The conversation in question had taken place in Belaal’s Drum—a gambling den and pawn shop with the appearance of a high-class tavern that belonged to the mirror pool. After the days of Nerosal’s leveling up, the tavern entered the domain of the city, losing its ability to do illegal activities and, through that, its charm. From what Dallion heard, the owner—a nasty piece of work by the name Belaal—had sold the establishment, and started construction of a new one a distance away along the river.

Back when Dallion was still in desperate search for a kaieldervisto to spot the free copyette, he had gone to the mirror pool to acquire one. As a result, he had been challenged to participate in the gauntlet: a mending game in which he tried to mend items given to him by the Drum’s hosts, and patrons bet on whether he’d fail or not. Incidentally, that had gotten him to come across Gleam back when she had been imprisoned in a hand mirror. It was also during that time that Dallion had seen a mage for the first time. Rather, it was the first time a mage had outright threatened him with sealing if he didn’t stop meddling with events in Nerosal. The mage’s name was Alien Eval, as Dallion later found out. Officially, he was “on loan” from the Academy, tasked with the trivial task of guarding the life of a minor member of the imperial family who had come to the festival. At one point Dallion had even suspected him of being a Star cultist, but as it turned out the man was just extremely bad at his job, resulting in the death of the imperial during the arena incident. For that reason, he had completely forgotten about the warning, believing the mage to have been punished for his failure. Judging by the current situation, however, there clearly was more to it.

Rays of energy kept on flying about, piercing anything in their path. They were much smaller than before, but the mage was clearly intent on killing everyone present. At present, her target seemed to be Jiroh, though. The only thing that distracted her from going all out was the whip blade that kept attacking like an annoying immortal mosquito.

A new pattern of symbols emerged in front of the mage. Moments later, large cubes of ice formed around every segment of the whip blade, causing it to fall down through the cloud citadel and into the ocean.

Gleam? Dallion asked in his realm.

I’m fine, the shardfly replied. It’s annoying that I don’t have my old strength. If I did, I’d show that kid what real ice feels like.

Lux, go help melt the ice, Dallion ordered.

Yep, yep! Sure thing! The firebird replied as the Kaleidervisto floated out in the air, then zipped through clouds and water like a bullet. The familiar’s flames wouldn’t be able to deal damage, but they were able to melt ice. At least, Dallion believed so.

A gust of wind sliced through the buildings like a blade, directed at the mage. Using his layer vision Dallion was almost certain that the openings formed on the structures before the wave hit them.

Jiroh, Dallion thought.

The attack was flawless, however, it too failed. The mage had managed to draw not one, but five patterns in the air, surrounding herself by five energy cocoons. Her speed was outright impressive.

“Eury,” Dallion said, relying on her perception level to hear him. Right now, he really wished they had exchanged echoes. It would have made teamwork considerably more efficient.

Several more torrents headed towards the mage from multiple sides, while she countered with shields and magic rays of her own.

The whole encounter really was something else. So far, Dallion had often worried that his empathy trait might have made him overpowered. Looking at things unfold, he had nothing on mages. They completely transformed the type of battle. Up to now hand to hand fighting was pretty much it, even when furies were concerned. Mages were the equivalent of using fighter jets to fight knights. They didn’t rely on strength, combat splitting, or even perception. However, their abilities to break the laws of nature, when combined with fast reactions, made them a force to be reckoned with.

Nil, do you think she killed the dragon? Dallion asked.

Looking at her, it’s possible, the echo replied. She does tend to rely on a single type of attack, although she’s rather proficient at it.

Is that unusual?

There aren’t enough mages to say whether it’s unusual or not. She’s not an apprentice, I’ll tell you that much. As for anything else, your guess is as good as mine.

Without warning, Eury leapt in the air some twenty feet away. Her back was deliberately turned towards Dallion, suggesting she was going to attempt to petrify the mage with her glance.

The action seemed to catch the enemy by surprise, for the mage turned around to face the gorgon. In a flash, all that was flesh turned to gray stone. The moment he saw it, Dallion felt relief and a sense of victory bubble within him. Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived. No sooner had the mage turned to stone, that cracks emerged, causing the outer layer to crumble off like thin plaster.

Quickly, enter your realm! Nil said.

Why? What’s—

You need to think how to survive this and you won’t get a chance to do so unless you’re in your awakened realm!

The idea was valid, though Dallion didn’t understand the urgency. Regardless, he did as the echo suggested.

PERSONAL AWAKENING

The cloud citadel disappeared along with the fight that was taking place on it. While Dallion remained within his realm, the real world was going to remain frozen in a fraction of a moment. It was definitely going to give Dallion enough time to come up with a plan, although…

“Nil,” he said. “Why did you make me come here?”

“I would have thought that to be self-explanatory, dear boy,” the echo said, rocking a few steps away in a wooden chair. “When facing an unexpected opponent, it’s beneficial to enter your realm and gather your thoughts.”

“Right. How come you’ve never told me to do it in the past?”

The old echo immediately went still. It was obvious that something was different this time. Thanks to his music skills, Dallion could see the hesitation appearing within Nil like cells of a honeycomb.

“I can see when you’re hiding things from me.” Dallion crossed his arms. “What’s the matter?”

“You aren’t ready to face a mage in your current state,” Nil said. “Not even close. In the past, it wasn’t a problem because you had the protection of the Moons. Ever since you became an initiate, you’re on an equal footing, and thus—"

“I’m on my own,” Dallion finished the sentence.

He had been warned of this, not once, but several times. Dallion thought he knew that that meant, he thought he was prepared. According to Nil, however, he wasn’t.

“Mages are like people: they don’t like to waste time unless they are amusing themselves. Fighting three otherworlder initiates, including one favored, is a challenging task, even for a mage, so she’ll go for the weakest link.”

Me, Dallion thought. The mage was going to focus on him. That was definitely alarming, but there wasn’t much that he could do about it. Or was there?

“You want me to multi-level,” Dallion said. “I thought you disapproved of the practice.”

“I do. It’s a terrible idea. But I didn’t expect you’d end up facing an Academy mage in the middle of the ocean. This isn’t like fighting a chainling in the middle of Nerosal. No one will come to help you here. Even if the rest of the hunter team manages to learn what’s going on and somehow climb on the cloud citadel on time, they won’t be of any help.”

This sounded serious. The echo rarely got involved to such a degree. The fact that he suggested, was a very good reason to.

Harp, Dallion said. What do you think?

It’s your fate, the nymph replied via a combination of sound vibrations. I cannot set it for you.

Knowing the harpsisword that pretty much meant a yes. Dallion couldn’t help but smile internally. The last time he tried something of the sort, the roles were reversed: he had been the one trying to boost his stats quickly, while everyone else was telling him not to do it. Then again, he had learned a lot since then.

“How far do you think I’ll be able to go?” Dallion asked.

“Two,” Nil replied without hesitation.

“Just two levels?” That sounded a bit insulting.

“Awakening isn’t like the real world. The higher you climb, the more difficult it gets. With your current skills, you’d pass ten levels if they were the same as when you were around twenty. Now, though, I think you’ll pass two.”

“We’ll see,” Dallion smirked. In his heart, though, he was a bit afraid of what would happen if he only managed to pass one. So far, every level he had completed past the last gate had been on the verge of his capabilities. It was impossible to say for how long the trend would continue.

Taking a few more moments to admire the view, Dallion then left his henge of skills in search of a trial area. Gen had assured him that the location didn’t matter, but that didn’t stop Dallion from being stubborn.

The first ten minutes passed by like a flash. Dallion felt that he had barely started, when Ariel showed up, arms crossed to urge him to make a choice. The latest echo didn’t seem to be the patient type. In all honesty, neither was Dallion, unless he was deliberately delaying something.

“You know, your fight was much more fun than the real thing,” Dallion said.

“You had more imagination when fighting against me,” the echo said. Ariel had retained his white clothes and hair, making him stand out among the vibrant colors of Dallion’s realm.

“It’s not always about imagination.” Just walking about in the citadel was a challenge. Maybe the next trial was going to give him some insight.

“You want me to join you?” Arial asked. “I can combat split, so I don’t risk getting—"

“It’s fine.” Dallion interrupted. “I’ll go on my own. If I’m worn out before the next one, I might call you, then.”

After a while, Dallion decided that a mountain trial was the way to go. Not that entering the trial from a mountain made any difference. It was rather that Dallion needed some more time to himself before starting the trial, and that was a good excuse.

As before, a stairwell marked the entrance to the trial. Taking a deep breath, Dallion went along it. The usual blue rectangle appeared on the second step. Dallion brushed it away before the words could fully form.

“Lux, Nox, Gleam,” Dallion said as he walked down. “Stay close.”

All three familiars appeared in their creature forms. Lux immediately leaped on Dallion’s back, surrounding him with blue flames, while the other two moved alongside their owner. A few more steps and Dallion summoned his harpsisword and the armadil shield as well.

“Any chance you might help me in your true form?” he asked.

“Only if you can’t handle it,” the shield replied. “But not if you’re about to lose.”

This sounded more like an answer Nil would give, but Dallion understood what he meant. They could only help, but not do the job for him. It was the same in real life: as his weapons, they could occasionally act on their own, but Dallion was the one who had to do most of the work.

“Hold tight,” he entered the darkness. This time there weren’t any torches of crystal lights. From this point on, Dallion was venturing into the unknown once more.