The day that Dallion was supposed to stay in the city of towers turned into two, then five. It wasn’t something he and Eury had planned. It started by doing small tasks: hunting, crafting, building. As confidence in Dallion and Eury grew, the tasks became more complicated.

Questions still remained regarding the dryads, but it seemed that the decision to follow the Star had been made seven generations ago. In fact, the choice had been made so that the people had a chance to survive. According to the few dryad scrolls that Dallion had been given, the plague predated the Star’s recent arrival by millennia, going all the way back to when the dryads first entered the realm. When communication with the sword marshal of the realm ceased, people feared that the war for dominance wasn’t going as well as expected. The local inhabitants had reasoned that if the war was lost, they would be killed, so the fighting had to be still going on. It was at that time that they had come to a decision: to prepare for the day that they would be needed in battle.

The dryad chosen to rule the realm came up with an idea so controversial that it needed to be decided by all the awakened present. According to him, the only way to proceed was to ensure that only the strong remained.

The scrolls were unclear exactly how it happened, but the proposal was accepted. The following year the ruler used his herbology skills to make every plant in the realm sap the strength of non-awakened, thus ensuring that only awakened were allowed to roam the land. Since no one was willing to kill the non-awakened outright, they were to remain in the towns and cities under the protection of the awakened and deal with all non-essential tasks such as cleaning, cooking, and crafting. In short, a servant class had been created. Then something went wrong.

The original plague was supposed to be slow and cumulative, allowing non-awakened dryads to live to their thirties before it started crippling them. However, as it soon turned out, not every awakened was willing to sentence their family to a short death. The awakened rebelled, starting revolts or outright fleeing. Cities splintered into factions and fell. In some cases, the non-awakened went against awakened, ignoring the rules. An endless period of chaos followed in which people died young and only the guardians were able to provide safety.

That was until the Star’s appearance. Entering the realm, the Star taught the survivors to build towers of stone and live according to the rules of survival. No longer were they to rely on the guardians for protection, but could live a full and long life.

It was sad that they couldn’t see the irony of the situation: that by listening to the Star, they had recreated the events that had brought about the chaos in the first place. Dallion, however, was able to see all too well. The only reason that no further fighting had erupted was because the surviving population, at least in this part of the realm, was too small for it. Despite the massive towers and the size of the city, there were merely a few hundred dryads living in the towers. They were being provided for by twenty-one awakened, all of which used echoes and technology granted to them by the Star for hunting.

At least they’re stable, Nil said while Dallion finished making another rocket shooter. He had offered to make normal weapons, such as dartbows, or even crossbows, but no one seemed to be interested. Given that the weapons they were currently using were old, created centuries ago, Dallion decided to create them despite his reservations.

At least you enhanced your skills a bit, Nil said, as Dallion wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Thanks, Nil.”

That wasn’t the reason he and Eury had stayed, though. The gorgon had suggested, and rightfully so, that any information regarding the guardians and the second part of the realm would be quite valuable. Leading to anything useful, though, was going to take a considerable amount of time. Even with Dallion constantly using his music skills in every conversation, the dryads remained distrustful. It was only lately that they had started sharing relevant information and only as long as it wasn’t related to the city itself.

“You finished another one?” a dryad asked from the entrance of the forge. Dallion could tell that it was, in fact, an echo.

“I can teach you, if you want.”

“No, that’s the job for the non-awakened. We give them food and they give us everything else. That’s how it’s always been.”

Always was an exaggeration, but Dallion knew what the other meant. There was no point in arguing—he had attempted several times in the past and it had always ended in the same fashion.

“Why won’t you teach us how to fight?” the dryad asked.

“You don’t want me to.”

“We do.”

“You know my price. Give us maps and information about the realm and we’ll teach you some new fighting techniques—things that you can achieve at your level.”

The echo remained quiet.

“Look, I know that there’s an awakening altar in the city,” Dallion said. “There’s no other way for you to have reached your current level otherwise. I’m not interested in that. I just want to know what lies onwards.”

“There’s nothing onwards.”

“Now, I know you’re lying. There are supposed to be nine guardian temples. I’ve found the remains of three so far. That means there should be six more. Just tell me where they are and whether they are protected. That’s all I’m asking.”

“Why are you so interested in the world? You’re strong. You don’t need to be here.”

You got that right, Dallion thought. While he wanted to see the world’s twi-crown, he would have preferred to be able to return back to the real world. There was every chance that the first ruler had taken the skill gem in order to create the plague. The second gem wasn’t of any particular value to Dallion, although if he happened to come across it he'd gladly give it to Eury. Zoology went well with being a hunter, regardless if they were breaking apart or not.

“If we’re so strong, why are you being so protective?” Dallion turned around, looking the echo straight in the eyes. “You know we won’t stay here. Does it matter if we know more about the world?”

“If you know more, you might try to convince others to join you.”

Those were the words of the current “ruler.” Although the place had fewer people than Dallion’s village of birth, the old titles remained. The ruler—ironically a non-awakened—was in fact running everything from within the towers. He was very much against any information sharing. Dallion had no idea why. The only reason he could think of was that some secret orders must have been handed down by the Star during his last appearance.

“I really don’t know why we’re having this conversation,” Dallion went to the forge and filled it with firewood. “We never get anywhere. Let’s just—”

“Teach me how to line attack and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

This was unexpected. Dallion stopped what he was doing and looked at the echo. There didn’t seem to be any apparent sign of him lying. Clusters of determination were visible throughout the dryad’s entire body, almost as abundant as his ambition.

Somehow I don’t think he’s received the ruler’s permission, Dallion said.

It’s normal for ambition to appear upon meeting someone considerably stronger, Nil remarked. You yourself were impressed by March and Dame Vesuvia at the time.

I never wanted to become a ruler.

Give it time, dear boy. Give it time.

“Just line attacks?” Dallion asked. “Nothing more.”

“Line attacks will be enough,” the dryad lied. Dallion could see he wanted to learn more, but also didn’t want to overplay his hand.

“Do I teach just you or everyone?” Dallion asked. As expected, there was hesitation in the other. “I need to know to set my price,” Dallion explained.

“Me and one more. In exchange, I’ll give you an original map of the realm. A lot has changed since then, but not the landscape. The locations of all the old cities are on it, as well as the original temples. It’ll help you find what you’re looking for.”

Dallion shook his head.

“Here.” The echo took out a piece of parchment from the back of his belt and unfolded it. “This is the part up to here. Take this. That way you can see I’m telling the truth.”

The map seemed genuine, but Dallion was going to have to look at it in greater detail to be sure. He’d also need Eury’s assistance. Being the one constantly going out on hunts, she had a much better idea of the realm than him.

“Let’s say I agree. How will this work?”

“You can create echoes, right? We don’t keep track of our echoes. I’ll take you to a place where no one else is watching. There, you’ll teach us how to do line attacks.”

“Maybe you haven’t seen line attacks in practice, but that’s not exactly something that you can keep secret. The ones I make can slice through small mountains. Eury’s are even stronger.”

“The place I’ll take you two is underground. It’ll be able to withstand a dozen line attacks at least. And even if it doesn’t, all it’ll do is bury echoes.”

“You’ve thought of everything.”

It was almost as if the dryad had been planning this for a very long time. That was impossible, of course. There was no way he could know Dallion and Eury would be banished here. However, there was one other possibility. If the guardians of this world were still alive, they too would have the knowledge to teach him such skills. Maybe that was why the ruler was so afraid of people running off? Without the awakened to provide food for them, the local inhabitants would perish.

“I’ll need to check with Eury first, but I think it can be arranged.” He took the map piece. “If we decide to do it, our echoes will be waiting for yours at midnight at the spot you attacked us.”

Having finished what it had come to do, the echo blinked out of existence. Dallion waited a bit longer, then folded up the map and got back to work. By evening, Eury returned along with the hunting party.

The catch consisted mostly of fish, although the gorgon had managed to add some meat to the menu. Looking at the creature, however, it wasn’t something Dallion felt comfortable eating. There was something about the cross between a cat and a caterpillar that made his stomach churn at the thought.

As the dryads lifted up the meetup to the inhabitants of the towers, Dallion pulled Eury aside and told her the offer.

“What do you think?” he asked. “There’s no guarantee we’ll get anything, but it’s better than anything else they’ve given us so far. At least it’s not some ancient history scroll.”

“It’s either a test, or the only chance we’d get. Either way, we should go for it. If it’s a test, it’ll hardly be the first. I’ve been watching them. Everything is based on a strict hierarchy of loyalty. The awakened are only allowed to learn as much as they need to bring food and protect the city. Everything else is discouraged.”

“I got that impression as well.” Dallion nodded. “The map isn’t something they should have. The only thing I’m not sure is whether they have the whole of it, or just this piece.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Dallion tilted his head, surprised. What was she seeing that he hadn’t?

“If there wasn’t anyone else in the realm, why would the awakened be tasked with protecting the city?” she asked, tapping Dallion on the forehead with a finger. “While teaching him line attack, we’ll also find out who he intends to use it on.”