Watching a person fight to escape the effects of a chainling was like watching someone try to break a really large balloon from the inside without having anything sharp at hand. Each chord Dallion played made an area of the creature’s silhouette thinner, though still not enough for its prisoner to be released.

Just a bit more, Dallion told himself as he kept on playing. Each time he pulled the strings the more emotions were exposed, allowing him to focus on the creature better. However, with each chord the pain in his head and hand increased. Only eleven seconds had passed since Dallion had started playing, but already it felt like hours. To make matters worse, no one could hurt the chainling again with conventional means without risking the death of the person affected by it.

“Dal.” Bel approached. She was still holding a pair of knives in each hand, ready to throw them at the slightest provocation. “You’re bleeding.”

That wasn’t what Dallion wanted to hear, but he knew he couldn’t look down. Doing so would lose his concentration, and if that happened there was no telling if he could start using his music skill again.

The pressure on his temples felt as if Dallion had put his head in a press. At this rate, he could barely manage five seconds more. With luck, maybe he could stretch it to seven. Either way, it wouldn’t be enough…

There was one easy way to resolve this. Dallion could just tell Bel and Falkner to attack. In its weakened state the chainling wasn’t going to survive, likely it wouldn’t even be able to evade the attacks. The person trapped inside would die, but ultimately, one death was better than many… wasn’t it?

Dallion gritted his teeth. Back on Earth, when he wasted his time scrolling through memes on the internet, he had come across an old demotivation picture. The caption had said that “failure is when your best isn’t good enough.” Right now, that was a valid description of his state. Quitting was the logical choice, but that didn’t change the fact that Dallion remained greedy.

There’s a way, he told himself. If my best isn’t good enough, I’ll have to take some else’s best.

“Nox,” Dallion whispered. “This one’s yours.”

There was no hesitation on the familiar’s part. In one instant it was on Dallion’s shoulder, the next the crackling was already rushing towards the enemy. As long as it could make a deep enough scar, everything should be over with.

“Match the timing,” Dallion said. All Nox had to do was match the timing…

Three seconds at most remained until Dallion had reached his limit—three chances for Nox to slice the chainling’s silhouette open. The cat got to its enemy without issue. The Chainling was too busy trying to keep itself whole from bothering to attack others. Extending his claws, Nox waited.

When Dallion played the next chord, Nox struck. That proved to be all that was needed. A thin line of white appeared on the chainling’s form like a rip in a plastic bag. In that single moment the beast knew that it was done for, and yet still refused to accept it. Tendrils emerged from both sides of it, desperately trying to sew the tear together. However, the more the creature tried, the bigger the tear became. The unraveling continued for several seconds, all the time Dallion didn’t dare stop playing out of fear that doing so might cause the chainling to recover.

Suddenly, there was a loud pop. After that, the creature had vanished from sight.

RAY OF LOYALTY

Fighting for your convictions is a noble quality. If you’re not strong enough, however, there’s always the danger that it will lead you astray.

Finally, Dallion relaxed his hand. The pain was killing him, but he refused to go drop to the ground. He could feel the changes brought to by the achievement—his body felt sturdier. No doubt he had gained a few points. The next time he returned to his awakening room, he was going to see which exactly.

“You okay?” Falkner asked. Before Dallion could answer, he reached out into the air and summoned a small silver flask. “take a sip.” He offered it.

Dallion was too exhausted to argue or even think. Grabbing the flask, he removed the cap, then took a large gulp. A warm sensation filled him; unlike anything he’d felt before. It was almost as if he were drinking sunshine. The liquid filled his mouth, felt as if it was going up his throat and into his head. The sensation was indescribable, but at the same time pleasant.

“That’s enough.” Falkner pulled the flask away. “Give it a few moments.”

“What was it?” Dallion managed to ask. There was no response.

“That’s the first time I see a creature pop like that,” Bel said, as she put her knives away. “What was it?”

“A chainling cub,” Falkner said in awe. “It’s unbelievable we managed to pull this off! It was a cub, but still—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dallion forced a smile onto his face.

It was largely thanks to Nox that they had managed to achieve this, yet again. This was twice that the crackling had helped him in battle, not to mention it was the sole reason Dallion had managed to unseal his mother’s powers. There were no two ways about it. If Nox hadn’t joined him when he did, things would have been very different.

“Now we can call the others,” Dallion said. “There might be more of them.”

“More chainlings?”

“They’re the reason that the people became lost. In fact, they were never lost, they were swallowed up or something. Hopefully, we managed to free one of them, and…” Dallion paused. Did the creature's vanishing mean that the person had been healed in the real world? Anything was possible, but while they were here, it was difficult to find out. “Let’s continue along the wall.”

“You think there are more of them?” Falkner’s voice trembled.

“More than one person vanished,” Dallion said, although judging by Nox, the danger was over. The crackling not only had stopped fretting, but had actually curled up in Dallion’s awakening room and snoozed off. Even so, Dallion didn’t want to take any chances.

The party continued along the wall for over several hours. At one point they came across another group that had a similar idea. Some news was exchanged telling each of the parties something new.

Dallion’s group had shared their experience with the chainling, as well as the crack in the outer wall. In return, they had learned of a serious battle taking place on the thirteenth floor. Apparently, Dallion had been right—Vend and the rest of the fighters had gone there to fight. Not only that, but they had managed to make their way to the guardian arena, and summon the entity.

It was a good strategy—clear the floor, so everything is lit up, and then continue with the search. Dallion was curious whether something else hadn’t happened there as well. Considering the skill of a guild elite, anything was possible.

After the conversation was over, each of the group continued along its path. Another hour and Dallion was convinced that they wouldn’t find anything else interesting on the floor. Even so, he pressed on. Bel, who wasn’t as nearly stubborn as him, had tried to convince them to go to the levels below in search of Vend. The idea wasn’t the worst, and Dallion would have agreed if the elite hadn’t found them first. The frown on his face instantly created a tense atmosphere, making Dallion almost wish they had found another chainling cub instead.

“Whose idea was it?” Vend asked.

“Mine, I think,” Dallion was quick to reply.

The elite gave him a stern look, then shook his head.

“Come on,” he said after a while. “Mission is over. The lost have been found.”

“Really?” Bel asked, the only person who had any enthusiasm left in her. “All of them?”

“All. I would have told you earlier, but you and another two groups decided to go searching too well.”

“That’s on me as well.” While Dallion suspected that wouldn’t endear him to anyone, he couldn’t let the others take the blame, especially after all the help they’d been against the chainling. “I wasn’t sure there was—”

Vend make a sign for him to stop.

“We’ll talk more back in the guild. Right now, we must leave and let the others work.”

Without arguments, the trio followed Vend to the guardian area of the level, then without warning found themselves back in the large room of the guildhall. All the other groups were there as well, letting go of the artefact at precisely the same time. That was one of the weird effects that Dallion hadn’t gotten used to; it didn’t matter when a person left an awakened realm minutes, days, or even months earlier than someone else. As long as they had entered at the same time, all returned to the real world at precisely the same moment.

Dozens of people let go of their group leaders, almost in sync. The more anxious ones hurried out of the room to get their payment and some well-deserved food. Dallion, though, remained.

“Good job, Dal!” Arthurows gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Heard you did some pretty impressive work.”

“Yeah.” While he knew that he had, Dallion was not in the mood for cheer. He felt that he had disappointed Vend several times during this job and now wasn’t sure how to feel about it all. “Had a lot of help.”

“Always better to get the help than be the one helping,” the other laughed. “So, we're going down for some grub?”

“Yeah, sure…” Dallion looked around. “You go ahead, I’ll join in a bit.”

With a shrug, Arthurows left the room, knowing not to ask further questions. By the looks of it, Bel and Falkner had as well. Soon the only people remaining were Vend and Dallion.

“You realize, don’t you?” Vend broke the silence.

Dallion nodded.

“No one must learn of this.”

A spark of hope appeared in Dallion’s mind. Up till now he had assumed the worse, not once considering the obvious.

“If anyone asks, you faced a creature you hadn’t seen before and can’t remember its name.”

“Got you,” Dallion replied in relief. “Are the lost okay?”

“Yeah. They were fine the moment we dealt with the creatures. Lucky you had music skills. If you had killed it outright, we’d have had one less guild member.”

The thought was chilling, though not as chilling as the prospect of getting captured by a chainling.

“How were they captured?” Dallion asked. “I thought that chainlings only roam the wilderness.”

“They do, but that’s the thing about spheric items. They are part of the wilderness. No one is certain when they were created or by whom. Some scholars claim they are older than reality itself. That’s a stretch, but you’ve seen how different they are compared to anything else. Some of them have creatures that don’t exist anywhere else. The copyettes, the nymphs, and the crippled spawn.” The last was said in a whisper. “That’s why we get paid so much to clear the exotic items. This thing might well be a fancy dresser, but that's not the point. People pay us to make sure that it’s safe when they take it back. No surprises, no unpleasantries. And lately demand has been booming.”

So that’s why the selection trial involved a sphere item, Dallion thought. You want to see who’s able to work in a group. That’s also why you’ve pinned such high hopes on me.

“The chainlings in the wilderness,” Dallion began. “Are they human?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“Are they?”

“That’s a difficult one to answer. Some claim they are, others say they aren’t. The truth is, we’ll never know for certain. One thing we do know, is that even if they prove to have been human at some point, there’s no helping the person escape. Awakened skills can be used in the real world, but they don’t have nearly the same effect. If your battle had taken place here, you or the chainling would have died. There is no other option.”

That was a grim thought, and it definitely didn’t make Dallion feel better. The chainling that he had helped hunt down… had it been someone? Or was it just a monster set to roam and cause destruction?

“And the Crippled Star? How is it inv—”

“Dal, you did well today,” Vend interrupted him. “You saved your guild members and eliminated a danger. That’s all that matters. Leave it at that. Some questions are best left unanswered.”