Dallion lay on the floor, eyes closed, hoping his headache would subside. That seemed to be the common element as far as non-combat skills were involved. It also proved that learning to forge was far more difficult than he had imagined. There never was any illusion it would be easy—the days spent trying to figure out how to forge sky silver had taught Dallion that much. Thankfully, after an intense session with Fire Sky, he had finally got the hang of the basics.

Three items—that was what he was capable of forging at this stage: short swords, daggers, and simple bucklers. However, none of those achievements had increased the skill’s level. As Fire Sky had explained, the point was because he had earned his second hammer. From there on, he would have to forge actual items in the real world to improve. However, that was all part of the plan.

“Want to keep going?” Fire Sky asked.

“No, I’m good,” Dallion replied. Talking made his eyes and temples hurt. “I have what I need.”

“Let’s hope so. You still owe me two favors.”

“And I plan to keep my promise.”

“I’m sure. In that case, let’s get back to the real world. There’s a lot I need to do, and I can no longer use the excuse that I’m trying to recruit you.”

“Give me just a bit.” Dallion sat up, eyes still closed.

“The headaches and the eye pain will continue for a few days, maybe longer. That’s what happens when you try to rush things through. If you had spent an hour per day, you wouldn’t have had to go through this.”

No doubt that was true. The only thing stopping Dallion from progressing on the forging front was his girlfriend. Conflicting schedules and large concerns on both sides had reduced the number of training sessions they had to one. Now, he couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

“Can I ask you something?” Dallion said. “What happened between you and Adzorg?”

The woman didn’t answer right away, choosing to wait a few seconds until Dallion’s curiosity forced him to crack an eye open.

“What have you heard?” she asked in turn.

“Nothing. That’s why I’m curious.”

“Maybe that’s something you should ask him. All I can say is that I wasn’t the only one who’s been recruiting from other guilds.”

There was a clear implication that only caused Dallion to have more questions. Whatever had occurred hadn’t been amicable on either side. Although, it seemed that Adzord was holding the grudge longer.

“Ready,” Dallion said, eyes closed once more.

The pleasant silence surrounding him suddenly disappeared, replaced by the voices of hundreds. The unpleasant wave of daily smells also hit him in the nose, stronger than he remembered them being.

“Feeling alright?” Fire Sky asked.

Dallion opened his eyes. The dull pain in his eyes was still there, along with an unpleasant stinging. The last time Dallion had experienced that was after playing non-stop for thirty hours straight. A lot of energy drinks had been involved as well.

“Yeah.” Slowly Dallion stood up. His balance was slightly off—a lingering effect of the recent expedition that Nil would give him an earful, no doubt. “Thanks. I owe you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to collect.”

A few minutes later, the Flameforge captain had left, disappearing into the crowd.

It’s okay, Nil, Dallion said. Nothing alarming happened.

I can hope so, even if it’s difficult to believe. Apparently, Gen was left with the impression that you’d entered a realm. The newly acquired skills seem to confirm that. And yet, your echo doesn’t seem to remember such an event taking place.

I got some training, Nil. That’s all. We’ll talk more when I get home.

Nil made no effort to inquire more on the matter. He was usually upset when Dallion used blocking items. However, on this occasion he seemed far more annoyed than usual. It was a good thing that nothing of interest happened on the way back to the inn.

The place was completely packed, making Dalllion have to wait to get to his room. At this point, pretty much everyone who wanted to come to the Nerosal had already done so, causing all inns and taverns to be filled to the brim. The room situation was so bad that Hannah has asked the Luors to temporarily share a room with Jiroh. Dallion suspected that the only reason he hadn’t suffered the same fate was due to the Aspan incident, and the innkeeper’s desire to keep a lid on it.

Finally, some rest, Dallion thought as he pretty much collapsed on his bed. There was something special about real world sleep. It felt much better than sleeping in the realms, especially with the unusual smoothness of the sheets. If nothing else, Hannah knew how to make people feel comfortable... as long as she didn’t have to talk to them.

I’d appreciate some help, Lux, Dallion thought, taking the kaieldervisto out of his pouch and pressing it against his left temple. No sooner had he done so than the end of the artefact began to glow in a deep cyan light. If this was a realm there would be a rectangle indicating that the firebird was effectively healing Dallion. The pain decreased, making Dallion relax and gradually doze off. By the time he woke up, it was already night.

A tray of food was placed nearby with no explanation of where it had come from.

Shield, any idea who brought this? Dallion asked.

Jiroh, as usual, the aramdil shield replied.

The fury was still taking care of him like an older sister taking care of a sickly little brother. Soon, that was going to change.

Slowly, Dallion stood up from his bed. The headache had nearly disappeared, although his right eye still felt painfully itchy. Two of the seven Moons were visible outside the window, glowing in the night sky. The rest hadn’t appeared yet for some reason, but that wasn’t overly surprising—in this world, the Moons tended to be quite temperamental.

Stretching a few times, Dallion then went to the stone orchid and whistled a brief tune. The plant-thing reacted as it always did, by remaining silent and motionless.

“One of these days you’ll answer,” Dallion whispered.

Nil, am I well enough to enter the realms? He asked.

More or less, although I’d advise against it, the echo replied.

Dallion tended to agree. He himself felt he wasn’t at a hundred percent, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Tomorrow he was going to resume his tournament fights, and after that, face real challengers.

Reminiscing about the past and musing about the future, Dallion placed the harpsisword, the armadil shield, and all his other weapons on the bed. Then, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he lay down on it, making sure that his skin was in contact with every item.

PERSONAL AWAKENING

The starting room formed around him, along with the standard blue rectangle informing him of his level. If all went well, today the number would increase by one.

“I thought you might try something of the sort,” Nil said. The echo was standing there in person, arms crossed in an unmistakable stance of disapproval. “You’ll try to level up even if you don’t know the solution to your challenge.”

“True. I’ve no idea what I’m supposed to do, but I like to think that the expedition has given me a sense of perspective. At the end of the day, what’s the worst that can happen? I still have a few days before the real fights begin. Until the festival tournament is officially open, I don’t have a thing to worry about.”

“That’s precisely what worries me.”

Ignoring the echo completely, Dallion went into the corridor and then through the door that marked the next trial room. Last few times he was here, an echo of Falkner had cut him to shreds. Now it was time for Dallion to show how much he had learned.

You are in the halls of destiny.

Defeat your hidden fears and shape your destiny.

A blue rectangle welcomed him beyond the door. Dallion waved it away. No sooner had he done so, than the echo in the shape of Falkner appeared in front of him.

“Hi, Falkner,” Dallion said. “Been a while.”

The echo nodded in greeting.

“A bit quiet today,” Dallion said, pressuring his opponent to give up with his voice.

“Music doesn’t work on me,” the echo said with a sigh.

“Maybe that was the case in the past, but why not try to be sure.” Dallion smiled. “So, what do you think? Do I have what it takes to defeat you this time?

“Maybe. Maybe not. But even if you succeed, this isn’t the end of the trial. I’m just the beginning.”

“Or so you claim.” Dallion summoned his haprsisword.

“No offer for a draw?” Falkner asked, surprised.

“I know you won’t accept it. Clearly that’s not the solution to the puzzle.”

“Interesting.” Falkner summoned his usual two swords as well. “You think you’ve found the solution?”

“Nope, haven’t got the slightest clue. Thing is I plan on using brute strength on this one. After all, it’s not important how I defeat you. The only important thing is that I do so.”

COMBAT INITIATED

Lux, give me a boost, Dallion thought as he dashed forward.

The firebird had matured quite a bit during the sword world expedition. Almost in perfect sync with its owner, the creature spread its wings while merging with Dallion’s back, then propelled him forward.

The speed was impressive, but even so, Falkner managed to evade the attack by combat splitting into four instances. In three of the cases, Dallion had successfully landed a strike in the echo’s chest. In the remaining instance, though, the outcome was different, and that is the outcome Falkner chose.

The twin swords blocked the harpsisword, after which the echo split into three instances, commencing his counterattack. Normally, Dallion would counter by creating three instances of his own. However, this time he decided to do something new and punched Falkner in the chest almost on the very instant the echo split.

Astonishment leaked through the emotionless cocoon surrounding Falkner. That wasn’t the main thing, though. The attack had done far more than catch the echo unprepared, it had achieved what Vend had taught Dallion during the expedition. Before Dallion’s very eyes, the instances created by the echo crumbled, leaving him with one single option. Alas that option was easily predicted and met with the corresponding level of force.

Critical strike!

Dealt damage is increased by 200%

A red rectangle appeared as Dallion struck Falkner in the chin with the hilt of the harpsisword, and just to make it more painful, Dallion played a chord while doing so, aimed at giving his enemy blurry vision.

Falker was far from defeated, however. Despite suffering some setbacks, he quickly regained composure. Leaping above Dallion, Falkner summoned a bladegun and fired two bolts at Dallion.

MEDIUM WOUND!

Your health has been decreased by 50%

“Still not perfect,” Falkner said as he attempted to split into three instances again.

Once again, before the echo could succeed, Dallion kicked him on the side of the head with his foot. This was the first time he had performed a martial attack by combining acrobatics and attack.

Critical strike!

Dealt damage is increased by 200%

“I don’t need to be perfect, just better than you,” Dallion replied.

“Where did you learn that?” Falkner asked.

“Just a little something I’d been thinking about. Didn’t get to test it until today.”

“I meant breaking by combat splitting.”

“Oh, that.” Dallion laughed. “Vend taught me. A pity he isn’t here now to see my progress and potentially give a few pointers.”

“That doesn’t change a thing. You still haven’t figured out the nature of the trial. Until you do, even brute force won’t be able to give you what you need.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it will be fun finding out what I have to do in order to defeat you.”