Back on Earth, Dallion had seen dozens of traveling videos, each stressing the beauty of this or that vista. Some of the times they were even telling the truth. Nothing, however, had prepared him for the sight before him now. Not even the awakened realms, as beautiful as they were, could compare to the real thing. If the Moons had created the world, they had pulled all the stops.

The crowds of the trees formed a sea almost up to the clouds. The green canopy extended over five hundred feet above the ground, disappearing east beyond the horizon. No wonder that the empire hadn’t expanded in that direction, leaving the forest for lumber instead. Looking back, Dallion was almost able to see the village he’d set off from, positioned at the edge of the plain that continued eastwards to Nerosal and beyond. The city itself wasn’t visible, although Dallion could guess its approximate location thanks to a few mountains in the distance.

Anything? he asked.

Lots of trees, Gleam replied. No giant hole, if that’s what you’re asking.

Dallion never expected there to be one. What he was really hoping to find was a patch deprived of forest. From his position he could see several such in the close vicinity, though none of them were large enough to hold a dragon, at least according to the size Nil had given him.

Lux?

The firebird chirped. It didn’t seem to have found anything of particular interest, either. This was a case in which Dallion wished he had the ability to see through the eyes of his familiars. Things would have been much faster, then.

What about those mountains? Dallion asked, looking to the west.

Technically, they were more hills than mountains, rising a puny several hundred feet above the forest line.

No idea, Gleam replied. Haven’t been there.

Why not?

They aren’t holes. They are the exact opposite of a hole, in fact.

Gleam… that’s why I said to look at things that are different. A dragon can still hide there.

Fine, the shardfly replied with the annoyance of a sister pestered by a much younger brother.

Dallion watched as the whip blade split the air, making its way to the spot in question. Unlike Lux’s method of travel, this took about half a minute. Meanwhile, the firebird kept jumping from empty spot to empty spot almost instantaneously. That was definitely an interesting way to check every meadow. It was as if the familiar had found a way to brute-force searching.

What do you know? Seems you were somewhat right, Gleam said after a while, still reluctant to admit Dallion’s success.

You found it?

I found a lot of crumbled rock patches. No idea when exactly the creature was here, but it definitely passed through at some point. Want me to fetch you?

No need, Dallion said quickly. I’ll walk. Just show me where you are exactly.

The “mountain” in question was merely a few miles away. It was a huge clump of rocks dropped there—potentially the result of meteor spells or some other destructive magic—partially covered with vegetation in time. Definitely a suitable place for something large to make its lair there.

Both of you come back now, Dallion said as he started his climb down the tree.

Lux was the first to arrive, of course. Filling Dallion’s domain with chirping, the firebird boasted finding two villages during its search, even if a fair distance away. The information was useful. Once Dallion checked out the mountain, he was going to pass through to ask about certain things. Given that the creature was an ex-dragon, there was a lot more that needed answering, for example, who was involved in its death.

Nil, what’s the relation between magic creatures and cracklings?

Not of any major significance, I’m afraid, the echo replied. They don’t particularly like each other, but they aren’t mortal enemies or anything like that. They avoid the other’s territory if they are weaker, don’t if they are stronger, and that’s about it.

So, if there was a dragon living here, it would have prevented any cracklings from appearing?

So would have a lot of other things. You’re grasping at straws, dear boy.

That was true, Dallion very much was doing just that. However, he couldn’t suppress the feeling that the two were related. Hopefully, this hunt was going to provide some answers.

Dallion kept on walking in the direction of the mountain until the late afternoon. At that point, the path twisted north, forcing him to continue through the forest itself. The progress became much slower, mostly due to the size of his backpack. For a moment, he considered the option of jumping from tree to tree like a squirrel, but decided against it; it was going to attract too much attention for next to no benefit.

As night came, so did the local predators. They were very different from the ones in the steppes. Size was an impediment in the denseness of the forest, so most deadly creatures, as well as their prey, had to be smaller, nimbler, and faster. The first to try their luck and attack had the appearance of extremely long pole-cats, or a cross between a legged snake and a squirrel. With extremely sharp claws and teeth, they dashed between trees, often lumping from one to another, leaping down on their targets.

Catching them was elementary for Dallion—he could hear them approach over a hundred feet away, and their speed seemed outright slow. Initially, he didn’t kill the attackers, but when it became clear that even the creatures he’d knocked out weren’t going to stop, he was forced to show in unequivocal fashion that he wasn’t something to be considered food. It was the rule of the jungle, and even if they weren’t cracklings or any other monstrous creatures, this remained the wilderness; and in the wilderness to survive meant to be ready to kill.

If you’re squeamish, I can take care of it, Gleam said.

“I’m not squeamish, I just don’t find it necessary,” Dallion said.

Where do you think the people from the last village got their furs?

“From there, no doubt. That’s not what I’m here for, though.”

Even so, Dallion used the experience to increase his zoology skill. At present, it was the lowest of his skills, and the only one he wasn’t in a hurry to increase. Actually, passing the gate had stopped him worrying about skill increases at all. It was said that increasing his level would grant new and far stronger buffs, but there was little point in using all his energy to boost them up. Dallion had reached the level at which it was natural for him to improve items for entirely different reasons. Being able to improve forty items per day, he could reach the next cap of most of his skills in a week, however, he didn’t see the point to rush, at least not until he finished this task. As Nil often said, skills were also another crutch if a person relied on them more than on strategic thinking.

By morning, there was a noticeable change in Dallion’s surroundings—a faint but consistent draft. Focusing, he tried using his layer vision to look between the trees as much as possible. Sadly, even so, it was impossible to see anything other than trees.

“Gleam, am I close?” he asked.

The whip blade flew up.

You’re not close, you’re there, the shardfly said after a short while. Keep on going and you’ll be there in a few minutes.

At first, Dallion thought she was exaggerating, but after a few minutes the forest began to thin. The space between trees increased, filled up by new vegetation. Soon enough, the forest changed into something closer to a rainforest back on earth, and then to a normal forest, starting to creep up the foot of a mountain. Large chunks of rock were visible sticking out of the ground in places, confirming the change.

The further Dallion went, the sparser the forest became, until it was entirely replaced by patches of grass between rocks. It was at that point that Dallion saw the first traces of crackling activity. It was easy to see exactly where the avians had roosted—the rocks were much darker and brittle to touch.

Is there any way to tell how long it’s been since a crackling was here? He asked.

No, but I can tell you how long they have been on this spot, Nil replied. More than a week, less than a month.

That doesn’t give me much to go by.

I can also tell you that they’ve returned to the spot at least once.

How can you tell that?

Look at the zones of damage. They spread from the point of contact, forming a circle. The longer the crackling remains, the larger the circle gets.

Circles within circles. Dallion was able to see it clearly now. That meant that the creatures had remained here for a while, then left, and returned later for a short while. At the moment that gave Dallion everything he needed. Leaving his backpack and most of his gear, he then returned to the forest.

Don’t you think that’s a bit reckless, dear boy? Nil asked.

Gleam will keep an eye out.

That’s not the point…

There’s no chance that the avians will come here without a reason. The only way to get them is to use bait. If any of them find my backpack appetizing enough, all the better.

You’re relying on the idea that they still have a desire to eat at all.

They were hungry enough to attack a village. And since I doubt that they have a sense of smell, sound must be what’s attracting them.

Please don’t tell me you’re planning to capture an animal to use as bait…

You’re half right. I’ll catch something, but it won’t be the bait.

Hunting normal creatures proved to be elementary. After spending half a year hunting dangerous and exotic beasts, this felt like a walk in the park. In less than an hour, Dallion had caught five different representatives of the local fauna, but his goal wasn’t to use them as dead or living bait. Rather, all he did was use his music skills to copy the sounds they made.

Thanks to his perception level, and Harp’s guidance, Dallion used his harpsisword to link to the creature, then match the exact sound sequence they used to make their cry. The process required him to enter the awakened realms more than once. Achieving such a feat, at least initially, was impossible without guiding markers. Even with them, it was no easy task. Dallion not only had to pull the right strings at the right time as a harp, but he also had to deliberately force several different sounds to clash together. The closest way to describe it was to simultaneously play twenty different chords on twenty different guitars, while at the same time using just one. It required perfect perception, extreme speed, and a good grasp of music skills.

To match the cry of the first captured creature—a rather large and colorful bird—Dallion had to spend half a day in the awakened realms, not to mention increase his music skills three times in the process. Even then, the result was somewhat lacking.

Following Harp’s advice, Dallion increased his skill several more times before trying again. That time, the outcome was considerably better, allowing him to move on to the next species.

When he was done, Dallion was able to mimic the sounds of two birds, a fox-like creature with flexible ribs, something the appearance of a tapir, and the local hare variant. In the process, his music skills had reached fifty-two. And while Dallion would have preferred to be able to milk something more appetizing, such as a cow, he returned to the spot on the mountain and started playing.

Sounds of a menagerie of creatures filled the air, far louder than any specimen could achieve. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have fooled anyone at all. However, as Dallion suspected from the Star’s brief attempt to turn him into a chainling, cracklings didn’t perceive subtle differences in the real world.

In the late afternoon, several hours before sunset, a small flock became visible in the air.