Being by the mass of a giant jellyfish—even If within a barrier bubble—hadn’t gone well with the rest of the group. Now that it was over Dallion found it hilarious, but everyone else was quietly seething. Since the path to the next stage of the trial was clear, none of them voiced their thoughts, but they didn’t have to—the blobs of emotions were there for Dallion to see. Thankfully, since they were children, the emotion quickly faded away once something else was brought up to focus their attention. In this case, the something was the option to ride one of the smaller aetherfish to the new realm. Given that none other than Dallion had the option to fly, and even those who potentially knew the spells preferred not to use them, the alternative was instantly welcomed.

“You sure it’ll be safe?” Cheska asked, maintaining a magic barrier that allowed the group to stand on the “top” of the aetherfish.

“It’s fine, it's as thrilled as we are,” Dallion replied.

That was an understatement. The creature had been so intrigued by Dallion’s antics, and the fact that he could actually talk, that had offered to join them on its own. Dallion still knew next to nothing regarding magic realm creatures. As Nil had pointed out, that was a field for apprentices, although he did share that for all intents and purposes they could be treated as beings from other worlds. The closest similar case was Skye, although it too was linked to an actual physical world. Dallion pushed to learn more, though the answer he received was so complicated, involving magic theories that made little sense, that he decided to leave it for another day, potentially in two or three years.

“Your pet didn’t fight,” Raven said, looking at Ruby who remained attached to Dallion’s shoulder.

“That’s because he’s smart,” Dallion said. “He knows when there’s no point in fighting.”

Ruby flicked his wings once in confirmation.

“It’s your pet.” Raven shrugged.

“What do you know about the next realm?”

“Not much,” the black-haired admitted. “We were supposed to bypass the pillars. Still, they appeared too fast. In most of the accounts the challengers passed through several realms before finding them. We were lucky that we ended up with a riddle. Could have been a lot worse.”

So, you’ve read the reports as well, Dallion thought.

Still, the noble did bring some good points. The riddle was quite forgiving, if nothing else. They could have remained in the realm for centuries and nothing but hunger and ambition would have pushed them forward. There were no traps, the creatures, though powerful, were docile with no interest in attacking first. Even the obelisk itself was inoffensive. For all practical purposes, it was almost as if it were a tutorial level.

“Was there anything about the number of pillars in the reports?”

“You think I wouldn’t have thought of that?” Raven’s voice hardened. “There’s no link between the number of pillars and what they do. There have been realms with twelve obelisks which presented a riddle, and realms with one that had to be defeated in order for the group to proceed. Every possible link between the accounts has been examined. There are too few of them left for anyone to come to any conclusion. At the end of the day, that’s not the point of the trial. It’s ingenuity. If memory was the key, it would be a mind trial.”

“Someone told me that there is no chaos in magic realms, just a lot of instructions as long as you know where to look.”

“That’s only valid for apprentices onwards and the reason that they aren’t allowed to take part!” The black-haired snapped. “Also, it doesn’t apply for realms beyond the current one. It might work in a small realm, where every portal point is at arm’s length. In large realms you’ll spend an eternity opening realms to read the instructions and Iksa doesn’t have the strength.”

Was that a slip? If Dallion understood things correctly, Raven knew exactly how strong Iksa was. No, not Raven, but the person behind him. The comment didn’t bring any new information—Dallion already knew that the team was hand picked with a specific goal in mind—but the way in which it was said made him suspect that at least one of the echoes knew Iksa very well. He wouldn’t be surprised if the mage she was related to had put her up to this.

Flying into the next realm was only slightly weirder than expected. The best way to describe it was like flying towards a mirror and suddenly ending on the other side.

The moment the portal was crossed, Dallion’s group found themselves in the sky of the new realm, facing down. One major difference was that gravity hadn’t taken effect, preventing them from falling off.

Not in the least bothered, the archerfish turned around, positioning the horizon on the right side up.

“Hold still for a moment,” Dallion told the creature. Then summoned his haprsisword and did a spark infused line attack. The thin glowing line continued towards the distance, disappearing from view. This realm was a lot bigger than the last. For all Dallion knew it could be the size of a world realm.

Hills and forests were abundant, now also joined by the occasional mountain and large lake. There was no sign of a sea, at least as anyone could tell, but several large rivers and smaller streams. More importantly for the trial, a large obelisk, ten times larger than the one of the previous realm, was visible, standing alone in a large field.

“At least we know where to start,” Cheska said. “Think it’s a riddle like last time?”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it.” Dallion didn’t unsummon his weapon.

“Why?”

“This one is intact. That means nothing’s dared to attack it.” As far as he could tell, there were a number of creatures in this realm, some closer than others. A large part of their emotions were irrelevant, but there already were quite a few that included hostility and hunger, the same things that predators displayed when something new ventured into their domain.

“Get the aetherfish to take us down a mile from the pillar,” Raven said.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll tell it to take you down. I’ll continue towards the obelisk and see what it does.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Hey, I’m the hunter. I’ll be fine.”

Raven didn’t seem overly pleased, but nodded all the same. He gave a sign to Phoil to tear three cards. The silent order was instantly obeyed and three guardian threads flew out, though this time all of them in the same direction. At that moment, time pretty much froze. The implications were obvious. There was a way to bypass the pillar part of the trial and head to the banished realm. Dallion was still opposed to the idea, but even he had to admit that finding a secret passage that could take them to the end of the trial was rather tempting. The bigger question was whether doing so would be worth it. They had already reached the third realm, which could be considered half the journey. If the archived accounts Raven and Iksa had dug up could be trusted, this could very well be the final realm they had to escape before completing the trial.

“It’s something to keep in mind,” Raven voiced what was on everyone’s mind. “We check out the pillar first. If things get too tough, we head for the banished realm.”

“What if the next realm isn’t the end?” Phoil asked.

“Let’s reach that point.”

I really can’t figure out the person behind Raven, Dallion said. Sometimes he’s so impulsive and extreme, then he’s calm and organized.

You’re assuming that only one echo is giving the orders, dear boy, Nil said. It’s more likely that a group is involved, or even an entire faction. Remember, the Moonstones are a valuable resource. A lot of planning had gone into creating this. Whoever put it on motion had to wait for many pieces to become available before they could put the plan in motion.

Doesn’t a faction have a single leader?

Depends on the faction. Also, there’s no saying it isn’t more than one faction. As I said, Moonstones are exquisitely rare.

Once the aetherfish reached twenty feet from the ground, everyone except Dallion leapt off. Dallion used the opportunity to cast a barrier spell of his own, letting him remain on top of the aetherfish. That caused a wave of disappointment from Lux, who was worried that he wasn’t doing a good enough job. It took several reassurances from Dallion, and a grumble from Nox, to let the firebird calm down. Then, at last, the flight towards the pillar could take place.

“What do you think it is?” Cheska asked, amplifying the strength of her voice with a spell.

“That’s what I’m going to check out,” Dallion replied in similar fashion.

“What’s your guess?”

“I think it’s a riddle. It’s too isolated to be anything else. It’ll probably dreict us to another part of the realm when activated and—”

Before Dallion could finish, the obelisk shattered in front of his very eyes. What was one monolithic whole exploded into hundreds of uniform blocks of rock. Then each of them sprouted legs and wings.

Species: SCARABISK

Class: MAGIC

Health: 100%

Traits

- BODY 60

- MIND 20

- PERCEPTION 20

- REACTION 20

- MAGIC 20

Skills

- ATTACK

- GUARD

- SPELLCRAFT

- FLIGHT (Species Unique)

- WING SHIELD (Species Unique)

- WING SLICE (Species Unique)

Weakness: UNDERBELLY

“Do all the creatures here have spellcasting?” Dallion leapt off the aetherfish’s back as Lux took over his flight capabilities.

This is a magic real, dear boy, Nil said. What do you expect?

Before everyone’s eyes, the obelisk transformed into a swarm of scarab-like beetles, insistently making their way towards the group. The alarming thing was that the change had occurred well before Dallion had a chance to get near. That meant that the obelisk didn’t feel threatened, but rather deliberately wanted to hunt them.

Doesn’t look like you’ll be able to talk your way out of this one, Nil said.

“Go back,” Dallion told the aetherfish. “It’s dangerous here.”

Dangerous? The creature asked.

“In this realm the obelisks eat you,” Dallion explained in a fashion that the aetherish could understand. The message had gone through since the large creature sped back.

Meanwhile, Cheska and Iksa were bracing themselves for the inevitable attack. Raven’s emotional state was somewhere between concern and enthusiasm. As for Phoil, he remained perfectly calm.

Taking a deep breath, Dallion performed a standard line attack. The line split the air, crashing into the swarm of creatures. Before the strike could reach them, barrier spheres emerged around the creatures that were in danger. When the attack struck, all it did was push hundreds of feet back.

Keeping the initiative, Dallion did a spark line attack. This time, the results were better. Dozens of beetles broke like raw eggs, magic threads streaming into the air. If the numbers weren’t so much in their favor, Dallion could well try to consume their mana in the hopes of gaining a level or two. Maybe he still would further on.

“I’ll take out as many as I can,” he shouted, ready to continue with his spark attacks.

Two more line attacks followed, but just as they did, the swarm dispersed, making each next strike less effective than the last.

Lux, get me to the rest, then come back as a bladebow, Dallion ordered.

Sure thing, boss!

In a flash, Dallion was thrust back and dropped on top of the barrier that Cheska had created. The flue flames enveloping him, then disappeared only to have the floating bladebow emerge and target the approaching creatures individually. The only issue was that while such attacks had proved devastating against cracklings and void creatures, the only thing they achieved here was to push the scarabisks back.

Oh well, Dallion thought as the fingers of his left hand moved to cast a spell. It’s been a while since I’ve fought against a swarm, anyway.