HBWnovel Chapter 213: Secret's Protector
Chapter 213: Secret's Protector
Chapter 213: Secret's Protector
Morning came slowly. Dallion spent the greater part of the night trying to get answers out of Nil about the invisible barrier and everything that was beyond level twenty. As expected, Nil was tightlipped, always shifting the conversation to something more practical, such as the levels leading to level twenty.
The echo had also chosen a selection of area mending scrolls for Dallions benefit. Compared to other things in the library, there werent a lot of them. Clearly Niland captain Adzorg respectivelywasnt interested in talking on the subject.
As the party prepped for another day of cleaning, Dallion felt the first signs of hunger kick in. His body level managed to numb the sensation, but a prolonged stay in a realm had its effects. The fact that he had fought a lot only had hastened the effect of hunger.
Take this. White tossed a small object to Dallion.
Dallion caught it on instinct, then opened his hand. No larger than a button, the object was a small piece of leather, threaded so as to act as a mini stress ball.
Whats this? Dallion asked.
Candies, the old man replied. Chew on it and it makes the hunger go away.
Dallion looked at the thing suspiciously. He definitely didnt want to chew on that, given the choice.
Its fine, Spike said a few steps away. We share them all the time.
Dallion felt his stomach churn. The thought of chewing something that someone else had chewed didnt fill him with confidence. If anything, he felt disgusted.
This is a realm, so hygiene is perfect here, Spike went on. The only disgusting still is the one trying to kill you. You can lick the ground and nothing will happen. It doesnt even taste bad. Actually, it doesnt taste at all.
Thats a bit too much information. Dallion moved the leather button further away from his face.
Get used to it. The elite laughed. Theres no food on expeditions. You either eat what you find or find a way to trick your mind into not eating.
As true as the explanation was, inspiring it was not. Dallion looked at the item. It didnt even look like a candy. He would very much prefer a stick of chewing gum, but such things didnt exist in this world, and even if they did, he wouldnt be able to take them into an awakened realm.
Whats it made of?
Spirit leather, White said. Not only metals can be taken into the realms. There are animals that can be as well. That piece of leather costs more than the entire group makes in a month.
Really?
That was outrageously expensive. Dallion tried to calculate the exact price. Considering how much he had received for mending the Stone Garden, the final sum had to go into the thousands of gold coins. For that much money, Dallion could buy his own house in one of the acceptable neighborhoods of the city. In fact, everyone in the party could.
Gift for my service, the old man said with a note of bitterness.
Point is, use it for a few hours, then give it back, Spike said. Youre not the only one whos hungry.
After such a request, Dallion had no choice but to reluctantly comply. To his surprise, the texture wasnt terrible and there even was a faint taste like dried jerky.
Sort of like chewing gum, Gen said. You must get one of those.
I know. I must get a whole lot of things. In order to do that, though, Ill need to rack in some gold.
Lux, Dallion said.
The firebird appeared directly on his back, boosting him a few feet off the ground. All the flying about the previous day had made him eager to do it again. In contract, Nox had resorted to lazing around with an occasional meowy grumble. Exploration without enemies to fight bored him to the extreme.
Before he could finish the sentence, a loud clawing sound filled the air. Dallion froze. Terrified, he slowly looked at the side of the ball. A second series of noises followed, and their source was exactly what he had feared.
Sitting innocently by the ball was none other than Nox. The cracklingreckless and curious as its ownerhad been unable to resist the temptation and had snuck out to play with the large, giant object. And as everyone with cats knew, in the feline world, playing often equaled clawing.
Two sets of four lines ruined the flawless surface of the ball, crisscrossing in a way that created a natural tic-tac-toe board.
Nox Dallion managed to utter at a complete loss of words.
Completely oblivious of the harm it had caused, the crackling looked at him, then lay its paws on the floor with a loud meow. As he did, a piece of marble chipped off from the sphere. Moments later, without warning, the entire object contracted to half its size.
COMBAT INITIATED
This is precisely why youre not supposed to get close to secrets, Nil raised his voice. They arent just safes, they come with their own guards.
You mean like a guardian?
Dallion Summoned his harpsisword and Armadil shield. Meanwhile, both Lux and Nox had prepared for battle. The creatures knew what was to follow and were looking forward to it as familiars tended to do.
No, not like a guardian these dont just throw you out of the realm, they can hurt you in real life. In some cases, they can even maim you to the point that you cant use an arm or leg in the real world.
That didnt sound good. Of all the times Nox had to show some initiative, why did it have to be now? It had taken Dallion so much effort to get to this point. He had finally become accepted as one of the team, not to mention he had learned a lot that would help him in the world item exploration. Instead, it was looking as if all that effort was thrown away... all because of the curiosity of a cat!
No worries, Dallion said, using the sound of his voice to boost his confidence. All I have to do is win, right?
The sphere contracted again, and then a third time. Now it was no larger than a bowling bowl, glistening in bright cyan blue. Not waiting for it to attack, Dallion made the first move, splitting into two instances of himself and throwing his training dagger right at the target. The years of training had helped him perfect the action even without the help of athletics.
Just as the tip of the blade was about to hit the ball, an arm emerged from it and grabbed hold of the weapon.
Dallion swallowed, moving the shield to protect his head and upper torso. If there was a time for the sphere to counterattack, it was now. Fortunately for him, that did not happen. The blue hand released the weapon, letting it fall to the ground. After that, a second arm appeared as the ball morphed into a creature or rather a person.
PROTECTOR
Species: Nymph
Class: Shadow
Statistics: 100% Health
Skills:
- Wind slash
- Emotion slash
- Sound entangle
Weak spots: none
Wow, Gen said from Dallions realm. Didnt see that one coming. So, whats the plan?