The inside of Havoc’s home was in stark contrast with its outside. Not only was everything mended to perfection, but the man had done quite a few improvements as well. If Dallion didn’t know better, he’d almost say that he was in a rather well-kept inn in some small town.

“Here.” The large man tossed him a glass flask with some clear liquid inside. “I made it myself.”

The strong smell of alcohol quickly told Dallion that it wasn’t something he wanted to sample.

“Thanks, but I’ll need a clear head.” He tossed it back.

“Your loss.” Havoc removed the cork, then took a strong gulp. The strong smell of alcohol filled the room like a cloud, making Dallion struggle not to be caught. “I didn’t think you’d survive more than a year in the wilderness and look at you now. Drop the illusion, please. It hurts my eyes. I don’t have the traits I used to.”

Curiously, Dallion did so. There was no reason for him to feel afraid. The man was more than sixty awakening levels beneath him. In a fight, Havoc would lose in a matter of seconds. And yet, Dallion felt a subtle hint of danger coming from the giant.

“Look at you.” Havoc grinned before taking another swag. “A full initiate with a rare music skill.”

“Hunter,” Dallion corrected.

Havoc whistled.

“If I’d known you’d become one, I’d have given you better advice, chiefly never to become one.”

“Talking from experience?” Dallion went to the window.

He could hear the children outside whispering about him. Some had even tried to peek through the window and see what was going on. Dallion, though, had entered the realm of the village and convinced the guardian to ensure him some privacy. As a result, several of the children had inexplicably tripped in their attempts to spy on the conversation and subsequently run off.

“I thought I was doing you a favor. I guess now you know a lot more of the world. Besides, you turned out well enough. That’s what counts.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me who made me a hunter?”

The large man shrugged, clearly not interested.

“Euryale,” Dallion said.

“Little Eury made a hunter? Didn’t see that coming. At the time, she was having trouble learning the ropes herself.” He tossed the flask on the table. Despite the casual fashion in which he did so, the flask landed perfectly on its bottom without tipping over. “I guess you made it all the way to Linatol, then?”

“Nerosal.” Dallion turned around.

“Nerosal…” Dallion could feel the pain emanating from Havoc as he said the word. “That brings back memories. It used to be a nice city. Now, there’s no telling what it’s become.”

“The second capital of the province. Soon it might become the first.”

The implications were clear. Havoc must have realized, for his smile faded.

“I should have seen it. No one comes here by accident. Don’t know why I thought it would be different for an otherworlder.”

“You knew? I thought you were delevelled.”

“Oh, I was.” Havoc forced a crooked smile. “Brought all the way down to a level three. Well, almost. The Order decided it would be funny if my perception trait was left as it was. I knew you were an otherworlder the moment we met. I can see items with hidden domains change hands, but I can’t tell anyone about them unless they already know. I can mend anything there is, even gold; I can even improve items quite a bit, but only as long as I don’t sell them or give them away. Heck, I can’t even leave the domain of this village without the Archduke’s permission.”

Shivers ran down Dallion’s spine. The restrictions placed on havoc went way beyond a simple banishment. Thinking about it, they had many similarities with the curses placed on Dallion’s grandfather and the former village chief. They too had been delevelled and forbidden from leaving their village. Interestingly enough, both had kept their names.

“What about a countess?” Dallion asked. “Can she let you leave?”

“Are you a countess?” Havoc laughed. “Even if you were, it wouldn’t have worked. The Order was very thorough. Only an archduke or the emperor himself could grant me permission.”

“The Order imposed the restrictions?”

“It’s always the Order. The nobles can get creative all they want, they can erase a name, they can even put an army of echoes in my awakening realm, but the Order has to let them do it. They are the only ones who can legally bypass the rules of the Moons.”

“And the Academy?”

The man didn’t respond.

“It was the Academy that demanded you get this. Certainly they—”

“I can’t tell you unless you already know. And the way I see it, you don’t know a thing.”

That caused a number of problems.

“What about your phoenix hunt?” Dallion asked. “I know you took part in one.”

“That’s why you’re here? You want to go chasing after mirages?”

“The feathers I saw were quite real.”

“Feathers?” Havoc grinned. “You have been doing a lot. What’s next? You’ll face the Crippled himself?”

The question was posed in jest, but Dallion had to put in a lot of effort not to flinch. He already had faced the Star several times and what was more, he feared that he might face him again.

“Well, you’re out of luck. I can’t talk about that either. I’m surprised you managed to find out this much already. To learn anything more, you have to know how it all went down, and that defeats the purpose. Face it, you’re against an iron rule.”

“What if there’s a way around it?”

“Mages?” Havoc frowned. “No thanks.”

“No. What if I kill the echo restricting you?”

Even Dallion was aware of the significance of what he had just said. Destroying echoes in someone’s realm was one thing. However, in this case it was more than possible that they wouldn’t be dealing with a standard echo, but a metalin. Dallion didn’t know much about the constructs other than they were one of the few significant advances of the current era. Nil remained evasive regarding their creation, though had hinted that they could be linked to the skills of the Star. Having seen one, Dallion was inclined to agree.

“That’s impossible.”

“Impossible or never done before?” Dallion asked, despite his own fears. The metalin he had seen in the realm of Aspion Luor’s realm seemed invincible. Of course, back then Dallion’s level was laughable by current standards. He didn’t have any of his weapons, his familiars, not any practical experience.

Are you sure, dear boy? Nil asked. There’s a reason that metalins are used to enforce restrictions.

“If you’re able to talk about it, you’ll tell me, right?”

“Seems you’re just as reckless as before.” Havoc stood up then rushed towards Dal. To a normal person, the action was fast and threatening. To Dallion, it was like having a kitten try and knock over an elephant. “If you mess up in my realm, you’ll suffer the consequences as well, hunter emblem or not.”

“That’s the only way forward.” Dallion smiled.

PERSONAL AWAKENING

Reality changed.

It had been so long that transformed his realm into an island that he had forgotten the cold unwelcomeness of the initial dark corridor.

YOU ARE LEVEL 3

A blue rectangle glowed in the middle of a large room made entirely out of brass. Frames containing items covered several of the walls, each a skill that Havoc knew, or rather had known. Black spiky chains were wrapped around most of them. All in all, there were only five frames that were usable.

“Grim,” Dallion said, using his reaction trait to look around.

“He’s not here,” Havoc said. “A concession that was given to me. I think it was because the cleric overseeing the curse was pleased with what I had done. The metalin won’t enter my awakening room unless I meddle with my sealed skills.”

Better than nothing, Dallion thought. “Have any echoes of your own?”

“Echoes are a level five thing.”

“I meant from before.”

“No. Just an empty corridor.”

Lux, Dallion said.

Blue flames surrounded him. Shortly after, Dallion’s shield, harpsisword, and dartblade appeared. There was no point in summoning his entire arsenal before seeing what his opponent was capable of.

“Stay here.” Dallion made his way to the single door of the room. “I’ll deal with the echo.”

“It’ll take more than a single hit to take them down.” Havoc sat on the floor. “Good luck.”

“You really are easygoing, aren’t you?”

Taking a deep breath, Dallion split into twelve instances and opened the door.

The corridor was well light, but empty. Chained doors extended on both sides leading into the distance. There weren’t that many of them, probably eight in all, though the corridor created the illusion that there was an infinite amount.

Lux, feeling anything?

No cracklings, the familiar purred. Is the thing we’ll fight strong?

Should be. You’ll be the one to kill it, so be ready.

Dallion burst into instances again. The moment one of them took a step further down the corridor, the torches on the walls turned red.

COMBAT INITIATED

Here we go. Dallion drew his harpsisword.

Several bolts flew towards him, aiming for his head in each instance. Thankfully, his reaction speed was fast enough to evade or deflect all but one of them. The disconcerting part was that only after the attack was over did the green guard markers emerged, letting him know how best to protect himself.

What the heck? Dallion rushed forward. If he wasn’t able to defend himself adequately, his only option was to defend.

This isn’t your realm, dear boy, Nil reminded. You’re nothing but a guest here. That’s why the markers follow the properties of the owner.

He said that his perception was fine.

Even if true, his perception was a lot less than yours.

A cluster of bolts emerged again, bouncing off the armadil shield. Curious, Dallion let one of them hit an instance of his. The familiar red rectangle appeared, indicating a minor hit. Unfortunately, it was instantly followed by another series of rectangles, appearing in front of all of Dallion’s other instances.

TRAIT REDUCTION

Your REACTION trait has been decreased by 1

A trait reduction? Dallion had only seen them once when fighting a rather annoying creature in the wilderness. To be more precise, he had felt it rather than seeing it. The creature in question had the annoying ability to sap his perception, making the fight progressively more difficult with time. In this case, the metalin could cause similar afflictions by targeting his echoes.

Don’t use point attacks! Nil shouted, just as Dallion was entering the stance for one. You’ll be doing more damage to Havoc than to the metalin.

How much more? Dallion asked, avoiding another bolt. His enemy was within sight now, visible in the distance some fifty feet ahead. Apparently, Dallion’s range of view was also determined by Havoc’s traits.

Enough to seal him for good. Also, try to not hit the walls too much.

It felt as if he were fighting inside of a glass bottle. That explained why no one tried to remove the restrictions of a curse—the battlefield itself was one giant restriction. Havoc must have had great confidence in Dallion’s capabilities to let him try this in the first place.

Upon reaching ten feet of the metalin, the construct changed tactics, sticking with both of his dartblade in a butterfly strike. It looked like a lifeless metal suit of armor. Its actions, on the other hand, were as flexible as Dallion could imagine.

Using his shield and harpsisword, Dallion blocked the attacks.

Gleam! He summoned the whip blade.

The weapon emerged on his side, sliding out and extending in a lightning piercing strike straight in the empty helmet. There was a loud clanking noise, accompanied by a spark, but no rectangle.

Taking advantage of the successful attack, Dallion proceeded with the attack bonus it provided, following up with a piercing multi attack. The tip of the harpsisword struck the metal breastplate of his opponent, pushing the construct several steps back.

SHOCK EFFECT

METALIN movement has been reduced by 10% for two minutes

METALIN attack effectiveness has been reduced by 50% for two minutes