Leveling up the World

Chapter 349: Path of the Empath

According to the newly visible information in the ring library, there were said to be seven paths of the Moon. That had been discovered once Dallion had passed his latest awakening trial, thanks to an unexpected rectangle that had emerged.

PATH OF THE EMPATH

You have decided to follow the GREEN PATH. While rewarding, it is also the most difficult to follow.

Dallion had tried to ask his echo regarding the exact meaning of that, but by the time he opened his mouth the room itself had vanished, leaving another empty moon. It was at that point that he had a hunch that some of the previously hidden knowledge might become visible to him, and he was right. Going through several scrolls, Gen found quite a few explanations regarding the hidden stat, as well as two of the three hidden skills. More importantly, one of the blank scrolls had gained its title: The Seven Moon Paths.

Each path was in effect a philosophy associated with one of the seven attributes. First was the Blue Path, the path of dominion. Second was the path of wisdom, or Path of the Scholar. Supposedly the copyettes had started along that path before being misled by the Crippled Star. Third was the Path of the Warriors, or the Red Path, reserved for those who wished to reach the height of strength in combat. Next was the Orange Paththe Path of the Thief. Of all the paths, that was the one that made least sense for Dallion. He had seen quite a few furies so far, and he didnt associate any of them with thieves. If anything, hed call them scouts, warriors, or at worst messengers. Apparently, the worldor rather, the Moonsdidnt agree with him.

Fifth was the Path of the Adventurer, or the White Path. Next was the Green Path that Dallion had started to follow. The last was the Purple Paththe Path of the Mage. Supposedly, following a path was a calling, bringing a person closer to a Moon. In a way, it could almost be considered as being a sort of favored, but with significantly less benefits. Details were unclear, but from what Gen had managed to piece together, for dedicating his life to protecting guardians best he could, Dallion was going to be viewed more favorably by them. On the surface it wasnt much of a benefit, but it made Dallion feel relieved. His guardians approved of the decision, most of his echoes didnt. As for the familiars, they were just annoyed that they didnt get to take part in the fight.

After every was said and done, and Dallion left his realm to return to the real world, the reality of his forging incompetence hit him like a wet blanket. For several seconds, he stared at what was supposed to be a breastplate, wondering how he had managed to achieve such imperfection.

Wow, this is really bad, Dallion thought.

You said it, the workbench laughed. Maybe you can twist it a bit more and sell it as a table ornament of sorts. Not that anyone would buy it.

They might, the armadil shield said. Hes a rising star that stacked two wins on his first go. There have to be a few fans out there willing to buy any crap as long as its made by him.

Very funny, guys.

Taking a deep sigh, Dallion went back to work. Having developed his skills in the realm did provide a benefit. At the very least, he saw that the only way to fix his monstrosity was to melt it down and start again, which he did. This time, Dallion went for something simplea knee protector. After a few hours, the metal shape was done and adequately, at that. There was a momentary sense of achievement, although it was soon overshadowed by a sense of eagerness and urgency.

You still need to attach it to a strap of leather, dear boy, Nil said.

Dallion remained silent for another few seconds, then went to find a suitable strip of leather on the shelves. His thoughts were still elsewhere. The items in the room sensed that because they all went silent.

Measuring the strip, Dallin placed it on his left knee. His improved perception and mind allowed him to determine and memorize where he had to cut without marking it. When he was satisfied running it in his mind, Dallion returned to the workbench and started attaching the metal piece to the leather.

Shield, Dallion thought. Youve seen the protector before, havent you?

There was no reply, but Dallions music skill told him he was right.

What is she?

Something from the past, the guardian replied. It was unusual for him to be so laconic. His reluctance suggested that the Moons no longer restricted the topic, it was him that didnt want to share the story with Dallion.

What does she want?

Id seriously prefer if you dont get involved. You already have a whole library of scrolls, whats one more?

All the other scrolls werent protected, Dallion noted. Whats up with you? Normally, you arent like this.

We all have things from our past. Sometimes its better that they stay there.

Shield

I dont know what she wanted.

This was the first time that Dallion felt the shield openly lie to him. This was unusual. The dryad guardian could have refused to say anything, using the Moons rules as an excuse. Instead, this had happened, meaning that not only did the shield know the answer, but likely so did Dallion.

There were so many secrets in the world, and so many more to come. No wonder so few wanted to become seers. All the awakened who ventured forth entered a completely new aspect in the world. The first two gates were basically a tutorialdespite the difficulties, everyone remained in an invisible safety bubble. No one bothered thinking about the big picture, rather focusing on the small problems in their settlement domain. It was very much the same as in Dherma village, yet more polished and not so openly hostile. The Lord Mayor didnt bother filling the domains of the local inhabitants with limiting echoes. The world itself was the limiter.

Dallion went back to forge pieces of armor. After a few more hours, the second knee protector was done. Both items seemed more or less alright, even if they were a bit rough. Before putting the final touches, Dallion went out to have a bite. An hour later, he was back, and the armor crafting continued.

Evening came, then night. All in all, three and a quarter pieces of armor were done: two full knee protectors, a neck guard, and the start of a half gauntlet. The shield had remained silent, although Nil had said quite a few words of encouragement. Even Gleam had told Dallion not to worry about the appearance, since as long as he linked the items, she could modify it, at least in the eyes of others. That sounded like a good idea, although Dallion didnt want to link them just yet. Instead, he went to inspect the realm of each item, and especially their guardians.

As expected, the guardians were normal crittersirondillos in the case of the knee protectors, and a shell-lizards in the case of the neck guard. The interesting thing was that all of them addressed Dallion as their creator. The title seemed more ceremonial than anything, since it didnt grant Dallion any benefit whatsoever. He still had to face and defeat the guardians to improve them, and what was more, they were stubborn enough not to agree to a draw.

Finally, it was past fourthe time at which Dallion decided to return to the Icepicker guildhall. He didnt feel an ounce of nervousness as he made his way through the empty streets.

Are you sure you want to go ahead? The armadil shield asked.

Why are you worried?

I dont think youre ready.

Ive been hearing that a lot lately. If Im not ready, Ill just fail.

Not in that sense. Youre moving too fast. Becoming an empath is more confusing than you think, and yet you cant feel it because you havent taken a moment to stop and think about it. What you do now will change your world even more at the worst possible time.

I dont think so.

After he reached the door of the Icepicker building, Dallion knocked. The door was opened almost instantly.

Yeah? Spike asked, semi-asleep.

Im here for more training, Dallion lied, adding a subtle trace of sleep in his voice.

Come in. The elite stepped aside. Dallion could feel his exhaustion and could also spell a large amount of alcohol.

Is Vend upstairs?

No Vend tonight. Spike closed the door. Im on my own this time. Me, and whoevers in the basement.

You dont look so good.

Spike frowned.

Rough night. Ill be up. Dont wake me unless its morning or the guildhalls on fire.

Right.

This was better than expected. With Vend absent and Spike in the state he was, it would be easy for Dallion to sneak into the sword room. Of course, he made sure to be methodical about it. The first Dallion did was to go to the basement and grab a training item. Surprisingly, there wasnt anyone in charge there either. By all accounts, the entire guildhall was left under the care of a single person. Given that it was Spike, maybe it wasnt the worst idea. No one would dare do anything of the sort during the festival, and those that did have Spike to deal with, who was always itching for an excuse to get into a real-life fight.

Half a minute later, Dallion had snuck his way back into the sword room. WORLD ITEM AWAKENING

Keep in mind, you still arent able to defeat any of the local guardians, Nil said the moment Dallion found himself in the starting temple. The same goes for the protector.

I know. Dallion sighed.

Strictly speaking, that wasnt exactly true. Harp and shield could potentially earn him the win, especially if Dallions familiars were also involved. However, that was a scenario Dallion preferred to avoid. At this stage he was here just to check out a theory of his. Any actual fighting could wait.

The vine whale was nowhere to be seen outside the temple. That was slightly disappointing, although not enough to have Dallion to be concerned.

Ill rely on you, Lux, Dallion said. Get me to Lastport.

The trip was brief and pleasant. Thanks to Marchs expeditions, Dallion got to see the pleasant greenness of the lands beneath him. Maybe he was starting to get used to this world too much, but he felt that this could be a nice place to actually live, or at the very least go on vacation. It could be just like spending a few months in the countryside, and to make things better, the two months spent here would only be a second in the real world.

As Dallion passed over the mountain, the vine whale appeared. This time, there was one minor differencethe guardian was sitting on it.

Slow down, Lux, Dallion thought. But be ready. We might need to get out of here fast.

Hello, there, Dallion shouted. The Moon Cleric smiles and waved. You wont try to kill me, right?

Not this time. The dryad tapped a spot on the whale next to him. Moments later, vines grew out, weaving together to form a chair. Its much more comfortable here.

While Dallion could feel no hostility emanating from the guardian or the minion, he still felt uneasy. Even so, what was there he could do? Fighting was out of the question, and running would get him nowhere.

Cautiously, Dallion had Lux fly him into the seat. It turned out far more comfortable than Dallione expected it to be.

I can only take you to the edge of the next coast, the guardian said. But I wanted to spend a while to talk to you.

Any reason for that?

Plenty of reasons, but I just wanted to use the excuse to talk to someone I havent spent several millennia with. Thats one of the sad paradoxes about invaders. Our duties as guardians is to stop them, and yet people like you represent the only source of distraction we could hope for. Some even call it a source of entertainment.

I keep hearing that a lot.

And youll be hearing it a lot more now that youve become a full empath. The Green Moon offers many gifts, constant company is one of them.

Dallion laughed.

There was a time when this place was full of otherworlders, the guardian continued. In fact, that was its purpose.

Oh? Did you read anything about that in the scrolls?

Not according to shield, Gen replied.

Dallion gritted his teeth for a moment. The shield guardian had been lying to him for longer than he thought.

It was one of the conditions that the Star made when he offered the knowledge that would conquer the world. As a token of goodwill, the Star also granted us the knowledge to create world items.

If Dallion could allow himself to gasp, he would. Everything he thought he knew about the sword had turned out to be false. This wasnt a sanctuary, or at least not in the way one would expectit was an example of mass banishment. So many cities, all of them filled with otherworlders and their families there were no words to describe it.

Why?

Who knows? Maybe the Star feared otherworlders, or maybe it just didnt like them? The offer was made and accepted. Millions were sent to sword worlds while the war outside raged on.

The Star never kept its word. Dallion looked down.

We always knew that was a possibility. When the invasionsor expeditions, as you call thembegan we had our confirmation. Tell me, are there any surviving dryads in the world outside?

Dallion hesitated.

No. But they arent dead. They were banished to the realms. All of them, as far as I could tell.

Unexpectedly, the dryad started laughing. It wasnt a bitter laugh, but rather a laugh of relief, as if he had finally gotten resolution. Dallion could only watch and remain quiet.

Sorry about that, the guardian said. I was just admiring the irony.

Its a bit dark for me.

I know. Thats why I came to talk to you. The rest of the guardians might not understand. Its very different for those who've only seen one world. Theyll take it far worse. It must have taken millennia for him to come to grips with what had happened.

Him who? Dallion lost the connection.

Your shield guardian, the Moon Cleric replied. I cant tell his exact rank, but I know he was a military officerone who believed that the star would usher in a new destiny for all dryads. To be honest, at the time, I felt the same.

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