It was impressive how much things could change after because of one simple action. Not that Dallion would have called defeating the village chief simple. It had taken him a full day of sleep to recover from the battle. Apparently fighting in someone else’s awakening room was more exhausting than two all-nighters in a row. Upon waking up, though, Dallion had found himself in an entirely different village. It was as a mythical entity had come by and cranked up the color saturation of everything to a hundred.

People moved about energetically through the streets, doing chores that had been neglected for years. Crumbling walls were being fixed, doors mended, Dallion even saw his father rearranging the clay tiles on the roof. And all that was done with a so much joy and enthusiasm, one would have thought it was a holiday.

“Brother” Linner rushed from somewhere in typically energetic fashion. He was the only one who appeared the same. Then again, if he had become more cheerful than before, he could well have blinded the sun. “Did you hear? We’re going back to our old house!”

“Oh?” Dallion smiled.

“Yeah! Grandpa said there’s plenty of room. Also, Veil improved it, so it’s all nice and shiny right now! Just like the pebble you gave me.”

Just like the pebble, Dallion thought. He had to admit that Veil had taken the whole restoring the Luor name quite seriously. From what Dallion could tell, several more houses had been improved in the last day alone, and several more repaired. That was a good start, although considering Veil’s father there would still be problems in that household. At least that was not Dallion’s problem. Veil and Gloria could take care of themselves. Besides, since the chief had lost his power, they were the highest level awakened in Dherma… after Dallion, of course.

“Let’s go there!” Linner grabbed Dallion by the hand and started pulling him towards the village center.

“Hey, wait a bit.” Dallion played along, finding his brother’s actions amusing. “Do you want to live there?”

“You bet!” Linner grinned.

“What’s wrong with our old house?”

The child stopped. This was a question that he couldn’t answer right away. Dallion could see it written on his face—Linner liked their old home, but he also liked the prospect of living in a new bigger place as well.

“Can’t we have both?” Linner asked, just like someone his age would.

“Why not both, eh?” Dallion crossed his arms.

“Well, it’s not like grandpa has anything against. Besides, that house is small, and dad snores a lot…”

And you want to show off to all your friends, Dallion thought.

“Snores?” Dallion laughed. His brother had no idea how right he was. After Dallion had improved his perception, the noise was worse than a sawmill. “Tell you what. You get all your things ready and I’ll help you carry them to grandpa’s house.”

“Yay!”

“Just be sure to get mom and dad to agree to it.”

“Boo!” Linner crossed his arms. “That’s not fair!”

“That’s what big brothers are.” Dallion winked. “We’re very unfair. But who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to convince them to let you spend some time there, right?”

That wasn’t what the child wanted. He glanced at Dallion, then at their father on the roof. The large man was doing a remarkable job of pretending not to hear a thing. Being a parent involved a lot of that. Thinking back, he had always been there to support everyone in the background. He hadn’t meddled any of Dallion’s decisions, hadn’t given him any advice concerning awakening issued, and yet there was always food on the table, and the house was kept in fairly good condition. What was more, he made Dallion’s mother happy.

“Fine,” Linner mumbled. “I’ll go talk with mom and dad.”

“I knew you would. Meanwhile, I’ll go have a word with grandpa. I can’t let you have the best room, after all.”

“Brother!” Linner pouted. “I wouldn’t do that. Not until I kill my first beast outside the village!”

“I know.” Cool it there, kiddo. It’s a bit too early to set off killing monsters. Enjoy life a little. “See you in a bit, okay?” Dallion waved and set for Kraisten’s house.

The status of the elders was another thing that had changed in the last day. In the past, the council had no real power, the village chief only kept them for appearances. Now, he had turned into the figurehead. Officially, nothing had changed—everything continued to be done in Aspion’s name, the village elders only acted as advisors to the Luor family. Whatever the actual agreement was, it seemed to be in everyone’s interest.

A short distance before reaching his grandfather’s place, Dallion stopped and looked at the sky to the west of the village. That’s where the belltower had been. He had only seen it twice—once on the charts in his awakened library, and once in Aspion’s memories of regret.

“The sky’s not falling down,” the familiar voice of his grandfather said. “Although it might rain in a week or two. The weather patterns are usually stable here, but you never know.”

“Yeah. One never knows.” Dallion nodded.

“I guess congratulations are in order. You’re fully awakened now.”

“Does it show?”

“Usually not, but I have a nose for those things.” The elder moved closer. “Defeating Aspion also gave me a hint.”

“And here I thought that getting rid of the echoes would be the thing that gave me away.” Dallion smirked.

“Oh, I’m sure you did great. Though… you didn’t remove all the echoes.”

Dallion felt a chill down his spine. Was there something he had overlooked? His grandfather had told him that as long as he defeated the village chief, everything would return to normal, and it had. Proof could be seen all around. In that case, what echoes were remaining?

“Don’t be so glum.” Kraisten slammed Dallion on the shoulder like a bear. “You did fine. Not all the problems in the world are your responsibility. All I meant to say is that I won’t be of too much help. Aspion wasn’t the one who invoked my punishment. There’s still a great deal I cannot tell you, but there are a few things that might be of help.”