Back on Earth, waking up was considered a mixed bag. Some people enjoyed it, others dreaded it. To the awakened, waking up was more a blessing than not, allowing them to start their long day of realm battlers and item repair. For those from both worlds, waking up was complicated, especially when there were two awakenings in immediate succession.

Opening his eyes, Dallion was no longer in the university library. The cool fresh air told him that he was in the open, the glowing green moon above indicated that he was still in the realm of the sword. That was sort of good—at least it meant he wasn’t ejected out into the real world.

“Hey,” a soft voice said. Euryale’s face emerged above Dallion. Normally he’d be able to say what she was thinking, but his head hurt too much for him to focus on using music skills. “How are you?”

Dallion tried to sit up, but his head felt as heavy as lead.

“Easy.” Euryale gently pushed him back down. “Wait a bit longer.”

“What happened?” Dallion closed his eyes. The pain became far more tolerable.

“You walked right into the ground,” the gorgon replied. The image made Dallion chuckle mentally. “From what I was told, one moment you were talking next to March, the next, you were a plank on the ground.”

“The plains. Did we cross them?”

“A few hours ago. You scared me,” Euryale added in a whisper. “No one’s reacted like this to a pain field before. Usually it’s the opposite—people can’t get away soon enough.”

“I felt something different…” Mentioning anything about the voice or the following dream was a bad idea. Not that Dallion couldn’t trust Eury, rather he couldn’t trust everyone else listening in; and since everyone was a mid-level awakened, they were listening in. “I felt weight.”

“That’s rare. I’ve only seen that in one place in the wilderness,” the gorgon said. “Maybe I’ve just become used to it by now. The important thing is that you’re okay.”

Never had something right sounded so wrong. While thankful that he was alright, Dallion couldn’t help but feel responsible. Not so much that he had delayed the expedition—newbies were bound to make mistakes—he felt guilty about not having done anything to help the inhabitants of the destroyed towns.

It happened millennia ago, Gen said, from Dallion’s realm. There’s nothing possible you could have done. Whatever happened, happened before you even got here.

Dallion knew that perfectly well, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

“What’s the matter?” Euryale asked.

“Still a bit dizzy,” Dallion lied. “Are we far from the temple?”

“Not much. About a quarter of an hour away.”

Forcing himself to sit up, Dallion looked around. There was a campfire burning nearby, but no people.

“Where’s everyone?”

“At camp. March is expecting a minion attack, so she had me carry you further away. It’s safer this way. The minions here are worse than before, and you’ll be needed for support, so.”

“Minotaurs?”

“Blade-wolves.” Dallion hadn’t seen such creatures before, but he had a good enough imagination to suspect they were every bit as dangerous as they sounded. “Only heard of them before.”

Anything you can say on the matter, Nil? Dallion asked.

Dear boy, how about this: if I know something as obvious, I’ll tell you immediately. Does that sound alright?

“Are they rare?” Dallion ignored the echo.

“They’re non-existent in this province. There used to be a lot of them, but they were hunted out of existence for their skills and fangs decades ago. Back in the day, hunters used to make a living by hunting them alone. Now we only get to hear stories.”

“Can you give me a description?”

The gorgon looked at Dallion for a long while, then shook her head.

“It’s a large wolf with massive jaws covered in thin blades.”

This, Dallion didn’t expect. The mental image was terrifying.

“I thought the fangs would be… Never mind.”

“The fangs are naturally sharp, and also the only part of the blade-wolf that can be taken into a realm. You can guess how much that’s worth.”

Dallion definitely could imagine. A pity that the process only worked one way… or did it? A thought sparked in his mind.

“Eury, can you collect special materials in this realm?” he asked.

“So you can take them outside?” The gorgon frowned, the snakes moving about. “It’ll be fun if one could. All these rare materials here just going to waste, eh?” There was a hint of disapproval in her voice.

Of course, it would be like that, otherwise people would have unlimited resources. Minions appeared each time an awakened entered the realm, so someone skilled enough to chip off a fang before killing a creature could easily retrieve it. Combined with the sky silver that was clearly abundant as well, one could become very rich very fast.

“I don’t want to take anything out, I want to use them to make something.”

This piqued Eury’s interest.

“Even if you make something, it’ll remain here.” She got an idea where Dallion was going.

“Yes, but I’ll still be able to use it.”

“The gathering part is easy. I can even get a few fangs if you’d like. Forging, not so much. You can’t use any of the tools unless you link, and linking isn’t a good idea. You’ll have to find a forge here or make one yourself.”

“Make a forge.” Dallion stood up. He was still a bit wobbly, but that didn’t matter. “Let’s get back to camp.”

The party was already preparing to head for the temple by the time Dallion and Eury got there. From what was visible there had already been some fighting had taken place—only a few of the people remained at a hundred percent health.

Lux, start with the least wounded, Dallion thought.

Since there was no danger for anyone, it was better to get more people at full health faster. The firebird appeared and instantly swooped to its nearest target. Seeing it, several people waved at Dallion, acknowledging his help. Vend wasn’t among them.

“He should be resting,” the elite said as he approached. “We won’t be taking the temple until morning.”

“That’s not what March told me,” Eury countered. “Maybe you should check.”

“I don’t need to check what I was told five minutes ago.”

They really don’t like each other, Dallion thought. Thankfully, not everyone shared Vend’s view.

“I’m fine,” Dallion said, adding some calm in his words. The use of music skills caused him to have a slight headache, but that was a price he was willing to accept. “I just wasn’t used to the—"

“You should be resting,” Vend interrupted. For a moment Dallion managed to see a flash of instances. It only happened for a moment, but it was enough for him to wonder what other things his teacher had said to him.

“I know. I just wanted to get my mind off things,” Dallion was quick to say. “This helps me.”

Vend gave him a suspicious look, but in the end he didn’t protest. Having the closest thing to a healer was too much of a benefit to be ignored.

Everyone spent the next half hour patiently waiting for Lux to heal all the wounded. When every last person’s health was restored, March gave the order to move out.

“Why don’t we wait till morning?” Dallion whispered to Eury. “Won’t we have an advantage, then?”

“I guess not. March has been through this before, so she knows what she’s doing.”

That’s nice, but maybe she should tell us as well? Dallion thought.

Sun, the armadil shield said. She doesn’t want the sun to appear.

Why not?

Because you’ll be facing a dryad.

Dallion felt like biting his tongue. He had seen at the temple that the world was primarily filled with dryads. It was a logical step to think that its guardians were such as well, although that did raise some questions. Chiefly, were they the ones who had killed the Eighth Moon?

We get strength from the sun, but also from the Green Moon, the shield went on. In this realm, dawn and sunset is when we’re at our weakest. You’ll have a greater chance fighting the guardian then.

Thanks.

It also means you shouldn’t rely too much on me. I’ll be able to do what I usually do, but I might be a bit slower this time. At least till mid-morning.

I’ll keep it in mind.

In the distance, the third temple became visible. It was nearly identical to the one the party had just been to. The only difference was that the road leading to it seemed much better kept, also, there was a large stone wall surrounding it. At first, Dallion thought that the wall was built to protect the temple from attack, but after getting a better look at the way it was constructed, he could only come to one conclusion—it was made to keep whatever was in the temple inside.

“Dal,” March said. “Come beside me.”

Giving Eury a glance, Dallion did as he was told.

“You’ll remain on the wall for this one. I want you to focus your healing on me. You only shift to someone else if they’re close to death.

“Okay…” Dallion felt a bit uneasy. “Will you be tackling the guardian alone?”

“Hopefully not, but depends on how many wolves it sicks on us.”

“You think the guardian will go easy on you?”

“No, it all depends how many of its wolves are left. The last expedition there were no minotaurs, so we could tell exactly how many we killed. This time we faced very few. Hopefully, the minotaurs did some damage.”

“How many usually—"

COMBAT INITIATED

Suddenly rows of blade-wolves appeared, leaping down from the sky like deadly raindrops. They looked nothing what Dallion imagined they would. “Wolf” was a very generous description one could give only if drunk while squinting. While having the general body shape of the animal, these creatures were bald and elongated, their entire bodies covered in thin razor-like blades of bone. As they growled Dallion caught a glimpse of their teeth; they didn’t appear anything special, but knowing they were a special material was enough for him to acknowledge their value. Even so, the thought that Eury would kick a few fangs off just for him made Dallion feel slightly sick.

The crossbow carriers quickly shot at the descending creatures with such ferocity that the sky appeared to explode. Red rectangles were everywhere, though sadly only stacked in twos and threes.

“Follow me,” March said, then instantly drew her sword in a single arc slash.

Does everyone know about this attack? Dallion thought as the line of destruction propelled forward, cutting through clouds of dust and razor-wolves alike.

It’s said to be one of the more efficient skills once you reach a certain level, Nil said reluctantly. Imperial soldiers are expected to know it before applying to the training garrison.

“Now.” March rushed forward at a speed Dallion could barely see.

Lux! He ordered.

Knowing what to do, the firebird propelled him after the captain, matching her speed. In the blink of the eye March had reached the temple wall, proceeding to slice an entrance as she continued on. Raising the shield in front of his face, Dallion followed closely behind. A few feet beyond the wall, though, he suddenly stopped.

Lux? Dallion asked, confused. What happened?

Chirp! The firebird replied.

Right. Dallion nodded, lowering his shield. March had told him to remain at the wall while she faced the guardian. Given the last tough opponent they had faced, Dallion thought they’d do just that. Lux, go to her and heal her whenever something happens.

No sooner had he said so, when the entire patch of ground within the wall cracked up like a shattered mirror. Dirt erupted revealing the second guardian of the world.

WORLD GUARDIAN - OREH

Species: SHIELDED DRYAD

Class: SHADOW

Stats: 100% HP

Skills:

- Attack

- Guard

- Acrobatics

- Entangle

- Full Shield

Weak Spots: joints