Gloria didn’t say a word after returning to the real world. Her panic had subsided, but there was no telling whether the talk with Dallion had calmed her down, or she was simply good at hiding things. Not too long after, the group slowed pace. Gloria was called by the Dame and sent off with another soldier to scout on ahead. Everyone else was ordered to stop and rest—a real rest, not the awakened replacement they had done so far.

The volunteers, feeling that they might not get many chances after this, took the opportunity to relax a bit. The soldiers, on the other hand, were tenser than ever, keeping their eyes peeled. Interestingly enough, Havoc was also quieter than Dallion remembered him.

“What happened?” Veil approached.

“Huh?

“I saw you with my sister. What did you chat about?”

“Oh.” Worst time to get overprotective, Veil. “She was a bit stressed out, so—”

“What did you talk about in your awakened state?” The blond interrupted. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? We’ve been training like this for days. Of course I’ll know when you pull something off like that.”

That was untypically smart of Veil, so much so that it had caught Dallion completely off guard. It wasn’t that he had anything to hide—well, there were a few things, but not related to Gloria—but rather that he didn’t expect Veil of all people to notice it happening.

So much for being discreet.

“Well?” Veil pressed on.

“We were talking about echoes.” Judging by Veil’s reaction, Dallion was right on the money. “The one your grandfather put in the entire village.” Funny how there was no malice in his words as he said that. “I got rid of mine and told her to do the same. She didn’t seem ready.”

“Idiot.” Veil snarled, making it impossible to determine whether he was referring to his sister or Dallion.

“How did you get rid of yours?”

“The echo’s no problem. He tried bossing me around, but I beat him up. That was years ago. Now he helps me when I need to figure things out.”

An unexpected approach, without a doubt. Dallion could almost imagine the scene. Apparently if someone was all brawn and adrenalin, playing mind tricks wouldn’t take on. If anything, this could well be the single case in the entire village, in which the echo was more miserable than its host.

“Anything else?”

“No, nothing much. Why the sudden concern? We agreed that we need to get stronger and getting rid of the echo definitely does that.” Well, maybe not in your case. “It’s not like you managed to reach level four.”

“I did.”

Dallion’s smirk vanished. “What? When? You didn’t say anything when you went to the Cleric, so I thought…”

“I got it done on the first go.” Part of Veil’s natural smugness shone through. “It wasn’t even difficult.”

“But you were ready to chew someone’s head off. I saw your face.” And I wasn’t the only one.

“That wasn’t because of the trial,” Veil’s expression suddenly went dark. “It was what the Cleric told me.” He looked over his shoulder. “He said that even with that level we won’t be able to escape our prison.”

“Our prison?” An interesting choice of words. Could it be he was talking about the village? Or was there something else in play? “What did he mean by that?”

“No idea. All he said was—”

“Look out!” Havoc yelled, then grabbed Dallion and Veil by their shirts and pulled them back just in time to avoid a flaming wagon wheel that came crashing down from the sky. A wave of fire burst, throwing everyone nearby to the ground.

“Chainling!” someone yelled.

Dallion felt the heatwave, along with the weight of Havoc on top of him. The large man’s armor was scorched, letting off the familiar smell of burned leather. Battle instincts kicked in. All the hours spent fighting the echo made Dallion react. Before he knew it, he was back on his feet, dartbow in hand. It was only at this point that he noticed something was missing—there was no buckler on Dallion’s left hand.

“You okay?” Veil stood up, offering a hand to Havoc.

“Watch the sky. There might be more.” Havoc let out a groan. “Bloody leg! That’s what happens when you get bumped down to a three.”

Chaos was erupting. Soldiers were running forward, forming a defensive line. Half the volunteers were in shock, the other half looking wildly about for other flaming projectiles in the sky.

This was the point at which a rectangle would appear, warning Dallion of imminent danger, along with a whole range of markers. Only now did he realize how much he missed them. Fighting in an awakened state was easy—there were so many tools to aid him. Here, he had to rely on his gut and senses. Thankfully, those were improved.

“Can you fight?”Dallion glanced over his shoulder to Veil.

“I’m fine.” Veil replied, holding a sword in one hand and a dartbow in the other. “Where’s Gloria?”

“Up ahead. Let’s go get her.”

“Are you crazy?” Havoc shouted. “There’s a chainling out there. You won’t last a minute against it.”

“Is it safer here?”

As if on cue, another flaming wagon piece landed, this one half a dozen steps away.

“Besides, we don’t need to fight it. We just need to find Gloria.” Next to Dallion, Veil nodded. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” Havoc tried to get up on his feet, but the pain in his broken leg made him crash back down. “Damn it!” He yelled, fighting the pain. “Listen, the weak spot is in the chest, right under the throat. Got that? Under the throat!”

“Got it.” Dallion caught a glimpse of an abandoned dartbow nearby. Whoever its owner was, they were either dead or in no condition to use it.

Grabbing it quickly with his left hand, he then rushed forward. In the distance, more flaming balls of fire appeared in the sky, but that wasn’t an issue. Dallion’s only concern was Gloria. The rest could wait.