As Dallion’s father back on Earth used to say, “bureaucracy was nothing more than a side effect of size.” Getting to apply for the individual tournament showed him that Nerosal was no exception. In many aspects the power of the awakened and the areas they controlled got around a lot of the obvious signs of needless bureaucracy. However, when more day-to-day things got involved, the silent monster reared its ugly head.

Estezol had been a considerable help in writing down the required application form, including getting the guild’s seal of approval and finding captain Adzorg to act as a sponsor. After that Dallion had gone through a fort of the city guard—supposedly to check that he hadn’t broken the way in any way—then through the city’s treasury representative. As it turned out, taxes were very real and complicated, just not for the awakened. That was also one of the reasons why if the city asked a guild to do something—like go ahead with the bet about the Stone Garden—they did without argument.

At the treasury building—which was a rather small though well-kept building, Dallion a quick check was made to ensure that Dallion wasn’t in debt. The fact that they could do such a check at all made Dallion feel a bit uneasy. It was only after that Nil explained that the check only extended to dealings with nobles and merchant organizations. Once he was given the go ahead—and the seal to prove it—Dallion was finally able to go to the festival committee itself, where he had to wait in a rather large room full to the brim with people. Clearly, he wasn’t the only person who wanted to give it a try. If anything, he was rather late with it.

“Hey, I know you!” a female voice said behind Dallion. “You’re the blonds’ bard.”

The description, although apt, wasn’t particularly flattering. Putting on his best smile, he turned around to politely explain that he wasn’t a bard, let alone of the Luors, when he saw a familiar face looking back.

“Bel?” Dallion blinked. The face was definitely hers, though the voice hadn’t been.

“Got you,” the girl laughed, using her own voice.

“You sure did. How, though?”

“Family trick. Helps when I need to get out of trouble. I don’t normally resort to it, but seeing your expression was worth it.”

I bet it was.

“So, thinking of trying out at the event as well?” Bel glanced at the crowd. It wasn’t difficult to notice that her clothes were much brighter than she usually wore. Also, Dallion could swear that she had a few more piercings on her ears since the last time they had spoken.

“Yep. Going for the long shot. You too, I guess?”

“I’m just here for the hands-on experience. It’s one of the few places there are, so why not take advantage? Spike suggested it. Well, he also suggested that I could join him in his bar fights.”

“I see.”

Having Bel take part in a barroom blitz didn’t seem right.

“Anyone else from the guild applying?”

“A few, though not too many. Veil was bummed out that he couldn’t join. A pity. Would have liked to watch him fight.”

“He isn’t applying?”

“He can’t. Only double digits, and he still doesn’t want to get his trial over with.”

“Right.”

Dallion seemed to vaguely remember Bel telling him she had become a double digit not too long ago. Most of the pack rats had done so as well, with Falkner being the notable exception.

Keeping a calm exterior, Dallion glanced about, scouting the competition. From what he could see, quite a few of them had guild emblems. After spending so much time in the city, he had started recognizing some of them. For the most part, the applicants belonged to lesser guilds. A few appeared to have no guild affiliation, with fewer still belonging to the big five. If Dallion was to guess, most of the people were in the lower teen levels, with a few notable exceptions.

“Not many from the big guilds,” Dallion noted.

“That’s because they get a quick pass,” Bel whispered with a grumble. “The only ones left are trouble makers and complete newbies.”

Know anything on the matter, Nil?

Dear boy, the festival tournament is something I tend to avoid, the echo replied. If I could, I’d avoid the entire event altogether, but alas, some things are impossible.

Since when?

Since long before you got here.

The queue moved rather quickly. Each interview was a simple handshake, after which the applicant either went through the doorway leading further into the building, or left with a deep feeling of regret and disappointment.

By the time Dallion’s turn came, he had already run a few possible scenarios in his head. After the handshake, the familiar green rectangle appeared.

ITEM AWAKENING

Dallion found himself in a rather large room full of exquisitely expensive furniture. The committee bureaucrat—a thin lady who had the appearance of the strictest librarian Dallion had seen—was sitting on a large, comfortable couch made of plush and leather.

“An Icepicker,” the woman noted with apparent disappointment. “At least you know some music.” She looked at a scroll on the marble desk in front of her. At this point Dallion thought it might not be the best idea to try and influence her using those particular skills. “Been her only a few months?”

“In real time only,” Dallion explained. “It’s been over—”

“I’m only interested in real time,” the woman cut him short. “You’re familiar with the rules of the tournament?”

“Yes, it was—”

“After we’re done here, you’re to go through five preliminary rounds. With three of those, you move to the next phase of the selection process. Provided you make it that far, you’ll go through a few rounds against other applicants. If you’re left standing after that, a final decision will be made to determine whether you continue or not. Questions?”

There was no safe way to respond to that. The woman tended to be prone to interrupting people and, by the looks of it, quite short-tempered. Having to do the same with every applicant must have drained every last drop of joy from her, transforming her into a cynical husk. Dallion shivered at the notion of what life must be like for an awakened bureaucrat. She must have spent centuries dealing with it.

“Does that mean I’ve passed the initial phase?”

“it’s difficult to not to.” The bureaucrat let out an annoyed sigh. “Only the hopeless cases are turned down, or those caught cheating.”

“Who—”

“Only double digit awakened are allowed to apply, unless there is a severe shortage of candidates,” she continued without even waiting for the rest of the question. “Given the level of the guild appointees, only a double digit will stand a chance. Anything else?”

Dallion shook his head.

“Good. Through the door and to the left. Follow the red signs.”

Before Dallion could attempt to thank her, he was back in the large waiting room. Knowing it wasn’t wise to infuriate an annoyed bureaucrat, he quickly followed the instructions, with as little as a thank you.

The crowd was far smaller in the next room. There were a total of twenty desks, each with a person at them. One look was enough to determine that each of the people were also awakened, and in no better mood than the woman Dallion had just gone through.

“You,” a bureaucrat at a free desk said at Dallion. “Come here.”

“I was told to follow the red signs,” Dallion tried to explain.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. Just get here.”

What do you suggest, Nil? Dallion asked.

Go ahead. Despite their appearance, they need good fodder for the real preliminary round.

“Can someone throw me a few reds?” the bureaucrat shouted as Dallion started his way towards him.

Almost immediately, a series of plates and candlesticks flew through the room. The speed and precision with which the bureaucrat managed to catch them all, still keeping his bored expression, clearly showed that the bureaucrats in this room definitely had skills.

“Icepicker?” the man asked, looking at Dallion’s emblem.

“Yes,” Dallion replied, hesitating whether to add “sir” to the end.

“Any sanitation experience?”

“Not particularly. I’m mostly an item explorer…” The man gave Dallion the clear “oh, you’re one of those” look. “But I did help improve the Stone Garden,” Dallion added quickly.

“Hmm.” The man’s attitude quickly changed. Dallion could feel the slightest vibration of thanks coming from the bureaucrat. Naturally, none of this gratitude was voiced.

If that young man hasn’t given up leveling, he’ll be in for some harsh experiences, Nil suggested.

“Anyway, here are your items. Mend and improve them. I suggest you start with the simpler ones and move to the next.”

“That’s the test?” Dallion was taken aback. When the woman had told him he’d go through five rounds, he didn’t think that meant five rounds of fighting guardians.

“Just the first stage. We need to determine if you’re any good.”

The cynic in Dallion also suspected that they were using this for some free labor, getting a large set of items improved. There was no way to know for certain, of course, but given that these were house items and not random stones and pebbles, the notion was looking more likely.

“Only one level?” Dallion asked to make sure. “After that I move to the next?”

“That’s about it.”

The task didn’t seem difficult in the least, so Dallion went on with it. The repair part was just as annoying as he remembered. No fighting creatures, he had to go through a maze and rearrange sections and reassemble broken pieces, until everything was in order. It took Dallion about three hours to fix the first item—a porcelain plate, before he got to face its guardian. In this case, the guardian was a flying manta ray—beautiful to look at, and not too difficult to defeat. All in all, it had taken Dallion some acrobatics and a few shots from his dartbow to do the trick. Thinking back, this was how Gloria had fought against the training guardian during the chainling hunt.

Once the plate was finished, Dallion moved onto the first candlestick. The maze was pretty much of the same difficulty, although the guardian was slightly more difficult—a metal colossus that was about eight feet tall. Dallion had tried offering a draw, but ultimately, he’d ended up having to fight the guardian as well.

The next item seemed to have a bit of rust on it, so Dallion left it for last, focusing on the remaining two instead. Their guardians were just as easy as the first candlestick, although just as reluctant to surrender or accept a draw as the previous ones. It took Dallion about an hour to complete each, after which he went back to the rusty one.

Be careful about the stinkies, Gen reminded.

Dallion mentally nodded. He wasn’t certain how rust would be presented in an item, but he was ready all the same. As it turned out, it was very different from what he expected. There were no creatures or insects in the item’s realm when he entered. Instead, whole sections of maze walls were discolored and crumbling to touch.

Brushing his hand over the spot was the same as swiping off dust from a glass table: there was a lot of coughing and sneezing involved, and a solid surface was eventually revealed beneath it all. There was just one catch: removing the dust didn’t do anything to fix the item, nor could Dallion use other parts of the maze to fill them in. At this point, he decided to get creative.

Lead ingot, Dallion thought.

The item appeared in his hand. Like everything else in the awakened realm, the item was of perfect purity, which allowed Dallion to fill in the holes the same wall he used to fill holes with chewing gum back when he was a child. It wasn’t particularly pretty, and Nil had a lot of harsh things to say in the matter, but as far as the rectangles were concerned, it did the job. Still, Dallion was quite happy that there wasn’t anyone to follow his progress.

The guardian, as before, proved no particular challenge, quickly allowing Dallion to focus on his athletic skills and earn himself another easy skill increase. When it was all over, his acrobatics were at twenty-seven, while his guard skills were thirty-one.

“There you go,” Dallion said upon returning to the real world. “Is that all?” All the fighting and mending had made him quite hungry, yet there was no free food here. All he could do was keep his hunger in check until all this was over.

“Hmm,” the bureaucrat took the items and closely examined them. “Not the best work,” he said, although Dallion could instantly tell that he was lying. “Still, good enough for you to go to the next round.” He took a small sigil ring and handed it to Dallion. “You’ll be informed where and when to go for the next phase of the trial. Do not lose or damage the ring in any way. It’s your proof for the next trial. If you don’t have it, you’ll be awarded an instant loss. Any questions?”

“No,” Dallion put the ring on his pinky finger. “There are no questions. I’m just looking forward to the next phase.”