“One more!” someone yelled through the room.

With a mock sigh, Veil made his way past the crowd and took the wooden bracelet he was handed. A split second later, the material of the bracelet had changed to birch.

A day ago Dallion would never have imagined Veil could be this popular; a day ago he wouldn’t even have thought it possible that the blond would agree to work at an inn doing upgrades for random strangers. However, here he was, and the crowd was wild. For one thing, the female composition of the clientele had doubled since the start of his shift. Apparently, girls and a few guys, were quite eager to have items mended or improved by an exotic blond muscle house. The fact that Veil didn’t miss pointing out that he was minor nobility—which he was only in the most technical sense of the term—only fuelled his charm. Even his sister didn’t get as much attention. And then there was Dallion…

For once Dallion found that there was such a thing as being too good at one’s job. After some hesitation he had started the evening with a common ballad, which Nil had suggested. The piece was over a hundred years old, according to the rind library scrolls, but catchy enough to garner attention. Naturally, Dallion had added a touch of incentive for customers to be generous to his friend Veil. After all, even with Dallion pocketing the awakening trial test, the Luors still needed money for better gear—namely armor. As a result, he had created a monster.

I think you went a bit overbroad, Nil said as an overenthusiastic woman gave Veil a gold coin as a tip for her item improvement. Any chance you could tone it down a bit?

I’ve been playing calming music for the last half hour, Dallion thought. Unless I go all out manipulative, there’s nothing else that I can do.

Ah. Occupational hazards, I would guess. Do you think he’s enjoying it? I honestly couldn’t tell.

He is. He’ll just never admit it.

Meanwhile, Gloria was also enjoying a wait share of tips, again mostly from girls asking her for details about her brother. With the number of customers, she too had chipped it, taking the role of waitress. What she lacked in speed she made up with a charm of her own, not to mention that her awakened skills gave her an edge when it came to refills—paid, of course.

If this was what it was usually like during the festival, no wonder Hannah could keep the inn running for a year with the small number of regulars afterwards. The whole thing was like Black Friday.

Dinner was extended by one hour, then by another. At two in the morning, even Hannah was forced to ask for last orders since the food was starting to run out. One hour after that, the crowd was finally gone.

Once the last customer had left, the innkeeper and all of her employees—with the exception of Aspan who never left the kitchen—tidied what there was to tidy up, cleaned up, then sat down to enjoy a well-deserved feast. In total, twenty-three gold coins and three silvers had been earned, not counting tips. The amount far exceeded anything that Dallion had imagined, making his own exploits on the first day seem ridiculously minuscule in comparison.

Don’t feel bad about it, Nil reassured him. You didn’t have music support when you started. Besides, having three awaked in an inn is a big deal. Only the specialized ones offer that and the prices there are ten times higher.

“Eat up,” Hannah said, joining them at the table. “You all did well, so Aspan will cook up all the food that’s left.”

“Now I see why you came here,” Veil said, looking at the piece of gold in his hand. “The only time I’ve seen this much was in grandpa’s treasure box. I used to think it was enough to buy a village.”

“Depends on the village,” Dallion joked. “Also, it’s not like this usually. I get about ten-twenty silver coins per day. And no tips.”

“For some of the things you’ve pulled, I should be getting money from you,” Hannah grumbled, though all in good humor. “But yes, this is unusual. Having the three of you helps.”

“Still, a pity we didn’t hear Dallion sing more,” Gloria said, taking a sip of her mead.

“It would have been wasted on the crowd,” Hannah said, making it difficult to tell whether she was making a backhanded compliment or not. “Either way, I think we’ll keep these numbers until the end of the festival. Unlike with Dallion’s shenanigans, the competition won’t be able to copy you two.”

“True.” Veil nodded. “We’re impossible to copy.”

“She meant our hair.” Gloria gave her brother an annoyed side-glance.

“That too.” Clearly, humility wasn’t his strong suit.

Slowly chewing his food, Dallion looked around. Things were looking good, too good, almost. He felt at home here, having fun with friends. At this point, he couldn’t ask for more, yet a voice in the back of his head whispered that this couldn’t last. The Star was still out there plotting something, and he still had to become stronger and learn as much as he could as fast as possible.

“I’m heading to sleep.” Dallion stood up.

“Already?” Gloria asked, a note of disappointment ringing in her voice.

“Just sleep a bit in a mug or something,” Veil said. “The night is still young.”

“Nah, I need some real sleep for once. Been a long day today. Catch you in the morning? There’s something I’ll need your help with.”

“Sissy.” Veil laughed, then waved his hand. “We’ll be here after you get your beauty sleep.”

An elbow in the ribs attempted to remind him not to be so open in his ridicule. Due to Veil’s improved body, though, the effect was partial at best.

“Have fun.” He made his way to his room, then directly to bed. For once, he had no intention of training or reading up in the library.

The night proved to be uneventful. When Dallion woke up, he went through his normal routine, then went down to find that Veil and Gloria were already waiting for him. A large plate of food was also there, likely reserved for Dallion.

“Did you stay up all night?” Dallion asked as he took his seat.

“Told you we would,” Veil replied with a smirk.

“We did not. Hannah just told us where we could go to get a proper bath, since the inn’s facilities were limited. We went there a few hours ago to avoid the crowd.”

Dallion nodded. He knew of a few bathhouses in the city. The ones reserved for Awakened were so expensive that to this point he hadn’t used their services, opting to wash up either at the inn or one of the city lakes. Knowing Gloria, though, she wouldn’t have opted for either.

“How was it?”

“Worse than back home,” Veil replied. “So, what are we doing today? Searching for another duel plaza?”

“I was thinking of something a bit different.” The thought of Veil picking fights in plazas sent shivers down Dallion’s spine. Countess emblem of no countless emblem, that was one sure way to get on the bad side of the city guard. “Something down your alley.”

“Oh?” Veil leaned forward.

“I’m not ruining the surprise.” Dallion smiled. Also, he didn’t want to give them the option to refuse.

Finishing breakfast, he led the way to Stone Gardens. There were fewer people in the streets this early. The amount of stares the Luor’s got, however, remained pretty much the same. Finally, they arrived on the spot.

“We’re here,” Dallion said.

There were a few moments of silence. Gloria and Veil stood there, uncertain what to expect. For a few moments they remained still, wondering if something unexpected would happen. Then, when nothing did, Gloria spoke.

“Is this some important historic spot?” she asked.

“You could call it that… Rather, it’s work. The guild got a request to mend the area,” Dallion added a note of enthusiasm as he spoke. “Just mend, not improve.”

His words were followed by more silence. The Luor siblings looked around, taking in the scope of the garden. In his mind Dallion could almost see them walking off in indignation, leaving only sarcastic remarks behind. There was no way he could blame them. He had pretty much done what Dallion’s father used to do back on Earth: Dallion would go expecting something exciting and would end up help cleaning the garage for the rest of the day. In this case, the work could well take weeks or even months.

“You serious?” Veil asked. “This is too cool! I never thought I’d get to enter an area this large! Heck it’s twice as bigger than the whole of Dherma?!”

And that’s a good thing? Dallion wondered. Clearly, he knew nothing about area awakening. Maybe the guild had something in mind when asking him to do this, after all?

“Dal… I really don’t know what to say.” Gloria said. She too seemed taken back by the offer, almost as if it were him doing them a favor. “We won’t forget this.”

“Hey, you’re helping me out here.” It was actually true. “I haven’t had much experience in area awakening, so… Really, I’m the one thanking you.”

The more he insisted, the more they thought he was doing them a favor. Ultimately Dallion decided to end the cycle of awkwardness by just getting on with it.

AREA AWAKENING

In a split second, the stone garden surrounding them was replaced by… a larger version of the stone garden. This was the first time Dallion had seen an awakening realm match its real-world equivalent to such an extent. Then again, there wasn’t much that could go wrong. Large stone columns extended as far as the eye could see, some rising up like massive towers piercing the sky.

You are in the land of STONE GADRENS

Defeat the guardians to change the land’s destiny.

Just as in Dherma village, there were more than one of them. More interesting, though, there were a few plumes of smoke visible in the distance.

“Five?” Gloria turned to her brother.

“More than that,” he said, deep in thought. “I’d say more like ten. No idea where the key one would be.”

“Err, time out.” Dallion said. “Give me a few pointers on the lingo?”

“Sorry,” Gloria said. “We’re talking about the number of guardians. The whole of Dherma had five. This place looks like it has more. I doubt it’s as many as ten, but definitely more than five. We have to defeat them all to improve the area.”

“Or we can just defeat the key guardian,” Veil said. “That’s tougher, but faster.”

“What if you do both?”

Must you embarrass me in such fashion? Nil sighed from Dallion’s awakened realm.

“Not sure. Haven’t managed before.” Veil shrugged. For some reason that made Dallion let out a sigh of relief. “I tried asking grandpa about it, but he didn’t say much.”

Defeating all guardians in a realm grants you full control of the area. In fact, if you defeat the majority of the guardians as well as the key guardian, you’re also pretty much guaranteed control. It’s a matter of choice, to be honest. Some local lords prefer to be aware of everything that happens in their domain. With full control you get to know quite a lot, including each time someone improves their house or when a new awakened enters their realm.

In short, they became like local deities. Dallion remembered that he had been told something similar upon arriving in Nerosal. Back then it was said that the nobles were aware of his entering the area. Now, he had a greater understanding why.

Talk about an intense security system, Dallion thought.

“Well, let’s not do any improving. This realm still belongs to the city,” Dallion quickly added. Getting in trouble with the city lord wasn’t among the things he wanted to do. “Just mending for the moment?”

“Don’t worry.” Beil rubbed his hands. “Cleaning up an area this size is more than enough.”