The realm turned out to be composed almost entirely of the city. The sensation was both fascinating and slightly spooky. It didn’t help that there weren’t any people to be seen. Dallion couldn’t help but wonder what the realm had been like when it was full, and more importantly, what had caused it to become abandoned. No doubt the people of ages gone were far more adept at item creation than the current generation of awakened.

In the past, Dallion would have rushed to the tower as fast as possible to find the hidden area and claim his prize. Today, though, he felt in a mood for exploration. Since time didn’t pass in the real world, there was nothing he would lose, not to mention that he might get an idea what to expect for the world item.

Initially, he started by going through the shops and larger buildings. All furniture and large tools were there, but there wasn’t a single small or personal item to be seen. It was as if someone had created this vast building complex and was still waiting for the occupants to arrive.

“Any idea what happened here?” Dallion asked, going through what looked like a bank. While the technology was at the late medieval level, the execution was flawless, not to mention that the builders had come up with some clever ideas of their own. Mechanical mechanisms for one thing were quite interesting, reminding Dallion of the documentaries on Roman discoveries he had watched back on Earth.

Maybe you should check the definition of unknown, Nil grumbled.

“There has to be something you know. Does the Order have any records?”

Getting information from the order is like pulling teeth from a chicken. There’s a lot of fuss, a lot of pain, and you end up getting nothing at all. There’s as much information about item settlements as there is of ancient cities—they are easy to find, occasionally contain valuables, but that’s about it. There’s no knowledge of how they were built, by whom, or even when.

“And you’ve never asked the imprisoned guardians?”

Dallion instantly regretted asking the question. That much was obvious, even for him. The reason why the imprisoned races wouldn’t explain anything was because the Moons didn’t allow it. Potentially, when he leveled up enough, he might be allowed to learn that information, but that was for another day.

“Fine,” Dallion said, and left the building.

After checking a few other houses, Dallion decided to leave the city and check what was outside. As expected, the endless plains and forests turned out to be the realm’s limit. Regardless of how much he walked in a certain direction, the distance to the city wouldn’t change. At one point, Dallion even tried walking backwards, but each time he’d blink the city would get closer, as if attached to him by a rubber band.

EXTREME CURIOSITY

(Mind +2)

Everyone has that itch they want to scratch. Scratch it too much, though, and it might turn into a wound.

An achievement for this? Not that Dallion was complaining. Apparently, learning more about the world—the real world—was rewarded; and mind was an area that would prove useful. With that, he’d be able to split better as well as make use of the awakened markers.

“Know anything about Vend?” Dallion asked. “When I try using the guild ring, he keeps telling me to practice and gets all vague when I ask him what he’s doing.”

Nothing I can tell you, the echo replied. Don’t worry, though. He’ll get back to training you. Despite what it seems, he’s taking a liking to you.

This wasn’t the first time Dallion had heard that. Most probably, that was due to his endless potential. Coming from another world had that effect, it seemed. That was good, but also could end up causing trouble. For one thing it had already attracted a mage.

“Nox, Lux, get out here,” Dallion said. Instantly the two familiars appeared, one on each shoulder. “Seriously, guys?” Dallion sighed.

Nox meowed in a smug fashion, then leapt on the ground. On the other shoulder, the firebird beamed with the kind of pride one got from copying an older brother.

I seriously need to find you your own place, Dallion petted the creature. Sadly, this won’t be it.

“Nox, do you smell anything I should worry about?”

The crackling yawned, then shook its head. It was clearly growing up. No longer was it the small energetic cub, Dallion had found on the top of the well mountain. Now he was a small lazy cub that either slept or fought.

“Okay, go ahead and find that hidden spot for me. I need to check something. Lux, lift me up.”

The view from the sky was almost precisely what Dallion would have expected. The realm was little more than a circle divided into three zones. In the center there was the tower, reaching up as far as it could. Around it was the town, with its buildings and streets, and beyond that were forests and fields. There was no doubt that the realm was artificially made, very much like the training realms Nil made for the guild.

“You’re pretty good at making realms,” Dallion remarked. “Any coincidence?”

I appreciate the compliment, dear boy, but you’re on the wrong track. I only modify realms. A subtle difference, I know, but I can’t build one from scratch.

“So I have to become a crafter to do that?”

No, not exactly. Crafting allows you to create an item in the real world. You have no control of the item’s realm. Sure, if you create an item of metal, the realm will have metal, but you don’t determine what’s inside. It’s more of a surprise. My considerable talents are to take that and remodel it into something somewhat different. Within limit, of course.

“I see.”

Despite the many windows, it soon became clear that there was no way to enter the tower from above. Even the top had nothing but a roof. After having Lux fly several circles around it, Dallion asked the familiar to get him to the tower’s ground entrance. As expected, Nox was there, curled on the ground, waiting.

“I take it you didn’t find anything?” Dallion bent down and petted the crackling. “You really can be a ball of fluff, sometimes. Come on, let’s get inside.”

The tower was exactly what one would expect: an outer circle of winding stairs heading up and a further door forward to the rooms within the core. Part of Dallion expected the core of the tower to be one big library, but it ended up being closer to an apartment complex. A small corridor led to the circular garden area, where all rooms could be entered. Dallion peeked in out of curiosity, but found they were completely empty.

Satisfied that there was nothing of importance, Dallion went to the stairway, starting his ascent up. The second floor turned out to be a copy of the first, as were the third and fourth. At the fifth, Dallion had already given up the idea of checking every room, even if there was a potential achievement at stake. Instead, he let Nox guide him.

Seventeen floors later, the crackling stopped climbing the stairs and dashed into the central area of the room.

The atmosphere was quite different. The garden was replaced by a rather impressive statue of a smith. On closer examination, Dallion recognized Centor, the red Moon. The artist had definitely made him more impressive than Dallion remembered him to be. Clearly, artists wanted to remain on good terms with their patrons.

His depiction suggests that this is a crafting area, Nil said. Most likely the forging section of the tower.

“I saw a few forges in the city. Why is this different?”

Those are simple forgers. This is rather a place where forging methods are tested out and discovered.

That made sense. Who better to seal off the entrance to a hidden area than a forge or mason?

“Meow,” Nox tapped at one of the nearby doors with his paw, careful not to claw at it. That behavior was more than likely Nil’s doing. The old echo wouldn’t allow anything to damage his precious scrolls and tomes, including a vicious crackling.

Dallion went to the door in question and opened it. The inside of the room was full of ingots. Initially Dallion had some hopes there might be some magic metals, or if not gold, but it turned out that they were nothing more than ordinary iron bricks. Between the rows of carefully arranged ingots, at the far wall, a faint purple light was seeping through.

Very clever, Dallion thought. There was no better way than to hide something in the equivalent of a supply closet.

“Lux, clear this.”

As fast as a flash, the firebird flew into the room and shoved the ingots away from the wall. There were a few moments during which Dallion felt bad about ordering his familiars about, but watching the ingots move from place to place, as if teleporting, quickly changed his thoughts on the matter. Soon enough, there was only one thing left to do.

“Your turn, Nox.”

Dillion stood in front of the wall. The outline of the door was visible, made out of faint light. In a way, it reminded him of the door he had to open to unseal his mother’s awakening powers. Back then, that had also earned him a prize, probably the greatest one he’d ever received. Even so, it wasn’t for the reward that he’d done it. All that he wanted back then was to make his mother happy and give her what she had lost, but even so, he hadn’t been able to force himself to stay.

With a meow the crackling dashed to the wall. Faster than Dallion, it clawed all over the stone surface. Causing cracks to appear. There was no elegance in it, but it was extremely efficient. In no time at all fragments started falling off, followed by the entire wall collapsing into an entirely different chamber.

“Wow,” Dallion said, looking into something that shouldn’t have been able to fit. The chamber alone was at least fifty feet long, leading to another massive flight of stars.

The special thing about hidden areas is that they aren’t part of the realm they are in. Think of them as a realm within a realm.

“Like the secret in the house I helped clean?” Dallion summoned his harpsisword.

In a way. The difference is that the ancients were much better at creating realms back then. The secret in the house was an object in a domain. Not that it’s easy to achieve, but compared to this… This is on a whole different level. Which is all the more reason to be careful.

“Lux, on my back,” Dallion said. “I might need you to fight.”

Slowly, he stepped forward. Walking through the wall felt like passing a threshold. No sooner had he done so than a red rectangle emerged.

COMBAT INITIATED

“Shield!” Dallion said out of habit. The shield extended slightly, protecting more of his torso.

So much for a calm welcome, Dallion thought.

The new realm was little more than a stone path leading to an amber dais atop a hill not too far away. All around them were trees with pink-colored maple leaves. As much as Dallion tried, though, he wasn’t able to see or sense any enemy.

“Any luck, Nox?”

The crackling looked around, its tail high in the air. Even it couldn’t locate the threat.

Dallion lowered his harpsisword. As a gamer, he just knew that his opponent would appear the moment he approached the dais. No doubt the treasure—whatever it was—was locked up in a chest there. Technically, Dallion was given a choice—he could just leave and potentially avoid the combat, but then he wouldn’t get the prize either.

“Very well,” Dallion said with a smile. “You win.” He went forward along the stone path.