Drawing runes on a soul sucker turned out to be a difficult and highly inefficient task. Dallion had to spend a lot of attention not to kill the creature outright with the tip of his harpsisword. Drawing a series of runes on the tunnel walls, on the other hand, was another matter entirely. It would have been a lot more spectacular if he could cast a spell similar to what the copyette had done. What he couldn’t achieve in skill, he made up with in quantity, drawing hundreds of heat runes everywhere. From Cheska’s like scene in the dimming room, he’d learned that changing the temperature of large surfaces was quite efficient. In this case, it forced the creatures back to the center of the corridor, where they were an easier target. It was tempting to use just another point attack and kill off as many as possible, yet it was just as efficient just to slice them up with normal strikes. Multi attacks were particularly efficient, since there were many creatures grouped together.

Fighting changed into shifting between slashing enemies and writing symbols on the wall. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but at the same time helped Dallion improve. After five minutes, he had become so adept at combining magic with attack that he started drawing other symbols just for the sake of it. The best part—he didn’t seem tired in the least.

The soul suckers changed from a flow to a trickle, then stopped coming altogether. Dallion rushed forward in a few instances, just to make sure. Then, seeing no enemies, went back to calm walking. He was expecting the corridor to split in two again, but it merged with another corridor instead. There was one path leading forward and one other path that emerged behind.

After a moment’s thought, Dallion continued forward. No creature attacked him as he walked, none even appeared until he reached another merging point. The annoying thing was that Dallion recognized the place—it was the section where the corridor split into two for the first time. Somehow, Dallion had gone full circle, ending up back to the start.

Nox, what do you see? Dallion asked.

Nothing and insects, the crackling replied.

Any new corridor splits? Or mergings?

Just one long corridor.

“Lux, boost me,” Dallion said, spun around heading to the left part of the split. “And keep going left.”

The firebird chirped, then propelled him forward like a cork through a tube. Within seconds Dallion reached the next corridor, split, continuing along the side. This felt like the long, monotonous section that Nox had described. And just like there, this one was also full of soul suckers.

“Shield, grow!” Dallion raised the shield in front of him.

The armadil shield did, just in time to have several dozen insects splat into it.

I must say, that’s a novel way of fighting, dear boy, Nil commented, amused.

“Stick around, Nil. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

The further Dallion went, the more insects splatted into his shield. The frequency increased to such an extent that it sounded as if Dallion was walking under the rain with an umbrella.

Suddenly, Lux abruptly stopped, almost causing Dallion to splat on the other side of the shield.

Big bro! the firebird chirped.

Surely enough, Nox was there a few steps ahead. The crackling puma completely ignored Lux and Dallion, leaping along the wall past them in order to be able to fight the soul suckers that Dallion had flown past. The savage enjoyment with which he did so brought back memories of when he was a kitten. The size of the insects might have grown considerably, but so had Nox.

“Need any help?” Dallion asked, the armadil shield shrinking to its normal size.

One annoyed wag of the tail indicated that Nox felt perfectly capable of doing it on his own.

Where’s the arena, though? Dallion wondered. He didn’t remember seeing any doorway or corridor split on the way here. If Nox had come across one, he would have said so.

“Nil, is there some puzzle to reveal the arena?” he asked. That had been the case in a rather large twenty-level sphere item. Compared to this, that realm was enormous, and it also was the place where Arthurows had attempted to transform several Icepicker explorers into chainlings.

Indeed, that appears to be the case. Based on what I’ve seen so far, it might be a simple matter of defeating all blocker insects and—

“Nox, challenge the guardian,” Dallion ordered.

A loud bang echoed as the corridor was suddenly filled with warm orange light.

COMBAT INITIATED

A fraction of a second before the rectangle popped up, Dallion recognized the large form of a firebird in the corridor. It was rather large, partially squished by the confines of the walls. The challenge ability of Nox had worked rather too well.

Splitting into instances, Dallion dashed along the wall as fast as his legs would take him. Letting go of the harpsisword, he went straight for the guardian’s head, reaching to grab its eye.

Either the firebird was caught completely off guard, or Dallion’s speed was greater than expected, for not only did he succeed, but he also put an end to the fight with a single action.

DAGGER Level 2 has been cleared!

Continue on to fulfill the DAGGER’s destiny!

SNATCH AND GRAB

(+2 Body)

That’s one way to defeat a guardian. Just be careful who you summon to a fight.

The achievement was a rather nice bonus, but it paled in comparison to the insight Dallion had just gained. Up to now, he’d kept searching for the guardian arena in order to fight them. The realization that Nox had the ability to call the guardians to him meant that he could turn the whole thing on its head.

A gate emerged on the nearby section of wall, slowly opening as the corridor lit up.

This wasn’t how he expected it to happen. Given enough time, he’d probably have found the way to the guardian’s chamber where the fight would have taken place. Relying on Nox’s ability sped things up a bit.

I could have taken him, the puma growled as it passed by Dallion.

“I know.” Dallion reached to pet the familiar on the head. Instantly, the crackling pulled away. “Maybe you’ll get the next one.”

There was another growl, though softer than before.

Dallion summoned his harpsisword and went onto the next level. His theory regarding the realm’s nature proved to be correct. The chamber he found himself in was twice larger than the previous starting point and had three openings—one in each cardinal direction, along with the entrance. Combat splitting didn’t provide many clues, so Dallion decided to try his luck again.

“Okay, Nox, have a go.”

The puma tensed for a moment. Dallion stood back, waiting for the next creature to appear. Then… nothing happened. It was more puzzling than anticlimactic.

“Nox? You okay there, buddy?”

The snarl indicated that it wasn’t.

“Stay close by,” Dallion whispered, heading towards the exit in front of him.

Want me to fly you through, boss? The firebird offered.

“Lux, move off me.”

Confused, the flames moved off Dallion, transforming into a large cyan firebird. It was by far smaller than the one Dallion had thought, though still rather impressive.

“I’ll lead. You guys follow.” He kept on walking.

The corridor continued for about a hundred feet, at which point it reached a juncture. Three options were available for Dallion to choose from. Just as before, he went forward. The principle of the realm was starting to become clear: each level section came with its own “maze”—a number of corridors equal to the level crisscrossing and connecting to obfuscate the way to the final chamber. Quite clever in more ways than one: each maze would become more complicated while mentally discouraging all those trying to clear the artifact. Fighting along one corridor was easy, finding the guardian in a “network” of two corridors less so. At the final section, there would be dozens of corridors with hundreds of connections, splits, and mergings. Dallion wasn’t intimidated by that. He had participated in maze puzzles back in school. What troubled him was the complete lack of creatures at present.

“Nox.” He glanced over his shoulder. “You sure you’re not sensing anything?”

Nothing in this section, the familiar replied.

“Well…” Dallion drew a light rune on the wall. The metal the tunnel was composed of lit up for a while, then quickly faded away. “Looks like we’ll be dealing with a Shelby.”

Of all the guardians, Dallion disliked those the most. They weren’t strong or even difficult to defeat. Most item explorers preferred them since it means one less fight. However, they were also an indication that the Star had set his claws here. Just because Arthurows was no more didn’t mean that all the cracklings in the world had vanished along with him.

“Look out for tentacles.” Dallion split into fifty instances.

The walk through the mini-maze of tunnels took a while. Thanks to his high mind trait, Dallion was able to remember the path he’d taken, making a mental map of the area. It didn’t take long for him to figure out where the chamber of the guardian would be.

There were no mess-ups this time. After three turns, Dallion reached a large oval room. One of his instances dashed and rolled inside, ready for some response. However, all that he found was the skeleton of an icicorn. The bone structure was unmistakable, and the chill still emanating from the remains—along with the threads of magic—made it apparent who the original guardian had been.

“Where’s the Shelby?” Dallion asked.

That’s a rather good question. Nil sounded puzzled. Sadly, I can’t give you an answer.

“Was it my magic?”

Don’t flatter yourself. Your magic is still insignificant. It would take a lot more to affect Star-spawn, especially if it’s been hiding in an item. It is, in theory, possible that the magic of the Academy had something to do with it. Or it could be a wild coincidence, like a vortex appearing within the item, destroying the creature, then gradually evaporating.

The explanation sounded rather implausible.

“Okay, in that case, why isn’t the level clear?”

I assume you still have to defeat something.

That was the second time something weird had happened. First, the door to the guardian chamber had been missing, and now there was no guardian to face. It was almost as if something had bugged the Moon laws. Of course, that was supposed to be impossible. The Moons were considered infallible, and from what Dallion had seen, when it came to certain aspects they were.

“Can it be my curse?”

Seriously, dear boy, the world doesn’t revolve around you. Maybe your leave gets to a hundred and sixty you would, but until then you’re just another high level awakened—one among thousands.

“Nox, search the rest of the corridors,” Dallion ordered.

The puma transformed into ten cubs, which ran back out of the chamber. Dallion then went to the bone remains. And bent down.

What are you thinking? Nil asked.

“If this is where I end, I can at least get a little something for my troubles.”

The magic running through the icicorn bones was quite strong, befitting a magical creature. With a steady hand, Dallion reached out, almost touching the edge of one. The magic within him extended through the tips of his fingers, allowing him to grab hold. Grabbing hold of the thread, he then pulled.

Extracting magic from supernatural bones wasn’t something described in any of the Academy books he had read. Through trial and error, and also the use of his zoology skills, Dallion was able to finally pull the thread out completely. The moment he did, the bone quickly turned to ash, fading away from existence.

Holding a ball of pure magic, Dallion repeated the process, going through all other remnants. The ball remained the same size, though it grew in intensity until it was almost white. Finally, there was one part left: the skull with the creature’s horn. Dallion had chosen to keep it for last, purely for sentimental reasons. When it came to it, though, he found that stealing the magic, even from a dead unicorn’s horn, was a rather challenging feat. The magic thread was temperamental, actively struggling against the effort. It was like drying to draw out a rather energetic worm from the ground. Time and time again Dallion was on the verge of obtaining it, when it would snap, forcing him to restart the process.

There’s nothing left on the level. Nox returned in puma form. Or the previous ones.

“Thanks, Nox,” Dallion whispered, focusing on his latest attempt. He was close again. Just a little bit more and—

Suddenly the thread let go of the horn, jumping right into Dallion’s hand. The magic didn’t stop there, moving through Dallion’s fingers and into his body. That wasn’t all. The ball of magic he was holding in his other hand, also did the same, rushing into him like an electric current.

You have assimilated the ICICORN’s magic, increasing your magic trait to 9.

Dallion instinctively pulled back, fighting against the burning sensation spreading along his veins.

DUEL MASTER

(+2 Reaction)

You have won your first duel, even if it’s against a dead opponent. A win’s a win, but don’t think you’d be as lucking when dueling the living.