The more the halls of destiny changed, the more they remained the same. The new corridor was much wider than the ones before—perfectly square and brightly lit, it resembled a rainless subway rather than a corridor. If it weren’t for the torches on the walls, Dallion would have thought that he was back on Earth.

“Seen one of these before, Nil?” Dallion asked as he made his way forward.

Personally, no. Although I must say it’s quite an interesting case. Geometrical shapes are less common than one might think. This seems to happen a lot in your realm. Two paradox cubes and now this? One might think you’re a mage.

“Really?” Dallion almost jumped, as a feeling of joy and euphoria filled him.

Strictly speaking he had little idea what magic included—apart from a few mentions in the library scrolls, all other information was jealously guarded by the Academy and the Order. Even the Imperial family relied on tutors. Could it be that the mysterious stat was, in fact, magic? That made a lot of sense, and it also—

No, the echo broke Dallion’s train of thought. There’s no difference between realms. It’s just that mages prefer that style of architecture. It’s all in an attempt to be different from the Order of the Seven Moons, which prefers rounded shapes and, on occasion, perfectly cylindrical tunnels. Not that I can understand their obsessions with forms.

That was rather anticlimactic. Dallion deflated like a balloon.

You should ask my original to give you some scrolls on architecture. You’ll find it quite interesting, especially since you have your own realm to arrange.

“Maybe later,” Dallion hissed beneath his breath.

The corridor ended in a large ornate door of gold and sky silver. Looking closely, Dallion could see motifs of Nerosal engraved on the frame. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to create this—in this case, Dallion’s own subconsciousness. It made him think of his awakened arena. That was another impressive hall that Dallion had neglected visiting for some time now.

Holding his breath, Dallion took hold of the handle and moved the door open. The massive slab of precious metals slid to the side, revealing an even more illustrious room. It, too, was made entirely of gold, as was all the furniture inside. Four giant statues of milk white marble brought some contrast to the sight: a fury, a gorgon, a nymph, and a dryad. All of them were female, and all were looking at a medium-sized table in the center of the room.

That was rather unexpected. There didn’t seem to be any other exits, windows, or openings of any sort. For all intents and purposes, it was as if Dallion was entering a vault.

Hesitation kicked in. In all the adventure books and movies, this was the point at which the unsuspecting adventurer would trigger a trap, nearly killing him, and destroying the entire room. To be on the safe side, Dallion had three instances of him walk throughout the gold chamber, touching as many things as possible. After a while, when no deadly trap was triggered, Dallion himself entered. Of course, there was one instance of him remaining at the door, just in case.

Since the central table was the only thing of interest, Dallion made his way to it. Like the corridor, the door, and the room, the table too was a perfect square—or rather, a cube. The sides were so perfect that the edges had the sharpness of a weapon’s tip.

“So glad you could make it,” a voice said on the other side of the table. Moments later, a form appeared—a very familiar and annoying form.

“General,” Dallion hissed. Of all people, why did it have to be him? Probably because the Moons knew how much Dallion despised him.

“I must say I was rooting for you all the way. The higher your level, the more interesting artefacts you’d be able to clear for me,” the general smirked. He was wearing an earth style suit entirely of gold with a ruby necktie. “And of course, let’s not forget our little arrangement.”

“No chance of that happening.” Dallion crossed his hands.

“You know, come to think of it, I was rather generous in our previous arrangement. Considering how you have been treating my property, I believe a few modifications are in order.”

Although Dallion knew that this was just an echo created by his realm, his blood was starting to boil. There were so many things in the general that annoyed him: the snobbish attitude, the flaunting of riches, the way he changed deals every time to his advantage. Maybe it was no coincidence that the Star was connected with him. Then again, it was likely that the general had dealings with everyone in the city, from nobles to mirror pool aristocrats.

“I think clearing an artefact each month is a reasonable request,” the man continued. “Wouldn’t you say? After all, you almost damaged him during your last adventure.”

“Didn’t you wear on the Seven Moons that you won’t change the terms again?”

“Changing the terms is part of the terms.” The general waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, I wasn’t aware of the capabilities of the guardian when I gave you the shield. Not taking that into account would be unfair. You don’t want anyone to take advantage of anyone else, do you?”

“Interesting, you only bring that when you want something.”

“Actually, it’s quite mundane. You came to me, remember?”

That much was true, but there was a point at which enough was enough. Dallion wasn’t sure what the trial was exactly, but he got the general gist. So far, he had been taken advantage of too much, even after resolving some of these other flaws.

“No.” Dallion spat out the word.

“You’re refusing to fulfil a request I’ve made?” The general arched a brow. Dallion could see amusement throughout his entire head. “Haven’t you forgotten something? That the shield still belongs to me? If you're not pleased with the deal, I’ll gladly take it back. Or rather have it taken back.” He snapped with his fingers.

Four furies emerged in the room. All of them were armed and dressed in light armor.

“I’m aware that you’ve learned the ability to combat split.” The general leaned on the table with both hands. ”That’s why I’ve doubled my usual guards. From what I’ve been told, you can make about four instances of yourself. However, you cannot maintain them for long. Let’s see how long you manage to keep up.”

COMBAT INITIATED

The furies reacted instantly. Within a split second, two of them were on either side of Dallion, performing a simultaneous attack. A set of daggers slashed Dallion’s left leg, while a stiletto pierced the right side of his rib cage. Several red rectangles appeared, each informing of a serious wound.

Given that a quarter of Dallion’s life was lost, he chose to switch to another instance—the one that had jumped back and drawn a dartbow.

Two bolts flew in the direction of the nearest fury. Alas, they never hit their target. Both bolts changed direction, sliding inches from the person, as if hit by an invisible shield.

Dallion didn’t hang around to find out how they were doing it. Letting go of his dartbow, he summed his Nox dagger, while retreating towards a corner.

Lux, grab me, he thought.

The furies moved in. Two attacked along both walls of the corner, while the third glided through the air, attacking from above. In a matter of seconds, Dallion found that he was completely cornered. The fury’s ability to control wind—which also meant air—was way too overpowered. Even if they weren’t awakened, which was a big if, they presented more than a challenge. …that was, if one didn’t take the firebird into account.

Lux appeared and quickly thrust Dallion to the opposing corner of the room, before the trap could fully close. That was one thing about air—hot air always had a significant advantage. On the way, Dallion did an arc attack with the Nox dagger. From past experience he assumed that if he defeated the general, all his guards would disappear as well.

The blade never got to hit its target. The final fury moved between Dallion and the general a split second before the attack could take place. The air seemed to thicken, creating a shield of some sort to deflect the blade of the weapon. That didn’t seem to work either, as the bled continued unimpeded, slicing through air and into the fury’s chest. There was a split moment of surprise on the guard’s face, unable to understand what had happened, moments before disappearing with a loud poof. Sadly, he had done his job—the general remained unharmed. By the time Dallion had reached the other corner of the room, the three remaining furies had positioned themselves in front of the general, creating a protective wall.

“The crackling, of course,” the general said with the same calm he almost seemed to have. It was almost as if he believed no ill could befall him, thanks to his riches and connections. “You put him in your dagger, so now you can cut through anything, even air.”

“Why don’t we find out?” Dallion snarled.

“That is hardly suited for civilized people. Clearly we disagree about something. It would be far more productive to find a mutually beneficial solution to the problem.”

“You just tried to kill me!” Dallion snapped.

“And so did you just now.” The general shrugged. “We can keep blaming each other for what has been or we can work around this. Keep in mind that the city guard will side with me. Despite everything, the shield is mine. I can easily compensate you with a reasonable amount of money and the artifact that you cleared for me. A kaleidervisto, if I’m not mistaken. You were looking for one of those, weren’t you? Well, if you want prefer outside mediation, I’ll be happy to oblige.”

Dallion felt like killing the general. The man knew that Dallion wanted the shield and was taking advantage of that fact. Under the current circumstances, it seemed that Dallion didn’t have any choice.

“What if I just kill the rest of your guards?” Dallion bluffed.

“You’ll find that it’s not as easy as it sounds. But let’s assume that you manage that without suffering any serious wounds yourself. Heck, let’s assume you manage to kill me as well and are then healed by your firebird. The armadil shield still won’t belong to you. The moment you’re within reach of a member of the city guard, the shield will scream so loud that every double-digit awakened within airshot will hear. Good luck explaining how you got it then. The only solution would be never to use it, which defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?”

I really hate him, Dallion thought.

That’s exactly what I tried to warn you at the time, I believe, Nil reminded. You really made some horrible choices back then, dear boy… you had the Star take you to a rather unpleasant loan shark. This would be the punchline of a joke, if the situation weren’t so dire.

“What do you propose?”

“Since both of us have faith in the Seven Moons, let’s leave it to them.” The general gave Dallion a confident smile. “A game of skills and chance. Each of us will have a chance to win the shield. If you end up being the victor, the shield is yours, no questions asked. If I happen to win, though, you’ll have to relinquish it immediately. Either that, or agree to my very reasonable modification to our previous arrangement.”

“An artifact a month,” Dallion snorted.

“Merely a trifle, considering your skills. Naturally, the choice is yours. I can still give you a kaleidervisto along with enough pocket money to last you for half a year, at least.”

Dallion frowned.

“Let’s get this over with.” Dallion unsummoned his Nox dagger.