Chapter 859: City Piece Gathering

Chapter 859: City Piece Gathering

I know youre here, Hannah said as she kept on polishing a quartz glass.

There was no need for her to do so. In fact, there was no need for her to do anything. Her assistance in taking down the general had been noted by both the lord mayor and the Order of the Seven Moons, which had generously provided her with enough gold to buy a house on the edge of the citys noble district and live in opulence for the rest of her life. Instead, she had chosen to remain where she was and the money was stashed away to buy enough food and drinks for the inn not to have to worry about it.

When I worked for Adzorg, it was my job to keep track of thieving mages. She turned to her right. Plus, your illusion sucks.

I should have known, Dallion said, dropping his spell. In a flash of an eye, he was suddenly there, sitting at the bar across from her. Ive come to talk.

When a noble says that, its usually bad news.

Im hoping the talk will turn into something more. Can we go into the kitchen?

The Icepickers in the room kept discussing jobs and standings. The guild was doing relatively well for itself. Even with artifacts no longer bringing in anywhere nearly as much money as before, the city still relied on them for sanitation work. Though by no means as lucrative, it ensured a steady flow of funds and, relatively speaking, the job was no different than before.

None of them were able to notice Dallions presence. Even if he had dropped his illusion for Hannah, he had kept it for everyone else.

Were fine here, Hannah said.

Pan might want to be part of this.

Pan knows a lot more than you think. So, you started your own little settlement and are having issues filling it? She gave Dallion an annoyed glare. Taking the furies, taking the Icepickers, and then the hunters too, Id guess?Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

My, my. Pan sure knows a lot.

What do you expect? He was a damned copyette emperor! The innkeeper hissed. And before you ask, the answer is no.

So, you wouldnt mind joining me? Dallion flashed a smile.

That only worked when you were a newbie. The woman barely reacted. Dont get me wrong. I still like you, but theres a time when a woman must acknowledge her limits. Facing the general showed me where mine were.

Youre stronger than most Ive met.

Gratitude emanated from the woman, combined with elements of sadness.

Knowing you, you probably mean it. That only makes it worse I know where youre going, even if you dont. Thats part of my curse. Both you and Eury have set your aims on the top. Every otherworlder does sooner or later. The only ones who dont are those whove died or given up.

Dallion cast a two-circle spell, summoning a glass of nectar in front of him. It was an expensive drinkmore expensive than the inn itself, but at his level of perception, he had learned to pamper himself a bit from time to time.

I only want to end the war, he said after a sip.

Funny. Im sure thats what everyone says.

I mean it.

So do they, Im sure. Have you noticed how few wars thereve been within the empire?

I know a lot of people whod disagree.

And theyd be wrong. Everyone talks about the Wetie civil wars and the west frontier skirmishes, never taking the wilderness into account. The Imperial legions didnt roam the wilderness for fun. We, the hunters, and even the Academy snuffed out most threats before they could cause any damage. Historically, it used to be normal for settlements to vanish, destroyed by chainlings or other wilderness creatures.

There still are wars, Dallion said in a somber tone.

But you plan to stop them and for that, you need my strength, right? Hannah crossed her arms.

There was no denying that she was right. Dallions short-term goals were to gain enough strength and influence to get close and neutralize the Tamin Emperor. His long-term goals were indeed to become the sole power of the world. If walking through the next gate would make him a Moon, hed do anything to join their ranks. Then hed be able to adjust the rules of the world so that the void couldnt tempt anyone and not only that.

Ive gained all the skills, Dallion corrected mentally.

Youre not the first to try to unseal me, so I know perfectly whats at stake.

Unsummoning the Nox dagger, Dallion cast a flight spell on himself. There was a good chance there would be combatin most cases, when dealing with awakening powers, it always came to that. Then again, there was a slight chance that the challenge was entirely mental. When he had unsealed his mother, there hadnt been any fighting, although she had only been a level one awakened.

Do you remember your realm? Dallion asked.

Its not something I could forget. Believe me, Ive tried.

What was it like?

Youre asking me that? She crossed her arms.

If the room was a folded representation of her realm, then having an idea of what it was like might prove to be the key to unfolding it without causing any tears. Dallion had already established that it wasnt a simple matter of rearranging pieces, like in a mending maze.

A mansion, the woman said.

A mansion? Dallion looked at her. Didnt you have one as a noble?

A mansion, not a city full of them.

A mansion on a field, he said, more to himself.

There probably was some charm to it for someone whod spent their entire life in a bustling city of nobles. Some calm and quiet away from it all could be bliss. As a hunter, he knew the feeling all too well.

Get ready, Dallion summoned his hammer. I want to try something. He flew up to where he could see a prominent cut in the magic threads. This might hurt.

Counting to three, he then swung the hammer, hitting the brick with the cut. During the impact, his magic threads extended, entering within the diamond. Splitting into instances, Dallion manipulated the threads in a series of ways, from attempting to absorb them, to combining them together. All the time, he had one instance carefully observe Hannah.

On the surface, nothing happened, but within he saw a magic thread appear. In one instance, the faint thread appeared among the rest, then slowly faded away.

You gotta be kidding. Dallion laughed.

I take it thats the bad news?

The Order never sealed you.

Im not in the mood for jokes.

Youve been doing it.

Giving up. It was said that the vast majority of awakened gave up along the way, stopping at comfortable levels. The lower levels preferred the comfort of the Moons protection. The mid-levels wanted to shield themselves from constantly looking over their shower. Even the high-levels chose to take a rest at what they saw as the pinnacle of their life. The same was valid for the sealed as well. The Order didnt do anything; rather, they merely implemented a trick that had people fight against themselves. The seal was traumaa loss that shook an awakeneds very being to the point that they built a wall around themselves to protect them from a similar experience. Despite the pain and suffering the wall brought, they viewed it as better than the alternative, and that was because beyond it there was another part of them that was so traumatized it had them protecting that wall and fighting to keep it whole with everything they had.

In confirmation of Dallions words, the walls and ceiling of the room shattered, bringing them to a new realm. Vast fields were visible all around, along with a single giant mansion in the far distance.

You shouldnt have done that, Hannah said, but it was a different Hannah.

A girl dressed in light sun gold armor blocked the way to the mansion; the spitting image of the person Dallion had seen in her memories. She was a prodigy, one who had become a domain-ruler on her own, one who had mastered eight of the twelve skills and whose body and reaction traits were slightly higher than Dallions.

When I made the decision to join the Imperial Legions, I made the decision to block off the part of me that led me here. Im content now. Im happy.

Any chance we can discuss this so I change your mind? Dallion asked, adding as much calm to his words as his music skill allowed him.

COMBAT INITIATED

Guess not.