It was a single moment of training, but it seemed to change a great many things. While both Vend and Nil assured Dallion that advanced splitting in combat was something that even double digits weren’t expected to pick up immediately, he could see the difference in skill between what he was and what he wanted to be. If he were to achieve all the goals he had set out for, he had to put in more effort and stop getting distracted at every corner. Reaching so far was good, surviving the encounter with the Star was better, but Dallion still had a while to go before he could be pleased with himself. The trick was to tackle things one at a time and be consistent about it.

His relations with the Luors also went through a minor change that day. Going through two quite serious guild jobs had given them enough confidence—not that they were particularly lacking in that department—to start going about the city on their own and not rely on Dallion to constantly be their guide. Paradoxically, Dallion felt that this new earned freedom for both had made them even closer. During their work hours, and at night, they would discuss the interesting things of the day, while giving each other space to live their own lives.

Veil had quickly transformed into the archetypical playboy older brother, with more female friends than Dallion could keep up with. Things had gotten so bad—or good, depending on the point of view—that Hannah had been forced to give him two warnings about flirting at work.

Gloria, on her part, had also changed, though in the opposite way. Less carefree than her brother, she had focused on polishing her skills, as well as negotiating a few deals with minor merchants about supplies for the village. Often she’d ask Hannah for advice, and on occasion Dallion as well. The difference was that when she came to Dallion for advice on various topics, Gloria would choose times when there weren’t too many people around. What was more, on a few of those occasions, Dallion had considered slipping the block ring on.

“You’re out of focus,” Vend said during one of their training sessions.

After Dallion’s decision to be serious about split combat training, the elite had added an echo of himself to Dallion’s guild ring. As a result Dallion could be informed of what was going on and then they’d cross paths in the guildhall for a few hours of instant training. The only condition that Vend had was that all training needed to be done “in person.” Apparently, there was something about splitting and echoes that didn’t sit well with him, although he hadn’t gone into details.

“Just tired,” Dallion lied, sitting down in the stone chair of Vend’s white room. “I think I overdid the physical exercises last night.”

“Uh-huh,” Vend said with the expression of someone who didn’t believe him in the least, but wasn’t interested enough to pry what was really going on.

“You’re usually solid on three refreshes, so try to reach that at least,” the elite flipped a coin. In that instant, Dallion could see his mentor splitting into three instances, each grabbing the coin mid-flight. “Heads or tails?”

“Tails,” Dallion replied.

“At least your observation skills have improved.” Vend summoned the coin away without even showing it. “Remember. Observation, reaction, speed. That’s all you need to know.”

Observation, reaction, speed… it was obvious that Vend hadn’t had any marketing training, otherwise he’d pick words that would make the better acronym. “Ors” didn’t have the necessary ring to it, and still they managed to boil down the entire process in a nutshell. The issue remained that without any special inborn talent, one had to invest in all attributes in order to be really good at combat splitting. At Dallion’s current level, he barely had the mental stamina to consistently maintain a set of two instances of himself for any prolonged period of time.

According to Nil, the rule of thumb was that an awakened could handle one additional instance for every ten points in mind. Having high perception helped Dallion pick his battles, and reaction allowed him to be adequate at refreshing, but everything else was utterly exhausting.

“Go get some food after we’re done here,” Vend said. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

“I can have another go in the evening,” Dallion protested. “I’m just a bit off, it’s nothing that—”

“When you’re lacking focus, you’re lacking focus.” Ven interrupted. “Spend the day doing other stuff. Actually, spend a day outside of the realms. Sometimes rushing is the best way to get slower.”

Dallion smirked. That was something Nil would say. However, there was no arguing that his mentor was right. He had to get his thoughts settled. Maybe trying to level up again would help… although in his current state, he wasn’t sure how much good that would do.

“You’ve been picked on a sanitation mission,” Vend said. “Not the usual sewer stuff. It’ll be a few days until it’s made official.”

“I get to mend a house?” Dallion joked.

“Actually, yes. A person of some importance has bought a run-down place in a rather valuable piece of real-estate. Knocking it down isn’t an option, and despite the many issues, I’m told the foundations are good.”

“Pack rat again?”

“There’ll be no packrats on this one. It’ll be a small team of elites and hopefuls. Only double digits allowed.”

That meant that Falkner wouldn’t be on it, and neither would Gloria and Veil. In the large scope of things, that was a bonus. What Dallion thought had been an innocent infatuation was slowly developing into something more, at least on Falkner’s side. Given the complexities of the situation, there was no way this was going to end well. However, that was one can of worms Dallion wasn’t going to get involved in.

“I guess I’m to stick close to you and do as you tell me?” Dallion asked.

“I won’t be taking part in that one,” Vend looked away. “March has me on something else. Spike will be on this one, though. I’ve told him to keep an eye on you.”

That wasn’t too encouraging. Spike was the type of awakened who took any excuse to get into a fight with another guild. Technically, he wasn’t breaking any city laws, since no awakened powers were used. However, that didn’t excuse the thrashing he dished out and received on a nightly basis.

“Will Janna and Kallan be on that one?”

“No, but lieutenant Jenzeem will.”

Upon hearing that name, Dallion winced. Jenzeem was the lieutenant who had a thing or two against Dallion’s methods. Granted that Arthurows had done his best to muddy the waters, but that wasn’t the only reason the lieutenant and Dallion didn’t get along.

How did he agree to add me to his group? Dallion asked.

He didn’t, Nil replied. He wasn’t given a choice. March needs you to get more experience exploring areas and for once I agree. Also, having a critical party leader could be a good thing. He won’t hesitate pointing out your mistakes.

You already do that, Dallion grumbled. The lieutenant was going to do worse than that, although if this was to be just one mission, maybe the both of them could reach a silent compromise.

“One last go?” Dallion asked.

“Okay.”

Vend cracked his knuckles and attacked. Two instances charged towards Dallion, who split in two instances himself, each countering the incoming attack. No sooner had he done so, Dallion “refreshed” his instances. As expected, Vend had changed his approach, switching from a frontal attack to throwing a few knives at Dallion’s chest. Ranged weapons were easy to evade, that’s why Dallion suspected this was just a trick. Not bothering to engage in any defense, he re-evaluated the scene.

In this instance, he was right. One instance of Vend had spun around him, while the other had charged forward, performing a saber lunge.

Defense and attack, Dallion thought, sidestepping along a semicircle. As he did, Vend chose the instance behind Dallion and continued with a normal attack. Now it was Dallion’s turn to split into two instances and attack. The delay was only a second, but it proved enough for him to slash along Vend’s torso with his harpsisword in one case, while stabbing him in the shoulder with the Nox dagger in the other.

Got you! Dallion thought. There was no way Vend could counter this. However, when Dallion picked an instance to follow through, he found that he had swung through empty air.

“Observe,” Vend said a few steps behind. Always observe.

Damn it! The sneak had split into three instances instead of two, and Dallion hadn’t even noticed.

“Not so hot, eh?” Dallion asked as he returned his weapons to their respective sheaths.

“Don’t expect to take days for something that requires years,” Vend replied. “It’s all practice and repetition from here on.”

With the training over, Dallion went back to the real world, where he and Vend finished their handshakes, then went along their way. It was amusing how a full training session could be hidden in a simple handshake. That got Dallion to think what actually was going on when awakened shook hands. In the past, he thought of it as a simple greeting. Now each instance of contact was a potential meeting, training, or maybe more.

After several seconds blocking the lobby entrance, Dallion quickly went outside to the guild feast area. The familiar faces there had grown since last time. Now he knew about half of the people quite well, and some he even considered work friends.

“Dal!” Kallan waved from a table. “Join for a bite?”

“Sure.” Lately that was an offer Dallion couldn’t refuse. Grabbing a chair, he went to the siblings’ table and sat down. Almost instantly, Grunt appeared out of nowhere with a platter of what appeared to be dumplings.

“How’s it going?” Kallan asked. “Heard you had a team of your own now.”

“It’s not a team. It’s just a few friends from back home. They’re doing fine on their own.”

“Mom said they’ve been doing pretty well in area missions. I tried to get Estezol to get them for a mission or two. Demand is absurd. Everyone wants them on their team.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Dallion tried not to roll his eyes.

“It’s because they’re blond,” Janna grumbled beneath her breath. Dallion’s music skills showed him it was an act. She too wanted to have them on her team.

“They’ll be here for a while, so don’t worry. I’ll be sure to say a good word.”

“Really?” Both siblings almost jumped out of their seats.

“Easy there,” Dallion laughed. “Yeah, it’s not a problem. Just one mission, right?” After everything that had happened, the Luors owed him that much at least.

Kallan and Janna eagerly nodded.

“So what’s been up with you? Any interesting artifacts?”

“Nah, just junk. I’ve no idea where nobles are digging them out, but everyone wants to get theirs first. Guilds that didn’t use to touch the stuff are now competing with us for takes.”

Talk about weird market forces. Having a demand for sphere item leveling was supposed to raise prices, and briefly it had. However, item exploration had suddenly become so lucrative that everyone had jumped on board, driving prices down again. It was one of those market moves that Dallion couldn’t figure out.

“Anything cool to buy?” Dallion asked casually.

“I wish,” Kallan snorted. “Most of what’s left for us is trash. The guilds can’t keep up. Everyone is buying them out. It’s impressive that the hunters can keep it up.”

“Mom says we’ve found a mother lode near the city. That’s why merchants keep pouring in. They’ll buy in bulk during the festival, then sell it off throughout the empire. Things will get better after that.”

That was something to ask Jiroh and Eury once they came back. If anyone was to know, it would be them.

The food was good, the conversation sort of fun, though nothing terribly exciting. The siblings had gotten wind through their parents that Dallion was asking around about learning some forging, and promised to say a good word—pending the results of Dallion’s own conversations with the Luors. Dallion didn’t have high hopes, but thanked them nonetheless.

After finishing his tray of dumplings, Dallion said goodbye and went back to the inn. The place was all ready for the crowd—food stocked in the kitchen, and loads of tables on the outside.

“I’ll go rest a bit and get my mandolin,” Dallion said casually and went upstairs.

Hannah mumbled something in return, while in an argument with Aspan.

Those two have a really complicated relationship, the armadil shield noted.

“No stranger than anything else in this city, I guess,” Dallion replied.

You should treasure her more. Few would do the things she has.

“I know.” Dallion smiled. “Hannah is one of a kind.”

Just as Dallion was unlocking his room, there was a faint sound behind. It wasn’t much—something even an awakened would barely notice. Spending so much time in the inn, however, Dallion had gotten accustomed to all the sounds and the time they occurred.

Curiosity made him try to look over his shoulder. Before he could succeed, something shoved him forward into the room.

“Shield!” Dallion shouted out of habit as he rolled forward, then spun around, reaching for his Nox dagger.

As expected, the shield remained frozen. Moments later, so did Dallion, unable to believe his eyes of what was in front of him.

“Heya, cutie.” Euryale beamed, wearing a very worn set of travelling armor. “You’ve no idea how much I’ve missed you.”