Chapter 245: Maze of Emotions

Chapter 245: Maze of Emotions

It was remarkable how much a person could hold their break underwater when relaxed, especially if that person was an awakened. When Dallion had surrendered himself mentally to the ragged water creatures, he expected they would go at him in greater numbers. They hadnt, instead slowly grabbing on to him several at a time. Moments ago, when he had struggled against them, they had seemed so fast and aggressive, Dallion had felt unable to do a thing. Now they seemed as slow as molasses. On a few instances Dallion had considered asking if he could help get things faster. In one case, he had split and tested if it would help. It hadnt.

It had taken about five minutes for Dallion to become surrounded by murky water. The creatures were so thick next to each other that they had merged into one into one giant dark blob of water surrounding Dallion completely. The entire time Dallion looked up, using Luxs light as a beacon to make sure he wasnt dragged to the bottom. Thankfully, there didnt seem to be any change in his depth; apparently when Dallion had lost interest in his clingers, they had stopped being aggressive. If anything, the challenge had gotten slightly boring.

Dont let your guard down, Nil reminded. Youre still in a state of combat, dear boy. You have yet to complete the trial.

And in order to complete a trial, I must first find out what the actual trial is, Dallion recited.

It was a good saying, although completely useless. The echo was an extremely good teacher, but he tended to rely too much on theory. Vend and Eurys hands-on methods would have been much better in a situation such as this.

I expect you dont know anything about a challenge such as this? With all of them being highly individual and all.

Actually, dear boy, I believe I went through the same a long time ago.

That was beyond surprising. It was logical that Nil had to have gone through this process himself, like any awakened. Despite that, Dallion had rarely thought about the challenges the echoor rather, its originalmust have gone while leveling. Learning that Adzorg had gone through a water trial meant that he knew what needed to be done for Dallion to overcome the trial. More importantly, it suggested that the captain had flaws similar to his own, making Dallion wonder who had let him down and now.

Dont even ask, Nil said preemptively. Some things arent to be shared, and I have no intention of telling you what to expect. If it was up to me, Id forbid the use of awakening shrines. Lot of good they do.

Its been a while since Ive heard you this grumpy, Nil. Anything youd like to share?

Just my strong and well-founded belief that the awakening shrines are a plague on the awakened. Great for war and showing off, but otherwise useless. Whats the point in having someone cheat their way through twenty levels in a day if it seals their fate? It takes far more strength for someone to reach level twenty-one after being in a shrine than a person who has leveled up the natural way.

Dallion could agree with that. At the moment, he was a prime example. After reaching double digits in months, he had almost given up leveling up out of fears he couldnt even rationalize. if he had the option to reach level twenty though a shrine, he would have jumped at the opportunity. Afterwards, though, it was unlikely he would have succeeded in defeating any of the echoes his realm had fabricated. Either that, or he would have exclusively relied on his familiars and weapons.

What trick had his grandfather used, though? From what Dallion knew, Aspan and his old man had been granted access to a major awakening shrine due to the wars of succession. That hadnt kept them at level twenty, though. Both had progressed on from there to the level they had reached before their punishment had limited them back to single digits.

The water surface, far above Dallion, started slowly moving away. The eight of the clingers had probably reached the point at which the blob of dark water was pulling him down, even without the attackers doing anything.

A grain of fear emerged in Dallions chest, only to be quickly crushed by him reciting the names of the Moons. It would have been far more efficient if he could sing; then not only could Dallion keep his negative emotions better in check, but it would have been easy to add some lightness to the blob, making it float up on its own.

Suddenly a thought came to Dallionhe could still use his music skill. This time and last, he had focused so much on the fact that he could not actively use the skills that he had completely forgotten they had a passive element as well.

Music, Dallion thought.

The blob of water surrounding him transformed into a giant ball of yarn, with colors so bright that they hurt Dallions eyes.

What the heck? He wondered.

What were all these emotions doing here? It was obvious at first glance that they were his, some going back decades: a friend stealing his crayons in elementary school, a classmate keying the screen of his new mobile phone because Dallion didnt let him cheat off him, a person that had agreed to join Dallions guild after a month of begging, only to leave it a few days later as if nothing had happened All those emotion-infused memories were here now.

Very funny, Dallion grumbled mentally. Resorting to music skills again, he looked around in the hopes to see some clue he had missed before. Unfortunately, there were none present. For all intents and purposes, Dallion had ended up at the bottom of a ditch with no rope or ladder to get out.

The thought of using the strands of emotions to make a rope passed through his mind. It soon turned out, though, that tying two strands together was completely impossible. While they somehow managed to make a gooey whole, the strands remained their own entities, refusing to be chained to anything else.

Frustration built up. After minutes of futile attempts, Dallion couldnt help but hit the memories with his fist. His knuckles met something of the softness and consistency of jelly, cushioning the blow.

Calm yourself, Gen said. No need to mess things up so close to the end.

Easy for you to say.

Considering that Im as close to you as one might get, it should be easy for you as well.

Point taken. Dallion looked at the spot he had punched, only now becoming thankful that he hadnt caused the memories to tear or unravel. It would have been annoying if he had to untangle everyone once more as a result. Come to think of it, why hadnt the strands unraveled?

Carefully, Dallion put the palm of his hand on the dark layer and pushed. His entire body moved slightly up.

So thats what it is! He grinned. I really must focus more on seeing things through to the end.

The challenge was not merely to accept and sift through the bad memories that kept him from progressing, Dallion had to use them to go forward. And considering the qualities of the darker water, there was only one way of doing it.

That would be a laugh, Gen said at Dallions thought. Wait, youre not joking?

Whats the worst that could happen? Dallion stood up.

I can think of a few things, but go ahead. Weirder things have happened in your head.

Ignoring the comment, Dallion jumped. It was a small jump, just enough to separate himself from the layer, and then fall back down again. Anywhere else, things would have ended here. However, in this instance, the mesh of memories acted as a trampoline, pushing him back up in the clear water.

Pleased with his discovery, Dallion let himself fall back down, only this time, he exerted more force upon jumping back up. The dark water, combined with his own effort, took him higher, and higher, and higher...

Jump after jump, the distance to the surface became less and less. Ten feet became five, then three, then two, then one. Finally, the last jump was powerful enough to allow him to break out of the pool. Lux didnt hesitate, grabbing Dallions hands the moment they emerged, and pulling his body out like an eagle dragging out a salmon from the river.

Wow there, Lux! Dallion said after he was tugged. Im not a rag doll. The little familiar was significantly stronger than Dallion had expected.

You have broken through your barrier.

Your level has increased to 17.

Choose the focus that will serve you best.