It had been less than a day, in real time, since Dallion had been on a guild mission. Back on Earth that would be considered barely any time at all. After all, how much could change in a day? Barring something going viral or another major unexpected event, everything but the people’s clothes remained the same. Here, he could say no such thing. In the span of a day—or four in true time—Dallion had entered double digit territory, leveled up twice, acquired a new skill, linked several awakened realms to his own, solved a paradox cube, been rejected for a job, made several life-altering decisions, and not to forget he had hooked up with Euryale. After all that, going back to being a packrat felt like going to the kiddie pool after spending a week in the ocean.

The sphere item that he was assigned to was a mere level two. The party—three guild members that Dallion barely knew—did an okay job dispatching all the enemies, although they weren’t as good as the siblings that Dallion usually got teamed up with. Remaining behind he observed their performance mentally noting all the missed opportunities: delayed attacks, blocks where they should have been thrusts, picking a stronger target while killing a weaker one would be possible… It was as if the second trial had removed a veil from Dallion’s face letting him see things much better.

So that’s the difference between single and double digits, he said to himself.

Without a doubt the party was skilled, possibly more skilled than Dallion in his current state, yet the level cap combined with their reliance on enemy mistakes made it look as if they were performing martial art katas instead of fighting. This was especially noticeable during their combat against the level guardians. The team relied on tried-and-true tactics, some of which Dallion had started to recognize, slowly grinding the enemy down to defeat. If Dallion were fighting and received proper support, he thought he could take them down five times as fast. That, however, wasn’t his job yet. For the moment, his task was only to carry their weapons.

After the second level was cleared, and the item’s destiny was fulfilled, Dallion received an increase in his guard skills. From what he could gather since he hadn’t done anything much the entire time, it was his initial skill that had been bumped up. That was good to know—he didn’t have to specifically invest in it anytime soon.

And after the job was over, came the time for the obligatory feast. The food was just as much, the crowd just as loud, and Dallion felt that for once he wasn’t the center of attention.

“That was one tough fight.” Bel slumped in a chair next to him. “Didn’t think a colossus could put up such a fight.”

“Oh?” Dallion smiled. Fighting colossi brought back memories. It was the first guardian he had faced, as well as the last guardian before becoming a full awakened. “What did it do?”

“Does breaking me in two count?”

Dallion looked at her in disbelief. Logic told him that couldn’t be true, yet curiosity made him look down at her waist, just in case.

“Well, it didn’t do that, but it tried pretty damned hard to!” Bel took a pitcher of water and poured herself a mug. That was one of the weird quirks she had. After a difficult mission, she would always drink water and in large quantities.

“What about the rest of the party? Didn’t they help out?”

“Heh,” she replied, which was code for ‘they didn’t do a thing.’

“Told you you should have taken me as your packrat.”

“Don’t think I didn’t try. Falkner did too, and both of us got turned down because you took your sweet time in the training room.

There was that. The short conversation with captain Adzorg had turned into a long conversation and then into an even longer conversation coupled with a training exercise in a training item. It was almost scary how much the man resembled his echo. The old man had made Dallion go through a lot of the basic skill sequences, as well as a few advanced. It was fortunate that Dallion had managed to get most of them correct. On the other hand, he didn’t even want to remember how many of the theoretical questions he had gotten wrong… it felt too much like high-school again.

“How did Falkner do?” Dallion quickly changed the subject.

“He’s still at it,” Bel shrugged. “Got a triple mission job. Don’t know why he keeps taking them. He doesn’t need the money, and it’s not like he can improve any of his skills anymore.”

“Maybe he just likes exploring?”

Actually, Dallion knew exactly what Falkner was doing. It had nothing to do with skill or money, or even experience; the boy was building up courage to pass through the second awakening trial. It remained strange why he should. After all, the trial was just the realization that one had to push his limits… and of course that he’d become a target for other double-digits, whatever that meant. After one mugging and one attempt, Dallion had a pretty good idea what that might be like, so he hadn’t hesitated much. Maybe it was the age difference? Some things seemed a lot scarier when Dallion had been a teen. Then again, a whole lot more things seemed a lot easier back then as well.

“I’ve no idea what he’s doing. I don’t even know why he ever came to the guild in the first place.”

“He told me it was because of March.”

“Heh.” Bel snorted. “Is that what he told you?”

A few moments later Grunt appeared with a large platter of food, bringing the conversation to a pause. As usual, he had brought Dallion’s favorites and a few other plates that could be assumed to be Bel’s. He didn’t say a word, nor did he remain longer than a few seconds.

“Thanks, Grunt.” Dallion said, as the giant walked away. “Yes, that’s what he said,” he then turned back to Bel. “I doubt he’s the only one.”

“Well,” Bel moved closer, whispering so faintly that air barely left her lips. “He’s lying. March is a big thing for the likes of you and me, but for him, she’s just a third-rate guard.”

“Nah, really?” Dallion found that hard to believe.

“Do you know who his family is?”

“Some nobles from what I know.”

“Some nobles that have ruled over a city twice the size of Nerosal for generations. One of his uncles is the city-lord. If he wanted to train under an expert, that person would be taken to Falkner’s estate from the other side of the empire. Some of his relatives live in the Imperial capital, and I’m not talking about the outer sections. When you’re someone like that you don’t apply to a guild, you just tell them you want to join.”

That was outright impressive. Dallion had long suspected that Falkner’s family was more important than he liked to make them out, but he had no idea that they were this important. Taking this into consideration, Bel was right—there was no reason for him to join, and yet in the few instances Dallion had used his music skills, he had seen that Falkner’s admiration of March was genuine. The boy honestly wanted to get trained by the captain, though for what purpose one could only guess.

“Maybe he just wants to live a little?”

“I hope not,” Bel sighed. “When nobles try to live like commoners, things don’t usually end well.”

From that point on the conversation quickly devolved into jokes and combat strategies. It seemed that sooner or later all awakened conversations took that turn. Strategies, on the other hand, made Dallion think of Euryale; she too had taught Dallion a thing or two. The thought made Dallion’s pulse quicken slightly.

Wonder what you’re doing out there, Dallion asked himself, though even he knew that the real question he wanted an answer to was when she would be back. If Jiroh was to be believed, the hunt was going to take over a week. In awakened time that could stretch for years. Hopefully, it won't.

“Dal?” Bel asked after a while. “You okay? You seem out of it.”

“Yeah, sorry. Was thinking about something.” Dallion finished the last bite on his plate.

“Important.”

“Sort of,” he semi lied. “There’s a big celebration at the inn where I work. Innkeeper told me to be fresh, ready, and on time for that one.”

“Sounds important.”

“As long as it pays well, I’m fine with that. Thanks for the chat, Bel.” Dallion stood up. “Say hi to Falkner if you’re still here.”

“Will do. Take care, Dal.”

I would recommend you don’t mention anything you’ve learned about Falkner, Nil said the moment Dallion walked away from the guildhall. Given that you’re a double digit it’s better that you delay creating enemies for a few levels.

“Wow. That’s the advice you want to give me?” Dallion had to admit, though, that a warning coming from the echo had him slightly concerned. “Plus, it’s not like I’ll do anything bad to him. We’re pals.”

When dealing with nobles, that works against you. The fact that you have a lot of potential might make some people more lenient, but not all. Please keep that in mind.

“If you say so.”

Furthermore, at the risk of sounding like that shield, I would advise against flirting with guild members.

“Wow. What’s gotten into you today, Nil? You really don’t sound like yourself.”

Just an observation. Think nothing of it.

Thanks a lot, Dallion grumbled to himself. The suggestion only made him think of the gorgon more.

As he walked by the fruit stalls on his way home, Dallion used his music skill to see which of the apples to take. Since the skill could be used on objects as well as people, he could tell which of them were in the best condition. Not only that, but there were things such as happy apples and sad apples. Thankfully, as Nil had told him long ago, food didn’t have guardians—their emotional state was a memory of the entity of origin. Happy orchards produced happy apples. While looking, Dallion happened to see something unexpected.

“How much for that?” he pointed at an amber rock in a flowerpot.

“This?” the stall owner asked, surprised. “It’s a decoration I picked up from a merchant. Why?”

“Is it for sale?” Without thinking Dallion resorted to using his music skills while talking. It was only a minor influence, not even targeting to anyone in particular, but his words resonated, spreading the desire for a deal.

“Everything’s for sale as long as the price is right.” The woman smiled. “For you, since you’ve become a regular, two gold.”

The price was rather high. For something that was “just a decoration” it cost five times as much as it should have. That wasn’t an issue since Dallion had the means to lower the price quite a bit. All he had to do was haggle a bit. However, one thought stopped him.

“Here.” He took out the amount from his pouch and handed it to the stall owner, who, by the looks of it, was astonished that he had agreed. Looking at her emotions, she had only said such a high number to have a better advantage at haggling. Now that he had accepted, though, she felt guilty about it.

“Thank you… but you must have a few apples with that,” the woman quickly added. “A gift for the sale.”

“It’s alright.” Dallion took the pot. “I’ll pick them up some other time.”

That was strange even for you, Nil said. Do you have any idea what you just bought?

“No,” Dallion whispered as he walked away from the stall. “But I knew I had to.”

And just what will you do with a rock? Upgrade it until it becomes valuable?

“It’s not a rock.” Thanks to his music sense he could see beneath the shell into the thing’s true form, and that form was very different from what one might expect. “It’s a plant.”