The guildhall was mostly empty when Dallion arrived. Estezol was absent for once, making everything else look out of place. Spike was there, along with a few other members of the party. The lieutenant, for whatever reason, wasn’t. That made Dallion feel anxious.

“You’re early,” Spike joked. Dallion could see enthusiasm and aggression ring through him. He was looking forward to the job and was hoping there would be a lot of fighting as well.

“I am?” Dallion looked at the other people involved.

There were three other people there excluding Spike, none of them lieutenant Jenzeen, thankfully. Some of the people he had seen on occasion, while others remained unknown. All of them were wearing light armor of sky silver, making Dallion rethink his decision of rejecting Eury’s offer. Apparently, the gorgon knew more on the subject, yet again.

The weapons the group were equipped with were rather simple, ranging from daggers to short swords. No one seemed to have a shield, or any large ranged weapons for that matter. Thinking about it, it made a lot of sense—their job was to mend the realm, not cause further damage. Of course, that means that the whole endeavor would be that much more difficult.

“Better be careful with that.” The only female member of the group pointed at Dallion’s harpsisword. “Long weapons aren’t good for fighting in such jobs. Too slow to move about.”

“He’ll be fine,” Spike said. “Vend has probably taught him everything there is about splitting.”

Dallion felt a lump in his throat. If only it were true. It was safe to say that he had taken his first few steps along the path of proper combat splitting, not to mention that his level remained rather low to be efficient.

“I’ll be using it for music,” Dallion said. The doubt in the woman subsided, though didn’t disappear altogether. Apparently, the lieutenant wasn’t the only one questioning him about joining the mission. Thankfully, of the remaining three members, two were glad for the support—probably relieved they weren’t the junior member anymore. The last—a large man with long greying hair—didn’t seem to care in the least.

“That’s Alera, by the way,” Spike introduced the woman. “Scout, when she actually tries.”

The woman glared at Spike, but said nothing.

“Hi, I’m Dal.” Dallion smiled.

“Everyone knows who you are,” the old man in the group said. “And why you’re here. If you ask me, it’s a bad idea.”

“You don’t think I’ll be able to keep up?” Dallion’s ego kicked in.

“I don’t think it’s safe for you. This isn’t your typical sanitation mission. This is a full house reconstruction. Cracks aren't the only nasty things that lurk in a realm. There are other things as well.”

“Chainlings?” Dallion whispered.

“Whoa, no need to get that excited,” Spike laughed. “Sometimes I wish they were chainlings. They’re less strong, but more annoying. Moldlings, rusties, and the like. You’ll see a lot of them. Will be good practice for your next mission.”

“Provided he manages to survive until then,” lieutenant Jenzeen appeared round the corner, along with a short woman. Both were wearing full plate armor, making the lieutenant look like a scare-crow in a horror movie. Dallion could tell that the suit of armor was close to flawless, but it definitely didn’t suit him aesthetically. “Done with introductions? Good, because it’s time to go.”

One minute in and Dallion already didn’t like this mission.

It’s just a rite of passage, he told himself. Once this is done everything will be fine. Even so, the lieutenant’s words had an effect on him.

Don’t worry about it, Nil said. He’s always been dramatic with the new kids. If anything, that’s a certain indicator he’s warming up to you. Ron doesn’t bother to talk with people he doesn’t like. And the creature thing is just a scare tactic.

Well, it’s working, Dallion thought.

After a quick check, the group set on their way. Initially, Dallion had no idea where the house in question would be. When they reached the neighborhood, he could hardly believe his eyes. This was the very same area on which the general lived. To have a building here that needed repairing meant that no one had bothered with it for a while.

“That’s the one,” the lieutenant pointed to a rather cute three-story building. From the outside there didn’t seem anything wrong with it. Sure, the plants were a bit overgrown, and the cleanliness wasn’t the best, but as far as anyone could see, there were no visible cracks or holes.

“Looks pretty okay to me,” Dallion ventured an opinion, only to get a few smirks.

“Newbie mistake,” Spike said. “Wait till we get inside.”

Moments later, Dallion found out exactly what the others had in mind. As the door opened, a whiff of stale air overloaded his senses, almost making him puke on the spot.

“What the heck?!” Dallion covered his nose and mouth with his arm.

Would you look at that, Nil said, intrigued. I guess there’s a reason why people don’t like special sanitation missions. Who would have thought?

You’ve never been on one?

Dear boy, I’m a researcher. I don’t go to sanitation missions, or exploration missions, for that matter. My purpose is to analyze and construct realms for the benefit of the guild.

That explained so much, including why he was so obsessed with theoretical knowledge.

I would have you know that during my research, I have defeated more guardians than most in the guild. Not that vandals such as March would appreciate that.

“Better step back,” Alera said, pulling Dallion back by the shoulder. “It takes a while to get used to it.”

“What is that stuff?” His eyes had started to tear up at the stench.

“Depends. If we’re lucky, a dead animal of some sort. If we’re not, some kind of nasty plant has made its way into the walls and foundations.”

“Which makes our work more difficult,” the old man sighed. “We don’t only have to get everything in the realm in order, but clean the house as well. Always annoying.”

“We have to clean up too?” Dallion didn’t like the sound of that.

“What did you expect?” the lieutenant asked. “Our job is to get it suitable for living, and that includes some cleaning.”

“Let me guess… that’s the newbie’s job.”

“Are you trying to sound stupid?” the man crossed his arms. “The guild’s reputation is at stake on such jobs. I won’t let it be ruined by some temp who’s only here to get experience. We’ll do the cleaning. You’ll be the one carrying it out of the house.”

The stench was considerably worse inside, although after a while Dallion’s senses got used to it. Going through the floors, a few rat nests were quickly found, though unfortunately, they weren’t the source of the smell. As it turned out the old man was right—the entire basement floor was covered in a sort of vine-moss that had dug deep into the base of the walls. Spike tried cutting off a piece, only to reveal small root-like tendrils going into the walls, creating dozens of small punctures in the process.

Definitely fun, Dallion thought.

“Alright, we know what the situation is, so let’s get to it,” the lieutenant said. “Hacky, anything we should know about on the upper floors?” he shouted.

“Roof is fine,” the reply came. “Nothing I saw in any of the attics. There’s wall space missing, though, so who knows.”

Wall space missing? Dallion asked.

Some houses have secret compartments, Nil replied. It used to be fashionable in some circles. Pretty useless, though.

“Okay, we’re assuming everything is okay upstairs and start from here,” Jenzeen cracked his neck, then extended his arm. “Grab hold.”

Without hesitation, everyone took hold of an exposed part of the lieutenant’s skin.

AREA AWAKENING

A green rectangle appeared, quickly replaced by a blue one.

You are in the land of GILION HOUSE.

Defeat the guardians to change the land’s destiny.

Despite Dallion’s fears, the smell was much more tolerable here than above. In fact, the realm looked nothing like the house they had been in a moment ago. Endless planes of bricks stretched into the distance. Every now and again there would be a forest or a small mountain, but most of all, there were a lot of reed bogs.

Music, Dallion thought.

Threads of hostility surrounded him, visible like venomous blue strands in the air. It didn’t take long for Dallion to pinpoint the source of them—the bogs, or rather something hidden beneath the swampy surface.

“How do you want it?” Spike asked. “Splitting up or slow and steady?”

"Slow and steady for now. When we clean the ground floor, we’ll tackle the rest separately," the liutenant said.

“Where is the rest?” Dallion asked. In his experience, a realm was pretty much a representation of what the area was. However, this one had nothing in common. He could understand that the swamps were probably the plant, and likely had cracks hiding in them, but there was no sign of anything he would call a key point structure representing the other floors.

“In the distance,” Alera replied. “You can’t see it because of the mist.”

What mist?

Given that Dallion’s perception was at sixteen, he thought he would at least be able to spot that. The air seemed perfectly clear and there was nothing of significance in the distance in any direction. For several seconds Dallion kept staring at the horizon, hoping that something would pop out.

Instead, he received a pat on the back.

“You can’t see it,” one of the party members said. “That’s part of the trick. We need to clean the swamps first.”

“You mean drain the swamps?” Dallion said with hope.

“He means destroy the swamps,” the lieutenant said. “No swamps, no mist. You get the idea.”

“Sure.” Dallion nodded.

How do you destroy a swamp? He asked.

Alas, dear boy, that is an area I’m not well-versed in. You’ll have to find out by yourself.

It took less than a minute for the party to determine with which swamp to start. The process seemed a complete mystery—the lieutenant seemed to point at a certain spot only to receive a nod or a head shake from Alara. Once the decision was made, everyone went in that direction without question.

“Be careful where you step,” Spike whispered to Dallion. “Most of the nasties like to bite the ankles. If they get you, you’ll have smelly feet for days.”

“Right,” Dallion laughed.

Actually, he’s serious about that, Nil said. There are things from the realms that leave a lasting effect in the real world. Well, when I say lasting effect, it’s nothing serious. A rash, minor wound… we don’t deal with serious things here.

Hold on! Dallion shouted mentally. What do you mean, lasting effects?

Dear boy, what did you expect? Your music can affect the way someone feels. Cracks can cause items to crack and chip. Why shouldn’t things be able to affect you?

Good question. The only answer Dallion could think of was that nothing of the sort had happened before. Rather, almost nothing. The chainlings were able to affect awakened, and there was the thing about sphere items causing people to die. Once again, Dallion found that he had been leading a sheltered life. At least now he knew why March had sent him on this job—what better way to learn the effects than experience them himself.

Honestly, it’s really rare for you to stumble upon something of the sort. The only reason I know is because of my research.

A specific job that affected people in real life. One didn’t have to be a detective to see that similar things awaited Dallion in the World Item.

COMBAT INITIATED

Red rectangles suddenly flashed all around them. Instantly, everyone summoned their weapons.

“Form a circle!” the lieutenant ordered. “Newbie, you stay on the inside!”

Dallion obeyed, summoning his dartbow.

“Don’t use that,” Spike said, holding two cleavers. “Bolts only make a mess of things.” He pushed Dallion further back. “Don’t get any of the pus on your skin.”