Chapter 340: 340. Solo Expedition

Events in the real world weighed heavily on Dallion. Somehow, several things had managed to pile up, increasing his psychological pain exponentially. The core issue was, of course, Euryale. At first, Dallion had no idea why things had ended up this way. A few days ago—which corresponded to months true time—everything had been perfectly fine. He and Eury were in this very realm, exploring the world as part of March’s expedition. Since then, things had changed tremendously and not in a good way.

At first, Dallion felt a sense of betrayal, then he started wondering whether he hadn’t done something wrong. Strictly speaking, he had done several things he shouldn’t have had to, but none of them related to Eury. Or maybe that was the reason? Maybe he should have gotten her involved?

You’re thinking in circles, Gen said. When she returns your boots, ask her, or don’t. Either way, stop asking her in your mind.

Easy for you to say…

I know. That’s why I’m sharing my wisdom with you.

The remark made Dallion smile.

Reaching Lastport took close to an hour. Dallion wasn’t in the mood for the accelerated flight of last time, so asked Lux to get him there at a reasonable speed. The firebird did just that.

Upon arriving at the abandoned city, however, something unexpected was waiting for them. The vine whale that belonged to the third guardian floated a mile above the edge of the sea. When it spotted Dallion, the creature moved down from its location, approaching as much as it could to the ground without causing any damage to the nearby buildings.

At least you know that the guardians won’t fight you, Nil said.

For now.

Precisely. That’s all the more reason not to get on the guardians’ bad side just yet. Remember, you’re not here to level up the item, just to explore.

Dallion would have laughed if things weren’t so serious. He wished he was strong enough to try and take them all on and level up the item. Right now, that seemed absurd. Although maybe a friendly spar wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“Gleam,” Dallion said. Unlike the other familiars, the shardfly preferred to have their conversations be verbalized. “Can you work your magic?”

“Can’t you do it yourself?” the shardfly appeared above his left shoulder. Dallion could tell that she was surprised at his limitations rather than being resentful. “It’s easy. I’ll teach you.”

“I’m not a mage. I still need your help.”

“Sure.” There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. “I just hope you have a boat ready. I’m not spending my time covering you with glitter every two minutes because you want to fly through swarms of cracklings.”

The truth was that Dallion had completely forgotten, and Gleam knew that perfectly well. In his euphoria after the victory against the crackling core smoke, he hadn’t bothered with trifling details such as taking the boat back to its original spot near Lastport.

For that reason, now Dallion had to find another means of transport. Looking at the piers, there were a few vessels, although for the most part, they were larger ships. Potentially, one of them could have a safety boat for Dallion to use.

As Dallion set off to check, the vine whale followed him, floating directly above.

“What do you want?” Dallion asked loud enough so that the creature could hear.

“I was told to help you,” the whale replied. Its voice was deep and melodic, as one might expect when looking at it. “Though you can just fly there if you wish. There aren’t any flocks until the other side.”

“Yeah, right.” Dallion smirked. The last time he was here, both the sea and the air were full of crackling creations. There was no reason it should be different this time.

“I can fly you to the shore near the next temple, if you want,” the whale offered. “But if you have things under control, I’ll just watch and escort you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Apparently, having a full stat meant that Dallion could also talk to minions within a realm, possibly any creatures as well. Even so, Dallion wasn’t willing to have the whale carry him anywhere, especially with what he had Lux do to the minion during their battle. With a sigh, he went along the piers, searching for an adequate vessel to transport him through.

Just let him carry you, the armadil shield said. He won’t do any harm.

I think a boat will do better, Dallion said halfheartedly. At this point, even he was getting tired of searching for anything suitable. The only viable candidates turned out to be individual planks or entire ships of various quality. Ultimately, Dallion decided to reluctantly accept the escort offer. Lux was the one who carried him, while the giant whale floated a few feet above as a sort of guard.

After a short while, the first flock of cracklings appeared. It was a small flock, far smaller than what Dallion had encountered before, but enough to make him wary. Seeing the whale, they cracklings merged together, forming a massive flying creature. It was three times smaller than the minion, which was why it didn’t engage in a fight, but rather turned around flapping away.

“There are a lot less of them,” Dallion noted. “Did anyone enter the realm after me?”

“You’ve been the only one in the last few years,” the whale replied.

Years? Dallion wondered. One day he’d learn the formula by which determined the flow of time within realms. For the moment, though, he mentally prepared himself for the unexpected. Soon enough, the first changes began to emerge.

The coastline remained the same as Dallion had seen it a day ago. Everything else, though, had changed. No longer was the land a large decaying mass of black, but it had a thin green patch winding its way between stretches of black soil up to the very sea. The city that Dallion had de-flamed was completely gone. From this distance, not a single brick was visible.

“How many clashes were there while I was gone?” Dallion asked.

“Hundreds,” the whale replied. “I took part in a few of the big ones.”

Images of the whale flying into the city filled Dallion’s head. Considering that the source of the crackling city was gone, none of its damage could be repaired. The same could be said for the armies—no matter how numerous they couldn’t be replenished. It would have been easy for the guardian to have sent wave after wave of echoes to grind down the enemy into non-existence.

The remaining two cities, in contrast, hadn’t remained idle, doubling in size and reclaiming part of what the world had gained. In a matter of real-life weeks, they’d probably occupy the entire coast again and pose a similar threat as the city that had been destroyed… unless March’s expeditions didn’t resume by then.

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“This is as far as I can go,” the whale said as it reached the landmass. “Good luck.”

“I thought you could fly anywhere.”

“I can,” the minion replied laconically, then turned around and slowly started its way back to the third temple.

“Typical.” Gleam fluttered next to Dallion. “Whales. Always so sensitive.”

“Sensitive? I didn’t catch any emotions in it.”

“That’s because they constantly negate them with music of their own. You need to be really skilled to catch the emotions of a vine whale. That’s why they were constantly hunted.”

Only now did Dallion realize that he had encountered a creature with natural music skills. If the minion ever went all out it would be devastating for armies. No wonder that the species was hunted, it was the perfect guard minion. If anything, Dallion wondered why there weren’t more in the realm. He could only assume that they were rare to begin with and only decreased in number during the following hunts.

Before Lux could take Dallion to the ground, a dryad echo had emerged.

“Welcome back,” the echo said once Dallion landed. “Good to see you back. It’s been a while.”

“Not for me,” Dallion said. “It’s only been a day.”

“Lucky you.” The echo smirked. “I take it you want to go further towards the hilt? You’ll need to rest a bit. I’ve already spoken with the others and there’s uncertainty as to how to proceed. Most are fine with letting you stroll about, but a few would like for you to prove yourself upon entering their domains.”

“Like how I helped you?”

“How should I know?” The dryad echo shrugged. “It depends on the guardian. You’ll have to find out. I doubt it’ll be anything major, though. Probably just a chat or some trivial task. Boredom changes a person. A few millennia ago, I’d have never asked for help from your kind.”

“I feel honored.” Dallion drenched his words in sarcasm. “Do I get any hints?”

“No hints. These are the rules of the realm. It wasn’t meant to be a tourist attraction. Those who were sent here knew where they were supposed to go, and those who weren’t supposed to be here.”

That wasn’t good.

“I guess I can’t ask questions about the past either?”

“Oh, you can ask anything you want. I don’t have to answer.”

The usual setup. Still, it was something that Dallion could work with. After being forced into so many deals with the general, he had started getting a sense of information trading. In this case, there was nothing he could offer; instead, he was collecting. That gave him a certain advantage.

“Were any treasures kept here?” Dallion asked.

“This is a world realm, of course there would be treasures kept here,” the echo laughed. “Treasures crafted locally, treasures from the outside. Take your pick. Of course, most of them are lost now. Cracklings and all.”

“Anything that might interest the Star.”

The question was expected to cause a reaction. The dryad stopped for a moment, then continued walking, as if nothing had happened. Dallion was able to see, however, concern and fear form within him.

“Is that why you’re coming here? You think the Star hid something?”

We’ve been through this, Dallion wanted to yell. “Or something was hidden from him,” he said as calmly as possible. “Specifically, something able to hurt a deity.”

“Hurt a deity? The only things that could hurt a deity are other deities. Even the Star can’t win in a direct fight.”

“Which is why he tricks others to fight in his stead. Look, I really don’t have time for the whole routine.” Dallion added a sense of urgency in his voice, along with a pinch of compassion. It would be next to impossible to affect a guardian with his level of music skills, but an echo… maybe he’d get lucky. After all, there was nothing else he could do. “The Star went through a lot of trouble to enter this realm. I want to know why.”

“You’ll have to ask him. There’s a lot of stuff he might be after. They say there were members of the royal family banished here. Maybe they brought something that others couldn’t achieve. Rulers have powers others can only dream about. If there’s anything valuable, it’ll be near their lodgings.”

“Which are where, exactly?”

“The palace at the hilt of the world. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for there?”

Dallion could only hope. He had no illusion that the trip to the palace would be long and dangerous, not to mention that there was no telling what sort of monsters he’d meet on his way there. Aside from cracklings and guardians, this world had its own flora and fauna, not to mention local species such as the minotaurs. Getting through all this would be a challenge, even with Lux’s help.

“Are there any cities between here and the palace?” Dallion asked.

“A few. Are you thinking of stopping through them?”

“As long as they aren’t crackling.”

“They aren’t,” the dryad echo said cautiously. “But they also aren’t what you’d expect. Sure you want to go?”

“Yes,” Dallion said firmly. 

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