Chapter 362: 362. Icepicker Emergency Meeting

The time spent with Vend turned out longer than expected. After discovering that the door to the sword room was locked, Dallion had engaged in a training session in one of the items in the basement. In some aspects the training was no different from any Dallion had had before, however, there was one major exception—the training gloves were off.

From the get go Vend split into several dozen instances, attacking Dallion in any way possible at full speed. Under such conditions, neither Dallion’s new weapons nor his familiars were able to provide an adequate challenge. No matter how much of the space around him Dallion covered, Vend always managed to find a weakness to exploit.

All the times Dallion tried to disrupt Vend’s splitting, his teacher split again.

I can take care of this, Gleam suggested.

No, Dallion rose up in the air, aided by Lux. Given how much Vend knew about his abilities, it was time to start keeping a few secrets. Not to mention that using the shardfly wasn’t the point of the exercise.

Dallion threw the armadil shield at the elite, then ordered it to envelop him. The cocoon sphere formed in an instant, only to capture one of the Vend’s instances. Dallion then quickly unleashed his whip blade, attacking with wide strikes. Each attack sliced through three instances of his opponent, at least, though not enough to land a real hit.

“You’ve gotten better,” Vend said. “You guess the pattern of my splitting.”

The elite leapt up then, halving the distance to Dallion, threw one of his daggers. The weapon extended like a chain passing above Dallion’s shoulder. At that precise moment, Vend pulled it back.

MODERATE WOUND!

Your health has been decreased by 10%

Crap! Dallion tried to pull away, but before he could, a second dagger clung to him like a hook. Even with his vision focus, he could only see part of Vend’s actions.

Daggers, let me go! Dallion said.

Sorry, can’t do that, one of the daggers replied. How is he going to teach you anything if we get in the way?

Besides, he’s been good to us, the other dagger added.

A third chain gripped Dallion by the leg. At this point, he was already having difficulty remaining in the air.

Fine, if that’s the way you want it, Dallion thought. If Vend wanted to keep him from moving away, Dallion was going to thrust right at him. Lux, as fast as you can.

Blue flames propelled Dallion forward. The next thing he knew he was in the guild’s basement, Vend sitting across from him at the training table.

“What happened?” Dallion looked around confused, getting re-accustomed to the reality shift.

“You were predictable.” Vend sighed. “Just because you can’t see my actions doesn’t mean I can’t see yours. I got a dagger ready before you hit me. You can say that you skewered yourself in your attempt to knock me down. If it’s any consolation, you reduced my health by twenty percent.

That sounded outright insulting. Even Nil had the decency to remain silent and not rub salt in the wound. There was no way to deny it—Vend remained too strong.

“Apart from that, you didn’t do bad. The basics are there. Just avoid any stupid mistakes and you should be good for the next round.”

“Yeah… I couldn’t hit you even once.” Dallion grumbled.

“That’s the point. One hit is all it takes.”

Dallion wasn’t sure whether that was deep or overdramatic. There was no way to be sure, but from what he had seen, Vend relied mostly on speed rather than strength. It was quite likely that each hit could be his last in terms of combat—not that he would get killed or thrown out of the realm, but that it would limit his capacity to the point that he wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“Where was the sword found?” Dallion asked.

“The guild bought it. I thought I’d told you already.”

“Anything else?”

“Why are you so interested in the sword?” Vend asked. “You won’t be able to keep it. Once it’s cleared, it goes back to the guild backers.”

Dallion wondered if that included everything inside. For the moment Dallion decided not to inquire, just in case the answer was yes.

“A lot of money is tied up in this.”

Being from Earth, Dallion knew exactly what this was code for. No one messed with those that paid the bills. The world item was a source of income, or an investment, and as such, was restricted to only a handful of people. That made it even more peculiar how Dallion had managed to go inside. One possibility was that it had to do with his relation with the Green Moon. Would that be enough to cause a door to unlock on its own, though?

“I guess I don’t get to know who the backer interested in the sword is?”

Vend shook his head. The concern coming from him suggested that it was someone important. Given the astronomical cost of such an item, it had to be a noble at least, possibly a major one at that. That could cause serious complications. So far, Dallion had assumed that he could simply go back in there and get the hidden skills. The difficult part was supposed to be convincing the final guardian to let him get the twi-crown, and the skills that came with it. Instead, Dallion couldn’t even enter the room.

“What are you up to?” Vend asked.

“I can’t tell you. Not yet, at least.”

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“At least you’re honest about it. Either way, it’s better that you forget it. The guild master will decide how to proceed and March will choose who will go on any future expeditions. Clear?”

“Clear,” Dallion uttered beneath his breath.

“Good. So, want any more training, or are you done for the day?”

“There’s one more thing.” Dallion recited the names of the seven Moons. He would have very much preferred to have obtained the skills gems before this part of the conversation, but given the danger to the city, he didn’t see any other option. “I want to see the guild master.” He held his breath for a few moments. “I know what the Star is planning, and it’s linked to the sword.”

Before Dallion could say a word on the topic, Vend gave him a warning sign to remain quiet, then took him to one of the meeting rooms on the second floor and left him inside. From there, a series of echo conversations followed, resulting in the guild’s senior staff arriving to the guild house within the hour.

March was the first to appear, of course. Her façade was the same as usual when she entered the room, but thanks to his music skill, Dallion could tell she was bitterly disappointed. Apparently, she and Vend had had a long conversation via echoes and he had taken the brunt of her anger. Several more captains soon joined in, most arriving fresh from the arena. Any other day, they would be congratulating Dallion for his remarkable fights and achievements. After what he had shared, all he could feel was disapproval, and that was without him mentioning his sword expeditions. If anyone from the guild learned about that, things would get really complicated.

“Alright,” the vice guild master entered the room. “Let’s get on with this mess. Chesteon is dealing with something and won’t be able to join us. Are we waiting on anyone else?”

“Nitiello has gone missing again,” March said, referring to captain Adzorg.

“He’ll have to skip this one, then.”

The vice master looked at Dallion. He was a rather squirrely man, wearing a set of clothes that made him look like a medieval squire. According to Nil, the man was equivalent to a lesser noble in strength. The only reason that he didn’t hold the title was because of certain altercations he’d had with the Archduke’s family, resulting in him losing his noble status.

“So, you are the great hero,” the vice master began. “The rising star of Nerosal and the first wildcard to make it to the fourth round of the tournament.”

The more compliments were stacked the more Dallion braced for the pain that would follow.

“For someone with your skills, how can you be so stupid?” the vice master snapped. “You say you’ve had several dealings with the mirror pool.”

“Not by my own accord, sir,” Dallion managed to say.

“During one of those instances you helped awakened a Vermillion Tears ring with the power to take things in and out of realms. Also, according to you, several members of the mirror pool that were with you during that event are now dead, including a cleric of the Order of the Seven Moons. Is that right so far?”

“I’ve informed the overseer…”

“Also, and this is my favorite part, you claim to have been visited by a member of the mirror pool you believed dead, and helped him flee the city. In the process he shared with you that there’s a Star cult that plans to summon a chainling during the festival and claim the countess’ life.”

Dallion remained silent. Said out loud that sounded pretty bad.

“And now, not only to inform the countess of this danger but also for us to continue with the sword expeditions, because you suspect that the Star might be looking for something in there and it would be better for us to find it first. Do you hear yourself?”

Not a word, Nil said. The fact that he’s gathered everyone here means he’s taking you seriously. Don’t give him an excuse to punish you even more.

Punishment is the last thing on my mind right now.

Dear boy, if you get punished now, you won’t be able to achieve anything. The only exception is to tell them about the skill gems.

It was easy to confuse Dallion’s hesitation for greed, but he had a much more pragmatic reason. The guild had given him a lot since he’d come to Nerosal and not only financially. It could be said they were among his closest friends in this world, and still Dallion wasn’t sure he could trust them, not all at least. Arthurows had managed to join quite easily. There was no telling if there wasn’t a cultist hiding among the ranks.

“Did he say anything else?” The vice master asked.

“Just that I should leave the city.”

“March, what do you think?”

“The part about the cult is right. They’ve been pouring in the last few months. Overseer’s keeping it under control for now. I don’t think the target is the countess, however.”

“The cult won’t harm a member of the imperial family,” another captain said. “He’ll annihilate them if they did.”

“We didn’t have such problems last year, or the year before. This appears to be the result of careful planning. There are too many coincidences for it not to be. I still don’t see the connection with the sword. We searched that place from top to bottom and didn’t find anything of interest.”

“What if it’s in the sunken temples?” Dallion asked, trying to guide the conversation in that direction. “Won’t it be better to resume expeditions to be on the safe side?”

A sharp glance from the vice master told him that he wasn’t supposed to talk unless spoken to.

“There will be no further expeditions,” the man said. “The sword will be locked and sealed until we get instructions on what to do with it. Meanwhile, I’ll inform the Lord Mayor. He’ll handle things from there. Dallion, you’ll continue as if nothing has happened. Tomorrow you’ll be at the arena and fight your fight. There will be no snooping around, no trying to sneak into the sword, no hunting copyettes or chainlings in public. I don’t want to hear a peep concerning you during the end of the festival. Am I making myself clear?”

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. Now, get out of here.”

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