“Welcome, initiate,” the curate greeted Dallion with a slight bow. “This way, if you please.”

The queue of people wanting to enter the temple was enormous, circling the massive building twice. However, thanks to his awakening rank, Dallion was considered the equivalent to a cleric.

To say that the temple was different from the shrine in Nerosal was a massive understatement. The building—referred to as a cathedral—was larger than a noble’s palace. Every brick, statue, or decoration was flawless, polished to perfection to the point that boards had to be built since there was no way of pinning them to the walls themselves.

The curate—a polite girl in her late teens—escorted him through thick carpeted corridors to a massive oval chamber which had mosaics of the seven Moons ten feet high. Six of the seven representations were clearly visible, composed of a humanoid representation of the Moon in question with the actual satellite in the background. The last Dallion couldn’t make out. Apparently, the Purple Moon of magic remained hidden to him even here.

“I shall leave you to your prayers,” the curate said, then briskly turned around to leave.

“Hold on,” Dallion said.

Not expecting this, the girl paused, then turned around, fear emanating from her very being.

“Yes, initiate?”

“I’d like to go to an altar.”

“An awakening altar, initiate?” There was a slight tremble in her voice.

“Is there any other kind?”

“No, initiate. It’s just… one such as yourself cannot improve through an awakening altar.”

“I know. I still want to enter it. You have a level twenty altar, right?”

“Yes, initiate, but you cannot improve through an awakening altar.”

That already showed that there would be problems. Dallion could understand that what he was asking seemed illogical, but still found her reluctance strange. It was like watching a computer game NPC be asked something that wasn’t in the game’s options.

“Am I not allowed to go to an altar?” Dallion asked, arching a brow.

“You can, initiate. It’s just that…”

Please don’t say it.

“You cannot improve through an awakening altar.”

“I don’t want to improve. I just want to—”

“I’ll take it from here,” a dry voice said to the side of Dallion. It was slightly concerning that Dallion hadn’t noticed the person approach. “You can return to your duties.”

“Yes, cleric.” The curate bowed in relief, then rushed off before anyone could change their minds.

That was slightly awkward. Hopefully now Dallion was going to get his request fulfilled. Just in case, it was better to come up with a more plausible explanation than “I’ve come to upgrade my dragon.”

“Look.” Dallion turned towards the cleric. “The thing is—” he abruptly stopped. The person standing in front of him was a standard cleric, roughly his age, dressed in a simple cyan hooded tunic. The most noticeable feature of him was that the man was an albino. “Cleric?” Dallion asked.

“It’s been a while, Dal,” the other said with a faint smile. “Or should I say, initiate?”

The man was the first cleric Dallion had seen way back when he had been recruited for the hunt of the chainling. At the time, everyone had considered the albino cold, grumpy, and not to be trifled with. He had created a poor first impression by stating that Dallion was so low level that he would never amount to anything, but later had taken part in Dallion’s hairbrained scheme to annoy the chainling. He was also the first person Dallion had met to be gifted the magic trait. Unfortunately, fate, or the Moons, had played a cruel joke on him by not granting him the actual skill to perform magic. Thus, the man had denied the ability of becoming a mage, having his name erased from existence and replaced by the common descriptor “Cleric.”

“Level sixty-one.” The albino nodded, impressed. “And nine skills. You’ve definitely surpassed me.”

“Can you see my familiars as well?”

Cleric’s smile widened for a moment, suggesting that was a distinct possibility.

“You said you wanted to go to an altar. Why?”

“There’s something I need to do,” Dallion replied evasively. To be honest, he was expecting to spend a lot more catching up. Clearly, the albino’s character hadn’t changed one bit in all this time. Still, it was good seeing him. “I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed.”

“It’s not. It’s just unusual enough to have the younger ones ask questions.” He looked at the nearest mosaic. “Can you see all of them?”

“No. Just six. If it’s just unusual, it means I can go, right?”

“It depends. I can take you to any of the level five altars without issue. Possible to a ten as well. The twenty, however.” He shook his head. “That one is reserved to nobles and the order itself.”

And anyone with deep pockets, Dallion said to himself. Sadly, while he was carrying a fortune, it didn’t belong to him. His own funds were rather low at the moment.

“Can an exception be made?”

“The bishop has the power to do so. However, he’s away on business with the Archduke.”

“And his deputy? Can he make it happen?”

“I am his deputy,” Cleric said.

The revelation sounded stranger than Dallion expected it to be. Logically, it was obvious that the albino had the skills and experience to perform such duties. He had magic, after all, and despite his young appearance, he was at least a thousand years old in true time.

“But I need a reason. I still have him to answer to, and having an initiate use the level twenty altar isn’t something that would pass unnoticed.”

For a moment Dallion considered sharing the real reason. Doing so, however, would give away his greatest advantage. This could well be the home of the Moons, but as Dallion knew from experience, the Star found ways to worm itself even into clerics.

“I need to fulfill a task in the service of Felygn,” he said. While strictly speaking that wasn’t a lie, Dallion felt uncomfortable. Technically, training the dragonlet was something he had promised the Green Moon, since the deity had put Dark in his care. Of course, that was just one interpretation of the facts.

Cleric crossed his arms.

“You’ve come up with some crazy idea again, haven’t you?” the albino whispered. “Just like that time.”

Dallion remained silent. Concentrating on his music skills, he tried to focus on the cleric in the hopes he’d sense some of his emotions. Alas, there was nothing there, almost as if the man didn’t exist.

Don’t be surprised, dear boy, Nil said. Those lacking skills often learn new ways of using their traits. It’s not as efficient, but that doesn’t make it less powerful.

“Alright,” Cleric said at last. “This way, initiate.”

Three cages of sky steel surrounded the altar. As he approached, Dallion was able to feel a presence of something else within the metal. Given that dwarves could pull normal metal bars apart like melted cheese, there had to be some additional countermeasures to keep the altar from being stolen. A pair of armed battle clerics were at each cage door. Receiving a nod from the albino, they proceeded to let Dallion in.

Nice security system, Dallion thought. While the guards were mere seers, Dallion could feel Moon energy emanating from them.

“Here you are.” Cleric stopped a step from the innermost threshold. “Just don’t make a mess.”

“Hey, it’s me.” Dallion winked, making his way to the altar.

Unlike the ones he’d seen before, this one was visibly different. The cyan hexagonal prism in the center was three times as large as each of the rest.

Get ready, Dark. Dallion placed his hand upon it.

SHRINE AWAKENING

A green rectangle appeared, replacing Dallion’s surroundings with a large stone plaza surrounded by columns.

You are in a medium awakening shrine.

Complete the trial to improve your destiny.

So far, so good. Out of curiosity, Dallion made his way to one of the columns. Two archways appeared on either side of the columns. Both of them were completely sealed.

“I guess I really can’t level up,” Dallion said, then did a personal awakening, linking the altar’s awakening realm to his.

A flight of stairs emerged, making its way to the ground. The connection was by no means elegant, but it did the job. Dallion could feel the presence of his echoes and familiars. A few seconds later, July emerged, walking up from the stairs along with Dark in human form. Judging by the way the dragonlet was pouting, the training had probably gone poorly. Or well, depending on the point of view.

“Had fun training?” Dallion asked casually.

“Mind your own business!” Dark grumbled beneath his breath. “I bet you can’t beat her.”

“I never tried,” Dallion laughed. “The whole point was to train, not defeat her.” Harp, what happened?

Nothing much, the harpsisword guardian replied, using her usual means of communication. He’s just upset that there was so much he didn’t know. Also, I told him that he can’t compare to you.

That would explain the hostility. Thanks, Harp. I owe you.

“What’s this place?” Dark asked, still pouting.

“It’s where you’ll level up.”

Sparks of interest emerged within the dragonlet’s chest, then quickly grew to the size of melons.

“More than once,” Dallion added. “I’d like you to try to make it to level twenty. If you’re strong enough. If not, just make it as far as you can.” Although, he strongly hoped that the dragonlet would be able to pull it off. There was no telling when and if Dallion would get access to another level twenty altar again.

“Pfft. That all?” Dark puffed up his chest, which looked almost cartoonish in human form. “I can keep going till I reach a hundred.”

“Each trial is a one-on-one fight against a guardian,” Dallion continued, ignoring the boast. “I won’t be able to help you during the fight, but will be here to watch and give you advice between battles.”

“That’s easy!” The dragonlet shifted to its normal form. Instantly, arches appeared between the twenty columns around the arena. Sixteen of them were sealed off, indicating Dark’s level.

Dallion let out a sigh of relief internally. Four fights wasn’t that bad. He was worried that the number might be twice as large. Besides, these were altar fights. They were a lot easier than what came later.

“You need to walk through the archway to start a fight,” Dallion explained. “Look at the numbers of the open ones and go through the lowest one.”

“Why?” the dragonlet asked, reverting back to human form. For all the advantage its dragon form provided, passing through normal sized archways wasn’t one.

“You’ll get more experience that way.”

Moving closer to the columns, Dark followed the forming wall until an open archway emerged. There, he hesitated. Slowly, he took another few steps to the side, causing a neighboring archway to emerge.

“You’re fighting them in sequence,” Dallion said, fully aware of what the dragonlet was thinking. “If you complete a higher one, you’ll shut off the previous one.”

“Fine!” Dark frowned, then stomped his way towards the archway marked XVII.

The moment the dragonlet passed through the archway, a new area emerged from there on, covering the simple empty plains. This was the first time Dallion had witnessed this happen to someone else. Palm trees shot up from the ground, creating a thick forest, as reed filled bog covered the ground.

Shrine trial 17 chosen!

Prepare for combat!

A blue rectangle appeared in the distance, a few steps away from Dark. The dragonlet took the changes in stride, flying up in the air, though he still didn’t change form.

Thinking back, Dallion realized this would be the first time he’d seen a shrine guardian above level ten. That was a good chance to potentially see what creatures he might face, both in the real world and the awakening realms. Moments later, he had his wish. A series of vines and large bamboo-like shells shot up from the bog, a dozen feet from Dark.

SHRINE GUARDIAN 17

Species: CENTIVINE

Class: SWAMP

Health: 100%

Traits: UNKNOWN

Skills:

- VINESTORM (Species Unique)

- SHIELD COLLAPSE (Species Unique)

- ENTANGLE (Species Unique)

- ATTACK

- GUARD

- ATHLETIC

Weakness: UNDERBELLY