It’s time, Nil reminded.

I know, Dallion replied. Give me a moment.

Leaving his hammer and shield on the anvil, he went outside of the forge and looked at the sky. All of the moons were visible now, although some were far brighter than others. A common person would most probably see two at most.

“Are you looking at me?” Dallion asked.

The conversation in his last trial had gotten him to think about their role. Being the deities looking over the world, it was clear that they were the most powerful—and most terrifying—entities of this world. However, Dallion had never considered their reason for bringing him here. After the end of his fortieth trial, he was going to be able to ask them in person. After each trial, there was a deity. This time, the conversation was going to be a bit more interesting.

Dallion, Nil urged.

“Taken away by the moonlight shadow,” Dallion said, then went back inside. Mentally prepared, he rested his arm on all the items he had placed on the anvil, while also maintaining contact with the rest he had brought along, then entered his realm.

PERSONAL AWAKENING

All the guardians and familiars were waiting for him as he appeared in the room. Like him, they knew the significance of this trial.

“Let’s go,” he said, leading the way. As he walked, the familiars attached to him. Lux surrounded him with his flame, ready for battle. The shardfly sparkled away, becoming a whip blade on his hip, even Nox leapt at Dallion’s belt, transforming into the Nox dagger.

The guardians did the same, although in a far more dignified fashion—they merely disappeared in a flash of light emerging as gear on Dallion’s body.

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

(+2 Empathy)

You have achieved the respect of everyone in your realm. Their faith in you is complete, so you better not disappoint them.

That wasn’t a stat Dallion expected to increase, though he wasn’t going to turn it down. Briskly, he made his way to the new door in the corridor and opened it. This time, however, there wasn’t a corridor. Instead, he was immediately greeted by a vast space of constantly changing structures.

A paradox cube? He asked, surprised.

Not the type that you usually see, Nil said.

Standing at the very edge of the vast space, Dallion watched as vast floors, walls, and roofs moved around in constant motion, merging together and splitting apart. This wasn’t the first time he had gone through a paradox cube trial before, but this one seemed on a whole different level. For one thing, the environment seemed just as deadly as the opponents he was likely to face.

“Feel any rewards, Nox?” Dallion asked.

The crackling mewed, indicating that there was a lot.

“Good to know.”

Unfortunately, having that many suggested that Dallion could have far greater problems. If there was one thing that he had found, it was that the trials weren’t generous towards him. Everything earned was earned through skill, effort, and luck. This wasn’t going to be any different.

“Nil,” Dallion began. “If a familiar finds an item, does that count as the owner finding it?”

I’m not completely sure, the old echo hmmed at the question. In theory, that should be the case, but there haven’t been too many instances of it occurring in practice.

Given that it was mostly nobles that had familiars, it was natural that they wouldn’t share the information.

“Nox, break up and find some for me,” Dallion ordered. “Gleam, you okay to lend a hand?”

“Shouldn’t be difficult.” The whip blade floated out of its sheath, extending as it did. “An illusion is an illusion even here.”

“Good. Go, too, but be ready. I might summon you for the fight.”

Four copies of Nox leapt onto the floor, then split up, taking different paths towards the central parts of the “room”. Meanwhile, the whip blade rushed through the air, weaving like a water serpent. Dallion watched them go, then split into a dozen instances.

“Let’s go, Lux,” he said in each.

You gotta build a place like this, Onda said. In fact, I can build it. I just need you to give me the okay. And built up a bit of materials. I’ll tell you how to make the tools.

“I’ll let you and Gen to handle it once this is over,” Dallion said.

Don’t be so tense, the armadil shield said. This is your trial. Relax a bit.

“When has that ever worked?”

When has being tense helped? As they say, if you can’t get worse, you might as well relax.

“Easy for you to say.”

You’ve grown a lot since you first rented me. Give yourself some credit. It’ll be a tough trial, but nothing you can’t handle. Remember—

“Trials are only things that could be handled,” Dallion finished the thought for him. “That doesn’t make it easy, though.”

Making his way forward, Dallion passed through a pair of walls that merged mere moments later. Thanks to his firebird familiar, his advanced perception, the ability to see layers, as well as his combat splitting ease, he was able to navigate an otherwise harsh environment with absolute ease. That’s what made him even more nervous. In the past trials, the environment was often part of the challenge. If this were any other trial, Dallion would simply say that this was due to him being overpowered. Given the importance of the trial, however, he feared there might be a lot more.

LIGHT SUN GOLD TRAVELING BOOTS BLUEPRINT

Knee-length boots capable of traversing nearly any terrain. Composed of a series of intricately woven segments, the boots have the ability to adjust to their surroundings, particularly in the awakened realms.

“That answers the question,” Dallion said.

The blueprint found was exceptional, but Dallion couldn’t feel joy. Deep inside, a fear had started to form, and the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced it would be related to his trial.

“Nil, is there some ability that lets someone see their fears before the trial?” he asked.

Entering philosophical territory again, dear boy? Nil sighed. There have always been stories about awakened sensing what a trial was. Some suggested it was an effect of predictive combat splitting, or a very high mind level… or a very high perception level. The truth is that no one knows for certain. It’s a phenomenon that has been observed to occur, though most often than not it’s wrong. Why? Do you have an idea what you’re going to face?

“I think I do.”

No sooner had Dallion said so, than he felt an explosion of instances resulting from a powerful combat splitting. Seconds later, hundreds of instances came into view. They were everywhere: on walls that were floors, on floors that were rooftops… all of them having the exact same face.

“Vend,” Dallion whispered.

The instances of the elite disappeared, leaving only his true self.

“Surprised to see me?” Dallion’s former mentor asked.

“I was expecting March. I thought she’d be the one to keep me moving on.”

“Wow.” Vend laughed. “Directly aiming for the big guns. Even in your mind, you aren’t strong enough to handle her yet. Don’t be too disappointed, though. I was made lieutenant, so it should be something of a consolation.”

“You’ve not Vend.”

“True, but I am created based on what you know, and since Nil is in your realm, what he knows counts as well.”

If the old echo was here right now, Dallion would have turned to glare at him. Nil had known about Vend’s promotion and hadn’t said a word? The fact that he was aware was understandable. After all, Nil’s original was a captain and, as such, was supposed to know who got promoted to an important position. The point that bothered Dallion was Nil not saying a thing about it. Come to think of it, Vend himself hadn’t said a word when he had gone to see Dallion in Performer’s Plaza.

It wasn’t the time, dear boy, Nil said. It’s not that I feared how you’d react. Rather, I didn’t see that piece of information as particularly important. You did make it a point to stay away from the guild and not inquire about it.

All that was true, although Dallion would have still preferred to find out in some other fashion.

“So, you’re my final trial.” Dallion kept his composure.

“Final is a big word, but yes, I’m the one keeping you from reaching the next gate. But you’re already figured that out, haven’t you? That’s the reason you never came to visit. Deep inside, you feared that something in the Icepicker guild would pull you back, preventing you from going forward. You know it’s irrational, right?”

It wasn’t irrational. In fact, it was a lot more complicated than the Vend echo was making it out to be. It was true that Dallion still felt some guilt about leaving the guild as he did. However, he was also afraid of being betrayed by people he considered close… or, in turn, betraying them.

“Does it matter?” Dallion drew his harpsisword. “All I have to do is defeat you.”

“Not quite.”

Without warning, Dallion felt a brief bur sharp pain in the upper area of his back.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has been decreased by 5%

A red rectangle appeared in front of Dallion. Immediately, he split into six instances and looked in all directions. There was no one to be seen. However, reaching for the source of the pain, Dallion felt the hilt of a dagger. As was normal, he attempted to pull it out.

“Stop!” Vend said sharply. “At least for the moment.”

Dallion paused.

“That’s a dagger of betrayal,” Vend explained. “You never know when it’ll happen, but when it does, there’s no defense. Or rather, no obvious defense. There are only two rules: while the dagger is in you, it permanently decreases your health so that even Lux cannot heal you.”

That was annoying. It meant that the more betrayals Dallion received, the greater his disadvantage would become.

“The second rule is—"

“That I can’t take it out,” Dallion finished the sentence.

“No. Betrayal cannot be contained, so the moment you take it out, you’ll hurt another. That might not sound too bad… until you factor in the pure meaning of the world. The only people you can betray are friends.”

A chill swept through Dallion. Quickly, he let go of the hilt. In the context of the trial, he had realized exactly what that meant: by removing the daggers, he would be harming his familiars and guardians. From a gamer’s point of view this didn’t sound too bad. All that was necessary was a bit of math in order to distribute Dallion’s overall damage among him and his “team.” However, in reality, it was still going to be a betrayal, and the ones he did it to would remember it, even if they didn’t immediately say a word.

“What’s the catch?” Dallion asked.

“You’ve become remarkably suspicious. Has that naïve boy who thought he could defeat March during the guild entrance test finally grown up?”

“I’m still me. I just know there’s always a catch.”

“Not so much a catch than a solution. As I said, betrayal can only be done to someone close. It can also only be done by someone close as well. There’s one or more entities in your group that are secretly betraying you. And no, you won’t be able to use your music skills to determine who. As long as that entity is on the battlefield, you’ll continue to get a dagger in the back every now and again. Of course, if you remove the guardian, or familiar, in question, they won’t be able to keep hurting you.”

That was the reverse of the phrase keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. In this case, the “enemies” were already too close. It would be simple for Dallion to unsummon everyone and attempt to take on Vend one-on-one. Rather, it would have been simple if the battlefield wasn’t an ever-shifting paradox cube.

“Everyone has a different solution to passing the trial,” Vend said. “There’s no right or wrong about it, as long as you cope with the consequences. Why do you think Eury avoids echoes like the plague?”

You’re just lying, Dallion told himself. That’s what trial echoes did—lied, exploiting the awakened’s fears.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has been decreased by 5%

Another dagger pierced Dallion, right beneath the left shoulder blade.

“Don’t take too long,” Vend said. “Betrayal has a nasty habit of stacking up until you’re done.”