How did I end up here? Dallion kept asking himself as he lay in the medical center’s bed. He had used his newly rediscovered music skills to ensure that he was the only patient in the room and also that no one would make any further reports on the matter.
From what the nurse had told him, he had fainted all of a sudden and been dragged there by a few students on campus. Dallion had made sure that the initial incident was heavily modified to indicate he had gotten sun stroke. It was a sloppy excuse, but good enough to keep people from looking in further. Of course, that hadn’t kept his mother from calling every hour to check on him.
It had taken three long talks on the phone for him to convince her everything was okay. Only the last time did he force himself into using music skills. Hopefully, he’d never have to do that again.
For hours, Dallion went through all the events he remembered occurring before ending up in the med center. He could swear that there had been lightning, and at the same time, he was certain that there wasn’t. There was no mark on his clothes or even his arm, despite the constant pain. As far as the nurse and the center’s doctors were concerned, there was no cause for that. In their view, it was a result of cramping or the rough fashion in which he had been carried. It was too much of a coincidence, especially since he had acquired his music skills as a result.
Maybe there never was lightning to begin with? Atol could have experienced the same and come to the wrong conclusion.
The door to the room opened and the familiar nurse peeked in.
“At least try to get some sleep,” she said in a disapproving fashion.
“I had a long nap,” Dallion lied, using his music skills. “I’ll try to sleep some more during the night.”
“You better. I won’t be letting you out if you’re not fully recovered.”
Dallion smiled politely and nodded. As far as he was concerned, he was all right even now. If he hadn’t wanted some time alone, he would have already been out and about.
Waiting till the door closed again, Dallion took his phone and tried calling Jenna. The result was the same. To make matters worse, the cracks on the screen had grown.
“Sorry about this, buddy,” Dallion said, sliding his finger along the cracked screen.
SPHERE ITEM AWAKENING
Reality shifted, bringing him into the realm of the phone. He had come here so often that he practically knew it by heart.
“Dal,” the robot-like form of the guardian emerged, “Up for another sparring match?”
“Yeah.” Seems mending and improvement are the only things keeping you together, he thought. “Do full out this time.”
“Are you sure? You didn’t do too well the last few times.”
There was no denying that fighting without magic or a weapon made things a lot more challenging. Then again, Dallion had music skills now. As long as he could time it right, victory was ensured.
Cracking his fingers, Dallion took a step forward. The moment he did, the ground cracked beneath him.
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 71%
Seriously?! He looked down. This was the first time he’d affected a realm in such fashion by accident. He’d need some magic to repair all that. Maybe if he could see the magic threads, it was possible to—
The crack grew twice in size.
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 70%
This time, Dallion paused. There was no way he had done this. Something else had to be in play.
“Nox?” he asked, waiting for confirmation.
There was no way the crackling was here. For that matter, he had yet to see a single crackling in any realm on Earth, even if everything broke down at a far greater rate than in the awakened world. Was it possible that he had acquired some void abilities in addition to everything else?
“Aren’t we fighting?” the phone guardian asked patiently.
Dallion didn’t register the question. Instead, he bent down and pressed a part of the ground with his index finger. The entire surface was a shiny black plastic with metal woven in here and there—like the world’s largest circuit board. Within moments, a new crack formed under his finger; it was more than a crack; it was a spider web of cracks… just as Nox used to make.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” Dallion asked. “Make a crack in the shape of a cross, if so.”
Just as requested, two thicker cracks emerged in the exact fashion Dallion had asked.
“Holy crap,” he whispered. The whole of reality seemed to freeze, as Dallion felt as if he had found a forgotten part of himself.
Nox was actually alive? Back when he had sacrificed himself to create an opening in Simon’s barrier, Dallion thought that the creature had perished. It hadn’t. Somehow, it had remained within him and survived the trip back to Earth.
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Waves of joy swept through him, like when the crackling had become his companion for the very first time. There was no crackling to be seen, no little rascal to pet or play with, but Dallion knew he was there.
“Phone,” Dallion said, keeping an outwardly calm exterior. “I have good news and bad news.”
“It’s always ominous when you say that.” The guardian took a few steps closer. He didn’t like the cracks that constantly emerged, to put it lightly, yet had developed a philosophical attitude, accepting them as inevitable when Dallion was close by.
“The bad news is that we’ll have to postpone the fight for a bit,” Dallion said. “The good news is that you won’t be getting any more cracks.”
“Cracks are inevitable,” the guardian said, sinking into the ground. “Call me when you’re ready.”
Dallion quickly moved to a clear spot of ground and sat down.
“Are you able to write?” he asked.
No cracks emerged. Apparently, that was one skill the crackling hadn’t acquired despite spending a large part of its existence in a ring library.
Thinking back to the final battle, Dallion went through all the events with Nox. The crackling had received nine wounds, each decreasing its health by ten percent. At the tenth it had burned up, fading away. Still, there had never been a red rectangle.
“Sneaky.” Dallion shook his head. “You’ve been in my realm all this time, haven’t you?”
A cross of cracks emerged beneath his finger.
“Is anyone else there?”
Nothing followed.
“Make a spiderweb crack for a no.”
Still nothing.
“You don’t know?”
Another cross mark emerged.
That made sense to some degree. Dallion didn’t have access to his realm here, suggesting that maybe his companions didn’t, either. That didn’t mean they hadn’t crossed the world with Dallion, but didn’t mean they hadn’t, either.
“Is that why I’ve been breaking everything?” Dallion asked. “You’ve been trying to get my attention?”
Two crosses emerged. That explained quite a few things. Dallion’s friends had joked that he might be cursed, since a lot of things he touched would break. As it turned out, they had been right all along; only it wasn’t a curse, but rather an old friend.
“Can you appear?” Dallion moved his finger to a new spot. Instantly a spiderweb crack appeared.
So much for that. Apparently, familiars also had significant limitations in this world. It was for the better, though. Dallion dreaded to think the damage a runaway crackling would cause if set loose on Earth. Thinking about it, could he be certain that there weren’t such instances? He remembered seeing things collapse without reason as a child. There would be something every month either on the news or on online videos. In the majority of the cases, a reasonable explanation had been provided, yet one couldn’t help but wonder.
“Can you see everything around me?” Dallion moved his finger again.
Half a spiderweb crack appeared. Likely, the answer was a conditional yes.
“You can only see what I’m looking at?” Dallion asked.
A cross emerged, making it clear that the familiars were in the very strictest sense a part of him. That did raise an interesting possibility, though. If one companion was part of him, there was a chance that the others were as well.
“Gleam, are you here?” Dallion asked.
Nothing changed.
“If you are, cast an illusion over the cracks.”
It would have been nice if an illusion had taken place. Then Dallion would have known for certain that more of his companions were present. One by one, he called out to the rest, giving them instructions on what to do to make their presence known. None of them reacted.
“Seems it’s only you and me, buddy,” Dallion said at last. “Architects and cracklings aren’t welcome in the new awakened world.”
On the other hand, this could also be seen as a favor. If Nox had remained there, he would have been purged along with every other drop of void. This way, he had survived in some form, even if he was closer to an imaginary friend than an actual creature. Even so, he did present a rather substantial advantage—Dallion would be able to break anything he touched at will.
“I really should have taught you how to write.” Dallion stood up.
A large crack forming beneath his shoe indicated that Nox didn’t share his opinion.
“Stop complaining. It would have been good for you. We would be able to have a proper conversation right now.” He paused for a moment. “Although, maybe if I learn some of my other skills, you’ll be able to talk to me again.”
A cross shaped pair of cracks emerged beneath his other foot.
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 69%
A red rectangle appeared.
“First thing’s first. No more cracks unless I tell you,” Dallion said.
Normally, the lack of new cracks would be reassuring. Since this was Nox, though, there was no telling whether he agreed with the instructions or didn’t give a damn, and so had chosen not to respond. One could only hope it was the latter.
“Phone,” Dallion said. “Let’s fix you up.”
COMBAT INITIATED
The guardian emerged from the ground twenty feet away with a leap.
Reacting to the red rectangle, Dallion quickly split into three instances. Unlike all the previous fights, this time he started whistling.
Initially, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable effect. Dallion kept avoiding the phone’s attacks, taking advantage of the green awakened markers triggered by his guard skill. Now and again, he’d use acrobatics to leap over a low kick, yet he stubbornly refused to attack.
“You can’t win if you’re always on the defensive,” the guardian said. “I thought we went through this the last three times.”
“Patience,” Dallion said. On this occasion, his music skills took hold.
Finally, matching the pitch and frequency, the music threads attached to the guardian’s “arm” causing the entity to freeze for a moment.
As much as the phone was skilled in combat—scarily so, for a mobile phone—he proved defenseless against music. The pause was more than enough for Dallion to use his attack skills and perform a multi-attack on the guardian’s torso.
AVERAGE STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 50%
AVERAGE STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 50%
AVERAGE STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 50%
“Spark!” Dallion said as he kept on punching. “Point attack!”
Unfortunately, neither happened. It was through pure old-fashioned persistence that he depleted the phone’s health, causing the guardian to shatter, ejecting Dallion into the real world.
When Dallion looked at the phone in his hand once more, it appeared brand new.
“Not bad,” Dallion thought. It would have been nice to have managed to perform a point attack, but getting Nox was more than he could possibly hope for.
Cautiously, he tapped on the touchscreen. No cracks emerged.
Without delay, Dallion dialed Atol’s number. After two rings, she picked up.
“Hey,” Dallion said before she had a chance to speak. “How do you feel about going to Colorado?”