Chapter 410: Third Wind

Chapter 410: Third Wind

A thin line continued towards the horizon, slicing columns along the way. In his single strike, Dallion had formed a perfect circle. This time, the attack was entirely his doing. Harp hadnt helped, but had been an instrument of his attack.

The air shattered, forming thousands of glittering fragments, as if dozens of invisible windows had been broken. However, those werent windows, they were the illusions that gleam had created.

TERMINAL STRIKE!

Damage dealt has been increased by 1000%

GLEAM has been defeated.

Barely had the rectangles appeared, that Dallion fell to his knees. Even here, within the safety of his realm, the attack proved taxing. His entire right arm was shaking to the point that he could barely hold to the harpsisword.

Maybe I overdid it, Dallion thought.

You think? Gleam asked, but this was the real gleamthe shardifly that was currently somewhere else within his awakening realm. Youve never done a line strike before and you go straight for a full circle?

Nice to have you back, Dallion smiled as he split into six instances. His most dangerous opponent had been defeated, but that didnt mean that the trial was over. Nox remained hidden somewhere within the battlefield, patiently biding his time.

So, what did you use? Gleam asked.

Huh?

The attack that got rid of Lux. Im curious.

Some things never changed. Clearly, the trial echo of the shardfly shared her curiosity.

Attraction, Dallion said. The first hit got Lux to stick to the harpsisword. After that, I just had to be fast enough to hit him into the ground and leave the blade to do the rest.

Ha. The anticlimax was felt in her voice. Well, good luck with the cub.

Somehow, that felt as typical as a curious teenager suddenly losing interest. Attitude aside, Gleam was right, though.Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

Using every last ounce of strength, Dallion pushed himself back up to his feet. He had huge qualms using the harpsisword as a shield, but Harp insisted that he do it. At the end of the day, this was just the awakening realm representation of her, not the actual weapon. Unsummoning the armada shield, Dallion grabbed the weapon with his left hand.

Now was a good time to be ambidextrous. Come to think of it, Dallion had never tried fighting with his left hand. Even in the few times when he fought with two weapons, his right always was the leading one. Now was a good reminder that it was high time he did something about it.

Where are you, Nox? Dallion looked about. Given the cubs ability to disguise itself as a crack on a surface it was impossible to find it. The only hope was for Dallion to catch a hint of the emotions coming from the creature.

I really had it easy, Dallion thought. In the past, it had been Nox who had helped him locate other cracklings. Now it was a matter of who finds the finder?

Nox, Ive taught you better than this, Dallion said, infusing his words with as much honor as possible. Sneaking gives you an advantage, but the proper thing to do is face me head on. Im not that weak to fall asleep and give you a chance to attack.

As expected, there was no reply. However, Dallion had taken advantage of the fact that he knew the frequency with which to establish a music link with his familiar. Even without seeing Nox, there was a pretty good chance that his words had affected the creature.

Moments later, everything lost color, fading to black. Next thing he knew, Dallion found himself in a soft bed. Initially, there was nothing strange about that. The bed felt familiar, more importantly, it was comfortable. Instinct made him turn to the other side. Only then did he realize that he had never gone to bed. The last thing that Dallion had done was to defeat Nox in an awakening trial.

Good morning, a familiar voice said. Dallion could easily tell that the voice belonged to his girlfriend. To his surprise and relief, she didnt sound overly upset.

You did something stupid again, didnt you?

I went through two trials, Dallion replied directly.

Thats a yes. Good thing you did it here. Get up. You need to eat.

The first few moments Dallion didnt feel hungry at all. After realizing that he hadnt eaten for over a day, not to mention had completed two awakening trials, hunger struck with a vengeance. The only issue was that when Dallion tried to get up, he found that his body still felt heavy.

Pushing through the sensation, Dallion went to the other room. Clothes and pieces of armor were everywhere. The gorgon had clearly taken the opportunity of Dallion being out to get some work done. The food he had brought from Hannahs was still where he had left it, although part of it was missing.

Dallion gobbled down what was left. The sensation of taste was almost lost as his body demanded energy. The hunger didnt vanish completely once he was done, but it was at a lot more manageable level.

How is Hannah? Eury asked, adding leather to the inside of a neck guard.

She seemed more or less fine. The inn is back to what it wasmostly empty. You should go sometime.

No. Things between us go deeper than you think.

She told me something interesting about Jiroh, Dallion continued. That she had found a way to go home.

Euryale froze for a moment. If Dallions perception had been any lower, he would have missed it.

Is there a way?

There might be. If anyone could find it she left whatever she was working on and turned to face Dallion. Ji isnt like us. She never talks about her world, but I know she had a much worse life there than here. Even being a thunder fury wasnt enough to get things going for her. If anyone would be happy to have arrived in this world, it would be her. And yet, she isnt. Ever since I met her, shes been trying to find a way back to her world And I promised to help her.

Why? This was impossible to believe. From everything Dallion had seen, Jiroh had everything one might want here. She had friends, people who respected her, as well as family. Among her race she was even considered potential royalty.

Because this isnt her world. The gorgon sighed. Its not my place to understand. That was her reason I became a hunterto help her find what shes looking for.

She prefers to go back to a place thats worse just because its hers? Dallion was unable to understand.

Never tell her you know. That will only make things more difficult. One day Ji returned from a solo job in the wilderness escorting a caravan. She wasnt even a hunter back then. The job had failed, but she was so sure she had found a way to return back to her own world. The answer lied in the city she was awakened. Ji never told me the details, but she insisted it was possible. That was the same day that she stopped using her awakened powers.

Dallion blinked. There had been so many times during which he had wondered whether she had her powers sealed. Apparently, that had never been the case.

She used to say that since there was no such thing as awakened powers in her world, she might as well get used to not having them. Thats the level of dedication she has. And thats why we must help her.

Dallion nodded.

And we will. Once I get a little bit stronger, we will.