FATAL STRIKE

Dealt damage increased by 500%

The Nox dagger drilled through the brill protecting the eye as if it were made of paper. The crack was less than a fraction of an inch wide, but enough for the blade to sink into the eye, reducing the snake’s remaining health by half.

The entire head of the island snake trembled, despite the entangled forest keeping it in place.

“Steady, Lux,” Dallion said as the firebird pulled him away from the snake. “There’s nothing to be worried about. Just one more and we’re done.”

Dallion pulled the dagger out. The dryad was standing on a tree a few dozen feet from him. It was thanks to him that the snake was in this state, and he had left Dallion to take the victory. Not that there was anything to complain about, but Dallion had no idea that his shield guardian was so strong… or that he could emerge from his shield state. The harpsisword had sort of done it, but it was nowhere as impressive as this. Did that mean that the dryad was stronger than the nymph?

“You made me underestimate you,” the snake said, its voice echoing through the air. “Clever move to send you in. I’d never think level fifteen to be a threat, while you had secret help all along.”

Dallion’s more rash side wanted to shout out some comeback. However, he had to admit that the snake was right. It had taken two familiars to keep him alive and two equipment guardians to fight for him. Without any of those Dallion would have lost for certain.

“You’re too late,” the snake attempted to laugh, thick yellow liquid oozing from its eye. “This piece of the seal will do nothing since he’s already escaped.”

“Escaped?” Dallion paused from going through with the final blow. In all the movies he had watched on Earth, that was the worst thing to do, and still the phrase had sparked a powerful flame of curiosity in him that needed feeding.

“Do you have you keep pretending?”

“I’m not. With your senses you should be able to see that.” At least if you had both eyes…

“So, you’re just another sacrifice. To think that you’d end up being victorious…”

“As you said, I had some help,” Dallion admitted. “Who escaped?” he repeated the question.

“Will you let me be if I tell you?”

An interesting bargaining chip. It was clear that there was no way out for the snake. Dallion had both the tools and the will to go through with this. As long as he killed the guardian, he would complete the mirror pool’s task, which should get him and Gloria off the hook.

“No.”

“Honesty?” the snake snorted. “A good quality in the worst of times. But even that doesn’t matter. You'll never be able to find him. You can tell the Star and the rest of the world that. He has been out for years, it’s only now that you started bothering to find out. And he might not be alone.”

“I don’t really need to know,” Dallion decided to bluff, filling his words with certainty thanks to his music skill. “I was only hired to clear the rind. One more strike and I’ll do that.”

“Go ahead.”

Mockery radiated from the snake’s very being. It either didn’t believe Dallion would go through with it, or simply didn’t care.

“Sorry,” Dallion whispered, and performed his final attack.

FATAL STRIKE

Dealt damage increased by 500%

A roar unlike any Dallion had heard filled the air. It wasn’t coming from the head along; all the islands let out a scream, then returned to silence as the creature’s health reached zero.

“The copyette is out there,” the snake managed to say in its dying breath. “It’s already out there…”

VERMILION’S TEARS destiny has been fulfilled.

Your Attack skills have increased to 28

Attack? Not the best, but still an improvement nonetheless. If Dallion wasn’t under so much pressure, he would have used his acrobatics more.

Dallion was just about to ask the dryad if he had any idea what was going, when he found himself back in the study surrounded by people. Lacking Lux, gravity took hold of Dallion with full strength, pulling him to the floor. Unable to keep his balance, Dallion stumbled, letting the artifact fall from his hand.

“Kid? You okay?” the tattooed man asked with the concern of someone who would have a contract void if anything were to happen to Dallion.

“Yeah,” Dallion managed to say. “It was a bit rougher…” He glanced at his shield.

The piece of gear was strapped to his left arm, as it had been before. The more interesting part was that there didn’t seem to be any marks or corroded parts on it. Everything was just as it was supposed to, very much to Dallion’s relief.

“What happened in there?” the silhouette figure asked, its voice a mix of dozens others, both male and female.

“The guardian of the real was a giant snake made of islands,” Dallion replied. “In fact, he was in the realm. All the ones you sent before me died on the spot. I was lucky I didn’t.”

There was no need for him to share the details. The mirror pool already knew too much about him and his familiars; there was no need to provide them with additional information, especially concerning the abilities of his guardian.

“I think he was called Vermilion.” Dallion inadvertently looked at the floor in search of the ring.

As suspected, the artifact was there, but it no longer was a ring… it had now transformed into a key. In other circumstances, Dallion would have asked to keep it as his prize, but something told him that this wouldn’t be an option this time.

“Vermilion?” the woman from the Order asked. For the first time since he’d come in, Dallion saw a spark or interest in her.

“That’s what it looked like. Why?”

“It’s not your concern. Did the guardian say anything? Maybe before you started the battle or afterwards?”

“A talking guardian?” the fury asked.

“All named guardians talk,” the woman from the Order replied with a semi-sigh.

“Is my work done?” Dallion turned to the tattooed man. “With this we’re all good and you’ll leave Gloria alone?”

“We won’t harm her. We’ll even help with her chosen career. That should be good enough, I hope?”

“Provided you don’t use her to ask me to do suicide jobs again.”

“Granted. If we have any suicide jobs, we’ll approach you directly… now answer the question.”

Should I share this with them? Knowing that a copyette had escaped in the real world sounded pretty important. Dallion knew several people who were terrified of such a possibility. Of course, one of the people was Arthurows.

On the other hand, from Dallion’s interactions with copyettes, he didn’t think they were nearly as bad as they were described. After all, dryads and nymphs were also imprisoned races, and they seemed pretty okay.

“After I defeated him, the guardian said that I was too late and that he’d already gotten out of there,” Dallion said after a while.

“He?” the woman of the Order asked.

“A copyette.”

To Dallion’s senses, it felt as if there was an explosion in the room. Everyone’s fear suddenly peaked, screaming from them like a fire alarm.

“You’re sure?” the woman grabbed him by the shoulder.

“That’s what he said.” Dallion tried to pull away, but the grip was too firm. The woman’s level had to be higher than his.

“Anything else?”

“Nothing. Just that I’m too late and the copyette has been out for years. Why? Is it that important?”

Everyone looked at him, as if he had asked the stupidest question in the world. That was exactly what Dallion was going for. The best way to make sure that he wouldn’t be interrogated about something was to create the appearance that he had no idea what he was talking about. And still, he didn’t think there being a copyette on the loose was such a big deal. Or was it?

“A few years.” The tattooed man crossed his arms. “With that much time, he could have become anyone. Maybe even a noble.”

“The Order would have sensed if that were the case,” the woman countered. “No, he’s hiding somewhere, amassing skills. When he has enough of them, he’ll make his first move.” She bent down and took the key from the floor. “The Order will take care of things from here. No need for you to get involved.”

“Lady, I don’t want to get involved,” the tattooed replied. “Trust me.”

“I don’t think that’s what's been harming explorers, though,” Dallion said. “That was the guardian. I guess he didn’t want anyone from learning the secret.“ Or getting the key. “Personally, I think that—”

“You did your job,” the tattooed man interrupted. “Cloud will take you to your room.”

Dallion nodded. Not the best that could have happened, but something he expected. It would have been nice if they had given him some reward for his troubles, but knowing that Gloria would no longer be their target was more than enough. He only hoped that they kept their word.

“Needless to say, you’re not to repeat any rumors out in the open,” the woman said. “But in case you find something, let the Order know.”

“Of course,” Dallion replied. “Out of curiosity, what can a copyette do exactly? Even if everything written in the historical scrolls is true, it’s just one being.”

“One being with the ability to transform into anyone and learn nearly any skills. Given enough time they will find an organization to infiltrate then slowly rise to the top. It might be a guild, the city guard, a merchant organization, or even the city itself. If you only knew how many wars were started because of stray copyettes. In your place I’d be careful of the people around you.”

“I’ll do that.”

Moments later, Dallion was led out of the mansion and, to be honest, he felt quite relieved. Not so much because he feared the people inside might do something to him; it was the mansion that really creeped him out.

“I take it there will be no reward?” Dallion asked once he and Cloud were out in the open.

“Don’t push it.”

Dallion didn’t. He could feel how tense she was, and knew from experience what she was capable of when she was pissed off.

Just as before, the fury pulled him up in the air and started the flight back to the open window of his room. Soon he’d be back there and no one would be the wiser.

“How do I find out if someone is a copyette or not?” he broke the silence after a while.

“You don’t. After this much time in the open, the copyette would have learned to bleed. The only way to tell for certain is to kill whoever you suspect and hope for the best.”

That didn’t sound very practical for anyone else other than the fury. The way things were going, he’d have to ask Nil more on the matter, and the armadil shield—definitely the armadil shield! What the dryad had done in the ring was way too unusual for him not to. The moment he was back in his room—and was sure the mirror pool wasn’t anywhere near—he was going to enter the realm of the shield and have a long conversation on the matter. Hopefully, it was going to be a peaceful conversation.

“What about the key?” Dallion persisted. “What does it open?”

“Something important enough to have a death trap in the key’s realm. Maybe it’s the key to the copyette’s prison, or the prison of a thousand like him. All that matters is that you keep your mouth shut.”

“As long as you keep your end of the bargain.”

“You don’t get it. There are fifty people within the pool that can kill you in less than a minute. You’re not worth their time even without the hunter’s protection. We are in the business of giving warnings. The copyette isn’t. The moment he finds out someone is asking about him, we might end up having a new Dallion… and no one will even realize.”