Finding the proper words to apologize for a friendly fire attack was never easy, especially after doing a few hundred of them. Dallion kept on flying alongside the jellyfish, keeping his hands clearly in view. He had no idea how the creature was able to see, but given that it had a perception trait, it had its ways. Furthermore, the way it changed direction to deliberately avoid him only confirmed his suspicions.

Learning to communicate with it was no joke eater. In the past, Dallion had grasped animal languages by combining his zoology and scholar skills. Sounds, body movement, even smells were transformed into a series of symbols which he then deciphered, forming the basic means of communication. Since aetherfish was a new species, Dallion decided to take what he had learned from sea creatures as a basis. After a few minutes of observation, he finally decided to have a go.

“Hello,” he said, combining music, magic, and zoology.

Once the vibrations reached the surface of the creature’s body, it suddenly paused. A huge blob of curiosity appeared, filling the aetherfish’s body entirely. Apparently, curiosity in this realm was ridiculously high, even after receiving all those attacks.

“Can you understand me?” Dallion used his magic skill to add a bit more calm and understanding into the creature. The attempt was successful, though even those were thrown out by the massive curiosity it held.

You can speak, the creature noted in an echoy, its method of communication very similar to Harp’s.

“Yes, I can speak.” Dallion nodded out of habit. “Sorry for hurting you a while back. I thought you were going to attack me.”

Hurt? A small blob of confusion emerged within the atherfish.

This was an unexpected opportunity. Dallion could easily pretend that the attacks never happened. Alternatively, he could combat split in case that annoyed the creature. With a mind trait of 20, the creature risked seeing through the deception, though.

“Didn’t you feel pain up to now?” Dallion focused on the aetherfish’s point of confusion.

It was very annoying, and it stung, the creature agreed. It’s good that you stopped.

The last sounded somewhat of a threat. Still, it didn’t make sense. The attacks were real, Dallion used spark… although, come to think of it, there never was a rectangle announcing the start of combat. Not only that, but the attacks didn’t cause any damage, either. Dallion could see how from the point of view of the creature this wasn’t a fight, but some jerk tearing up its clothes, in a manner of speaking.

I guess that when one doesn’t have a body it doesn’t get damage? He wondered.

Based on its skills, the creature wasn’t able to attack either, just use spells, which it hadn’t so far.

“Yes, that was my mistake,” Dallion continued along that line. His first reaction was to offer some of his magic to make up for the fact. However, quickly he remembered that was the fastest way to lose a magic level. For next time, though, he was going to make a habit of carrying a magic filled artifact to use instead. “Truth is, I just wanted to get the piece of stone inside you.”

Huh? The creature’s confusion grew. Why would you want that? Sure, it looks tasty, but it’s bitter and impossible to digest. I’d stay as far away from it as possible.

Yet another misconception. There was no telling whether this was orchestrated by the Purple Moon, or the creatures had really attacked the obelisk on instinct. Knowing the deities of the awakened world, Dallion assumed the latter.

“They you don’t mind giving it?”

Can’t. Been trying to spit it out for eternity, but it’s stuck. One of the others managed to get it out once, somehow, but even then it flew back in. Really nasty things.

“Let me try.” Dallion extended his hand towards the creature. Anyone else would have instinctively moved away, but the combination of creature naivety and Dallion’s advanced level of music convinced it to remain put.

Careful, dear boy, Nil warned. Even docile magic creatures could be dangerous.

Bringing his internal magic to his fingertips, Dallion grabbed hold of the thread connecting to the chunk of rock and gently pulled. The resistance was such that rock refused to move. So much for the principle of pulling. It was tempting to try and stick his hand into the aetherfish, but the thought that I might get stuck there too quickly made Dallion rethink his strategy.

The solution had to be simple. Using combat magic to melt the aetherfish off the prize, no doubt, was one option. Part of Dallion urged him to do just that and get it over with. The calmer him, though, decided to persist and find a better solution to the riddle.

Maybe the answer was to get the fish to swallow the monument base and have the pieces assemble within it. It was a crazy idea, but given everything else…

“Can you merge with other aetherfish?” Dallion asked.

Of course. The creature replied. Can’t you?

“No.” Dallion laughed. “I’m different.”

You’re strange.

“If all of you merge, maybe the pieces will merge together? You said that you can’t get them out, but what if you get them all in?”

Only someone twisted would come up with such a solution. In truth, Dallion doubted that the Moon had deliberately done so. Yet, as long as the rules of the realm were followed, there was nothing to prevent it from happening.

A cluster of hesitation blobs appeared within the aetherfish, but they were small and with a few kind and reassuring words, Dallion was able to make them fade away. Not much later, he and the aetherfish were flying through the sky on their way to try out the strangest experiment Dallion had had thought of. One would never guess that less than a minute ago Dallion was actively trying to kill the creature.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the next aetherfish. Dallion had gone through his memories and chosen one, which had a chunk of the obelisk that would fit with the one they already had. Once that was decided, the creature cast a spell using its secondary tentacles and zipped through the air like a bullet. Thanks to Lux, Dallion followed soon after.

Without a doubt, it was lucky that Dallion hadn’t irritated the creature to the point of using spells, because it was quite good at it.

“Okay,” Dallion said as both of them stopped. “I’ll explain the situation and—”

Before he could finish, the first aetherfish flew into the second, merging into one fifty percent larger. As all realm creatures, it didn’t consider merging an issue or even a topic of discussion. That was good. What was even better was the sight of the obelisk chunks sticking to one another like magnets.

It worked. The large aetherfish sounded just as surprised as Dallion.

“Yes! Great!” Dallion felt a sudden rush of euphoria, one he hadn’t felt for so long that he could barely remember. “This’ll work.”

I’ll go to the—

“No!” Dallion said quickly. “Wait here! When I call you, just do as I say.”

Sure. Once again, the creature was confused, but more than happy to oblige.

As for Dallion, though. That wasn’t the case. Moments after the euphoria had appeared, it was quickly replaced by fear—fear that the rest of the group might have done something rather rash. Unlike Dallion, they were adept in attack spells and just as likely to attack first and ask questions later, especially since they didn’t have the skills to ask those questions.

Lux, get me back to the obelisk! Dallion ordered.

The firebird complied, ripping through the air at speeds that in the past had made Dallion vomit.

No sooner had Dallion arrived than he split into instances, ready to set off in all directions. However, he didn’t have to. All four members of the group remained near the obelisk, just as they ahd been prior to his departure. What was more, none of them appeared to have any intention of setting off hunting creatures.

All but one of Dallion’s instances faded away. “You’re still here?” he asked in a forcefully calm voice. “I thought you’d be off hunting creatures…”

“Yeah, right,” Phoil laughed. “You’re the hunter. That’s your job.”

There was no way one wouldn’t be angered by such a response, even if in this particular case Dallion was also glad that they hadn’t. Clutching a fist, he counted to ten, then exhaled slowly.

“Did you find any creatures?” Cheska asked.

“Yeah, I found them,” Dallion replied. “I also found an answer to the realm’s riddle.”

“Oh?” Raven took a few steps in Dallion’s direction. “Tell me.”

“I’ll show you. Before that, have a barrier ready.”

All four of the children looked at Dallion, then at each other. A barrier was soon cast, covering them like a transparent dome of light.

So far, so good, Dallion thought. Now it was his turn.

Still in the air, he moved twenty feet from the obelisk. After some consideration, he retreated another twenty feet still.

“You sure we’ll be safe this close?” Raven asked.

“You’ll be fine.” Dallion waved at them. “You’ve got a magic barrier.”

His reassurance must have not gone down too well, for two more barriers emerged within it.

Dallion summoned his shield, then cast a volume spell. Back when he was learning spells at the Academy, this was one he had sought out specifically to make better use of his music skills. Now it was going to come into use in more ways than one.

“Aetherfish,” he shouted in their own tongue. The sounds were completely unintelligible to the rest of the group. For the creatures of the realm, though, they were the first instance of anyone addressing them. Curiosity emanated from all directions, telling Dallion that he had caught their attention. “If you want to get rid of the rock chunks inside of you, you need to fly to the remains of the obelisk and merge into one.” He added with as much calm and allure through his music skills as he could. “Do that and the chunks will stick together.”

Pausing for a moment, Dallion was about to continue with further explanations, when aetherish started to appear in the surrounding area like spaceships coming out of hyperspace. Even with his level of reaction, he was barely able to move back as the creatures merged with one another, growing in the process. A monstrous jellyfish of magic formed, the pieces of stone within its “belly” moving about like marbles in a washing machine.

“Whoa,” Dallion managed to say. He had seen a city be swallowed into the wilderness, dragons, the origins of the Star, even the world’s mythical city of the distant past. Yet, there was something inexplicably beautiful in watching aetherfish merge as the solution of a riddle.

Within seconds, the entire tip of the obelisk was formed—one large piece that would fit perfectly onto the base. However, it refused to budge from inside the creature it was in.

“Go into the monument!” Dallion shouted. “Don’t try to eat it or break it, just land on it!”

Dozens of blobs of enthusiasm formed within the aethfish, followed by it slamming into the ground, over the monument, Raven’s group and all. Dallion himself had to pull back to be safe from the expanding magic jelly.

The obelisk piece turned around with the tip up, then slammed down, restoring the structure.

RIDDLE SOLVED

A huge red rectangle emerged. That was far from all, though. The obelisk lit up again, shooting up a single ray of light up to the sky. Magic streamed from the giant jellyfish, increasing its power to the point that it burned an opening through the aetherfish and reality itself, marking the path to the next realm.

That’s it, Dallion thought. The solution.

The energy of the obelisk was so intense that it created a layer of heated air between it and the realm creature. As if waiting for that, the giant aetherish burst, breaking up into a shoal of aetherish that started swimming around the monument like fish in an aquarium.

MAGIC TALKER

(+2 Empathy)

There are more solutions to what is obvious. It’s good that you’ve started to remember who you were. Don’t forget that strength is still needed, though.

Well done, dear boy, Nil said. Two realms down!

“Yes, two down… But how many more to go?”