Leveling up the World

MEMORY FRAGMENT

Present day, present time...

Another message arrived.

Keep listening to my Spotify. I’ll come to you.

Dallion looked at his computer. The memory was of a few months ago—the precise day that Atol had responded to his mail. The chances of finding her were one in thousands. He had definitely lucked out.

Something wasn’t quite right, though. The letters in the message looked different from what he remembered. It was almost as if several of them were vibrating.

Dallion closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. The letters were still vibrating when he opened them again. It wasn’t random, either, but a series of rhythmic patterns, almost as if they were trying to create a sound. No, they were creating a sound, just not one that anyone could hear with ears. Waves were waves after all.

A sharp pain pierced Dallion’s elbow, as if a lightning bolt had pierced his arm.

“Damnit!” he jumped back.

Get used to it! a female voice said. It sounded sort of familiar, but Dallion couldn’t place it right now.

That was strange. Back when he had received the message Dallion wasn’t able to talk to guardians. Thinking about it, he had lost all of his awakened powers. Was he misremembering? Or maybe the memory had merged with the skills he currently possessed. Magic was the trait of exceptions, after all, even the magic of Earth.

“Who are you?” Dallion asked, but no answer came.

The pain in his elbow quickly faded, which was nice. It remained unclear what had caused it, though. One thing he was sure of was that it resembled the experience that had sent him to the medical center not long ago.

Wake up, he told himself, but the memory refused to disappear, keeping him in his dorm room.

Without thinking, Dallion went back to the sequence of events that had occurred before. Opening Spotify, he found Atol’s songs and started listening. There were plenty of music strands within the recordings, but nothing Dallion felt threatened by. After Dallion’s conversation with his roommate, the new song finally appeared. The name of the single was Within the Seventh Sphere—potentially something connected with the seven Moons, though by no means definite. Immediately, Dallion started listening.

Unlike all the previous songs, this one had no lyrics, just a three-minute instrumental. That didn’t stop it from having a bouquet of emotions tied in. On the surface, the usual joy and cheer were present, yet hidden underneath were more sinister threads. Dallion could clearly recognize depression, fear, and sadness, along with two strands of overconfidence.

You’re trying to fight me? He wondered. The effects weren’t strong. Anyone capable of noticing them would clearly ignore them without any effort on his own. Nonetheless, Dallion chose to hum a tune to counter the threads. To his surprise, the attempt failed.

Huh? He thought. That’s not how it happened. Dallion was certain that he had countered all the threads. And yet, he could see the obvious. Thin strands of sound connected to him, giving him a sense of accomplishment. That wasn’t all. He could see a thread of hope within the bouquet as well. As the instrumental continued, it urged Dallion to think of Atol as his friend—someone just like him, who’d no doubt be of significant help.Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

The memory froze.

No, Dallion thought. He still couldn’t accept it, even if the proof was right there in front of his eyes. All this time, he considered himself lucky, convincing Atol to stick around and help him achieve his impossible goal. The truth was that she had convinced him of it. Thinking back, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had set her net with her first reply. It was ever so subtle, just like something Dallion’s great-grandmother would do; sound hidden in letters, subtly nudging him to listen to the songs, which nudged him even more.

“Red Atol?” Dallion asked. He was in the parking lot now, looking at the woman in her muscle car.

She nodded.

“Red Moon, red card—muscle car,” Dallion said.

“Just a car I got.” She tried using music again, and Dallion snapped his fingers, but the strands remained intact, providing him a new boost of dopamine on contact. A false sense of confidence surrounded Dallion, making him feel as if he were in control.

“How did you find me?” he asked.

“Your patreon account. I asked a few people for a few favors. I can be very convincing.”

“I bet.” Even at this level, music skills were capable of convincing anyone of anything. They wouldn’t work on another former awakened, but Earth was full of non-awakened with no ability to resist. “Thanks for coming. I didn’t think—”

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The woman raised a finger.

AWAKENING

BODY

MIND

REACTION

PERCEPTION

EMPATHY

MAGIC

SKILLS

GUARD

ATTACK

ATHLETICS

ACROBATICS

SCHOLAR

MUSIC

SPELLCRAFT

A purple rectangle emerged in front of him, ending the memory fragment.

Once again, Dallion was back in Alien’s realm. The rectangle, though, had come with him.

Two skills? He wondered.

He had no idea what had caused him to re-learn his scholar skills. Possibly there was a link between spellcraft and that? Either way, it was only to his benefit. The important thing was that he had finally learned magic. It seemed that his pain theory was correct. That posted questions about how he’d learn the crafting skills. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to be hit with a frying pan to get an understanding of metals.

“Look at that.” Allien approached. “You survived.” He looked at the purple rectangle, then back at Dallion. “I hate you.”

“I know.” Dallion stood up. He didn’t feel any pain, nor did he feel unwell, either. Lux must have worked on overdrive, for he felt perfectly fit. Just to make sure, Dallion cast another two-circle spell.

His health was full.

“All traits and six fucking skills,” Alien grumbled.

“How many do you have?” Dallion couldn’t help but feel curious.

“Three,” the mage grumbled. Blobs of envy formed within him, yet he was telling the truth.

“Well, I’m afraid you’ll hate me even more in a bit,” Dallion said with a stern expression.

“What else? You brought a dragon?” Alien smirked.

“The organization of amnesia awakened you told me about... I’ve led them straight here.”