Leveling up the world 4.., p.14
Leveling Up The World 4: A LitRPG Adventure, page 14
“If it gets to you, just recite the names of the Moons. That always helps.”
It was clear she didn’t want him to use music. Dallion’s internal struggle continued for close to a minute, after which he unsummoned the weapon. There was always the option to summon it later, if he really needed to.
The feeling was like walking through scars of war. Gritting his teeth, Dallion kept walking, trying to keep up with March. However, the more he walked, the more he sensed that he was reacting differently than anyone else. Glancing behind, he could see the scattered fragments affect the others; grains of depression appeared throughout their bodies in response to the emitted emotions, disappearing moments after. In the case of Dallion, not only did the effects remain, but he also started visualizing them. Echoes of the past flashed every time he blinked, making him feel as if he were on a battlefield. He could hear the screams, the pain, the desperation surrounding him, as destruction followed. The closest thing he had felt like this was during the awakening trial against his grandfather.
Panic crept in, screaming at Dallion to summon his harpsisword.
“No,” Dallion whispered out loud. “Astreza, Berannah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn, Galatea.”
Momentary calm swept through him like a summer breeze, but even that wasn’t able to fully clear away the accumulating pain and fear. The dark feelings were only kept at bay for a moment before returning with a vengeance.
You need to summon her, a voice said in Dallion’s head.
It had been a while since Dallion had heard that voice. He fully agreed with what it was saying—he had to summon the harpsisword. Even if he didn’t play a tune, knowing she was there would help him.
Don’t be stubborn. Just do it. You know she’ll never let you down. You’ve only been here a few minutes. You’ll never make it through an entire day.
The minutes felt like hours. This had to be another effect of the fragments, they were messing with his sense of time, making him—
“Don’t drift,” March said, her commanding voice loosening the hold the sound fragments had on him. “Keep reciting the names.”
Easy for you to say! Dallion clenched his fists.
“Astreza, Berannah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn, Galatea,” he whispered, almost spitting each word out. “Astreza, Berannah, Centor, Dararr, Emion, Felygn, Galatea.”
Each time he started a sequence, he felt the pain and pressure move away. Every time he finished—the same darkness came back. The only way to keep fighting it was to keep repeating the names, like a chant. Soon enough he was muttering them nonstop, pausing only to take a breath. His feet became heavier and heavier.
Don’t be a fool, the voice went on. You aren’t proving anything.
One step at a time, Dallion thought, still reciting the names of the Moons out loud. Just one step at a time.
The firebird emerged on Dallion’s shoulder on its own accord. Its warmth was barely felt by Dallion, who kept pushing on step after step. A few steps later, everything went black.
Told you, the voice said as Dallion lost consciousness.
“No!” Dallion jumped to his feet. Bright yellow light blinded him for a moment; however, it wasn’t coming from the sun.
Once Dallion’s eyes adjusted, he found that he was sitting at a table—a library table to be exact. Shelves of books were everywhere around, ranging on topic from architecture to world religions.
That was slightly confusing. The library clearly wasn’t the ring Adzorg had given him—the book covers were too modern for that—but it seemed familiar nonetheless.
“I’ve no idea why you chose to come here,” a voice said, making Dallion jump in his seat. As it turned out, there was someone sitting across from him, reading a book titled Greatest Mortals Hits. The person looked like any college student, if it weren’t for the green hair and eyebrows.
Felygn, Dallion thought. The Moon had changed its appearance from last time, but there was no question it was him.
“So you decided to go on vacation.” The deity flipped a page. “Not what I would have done, but you do you. Going to new places is always fun. Enjoying the sights so far?”
“Err,” Dallion uttered, unsure what to say.
“Pity you didn’t get to see it at its height. Thousands were willing to pay vast amounts of moon platinum just to get a glimpse. Some abandoned all their earthly possessions to stay.”
“Where am I?” Dallion asked at last.
“Don’t you recognize your university?” Felgyn glanced around. “Campus library. Not as well stocked as some other colleges, though I guess it could have been worse. At least there’s no mold going about.”
Shivers ran down Dallion’s spine. Having mold always was a nuisance, especially since he didn’t have the weapons to fight it right now.
“You ended up here because you aren’t capable of handling what’s out there. Normally I limit my face time with people, but you are my favorite, so I decided to do you a favor.”
“I’m in the sword,” Dallion said, memories of moments ago returning to him. “Walking through plains of despair.”
“Right now, you’re carried through them. Good name, though. That’s the problem with the locals; they tend to be a bit unimaginative. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine in a few hours. You’ll be the butt of jokes for a while, but you’ll be fine.”
Jokes were the least of Dallion’s worries at the moment.
“At that rate, though, it’ll be months before you’re done with the expedition of yours. So much time and you’re barely at the second temple. A complete waste of time.”
Dallion couldn’t understand why it was a waste of time. As far as everyone else was concerned, less than a moment would have passed between the start and the end of the expedition. Or maybe that wasn’t true for everyone? Since the Moons were everywhere, realms included, time for them had to be cumulative, which meant that a month was a month, regardless if it was real time or not.
“Still, I’m willing to indulge you getting sidetracked…for now.” The Green Moon closed the book. “I’ve even decided to answer some of your questions.”
“Why?”
“Because it will help pass the time and also hopefully keep you from getting sidetracked in the future.”
That didn’t sound encouraging, especially since March had said there would be daily expeditions until the end of the festival, possibly after.
“I promised I’ll find what you asked,” Dallion said. “I don’t know how still, but—”
“I know that you’ll try. Do you think I’d have favored you if I didn’t?” The Moon smirked. “Only those who show promise receive boons. Those who show devotion only have less bad things happen to them.”
That sounded pretty much like the way the world worked—the strong became nobles, while the rest became protected. For the Moon to be interested in Dallion, he had to have the ability to do something worth the Moon’s favor.
“What you witnessed in the fields was the result of a few hundred years of war,” Felygn said. “Some had spilled into the world realm from outside, but for the most part, it was due to internal conflicts. The reasons don’t matter much. In some cases, they were just, in others they were justified, and sometimes not at all. The weapons used were normal weapons, more powerful than most today, but still normal weapons. We didn’t have anything to do with it, and neither did the Star.”
“Is that why he tried to stop me from joining the expedition? Because he wanted to find a way to kill you?”
The Moon laughed.
“Is that what you think?”
“You were wounded,” Dallion said. “I think that’s a lie.”
“That’s interesting.” Pushing the book to the side, the Moon put his elbows on the table and leaned forward.
“I think someone tried to kill a Moon once, and they succeeded.” Droplets of sweat had appeared on Dallion’s forehead. “But it wasn’t you. They killed the eighth Moon instead.”
The smile disappeared from the Moon’s face.
“I think that’s why the Star is so interested in the sword world. I think he wants to kill another Moon.”
“And I think you need some rest.”
Once again, everything went black.
SECOND BATTLE
Back on Earth, waking up was considered a mixed bag. Some people enjoyed it, others dreaded it. To the awakened, waking up was more a blessing than not, allowing them to start their long day of realm battlers and item repair. For those from both worlds, waking up was complicated, especially when there were two awakenings in immediate succession.
Opening his eyes, Dallion was no longer in the university library. The cool fresh air told him that he was in the open, and the glowing Green Moon above indicated that he was still in the realm of the sword. That was sort of good—at least it meant he wasn’t ejected out into the real world.
“Hey,” a soft voice said. Euryale’s face emerged above Dallion. Normally he’d be able to say what she was thinking, but his head hurt too much for him to focus on using music skills. “How are you?”
Dallion tried to sit up, but his head felt as heavy as lead.
“Easy.” Euryale gently pushed him back down. “Wait a bit longer.”
“What happened?” Dallion closed his eyes. The pain became far more tolerable.
“You walked right into the ground,” the gorgon replied. The image made Dallion chuckle mentally. “From what I was told, one moment you were talking to March then suddenly collapsed.”
“The plains. Did we cross them?”
“A few hours ago. You scared me,” Euryale added in a whisper. “No one’s reacted like this to a pain field before. Usually it’s the opposite—people can’t get away soon enough.”
“I felt something different…” Mentioning anything about the voice or the following dream was a bad idea. Not that Dallion couldn’t trust Eury, rather he couldn’t trust everyone else listening in; and since everyone was a mid-level awakened, they were listening in. “I felt weight.”
“That’s rare. I’ve only seen that in one place in the wilderness,” the gorgon said. “Maybe I’ve just become used to it by now. The important thing is that you’re okay.”
Never had something right sounded so wrong. While thankful that he was all right, Dallion couldn’t help but feel responsible. Not so much that he had delayed the expedition—newbies were bound to make mistakes—he felt guilty about not having done anything to help the inhabitants of the destroyed towns.
It happened millennia ago, Gen said, from Dallion’s realm. There’s nothing possible you could have done. Whatever happened happened before you even got here.
Dallion knew that perfectly well, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
“What’s the matter?” Euryale asked.
“Still a bit dizzy,” Dallion lied. “Are we far from the temple?”
“Not much. About a quarter of an hour away.”
Forcing himself to sit up, Dallion looked around. There was a campfire burning nearby, but no people.
“Where’s everyone?”
“At camp. March is expecting a minion attack, so she had me carry you further away. It’s safer this way. The minions here are worse than before, and you’ll be needed for support, so.”
“Minotaurs?”
“Blade-wolves.” Dallion hadn’t seen such creatures before, but he had a good enough imagination to suspect they were every bit as dangerous as they sounded. “Only heard of them before.”
Anything you can say on the matter, Nil? Dallion asked.
Dear boy, how about this: if I know something as obvious, I’ll tell you immediately. Does that sound all right?
“Are they rare?” Dallion ignored the echo.
“They’re nonexistent in this province. There used to be a lot of them, but they were hunted out of existence for their skills and fangs decades ago. Back in the day, hunters used to make a living by hunting them alone. Now we only get to hear stories.”
“Can you give me a description?”
The gorgon looked at Dallion for a long while, then shook her head.
“It’s a large wolf with massive jaws covered in thin blades.”
This, Dallion didn’t expect. The mental image was terrifying.
“I thought the fangs would be… Never mind.”
“The fangs are naturally sharp and also the only part of the blade-wolf that can be taken into a realm. You can guess how much that’s worth.”
Dallion definitely could imagine. A pity that the process only worked one way…or did it? A thought sparked in his mind.
“Eury, can you collect special materials in this realm?” he asked.
“So you can take them outside?” The gorgon frowned, the snakes moving about. “It’ll be fun if one could. All these rare materials here just going to waste, eh?” There was a hint of disapproval in her voice.
Of course, it would be like that, otherwise people would have unlimited resources. Minions appeared each time an awakened entered the realm, so someone skilled enough to chip off a fang before killing a creature could easily retrieve it. Combined with the sky silver that was clearly abundant as well, one could become very rich very fast.
“I don’t want to take anything out. I want to use them to make something.”
This piqued Eury’s interest.
“Even if you make something, it’ll remain here.” She got an idea where Dallion was going.
“Yes, but I’ll still be able to use it.”
“The gathering part is easy. I can even get a few fangs if you’d like. Forging, not so much. You can’t use any of the tools unless you link, and linking isn’t a good idea. You’ll have to find a forge here or make one yourself.”
“Make a forge.” Dallion stood up. He was still a bit wobbly, but that didn’t matter. “Let’s get back to camp.”
The party was already preparing to head for the temple by the time Dallion and Eury got there. From what was visible there had already been some fighting had taken place—only a few of the people remained at a hundred percent health.
Lux, start with the least wounded, Dallion thought.
Since there was no danger for anyone, it was better to get more people at full health faster. The firebird appeared and instantly swooped to its nearest target. Seeing it, several people waved at Dallion, acknowledging his help. Vend wasn’t among them.
“He should be resting,” the elite said as he approached. “We won’t be taking the temple until morning.”
“That’s not what March told me,” Eury countered. “Maybe you should check.”
“I don’t need to check what I was told five minutes ago.”
They really don’t like each other, Dallion thought. Thankfully, not everyone shared Vend’s view.
“I’m fine,” Dallion said, adding some calm in his words. The use of music skills caused him to have a slight headache, but that was a price he was willing to accept. “I just wasn’t used to the—”
“You should be resting,” Vend interrupted. For a moment, Dallion managed to see a flash of instances. It only happened for a moment, but it was enough for him to wonder what other things his teacher had said to him.
“I know. I just wanted to get my mind off things,” Dallion was quick to say. “This helps me.”
Vend gave him a suspicious look, but in the end he didn’t protest. Having the closest thing to a healer was too much of a benefit to be ignored.
Everyone spent the next half hour patiently waiting for Lux to heal all the wounded. When every last person’s health was restored, March gave the order to move out.
“Why don’t we wait till morning?” Dallion whispered to Eury. “Won’t we have an advantage, then?”
“I guess not. March has been through this before, so she knows what she’s doing.”
That’s nice, but maybe she should tell us as well? Dallion thought.
Sun, the armadil shield said. She doesn’t want the sun to appear.
Why not?
Because you’ll be facing a dryad.
Dallion felt like biting his tongue. He had seen at the temple that the world was primarily filled with dryads. It was a logical step to think that its guardians were such as well, although that did raise some questions. Chiefly, were they the ones who had killed the eighth Moon?
We get strength from the sun, but also from the Green Moon, the shield went on. In this realm, dawn and sunset is when we’re at our weakest. You’ll have a greater chance fighting the guardian then.
Thanks.
It also means you shouldn’t rely too much on me. I’ll be able to do what I usually do, but I might be a bit slower this time. At least till mid-morning.
I’ll keep it in mind.
In the distance, the third temple became visible. It was nearly identical to the one the party had just been to. The only difference was that the road leading to it seemed much better kept; also, there was a large stone wall surrounding it. At first, Dallion thought that the wall was built to protect the temple from attack, but after getting a better look at the way it was constructed, he could only come to one conclusion—it was made to keep whatever was in the temple inside.
“Dal,” March said. “Come beside me.”
Giving Eury a glance, Dallion did as he was told.
“You’ll remain on the wall for this one. I want you to focus your healing on me. You only shift to someone else if they’re close to death.”
“Okay…” Dallion felt a bit uneasy. “Will you be tackling the guardian alone?”
“Hopefully not, but depends on how many wolves it sicks on us.”
“You think the guardian will go easy on you?”
“No, it all depends how many of its wolves are left. The last expedition there were no minotaurs, so we could tell exactly how many we killed. This time we faced very few. Hopefully, the minotaurs did some damage.”
“How many usually—”
COMBAT INITIATED
Suddenly rows of blade-wolves appeared, leaping down from the sky like deadly raindrops. They looked nothing what Dallion imagined they would. “Wolf” was a very generous description one could give only if drunk while squinting. While having the general body shape of the animal, these creatures were bald and elongated, their entire bodies covered in thin, razor-like blades of bone. As they growled, Dallion caught a glimpse of their teeth; they didn’t appear anything special, but knowing they were a special material was enough for him to acknowledge their value. Even so, the thought that Eury would kick a few fangs off just for him made Dallion feel slightly sick.
