You have broken through your fifty-eighth barrier

Your level has increased to 58

Choose the trait that will serve you best

The green rectangle emerged as Dallion landed on the floor. Veil had already vanished, making Dallion feel slightly sad. He would have liked to have chatted a bit more with the echo, even if he knew that it wasn’t the real Veil. Still, there was nothing stopping him from visiting Dherma on his way back.

Without hesitation, Dallion chose the reaction trait, increasing it to thirty-one. It was funny how much he had neglected it. Upon entering this world, it was the first that he had chosen, making him—in his mistaken opinion—“crazy fast.” Since then, though, he had only maintained it out of a sense of balance. Now, it was clear that he had to boost it up a bit. Sadly, that wasn’t the only thing he had to boost.

There was a time when having thirty on a skill seemed out of this world. Now all his stats seemed laughably low, and not only them. There was no reason for Dallion not to have increased his skills to their level cap. The only reason he didn't was because he considered it a bother.

Confidence is a tricky thing, Nil said. Too much or too little and you’re practically fighting against yourself.

“Is that your way of telling me that I’ve become arrogant?” Dallion asked.

Deep inside, he knew that he had a bit. Being a hunter came with certain advantages that he now took for granted. In the past, he had to have others vouch for him, even as an awakened. After he’d received his hunter’s emblem—even that of an apprentice—he was pretty much welcome anywhere.

It’s not your fault, everyone goes through it. Even I have. It’s a normal part of an awakened’s development.

“You keep saying that a lot.” Dallion summoned his harpsisword and did a series of artistic strikes and slashes.

The markers had long vanished since the end of the trial, but that didn’t stop him from experimenting with certain combos. As he did, Dallion thought back to the time when the village chief had placed a limiting echo in his realm. If memory served, the annoying entity had used quills to attack him.

“Nil, any idea how writing can be used for combat?”

That would be called gossip and rumors, dear boy.

“Very funny.”

Actually, it isn’t. It’s one of the skills frequently used in high society.

“I thought that music did that.”

Music changes emotional states. Words can kill. The echo’s tone became darker. And, as you know, in the awakened realms everything that could be is.

“The pen is mightier than the sword,” Dallion thought. Concentrating, he focused on a part of the wall, thinking of the first insults that came to mind. To his surprise, a series of quills appeared in the air above him, and flew forward, sticking into the wall, like darts on a dartboard.

Poor performance, but you get the gist. Music relies on emotion, writing relies on logic. Combine words with attack and you have a sharp and deadly tongue.

“Can I combine them with music, too?” Dallion wondered.

You can combine pretty much anything with anything, you just have to know how and be very skilled in it.

Dallion was about to ask something else when his stomach gurgled. Combining so many skills in combat had been quite exhausting, and now his body was reminding him that it needed energy, in the form of food, to make up for the losses. The sensation put a smile on Dallion’s face. It had been a while since he experienced it. And as Eury liked to say: not feeling tired is an indication that one isn’t trying their best.

A moment later, the room had vanished. Dallion was back in the jungle, and eager to start eating. Thankfully, Gleam had managed to find “proper wood,” the trunk of which she brought back to Dallion’s section of the jungle. Impressed how powerful she was at level two, Dallion was almost scared to think what she’d become at level five. Everything considered, it wasn’t a bad idea to let her deal with some of the local inhabitants as well.

It took several long hours for Dallion to prepare and cook the food he had procured. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but with time being limited, he found the process wastefully long. Unlike most other things, cooking was something he had no control over.

The fish were remarkably tasty, even if Dallion didn’t have much in terms of seasoning. Most of them were eaten on the spot, almost as he prepared them. The rest were carefully packed and stored in his giant backpack. For good measure, and a bit of practice, Dallion proceeded to mend his backpack, as well as improve it eight times, with the explicit goal of increasing his attack to eighty. For a moment there was a glimmer of hope that Dallion would be able to do some of the attacks that he’d seen Veil perform, but that was quickly dashed. Clearly, there were some things he’d never be able to achieve.

Once Dallion was done with eating and packing, he continued on his way. Surrounding the underground lake, he continued South. Lux and Gleam were sent to search for other towers, or prominent ruins, while Dallion kept Ruby and the shardflies nearby.

I found it! I found it! Lux said within Dallion’s realm.

You found the towers? Dallion asked, full of joy.

No. I found a temple that is much bigger than the towers! It’s a whole pyramid!

The first reaction was disappointment. As Dallion thought about it, though, his opinion changed. Fist towers, now a pyramid. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but coincidences kept on piling up. So far, he had seen nothing in this world that remotely resemble such architecture. Towers and pyramids were common, and yet they were largely absent, as was the furniture design he had seen in the broken tower. There was little doubt in his mind that someone from Earth had made this. By all accounts, it seemed that Arthurows was from Earth after all, and had been here for a very long time.

Lux, go up in the sky and start glowing so I see where you are, Dallion ordered as he climbed up the nearest palm tree. Since it wasn’t the tallest one in the area, he had to do some jumping from tree to tree until he got an unimpeded view of the sky. At that point, he concentrated. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any trace of the kaleidervisto.

Nice try, dear boy, but you’re not a gorgon.

“I don’t have to be.” Dallion burst into a dozen instances. Lux, give me one bright flash.

A blue dot of light shimmered in the sky. It only lasted less than a second, but it was enough for Dallion to determine the direction. From there, all that was needed was some actual legwork.

It had been a while since Dallion had combined athletics and acrobatics for such a stretch of time. Doing so was exhausting, but in this instance, it was the best option possible. In passing, he sensed a fair number of creatures, some best left undisturbed. Thanks to his speed, or maybe pure luck, none of them decided to chase after him. To be on the safe side, Dallion told the shardflies not to cut up anything along the way. There were a few cases of something snatching some of Dallion’s instances, though thankfully it never came to an actual fight. Given the speed with which the instances were snatched, Dallion found no reason to complain or look back.

After close to an hour, and when he was well out of the jungle, Dallion decided to rest on a sand dune. Naturally, he didn’t stop splitting. As Nil had pointed out, it was very likely for there to be something beneath the sand. Just because Dallion couldn’t sense it with his present skills was by no means a guarantee.

As he sat down a bit, Dallion used the opportunity to have a bit, and a lot of water. There was still a long way to go, but at least he could see the temple in the distance. Just to make sure he had Lux approach. His suspicions were confirmed moments later when the kaleidervisto appeared a short distance above his head.

Gleam, you can get here, Dallion thought.

Any hint where “here” is? she grumbled in response.

“Lux, can you find her?”

Before Dallion could add anything else, the kaleidervisto had disappeared again. One could only hope that it wouldn’t get into trouble. There was such a thing as being too eager.

“How much time do you think I have?” Dallion asked. “A week? Ten days?”

About that, I’d gather, Nil mused. If you aren’t wounded and there’s nothing chasing you, I guess you should make it. Personally, I’d give you a week.

“A week…” It wasn’t a lot. So far, Dallion had only been in the canyon for two days and already it seemed incredibly vast. For all intents and purposes, it was almost as if it were its own world—a place that the Moons forgot. The only problem was that they hadn’t forgotten. Rather, they had deliberately kept it isolated from the rest of the world.

Looking at the tip of the pyramid in the distance, Dallion thought back to what he had seen in the temples within the world sword. There were carvings of the Eighth Moon in a few chambers there. With all ruins here being significantly older, there was every chance that there would be more information. Also, it posed other questions. The Star being from Earth would explain modern—at least post-Renaissance—architecture and interior design concepts. However, it wouldn’t explain how the knowledge was present millennia ago, unless time moved differently between worlds. That could well mean that no one had even noticed Dallion was missing. In fact, it was even possible that he hadn’t officially gone missing at all.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll find the dragonlet, Nil said. It’s not even certain it’s here.

“It’s here. I’m sure of it.”

Because you feel so?

“Because of the Green Moon in the sky.”

I’ll take your work for it, there was a note of concern in the echo’s choice mixed with envy. Since we’ve been here, I’ve yet to see a single Moon. Although that doesn’t guarantee there weren’t any.

The comment didn’t surprise Dallion as much as it used to. He knew that the Moons tended to hide from those they didn’t want to be seen by. However, why had he seen two Moons? The Green Moon, he could understand, but the Red one? More and more, it was starting to look like this wasn’t going to be a simple case of finding the creature and taking it out of the canyon. There was going to be fighting involved.

“It’s here,” Dallion repeated. “All I have to do is find it.”

Guys, I’m heading for the pyramid, Dallion said in his realm. Got there directly. If you’re there before me, don’t enter.

Dallion was just about to make the first step, when he felt the harpsisword vibrate on his back.

Harp? he asked. What’s the matter?

Don’t falter, she said in a voice created from musical sounds. Whatever happens, I’ll be with you.

Is that Star there? he asked. That was the only reason for her to reassure him in this manner.

I’m not sure. I’m not as free as I once was. Something is there, and it is linked to the Star, but I don’t know if it’s him.

Dallion nodded. There was going to be a fight, after all. It was a lot sooner than he hoped it would be, although he had no illusions that he’d be able to avoid it. So far, he had faced the Star twice and each time he had been saved by the Moon’s rules. A casual observer might say that Dallion had two victories, but the truth was that they weren’t victories, but rather reprieves. If the Star really was there, this was going to be the real thing, and this time Dallion could no longer rely on the Moons to help him out.