Two spots remained for the first level of the kaleidervisco to be completely uncovered. Normally people would be worried that the spot they would go to first might be full of monsters. Dallion was more concerned that they might reach the guardian’s chamber before defeating everything else. Thankfully, the crackling was able to guide him in the right direction.

So far, Dallion had kept the existence of his familiar a secret from everyone. He suspected that a few people knew of it, at the very least the librarian echo, though thankfully they hadn’t said anything on the subject. In turn, Dallion hadn’t resorted to using its powers too much, either. Still, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend some time in his awakened room to play with the small critter. If the creature was anything like a guardian, it wouldn’t appreciate being neglected. As a matter of fact, the same logic was true for ordinary cats as well.

“How come there are no cats in the city?” Dallion asked all of a sudden.

Janna and Kallan looked at him.

“I mean I haven’t seen any so far.” Come to think of it, other than birds, he hadn’t seen any animals while walking on the streets. Not a single dog, or cat, or even a rat.

“They’re not liked much,” Kellan replied.

“Does that mean they’re not allowed?”

“No, just not liked.” He turned around.

“Dad has a leopard,” Janna said. “But yeah, they’re not much liked.”

The way she said it gave Dallion the unshakable feeling that this “dislike” was by popular demand. More-likely it had to do with the noble who controlled the city area. In Dherma village, there were lots of creatures. Mice were a particular nuisance, although even there they avoided all food storage areas. Despite the terror that Aspion had caused, at least he had made sure that the village’s food supply was protected. All the wild animals—wolves, boards, and so on—actually came from the outside and even they stopped at the village limits.

Thinking about Dherma made Dallion wonder about Gloria. It had only been weeks since he left her, but already it seemed like a lifetime. In true time it might as well have been. Last, she and her brother had taken over the burden of power along with the village elders. Dallion had asked her to join him to Nerosal, but she had been adamant—there were things that had to be done in the village. No doubt by now more than a few houses had been leveled up. Maybe she and Veil had even managed to improve the village itself? Knowing their skills and ambition it wasn’t out of the question. If there was a way for them to increase their level to the double digits, they had probably found it. That was why Dallion didn’t have to lag behind.

“Not liked, got you,” he said with a smile. “It’s to the right from here.” He pointed as they reached an intersection. “That corridor.”

“Sure?” Kellan asked.

“Absolutely. No idea what the chamber will be like, but there’s a crack nest there.”

The siblings reached into the air. This time a new set of weapons emerged in their hands—Kellan had called a triple flail and a shield, while his sister was holding two large bucklers with razor-sharp edges.

“When we get there, you stay in the back,” Janna instructed. “We only need a bit of light.”

“Got you.” Dallion swallowed his pride. They could have at least offered him to help. Good thing that the rewards were shared among party members, otherwise he’d never get anywhere.

The chamber was longer than it was large. Pitch black, like everything else on this level, Dallion could sense the echo of his footsteps from further in. A short distance away, Dallion’s party members suddenly stopped. This time he didn’t need to ask why—despite the light coming from his lanterns, part of the chamber wars remained pitch black.

COMBAT INITIATED

A wave of snakes shot out of the walls, targeting the siblings. They were somewhat similar to the black tendrils Dallion had seen when facing the crackling, but also different. For one thing, they were much weaker, easily sliced by Janna and Kallan’s attacks. However, for each creature that was killed, five more appeared.

Music, Dallion thought, but there was no effect. Either his skill was too weak, or cracks had no emotions when in combat other than to destroy everything that threatened them. The latter didn’t make too much sense, though, since Nox clearly had thoughts and emotions of his own.

Following the sibling’s progress, Dallion took a step forward. Until arriving in this chamber none of them had suffered a single hit. Against the cracks, however, they had already lost ten percent each. Even so, it was obvious they were winning—the blackness on the chamber walls was slowly retreating further away.

“Need any help?” Dallion shouted, more so to act as moral support. These creatures were much stronger than the ones he had fought in the realm of the well.

“Stay back!” Kallan shouted, throwing his weapons. A crossbow appeared in his arms.

One glance was enough for Dallion to figure out why that weapon was worthy of his name and not the dartbow he had with him. He had seen firsthand how impressive the crossbow looked, but seeing it in action was truly spectacular. The crossbow didn’t only shoot four bolts simultaneously, it shot four clusters of bolts. Like missiles, each of them splintered into a dozen parts, causing devastating damage to whole sections of the wall. Spot after spot of darkness disappeared with every shot. Janna had also stopped her standard attacks, focusing on guarding her brother as the green markers suggested. That’s what real teamwork was: two players in perfect synch, focused on a single goal.

As the duo moved further in the chamber, Dallion followed, bringing them just enough light to be efficient. At one point, the end of the cave became visible. A few more shots of the crossbow and the remaining black spots were gone.

DEVOTED PERFECTIONIST!

When you start a job, you like to see it through. It’s good that you want to clean every single little smudge you see, just don’t become obsessed with it.

A blue rectangle appeared. Dallion smiled. His Earth years of dungeon exploring had not gone to waste. What was more, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one to have received the prize. Janna and Kallan were also looking at the rectangle.

Suddenly, Dallion felt that the chamber became much brighter.

“Nice, a med one!” Janna said, much to Kallan’s dismay. “You really knew what you were talking about.” She glanced at Dallion.

“It’s a coincidence,” Kallan grumbled. “Not worth the fifteen percent health.” He tossed his crossbow to Dallion, who was fast enough to catch it before it hit the ground. “Come on, we still have the guardian to fight.”

Just like children, Dallion thought. That was a thing he was noticing in this world: everyone was either a child or fully mature, there seemed to be nothing in-between. Well, except possibly him. Was that a trait of people who had come from Earth? At this point there was too little information to say for certain, but Dallion decided to keep an eye out. According to his grandfather, there was at least one other awakened who had come from Earth. Given the size of Nerosal, it was very possible they had met here.

“How many achievements have you found?” Janna asked as they were making their way to the last unexplored section of the level.

“I’m not sure. Five, maybe six?” The next time Dallion returned to his awakened room, maybe a visit to his library would be a good idea.

“Wow. And you’ve only been awakened for a month.”

“Everyone keeps saying that’s a big deal. Is it?”

“Not much,” Kallan said. “Late bloomers usually are slow. You’re an exception and they say exceptions grow to become geniuses. We got awakened when we were five.”

Now it was Dallion’s turn to be impressed. Being awakened at five… what did that even feel like? At that age people could barely read properly, let alone make fundamental decisions such as what skills to choose. Suddenly it made sense why most awakened weren’t given a choice.

Dallion could only imagine the amount of time they had spent practicing to get to where they were. Decades of information trapped in the body of a child… They had the knowledge, but hadn’t matured. For better or worse, the way awakening worked seemed to have this effect.

“Hey, if they think I’m good, what does that say about you, since I’m your packrat?” Dallion laughed. “Seriously, you guys are doing all the fighting. I’m just here learning for the time being. Let’s keep it at that and kick that guardian’s ass, alright?”

There was no telling what the guardian would be. Judging by his experience in the dagger, though, Dallion suspected that they’ll be facing something more intelligent than the common guardian.

The walt to the guardian chamber was short now that Dallion had remembered the layout of the level. Once there, the siblings picked geared up, while also taking a lantern each.

“How about I join in?” Dallion asked.

“We’ll still need to change weapons during the fight,” Janna explained

“Can’t you do it if I leave the stuff here?”

“There’s a limit to how far they can be.”

“Then, what if I drop them on the floor once the fighting starts? I want to learn a few things as well. Besides, I can use music and—”

“No,” Kallan cut him short. “You’re a newbie member. You don’t even have a mentor. Whatever the guild thinks of you, they didn’t give you a personal emblem. That means they don’t trust your judgement. I don’t either. Getting an achievement was cool, but it’s not fighting. Until I change my mind, you’ll just be a packrat.”

Dallion didn’t say a thing, but the expression on his face said it for him.

“It’ll be the same with every group you join,” Kallan added. “A personal guild emblem is more than skill.”

That didn’t seem particularly fair, especially since Arthurows had practically been carried to success during the previous trial. On the other hand, he had been sneaky enough to take the win the moment it was offered to him.

“I’ll just sit in the back and watch,” Dallion said. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use his music skills.

As they walked into the chamber, Dallion made a note of the weapons the siblings had equipped. Going against an unknown, Kallan had taken a broadsword which was three quarters his size, as well as a full tower shield. Janna, in turn, had grabbed his crossbow. In her place, Dallion would have taken a few daggers as well, but then he remembered: she had done just that, he was just the person carrying them.

Fighting a guardian in darkness didn’t seem easy or particularly fair. If Dallion was going to succeed at the chance he had been given, he’d have to learn how to do that for two levels.

Light filled the chamber. It was dome shaped, with a perfectly round floor and no obscuring columns. The gate to the lower level was virtually a triangle stuck on the side opposite of the tunnel leading the group here. At first glance, there was no guardian to be seen.

Instinctively, Dallion looked up. There was nothing there, either.

Where’s the guardian? Dallion wanted to ask. He could feel there was one, and yet he couldn’t spot it. Kallan and Janna seemed to have similar problems, because they grouped together, back to back, slowly moving forward.

Music, Dallion thought.

A blue flame lit up in the center of the chamber. The vibrations were clear and powerful—joy, but also sadness. Moments later, a yellow flame emerged as well, illuminating the entire area.

LEVEL 1 GUARDIAN

Species: Firebird

Class: Fire

Statistics: 100% HP