Dallion let out a sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the countess’ palace. Whoever had said that there were no secrets for a domain ruler was scarily right. Dallion had always suspected that the nobles secretly knew the link between him and his grandfather. Now he had seen the proof. Countess Priscord’s parents had been the ones who had promoted Kraisten. Not only that, but it was likely they had turned Aspion’s sister into an overseer.

Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, Nil said. You have to admit, you had become a bit complacent, dear boy. In the past, there was no stopping you from leveling up. Now, it’s a wonder if you raise a level every few weeks,

As true as that was, the solution wasn’t to have the countess threaten Dallion’s village and everyone he knew. Not only that, but they hadn’t provided him with any starting points. As things stood, Dallion had only two clues: the night auction—since they had information regarding the seller of the phoenix feather—and the Linatol hunter’s den. The problem was that both those things required him to return to the provincial capital.

You can always ask Euryale, Nil suggested. She’s likely to know a lot about her old mentor and keep it quiet.

I can also ask Adzorg, who’s been remarkably quiet lately, Dallion countered. Eury’s mentor was a touchy subject for the gorgon.

He won’t tell you anything. And that is if you can find him. At present, he’s not at the guild.

Is there anything you can tell me? How do I find the creature that you swore didn’t exist?

You need to understand, dear boy, that echoes are subject to a lot more rules than you might think. There are many things I am not aware of. You remember the guardian’s echo in the world sword. He too had no idea he was an echo, believing himself to be a full guardian.

Dallion shook his head. There was no point in arguing. Nil could come up with any excuse, and there was no way for Dallion to tell whether it was the truth or not. As he had found out, his music skills were unreliable when it came to the old echo. Maybe captain Adzorg had made him like that on purpose, or maybe the echo itself had done so because it didn’t want others to see its thoughts and emotions. The only thing for certain was that for the moment, he wasn’t to be trusted. That was rather disturbing, for Dallion wanted to know that he could trust the inhabitants of his realm.

Is there anything you know about the phoenix? Dallion asked, as he walked away from the palace.

Sadly, not much, dear boy. It’s a creature said to be the embodiment of magic. From what is written, it cannot be killed. Whenever someone does, it poofs back into existence. One of the theories is that since magic is the art of finding loopholes, the creature managed to transform the energy released by its death to return to its true form instead of becoming a shadow. No one knows for certain, since no one has managed to capture it. The academy and all the nobles have been trying to do so for quite a while, though.

Can it drop a skill gem?

No, the echo laughed. It’s absolutely impossible that a magic skill gem was placed in Diroh, if that’s what you’re thinking. One could say that technically, it does release a gem, but it simultaneously uses that gem to regrow, so it’s pretty much irrelevant.

I guess you’re right.

Dallion didn’t return to the inn. Instead, he went to the forge to think a bit. Since it had become impossible to keep wilderness creatures in his room—with the sole exception of Ruby—the thing he tended to do in-between hunts was to forge items. There were still a number of blueprints he hadn’t created, and working also tended to get his mind off things.

Night came and went. Dallion had managed to create two pieces of armor that he would likely never wear. It was good practice nonetheless and helped increase his forging skills to fifty-five.

After some consideration, Dallion even went into his realm to try and level up. Sadly, the attempt was unsuccessful once more. The trial he had chosen turned out to be speed-focused. Those were the ones that were most challenging for some reason, despite his reaction trait being the second highest. Nil kept insisting that the reason was a lack of clear focus, and this time Dallion couldn’t disagree. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely that the Academy would be involved in finding the phoenix. That would explain the mages from Earth pursuing magic creatures. Katka had said that the dragon she’d killed hadn’t been what she was looking for. Maybe she was looking for the phoenix as well? Asking directly wasn’t an option, but Dallion knew one place that might.

It was midmorning when Dallion returned to the Gremlin Timepiece. The crowds hadn’t gathered yet, but Hannah and Diroh were already busy prepping up the place. From the item guardians, Dallion quickly learned that the fury had mended three items last night, and was as annoyed as Hannah that he hadn’t been there to do some singing.

“Hey,” Dallion said as he sat at the counter.

The fury looked at him, then deliberately looked away, pretending to clean some mugs. Hannah was much better than this—she could look straight at people and still make them feel ignored.

“The countess gave me a task,” he said without going into details. “I’ll be leaving in a bit.”

Diroh’s actions visibly slowed down.

“Guessed that might be it,” Hannah said. “Anything I should worry about?”

“No,” Dallion lied. Judging by the innkeeper’s expression, she knew he wasn’t telling the truth.

“Anything you should be worried about?”

“It’s a big task. Might take a bit longer than usual. Do you need anything new brought here?”

“The captain might have found something. Check with your library echo.”

That was the thing about Hannah. Even when the situation was grim and confusing, she still found a way to ask him to go on with her tasks. After what Dallion had put her through, he couldn’t refuse, not even now.

“I’ll be on it. You okay, Di?”

“I’m used to hunters, remember? You come and go as you please.”

“Right.” Dallion let out a dry chuckle. “Take care of things, okay?”

“Next time you get to sing! No excuses.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Just as Dallion was about to head to his room, Hannah grabbed his sleeve.

“A nephew of the empire died during a battle up north,” she whispered. “Keep that in mind if you go near the border. The hunter emblem might not be able to protect you for long.”

This was the second member of the imperial family who had died in the last two years. The war that had already been going on the northern borders was going to heat up. Alliances would be made, and moving in and out of border areas would become a lot riskier.

“I’ll get my gear.”

By noon Dallion had left the city. Aspan had prepared a substantial amount of food portions for him to take on his trip—a welcome change from wilderness food. The issue was that they didn’t last long. By evening, all the food Dallion was carrying in his backpack was gone.

Initially, Dallion made his way south, but as night fell, he changed the direction to east—the real direction he was heading. The eastern forests were sparsely populated. Settlements were few and far between, none of them larger than a level two village. It was a lot more difficult to thrive in the forests, all the more during the poison plague. Initially there had been a huge demand for wood, but once it had been satisfied, fewer and fewer traders ventured there, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves. Some moved west towards the towns and the big cities. Others soldiered on, doing what they always had.

As things stood, no one seemed to be in a hurry to claim the territory for themselves. The north seemed to be the main focus of attention. Strangely enough, the Order of the Seven Stars seemed to be interested in the region as well. There was no telling whether it was a precursor to the nearing war, but war clerics seemed to be spreading in all directions. The first village Dallion passed through had been completely transformed into a temple of the Order. None of the original inhabitants were there. In their place, hundreds of young acolytes were busy transforming the place into what would become its new form. A small regiment of war clerics oversaw the construction, guarding against any threat. Dallion had attempted to obtain a bit more information, but all he had managed to get was that the archbishop himself had ordered the exploration west, supposedly in search of ancient awakening altars.

Dallion had his doubts, but chose to spend a night there, anyway. He would have hoped that sleeping at a temple would let him have a dream with Jiroh again. The Moons did indeed send him a dream, but it wasn’t with the person he was expecting.

The moment Dallion came to, he found himself in an old, empty parking lot. The ground was strange. It took him a few moments to remember that it was asphalt.

“I must send you these sorts of dreams more often.” A jogger in a green outfit approached. “You’re starting to forget things. Not that long ago, you’d constantly think of your friends and parents. And look at you now.”

His parents.. try as he might, Dallion wasn’t able to remember their faces or voices. There were still sporadic scenes of his past, though more feeling than memories. The saddest part was that for quite a while Dallion had started to view them as distractions.

“You saved the kid. I’m sure that Jiroh will be pleased,” the Green Moon said. Even as a jogger, he emitted an overwhelming sensation of power. “And now you’re off to find the phoenix. Did you know that it was someone in your world that came up with the name? Before that, they just called it the aetherbird.”

“Any hints on where I can find it?”

“That’s Purple’s domain. Only he can tell you. And good luck getting that. Maybe if you reach the next gate, you’ll get lucky.”

There were twelve levels remaining until the next gate. At the rate Dallion was going, it would take a few months, at least.

“Why are you here, Felygn?” Dallion asked. “Is there anything you want from me?”

“You’re still my favored.”

“I’m not your only follower.”

“You never were my only follower, just the first new one in a very long time. Thanks for Eury, by the way. Otherworlders are always a treat, though sometimes things turn out.. less than ideal.”

That sounded almost like a warning.

“Enough jokes. I’ve come to warn you about the Star. People aren’t the only ones after the phoenix. The Star is as well.”

“If he’s after it, what chance do I stand?”

“He can’t find it on his own. He can only take it. That’s one of the rules of the world. You know how convincing he is, and despite what Countess Priscord thinks, the cultists weren’t driven out of Nerosal.”

I knew it! Dallion thought. The Star was after him.

“He is, and you’re right, though not right now.” The jogger said. “He still wants the two empathy skills you’ve obtained, but he wants the spellcraft skill more.”

“I thought that the phoenix couldn’t leave a skill gem behind.”

“There’s always a loophole. If the Star gets the bird, he’ll get the skill, and then he’ll be able to get what he originally wanted—all the skills you have. It’s cool that you’ve gotten so many, but that only makes it so much easier for him. Next time the two of you cross paths might be your last.”