Fighting bladerers, even with two people, was more difficult than it seemed. It wasn’t that they were stronger than Dallion; at his current level he could easily defeat each of them one-on-one. It was their persistence that was perilous dragging people down bit by bit. Bladeres didn’t tire, they were capable of great destruction, and half the blades of the ones that were destroyed went to the ones that weren’t. Thankfully, it didn’t seem they had the ability to merge together.

“We need to get that,” Havoc pointed at a dome covered in chains.

Even with a number of skills back, he was having a difficult time fending off the bladerers. Despite his impressive skills and high perception trait, he hadn’t even passed the fourth awakening gate.

A river of blades circled Havoc and Dallion kept at bay by the air currents surrounding them. Shifting hands, Dallion did another line attack with his harpsisword. Hundreds of blades were shattered and thrown back. A small opening formed allowing Dallion and Havoc to escape. Both of them took it. Dallion used combat splitting to weave his way past the threats, while Havoc surrounded himself with an intense mesh of air currents. It was a good plan, though not perfect.

One of the bladerers split from its group thrusting straight at the large man. In several of his instances, Dallion watched as the construct slashed through Havoc’s defenses, then slit his throat dealing a lethal blow. Normally this would be an annoyance, however, Havoc no longer had an awakening emblem. His punishment kept him in the village so no such was provided or needed to be. A “death” for him would be the same as having his abilities sealed, and that would be ten times more difficult to remove than breaking restrictions.

Dallion had a split second to act. In some of his instances the bladerer focused on him instead of Havoc, in some it didn’t act at all, yet in all of them Dallion got wounded. Even with a hundred options there wasn’t one in which both remained unscathed. Confronted with that, Dallion chose the least of two evils.

AGGRAVATED WOUND

Your health has been reduced by 15%

PERMANENT EFFECT - BLEEDING

You have been scarred by the attack. The scar will continue bleeding in the real world until the status is removed.

The status continues to be in effect in the real world.

Two rectangles appeared in front of the instance that Dallion had chosen to become reality. With Lux around the first was of little consequence. The second, though, was serious. Permanent effects remained after returning to the real world. There was talk of people who’d received LAME limbs that made all activities in the real world and awakened realms.

Gritting his teeth, Dallion did three point attacks at the dome. The first two broke through the outer layers of the chains. The third exposed the structure itself, yet still failed to remove the restrictions.

Just as Dallion was about to do a fourth attack, a torrent of air made its way through the opening, filling the space between the dome and its restrictive wrapper. The chains stretched for a second, then burst, unable to sustain the pressure. Next thing Dallion knew he was back in Havoc’s home, holding his arm.

The sudden change in gravity made him lean slightly before his muscles kicked in, adjusting to the situation.

Dallion turned towards Havoc. The large man seemed a lot more impressive, air currents gently ruffling his orange hair.

“Why?” Dallion asked.

“There was too many of them.” Havoc pulled his arm away, then used an air current to pick up the glass flask of alcohol and float it to him. “You’re good, but not that good. Getting some of the restrictions removed is better than nothing.”

Dallion didn’t respond. Somehow, he felt that the attempt had failed.

“I can tell you everything you need to know.” The man took a swig from the flask. The stench of alcohol filled the room. “Besides, you won’t have made it much longer.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Your arm.”

Dallion looked at his left arm. Part of the sleeve was soaked with blood. Quickly he removed it to find a long bleeding scar starting from the wrist all the way up to the elbow. There didn’t seem to be any pain, he could barely feel a sensation of warm wetness.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Havoc said, sadness emanating from him.

“If I didn’t, you’d be sealed.” Dallion took out his dartblade and pressed it against the wound. Blue blames surrounded the weapon and his arm, yet the bleeding didn’t stop. This was what it was like to have a permanent bleeding effect. “Have anything I can use as a bandage?”

“Give me a moment.”

The positive thing about having Lux around was that Dallion virtually couldn’t get any wounds either in the realms or in the real world. The permanent effect illustrated how complacent he had become. There was nothing in Dallion’s backpack in terms of medicine or bandages. He had a spare set of clothes—on a few occasions his prey had shredded his shift beyond repair, but even that was rare. Now he felt like an ordinary person.

It took a little effort and a lot of alcohol to get the bandage tight enough to reduce the bleeding. Since there was no stopping it, Dallion was going to have to change bandages at regular intervals.

“You’ll need to drink a lot of water as well,” Havoc said. “Water, not alcohol.”

“Look who’s talking,” Dallion grumbled.

“I’m not the one who got a permanent wound. Better hope it closes in a few months. If it’s one of the year ones, it’ll get annoying.”

“I’ll deal with it.” Dallion put on a fresh shirt. The bloody one remained on the table. “What did you get back?”

“Free from restrictions? My level, my traits, my fury ability, a few individual skills, and the ability to tell others what I know.”

“Just that?”

“Just that.”

“So, you can’t leave the village?” Dallion frowned.

“Nope. I can’t sell things I improve either. That’s for the best, though. While I’m here, people won’t make a fuss that I’ve lost some of my restrictions. If I got out there, things would be very different.”

“Moons, who did you piss off this much?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Havoc’s face twisted in a sad smile. “The Academy.”

“Just because you beat up some mage apprentice? I know they’re petty, but—”

“Why do you think it was an apprentice?” Havoc cut him short.

Dallion opened his mouth to reply, but then quickly closed it back again. As someone who had experienced how thoughts could be suppressed in area domains, he knew that details around the incident could be untrue. However, he had never assumed that the core premise wasn’t. All this time, everyone had insisted that Havoc had gone into a scuffle with an arrogant apprentice mage. It was inconceivable to think he had a chance against a seasoned wizard. Even Euryale herself had told Dallion as much.

“He wasn’t an apprentice?” Dallion asked.

“No, they weren’t. And they weren’t in Nerosal by accident. Since the city was created, no mage has voluntarily gone there. Given a choice, they didn’t even want to pass through. I don’t know what they’re seeing, but there’s something in the city that keeps them away. The only exceptions are the banished and those sent to do a job. Back then, they were sent to do a job.”

Nil.. Dallion grumbled mentally.

I’m as surprised as you, dear boy. I was definitely not aware of this.

Seems like your original isn’t as open as you’d think.

“Want to buy me some food?” Havoc asked. “Some of the good stuff. I’ve been a bit low on funds lately.”

“You don’t look it.”

“Just because I have enough to eat doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste like crap.” The man crossed his arms. “Besides, the money I got from the hunt is gone.”

“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t buy anything with it?”

“I opened a tab. The money’s gone. The tab isn’t.” He winked.

The hint was clear. Given how small the amount was, Dallion went to the village tavern. There he gave one gold coin to cover Havoc’s tab, get some food and drink, and make sure the man had several years of drinks to look forward to. It was by no means much, but the barkeeper and all villagers present stared at him, as if he were nobility. No doubt they had gotten a completely false impression of how much a travelling merchant could earn.

After returning, Dallion and Havoc spent the next half hour eating. After the partial success at removing the restrictions within his realm, both had developed an appetite. The difference was that while Dallion was used to eating pretty much all sorts of food, regret was written all over the large man’s face.

“Here’s something I didn’t consider,” he said, stirring his food with a wooden spoon. “Gaining my full level shows me how crap the food really tastes here.”

“You said your perception wasn’t affected.”

“All but taste. I told you the cleric was pleased that someone had messed with the Academy. Now that I have my senses back.. I think I’ll be losing some weight.”

“I can arrange for you to get good stuff from Dherma,” Dallion offered.

“Don’t tempt me. I’ll agree and then have trouble with the locals.” He put his plate on the table and took another swig from the task. Apparently, his taste for alcohol had remained unchanged. “The mages weren’t there to have fun,” Havoc continued. “They despised the place. Drinking was an excuse. Also, we didn’t get into an argument about drinks. It was about money. You see, they hired us to find the phoenix.”

Dallion remained silent.

“Every few years there’d be buzz about a phoenix hunt taking place somewhere in the empire. Usually, it’s the big cities. Nerosal didn’t get to see a lot of action back then, but my friend the hunter was from Linatol. He preferred to go about and stay in various places, though mostly Nerosal. That time, though, it was different. When the mages came to the city, one of them sought us directly. We were given a time and a place and a promise of an incredibly large sum.”

That didn’t sound like the Academy at all. From Dallion’s limited experience, they were the kind that went where they wished and took what they wanted, as long as it wasn’t from the emperor or the archdukes directly.

“When we did our task, they changed their mind, just as my friend warned they would. I didn’t handle it too well, and neither did they. That’s where the web of lies began.”

A flash of realization went through Dallion. Once the first few pieces of deception had crumbled, he could see glimpses of the truth. It was almost like unburying a treasure from a collapsed ruin. Going by a more scary comparison, it was like the time he had destroyed the limiting echo in his mind back in Dherma village.

“You never defeated them,” Dallion said.

Havoc grinned.

“Not even close. I never attacked. As strong and cocky as I was, even I knew that I wouldn’t stand a chance against a mage. One of the mages caused the mess. I’d have thought they’d be careful about that sort of thing, but this one wasn’t. Slicing half a tavern out of existence with customers inside, not to mention all the people on the streets. That’s when a new story was born: the story of a genius who defeated a group of drunken apprentices and was subsequently dropped by his guild, delevelled, and banished to the edge of Priscord’s borders.”

The man stopped talking. The silence was so intense that Dallion could hear the alcohol making its way down Havoc’s throat. Just when he thought he could no longer be surprised by things in the world, he was proven wrong. It was understood that domain rulers had the power to change thoughts of the people there, but to be able to affect so many at once and awakened as well was mind boggling. Considering that, no wonder there was no clear information concerning the Eighth Moon.

“And the countess allowed this?”

“Of course she did. Where do you think she received the backing to challenge the archduke?”