Leveling up the World

Chapter 457: City of Clouds

The day stretched to three. Even with Dallions forging skills, finding enough ore wasnt as easy as initially thought. The individual quantities were small, and each had to be heated to the point of melting by Jiroh using lightning. The process was cumbersome even by ancient standards, though fascinating for the furys entire family. Only Jirohs mother would occasionally remind her youngest that they had to check out the crops. Every now and again, Jirohs younger siblings would appear with the in groups to observe the scorching process.

Everything would have been much easier if Dallion had his hammer with him. Sadly, other than his clothes and armor, the only item he had in his possession was the thread cutter. Even his coin pouch was gonewhich would have been quite useful about now. A silver coin wasnt much back in Nerosal, but here it would have saved them a lot of work.

At the end of the third day, once enough metal had been gathered for a five-ounce ingot, Dallion went to bed early. The preparations were all done, so he wanted to be fresh for the trip to the city. However, although he slept he didnt get to rest.

Barely had he closed his eyes that he found himself on the roof of the house, sitting on a balcony of cloud matter. It was evening. The sun had almost vanished beneath the horizon, granting the moon control of the sky. Rubbing his eyes, Dallion went to the edge of the cloud to get a better view. It was at that point that he realized that he was barefoot.

No sea iron, he said to himself as he looked down. The cloud felt soft, like captured windan extraordinary sensation, but also one that was completely impossible. This is a dream.

No, a new voice said behind him. This is a conversation.

Turning around, Dallion expected to see one of the many forms of the Green Moon. Instead, there was a tall woman with fiery orange hair, wearing full metal armor or bright orange, as if it had been made from the evening sun itself.

Youre not Felygn, Dallion said.

Dararr. The woman moved closer. And youre in big trouble.

Because I saved Jiroh? Dallion asked. Even in his dream state, he knew exactly what the Moon meant, but didnt agree.

You let yourself be dragged in. She was one of my chosen. It was my decision to let her travel back to her home. It wasnt supposed to be easy, but like you, she chose a path that she could handle. She disappeared in a blur, appearing on the other side of Dallion.

Dararr the Orange Moon, he thought. Patron of the furies, she was also the epitome of speed, or reaction as the trait went. Dallion had no idea why she had entered his dreams, but knew it wasnt good.

Even if you messed up, you helped Ji find a way to get here, the Moon went on. So Im standing in for Felygn.

Im definitely in trouble. He couldnt make it?

He has no presence in this world. And yes, youre very much in trouble. Look at your hand.

Dallion did so. Initially, there didnt seem to be anything wrong with it: all five fingers were there, there were no apparent wounds or weird sensations. Suddenly, he noticed that areas of his skin had turned orange. At this point, it wasnt muchjust a few spots on the tips of his thumb and index finger. However, even he knew that they werent supposed to be there.

The mage was partially right. This world isnt meant for humans. You came here uninvited, so its treating you as an irritant.

An irritant? Dallion thought.

A speck of dust in the eye of creation, if you want to be melodramatic. And as all irritants, there are only two courses of action: spit them ouch or encapsulate them with enough layers so they arent a bother anymore.

Like a pearl.

The Moon nodded.

Exactly like a pearl. You havent been here long, so the layers arent taking an effect still, but slowly they will. Your skin will become orange, then harden, then you and the mage will feel like youve been incased in amber.

The notion made Dallion shiver. That didnt sound appealing in the least.

You wont die, of course. Not at first. As an awakened otherworlder youll remain surrounded by layers or reality. You wont be able to see, or move, or breathe. Youll feel first and hunger, but they wont kill you. Each day youll grow older, as you normally would have, and as you do, your presence will be erased from the memories of everyone in the world. Ji will be the only exception. Knowing her, shell probably come talk to you every day, or even take you with her as she travels throughout her world. I guess you could call yourself lucky.

Lucky? I dont see that as being lucky.

The mage wont have anyone. Since she pissed me off, I wont allow her to talk to others, even in dreams.

Dallion swallowed. The Moons were definitely not beings one had to mess with. If he found a way back, the first thing he would do was start seeking out the dragonlet for Felygn.

That will continue for decades, possibly a century, after which youll die and leave nothing but a shell behind.

One thing was for sure. Dararr didnt have Felygns bedside manner. The Green Moon was vague in his explanations, but never so dark.

Is there a way back? Dallion asked.

Thats not something I can say. There wasnt supposed to be a way in, but youre good at finding loopholes, it seems. I always thought the mages would be the annoying ones, but you proved me wrong. Annoyance is not exclusive to spellcasters. She disappeared again, reappearing behind him, on the other side of the cloud. Im only here to give you the warning.

That the world is going to kill me? Dallion had hoped for a bit more than that.

Youre gotten far too used to dream conversations. The Moon tilted her head to the side slightly. Thats interesting. She disappeared and reappeared next to him. However, youre wrong, like the mage was. The world isnt trying to kill you, just to make you less irritable. The more you interact with it, the more itll affect you. Good luck.

Thats all?

Keep an eye out for loopholes. While you cant use some aspects of your awakened abilities, you can use others.

Doesthat mean theres a way of leveling up while Im here?

That would be telling. The Moon said with a blank expression.

Wait! How do I"

Dallion found himself back in the room given to him by Jirohs family.

Nightmare? Katka asked from the other side of the room. According to their arrangement, they had split the room into two zones with the mage keeping to hers. Looking at her instinctively made Dallion uneasy. It wasnt that he feared she would kill him, but rather her way of life. Even since arriving to this world, the woman hadnt bathed or taken her clothes off once. From what Jiroh had shared, she had refused to do so, even after Jiroh had taken her alone to a pond with considerable privacy.

Something like that, Dallion replied.

Get back to sleep. You must be in shape for tomorrow.

Right, Dallion thought. I must be in shape.

While Jirohs role was to find the people involved, Dallions was to be the hook, for which he was going to use his music skills. Kafka was going to come into play later. There were a lot of things that could go wrong, not to mention that he still didnt trust the mage. However, there were no better alternatives.

Closing his eyes, Dallion attempted to go back to sleep. The attempt ended in utter failure. All that he managed was to remain still for two hours, until the sun mercifully brought the start of the day.

Like any other day, Dallion rinsed his face and hands with the water Jiroh bought. As he was washing his hands he noticed a small patch of orange skin appear. His initial reaction was to try to wash it off, but no amount of rubbing seemed to do any good.

So, its really happening, he thought. The world was trying to isolate itself from him, and it wasn't going to stop until it succeeded or he was gone. Quickly, Dallion put the gauntlet on. He didnt want anyone to see the change, least of all Katka.

You were right, Jiroh appeared in the room without even knocking. My mother has been hiding offers from me. A few were from the Patricians office.

Oh? The mage sounded intrigued. Whats the position?

Assistant speaker of the army core. Its not as important as it sounds.

Have they made a similar offer to you before? Katka asked.

Jiroh shook her head.

Then its important. Its just a pretense to get you there and"

You really think Im stupid, dont you? The furys tone was calm, but it quickly made the mage recoil back in fear. I know exactly what it means. I also know thats not where were headed.

Isnt the government the place to go? Dallion asked.

No. Its powerful alright, but only in one city. There are hundreds of cloud cities in the skies, each with their own Patrician. The place were headed to is the citys grand library.

As it turned out, the library wasnt anything like Dallion had imagined it. For one thing it wasnt a single organization, but an alliance that spread throughout nearly all clouds. For another thing, they didnt provide only books, but entertainmenta three-dimensional equivalent of television created out of ever-changing cloud matter to be preciseas well. Jirohs family had been subscribed to one, when she was younger, but that was before the family purse had shrunk, forcing them to do away with certain luxuries.

The city that controlled the region of sky above Jirohs house was called Thundervein. Arguably, it was one of the bigger cloud cities, though all tended to make that claim. Reaching it was a few hours flight, mostly because the fury had to make sure that nothing disturbed the hooded robes of her companions.

Did you get the ingot? Dallion asked a few minutes after they left.

Here. Jiroh used a few air currents to float it in front of him. It was crude and uneven, as if someone had stuck together various pieces of different colored clay in an attempt to make a brick. The important thing was that it was made of metal. Its enough to buy my own place on the cloud outskirts.

Itll do, Dallion thought. People were more interested in the sample than the product.

When we get there, stay away from all creatures and statues.

Why statues? the mage asked.

There are no statues, Jiroh replied, annoyed. If anything attacks, I wont be able to stop it like I do back home.

You mean the city is full of cats?

Not only cats.

After a while, Dallion and Katka saw exactly what the fury had in mind. The cloud city was nothing like the citadel they had come from. Comparing the two was like comparing a palace to a sand castle. Thundervein was many times larger than any cloud fort Dallion could imagine. Buildings rose up at regular intervals, separated by roads and ponds of water. Vertical movement was absolutely taken for granted. As far as one looked, there were no concepts as a plain wall. Shops, cafes, and restaurants were stuck to the sides of buildings just as they were on the ground. But the most impressive thing of all was the sheer number of clouds and furies. It was like looking at a snow globe after it was shaken.

Cloud creatures, Dallion thought. Looking at the hundreds of clouds floating about in addition to the furies. To the untrained eye they appeared identical to everything else made of cloud matter, but Dallion was able to feel them.

Discreetly, he glanced at the mage. This was a world that had retained its creatures, and if Katka had been willing to destroy an entire citadel in order to obtain some power, there always was the possibility she might try something similar here as well.

See the pyramid? Jiroh asked. Thats where were headed.

Showtime, Dallion thought.

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