The dagger zipped past the nymph, then swirled in place doing a hundred-and-eighty-degree-turn and thrust right at her once more. In all the movies back on Earth, guided missiles were depicted as devastating weapons that could never miss. Thanks to Nox and Lux, Dallion had transformed that fiction into reality. Despite all efforts, there was no way to counter that weapon. The “guidance system” had a mind of its own, making complex decisions on the spit, while the blade—thanks to Nox—had the ability to shatter pretty much anything blocking its way. To make matters worse for the target, the body of the dagger itself was indestructible—a quality that Vend had described as useless back when Dallion had fulfilled the dagger’s destiny during his selection trial.

In several regards, the plan was perfect… except for one minor flaw. Without Lux Dallion’s ability to restore health or fly had been removed. When combined with the fact that he was at forty percent health, that forced him to take a defensive stance regardless how many opportunities for attack emerged.

However, despite his best efforts, Dallion found that he was unable to stick to his plan. Each time the nymph evaded the flying Nox dagger, put her at a slight disadvantage. On two occasions, Dallion was able to see an obvious opening for him to take advantage of. On the third time, he could hold back no longer. Using what mental strength he had left, he created another instance of himself and attacked.

The result was far less than what he had hoped for. Not only were all the attacks blocked, but the nymph counterattacked, dealing him more than a few serious wounds.

Realm section mended!

Overall completion 96%

A large blue rectangle popped up. At least the rest of the group was doing something right. Part of Dallion’s mind considered whether he shouldn’t just cocoon himself in the shield and wait until the rest of the group finished with the job, or his flying dagger managed to deal with the protector. Doing so, though, would get the harpsisword guardian upset, and not only her. At the end of the day, if Dallion couldn’t defeat a surprise enemy in an area realm, what good would he be in a world item exploration? Also, he still had the option to hide within the shield if things got worse.

Attack and defend, he thought. After a few seconds of hesitation, he focused on his music skills as well.

For a single moment, Dallion’s head felt as if it would explode. Several sets of markers appeared, only to disappear moments later. Another second later, the music markers reappeared, indicating the nymph’s current emotional state. Suddenly Dallion felt like an old PC trying to run a current gen game. If he were to be competitive, he had to increase his mind, and given his direction of development, that wasn’t going to be easy.

You hesitate too much. Harp’s music created a phrase.

Easy for you to say, Dallion thought. You’re not the one twenty level weaker than the enemy you’re supposed to fight.

Don’t be afraid. I’m with you.

As reassuring as that sounded, Dallion’s doubts didn’t disappear. Still, he had gotten a boost of moral support that pushed him to try an all-out attack. Singing and playing his harpsisword, Dallion moved forward in the only two instances he could create. As one of the tactical scrolls in the ring library had stated: “the best way to take advantage of an opportunity is to create your own.”

The attack was by no means flashy or graceful, nothing but a piercing strike followed by a sidestep and a quick retreat under the protection of the armadil shield. While the attack was too slow to do any harm in itself, it managed to distract the protector just enough for the Nox dagger to get closer and even cause a minor wound in the process.

Forty percent versus seventy-five… not exactly good odds, but it was better than he had initially expected.

Fifty percent, Dallion told himself. All I have to do is bring her down to fifty percent.

Following with two variations of a triple spin lunge, Dallion had another go. One of the strikes was not deflected, allowing him to net another minor wound. The counterattack that followed was so fierce, however, that it was only thanks to the shield’s quick action that Dallion got away with only being pushed on a dozen feet back. If it weren’t for that, the battle would have been over.

“Thanks,” he whispered as he got back to his feet.

You won’t win a fight for attrition, Nil said. You’re barely standing on your feet as it is. Hide in the shield and wait till it’s all over.

Maybe I want to go out in a blaze of glory, Dallion said instinctively. Preferably a blaze of glory that didn’t involve any permanent damage. What do you think, Harp?

The harpsisword vibrated in support.

And yet, Dallion couldn’t kick the feeling that the idea wasn’t reasonable in the least. If it were up to him, he would have played it safe and retreated the first chance he got. True, it was desperation that had given him good idea after good idea, but even so, he remained completely outclassed. If this were a computer game, Dallion would run to the edge of the boss’ attack zone and call his entire guild for help. What did the harpsisword see that he didn’t? As a battle gear with thousands of years of experience, she had an idea of what to do. It had to be it. She was Dallion’s trusted weapon, after all. If she didn’t—

A realization suddenly swept over Dallion. Creating another instance of himself, he quickly retreated as far back as possible. In tune with his suspicions, the protector followed, yet didn’t attack, still diverting her attention to the dagger.

So that’s what it is. Dallion smiled. Good one. You almost had me.

“I’m not listening to you anymore,” he said loudly, armadil shield still held in front of him.

At those words, the protector turned around facing him. Taking advantage of the situation, Lux thrust the dagger forward, striking her in the back between the shoulder blades. A red rectangle appeared, indicating Dallion had dealt a lethal wound. Even so, the nymph didn’t disappear.

“You’re just water,” Dallion lowered your shield. “You never were part of this realm to begin with.”

The nymph remained speechless.

“Were you, Harp?” Dallion summoned his Nox dagger. Feeling Dallion’s hand, Lux moved from the dagger back to his back, starting the health restoration process.

The protector smiled, then contracted back to the blue marble ball she had been before the battle.

You have broken through your barrier.

Your level has increased to 15.

Choose the focus that will serve you best.

Without hesitation, Dallion increased his mind to eleven. While that was going to delay the perception level needed for him to use the sky silver hammer, combat splitting was of a much higher priority right now.

Were you all in on this? Dallion asked.

What do you mean, dear boy? I clearly warned you not to get involved.

A bit too insistently. Dallion smirked. Nox clawing things out of the blue, not to mention being conveniently useless in the fight that followed. Harp, insisting that I should fight someone who clearly outclassed me by far. I wouldn’t be surprised if even Lux missed on purpose when directing the dagger.

A sad chirp told Dallion that he was wrong about the last part.

Bravo. Nil clapped. To be honest, I had my doubts, but you proved me wrong for once. Well, maybe more than once, but you still have a long way to go.

I didn’t even know that guardians could help level me up?

And just after you were doing so well, Nil sighed. Leveling up is not merely beating your fears into submission, to coin the phrase. It’s coming to important realizations. You could easily have fled and the opportunity would have been wasted. Or you could have stubbornly fought on without a chance of success and… well, let’s not go there.

That thing about the permanent effects was just made up, right?

Unfortunately, no. The danger is very real, even if it’s unlikely you’d come across anything as dangerous as I’ve already explained many times. In this case, however…

Harp, would you have hurt me?

For a while, came the answer, surprising Dallion. It wouldn’t have been permanent. Your arm would have been strained for a few weeks.

Dallion shivered. Tough love didn’t begin to cover it. Despite the guardian’s appearance, she was combat gear through and through.

The point was for you to realize that your gear belongs to you, not the other way around, Nil said. You’d be surprised at the number of casualties there have been because people overlooked this elementary fact.

Give me some credit. It’s not like—

Dear boy, you’re already far more attuned to guardians than a lot of people I know. You trust them, which I suppose is fine, but there is such a thing as being gullible. Guardians have their opinions as well. Combat gears like fighting. Granted, your harpsisword is far more sophisticated than most, but how are you to know that? What will happen if your dartbow whispers that it would be better if you shoot a bolt in someone’s head. For the moment, nothing much, since we are in the realms, but if you get into the habit, you’ll start doing it in the real world as well.

For half a minute Dallion stood there, thinking things over. He had already come to the same conclusion, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to level up. Seeing how this would impact an entire society, though, was an entirely different thing altogether. Back on Earth, Dallion had heard his mother occasionally say that people were becoming slaves to objects. Never was that phrase meant to be as literal as it was here. Apparently, this was another danger of accepting to become a double digit.

If items could have such an effect on people, though, could the same be said about areas? Was it possible that a city made its owner do things? Its inhabitants? Where did it all end?

When we get back, I’ll have a word with the Gremlin’s Timepiece, Dallion thought.

I would advise against it, Nil said. But go ahead. You have earned the right to make your own mistakes, dear boy. From this point on, I can only provide advice.

Thanks, Nil. And you too, Harp.

An annoyed meow sounded in Dallion’s realm.

You too, Nox. Dallion smiled. You were a bit too convincing. Just please don’t claw things without telling me, okay?

Now that was done, all that remained was for Dallion to fly back up to the peak of the mountain and check that everything was alright. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any further surprises this time round.

What about your reward? Nil asked all of a sudden.

What reward?

The reward you fought so hard to get. The blue marble, dear boy. Now that you’re level fifteen, it’s yours. Go ahead and break it.

Any chance I can keep it as it is?

There was something magical about having a large blue bowling ball. Granted, it would only be available in the awakened realms, but it was quite catchy, to say the least.

I suppose you’ll also want to keep all the coins you’ve earned in their pouch because the pouch looks nice and plump?

The echo had a point. Looking at the ball one last time, Dallion went to it, then slammed it into the ground. Blue dust spilled in all directions like thousands of fading pixels. Along the dust, a green rectangle also appeared.

ACROBATIC skills obtained

That was definitely a welcome surprise. After craving for another of the basic skills for so long, Dallion had finally gotten one when he least expected it. The good news was that now he would be able to combine it with the skills he already had. The not so good news was that he had a lot of items to level up until he could see the skill’s pull potential.