Dallion could feel the bloodlust directed towards him, yet failed to see any creature. It was as if an invisible presence was following him, keeping just out of sight, while determined to attack at the first given opportunity. By the looks of it, Nox was able to feel the presence as well. With a mixture of reluctance, loyalty, and determination, it continued forward on the verge of running. Based on Bel and Falkner’s reactions, Dallion got the distinct impression that none of them could see the crackling, although they too felt the invisible threat.

“We should go back,” Bel suggested. “Get some more people to help.”

“That could make things worse.” Dallion stopped his music skills. Even after getting used to them, his limit remained about five minutes until the headaches became overwhelming. Until he broke through his level cap, this was a limitation he had to deal with. “Vend and the rest of the group leaders aren’t here, and the weaker ones will just risk getting hurt.”

“If we keep going, we’ll get hurt and no one will ever know.” Bel didn’t say it, but she feared they might be the next ones to go missing.

“It’ll be fine,” Dallion lied, using his music skills. It was painful, but it also helped cover up lies, as long as he redirected people’s attention elsewhere. “We’re already in combat. The thing won’t leave us alone, so the only option we have, is to face it.” And hopefully win.

As they went further, the outer wall of the level became visible. Transparent as everything else, it looked like a greyish murkiness that continued into infinity, as if the entire realm was surrounded by white mist.

“Is that the wall?” Dallion asked, as he went closer. Back on Earth he would have freaked out upon witnessing such a site—an entire reality floating in a nothingness of mist. Here, it seemed only slightly strange. “Is there anything beyond?”

“The wall marks the outer limit of the item,” Falkner said in a manner that suggested he was quoting something. “During an awakened state, there is no contact between the inside of the realm and the real world. A layer of infinity ensures that nothing but an awakened can go from one to the other.”

While the explanation sounded scientifically deep, there was one glancing loophole that became instantly obvious: the restrictions didn’t apply to an awakened, but nowhere was it specified that the awakened had to be human.

Suddenly Dallion froze in his tracks.

“What’s up?” Bel asked.

“We should get out of here,” Dallion whispered. “I know what’s causing the disappearances.”

“That would be good news.” The girl smiled. “Right?”

“No…” Music, Dallion thought.

The unknown presence remained invisible. However, the bloodlust continued to be ever present around them. The chainling had used similar tactics.

It’s just my imagination, Dallion thought. Chainlings in the awakened realm were far less aggressive than those outside. After all, he had fought a chainling with Janna and Kallan. The “shelfey” was laughably easy to defeat once they had found its lair. Maybe this would be nothing but a similar case?

As much as Dallion wanted that to be the case, though, he knew it couldn’t be. Nox hadn’t been nearly as terrified when in the presence of the shelfey.

“There’s nothing here,” Falkner said once they reached the wall. “Let’s get back.”

“Just a moment.” Dallion reached for his harpsisword, only to realize it wasn’t there. How could he have forgotten? After a moment of thought, he went for the second best—the dartbow. His entire focus was on Nox. The crackling cautiously made its way to a specific spot on the wall, then mewed twice.

You want me to check there? Dallion approached. It didn’t take long for him to see it—the source of his fear. Almost invisible from the background mist, there was a crack in the wall. It was by no means large, probably the width of a thread. However, after being with a crackling for so long, Dallion had grown to know exactly how large a crack could be.

“If the ‘layer of infinity’ is breached, can something come in from the outside?” he asked Falkner.

“In theory.” The question made Falkner tense up as well. “It’ll be impossible to do at the guild, though. Special items are kept locked and there’s almost always someone going in or out.”

“Almost always?” Dallion didn’t like the sound of that.

“Well, there’s no one in when they are brought in, or when they are stored. Not every item can be explored right away.”

“You know a lot about guild practices,” Bel noted.

“My family does business with a few back home. I picked up a few things.”

“So, something can have entered and remained hidden before the exploration started.”

“Yeah. Again, this is highly theoretical. It would be extremely—”

Nox hissed, his hair on edge. The crack in the wall widened with a loud sound as a multitude of black strands, each the size of a hair, streamed through into the level.

Dallion reacted before he could think, leaping forward. Using the armadil shield to cover as much of himself as possible, he grabbed Nox and continued running. No sooner had he done so than a series of thorn-like strands hit the ground, drilling holes through the crystal surface.

“Get away!” Dallion shouted, rolling over. Immediately after, he reached for his holster to redraw the weapon he had dropped while saving his familiar.

Species: Chainling Cub

Class: Crippled Star

Statistics: Unknown

Skills: Unknown

Weak spots: Unknown

Crap! Dallion screamed in his mind upon seeing the white rectangle.

The strands were still in the process of forming a creature, but he already knew what it would be. The only glimmer of hope he had was that the chainling was young enough for them to be able to defeat it.

“Chainling!” he shouted, targeting the dark silhouette as it was forming, then squeezed the trigger. A bolt split the air, only to be enveloped by black tendrils feet away from its target.

Dallion could say without question that a great many things had changed since he had last faced a chainling. Back then, he was barely a level four with a single weapon. Now he was close to double digits, all his stats were vastly improved, he had proper gear, not to mention he had been studying and training hundreds of attack and defense sequences… Yet one look at the misshapen monstrosity and all his accumulated knowledge seemed to vanish.

Falkner seemed no different. Normally eager to show his dominance, the boy was retreating, holding a weapon in each hand. Only Bel remained where she was, mostly because she was confused about what was going on.

“Get Vend!” Dallion shot another bolt. This one managed to graze the silhouette of the chainling, though without dealing any damage. No doubt about it, the creature was the same he had seen, but also different. For one, it was far smaller—no larger than an ordinary dog—but what it lacked in size, it made up for with aggression. Its bloodlust was so strong that Dallion didn’t have to resort to his music skills to feel it.

It’s going to attack me, he thought. It’ll attack me and transform me into it. Or maybe it’ll scorch me directly?

Was there anything he could do at this point? Standing to his feet, Dallion drew the only melee weapon he had and went into a combined melee and ranged stance. Focusing his fears away, the logic part of his brain began functioning, telling him to stand his ground. With his weapons and equipment, he was far better off relying on a counterattack than rushing at it as he had last time. All that Dallion needed was something to provoke the chainling in making the first move. This time, it was Nox that provided that.

Still terrified beyond words, the crackling had somehow managed to transform that fear into its strength. Charging at the chainling, Nox leapt from spot to spot, avoiding any tendril attack the enemy creature threw at him. That was not all. As the crackling ran, Dallion could swear he could see the ground to crack beneath the cat’s paws.

Two sets of claws slashed at each other. It was crackling against chainling, each young and unwilling to back off. And it was precisely at that point that Dallion shot his next bolt.

Havoc had told him to aim in the area of the neck—the supposed weak spot of the chainling. During the hunt Dallion had failed to hit the target—the chainling had proved to be too strong. This one, though, proved to be less agile.

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt Damage increased by 200%

I hit it, Dallion thought.

The red rectangle wasn’t only an indication that he had found the chainling’s weakness, it meant that this chainling could be hit, and that changed everything. Now it no longer was a fight against an invincible enemy, but a numbers game. And when it came to a numbers game, Dallion had a slight advantage.

“Aim for the spot just above its chest!” He shouted. “Nox, back!”

Hearing the order, the crackling did one final slash at its enemy before rushing back towards Dallion. In its enraged state, the chainling followed. Knives and bolts flew to greet it. Most were deflected through the tendrils that came from the black silhouette’s form, but one managed to hit, even if only caused a minor wound.

Music, Dallion thought. The recent wounds had caused the chainling to leak a whole lot of emotions. The wave of bloodlust was still there, powerful as ever, but beneath it, there were inklings of something else… Fear? Desperation? However, they weren’t directed towards Dallion or anyone else from his group. Instead, they were directed at the chainling itself.

Was this self-loathing? No… There was something different, something that Dallion couldn’t quite see.

“Dal, look out!” Bel shouted.

Green markers appeared, though too slow to save Dallion’s shoulder from being hit.

MINOR WOUND

Your health has decreased by 5%

Caught off guard, Dallion pulled back. The pain in his right shoulder intensified for a second before disappearing altogether. Even he had to admit that this was a huge advantage as opposed to the real world. Still, it didn’t give him the time to remain idle.

Grabbing the tendril, Dallion shot two more bolts at the chainling in rapid succession. Both hit, dealing minor damage, but causing enough pain for the chainling to pull back its tendrils into its body.

“Falkner, we can use your help on this!” Dallion shouted. “Falkner!” He glanced over his shoulder.

The boy was petrified. For some reason he was reacting as if he had seen a creature of this sort before. No… he was reacting as he had fought one.

“Snap out of it!” Dallion yelled. “It’s just a cub! It won’t hurt you if we attack it at all at once.”

Not waiting for an answer, Dallion aimed at the chainling. The creature disappeared. A burst of questions appeared in Dallion’s mind, but above anything else, his training kicked in. The lessons he had been forced to memorize by Nil, the set sequences of actions that he had trained time and time again until he could perform them at the drop of a hat, now came into use.

When faced with a disappearing enemy, nine out of ten times the best course of action was to perform an immediate guard-withdraw. Without hesitation Dallion jumped back, extending the armadil shield before him. A split second later, he felt a heavy force push against the shield’s surface, shoving him several steps back.

Would you look at that? Dallion thought. The library echo had turned out to be right. There was a point in learning the basics, just as there was to come up with strategies on the fly. The guard sequence had protected him from attack, which suggested that now Dallion had a fraction of time to take advantage of. He did so by immediately engaging in a counterattack.

Red and green markers appeared, but he wasn’t looking at them, performing the correct steps and spins to get into a position for a strike without having to see his enemy. Then Dallion moved his shield. The chainling was there, fangs bared, instants away from commencing an attack of its own. Ultimately, it was Dallion who proved to be faster.

CRITICAL HIT

Dealt Damage increased by 200%