Unbound

Your Companion Pit Has Gained A Level!

+2 VIT! +2 PER! +4 AGL! +4 DEX! +3 WIL! +1 END! +2 INT!

"You can--" Felix pulled up Pit's stat sheet.

Name:

Pit (Companion)

Level:

8

Race:

Chimera - Tenku (+2 VIT, PER, +4 AGL, DEX, +3 WIL, +1 END, +2 INT per Level)

Health:

219/219

Stamina:

268/268

Mana:

179/179

???:

???

STR:

44.444*

PER:

33.333*

VIT:

43.888*

END:

49.230*

INT:

25.128*

WIL:

33.333*

AGL:

70.256*

DEX:

47.692*

Skills:

Bite ©, Level 16

Rake ©, Level 18

Cry ®, Level 19

Skulk ©, Level 23

Companion Pact (U), Level 14

Wingblade (U), Level 5

Frost Spear ©, Level 1

Active Titles:

Gourmand

Survivor III

Butcher III

Unconquered

Face the Charge

Bulwark of the Innocent

Pactmaker

Work Horse

Blind Pugilist

Hero

"Gourmand...you have it too. And Survivor III, Unconquered...all of the big weight Titles are here. Everything that was Rare or Epic. Holy shit."

Felix was floored. This...this has to be an effect of the Pact, right? I gain, he gains? He scratched his scalp, the newly healed laceration itching slightly. Dried blood flecked off and onto his hands, but he didn't notice. But he didn't gain anything like this from the twelve Rockstrike cores he ate...just a few stats.

He brought up the Skill description.

Companion Pact (Uncommon) Level 14!

You have formed a pact with a denizen of the Foglands. Increasing Skill Level and Affinity will net larger gains from the pact, for both you and your Companion.

Upon reaching level 10, all Titles ranked Rare or higher will be shared with your Companion at a 2:1 ratio.

"Ho dang," Felix muttered. That answered that. Pit ran in circles next to him, chasing his bushy red tail as he enjoyed his suddenly larger frame. His little buddy was getting bigger...and deadlier.

A sudden groaning and thud from around the corner pulled him out of his reverie. Felix hustled to the end of the alley and peered out to see another collapsed Hoarhound mere feet from him. The creature twitched weakly before expiring, and with his Manasight still going Felix could see wisps of purple-white Mana smoke and fade from it's body. The sound of a meaty squelch made Felix look up, and he saw Vessilia standing atop the beast, eight foot spear in hand and covered in purple-blue blood. She blinked when she saw him.

"Felix!" She hopped off the hound lightly, almost floating in the air before landing neatly beside him. She looked tired under all the blood. "Where have you been? We lost you."

Felix fought the urge to snap at that one. I think that was the point. "I got...sidetracked. I'll tell you all about it later. First," he pulled out his hooked sword, placing it against the chest of the Hoarhound. "I've gotta get something."

It was the work of seconds to cut into the beasts body and yank out the elemental core. This one was the same color, but slightly smaller. Holding it high up to avoid the snuffling of his greedy bird, Felix looked into the core depths with Manasight. Inside was a storm of energy, predominantly that purple-white hue he associated with ice Mana, but also slight streaks of other colors, too vague to be picked out. At least not by him.

"That's an elemental core! What are you..." Vessilia began as Pit started whining. Rolling his eyes, Felix tossed the core to the tenku, who snapped it up. Pit glowed with a slight shimmer before it died away. Felix checked Pit's status, noting a +3 in STR and +1 in END. Not too bad. No other Skills though. Shame.

A gasp came from the spear woman, and Felix looked at her.

"Did he just eat that?" Vessilia was shocked. "Those are--"

"What is taking so long? Oh, you caught up. Wonderful." Felix didn't need to turn around to recognize that voice, snide as it was.

"Are there any enemies left?" Felix ignored the kid and addressed Vessilia again as he looked down the road. There were a couple Hoarhound corpses that hadn't been there before, and a number of toppled columns that blocked line of sight. Vessilia snapped her mouth shut and nodded.

"Harn and Magda are fighting the last two giants now. We should see if they need help." Felix nodded and they got moving, leaving Atar behind.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"Oh are we ignoring the mage again? That's always fun." Evie hopped down from a terraced building, leaning but still mostly intact, like much of this city. She looked just as tired as the rest. "Where've you been, Eyes?"

"Eyes?" Felix asked, his mouth twisting.

"Ya know, cuz of your glowy eye thing," Evie mimed her eyes popping open, wiggling her hands to the sides of her head.

"That's a terrible nickname," Felix laughed. "I don't even have Nighteye. When do my eyes glow?" Vessilia and Evie both looked at each other and then at him.

"It happens when you--"

"Look out!"

All three of them looked up to see a nine-foot Risi Warrior leap over a fallen pillar, streaming blood but with its metal club raised high. Evie and Vessilia quickly hopped aside but Felix, startled, did the thing he'd been practicing over nearly every encounter.

Reign of Vellus!

A surge of blue light unfolded from Felix's body, pushing back against the falling giant. Azure lightning crackled up from the ground, burning the creature's flesh even as it was spun sideways by his pulse. As it fell, Vessilia surged forward with her spear, a sudden flurry of blows happening faster than Felix could perceive. Simultaneously, a spiked chain reached out and wound around the giant's arm and weapon, binding it tight before a shimmer of silver-brown energy made the chains fall hard to the ground, bringing it's body down with a resounding crash. A single, flaring ball of fire even zipped across the street and splashed against the creature.

You Have Killed An Unknown Risi Warrior!

You Have Gained XP!

It was over in seconds.

Felix blinked at the two women, clearly impressed.

"Haah, hah, it's when you do that," Evie panted, and Vessilia laughed, equally out of breath. Evie jerked her head toward the pillar and started walking. "C'mon, can't let my sister have all the fun."

The two young women hopped over the large column, easily six feet tall on its side. Atar walked up beside Felix, looking between him and the departing women before huffing and following after.

Felix narrowed his eyes, letting them move further ahead. Once they were all beyond the stone obstruction, Felix activated Stealth and pulled out his last empty vial. He crouched and quickly but carefully filled the vial, leaving only enough room to cork it. The blood was significantly thicker than the Hoarhound blood, and more blue in color. Gonna need wax or something to seal these. Hope they don't spill in my bag.

Putting the vial away in the potion case, Felix stood and dusted his hands off.

He followed the sound of continued battle.

Turned out that Magda and Harn had everything under control.

Felix arrived to find the three Tin Ranks standing in a semi circle while Magda and Harn beat the piss out of the last giant. Felix threw a quick Analyze its way.

HP: 184/843

That'll be over soon, then. Looking to the side, Felix spied another dead giant that was slowly turning into greasy smoke. And another. There were four more giants here, all similar in size to the one being fought. Does size determine level with Risi Warriors? That commander was almost fifteen feet tall and level 35. That must mean the leader back at the bronze dome is probably like, level 50. Shit.

A resounding boom came from behind him, and Felix turned to see Magda standing over the last giant, her shield smoking with a purple-white Mana vapor. The giant struggled for a moment longer, choking on a crushed throat, before falling limp for good. Magda walked over to their group, seemingly unfazed by her battle. Harn had disappeared.

How strong are they? Felix had no frame of reference. He figured he had high stats for his level, what with all the Titles he had accrued, but he was positive he couldn't hold up in a fight against either Harn or Magda. He once again tried to Analyze them.

Name: Magda Aren

Race: Human

Level: ???

HP: ???/???

SP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.

Strength: ???

Weakness: ???

Same as before. He'd Analyzed everyone the night before, but he'd hoped that increasing his Skill level would do something. Apparently not. Maybe I have to wait until Apprentice Tier. Gotta keep grinding Analyze.

"We're clear. No giants for at least a few blocks, and none of them are heading this way." Harn hopped down off a building, having climbed it when Felix was distracted. Harn use a hand to catch himself every story, so that when he landed, it was with only a light flexing of his legs.

That was cool.

"What is THAT doing here?"

Magda's voice startled him out of his thoughts, and Felix quickly followed the woman's pointing finger toward Pit. The tenku tilted his head to the side, releasing a curious coo.

"He is named Pit. He's my friend," Felix interposed himself between Magda's finger and his Companion. Who knows what a finger point can do here?

"Your...friend?" Harn's voice sounded confused from inside his helmet. "How are ya friends with a chimera? They kill everything on sight."

"It is true, Ser Kastos," Vessilia said, stepping forward. "Pit has followed Felix around since we met. He appears to be perfectly tame."

"Why are we just hearing about this now? Where was he last night?" Magda demanded, and Vessilia flushed slightly, opening her mouth to defend Felix again.

"It's ok, Vessilia. Thanks." Felix fixed Magda with his eyes. "I sent him away, so you wouldn't be suspicious of me. I saw how Vessilia reacted to his presence and I wasn't sure I'd be welcome with him at my side. Turns out I shouldn't have bothered, since you've been suspicious of me since we met anyway." Felix sighed, but didn't break eye contact. "Pit is my friend, we made a Companion Pact, and I trust him. That's it."

Harn looked to Magda, his body language weird to Felix, but he couldn't spare the attention to figure that out. Magda also refused to break eye contact with Felix. She stepped forward, coming well within his personal bubble and pushing a finger toward his chest, almost but not quite touching him.

"Let me make this clear. I do not trust you. I do not trust your chimera. You are hiding things and I'll have my answers once we're safe again." She turned away and marched down the road.

Pot and kettle, lady.

"As of now, we move. The temporary base is likely compromised and we have to get the wardstones back, as well as the other supplies you left behind." She didn't turn around, but Felix noticed Evie's shoulders slump slightly. He raised his voice.

"Yeah, it's definitely compromised." He tossed the steel throwing knife he had retrieved from the assassin onto the ground, letting it clang loudly. Harn walked up and picked up the blade, turning it over until he saw the spiral etched into one side. Swiftly he looked up at Magda before turning back to Felix.

"Where did you find this?" Harn's rough voice was urgent, a stark difference from his usual lazy intonation.

"I uh, got caught up trying to follow you. Since no one waited, I took the rooftop route. Along the way I ran into this woman luring more giants in this exact direction. We fought," Felix shrugged. "She ran off."

Magda had walked back at this point, and Harn handed the knife to her. He kept talking. "What did she look like? Was she human? Wearing dark armor with a black mask?"

Felix was taken aback. "Yeah, yes exactly. She had white eyes under the mask and it was extremely unsettling."

Harn looked to Magda. "We have to go. Now."

Magda didn't argue. They both turned and started running, calling back while they did so. "Keep up!"

The four of them all exchanged glances, then ran after.

Only a few more city blocks and they were back. Felix could see the remains of the collapsed building and the giant trees growing from them, and it was only a few hundred feet away. Several tumbledown structures stood in their way, having come along a different path than before. Harn signaled them all to stop, holding up a closed fist. He started making several hand gestures, some of which were familiar in a vague sort of way, and others which were complicated wrist and finger flexes that meant nothing to Felix. Everyone else understood, apparently, because they all got low and freed up their weapons.

Special hand signals? The only one I'm sure about was the "stop" motion.

Felix could infer, though. Something was up ahead. Or worse, something was waiting at their basement hideout. Harn crept forward, his armor not making a single sound, somehow. Felix wondered at that, but then saw a dark brown, near-black sludge-colored Mana swirling around Atar's left fist; the kid was mouthing a series of syllables, too. That's not earth. What kind of Mana is that shade of brown? As far as Felix could tell, every type of Mana had a corresponding color, at least in his Manasight. He'd have to ask Atar what he did later.

Now, Harn had disappeared around the corner. They sat there, crouching in the lee of a crumbling wall for a very uncomfortable set of minutes. Felix took the time to Analyze everything he could, a practice he had fallen out of during recent trials.

Much of the ruins came back the same as his previous tries. Ruined archway, ruined colonnade, ruined residence, etc ad nauseum. But he did pick out bits here and there. The various carvings, once intricately detailed and now weathered heavily, had begun to give him snippets of something. He spotted a larger than usual sculpture across the road.

Name: Weathered Sculpture

Type: Art Piece

Lore: Once a well crafted working of stone, the marble has long since lost its luster and definition.

The sculpture, barely two feet high, only vaguely resembled a humanoid figure. A too large head on top of a narrow body suggested non-human proportions, though the shapeless lump of stone at its feet was mostly unidentifiable. But Felix now knew the stone was marble, at least this sculpture, and that it was once well crafted. That meant skilled artisans. Which perhaps was obvious given the design of most of the ruins, but any tidbit felt useful to Felix and he carefully filed it away.

Felix was able to Analyze at least four dozen objects, as well as his allies again.

Name: Evie Aren

Race: Human

Level: 19

HP: ???/???

SP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.

Strength: Agility, Perception

Weakness: Endurance, Strength

Name: Vessilia ???

Race: Human

Level: 20

HP: ???/???

SP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.

Strength: Strength, Agility

Weakness: Endurance, Vitality

Name: Atar ???

Race: Human

Level: 17

HP: ???/???

SP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.

Strength: Intelligence, Willpower

Weakness: Strength, Vitality

Hm, some of it's new. The night before he could only make out their names and level. It's interesting to see their strengths and weaknesses. I could have guessed at them based on what I've seen even in that first fight we had. Atar is no surprise. Interesting that Vessilia has higher Strength and Agility than other stats.

A very slight scrape ahead of them made Felix whirl toward the noise, but it was only Harn returning. He gestured everyone close and made a complicated series of hand movements at the mage. Atar swallowed and frowned in concentration, both hands now moving in a circular motion while they fairly blazed with bright yellow Mana vapor. Felix watched as that vapor expanded and engulfed their entire group, though at a diameter of perhaps five feet they all had to press fairly close together. Once inside the Mana vapor, Felix realized the outside world was extremely muffled.

A silence spell. So is the bright yellow sound Mana? Is sound a function of magic here? Why not use this on Harn before?

Harn spoke up in a quiet grumble. "We have four giants holed up outside the basement. They're poking around some of the other buildings, and don't seem to know what they're looking for, but they're way too close. Another half block down is a group of three Hoarhounds, they're likewise sniffing around, but haven't caught any scents yet." Harn spread his gauntleted hands wide. "Magda, you and I can handle the giants, but if the hounds join in we'll have trouble. And that's if the Sworn isn't bringing more giants our way. Which I doubt."

The Sworn? The assassin?

Magda nodded, and slowly cracked each of her knuckles. Felix didn't understand the warrior, really. She had been a bundle of suspicion and nerves ever since he met her, but she was cool as a cucumber now, slowly deliberating. The spell Atar was casting died away. Apparently he couldn't hold it very long. Finished with her knuckles, the Shieldwitch nodded at the mage who slugged back a familiar blue potion before casting again. Once the yellow Mana vapor swept out over them, Atar nodded back.

"I'll go. Harn, you hold them off long enough for me to get in and get out." Magda turned, ready to go.

"That won't work, Maggie. The hounds're too fast. You won't make it in before the battle gets too heavy."

"And won't heavy fighting alert more of the giants? How many are nearby?" Vessilia asked, looking between the two leaders. Harn only shook his weird helmet.

"Too far. The fog hampers even our senses. There could be none in earshot, or there could be twenty."

A heavy silence weighed in on them as everyone mulled it over. Atar was sweating profusely, enough that Felix was starting to get concerned for him.

"We need the stones. Too much has been...we need them," Magda said, glancing at the Tin Ranks and Felix.

"Unless you can turn invisible, we're gonna have to call this a loss. Maybe come back for them another time."

"You know we can't, Harn." Magda rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated.

"I'll do it!" Evie volunteered, but her sister simply fixed her with a withering glare and her ebullience died. "I'm fast and stealthy. I can do it. Especially if Atar gives me a boost with this enchantment."

"It's too minor. He can barely cast it for long now. It won't last long enough to make it there and back," Harn said, gentle in his gruff way.

Felix cleared his throat. They have to learn to trust me.

"I can go."

Magda's expression narrowed and Felix held his hands out, palms open.

"What have you got to lose? Worst case, the giants catch me and I die, right?"

If he were being honest, Felix definitely did not like the way Magda smiled at him.

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