Morning came slowly. Dallion spent the greater part of the night trying to get answers out of Nil about the invisible barrier and everything that was beyond level twenty. As expected, Nil was tightlipped, always shifting the conversation to something more practical, such as the levels leading to level twenty.

The echo had also chosen a selection of area mending scrolls for Dallion’s benefit. Compared to other things in the library, there weren’t a lot of them. Clearly Nil—and captain Adzorg respectively—wasn’t interested in talking on the subject.

As the party prepped for another day of “cleaning,” Dallion felt the first signs of hunger kick in. His body level managed to numb the sensation, but a prolonged stay in a realm had its effects. The fact that he had fought a lot only had hastened the effect of hunger.

“Take this.” White tossed a small object to Dallion.

Dallion caught it on instinct, then opened his hand. No larger than a button, the object was a small piece of leather, threaded so as to act as a mini stress ball.

“What’s this?” Dallion asked.

“Candies,” the old man replied. “Chew on it and it makes the hunger go away.”

Dallion looked at the thing suspiciously. He definitely didn’t want to chew on that, given the choice.

“It’s fine,” Spike said a few steps away. “We share them all the time.”

Dallion felt his stomach churn. The thought of chewing something that someone else had chewed didn’t fill him with confidence. If anything, he felt disgusted.

“This is a realm, so hygiene is perfect here,” Spike went on. “The only disgusting still is the one trying to kill you. You can lick the ground and nothing will happen. It doesn’t even taste bad. Actually, it doesn’t taste at all.”

“That’s a bit too much information.” Dallion moved the leather button further away from his face.

“Get used to it.” The elite laughed. “There’s no food on expeditions. You either eat what you find or find a way to trick your mind into not eating.”

As true as the explanation was, inspiring it was not. Dallion looked at the item. It didn’t even look like a candy. He would very much prefer a stick of chewing gum, but such things didn’t exist in this world, and even if they did, he wouldn’t be able to take them into an awakened realm.

“What’s it made of?”

“Spirit leather,” White said. “Not only metals can be taken into the realms. There are animals that can be as well. That piece of leather costs more than the entire group makes in a month.”

“Really?”

That was outrageously expensive. Dallion tried to calculate the exact price. Considering how much he had received for mending the Stone Garden, the final sum had to go into the thousands of gold coins. For that much money, Dallion could buy his own house in one of the acceptable neighborhoods of the city. In fact, everyone in the party could.

“Gift for my service,” the old man said with a note of bitterness.

“Point is, use it for a few hours, then give it back,” Spike said. “You’re not the only one who’s hungry.”

After such a request, Dallion had no choice but to reluctantly comply. To his surprise, the texture wasn’t terrible and there even was a faint taste like dried jerky.

Sort of like chewing gum, Gen said. You must get one of those.

I know. I must get a whole lot of things. In order to do that, though, I’ll need to rack in some gold.

“Lux,” Dallion said.

The firebird appeared directly on his back, boosting him a few feet off the ground. All the flying about the previous day had made him eager to do it again. In contract, Nox had resorted to lazing around with an occasional meowy grumble. Exploration without enemies to fight bored him to the extreme.

“I go to the peak and back?” Dallion asked.

“There’s a bit more to it than that,” the lieutenant said. “Keep an eye open for cracklings and the like. Also, be careful with things that shouldn’t belong. If there’s a secret compartment in the attack, it’ll be near the peak.”

“So, just scout, then come back to you and report.” Dallion nodded. “Got it.”

“Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue as before. We go up to the next level. June goes counter, Alera goes clockwise. The rest of us move forward. This is smaller, so I expect everyone to be done by noon.”

Dallion waited for a few more seconds, just to be certain that no one had anything to add, then zoomed up into the sky, boosted by his familiar. The sensation was unique—air pressing against his face, while the ground darted away. The level of cooperation between Dallion and his familiar had improved to the point that he only had to think of what to do and Lux would do it for him. Furthermore, thanks to Dallion’s level of mind, he could easily give precise instructions. Aerial combat would still prove a slight challenge, though.

In less than a minute, Dallion had already passed the second level of the mountain and was heading on. For some unknown reason, each level was twice as elaborate as the last. The second level had golden designs in the tile patterns, while the bricks on the third were like one giant tapestry. The people here definitely had strange tastes.

“What do you think the attic will be like, Lux?” Dallion asked.

The firebird chirped, the sound barely audible due to their speed.

“I think it’ll be like the basement.”

That was the one universal certainty about houses—basements and attics were always alike, and without question much crappier than every other part of the building. In this instance—very much to his surprise—that turned out not to be the case. The final level of the mountain, although far simpler in design than the previous one, was tiled with fine silver. Dallion could see the metal composition through the combination of his music and forging skills. Even more unusual, a short distance away from the edge, there was a large blue sphere half buried within the tiles.

Normally, Dallion would consider that to be a type of crackling he hadn’t seen before. But neither Nox, nor Lux seemed to be agitated by it. For all intents and purposes, that was part of the building, and something that definitely didn’t belong there.

Get us there, Lux, Dallion thought.

That’s a bad idea, dear boy, Nil intervened. Secrets are secret for a reason.

I’m just going to take a better look, Dallion replied.

That’s what everyone says at first. This isn’t your house or your job, remember? You’re only to check if there are any cracklings on top, which there are. Everything else is up to the party.

So, you’re suggesting I ignore this?

I’m hardly in a position to do anything else, but yes, I’m saying that you should leave it alone and report to your party leader. For all you know, it might be a trap.

True, there was that possibility, but there was also the question of what could be found within the sphere. The surface seemed completely smooth and made of blue marble. There were no markings, scars, or uneven areas anywhere on its surface. In another time or place, Dallion would have said that it was a force field. Here, though, he had no idea what it was.

Put me down a step away, Dallion said to Lux.

The firebird obeyed, almost crashing him into the object. Dallion made a note to specify the type of steps. Lux definitely wouldn’t be called a tiny bird, but his steps were a tenth of Dallion’s.

Any guesses? Dallion asked.

Are you asking me to encourage unprofessional behavior? The echo grumbled. There are some things that I simply refuse to do. And so should you!

Look, I’m fine, okay? I’m not that stupid to play with something I know nothing about. All I want is to get a better look and maybe learn what the big deal is! Why is it a secret if someone is keeping a giant ball in their attic?

It isn’t about the object, it’s about what’s inside. Secrets are made to keep the item hidden both in the real world and in the awakened realms. What you see is the outside of a safe, and only the owner has the means to open it.

A safe? Why are you so worried then? What do you think I’ll do? Slice it open with—

Before he could finish the sentence, a loud clawing sound filled the air. Dallion froze. Terrified, he slowly looked at the side of the ball. A second series of noises followed, and their source was exactly what he had feared.

Sitting innocently by the ball was none other than Nox. The crackling—reckless and curious as its owner—had been unable to resist the temptation and had snuck out to “play” with the large, giant object. And as everyone with cats knew, in the feline world, playing often equaled clawing.

Two sets of four lines ruined the flawless surface of the ball, crisscrossing in a way that created a natural tic-tac-toe board.

“Nox…” Dallion managed to utter at a complete loss of words.

Completely oblivious of the harm it had caused, the crackling looked at him, then lay its paws on the floor with a loud meow. As he did, a piece of marble chipped off from the sphere. Moments later, without warning, the entire object contracted to half its size.

COMBAT INITIATED

This is precisely why you’re not supposed to get close to secrets, Nil raised his voice. They aren’t just safes, they come with their own guards.

You mean like a guardian?

Dallion Summoned his harpsisword and Armadil shield. Meanwhile, both Lux and Nox had prepared for battle. The creatures knew what was to follow and were looking forward to it as familiars tended to do.

No, not like a guardian… these don’t just throw you out of the realm, they can hurt you in real life. In some cases, they can even maim you to the point that you can’t use an arm or leg in the real world.

That didn’t sound good. Of all the times Nox had to show some initiative, why did it have to be now? It had taken Dallion so much effort to get to this point. He had finally become accepted as one of the team, not to mention he had learned a lot that would help him in the world item exploration. Instead, it was looking as if all that effort was thrown away... all because of the curiosity of a cat!

No worries, Dallion said, using the sound of his voice to boost his confidence. All I have to do is win, right?

The sphere contracted again, and then a third time. Now it was no larger than a bowling bowl, glistening in bright cyan blue. Not waiting for it to attack, Dallion made the first move, splitting into two instances of himself and throwing his training dagger right at the target. The years of training had helped him perfect the action even without the help of athletics.

Just as the tip of the blade was about to hit the ball, an arm emerged from it and grabbed hold of the weapon.

Dallion swallowed, moving the shield to protect his head and upper torso. If there was a time for the sphere to counterattack, it was now. Fortunately for him, that did not happen. The blue hand released the weapon, letting it fall to the ground. After that, a second arm appeared as the ball morphed into a creature… or rather a person.

PROTECTOR

Species: Nymph

Class: Shadow

Statistics: 100% Health

Skills:

- Wind slash

- Emotion slash

- Sound entangle

Weak spots: none

Wow, Gen said from Dallion’s realm. Didn’t see that one coming. So, what’s the plan?