Continuing as if nothing had happened proved to be more difficult than Dallion expected. The suspicion that there could be a copyette in the inn he was staying, as well as chainlings walking freely in the city kept Dallion up the next few days.

Euryale had fixed the kaleidervisto box in less than an hour, but that hadn’t helped. On the contrary, it had made him even more on edge than before. Each time he’d use it on a crowd—either in the city or during his performance at work—he subconsciously feared an attack. The fact that there weren’t any only increased that fear. In many ways, it felt like the calm before a storm. Dallion’s heightened senses let him feel there was something in the air, but were helpless to determine its source. Having people pour in the city for the festival didn’t help either.

The greatest point of concern remained Hannah. While Dallion had managed to sneak a peak of Aspan with the kaleidervisto, the innkeeper remained elusive. From the very start, she was against him having the contraption, and even after being convinced it would be good for business, she remained out of sight during Dallion’s lunch and evening performances. At one-point Dallion considered just doing it directly without worrying about the consequences, but was quickly dissuaded by Nil. Thus, the game of cat and mouse continued.

Meanwhile, the improvement of his skills continued. Having passed the gate had removed the block, allowing him to increase his music skill to forty-six. His attack had also reached forty-four, with acrobatics and guard skills lagging behind at thirty-seven and thirty-four. To Dallion’s great annoyance, it turned out that his heightened perception wasn’t enough to reveal all marker layers. While they had gotten him to the verge of doing so, it was still not enough to be able to use his sky silver hammer, and as for using guard markers for defense—it had turned out that Dallion now lacked the reaction level to make use of them.

On the bright side, the improvement of the training stiletto continued. The stiletto was now at level eighteen, still containing more silver than gold. According to Nil, the general standard was for a double digit awakened to be able to easily defeat any guardian beneath his level. Gold, according to the echo, while impossible at this point, became child’s play at level fifty, which also was the threshold of being accepted as a noble.

One day later, Dallion was called for his first preliminary fight for the tournament. The experience turned out to be quite anticlimactic. His opponent, a teen from the Pearl White guild, proved no challenge at all to the point Dallion felt bad for defeating her. In many aspects, the encounter resembled Dallion’s first fight against March. The difference in level was obvious. There was nothing his opponent could do other than make desperate attempt after desperate attempt, only to give up in anger. Dallion had tried to say a few calming words—using music skills, of course—but there were some states that even music couldn’t fix.

Keeping his perfect victory streak, Dallion was then told to wait for another few days until a suitable opponent could be found. From the brief conversation he had with a few of the administrators, he was pretty much guaranteed he’d make it to the first round. Seers—the word for awakened that had passed the third gate—were nearly always a sure in.

Back at the Icepicker Guild, things had changed as well. All but sphere item jobs were pretty much put on hold as the guild started to prepare for the festival. As it turned out, the guild versus guild dynamic was a lot more bloodthirsty than Dallion expected. Given that this was one of the few times of the year during which guilds could face off directly, there was a lot of pent-up anger to let go of. The big five were always at their throats, eager to change, or keep, their current standing, and the smaller had a lot of petty issues to resolve between each other.

All Icepicker participating in the tournament, Dallion included, received special considerations, stopping short of actual training. Dallion was offered to borrow any equipment the guild had for free, but as it turned out his own weapons were better. However, there was one thing that caught his attention.

“This is also for sale?” Dallion examined a crude sky silver ring. It resembled more guitar steel than an actual ring, stretching almost as much as Dallion’s pinky finger.

“No one’s wanted it so far,” Estezol replied. Normally this was the job of the guild treasurer and his assistants, but with massive preparations underway, Estezol had agreed to help Dallion out himself. “The metal’s good, but the forgers got a shipment of raw ore from last week.”

Dallion nodded. In nine cases out of ten it was hunters who brought it from the wilderness, and considering that Eury was the only hunter forger he knew—and one with extremely good perception—he could assume that was part of her recent mission.

“It’s fully fulfilled,” Estezol went on. “That’s the reason it was returned by the client who wanted it cleared.”

“Not something they wanted?” Dallion asked.

“Given that it has no powers whatsoever, I guess you can say that. They didn’t even bother picking it up. Why do you ask?”

“I have something in mind.” Dallion returned the ring to its place. “Will you save it for me?”

“It’ll be a pretty expensive decoration, but sure.”

“Thanks, Estezol. Any news about March?”

“Still doing a job. She’s cutting it a bit short this time. With the festival just over a week away, you’d think she’d be here to prepare, but that’s March for you.” The short man shrugged. “It’s not proper to complain given how much she has helped the guild, but sometimes I can really see Adzorg’s point of view.”

If you’re thinking of making a home for Lux, I advise against it, Nil said.

He needs a place of his own, Nil.

That much I agree, but sinking a lot of money in a useless ring just because it’s made of sky silver is a bad idea. You can just as easily link him to the chain the gorgon gave you, or buy some ore off her directly. It’ll be cheaper for one thing.

“Do I get a discount?” Dallion asked.

“Not on this, sorry.” Estezol sighed. “Even with all the junk artefacts pouring in, special metals are hard to get.”

Dallion should have expected as much. With a thanks, he left the guild. In truth, if he had the money available he would have bought the ring on the spot. However, given everything going on, he preferred to have some available emergency funds. Once the festival was over, though, it was the first thing he was going to do. The reason—it wasn’t about the ring being an artifact or made of sky silver for that matter; thanks to the sight granted to him, Dallion had seen miniature cracks within the realm of the ring itself. Considering that the ring was supposed to have been cleared, the cracks weren’t supposed to be there, not unless there was something else in there, something that the original team had missed.

“Dal!” Estezol shouted from the guild door, just as Dallion was heading back to the inn. “Wait!”

The bearded man rushed to him, then inconspicuously shoved the ring in his hand. Confused, Dallion looked at his hand, then at Estezol.

“It’s fine,” the man whispered. “Things get misplaced all the time.”

“This isn’t—” Dallion began, but quickly lowered his voice to a level that only awakened nearby could hear. “This isn’t a useless trinket. This costs a lot.” By his rough estimate, Dallion was going to need a few more weeks of exploration jobs at least to get the needed amount.

“It’s not like anyone will buy it. Besides, you’ve earned the guild ten times more when you got veil and Gloria to join. Think of it as a gift from me. No strings attached.”

Thanks to his music skills, Dallion could tell that the man was being honest. He still felt uncomfortable accepting it, though.

Never turn down a gift offered, the armadil shield said. Unless you don’t want to have anything to do with the person offering it. Just take it and chill. You’re making things awkward.

Easy for you to say, Dallion thought.

“You sure you won’t get in trouble?”

“No chance,” Estezol laughed. “As long as you don’t start telling everyone about it, you’ll be fine.”

Just take it, dear boy. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? It’s not often that you find a hidden realm, so best take advantage. It might be years before you come across another, if ever at all.

No, Dallion thought. There’s another way.

SPHERE ITEM AWAKENING

At first, it almost seemed as if nothing had changed. Dallion remained on a street surrounded by buildings. However, all the people were gone. Not only that, but there was a giant tower right in front of him, rising to the sky.

You are in the land of GOBLET RING

The land’s destiny has been fulfilled.

“This looks a lot like a world item,” Dallion said.

Some sphere items are like that. Remember the rescue job you went on? This is similar, only lacking in the reward department.

That certainly explained why the original owners had not claimed it. It must have cost a pretty sum to clear a ten-level sphere item. Learning that the item held nothing special must have come as a bitter shock, followed by massive disappointment. That was, unless the item belonged to a speculator who bought artefacts on the cheap, then had them leveled up to sell at a huge profit. With people like that, it was all about the numbers—if the total was good a few duds were ignored.

“How come no one saw the cracks?” Dallion asked.

I know this is a concept that seems foreign to you, but mistakes do happen, dear boy. The number of improvement requests has skyrocketed. Add to that the approaching festival, it’s perfectly normal for a group of overworked guildies to miss something. Keep in mind that most of them still retain their job as inn awakened or assist in one of the repair and improvement shops. Relying on the guild alone for income is risky unless you’re an elite.

The explanation sounded plausible. Dallion himself had led exploration teams when he was still a double digit. If he had come across such an item back then, he’d have cleared it and been none the wiser. In fact, it was possible for that to have already happened.

“So, what do I need to know?”

I’ll be sure to find you a good selection of scrolls that would explain the matter in detail. Since you’re unlikely to read them, unlike Gen, I’ll give you the short version.

Dallion grumbled on the inside. Once again, he was reminded in a not-so-subtle way that his echo was better than him when it came to learning.

Somewhere in this realm is a wall. Beyond that wall is a hidden part of the realm that holds something of considerable value, similar to the paradox cubes during your awakening trial.

“No chance of it being empty?”

None whatsoever. There’s no guarantee what you find will be to your liking. It might be to your liking, though. It might turn out to be a minor achievement or part of a skill group you haven’t learned.

That didn’t sound too bad. From what Dallion had seen so far, nothing was lost when it came to awakened skills. Even when he had earned achievements increasing his stats beyond the level cap, he had regained the amount after passing through the gate. Even getting a useless skill might prove useful later on, until which time it would serve as a decoration in his awakening room.

“Any idea what I could expect to face?”

Might be a protector, might be nothing at all. One never knows. Normally, the wall itself is impossible to break unless you have a key, but in your case, Nox will do.

“Right.” Nox was a key that could open any door.