“What changes?” Dallion asked the Moon.

The first gate trial was linked to the ability to create and handle the creation of an echo. The second—to link, and potentially invade, awakened realms. Each trial had unlocked capabilities relating to awakening, and each next set of abilities had a greater impact than the last.

“Does it matter?” The deity seemed amused.

“In order to make a choice, I need to know what options I have,” Dallion replied. “Otherwise it isn’t a choice.”

“Someone’s been studying theory, or browsing a lot online. Sometimes it’s possible to have a choice without being presented with the options. It’s up to you to find out what you know or, if you prefer, roll the dice and hope for the best.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“Fortunately for you, you aren’t at that stage yet. The choice is your sight.”

“I have to become blind?” Dallion felt a shiver pass through him. That was a price he wasn’t sure he wanted to pay.

“Quite the opposite. You’ll be cursed with the ability to see, really see.” The Moon walked next to Dallion, gazing in the mirror. “All the cracks the real world has, the creatures that hide in the wild, the holes through which they come and go. If you accept, that is what you will see every day of your life. Only taking out your eyes would stop it.”

That sounded harsh, but it was meant to be. Dallion’s imagination took over, causing him to picture a world full of monstrosities hiding among everyday things. He had seen it in plenty of horror movies back on Earth. Could it be this terrible, though? Come to think of it, a lot of the higher level awakened had their flaws that they should have gotten rid of years ago: Spike’s fights, Eury’s flirting, Adzorg’s gambling… Was it possible that all those were a sort of coping mechanism to deal with this “sight”?

“So, if I say yes, everything changes?” Dallion asked.

“If you say yes, you stick your head through the mirror. If you’re able to handle it, then yes. If you fail, forget this conversation ever happened. And don’t tell the lower levels about it.”

That was the same as most other things regarding awakening: never tell someone until they were ready to learn it. Considering the changes awakened went through, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore.

To see or to flee. Dallion considered his options for a moment. It didn’t help that he had also increased his perception to twenty, along with the two levels he had been granted. That would only make him see more of whatever terrors there were in the world. Even so, he was determined to keep on going.

“I accept,” he said, adding a few notes of self-confidence as he spoke. The effects were negligible.

“In that case, go ahead.” The Moon stepped back.

The clouds in the window moved about. Grabbing the frame with both hands, Dallion took a deep break, then quickly stuck his head in, as if he were diving into a pool of water.

There was no sensation as his head went through the frame. Wincing out of habit, Dallion expected to feel his press against a solid surface. Instead, he felt as if he’d stuck his head out of a car window at full speed. Strong winds smacked his face, trying to blow his hair off as if it were a toupee.

After a few moments of waiting, Dallion finally opened his eyes. Nothing happened. The clouds had disappeared, revealing a view of the wilderness, the same that he had gone on his way to Nerosal. Slowly, though, differences began to emerge—small cracks had emerged on the ground, but they also weren’t cracks. They were creatures, hiding within the minuscule tears of various realms. Too strong to be kept in, yet too weak to leave, they remained there, looking, waiting for something to change so they could emerge. The interesting thing was that not all of them were as frightening as Dallion had thought. In fact, there wasn’t a single chainling or Star spawn he could see. The creatures were unusual, sometimes twisted, but at times rather pretty in an outlandish sort of way.

Wow, Dallion thought. Now he understood the request made by the Moon; it was linked to his new awakened power. Until Dallion had passed through the gate, he would never have seen a dragonlet, not unless it had managed to escape into the real world and create a huge headache for the entire province.

“You see them, don’t you?” the Moon asked. “From now on, they will see you as well. That’s the second part of the price.”

“Will they attack me?” Dallion felt compelled to step through the window and get a closer look, but the Moon grabbed him by the shoulder, preventing him from doing so.

“They might if you poke too much. You’re no longer under our protection. From here on, you’re on your own. Keep that in mind and don’t forget your promise.”

The next thing Dallion knew, he was in the library, lying on several chairs next to one another. Several figures were in the room, mainly Nil and Gen, but also Harp, to his surprise.

“You return, dear boy,” the old echo said, helping Dallion sit up. “We were worried there for a moment. Haven’t seen anyone sleep so much in quite a while.”

“Huh?” Dallion managed to say. His back and neck were quite stiff.

“Apologies about that. It seems you haven’t made a bed, so we had to improvise. None of us could create in your realm, you see. We could move things around, but for anything significant, you’re the landlord, so to speak.”

Dallion stood up. His back and neck cracked as he stretched, reminding him of all the times he fell asleep during parties or in front of his computer after an all-nighter playing games. As far as discomfort went, this wasn’t too bad.

“Feeling better I hope?”

“Very,” Dallion replied, still uncertain of what the nymph was doing there. “Is everything alright? I’m not used to seeing all of you here.”

Before anyone could reply, a black silhouette dashed through the library, clawed its way up Dallion’s clothes, as it climbed to his shoulder.

“Nox,” Dallion sighed. Some things never changed.

It was only later that Lux also emerged. Knowing that his older “brother” had taken claim of Dallion, the firebird fluttered around, also displaying his concern.

“Seriously, what did I miss?” Dallion asked, petting the crackling on his shoulder.

“It’s not what you missed. It’s what we missed,” Gen said. “You passed your third gate despite failing the trial. How did that happen exactly?”

The question surprised Dallion. Normally, there wasn’t supposed to be any secrets between him and his echo. The fact that there were meant that the Moon wanted it to be this way, and if that were the case, it was better that Dallion didn’t share his particular experience.

“You tell me.” Dallion glanced at Nil. “I wasn’t the one who got bonked on the head. What exactly did you do to me?”

“Nothing, really.” The old echo shrugged. “I just thought that you needed some rest, so I used a… well, nothing that you’d be interested in. If you are, however, I would gladly provide the name of the tome in question for you to read up.”

“Harp?” Dallion looked at her, ignoring Nil’s offer. “Why are you here?”

All eyes turned towards the harpsisword guardian. Even Nox glanced in her direction. Dallion could tell she didn’t wish to be here, almost as if she were afraid, and yet there was a strong sense of duty shining within her, visible thanks to his music skills.

“Don’t let him touch your face,” a series of melodious sounds combined, forming a phrase. “Protect your face. And your head.”

Dallion tilted his head, confused.

“I believe, dear boy, that the guardian is referring to your battle in the real world. The same you went on this reckless endeavor. Three levels in one go… Honestly.” He shook his head.

Despite Nil’s attempts, Dallion could tell that this wasn’t the real reason. Something else had made the nymph go to this part of his realm, something she was not willing to discuss. Possibly at a later point he was having a talk with her about it.

“Protect the face and the head,” he said. “Got it.” Dallion did a bit more stretching. “See you once this is over.”

Concentrating for several seconds, he left the realm, returning to the real world. Unused to keeping its balance, his body needed a fraction of a second to readjust. That moment proved to be enough, and thankfully, so was his improvement in perception.

At level twenty, Dallion was able to see far more than he could in the past. The movements of his attacker no longer seemed as fast as before. Every muscle, every part of his clothing had a movement of their own, all visible and predictable. In Dallion’s mind, he could see his opponent reaching out for his eyes.

Without wasting time, Dallion split into three instances. The split only lasted a second, but it was enough for him to choose an instance in which he evaded the attack, stepping off from the rope he was standing on so he could land on one of the lower ones.

If this were a realm, Dallion would have immediately gone on the counteroffensive. He had matured enough to know not to exhibit such recklessness; furthermore, he was able to see that his skills were still far inferior to those of his enemy. There was only one thing he could do now, and it was to get out of the way as soon as possible and let those more capable than him deal with the situation—namely Eury.

“Block the plaza,” Dallion heard a whisper. The fashion in which it was said suggested it to be an order; the faint echoes accompanying it—that it had occurred a considerable distance away. What was unmistakable was that the voice belonged to the city’s overseer.

“I knew you’d be using me as bait,” Dallion said, pleased with himself.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see city guards dashing to the scene from several directions. So far, the encounter hadn’t caused the crowd to panic, but he suspected that to be a matter of time. Dallion’s attacker probably knew it as well, for he jumped off the rope as well, eager to follow him.

Three daggers split the air, flying straight at the enemy. Each of them was perfectly aimed, yet none managed to hit their target. With a screwdriver twist, the foe managed to evade all of them as if it were child’s play.

“This way!” Eury shouted a short distance away. She, too, was rushing towards the action, shoving her way through the crowd. The number of people on the lower levels of ropes made it impossible for the gorgon to join the fight above, so she had to rely on the only alternative—bring the fight down to her.

Having Jiroh, or any fury there to lend a hand, would have been extremely helpful. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be.

Maybe you should have told her, Nil said. Would have made things easier for you.

Coming within a few feet of Dallion, the enemy made another attempt to grab his head. Somehow, the creature managed to move much faster through the air. Seeing that he couldn’t avoid the attack, Dallion wielded the box with the kaleidervisto as a weapon, hitting his enemy in the arm. There was a loud crack. Dallion’s first reaction was to think that the artefact had shattered. Instead, it turned out that the attacker’s arm had, and that was not all. Instead of blood, black slimy liquid had started oozing from him, the same that he had seen a while back.

That’s not a copyette, Dallion thought as a wave of fear passed through him. The creature he was facing was a chainling, one that had found its way into the real world.