Chapter 326: 326. The Secret Expedition

The food was scrumptious, coming with an impressive price tag. Dallion had paid less for his harpsisword than the current meal. Then again, he could afford it now. In all honesty, Aspan’s food was just as good, the products he used, though, couldn’t hold a candle to what was served in the nobles’ tavern. A third of the meat and vegetables came from the wilderness, specifically procured by hunters. The rest was just really difficult to get, coming from the provincial capital, or even the imperial city.

Having half an hour to enjoy a bite in a quiet new environment was exactly what Dallion thought he needed to relax a bit… especially considering what he was about to do.

Leaving the establishment, Dallion returned to the guildhall. There he used combat splitting to check who remained in the building. As before, none of the captains or lieutenants seemed to be there, and neither was guild management.

That was good—there was a less risk of Dallion being caught.

I really think this is a bad idea, dear boy, Nil said with the tone of someone who knew there was nothing they could do to dissuade Dallion from making the greatest mistake of his life.

It’ll be all over in a moment, Dallion replied, as he used a few instances to keep watch and another to pick the lock to the sword room.

It’s not the moment I’m worried about. It’s what follows.

The lock clicked. Considering the skills of the people in the guild, it was surprisingly easy to pick. Using instances, Dallion went inside. The room was exactly as he remembered it, as was the sword.

Why isn’t it guarded? Dallion asked. Considering how rare it is, I’d have thought that there would be someone to keep an eye on it.

If someone has the backing to take it, a guard won’t do anything to stop them, the echo said. Considering the backers, taking it would be the equivalent of declaring war to the county.

That made sense. Dallion kept forgetting that each item came with the equivalent of its own security system. Stealing items only made sense if they were shipped to other cities, and considering that travel was challenging, one had to have a lot of backing. Even Arthurows hadn’t tried to take the item by force, but rather sneak his way there.

Reaching for the weapon, Dallion suddenly stopped. A thought had crossed his mind.

Can I enter it without March? he asked.

How do you expect me to answer such a question? Nil grumbled.

Your original is the guild expert on modifying realms. Is there some protection that prevents people from entering an item? A list or something of the sort?

If anyone wants to prevent someone from entering a realm, then just put in an army of echoes to protect it. As I said before, the issue isn’t entering the realm, it’s what follows. If a single person could fight their way through all the temples, March would have done it already. She definitely wouldn’t have wasted her time and the guild’s resources in fighting hundreds of thousands of cracklings, not to mention the considerably powerful world guardians, to make a point.

That was why the Star hadn’t sneaked into the temple on his own. Not the cracklings—those were likely to be an advantage, if anything, but the guardians. All three dryads had a strong link to the Moons, which meant that Arthurows would have been at a huge disadvantage in the case of a direct confrontation. In normal circumstances, Dallion too wouldn’t have a chance, however, he had one thing that the star lacked.

WORLD ITEM AWAKENING

Reality changed, taking Dallion into the main chamber of the starting temple. A strong chilly draft greeted him when he was there. It didn’t take long for Dallion to discover that winter had fallen in the realm.

Before Dallion could say the word, Lux emerged, wrapping him in warm flames.

“Thanks, Lux,” Dallion said, then walked outside.

The entire landscape seemed completely different from the last visit. Snow covered everything as far as the eye could see. The rays of the sun bounced off the snow-covered terrain, creating a postcard vista.

“I like this place,” Gleam said, fluttering over Dallion’s left shoulder. “It’s much more familiar than what’s out there in the real world nowadays.”

“Memberberries from the past,” Dallion said with a smile.

“It was in a place like this that I was captured,” the familiar went on. “Snow, frost, and dryads.”

“You were captured by a dryad?” Dallion asked, surprised. Somehow, he had assumed it to be the doing of humans—it seemed all the more logical. In all the fantasy books, it was humans that were the greedy ones. Clearly, being a fantasy race didn’t mean that greed didn’t exist. The dryads at the time must have been hunters that captured creatures from the wilderness for the benefit of rich patrons.

“There were lots of dryads at the time. Humans lived in kingdoms the size of villages.”

Clearly humanity hadn’t been among the strong races of the time. Only after they were banished did they rise. Maybe the Crippled Star was involved, or maybe it was the Moons? Dallion had every intention of finding out.

Shield, cocoon me, Dallion thought.

The armadil shield obeyed, extending in all directions until a metal sphere surrounded his owner.

Lux, lift me up, then get me to the port. Don’t engage in anything along the way, even the whale.

There was a chirp of disappointment. It sounded like the firebird continued to want to mimic and impress Nox. One couldn’t say that the familiar had become overly aggressive, but it was definitely getting more catlike than any bird should.

Be ready, Nox. I might need you when we get there. Dallion took a deep breath. Go, Lux.

The inertia felt like a ton of bricks smashing into his chest. It took mere seconds for the shield sphere to move from the starting temple to the ocean. The pain, however, lasted for minutes after that. Dallion felt like he would puke.

The firebird sensed that and gently placed the sphere onto solid land. It was too late to make Dallion feel better, but at least it didn’t make him feel worse.

“You’re bad at flying,” Gleam said. The shardfly had conveniently returned to Dallion’s realm, only reappearing in the sword’s one once he had arrived at the port city. “You need more practice.”

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I’ve had plenty of practice, Dallion thought. Flying close to the speed of sound wasn’t something he often had to do. If his plans for Lux’s new home worked out, though, maybe that could become possible in the real world as well.

“So, what now?” the familiar asked.

“Check the ocean. I want to know if it’s an illusion or not.”

Dallion expected Gleam to protest, but she didn’t, calmly fluttering to the water’s edge. For several seconds, she circled around a specific spot, as if performing a ritual. Then—without any warning—she flew right in. There was no splash, no ripples, as if the shardfly had flown through an open window. Moments later, she emerged again, not a drop of water on her.

“You’re wrong,” she said, flying back to Dallion.

“It’s not an illusion?” Dallion asked, confused.

“It’s neither an illusion, not a proper ocean. It’s a second sky.”

A second sky, Dallion said to himself. The table was right. There was no horizon, it wasn't what it was supposed to be.

“Are you sure you want to go there, though? The place is more than you can handle.”

“Can you cast an illusion to keep me safe?”

“Sure. Only as long as you remain on this side of the sea, though.”

“Go for it.” Dallion wasn’t fully sure what the familiar meant, but he was eager to see the rest of the realm. For one thing it proved that his dream was true. More importantly, though, it meant that there were seven temples with hints regarding the Seven, no Eight Moons, and who knows what else.

The shardfly landed on his shoulder. A tickling sensation went through Dallion’s entire body. The air filled with sparkles, which slowly died out.

“Is that it?” Dallion asked. “I don’t see anything different.”

“Just walk through.” Gleam sighed. “And be mindful of the drop.”

Walking into the ocean in winter wasn’t the best of ideas. That’s why Dallion had Lux surround him with flames again. Bracing himself, he then stepped onto the watery surface.

Like with the shardfly moment ago, there was no splash. Dallion stepped through an invisible window only to find himself close to the shore once more. The difference—and it was a big difference at that—was that the number of piers had doubled.

Two seas extended forward, one continued towards the horizon as anyone would expect, while the other stretched above Dallion’s head, in effect creating a second sky. Looking closely, Dallion could even see the bottom of the ship that had been used in the journey during the last expedition.

“How come no one noticed this until now?” Dallion asked.

Illusions are a tricky topic, Nil replied. Adequate illusions also manipulate the results of the tests aimed at finding them. If they didn’t, they would hardly be useful. March might have even taken a swim in the ocean, and all she would have seen was a bottom that never existed. To be honest, I wouldn’t have found this either.

So, you thought the dream was due to stress?

You have been under considerable pressure, dear boy. It was a logical conclusion. Besides, you wouldn’t be the first person to think they were sent dreams from the Moons.

The difference was that in Dallion’s case, that actually occurred more often than he liked to admit.

A flock of black dots rose to the sky in the distance. Looking closer, Dallion saw that they weren’t birds, but cracklings. This was the first time that Dallion saw such species, and it somewhat horrified him. Fighting standard cracklings was difficult enough, fighting through large amounts of these was more than he could handle on his own at present.

Thinking about it, it was possible that all the sea horrors that Dallion had seen while on the ship before were merely flocks of cracklings that had merged together in order to attack through the veil of illusion.

“How many do you think there are?” Dallion asked.

“Lots,” Gleam replied. “This is the clear area. The really dark stuff is further on.”

“How can you sense that far? You’re even better than Nox.”

“Nox is a kitten,” Gleam replied. Dallion could almost hear a smirk in her voice. “Besides, cracklings are born in small realms. To survive in the wilderness, you have to have really good senses. If you don’t, you don’t… well, you get the picture.”

Dallion did. He also caught the subtle warning. The shardfly knew that he was thinking of exploring further and she was warning him that even with her protection that it was too dangerous.

Do you know why people aren’t allowed to freely go on expeditions on their own, dear boy? Nil asked. Because through every action they reveal things that would be best kept secret. By coming here you’ve shown that you’ve seen through the veil, and also that you have a new familiar. The next time March holds an expedition, it would be more difficult for her.

Do you honestly think there’ll be another expedition? Dallion asked.

This time it was the echo that didn’t reply. No one in the guild had said anything further on the issue, but it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Finding everything remaining submerged had come as a shock to all, and likely had put an end to any future expeditions. That meant whatever was hidden further on would remain so.

“I’ll go have a look,” Dallion said. “Everyone with me?”

Everyone responded with affirmative silence.

“At least it’ll be interesting,” Gleam rose up into the air. “Let’s see if we can find you a ship.”

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