Chapter 332: 332. Pre-Tournament Shivers

No one noticed Dallion as he sneaked his way down the staircase back to the training room in the basement. As far as anyone was concerned, he had only left the guild hall for a bite. The only thing that could link him to the sword was the new wave of hunger that was going through him—wanting food so soon after having lunch was a sure tell that he’d done something suspicious.

Training continued as before. Dallion spent the next hour reading, after which he lost patience and entered into his awakening realm to practice a few basic attacks with the whip blade. Upon arriving, he noticed that something was different—the items along his skill walls had been rearranged.

“Finally here,” Nil greeted him, somewhat more aggressively than Dallion expected. The only times the echo had been so direct were at the very beginning, when his opinion of Dallion was quite poor. “You have some explaining to do, and I’m not talking about the ludicrous deal you made with the guardian.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Dallion mumbled beneath his breath.

“There was a moment during which you blocked everyone from your realm. After that you got something you’re not supposed to have.”

“Oh?” Dallion perked up. “What?”

“That’s what you ask? There are reasons for the Moons’ rules. Ignoring them always does more harm than good. Are you aware that there was a time during which otherworlders were imprisoned on sight? Not the best period of history, but you can understand the reasons. When someone is not bound by the rules, it’s inevitable that they don’t follow them.”

There was no joking around. The echo was deadly serious. Dallion could see the fear and anger within him. It was more than just a scare of what had happened, it was a deep fear that the next time Dallion went and did something he wasn’t supposed to, the consequences would be far more serious and not only for him alone.

Dallion had many ways to respond to this. He could ignore Nil, he could come up with some justification why he had to do what he had to do. He could even use his music skills to try and change the echo’s mind on the topic. However, doing so was only going to prove his point. While Dallion didn’t appreciate the tone, he knew deep down that Nil was right.

“I’m sorry,” Dallion said, even if he still believed his actions to be correct. “I’ll try not to repeat that.”

Had his grandfather thought the same thing when he had created a chainling during the war? Clearly, it had given him a huge advantage. It was even possible for that to have been the reason for his side to have won the war. Was it the right thing to do, however? That was a very murky subject and one Dallion didn’t want to get into for the moment.

“So, what did I do?”

With a sigh, the old echo turned around and headed towards the corridor. A single gesture was made, telling Dallion to follow. The two went past the achievements room to one marked “DANGER.” Dallion found that to be a nice touch, even if somewhat ominous.

Gen was already there, looking at the only item in the entire room—a silver frame with a single spark inside. Never before had Dallion seen a captured spark, but it was impossible to mistake it for anything else. It was like watching minuscule lightning perpetually moving about, bouncing off the frame.

“Mesmerizing, isn’t it?” Gen asked. “Been staring at it for hours.”

“I can see why.”

“Almost had to drag the kid out too.”

“Why? Did he cause problems?”

“No,” Nil replied. “At least not directly. July is quite good with familiars to the point that they prefer to hang around him more than anything else. However, that’s not very healthy for Nox.”

“Not healthy for Nox?” Dallion wondered.

“All I can say is that the spark affects Nox in negative ways. Once you pass the next gate, you’ll learn how as well as how to control it. Until then, it is better that as few familiars as possible enter this room.”

So, that was the catch. When Dallion had made his request, he wanted to be granted an ability to help him face chainlings. It had been granted, but as any ability, it didn’t differentiate between friend and foe. On the one hand, that was good—it proved how potent the spark was. On the other, Dallion was going to be very careful how he used it. Other than the obvious danger to his familiar, there was also the likelihood that it could harm the city’s overseer, and that was not good by any stretch of the imagination.

I’ve become a warrior of the light, Dallion thought. That was a very different path than what his grandfather had taken.

“You still need to learn how to use it,” Nil continued. “I have no idea how you’ll manage that, since no one can provide you with any explanations. Markers only appear for things you’re supposed to know.”

“In that case I’ll have to learn the old-fashioned way.” Dallion smiled. “I’ll even combine it with my weapon practice.”

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“Dear boy… those who juggle two sets of balls end up dropping all.”

“Only if they don’t have the skills to handle both,” Dallion smirked. “Isn’t that what the Moons tell us?”

Quite the harsh way of ending a conversation, but Dallion felt he needed some peace of mind. Nil got the message, for he didn’t make any further remarks, leaving the room so Dallion could train. After a while, Gen left as well, though not before a giving Dallion approving tap on the shoulder. With the room to himself the training began.

Getting the hang of whip blading proved both difficult and amusing. Combining both close and ranged combat markers, it allowed Dallion to hit any target, be it a foot to a hundred away, as well as anything in-between. The main difficulty was control, which, thanks to Dallion’s recent reflex boost, was better handled than expected, though not quite as well as needed.

The ability to extend and contract the blade alone took hours for Dallion to learn to a comfortable level. At one point Gleam joined in. Unaffected by the spark on the wall, the familiar decided to help out by creating illusions for Dallion to target. Ideally, he was supposed to use echoes for that—Harp had brought up the possibility on multiple occasions—however, Dallion didn’t like the notion of destroying entities he had created solely for that purpose. Deep down he still thought of echoes as separate entities and creating them only to be killed went a step too far.

After a full day of training, Dallion returned to the real world once more. His hunger had grown to the point that he had no choice but to go out and get more food. This time, he chose something closer to the guildhall and at a much more reasonable price, even if he had to wait an hour to get in line. Following that, the training continued.

The following day, everything repeated… with the exception of the expedition. A day away from the festival start, Dallion focused all his energy on learning how to use the new weapon better. Forging and learning about the spark took a backstage, mostly because none were important for the immediate future.

The tense situation at the inn subsided, though not by much. There remained a noticeable distance between Dallion and the innkeeper. His chats with the Luors and even Jiroh were brief, though mostly due to him constantly rushing to the guildhall where he preferred to do his training. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Eury. Dallion had gone through her workshop twice while breaking for food, and both times the place was closed and locked. The second time, he even slipped a note under the door, just to make sure everything was alright.

While training in his realm, there was one more thing that Dallion noticed—his mystery stat had increased by one. This time he knew the cause—guardian boons. That suggested that he had received his first faction point back in Dherma village, when facing the Colossus in Gloria’s ring. More important, that left only two points until the stat was hopefully revealed. The question was whether it was worthwhile to do so at this stage. With the festival approaching, Dallion had a mind to level up at least once before his first fight. In the end, he decided that reaction was the better choice.

The leveling trial was remarkably simple compared to the recent ones. Not that it was easy, it just didn’t require anything more than defeating some echoes. However, in this case, “some” ranged in the hundreds. Initially, Dallion thought that it was a matter of endurance, but soon he realized that the trial was to teach him the importance of resource management. While that was a skill Dallion—as any Earth gamer—was supposed to have acquired naturally during his gaming life, it turned out that he was quite wasteful when it came to actual combat. All that talk from Nil and Vend about needless actions now became quite apparent. With numbers so big, and no magical means to restore stamina, Dallion had to maximize efficiency. Even the option of having his familiars do all the work was gone—if the enemies were three or four, it would have worked. Against hundreds, though, it was more efficient to use the abilities of the familiars rather than let them at the enemies.

Come evening, Dallion was utterly exhausted, yet also anxious. This felt like cramming before an important exam. And for better or worse, Dallion considered it to be very important. Winning his first victory was the same as creating a good first impression. It was going to take seven days of victories for Dallion to reach the top eight. However, the tournament wasn’t the only thing he was anxious about, it was the festival itself. Tomorrow morning would mark the arrival of Countess Priscord along with all the festivities that this entailed. Already it was known there would be fireworks, but Dallion remained clueless as to what else was planned… and everyone who knew him refused to “spoil the surprise.”

You’ll do fine, Nil said as Dallion lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. You know the basics, you have the experience, and you’ve trained as much as you possibly could.

My first fight’s going to be against Mord, Dallion thought.

Honestly, you don’t have anything to worry about. Maybe a while back there would have been a reason for concern, but Mord isn’t as strong as you’d think. Most awakened aren’t. They rely on skills that can’t be used outside the realms.

Dallion chose not to mention that he, too, relied mostly on skills that could only be used in the realms. He knew that the echo had good intentions. It also helped that he had found a way to utilize the skills of Nox and Lux in the real world. The Nox Dagger had the power to crack anything destructible, and Lux had the ability to heal light wounds as long as Dallion pressed the kaleidervisto against the wounded area.

The semi-fury was strong, Dallion thought. She’d be even stronger in real life.

You have the reflexes to handle her now. Besides, it is highly unlikely you’ll face her. The organizers usually tend to keep the wildcards separate for as long as possible—there’s a greater spectacle that way.

And if she isn’t the only one?

Dear boy, if there’s another fury or someone considerably stronger, you’ll lose. That’s the way of things. Keep in mind one thing, though. The strongest people are those watching. Make a good show to attract their interest and the rest won’t matter. Victory relies on luck and skill. You’ve been lucky so far and you’ve improved your skills considerably. The only thing you can now do is fight like you mean it.

Wise advice. It also put Dallion’s mind somewhat at ease. There remained one big question, though.

Do you think Eury will be there? Dallion asked.

Most probably. Does it matter, though?

It does to me.

Dallion wanted her there, regardless if he won or lost. Not having seen the gorgon in several days made him miss her more than ever. Also, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

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