Leveling Up The World 4: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
LEVELING UP THE WORLD 4
©2023 L. ECLAIRE
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ALSO IN SERIES
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
CONTENTS
Previously in Leveling Up the World…
1. Return to the Drum
2. March’s Mission
3. In the Mirror
4. Obsidian Dragon
5. Missing Achievement
6. Altering the Deal
7. Shield Link
8. World of the Aura Sword
9. Provisions
10. Sanctuary Prison
11. Guardian Minions
12. The Petrified Guardian
13. Ten Temples, Eight Moons
14. Remains
15. Statue with a Note
16. The Minotaur
17. Fragments of Emotion
18. Plains of Despair
19. Second Battle
20. Expedition Temps
21. Star Fears
22. Echo Practice
23. The Minion
24. Familiar’s Assistance
25. Moon Cleric
26. March’s Duel
27. Down the Mountain
28. Lastport Vista
29. Second Key
30. Ocean Travel
31. Sword’s End
32. Vision Picnic
33. Rest and Recovery
34. The Arena
35. Free Advice
36. Forging Pains
37. Brute Forcing a Level
38. An Echo’s Failure
39. Gleam and July
40. The Challenger from Sanitation
41. Pauper’s Final
42. Built on Ruins
43. Unexpected Challenger
44. Strategic Thinking
45. Metalin
46. Prelim Victor
47. Future Challenge
48. Vermillion’s Test
49. The Key
50. Rising Star
51. New Deal
52. Of Space and Darkness
53. Threads and Spiders
54. Hidden Prize
55. Whip Blade
56. Talk With a Table
57. Achievement Hunting
58. The Secret Expedition
59. Beneath the Veil
60. Temporary Alliance
61. Crackling Infiltration
62. The Spark Inside
63. A Sword’s Past
64. Pre-Tournament Shivers
65. Day of the Festival
66. Advancement Decisions
67. Grand Opening
68. Fighting Mord
69. Unexpected Revelation
70. Gains and Losses
71. Sneaking Into a World
72. Solo Expedition
73. The Dryad Scrolls
74. Birch Scroll
75. The Morning Before
76. Wonder Kid
77. Fighting Pain
78. Items and Secrets
79. Two Kinds of Forging
80. A Victory of Screams
81. Path of the Empath
82. The Sword Marshal
83. Seeing Layers
84. Hidden Skill Gems
85. Pushing It
86. Swarm of Distraction
87. Silver Bug
88. All-Out Attacker
89. Clear Victory
90. Deadman Talking
91. Practical Illusion
92. Unfinished Business
93. Locked but Open
94. Icepicker Emergency Meeting
95. Whispers of a Star
96. Alliance of Convenience
97. Whisper From the Past
98. Making Enemies
99. The Final Expedition
100. City of Minotaurs
101. The Dawn Dryad
102. Echo Combat
103. The Twi-Crown
104. The Unexpected Guardian
105. Ruin Tunnels
106. Hidden Entrance
107. The Wilderness Beneath
108. Guard of the Keys
109. Spooks in Ruins
110. Land of Nerosal
111. Guardian Challenge
112. Flesh of Stone
113. Settling Dust
Dallion Seene
Thank you for reading Leveling up the World 4
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PREVIOUSLY IN LEVELING UP THE WORLD…
After a night of intense partying, Dallion woke up in a room without a door or windows. The only object in the entire room was a glowing blue rectangle with the words “YOU ARE LEVEL 1” written on it.
Asked by the rectangle to choose between four traits—body, mind, reaction, perception—Dallion decided to increase his reaction trait, causing an exit to appear. The door led to a small corridor at the end of which a short sword and a buckler were visible on opposite walls. Choosing the bucker, Dallion acquired guard skills as his first skill, then suddenly found himself in the medieval village of Dherma.
Surrounded by friends and a family he somehow knew, though had never seen before, Dallion was welcomed to this new world, a world in which all items, buildings, people, and areas hold “realms” within them that can be entered by all “awakened.”
Taught by his grandfather Kraisten, a village elder, Dallion barely learned how to enter and mend realms, when he was called for by the village chief—Aspion Luor—who tasked him to improve a ring by entering its realm and defeating the guardian within.
It quickly became clear that the village chief was a tyrant who wished to seal away the awakened powers of all new awakened outside of his family by giving them impossible tasks to complete. Thanks to luck and skill, Dallion successfully improved the item, but that only increased the village chief’s ire.
Aware that he had to increase his level before the chief’s next trial, Dallion formed a pact with his childhood crush—the chief’s granddaughter Gloria—who then took him to a hidden awakening shrine to level up.
When the time came for the second task, the village chief banished Dallion to the realm of the village well without any obvious means of escape. Facing cracklings—beast-like creatures of darkness that were the physical embodiment of real-world cracks and decay—and the well’s guardian itself, Dallion managed to make it back to the real world, though to little fanfare.
After a conversation with his grandfather, Dallion learned that the village chief had used his awakened powers to insert an echo within the realms of all villagers. Representing a mental copy of him, the echoes ensured that the people remained subservient and dissuaded from discussing topics that Aspion didn’t approve of, including anything dealing with the world beyond the village.
Before the chief could send him on another trial, an envoy of the area’s archduke arrived at the village along with a cleric of the Order of the Seven Moons. Using her authority, the envoy demanded all capable awakened join the hunt for the chainling monster—an awakened creature causing devastation in the archduke’s domain. Left with no choice, the village chief volunteered Dallion, as well as his own grandchildren, Gloria and Veil, to join the hunt.
Evaluated by the albino cleric of the Order, and the envoy Dame Vesuvia, the trio received small, crossbow-like weapons—called dartbows—and were taught to use them in battle.
Learning the weak spot of the chainling from a volunteer called Havoc, Dallion destroyed the village chief’s echo within his realm, then set off on a reckless charge at the monster. With the help of Veil, Gloria, and the cleric, they succeeded in injuring the chainling to the point that Lady Vesuvia could kill it off.
The hunt successful, Dallion, Veil, and Gloria were returned to their home village. Receiving the dartbow in thanks, Dallion snuck to the awakening shrine, where he leveled up. It was also there that he passed
Refusing the village chief’s offer to marry into the Luor family, Dallion challenged Aspion, resulting in a fight within the realm of the village itself. After an exhausting fight, Dallion took advantage of a minor mistake and snuck into the chief’s personal awakening realm. There, he experienced a memory fragment of Aspion’s past.
It turned out that four decades ago, Aspion, his sister, and Dallion’s grandfather were close friends who went to the city of Nerosal. Initially, they had fun there for a few months, when Dallion’s grandfather decided to volunteer as a soldier in the Wars of Succession.
The fragment ended abruptly, but the village chief pleaded to be spared, since it was Dallion’s grandfather who had caused them to be de-leveled and banished to Dherma.
Dallion felt for the village chief, however, not enough to forgive him for everything he’d done since. Sealing off Aspion’s awakened powers, he ended the fight, returning to the real world. As a result, Veil and Gloria assumed control of Dherma, along with the village elders.
With Aspion defeated and all his echoes destroyed, things returned to normal. Dallion’s grandfather revealed that he, too, was originally from Earth, arriving in this world decades ago. He also warned Dallion to be careful in larger towns and cities.
Determined to explore the world, Dallion prepared to leave the village. Before that, he made one final visit to the realm of the well to keep his promise to the guardian made during their previous encounter. As a result, he was granted his first familiar—Nox, a crackling cub that could live in Dallion’s realm.
Using Nox’s ability to create cracks in anything it touched, Dallion unsealed the awakening powers of his mother—previously sealed by Aspion—making her an awakened once more. Thankful, though still heartbroken to see him leave, his mother shared the rare skill of music with Dallion.
Receiving a traveler’s emblem to keep him safe in the wilderness, Dallion said his goodbyes to everyone close and set off for Nerosal…
Arriving at Nerosal, Dallion managed to get hired at the Gremlin’s Timepiece inn by the owner Hannah. There he met the first non-human being since in this world: the fury Jiroh.
As per Hannah’s agreement, Dallion went to get registered at an awakened guild. Following Jiroh’s advice, Dallion went to the Icepicker guild where he was tested by March and Nitiello Adzorg—two of the guild’s captains—and accepted as a temporary rookie member.
Between his guilt activities, his work at the inn, and exploring the city, Dallion was given a library ring with an echo of Adzorg and also had the good fortune to buy a harpsisword—an awakened weapon for music users. Purchasing some additional gear from Jiroh’s friend, the gorgon Euryale, he then proceeded to take part in the guild selection trial.
He was placed in a group of four other candidates—among which the eager noble Falkner and the slacker Arthurows—with the goal to clear a dagger artifact. Taking charge of the group, Dallion led them through three of the five levels. Overconfident in his abilities, Dallion chose to try and clear the entire artifact. Thankfully, he was given a second chance by Vend—the guild elite overseeing the trial—to try again in a month. Meanwhile, he would be allowed to clear artifacts as part of the guild.
After a few successful missions, it became clear that Dallion must gear up in order to be more efficient. Going through secondhand shops, he came across Arthurows, who offered to help him.
Feeling bad for Dallion’s failure, Arthurows introduced him to a noble called “the General,” who loaned him a rare armadil shield with a dryad guardian.
Accepting the offer, and buying additional gear from Euryale, Dallion felt ready to take the world when a guild emergency was announced. Several Icepicker members had lost consciousness while exploring a twenty-level artifact. Searching for the cause, and a way to help them, a massive expedition was sent to the item’s realm.
Thanks to Nox, Dallion and his group come across a mini-chainling. During the fight, it became clear that the monster was a corrupted guild member. Through a bit of luck and a lot of effort, Dallion successfully managed to defeat the chainling and save the person it was consuming.
Following the celebration of the rescue, Dallion went to the temple of the Order to level up to twenty. On the way, he was attacked by an unknown fury who took his money, harpsisword, and armadil shield, leaving him wounded.
Dragging himself to the Gremlin’s Timepiece, Dallion learned he was likely targeted by the underground awakened organization the Mirror Pool. A group was formed of Jiroh, Euryale, and a few guild members, which went to a Mirror Pool’s locations and reclaimed his gear.
Healing up after the encounter, Dallion borrowed some money from Falkner and went to level up. He was successful, passing his second awakening gate, which granted him the power to level up from his own realm.
Just as Dallion was about to hold his second guild trial, he was contacted by the General, who altered their deal. Dallion was thus forced to become indentured to him before he could proceed.
Taking the Icepicker trial, Dallion fought his way through the creatures of the artifact. In the process, he obtained a new familiar: a cyan firebird he named Lux.
At the final level, Dallion unexpectedly came upon Arthurows. The slacker revealed that he was in fact the Twisted Star and attacked. Aided by his familiars and a mysterious voice, Dallion defeated Arthurows and fulfilled the dagger’s destiny.
Sharing events with the rest of the guild, Dallion was accepted as a permanent member and given the artifact as a reward. Relieved but also somewhat concerned, Dallion made Nox the guardian of the dagger, ready for what the world would throw at him next.
Shortly after settling in the guild, Dallion got a surprise visit from Veil and Gloria Luor. The pair had been invited to the Nerosal Festival by Countess Priscord herself in recognition of their leveling up Dherma village.
Showing them around the city, Dallion presented the pair to the Icepicker guild, where they were made temporary members. The trio then took the task of mending the area known as the Stone Garden. The success earned Dallion an invitation to take part in the guild’s World Item expedition, provided he acquired the necessary experience.
Eager to boost his skills, Dallion faced and defeated an echo of his grandfather during an awakening trial. In addition to besting his fears, Dallion also created Gen—the first echo of his realm.
Unfortunately, as Dallion progressed, he also caught the attention of nobles and underworld organizations alike. While local dignitaries had him improve areas for their amusement, the Mirror Pool requested his services for their own needs.
