Leveling up the World

Trails of water droplets followed the nymph’s blade. Larger than raindrops, they remained in the air for several seconds, before stretching like needles and darting in the direction of the Star. Barely any ever caused any actual harm, most sinking in the void matter that shifted to protect them, but she was pushing him back.

Watching her fight, one couldn’t tell whether her level was seventy or seven hundred. All her actions were lethally precise, light, and elegant as a butterfly. In the past, Dallion had been impressed by the dancing combat of Euryale and the ruthless effectiveness of March. Harp put both of them to shame. The millennia of experience were apparent. She didn’t combat split, nor did she rely on superior speed. If anything, her attacks seemed slow, almost sluggish compared to the Star’s actions. And still, it was taking all the Star’s effort to keep her from advancing.

Strategy, Dallion thought. Harp had played out so many moons in advance that she didn’t need to be fast. No matter what the enemy’s response was, she had an answer. And to think I was planning to challenge her…

Tendrils burst from the Star, only to be sliced up by Harp’s trail of water.

I thought she wasn’t permitted to do that, Dallion thought.

She isn’t, Nil replied.

Why haven’t the Moons intervened?

We’re within a magical realm, which at present belongs to you. Exceptions still hold true.

This wasn’t the first time the Moons hadn’t intervened at moments when they clearly should have. Back when the Star had attempted to conquer Nerosal, a copyette had openly made his presence known. Technically, when acting, he wasn’t in the real world, but anyone would know that he had to have gone through it to get where he did. The Moons had watched him engage in the fight and not done a thing. Then again, they had watched the Moon try to have an entire city swallowed by the wilderness as well.

Three precise slashes and the lower part of the Star’s body was cut cleanly off. The void matter attempted to reconnect, but the array of droplets constantly interfered, preventing it from closing the final inch.

A spark of anger flashed through Aethurows’ forehead. Eyes turned in the direction of Dallion. The moment they did, the harpsisword pierced his head. Void matter burst in all directions, like a water balloon. Affected by the magic of the realm, the splatter evaporated almost immediately, vanishing from sight.

“You killed him?” Dallion asked in disbelief.

No, the nymph replied, still in her full form.

He escaped before the sword could make contact, Nil explained. You couldn’t possibly think that the Star would die to a guardian, dear boy. Even in this wretched state, he’s got several means of escape. If he didn't, the Order or the emperor would have killed him centuries ago.

It was interesting that Nil was careful not to put the Academy in the group.

He’s probably back where he came from. If I were to guess, he never was in the South to begin with.

Was he hiding in my realm? Dallion asked.

The echo didn’t answer immediately.

It’s highly unlikely. I would have sensed something, or Nox. The Crippled didn’t exactly come alone. All those chianlings would have attracted enough attention.

Everything stood to reason, or at least Dallion told himself so. However, in the back of his mind remained a seed of doubt he couldn’t completely erase. It was indisputable that he had somehow brought the Star within this realm. The really scary part was that he could no longer be certain that the Star wasn’t hiding there now. With Gleam missing and Lux and Vihrogon seriously injured, his realm wasn’t as secure as usual. What stung the most was that he still wasn’t able to handle the situation himself.

Dallion closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back on the top of the mountain. The Purple Moon was directly above him, shining in full strength, and it wasn’t alone. All seven Moons were there. Were they here to observe, or to punish Dallion?

A small, hard object was in Dallion’s hand. Looking down, he saw that he was gripping a purple crystal—the skill gem of spellcraft. By all accounts, it wasn’t supposed to exist, and in a way it didn’t. The gem wasn’t merely a gem; it was also Aether.

“You can hear me, can’t you?” Dallion asked.

There was no reply.

“Sorry about this. I wish it could have been different.”

Dallion spent a few more minutes looking at the sky. Once he was done, he went inside the building complex ruins.

“Come along, Ruby.” He grabbed his backpack. “Let’s go.”

The way back was a lot faster. Familiar with the route, there was no longer any need to guess which way to go. Furthermore, after everything he had just experienced, Dallion seemed to have lost any sense of fear. Burdened by an unfamiliar sense of emptiness, he made his way down to the subway tunnel, then started the way back.

Not once did he split while in the tunnel. Then again, he didn’t have to. Any creatures felt the cold power emanating from him and quickly scurried away to safety.

Upon arriving at the opening leading outside the tunnel, Dallion didn’t flinch. There was every chance that the spectral shardfly was still there, but that didn’t bother him in the least.

“I know you’re here,” he shouted. “Try your luck if you want. I won’t fight to capture this time.”

Nothing but the wind sounded. That was good enough for Dallion, who calmly continued into the open. It took a while, but in the end, he managed to find the pieces of the whip blade. With the sung old corn snapped, the pieces had scattered throughout a relatively large area.

Ruby had offered to help in the search, but Dallion forbade him. He could feel the sorrow emanating from the creature as it was. Even now, the shardfly was trying to hide it, despite knowing that he couldn’t.

“She’d have been proud of you,” Dallion said, gathering the last of the pieces.

Repairing the weapon wasn’t going to be an issue—he had the skills and materials for that. As for Gleam herself, that was a different matter altogether. No one in Dallion’s realm was ready to give up on her, though they also knew that they had to.

The pieces felt lifeless in his hands. Without hurrying, Dallion carefully wrapped them in a piece of clothing, which he put in the backpack. Afterwards, he continued walking forward. Soon enough, he was back in the tunnels.

While he didn’t feel the need to hide anymore, walking through the tunnels was the fastest way to leave the canyon. He had tried, of course, to get the Green Moon to send Dark to the area, but that never happened. Either the dragon was busy somewhere, or the Moon refused to let him go. Whatever the case, Dallion decided not to wait.

A journey of days now lasted weeks. On the way, few predators dared attack. Those that did were dispatched with extreme ease through a combination of combat splitting and half a dozen skills combined. After witnessing the beasts’ utter defeat, the rest reclassified Dallion as “not-prey.”

Halfway across the lands of the fallen south, the skill gem began talking to Dallion; rarely at first, then more and more, becoming accustomed to the situation. Regardless of how a conversation started, it always reached the same point.

You’ll gain the skill, the voice of Aether said. There’s no other way in the world to gain it.

Dallion kept roasting his fish at the fire. It wasn’t anything special, but enough to keep him fed, and he didn’t want to waste time catching any of the big ones.

Use the gem and we both win.

“And the rest of the world?” Dallion tried a bite. The fish tasted slightly bitter, but at least it wasn’t undercooked. “You said that anything touched by the Star has to be destroyed.”

Don’t you? He betrayed you, in case you’ve forgotten.

Dallion shook his head and kept on eating. He was going to deal with the Star. From what Harp had told him, Arthurows had suffered considerable wounds during the realm invasion. The vast majority had come from the aetherbird; some the nymph had inflicted, though her focus was mostly to make sure that the healing didn’t occur as fast. It was going to be years, if not decades, before the Star could fight as before, although that wouldn’t prevent him from causing chaos. The Star-cults were still active, and the wilderness had more than enough chainlings.

You’re just dragging this out. You know I can’t be held forever.

“I can just bury you somewhere,” Dallion said. “Or give you to the countess. Then you’ll be her problem.”

You won’t. You’re afraid that she’ll use it and release me. It’s not the first time I’ve seen your kind. The empathy trait is a nice touch. You’ll still act the same way. You’ll keep the gem close at hand until one day you’ll finally use it. It won’t be the first time it’s happened.

“And what happened to all the ones who released you before?” Dallion asked.

The skill gem fell silent.

Half an hour later, Dallion was back on his way towards the edge of the canyon.

It took a total of fifteen days for him to reach the cliff wall that led to the rest of the world. Lacking enough rope to have Ruby tie it to a rock on the top, Dallion was forced to use his athletics and acrobatics skills to scale his way up. To his surprise, it turned out a lot easier than he expected. The body train increases had come in handy. By nightfall the fallen south was behind him. Now, once more, he had a choice to make.

You could always go to the closest temple of the Order, Nil said. Personally, I’d advise against it.

“Fearing the competition?”

Don’t get me wrong. Going to the Academy with what you’ve gained is possibly the only worse option. You could go to Nerosal, of course, as was the original plan, but why not consider your options? The thing you have won’t only transform Archduke Linatol into your dear friend, but it could also open the doors of the imperial household itself.

“You know how I’ll reply.”

Just consider it for a second, the echo insisted. If you become part of the imperial household, no one will dare touch you. Sure, you’ll be stuck doing stupid things for stupid people, but at least you’ll be allowed to grow. One day, with luck, you might even get to see the emperor himself.

“And that will keep the world safe?”

It has a better chance than most of the alternatives. The Star hasn’t dared attack the imperial palace directly ever since the days of the first emperor. You’ll be far safer there than with the Order. More importantly, you won’t have to follow those insane restrictions. You’ll be able to achieve your noble status, if you wish.

“You’re starting to sound like Aether.”

And I suppose you have everything figured out?

“Not everything, just what to do next.”

I’ve heard that before. Remember how inexperienced you were upon joining the Icepicker guild? It was painful to look at you at times, and still you were convinced that you could take down March in a duel. Do you think it’s different now?

“If it wasn’t, you’d still be shouting at me.”

This isn’t a joking matter, dear boy. While I agree that keeping the aetherbird from causing the end of another era, your lack of experience might push the province faster into an internal conflict. You understand next to nothing about politics, as you’ve shown.

“The decision is made, Nil,” Dallion said flatly. “I know what I need to do. I just need the guts to do it.”