When the realm had first been populated, it must have had millions of inhabitants. There was no telling how many of those had been otherworlders, but the number had to have been significant. The map showed several large cities with several smaller ones. The population had been large and vibrant to the point that trade routes were also marked, forming a line from one end of the realm to the other, like one giant spine of the world. A lot had changed since then.

So far there had been one common element among world items: their inhabitants were not used to infinity. In the real world, millennia had passed since the fall of the dryads; here it was more like millions of years. Even with the powers of the awakened and the guardians preserving the realms as best they could, it was an impossible task, especially if—as Nil suggested—the entire concept was flawed.

Shiny! Shiny! Shiny! The bird kept repeating.

It had the appearance of a large parrot, but its behavior was similar to the gulls that Dallion had encountered in the fallen south.

After you tell me what I need to know, Dallion closed his hand around the belt buckle. Without the ability to summon, he couldn’t get any ingots or metal fragments to serve as currency. However, he still had his outfit. Are there any creatures in the sea?

Sea? What’s a sea? The parrot asked, confusion ballooning within him.

This here. Dallion tapped on the map.

The bird turned its head sideways to get a look.

The desert? Nothing but insects in the desert and only near the edges. There’s no water there. No one can cross it. Only eagles are strong enough to fly over.

That answered a few questions. It also suggested that the all port cities marked on the map probably were no more.

Do you know of any other towers? Like the ones back there?

Shiny first! The bird squawked and flapped its wings.

Seeing its patience diminishing, Dallion tossed the belt buckle at it. The creature flapped up, grabbing it with its feet. There was a time when Dallion would have had trouble fighting something as fast. Now, though, both knew what the outcome would be far before it started.

No towers. The parrot flew away.

Not the answer Dallion had hoped for. It didn’t mean there weren’t any cities, though. After all, the city of towers had been the third largest city at the time the map was made. That suggested that two more might have survived to the present day as well.

“What did it say?” Euryale asked, eating some roasted meat on a stick.

“The sea has become a desert. Also, there aren’t any other towers in the realm.”

“Desert? I didn’t expect that.”

“We haven’t seen any snow in this place, so I guess there’s some logic to it.” Although that didn’t explain where the water had vanished to. With realms being closed systems, it had to be here still, probably filling the abundant vegetation or deep beneath ground. “I think—”

COMBAT INITIATED

Dallion burst into instances. In several of them, he drew his sword, while the rest quickly spread out to determine where the threat was coming from. As he did, one of his instances got slashed out of existence.

WORLD CREATURE

Species: FUR SNAKE

Class: GLASS

Health: 100%

Traits: UNKNOWN

Skills:

- Attack

- Defend

- Light Flash (Unique)

- Coil (Unique)

- Tail slash (Unique)

A white rectangle emerged as Dallion got a better look at the creature.

“I’ll handle it,” he said, dashing at it through the trees. Eury continued eating, not in the least concerned. She could defeat the creature with the wink of the eye. Dallion, though, strongly disliked facing this specific predator; it was vicious, fast, and could not be reasoned with to such a point that Dallion was unable to learn its language. At least it was alone and not in a pack.

Coiling around the trees like a furry cluster of optical fibers, the snake swung its tail at Dallion, aiming to slice his arm off. In one of his instances, it succeeded. Two more attempted to block the attack with the harpsisword only to have it coin around the weapon and pierce Dallion’s neck.

That was the most annoying aspect of the creature—the extreme flexibility allowing it to go around any obstacle as if it weren’t there. Dallion often felt it was like fighting water, and if it wasn’t for his proficiency in combat splitting, he would have been in serious trouble.

Focusing on its target, the snake let out a flash of light, blinding nearly all of Dallion’s instances, then propelled itself art him. This time, Dallion used his full combat splitting, pulling the creature into a reality in which it missed its target by a whisker.

The sharp tail passed by, shredding Dallion’s sleeve and causing a few harmless scars beneath. Dallion, however, was prepared, meeting it with his thread splitter.

Instinct caused the creature to try to coil around the blade of the weapon. Unfortunately for it, the blade had an edge that could cut through clouds. Several chunks of the snake fell off almost instantly.

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 200%

Three red rectangles stacked up.

Pain caused the serpent to twist in agony and confusion. Dallion was quick to take advantage by partially splitting as he performed twenty different attacks.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

Like an old power cable, the snake had its life drain away, falling into pieces to the ground. Just to make sure, Dallion did another combat split, slicing up what was left of it. Then, checking his shoulder, he returned to Eury.

“You’re getting better,” the gorgon said. “Just a scratch this time.” Several of her snakes focused on his sleeve. “Want me to take care of that for you?”

“I’ll do it later,” he replied. “I need the practice.”

The gorgon shrugged. “In that case, let’s keep going. I’d like to reach the guardian before dark.”

“Sure.” That’s what she had said the previous day. Sadly, the surprisingly high number of predator attacks had slowed them down by a day so far.

Dallion was still somewhat confused why that had happened. It was normal for creatures to attack those who ventured in their domain, but not when the power level was so obviously not in their favor. The first few, he could understand, but it seemed that more and more creatures of the same species were having a go. Part of him wondered whether that wasn’t due to the guardian, but that didn’t seem to be his style. Based on Dallion’s previous experience, dryad guardians liked to take part in their own fights. Maybe things were different here?

Walking through the forest continued. After another few hours, they were in the area where the map indicated the temple was supposed to be. Now all that was needed was for them to find the remains of the temple itself.

“See anything?” Dallion asked.

“Nothing that has been disturbed. You?”

Dallion concentrated. There didn’t seem to be any emotions bleeding through the trees.

“No. But I think I might know a way to get him to find us.”

Taking a deep breath, Dallion split into a hundred instances. In all but one instance, Dallion drew his harpsisword and did a line attack, slicing through the forest as if it were grass. Hundreds of trees fell down in unison, transforming the grove into a meadow of stumps. Then, when it was all over, Dallion reverted back to the single instance of him doing nothing and repeated the process. This time, fifty other instances emerged to stop him—fifty instances of a dryad.

“Did you really have to do this?” one of the instances asked. “It’s painful to watch.”

Immediately, Dallion stopped the combat splitting, causing all his extra instances to disappear. The guardian did the same. The only difference was that no dryads remained in the vicinity. Apparently, he had kept a few hidden.

“A gorgon and a human,” a deep voice said, coming from everywhere around. “Never thought I’d see that sight. But there’s no telling what could have happened in the real world. I take it we didn’t win?”

“Not exactly.” Dallion looked around, trying to make out where the dryad was hiding. By the sound of it, he was using multiple echoes to talk to them.

“You were banished,” Eury said, getting straight to the point. “Your entire race. All dryads are now nothing but guardians. Many have even gone feral.”

“Spoken like a typical gorgon.” The guardian didn’t sound overly pleased. “However, after all this time, having a proper conversation, even with someone like you, is better than nothing.”

A dryad walked out from behind the forest.

“Just to let you know, I’m an echo,” he said. “Just because I missed talking to someone doesn’t mean I’ve lost my sense of preservation.”

“Weren’t guardians supposed to be invincible?” Dallion asked.

“We both know that if it came to it, you’d easily win. Isn’t that right, initiates?”

Up close the dryad seemed a lot less majestic than Dallion imagined. He wasn’t old, nor feebly, just extremely ordinary. Dressed in brownish clothes of some rough fabric, he could pass as a trapper or even a herder.

“So?” The guardian leaned on a tree. “How’s it out there?”

“Interesting.” Dallion chose not to mention anything about the plague, the Star, or the ongoing fight with the rogue mage. “Humans rule the world now.”

“Humans?” The dryad sounded surprised. “I was sure that the dwarves would have taken over. With their ability to make weapons, I’d have thought they’d easily mop up all that was left after our attempt. Guess I was wrong. Did the Star find new allies?”

“Sort of,” Dallion hesitated.

“The Star hasn’t been a concern for generations,” Euryale interrupted. “It’s kingdom against kingdom now.”

“So there still isn’t any grand empire? Maybe that’s for the better. When emperors rise, they always try to do the same. And no matter how strong they are, the Star always manages to take advantage. I take it you’re the new owners of the aura sword?”

“We’re just an expedition,” Eury lied again. “And that’s not why we’re here?”

“Spoken like a true ruler.” All emotion vanished from the dryad’s expression. “So, tell me. Why are you here?”

“We heard that there should be a temple here. That’s what we’re interested in. Not you.”

“I and my temple are one and the same. Why do you need it?”

Euryale didn’t reply. She could easily have gone on lying, but even she realized that wasn’t going to get her anywhere. The guardian could well be weaker than either of them, but defeating him wouldn’t bring them any closer to getting out of the realm.

“Tell him,” she told Dallion in her native language.

“We need the temple to get out of here,” Dallion said. “We’re not an expedition. We were banished here and are looking for a way out.”

“Banished in a realm? That’s something I hadn’t seen in quite a while, not since our grand and powerful leader did it to all the otherworlders and their families. A small price to win the war, we were told. And a failsafe. You must be dealing with someone who’s adept in magic. Maybe it’s better for you to remain here? A mage powerful enough to put you in here might be difficult to handle.”

“We’ll take our chances on the outside. If we stay here, we’ll become like the dryads in the city of towers.”

“Yes, them.” The guardian sighed. “Not all of them are bad, but there are less and less bright ones with each generation. In a few thousand years I’m not sure there will be any awakened at all.”

“So you see why we need to get to your temple?”

“I’m sure you do. Sadly, you won’t be the first not to get what you need or want.”

“Why not?” Eury took a step towards him.

“Because, your highness, it doesn’t exist. I’m all that’s left.”