallion was looking at his own indecisions. The only question was which was which: was the current his indecisions, or was it the cube itself? There was one way to find out.

“Nox, claw there!” Dallion pointed at a spot on the ground at which three currents were circling in a loop.

Uncertain, the crackling clawed on the stone surface, precisely on the spot Dallion had envisioned. As his familiar, it could tell exactly where Dallion was aiming at even. If there was nothing of significance there. A thin line appeared on the stone surface.

“There and there!” Dallion pointed, then looked over his shoulder.

There was no sight of his pursuers. Maybe they hadn’t managed to jump onto the last cube? A bolt flying his direction told him that they didn’t have to in order to be a threat. In a split second, the armadil shield extended, blocking the attack. At least that was something Dallion didn’t have to worry about.

“A bit faster, Nox.” He redirected his attention to the crackling. “Just claw the corner.”

When the last inch of stone was clawed, the stone triangle shut up in the air, like a manhole under pressure. A fountain of emotions poured out—joy, exuberance, euphoria. It was as if all the positive emotions were rushing to escape their stone prison. Dallion didn’t hesitate. Without a word, he grabbed Nox and jumped into the hole. He could see the stream of emotions pass through him, yet they had no physical presence.

The drop went on and on. After a few seconds Dallion stopped using his music skill. The blinding stream of emotions disappeared, revealing a large, empty space. Torches light up all the walls, providing just enough light to see the outlines of the room.

Is this the center? Dallion looked down. Almost instantly, he landed on what seemed to be a floor. In fact, it was a real floor—unlike all the walls he had seen before, this one had furniture—which was even hanging in the right direction. Normally this would be a good thing, however, the furniture wasn’t from this world—it was from his parent’s house back on Earth. There was the family couch—the thing was probably older than Dallion—covered in cushions, the old-fashioned chairs his father enjoyed, as well as an extremely old model TV with a PlayStation four plugged in.

“Want to join in?” a voice asked. Dallion saw a copy of himself sitting in front of the tv, gripping a wireless controller. “It’s boring when you play on your own.”

The last time Dallion had seen anything from his Earth past was back after the first well challenge, right after he had made the guardian a promise. This seemed much more real, as real as an awakening realm could get.

Passing by the table, Dallion grabbed a free joypad and sat on the floor next to his other self.

“Give it a moment,” the other Dallion said. “It takes a while to connect.”

Dallion looked at the tv screen. The word loading was flashing on it in large green block letters.

“Been a while since we last talked,” the other him continued. “Congrats on passing the second gate, by the way. Not that I had any doubts, but it’s a big thing. You’re pretty much joined the big player club. Not the majors yet, but still quite impressive for a stubborn plank of wood.”

“Hello, echo,” Dallion said. “I thought you vanished back in the previous trial.”

“I did, but also didn’t.” The echo laughed. “As you’ve started to see, things are more complicated here. However, now that you’ve entered double digit territory you might finally start learning some things. Nothing useful yet, just a small fragment here, a small fragment there, until you are ready to learn more of the truth.”

“Will I ever be ready?” Dallion frowned. He had heard that line way too often.

“Why are you asking me? I know as much as you and you don’t know jack.”

A game flashed on the screen. It was a fighting game that Dallion hadn’t seen before. The characters, though, resembled people he had seen in the real world. There was Gloria, Veil, Hannah, Hiroh, Eury, Vade, Falkner, the siblings, and even Arthurows. Aspion and his grandfather were also there, although none of them were selectable.

“This is the trial?” Dallion asked. “I have to beat you in a game?”

“Sometimes a game is just a game.” The echo selected Arthurows. “Not that you’ll beat me. I’m as good as you, remember? And unlike you I know exactly what you’re thinking.”

Dallion moved his thumbstick to select Falkner, but the character disappeared along with most of the rest. The only two that remained were Euryale and Vend.

“Go with Eury,” the echo suggested. “She likes you. You never know what could happen. Besides, she knows how to forge.”

Dallion hesitated. This was terribly convenient. Only recently he was wondering which of the two he should take as his mentor. Was both an option?

“Music skills won’t help you here,” the echo said, reading Dallion’s thoughts. “Vend’s not a bad choice either. He was mentored by March, so you know he’s good. He definitely has a thing or two to teach you. Plus, you’ll have a much easier time rising up the ranks of the guild. You might even make captain, eventually.”

It was a difficult question. Any way one looked at it, there were pros and cons, and neither was a guarantee of future success. However, this wasn’t life, this was just a game, so Dallion quickly chose Euryale.

“Oh? That’s surprising.” The echo leaned forward. “I was certain you’d go for Vend. Guess I don’t know you as well as you do.”

Instead of the game starting, though. The TV screen went blank.

“Technology,” the echo sighed. “What can you do about it? Am I right?”

Dallion held onto the controller a while longer, then put it on the floor beside him.

“Oh, we’ll definitely fight,” the echo said, sensing Dallion’s thoughts. “Just not right this instant. You know, I was a bit hurt that you didn’t make any instances of me all this time. A few of the others have.”

“Which ones?” Dallion smirked. “Arthurows? Falkner?”

“Pretty much all of them. Bel has a dozen, each protecting those piercings of hers. You’ve noticed what they’re made of, so you know they are very different in the awakening realm.”

“Why are we even talking?” Dallion stood up. “You already know anything I’ll do, and I know this is supposed to be a fight. This isn’t home, it’s part of the cube. Is this supposed to give me second thoughts?”

The echo smiled.

“We’re talking because you want us to.”

There was a moment of silence, then all chaos broke out. Both came to the same conclusion, drawing identical weapons and swinging at each other. Harpsisword clashed with harpsisword, though only the strings of one of them vibrated. Unlike Dallion, there could only be one version of the sword. The same was probably true for the shield and anything else with an advanced guardian. Sadly, that didn’t make Dallion’s opponent particularly weaker.

Attack and defend, Dallion thought.

Green and red markers appeared, then disappeared. Dallion blinked. Before he could think about it more, the echo swung its harpsisword at him, forcing Dallion to jump back and block with his shield. Even as he did, though, there were no defense markers. Not that Dallion was particularly alarmed by the fact—he felt he was strong enough to win without the need of assistance, but it was still weird not having them there. It wasn’t the case of him being too fast for the skills to keep up. It was just…

Dallion jumped back. Something didn’t feel right. Why was he so overconfident he could take the echo on without markers? He wasn’t feeling that way upon first arriving here. Also, why hadn’t he resorted to music?

Don’t tell me. A thought passed through Dallion’s mind like a wave of electricity. Music!

The echo had a number of emotions in various parts of its body, but that wasn’t the target Dallion wanted to focus on. Focusing, he looked down at his chest. The deep blue blob of overconfidence was there, vibrating slowly, almost as if it were pulsing.

“You used music on me!” Dallion shouted.

“Of course.” The echo drew a dartbow. “You were thinking about it as well.”

That’s why he had told Dallion that music wouldn’t help him. It wasn’t a warning, it was planting the suggestion in him through the very same skill, so Dallion didn’t find out what had been done to him. The echo must have also used the long conversation to inject overconfidence in Dallion, and possibly more emotions.

The bolt bounced off Dallion’s shield.

“I didn’t lie about you wanting to talk, though,” the echo said. As far as Dallion could see, there were no music qualities in his voice at present. “You actually did, although you weren’t sure what you wanted to talk about.”

That wasn’t true. Allion wanted no such thing. Just to prove the point, he played his harpsichord. A calming chord filled the air, affecting them both.

“Smart move.” The echo shot another bold at Dallion, then jumped behind the television set. “You’re still wondering who the third person from Earth is. That’s not your focus now, but you still want to find him, hoping he could help you somehow… Do you want to go back to Earth?”

In truth, Dallion didn’t. Things were starting to go his way here. He’d got his gear back, passed the trial, and most likely would pass his guild selection. What was the point in going to college after this? Although, maybe there were a few things he missed from Earth, like air conditioning, proper plumbing, and running water… especially running water. It had been so long since Dallion had had a proper shower. Here he was forced to either wash from a bowl—or bucket—or use one of the lakes.

Throwing his harpsisword at the TV, Dallion drew his dartbow and sent a bolt in the direction of his enemy. To no one’s surprise, the echo had already rolled safely away.

Reading my thoughts is overpowered, Dallion thought.

“Only when you don’t know how to counteract it,” the echo replied. “Besides, things will only get harder from here. I’m the easy challenge. If you keep on delving into your realm, you’ll find far tougher opponents.”

“I’ll level up my skills.”

“And so will they.”

“Nox!” Dallion shouted. “Get him!”

Who said I was the only one who had to play fair? Dallion smiled.