Chapter 586: Book Guardian

Chapter 586: Book Guardian

Youre lucky Eury isnt here. Shed have torn your tongue out.

Dallion had seen Eury in lots of different lights, but this didnt sound like her at all. He had heard talk, mostly from Hannah, that the gorgon had been extremely flirty and a slacker back when she used to work at the Gremlins Timepiece. There were a few occasions in which she had heard hints there might have been a violent side, though he thought that to be her standard hunter attitude. By the sound of things, it went a lot further.

Im just interested in one of his missions. Dallion decided to avoid the conversation, at least until he could have it with someone he liked better. Not the person.

Which mission?

Im not sure. The mission that got him to find Jirohs sister.

There was a noticeable sign of relief on the furys face. The emotions emanating from him, though, indicated that the fury felt as if hed dogged a bullet. Somehow, Dallion doubted that was just because of Eury. There was something more hidden there, probably the cause of the hunters name erasure.

I think he might have found a phoenix feather around that time, Dallion added.

You cant think that he put the feather in Di, Nil said, shocked at the suggestion. Phoenix feathers dont work that way.

You said magic could have caused her to turn into what she did.

Let me say it again. Feathers dont work that way. I could accept him finding a feather. I can even accept him putting it into the fury to hide it. Whats utterly impossible, though, is for it to have the effect weve seen. The feathers turn a non-awakened into an awakened. Thats all they do.

There was no point in arguing, but Dallion had seen enough instances of things not doing what they were expected. Although even he was inclined to agree with Nil. Whatever had changed, Di had to be something else.

He did take part in a phoenix hunt, the fury hunter began. Several of den did.

When? Dallion glanced at the tome of records.

You wont find anything useful there. Special hunts arent marked as such. Itll probably say chainling hunt or have some other generic description. The people involved dont want any mention of the event.

Unless when they do, Dallion thought. It was clear that the countess had made a political play by announcing his hunt to the entire world. No wonder the cult and everyone else were onto him. That said, she had also unsuspectingly done him a favor. If it hadnt been for that, the gorgons wouldnt have tipped their hand.

So, I look for chainling hunts? There were a lot of those.

Its just an example. It could be dragon hunting or anything that a hunter thinks of. I put in half a dozen cloud catching jobs. They werent that.

Clearly, that information wasnt going to be very helpful. However, Dallion had one more way to find out.

Can you give me an approximate time? Will I find it here? he lifted the last tome of the series. Or do I need to go further back?

The one before. A lot of things happened in the last ten years. Results of the fury wars. No one talks about it, but the wars leave scars in the world and a lot fewer people to deal with them.

Dallion looked through the books on the table, then grabbed the respective tome.

ITEM AWAKENING

Reality changed.

The BOOK is level 7

Level seven was quite a high level for a book. Most of the scrolls and tomes Dallion had ventured in were level two at most. Looking around, he expected to find himself in a library. Instead, the place was a gallery with rows of paintings covering every inch of the walls. All the paintings were the samelarge, rectangular frames with white canvases and some black scribbles on top. One was tempted to call them modern art, but they seemed too stylistic.

You are in a large paper hall.

Defeat the guardian to change the BOOKs destiny!

Nice to be in a paper hall, Dallion muttered.

Suddenly, green markers surrounded him.

COMBAT INITIATED

Splitting into a dozen of instances, Dallion spread out in all directions. That didnt help much. Nine of the instances were destroyed on the spot before he could figure out what was going on. Of the remaining three, two got major injuriesas illustrated by the red rectangles. Only the last remained unscathed.

Not taking his escape for granted, Dallion split again, this time in thrice as many instances. The results were shockingly similar. Only a handful managed to survive.

Lux, Nox! Dallion said as he split again.

The blue flames disappeared, allowing Dallion to land on the floor. That was a bad tactical decision, but the only one in which he could guarantee achieving what was needed. Aided by instances, he danced through the first bout of bolts, managing to complete a full guard sequence, even if he had to force split in order to do so. From there on, things became easier. The attacks became slower and slower until at one point they stopped altogether.

ESCAPE TRIGGERED

If you wish to escape combat, smash the window.

A green rectangle appeared. It had been a while since Dallion had resorted to that. Seeing it felt almost nostalgic.

Nox, challenge the guardian, he said.

Have you made up your mind? The crackling didnt sound pleasant at all pleased.

We need the echoes alive.

GUARDIAN CHALLENGE

Nox has challenged the guardian of BOOK on your behalf.

The guardian has no choice but to respond to the challenge.

Looking at the new blue rectangle, Dallion unsummoned his dartblade, switching it for his harpsisword instead. He had never fought a level seven book guardian, but something told him it might be a bit trickier than he thought.

For several moments, nothing happened. Then, the floor a foot away from Dallian rose up, forming a caterpillar composed of thousands of pages of paper.

BOOK GUARDIAN

Species: MILLIPAGE

Class: Paper

Health: 100%

Traits:

- Body 10

- Mind 25

- Perception 15

- Reaction 30

Skills:

- Attack

- Guard

- Split (Species unique)

- Cut (Species unique)

That was it? Dallion wondered.

Based on the traits, the battle was virtually over. There was no way such a weak guardian would stand a chance. On the other hand, the same had been said about him on numerous occasions and he had ended up winning.

Do you have dominion over the echoes? Dallion asked.

No. The guardian ruffled its pages.

Dallion didnt have to see the emotions within the creature to know it was lying. Whoever defeated the guardian became the owner of the item, and while the echoes were added separately, they were linked to the realm. They werent going to like it, but at least would be obliged to respond to his inquiries. At least that was the hope.

Do you surrender?

COMBAT INITIATED