The room was considerably larger than one would have thought. In truth, it wasn’t a room, but rather an entire world with a door in one end. Meadows continued up to the horizon where three snow capped mountains rose up under a large, green moon. A path led from the door to the only wooden table in the surroundings.

Two people sat at the table. Dallion knew neither of them to be human. One was a child who looked like Dallion had when he was a teen, at least on Earth. The other was wearing an outfit of green leather that was a mix between a set of ranger’s clothes and a hunter’s attire. His face was that of a seasoned warrior complete with slight stubble and—as Dallion had come to expect—green hair.

“Finally breached the wall,” the Moon said in terms of greeting. “And still keeping your word. That’s always a good quality.”

Dallion remained a step from the entrance, uncertain of what exactly to do. This wasn’t his first conversation with the Green Moon, although it seemed to be the first “official” one. After some hesitation, Dallion went to the table. As he approached, the boy stood up, offering him a seat.

“Thanks,” Dallion said.

The boy didn’t say a word, though gratitude the size of oranges formed within him.

“Falkner?” Dallion asked.

Was this his second echo? Dallion didn’t imagine this was the form he would take. To be honest, he expected to have another copy of himself. All the copies he created in the awakened world were identical copies of him. Gen and now this one were very different—entities in their own right, just with Dallion’s skills and memories as a basis.

“That’s what happens when you offer a trial guardian to stay,” the Moon said. “They become what they want to be—a mixture of memories, hopes, and fears. Now, then, let’s get down to business.”

“Business?” Dallion didn’t like the sound of that. “I thought I didn’t have a time limit to find—”

“Not your promise. I don’t have an issue with that. However, as they say on Earth: business is business.” The Moon leaned forward. It was unclear whether his intent was to be threatening, but it definitely was. “You got quite upset when you weren’t able to make a new familiar. Even went as far as arguing with your echoes about it.”

Mentally Dallion swallowed. It was true he had been quite upset on the matter, not to mention vocal about it—if one could call “vocal” arguments that had taken place in his own head. By the tone, he could tell that wasn’t a good thing. As it seemed, a lot of things were allowed in this world, but going against deities, even if they were claimed to be benevolent, wasn’t one of them.

“Normally, I wouldn’t bother, but since I don’t have as many favored as the others, I tend to keep an eye on you.”

Dallion nodded.

“On the one hand, it’s good that you’re showing empathy towards guardians. It’s also good that you’ve done all in your power to keep your promises. However, you seem to want everything to go your way. So, I’m prepared to offer you a one time compromise.”

You can do that? Dallion thought instinctively.

“Yes, I can do that,” the Green Moon said with a sigh. “And I’m fully aware of the irony—letting you have your way after a trial that taught you that there will be times that you won’t get it. However, this is the one and only time. After this if you want any more favors, you’ll have to ask boons, and for that you’ll need to fulfill the promise you’ve already made. And no, you won’t get a “tab.” So until you find what I asked, I don’t want to hear you begging about this or that, no matter how important.”

“Even if it involves your life?”

This was a sore subject. The last thing immortal deities wanted to be reminded of was their potential mortality. There was every chance that the question would anger Felygn, but it was something worth asking.

“No matter how important,” the Moon repeated with a frown. “That is why I’m going to give you a choice.”

The echo boy looked at Dallion, then at the Moon. No fear could be felt coming from, rather a deep curiosity directed at his creator.

“I have the power to help you keep your promise,” the Moon went on. “You’ll have your third familiar and would stop annoying me and yourself about the loss.”

That sounded too good to be true. Dallion felt joy fill his entire body, but even so, in the back of his mind, he knew that a “but” was coming. Nothing was free in this world or any other, especially when dealing with Moons.

“For that to happen, you’ll have to give up something. A trade of equal value, if you prefer. Or who knows, maybe a trade of greater value?” There was no smile on the Moon’s face. The topic was deadly serious.

Thoughts went through Dallion’s mind. What could one ask? A life for a life? It couldn’t be any of the other familiars, since the Moon had already said that he would have three. Would it be the destruction of an echo? A guardian? Given that the power of the Moon was limitless, Dallion could even lose less tangible things, like the friendship of his friends, or even his relationship with Euryale. Potentially, he could even lose his name and all mention of him.

“The price is your favored status.”

“My favored status?” Dallion definitely wasn’t expecting that. He knew that it was a big deal—a lot of people had told him so, but so far no one was clear exactly what it offered. From what Dallion had seen, it had removed his skill level cap, but was that all?

“People have risked their lives hundreds of times for the chance to achieve it. Some were even driven to fanaticism. You got it partially due to luck. As I said, there aren’t many who’d talk to me, so I tend to be more generous than the rest.”

“Do I get to know the significance of that before I make the choice?”

“If you didn’t, I wouldn’t be bothering with this talk.” The Moon leaned back. Even so, Dallion saw a smile on his face. By all accounts, the question was a good thing to ask. “Being a favored allows you to increase your skills regardless of stats.”

Dallion waited, then waited some more.

“That’s it?”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” The Moon shook his head. “The ability to increase a skill to a hundred regardless of your stats is not too impressive for you? A semi awakened could have the ability to handle a sword better than a domain ruling noble.”

“But he’ll still need the stats to—”

“Take yourself, for an example. If you just walk out this door without a new familiar, you can achieve the pinnacle of attack skills in three days, and all by improving useless items. Three days to become one of the greatest sword fighters in the city. A month and all your skills could be at that level, forging included.”

The Moon wasn’t using music to attempt to influence Dallion’s decision, he didn’t have to. The possibility of achieving so much in so little time was mindboggling. That would allow him to progress much faster than he believed possible. It might not always help him level up, as he had seen, but it wasn’t going to hinder him in any circumstances. Five skills at level a hundred… but he would have to give up on the shardfly.

“Ever since you learned about the races in this world, you’ve been wondering what makes humans special,” the Moon suddenly changed the subject. “Furies can control wind and clouds, dryads have a way with plants, nymphs are masters of water…” he started enumerating. “Slimes can take any form they choose, gorgons can see everywhere and turn creatures to stone, and dwarves can shape stone and metal with bare hands. What about humans, though? Your race too was given a boon, and it’s not your ability to think and make complex devices. Humans are allowed to ignore some of the restrictions of leveling. You can choose any stat and skill freely without penalty. Also, your level cap is set to the next gate you are to pass, not the current one.”

Now things became a lot clearer. That explained why humanity had become the dominant species in this world, at least for the moment. The average person was weak, with no special talents. However, when it came to awakened, they could progress a lot faster than any of the other races. Not only were they more versatile, but they had the skills of someone twice their level. All it took was for a critical mass of awakened to appear and the only thing that could stop humans were others like them.

Eury lied to me, Dallion thought.

“Lie is a harsh word,” the Moon said, indicating that he could still hear Dallion’s thoughts. “Going back to the business at hand, this is what you have to give up. If up till now you haven’t been improving items out of a childish lack of knowledge, now you are fully aware of what you must give up.”

“Do it,” Dallion said without hesitation.

Now it was the Moon’s turn to be surprised. Dallion tried not to smile openly. There was a certain degree of satisfaction knowing that this could be the first time it had happened in centuries, if not more.

“Aren’t you going to think about it?”

“I could, but it’ll only confuse me more.” Maybe he should have taken advantage of his status more, but that was immaterial. The important thing was that he was given a second chance to help a guardian. “If you’re giving me the option, I’ll take it.”

“You’re sure? You’ll lose all skill levels beyond the cap.”

This was a new twist. The effort wasn’t that much, but knowing that he’d lose them didn’t feel nice. With this Dallion’s attack, guard, acrobatic, and athletic skills would be brought down to forty.

“It doesn’t matter.”

There was a moment of silence, after which the Moon laughed.

“You’re really different. Offworlders will never cease to amaze me. You remind me of someone centuries ago. He also was unusual.” The deity stood up. A green glow covered him, flickering up into the sky. Within moments, he had completely disappeared, shifting to the large green moon above.

The moment he disappeared, four rectangles appeared in front of Dallion—the choice he had to make for leveling up. Considering that half the stats had hit the cap, Dallion decided to go start focusing on his reactions, adding a point there.

COMPANION - SPECTRAL SHARDFLY

You have gained a level 1 companion.

Wrapped in the beauty of illusion, the spectral shardfly has the ability to glamour objects and people to make them look as the shardfly wishes. Its crystal wings are sharper and harder than common shardflies, allowing it to cut through thick hide and armor.

The duration of the glamor effect depends on the overall size of the object and the shardfly’s level.

Upon seeing this, the discomfort caused by losing all his skill levels beyond forty instantly vanished. A ball of shimmering light formed in front of his face. Upon taking it, the sphere took form, transforming into a crystal cocoon.

“Can I see?” the young echo asked.

Dallion lowered his hand. As he did, the cocoon cracked. The thin transparent wrapper crumbled to fragments almost instantly as a crystal butterfly emerged. Four pairs of crystal wings straightened up, hardening before Dallion’s very eyes.

“Mirror?” Dallion asked.

“You kept your promise,” the familiar replied, her voice young, almost squeaky.

“Yeah…” I almost didn’t, Dallion thought. “You look different.”

“This is what we look like when we’re young. I guess I have a lot of growing up to do again. I’ll need your help to achieve that.”

“I’ll be more than happy to help. As soon as I figure out how that works.”

“That seems to be your thing—always charging in without a plan. But even so, you get things done, and you care. Thank you, Dallion. I’ll do my best to help you grow as well.”

“That's all I can ask for.”

Beside Dallion, the young echo was looking at the guardian in unparalleled fascination. Apparently, Dallion’s seer ability wasn’t shared among echoes, otherwise he would have known the shardfly’s true nature, not only the creature Dallion had faced in the mirror.

“Have you picked a name?” Dallion asked. “Either of you?”

Both echo and familiar remained silent.

“Then I’ll pick some for you. Gleam,” he said to the shardfly. “And July.” Dallion moved his hand next to that of the echo’s, allowing the familiar to walk onto it. “Now, let’s go and find you a place to stay within this realm.”