Unbound

Abyssal Skein is level 50!

...

Abyssal Skein is level 57!

Journeyman Tier!

You Gain:

+10 PER

+10 EVA

+10 FEL

Felix learned quickly that covering so many with his Void Skill was exhausting work. It overtaxed even his Mana regeneration after only a half hour, which slowed them all considerably. The sheer pressure of the Mana around them was the problem—the potent crystals of golden-green, orange, brown, and most predominantly a deep, oceanic blue were filling the air with so much Mana that finding the space for his own Skills to activate felt like lifting a mountain at times. The sheer presence of Mana in the air even forced him to shut down his Manasight—it was less than useless when all it showed him were blinding streams of swirling colors.

However, on the flip side, recovering his Mana was exceedingly easy. Chthonic Tribute pulled the thick streams of power from the air, and so long as he directed the power to his cores, his Mana pool was instantly refreshed. Beef was having a harder time of course, and his relatively anemic core and Mana pool were exhausted over and over again as he raised every Paladin corpse they encountered that was even mildly intact.

The traps in the tunnel were very much present in the crystalline city, which was a bit of a blessing. While it meant Beef couldn't just wander about alone, it did mean that the Paladins were progressing far slower than they were. Again and again, Felix spotted sections of the city—streets, staircases, balconies of elaborate buildings—that had been burnt and melted apart. That was not including those traps that had obviously been damaged or otherwise invalidated by the slow creep of shimmering crystal.

After around two hours pressing through the vast city, Felix had grown tired of the delays. Thanks to the traps, Beef had grown his force from simply Dustwights to more complete dead paladins. Cut in half was a problem, but burned to death or strangled with poison? Easy. They were harder for Beef to maintain in large numbers, and Hallow wasn't able to give the Risen a great deal of finesse, both facts that added to the effort Felix had to put into his Abyssal Skein. More effort than he cared to spend, with time so precious. With a little arguing on Beef's part, Felix had convinced him to stay holed up in one of the empty mansions while he and Pit scouted ahead.

Hopefully he doesn't decide to explore by himself, Felix thought with a touch of worry. Pit warbled softly in amusement, and Felix shook his head. Beef's a bit immature, but he's not stupid.

The two of them stood in the shadow of a particularly sharp steeple, and surveyed the way forward. This neighborhood of the city narrowed into a series of convoluted passages, stairwells, and covered walkways. Much of the strange underground city reminded Felix of the Risen Ward at the top of Ahkestria. There, under the powerful sun, the architecture brought to mind the wavy lines of heat haze, but down in the Tomb, it was more like Felix was looking at them all from underwater. The eerie cast of predominantly water blue crystals added to the effect.

Hard to spot anyone in this place, Felix groused silently. But I'm certain they went this way.

Below them, something moved. A sound like metal on stone drifted from an adjacent alleyway, and Felix traded a glance with his Companion. Wrapping Abyssal Skein around himself and Pit was child's play compared to before, and without a word, they ghosted across the rooftops.

If Pit had been able to fly, they would have assessed the situation from the air, but that was not a viable option. Felix had his Adamant Discord, but it was flashy in a way that not even his Void Skill could hide his presence...and the last thing he wanted to do was let the Paladins know that someone was hunting them. Felix had been tracking two groups of Paladins ever since he spotted a brief flare of torchlight several city blocks away from himself. The first he'd found swiftly, but narrowing down the second group's location had proven remarkably difficult. The nature of the place deadened his senses as much as his Skills.

I see them, Pit sent. The tenku had advanced several roofs ahead and was staring back at Felix's location. Four Paladins. Twelve lessers. Below you.

They're called Squires, Felix corrected offhandedly. And they're just as nasty as their bosses. Hold on. Let me see.

Two stories lower, on a balcony off the building Felix stood upon, several Paladins cautiously studied the streets below them. If he focused, Felix could hear more shuffling somewhere behind them, within the building proper.

"Haven't heard back from Lorc's team," a voice said in a harsh whisper. Metal shifted, rasping faintly against itself.

"Think the traps got em?" someone else asked.

"Maybe. Hasn't been this late before. Traps've taken out better teams than his."

"Or its not traps." This was the third, a new voice with a much deeper timbre.

"What?"

"I swear I saw some sorta eyes watching me earlier. I told you."

"Not this again," complained the second voice.

"What're you on about Eifan?"

"Burnin' blue eyes were watchin' us! I saw them!" Eifan—deep voice—said, entirely too loudly.

"Shut your gob-hole!" A fourth joined the conversation, and she sounded a lot more intense than the others. Felix edged just a slight amount around the gargoyle that loomed ahead of him. Through a cleft beneath his wing, he could spot the group of them and he flared his Voracious Eye.

All Journeyman, but that woman is an Adept. High end of Adept, too, Felix sent to his Companion. We'll take this like the last one. Right?

Right. Pit spread his wings and leaned back, bracing his massive body against the rough tiles beneath them. Ready.

Adamant Discord!

The Paladins were seeking a Primordial, and Felix was one—that that was all the connection he needed to manipulate the threads between them. Lightning flashed downward, crashing into all three of the Journeyman Paladins and seizing them in bands of unbreakable steel. Felix pulled upward, shattering the roofing tiles beneath his feet as their armored forms were hauled upward at breakneck speed.

"OAAAUGHH!"

Their screams were almost in unison, escalating as rapidfire blades of air slammed into their breastplates and gorgets. Pit's Wingblades were turned by the advanced armor they wore, but the sheer momentum of them was enough to buckle the metal.

"B-blue eyes!" one of them gasped.

Felix whipped his hand forward, his Inheritor's Will moving faster than their eyes could track. Heads rolled.

You Have Killed A Paladin Of The Pathless (x2)!

XP Earned!

You Have Defeated A Paladin Of The Pathless!

XP Earned!

The last he threw onto the roof behind him, unconscious but bound in crackling bands of lightning for good measure. Below them, the jangle of harness and scrape of metal on stone rose in volume. Pit squawked in warning and Felix took two quick steps backward, right before the edge of the roof exploded in a hail of golden blades.

Hm. That looks similar to Vess' Skill. Wonder if they're related.

The Adept woman rose up atop two glowing blades, while eight others manifested around her like a halo of violence. Her eyes flickered about, taking in the dead and living. "I am Lieutenant Walphis. You have attacked the Paladins of the Pathless. Kill two of my men. I sense...power in you, and for that I will ask you once: why?"

"Huh," Felix said. "Gotta say I'm surprised. Usually you Pathless types lean into the ultra violence pretty easily. You're willing to answer some questions?"

The woman narrowed her eyes, but nodded. "So long as they are reasonable, and no more of my people die. I would rather not fight someone as strong as you."

Felix tiled his head. She likely had a Skill like his own for assessing threats, even if it was simply Analyze. "Alright. What are the Paladins in this Tomb for?"

Walphis wet her lips, but the swords did not waver. "We seek peace."

"Peace?" Felix chuckled. "That's unlikely. Peace with who? Ahkestria?"

"Who else? We seek an accord, as requested by the Grandmaster of the Paladins. Peace must be achieved, and allies secured for what is coming."

Felix frowned. "And what's coming?"

"Death."

Senses deadened as they were, Felix had barely any time to react to the sudden barrage of flaming projectiles. All twelve of the Squires had crept up while their Lieutenant distracted him, and they unleashed a salvo of deadly power right into his blind spot.

And it wasn't enough.

Chthonic Tribute!

The projectiles flickered and vanished, pulled into the yawning chasm of Felix's Hunger, which even snagged several of the Lieutenant's golden blades. It also, unfortunately, took a huge bite out of the ambient Mana around him. His Hunger, that abyss, protested at the influx and an incredible nausea settled across his guts. He worried for a brief second that it would impair him, but muscled through it and parried the flashing blades of the Lieutenant.

Frost Spears descended from a nearby roof, skewering every single Squire at once, before his Companion dropped on them with beak and claw. None survived.

"You cannot hope to stop the High Justiciar, fool!" Walphis snarled at him. "He will united this foul city under the Hierophant, for it is the will of god!"

Felix didn't reply, but parried another golden blade and backhanded the woman across her face. She tried to dodge it but it hit like a speeding truck, slapping the woman back into a thick chimney which all but collapsed under the impact.

In a flash, Felix was there, looming over the Lieutenant's sprawled form. She made to get up and he kicked her in the chest, knocking her back down. She screamed, and golden lights flashed upward, arcing for his face.

Wild Threnody!

Arrow of Perdition!

His Inheritor's Will blazed with golden-azure light, until the hooked blade looked to be made of liquid flames. Without flourish, Felix plunged it right into Walphis' torso, just above her navel. He felt the Skill catch on something, and the golden blades collapsed into formless Mana vapor. The Lieutenant's scream turned to a horrified wail.

"Not really a fan of the gods," Felix muttered.

His blade found her heart.

You Have Killed Lieutenant Walphis, A Paladin Of The Pathless!

XP Earned!

"Are you sure? He said that?" Beef asked him again. "The Paladins want to burn Ahkestria to the ground?"

Felix had returned to the Minotaur and Hallow soon after dispatching the last of the Paladins. While the Lieutenant had given him some information on the Hierophant's goals—namely conquering Ahkestria—it was really the lesser Paladin that gave him gold. And all it took was a little intimidation.

"That's what this guy believed. His commanding officer seemed to think they were liberating the city for the Hierocracy. Either way, the key to their goals is inside the 'palace on the hill' as he called it," Felix said. "It should be close by, and was in the opposite direction we were heading too."

"You trust his directions?" Beef asked. "What if he's sending you into a trap?"

"Oh he definitely sent me into a trap, but he was honest about what he knew." Since his Affinity had developed, not many people could lie to him anymore, and especially not people of lesser Tempers. "But I'm expecting resistance anyway. These Paladins don't want to be interrupted."

"And...and what happened to the guy who told you this?" Beef asked, and his Spirit quailed at little at the answer. He had been oddly unnerved when Felix had told him he'd killed a couple squads of Paladins around the city, as if the Minotaur hadn't done the same himself. "Did you, uh, did you—?"

"Kill him?" Felix shook his head. "After he finished talking, the guy tried to blow me up with a fireball. What else could I do?"

Beef didn't say anything, but his Spirit tumbled about nervously. Felix could understand, but sparing the lives of Paladins in the Pass had caused him problems that he'd lived to regret. If they'd left no survivors in Caleph Pass, would the High Justiciar have known about his team and prepared for their arrival? Would they have been able to poison the Council and Matrons against them?

Harn was right. It sucks, but he was right.

"Well, at least I've got a few more Risen for the horde," Beef said, faking a cheerful smile. "The Lieutenant you uh defeated is really strong."

"Good." Felix and Pit had carried back a number of the intact corpses for Beef to raise, and now Hallow numbered at around thirty. It was a lot to cover with Abyssal Skein, but still doable for now. "Heads up, we're here."

The narrow streets opened up, revealing a huge structure looming over them both. Mana crystals clung to its side like rock candy, and every single one was a deep, oceanic blue. It was at least a thousand feet wide, with a tall, almost brutalist design that looked like a fortress that had been under siege for centuries. Felix's stomach twisted. He recognized the design of it, and it was like being punched in the back of the head. Underneath all of the crystalline growths and swirling clouds of near-visible ambient Mana, the "palace" before them looked identical to the one he had seen in the Labyrinth below Shelim.

"The Primordial is in there," he said. It wasn't a question, but a statement that Felix felt in his bones. "Shit. They've already broken in."

A short way across the palace's walls was a large fifty-foot gate, and its doors were ajar. Before them, spread out atop a dark stone parade ground, were thirteen Paladins. All of them were Journeyman warriors, but more concerning than that were the small silver bells every one of them held in their off-hand. Mana sparked off them sporadically, and even from a distance Felix could make out the flash of sigaldry inscribed upon them.

"Only thirteen? That's cake. Hallow can take care of them alone," Beef said. "Maybe."

"Hold on. These Paladins were left here for a reason," Felix said. "They have all have inscribed bells, and from what I can make out it has something to do with amplifying sound. If we rush in there, they sound the alarm and the only thing we have going for us is gone."

"Mhm. Stealth tactics," Beef said, nodding. "I played an assassin for a year in Swordlore. I get it. But I'm not exactly made for stealth, even with your magic thing. How do we get in?"

"Simple. Listen to me, and don't die," Felix said.

Rime Shaping!

Forced to pit his Mana and Will against the saturated air, Rime Shaping had a distinct advantage. Water Mana was only slightly removed from ice Mana, after all. With a dull crinkling, the Paladins cursed as all thirteen bells froze solid...along with several of their hands.

Rime Shaping is level 43!

"Go!" Felix shouted. Cardinal Flame!

Red-gold fire bloomed around the Paladins, searing against their skin and seizing one or two, but the air was too heavily attuned to water. It quashed the effect of the flames, but it was only meant as a distraction.

"Seismic Shatter!"

A cone of earth Mana blasted outward from Beef's descending maul. The maul crushed one of the Paladins to the ground, while the waves of earth Mana bashed into six others and threw all of them backward fifteen feet. The Paladins though were not green warriors. Swords in hand they advanced on Beef with calm discipline, and even the Minotaur was taken aback by the threat they posed.

Then Hallow charged them, and Felix watched as the Paladins paled at the sight of corpses in crimson armor closing on them. They held just a few more moments, before a blast of blue-white lightning and swirling Wingblades descended upon them all.

The battle was over before it had begun.

You Have Killed A Paladin Of The Pathless (x13)!

XP Earned!

"Fuck yeah! Eat it, douchebags!"

"Beef!" Felix hissed. "Quiet. We made enough noise with that fight."

"Right. Sorry. Just got excited." When he thought Felix wasn't looking, the Minotaur pumped his fist in victory.

Felix sighed. "This next part is gonna be very dangerous. Not that any of this has been particularly safe. If there's a Primodial in there, chained up or not, there is a high chance we die here. Are you prepared for that?"

"But...you're crazy strong." Beef looked at him with eyes that he recognized from the Legion. Like Felix was more than he was—more than he ever could be. "You're unstoppable."

Felix grimaced. "I'm extremely stoppable. Just ask that Grandmaster."

"Just a bad match up. Stack some heat resist and you can take on that guy. Naos told me all about those masters and they don't sound like much. High level, but scrubs are scrubs."

Felix just stared at the Minotaur for a beat. Things he'd been ignoring started to connect. "Beef. How old are you?"

"Oh." Beef didn't want to meet his eyes. "I'm, uh, I'm a teenager."

"Uh huh. What age?"

"Thirteen."

Felix pinched the bridge of his nose. Thirteen. Jesus. That made a lot of sense. "Look. I can't make choices for you. You can stay out here, you don't have to come in."

"I'm strong enough to face it," Beef said seriously. There was a childish bravado to the phrase that struck Felix, but the Minotaur's Spirit was crooning in a mix of fear and determination and...embarrassed...pride? "I can do this. I can help."

Pit? What do you think? he asked his Companion.

The tenku trilled in approval. He fights. He's strong. Let him fight with us.

Felix chewed on the inside of his cheek a moment longer, but other than tying up the Minotaur he didn't have a good way to keep him away. "I don't like it, but it's your choice. But stick close, because I'm not gonna let you get hurt if I can help it, okay?"

From within the open gates there came a deep, tooth-vibrating noise. It was almost sub-audible, but it made every hair on Felix's body stand on end and his cores quiver in pain. Beef sucked in a tight breath, his face tight with pain.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.

Felix clenched his jaw. "Dissonance. Stronger than I've felt in a while. That seals it, then." He took a deep, calming breath and captured the Minotaur's gaze. "The Primordial is in there along with the Paladins."

Beef gave a shaky smile and hefted his great maul up onto a shoulder. "Then let's go find 'em and kick their asses."

Laughter burst through Felix's lungs, short and relieving. He shook his head, but the smile lingered. "Stick close."

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