Leveling Up The World 4: A LitRPG Adventure, page 31
ITEM AWAKENING
The all-too-familiar realm emerged around them, along with the five echoes that had been observing every fight until now. Boredom had filled Constanza almost entirely, yet she soldiered on, determined to make it till the end. Upon seeing Celia, though, her attitude changed. Several sparks of interest emerged.
Why are you more interested in her than in me? Dallion wondered.
Focus on the opponent and not the audience, dear boy, Nil reminded.
“Good luck,” Celia said. There wasn’t a single grain of dishonesty in her as she did. “You may start.”
“Thanks.” It was tempting for Dallion to attempt to dull her skills with a bit of music, but he managed to resist. There would be time for music skills on the arena.
Summoning his armadil shield and harpsisword, Dallion went forward. He didn’t dash, or even run; rather he calmly walked toward his opponent, leaving her to make the first move.
Five steps in green markers appeared all around him. Without any obvious danger present, a person would have paused to consider the situation before reacting. Dallion knew from experience that if he were to do so, it would be already too late. Instead, he leaped to the side, following the advice of the markers. No sooner had he done so than the woman suddenly appeared a step away, slashing at the spot he was moments ago with a curved sharp knife.
This wasn’t a difference of traits. The attack had been slower than Dallion expected—possibly done by someone with a body trait in the upper teens. The initial approach, however, had been flawless and very similar to something he had seen a few times before.
Reflexes proved faster than reason. Without even thinking, Dallion summoned a dartbow, shooting a bolt directly at the woman’s torso. The bolt changed course, almost bouncing off Celia’s skin, then flying off in a completely different direction.
“Fury,” Dallion said. At this point, there was no doubt left.
“Semi,” the woman replied before disappearing again. The blink of the eye later, she was twenty feet away. “You aren’t surprised?”
“I’ve seen furies in action.” Not to mention that one had tried to kill him in the past. Due to a complicated turn of events, she had ended up dead, killed by an unknown entity who seemed to be targeting the Mirror Pool.
“Good. Well, I’m nothing like them.” Celia was keeping her distance. “I only have a few of the gifts they do.”
“I’m guessing it’s enough.”
It was unclear whether music worked against furies, but one thing was for certain—ranged attacks certainly didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t obvious whether normal attacks worked, either. Dallion had seen Jiroh use air to deflect sword attacks at times. Alas, for his opponent, there was one weapon that ignored air completely; Dallion summoned his Nox dagger.
“Going for the big guns directly?” the woman asked.
“Do I have a choice?”
A short distance away, Dallion could overhear a conversation between Lady Marigold and her great niece.
“Pay close attention,” the old noble said. “There’s a lot that won’t meet the eye. Try to catch it all.”
“Do you think I’ll ever fight her?”
“If she participates next year, you’ll most certainly face her. Or Dallion. These two are the brightest recent year stars of the tournament. You must be ready for them. Remember, you must learn how to defeat them, not just withstand their attacks.”
No sooner had Lady Marigold said that than both opponents rushed at each other at full speed.
STRATEGIC THINKING
It was like lightning. Celia’s movements were on the verge of Dallion’s perception level. He would get a notion of what the woman was about to do, then it would follow almost simultaneously. In a matter of seconds, Dallion had already been wounded several times, reducing his health to eighty percent. The only way to cope was by using as much combat splitting as he could muster. Thankfully, his opponent wasn’t anywhere as good in that area.
Based on her actions so far, Dallion assumed she could handle two or three instances, but not more. That was a relief. At least he knew he could defend against her.
“You’ve fought furies before?” the woman asked as she paused her attacks. Being the constant attacker, she could afford as much. The unnerving part was that she was doing it in an annoyingly wholesome sort of way. There was no malice, no hidden motives, just casual conversation between people on the street.
“A few times,” Dallion replied. There was no need to clarify the results of those fights. “I didn’t know there were…” He paused, uncertain what word to use.
“Mongrels?” Celia asked with a laugh. “We’re rare. Some say we’re the best in both worlds. Not that my mother approves of anything said in the city. According to her, I’m wasting my life away, instead of—”
Dallion grasped his chance. Taking advantage of the fact that she was talking, he rushed forward as fast as his body would take him. Splitting into five instances, he attacked the woman from both flanks, above and head on. To his major disappointment, all attacks were evaded. It seemed that despite her lack of splitting potential, his opponent didn’t have any blind spots.
The attack failed, and Dallion quickly retreated a dozen feet away.
“You’re quite good.” Celia smiled. “Much better than Gola. I thought he would be the one to beat. Guess I’m mistaken.”
“You know each other?”
“Oh, he’s well known in the tournament circles. Even the officials have heard of him.”
The officials? Dallion asked.
I assume some slang referring to participants who received proper invitations, Nil replied. That’s the thing with the festival. It’s such a major event that even trivial activities create their own ecosystem.
The echo was a hundred percent correct—the “wannabe” tournament wasn’t supposed to be glamorous by any stretch of the imagination. By definition, the applicants were those who were considered too weak or unorthodox to receive an official invitation. That was what the rounds were for—to weed out the complete weaklings from those with potential. However, all those applying saw it differently. Dallion had fought with a handful so far, but thanks to his music skills, he had a feeling he knew them. For some, this was a means to challenge themselves; for others, it was a tournament in itself—the chance to prove their worth to the world. In a way, it was like the original idea of the Olympics back on Earth—a competition in which everyone could participate, not only the professionals with decades of training.
“Who would have expected for someone like you to appear this year?” Now it was Celia’s turn to attack without warning.
The attack was executed flawlessly. If it wasn’t for the emotional change a split second before her charge, Dallion might have been in some serious trouble. Having music skills really was cheating, and not in the way he originally thought. Being able to manipulate enemies, freeze them, and even affect their condition was all good and well, but the real advantage of the skill was allowing Dallion to know what someone’s intentions were.
Splitting into four instances, Dallion leaped away from his current spot, performing a defensive circular slash as he did. In two of the cases, he succeeded in avoiding a hit. In the other two, things didn’t turn out so well.
“Why isn’t he fighting seriously?” Constanza was heard asking.
“Because he’s smart,” Lady Marigold replied. “Both of them are. Only fools attack without having a plan of action.”
Dallion cringed, thinking back to the days in which he would just blindly charge at enemies, relying on his incredible level of reflexes. Thank the Moons he was lucky to awaken in a small village. If he had made the same mistakes in a place like Nerosal, things would have gone down much differently.
You can’t win if you’re constantly on the defensive, dear boy, Nil said. You’ll face a lot faster opponents in the arena.
I know, Dallion replied.
So far, the only thing he could do against Celia was split and retreat. Ranged attacks proved useless; even at point-blank range, the woman was able to change the trajectory of a bolt. Close range weapons weren’t much of an improvement. Harp had offered to navigate through the layers of air currents—which remained invisible to Dallion, much to his annoyance. However, that too required that Dallion be close enough to perform the attack, and that was something Celia had no intention of allowing.
Fine, Dallion sighed. He was going to break one of his self-imposed rules—he was going to use music.
Avoiding her attacks, Dallion played a chord on the harpsisword. His initial goal was just to sync with his target. That was quickly achieved. Three chords were enough to link to her focus and determination. Then the manipulation began.
Initially, Dallion attempted to use the tried-and-true method by inflicting weight, sluggishness, and dizziness to the woman. At first, it seemed that Dallion’s plan was successful. Celina’s attacks slowed to the point that he managed to evade her normally and even land a few successful counterattacks. Half a minute in, though, the string markers connecting the harpsisword to its target suddenly snapped.
“Good attempt,” the woman said in her usual cheer. “It’s no secret that you’re using music, so I came prepared.”
Crap! Dallion cursed. Of course this would happen. Sound required air to reach its target. Dallion wasn’t even sure that the people of this world realized the actual principles that went into the process. Even so, they had clearly devised the means to counter the effect. In this instance, Celia had wrapped herself in an invisible shield of air, effectively jamming Dallion’s efforts. She didn’t know how to remove the “damage” Dallion had already inflicted—thank the Moons—but even in her present state, she remained faster.
“You’ve seen nothing yet,” Dallion replied with a forced laugh. The truth was that he didn’t want to show the tight spot she had put him in. However, hearing his own words gave him an interesting idea. While it was true that he would have difficulty affecting her with his music skills, the same was not true for anything else—more specifically, the ground.
Changing his target, Dallion played a few quick chords in sequence. This was the first time he had attempted to affect an entire area. As the markers suggested, the process was different from affecting a person or object. Being part of the realm itself, the ground was too vast for Dallion to affect outright. A series of giant blue circle markers emerged, illustrating the permissible target area. The epicenter was marked in deep blue, becoming paler further away it went. The greatest issue was that, unlike standard music attacks, there was no targeted synching. The area most affected was always the one around Dallion. That meant that whatever he did would affect him as well.
Okay, let’s go with this. Dallion played a chord, adding softness to the area. One of the things he remembered hearing as a child was that quicksand pulled those that struggled faster than those that remained still. He would have given a lot to have access to the internet now to check the truth behind that notion. Given the present circumstances, he had to risk it.
The result was surprisingly fast. One moment everything seemed normal, the next Dallion and Celia sank to their ankles in the ground as if it had suddenly transformed into pudding cream.
“Wha?” Celia tried to speed out of the quicksand pit, but that only made her lose balance. For a moment, it seemed as if she would fall in, granting Dallion the victory by defeat. However, her body froze a few inches from the ground. Having the ability to manipulate had its advantages as well.
Solidify, Dallion thought, hectically playing a few tunes. The ground became firm once more, locking both of them in place.
STRATEGIC THINKING
(+2 Mind)
Seeing the big picture and thinking out of the box work well together. Just be prepared for the consequences.
You have a trait improved beyond its level cap. The bonus will remain inactive until you pass the next gate.
That was a surprising achievement. Dallion would have very much preferred if his reactions were boosted instead of his mind. At least, he wasn’t going to lose anything unlike what had happened to his skills recently.
Without losing a moment, Dallion summoned his dartbow and shot at his opponent. Even at a disadvantage, Celia managed to react fast enough, causing the blow to miss her by several inches.
“That’s really something,” she said. “I don’t need to see you to defend against bolts, though.”
“I see.”
“So it’s a draw?”
“There are no draws,” Lady Marigold said loudly. The old woman seemed to be enjoying herself. “If the fight can’t continue, this’ll be considered a double loss, since none of you can win.”
Cold, the armadil shield said. I see the logic, though. Won’t be much of a spectacle if draws are allowed.
“I guess that’s it, then?” Celia asked. “Unless you want to get back to our previous way of fighting.”
“How about neither?” Dallion played a chord. His goal was to soften the ground, as before. However, this time, he targeted a far smaller area. With him as the epicenter of the effect, he had the power to free himself while keeping Celia stuck. That way he could calmly approach and defeat her with his harpsisword. It wasn’t going to be a fair victory but still a victory nonetheless.
The ground around Dallion’s feet became soft once more. This time the pit was the size of a small muddy puddle, allowing him to just step out. The moment he did, though, the ground started shaking.
What’s going on? Dallion asked. Can furies do this?
It’s not furies you have to worry about, Nil said. Do you think you’re the first to discover this use of music? The reason people tend to not use skills to affect an area is because of the consequences.
Damn it!
Dallion already knew he had messed up. It was an understandable mistake, which was possibly why Nil hadn’t warned him about it. Realms—like everything else—were beings. When Dallion had targeted the ground, he had also targeted the guardian of the realm.
In Dallion’s mind, time froze. Reciting the names of the seven Moons, he tried to concentrate on the possible outcomes. He could defeat Celia, then try to come to an agreement with the guardian. The amount of disdain visible throughout the ground indicated that option to be highly unlikely. Dallion could also attempt to take the guardian on his own. That also seemed less than optimal and would require that Dallion reveal all his cards; and even then, it was uncertain whether he’d succeed.
How much trouble am I in? Dallion asked, rushing toward Celia.
I’d say the guardian is twice stronger than the one in your stiletto, Nil said. Of course, you’re free to wait for it to appear to be certain.
No thanks! Dallion played a chord. The ground around Celia’s feet loosened up.
“Temporary peace,” Dallion said, offering a hand.
“You think?” The woman grabbed his hand, getting out of the mud. “What did you do?”
“Got the realm annoyed at us,” Dallion replied. “Very, very annoyed.”
TRAINING SPHERE GUARDIAN
Species: METALIN
Class: IRON
Health: 100%
Traits: UNKNOWN
Skills: UNKNOWN
Weakness: UNKNOWN
METALIN
Since his arrival, Dallion had seen many guardians. After a few mishaps in Nerosal, he had made a point to read more about them in the ring library. In general, most awakened got to see most of the common guardians after a few months of item improving. All the rest described in the scrolls were like exotic creatures and curiosities that Dallion skimmed through, more out of interest than anything else. It was a good thing he had, since the guardian he was facing now was nothing like anything else he had encountered. According to the brief mention in the scroll, the metalins were one of the few artificially created guardians of the age.
I really did it this time. Dallion swallowed looking at the ten-foot colossus facing him.
If the writing in the scrolls was to be believed, the first metalin was created by Emperor Tamin the second. The design was later improved by the mage Academy, who had sunk vast amounts of time and resources in the research, all with the goal of turning the metalins into viable familiars. The fact that nothing else was written on the topic suggested that the mages most likely had failed. Even so, there were more than enough nobles who wanted to have items with the new toys. Apparently, that desire wasn’t unique for the imperial capital.
“You don’t see this every day,” Celia said. “Fought one before?”
“No,” Dallion replied. Technically, he had seen one, though. Back when he had fought the village elder of Dharma, there was a similar entity placed in his realm. At the time, Dallion thought it to be an echo. Now he knew better.
“Why is it just standing there?”
“It’s evaluating us,” Dallion replied.
The only way to describe the guardian was like a cross between a suit of armor and a shapeshifter. Pieces of metal created the various armor segments composing the entity, and each of them had the ability to change form. Restrictions of unknown nature kept the guardian from freely shapeshifting; however, it had the ability to change the functionality of every piece it was composed of.
Before Dallion and Celia’s very eyes, one of the metalin’s hands morphed into gauntlet swords.
“Move!” Dallion shouted, splitting into instances and not a moment too soon. Three of the instances were skewered as the massive guardian rushed forward, far faster than one might expect.
It was mostly luck that Dallion’s last instance remained unharmed. Celia was no better. Her speed provided an advantage, though not enough to remain completely unscathed. The tip of the blade sliced through her left shoulder, causing more damage than Dallion had managed to inflict so far.
Anything you can help, Nil? Dallion asked, shooting two bolts at the guardian. Both bounced off, dealing no damage whatsoever.
