Dangerous like a thundercloud… Such a description didn’t match Jiroh in the least. Then again, Dallion had only known her for little more than a month. He knew she was a hunter, and had also seen her fight to get an idea of her strength, but even so, he couldn’t believe that she was that dangerous. Hannah herself had said that she’d taken the fury years ago when she had been young. On the other hand, Jiroh had mentioned she’d come to the city after the war. In theory it was possible for both things to be true, but even so there were a lot of additional details missing.

“I’ll be fine.” Dallion played it down. “Jiroh’s helped me a lot ever since I came here.”

“As I said, sir, it’s not my place to make any suggestions,” Karin said. “Please excuse what I said.”

Easier said than done. Thankfully, by the time they arrived at the Combat Arena, other worries had come to the foreground. Dallion had, of course, taken five gold coins and change with him. He had a sneaky suspicion that the general might up the renting price.

“This way, please.” The fury opened the door, then guided him through the lobby and down the lavishly decorated corridor until they reached the general’s room. Unlike last time, there were a few other people as well. All of them were dressed well beyond Dallion’s station. Thankfully, none seemed to notice or particularly care about him.

Knocking on the general’s door, Karin waited a few seconds, then opened it. From the way she was standing, Dallion could assume she wasn’t invited to join.

“Thanks, Karin,” he whispered, then stepped inside.

The room had changed somewhat since the last time Dallion was there. A display case was added containing more pieces to the general’s collection. All the new items were exotic weapons—sphere items from what Dallion could tell. Judging by their dull state, none of them were fully explored.

“Ah, Dal, old boy,” the general said as he raked the gold sand in a pattern. His two fury bodyguards were a short distance away. “So good of you to make it. Give me a moment, will you?”

“Of course, General.”

For several minutes Dallion watched the general rake away. He had little doubt this was meant to intimidate him, though there was no denying that the snob was skilled in what he was doing. Every action was precise to a fault. Dallion could only guess how long he had practiced this hobby. Once done, the general placed the rake on the sand of gold. Almost immediately, a fury floated to him, and lifted him in the air, so he could walk back to the desk of the room without ruining what he had achieved.

“A most inconvenient hobby, I know,” the general said the other fury helped him put on an emerald cyan robe. “Still, in this day and age, it’s difficult to come by anything. Tell me, do you have any hobbies?”

“I have a stone orchid,” Dallion said in the hopes that it would be seen as exotic. To his disappointment, that got no reaction from his host.

“I understand you’ll be having your selection trial shortly,” the general went on.

“That’s right. Three days from now.”

“Three days. How time flies. However, as unfortunate as it is, you’ll have to pass your trial without my shield.”

“What?” Dallion couldn’t stop himself. “But I’ve rented him for a month.”

“That’s true, sadly I learned that you had a recent adventure.” The general’s voice suddenly became sharp as a blade. The friendly welcoming demeanour was instantly replaced by cold, calculated ruthlessness. “Gambling with your own treasures is stupid. Gambling with mine is unacceptable. For that purpose, I’m ending our arrangement.”

“But I got it back,” Dallion protested.

“A small blessing, no doubt, but not enough.”

“I’ll pay double!”

“Please, Dal. Even if you had the money to buy it outright, it wouldn’t matter. Shields of this type have become something of a rarity. You can’t buy them for gold.”

“What about our arrangement?” Dallion asked. As tempting as it was to use music skills, Dallion was sensible enough not to dare. The general had asked to see him in action during their last negotiations. Any attempt now would be noticed and only get Dallion in further trouble. “You said you’d give him to me if I fulfil the destiny of an artifact you have.”

“That was the case. However, I’ve already had the cane fully explored. In fact, that happened this very morning. Tough luck, old boy, but there’s nothing—”

“Another artifact, then. I’ll fulfil another artifact.”

A note of greed rang within the general. Dallion was able to see it clearly. As much as the man didn’t want to lose the shield, he wanted to get a fully functioning artifact more.

“Tempting, but you no,” the general said at last. “With the sudden influx of artifacts to the city, prices of exploration have dropped substantially. I could easily pay a guild to do it for me.”

“What if I promise to bring you an artifact from the wilderness?” Dallion asked. This was a trump card he didn’t want to play, but it wasn’t like he had a lot of a choice right now. “Even with the influx of artifacts, you can’t guarantee what will come your way and whether you’ll buy it. You’re not the only collector in Nerosal, as you said.”

The corner of the general’s mouth curled up. Dallion knew he had won the initiative. Now all he had to do was to seal the deal.

“Since you know about my incident, you also know that I’m a potential hunter. Loan me the shield and I promise to exchange it for an artifact of your choosing.”

“There are a lot of potential hunters. Even I was said to be one during my youth. What makes you think you’ll become an actual one?”

“Even if I don’t, I’m friends with two that are. I’ll make sure you get what you want. You don’t lose a thing in this arrangement. The shield remains yours until I fulfil my part. Until then I only get to rent it.”

There was another moment of silence. The general was going over the mental calculation. As he did, Dallion could sense the greed from him increasing.

“An interesting proposal.” The general stood up, then went to his new display case. His fingers slid along one of the dim artefacts—a rapier which had a blade twisted as a corkscrew. “Just to be clear. You agree to clear an artifact of my choosing for free just to gain the right to keep renting my shield. Meanwhile, you’ll also start searching for a wilderness artefact matching my requirements. Is that right?”

“Yes.” Dallion nodded. “I’ll even keep paying the monthly amount.”

“I told you, I’m not interested in money. However…” the general turned around. “Exploring an artefact of my choice will earn you a year’s worth of rent. For each year you don’t bring me the artifact I asked for, you'll clear something else, again of my choice.”

“Done.”

“Also—“ the general raised a finger “—if anything happens to the shield, you still have to fulfil your part of the bargain.”

“That’s understood.”

Amateur, Dallion thought. Back on Earth additional requirements would be made for the eventuality that something happened to Dallion. The fact that he didn’t was somewhat flattering in a weird way, it meant that the general was confident in his abilities.

“Do I need to sign anything to make it official?”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. The shield has witnessed it and will make sure you stick to our arrangement.”

Sorry about that, the shield said. I don’t have much choice in this.

“And just to prove my good faith, I won’t ask you to improve any of my items until you pass your selection trial. You’re confident that you won’t run into any problems there, I trust?”

“Even if I do, I’ll still be here after the end of the test. If I have to, I’ll explore your artefact a level at a time until it’s cleared.”

“Quite the spirit you have there. If I’d known you’d be this eager, I wouldn’t have asked for this meeting. Although I’m glad I did.”

Of course you are. You got the better part of this deal, Dallion grumbled mentally. To be honest, as much as he had grown accustomed to the armadil shield, he wouldn’t have gone through such extremes to obtain him, if the trial wasn’t in three days. Going back through his first experience in the Dagger, Dallion had come to the conclusion that he needed the shield in order to make it to the fourth level at the very least. Having to rely on another shield at this point would have made things unimaginably more complicated.

“Have you chosen an item, General?” Dallion asked.

“Yes, but who knows? Maybe something better will come up by the time you visit. Oh, and rest assured, I won’t give you an impossible task. After all, my goal is to see the effects of the item, not have you get sealed in the process.”

The thought sent chills down Dallion’s spine. It had been a while since he had worried about becoming sealed. The guild emblem prevented that from happening, but the option was still there.

With that ominous remark, the meeting was quickly over. Dallion made his way out in the corridor, where Karin was waiting. Seeing the shield on Dallion’s arm, she raised a brow.

“We came to an arrangement,” Dallion pre-empted her question. “I get to keep on renting the shield.”

I really appreciate this, the shield said. I thought that would be the end of my vacation. Guess I have something more to look forward to.

“Do you ever wonder about other furies?” Dallion asked all of a sudden. “I mean, there’s only a few of you in the city. Have you ever wondered what it might be to go out there and find more of your kind?”

“It is not my place to think of such things, sir,” the fury replied. “I was born here. Anything beyond the realm of the city is not my concern.”

Of course it wouldn’t be, Dallion thought, even if he could see the note of regret. In a way, there was no difference between her and the dryad shield. Both had found their way to the Combat Arena, and both were currently owned—or employed—by people of wealth who had no intention of releasing them without a profit. Starting from today, Dallion could also consider himself in a similar position. Regardless of what happened to the shield, Dallion had guaranteed he’d be the man’s personal item explorer until such a time that the other decided otherwise. It might take a year or it might take ten, and during that time he’d have to do as he was asked.

Three days, that was how much remained until the test. Not much, but enough to develop a few more skills. As for levelling himself up, Dallion decided against it for the moment. Considering the difficulty of the first challenge, he didn’t feel ready to poke more into his subconscious for the moment, not when there remained an easier way to get two more levels. Actually, if his suspicions were correct, it was possible there was an easier way for him to get another five levels after that as well.

“Do you really plan to become a hunter?” the fury asked as they entered the lobby.

“You heard that?”

“I’m a fury, sir. We work well with wind and air vibrations.”

“That explains a few things.” Dallion smiled. “Yes, I’m thinking about it. Not in the immediate future, but still. Why? Is there something you’d like me to find?”

“No, sir,” Karin lied. “I was just concerned that you might be putting yourself needlessly in danger. There is no protection outside of the city’s area.”

“I’ve passed through the wilderness before. I had to get here somehow, remember?”

“That is correct, sir, but at the time you weren’t a double digit. Things are different now. The stronger you become the more visible you get.”

“That’s very philosophical of you.” Had the fury also reached the gate but refused to complete the trial? At this point Dallion could only speculate. Similar to Jiroh, he had no idea if Karin even was awakened. “Not to worry, though. I have a traveller’s emblem, so I should be fine.”

And if I’m not, there’s at least one person out there who’ll have my back.