Unbound

You Have Gained A Level!

You Are Now Level 52!

You Gain:

+2 to PER! +2 to VIT! +4 to END! +5 to INT! +6 to WIL! +4 to AGL! +7 to DEX!

You Have 10 Unused Stat Points!

Abyssal Skein is level 49!

Felix gasped, the nothing of the Void within him crackling and gelid against the heat of the System energy that surged from without. Red-gold and blue-white sizzled and popped with tiny explosions in his core space. Skills spun, revolved around his cores, hurtled away from the now screaming pattern of Abyssal Skein.

Felix clenched his teeth against the pain. Aspects strained, Skill pressurized, he felt things would simply snap. A sundering from which there was no return.

But the Skill held. He held.

Felix collapsed. The last he knew was the bloody remains of a Core-Slaved Skink.

He rose, held aloft by unknown hands. Coarse hands, hard and sharp, digging. Clawing. Felix screamed, and blood flowed. It flashed.

He fell. Hands and knees, he swung outward, scattering his enemies. They became as smoke, as water that crashed to the ground and tried to wash him away.

He stood. A key was in his hand. Crystalline and clear, glimmering in its own light. In his other hand was a large feather, enveloped in its own darkness. He watched that darkness, and it enveloped him too.

Nothingness surrounded him, an infinite span of shadow. The Void. Swirling shapes in it resolved into creatures, deadly shapes he'd once run from in the black. Monstrosities that now chased...Zara, of all people, as she rode within an impossible ship of pure light.

He reached for them, but the darkness fled into a door surmounted by a blazing, eighteen-sided star. It resembled nothing so much as an immense, glaring eye of verdant lightning. Beyond the threshold was a green murk, thick and viscous. Without hesitation or control, he plunged through and it splashed like water.

He was subsumed in the murk. Cloudy green surrounded him, covered him, tried to creep up his nose and down his throat like it had a Will of its own. He fought. He felt things touch him, terrible horrors no worse than the Void. Different in features, but familiar. They grabbed at him, tore, not hungry but desperate in their wants. Their needs.

Freedom

Revenge.

Revelry in blood.

They dragged him deeper, ever deeper, and the green pressed in. Though eyes and ears and mouth, they clawed within. He screamed, and it was drowned by thickened muck.

KAW!

Wings of darkness swept them aside and descended on him. Feathers made of birds made of feathers shielded him and dragged him up, away, into the light that shined just beyond the dark.

NOT YET.

The screams of a million birds shattered the dark, and Felix resurfaced into the fading light.

His Mind was cloudy, but Felix could tell he was draped over the back of his Companion. And they were running, racing even through a forest of thin pines. The incline was sharp, not quite forty five degrees, but high enough that every rock and needle tossed by their relentless sprint hurtled off into the air, off the mountain most likely.

There was a screech above them, a powerful sound, and Felix arced his head upward. Massive flyers followed them, not Skinks but monsters with bat-like wings and dozens of sharp legs. More centipede than serpent. It dove through the branches, hissing and clacking, but bolts of blue light sent it reeling backward. Others flew among them, bird-like creatures of feathers and leather skin, bolted with panels of dull iron.

Great. More constructs. And according to his Eye, all of them at the high end of Tier II. They were fast, but his team wasn't defenseless.

Arrows shot through the thin canopy in a constant barrage, Kikri conjuring and firing arrows almost simultaneously as they ran. Vyne was beside her, the shield warrior guarding them both from the retaliatory spines and spikes shot by the constructs. Each step brought her to a thin pine, which she pulled arrows from with her Green Shaping and imbued them with tight knots of force Mana. The arrows were mostly distraction, as the Elf didn't have the Strength to penetrate the constructs' defenses, but each arrow scratched their hide just a bit more. Felix saw her hit the same spot over a dozen times in rapid succession, dimpling the thing's chest.

Monsters came for her, spines shot from the flying centipedes like arrows of their own. They hissed and melted where they landed, and the Elven archer barely avoided them. Vyne's stone skin and metal shield weren't enough, but the kid was clever. He didn't so much as stop them as deflect the projectiles, using their own momentum against them. Spines skittered from his shield and embedded in the very trees Kikri was pulling from—the plants exploded all around them, half melting from the impact alone.

Luckily, the Journeymen were also on the offensive. Silver spears skewered monster after monster, while a heavy spiked chain would slap one out of the sky. Crimson balls of fire and more columns of blue light splashed and slammed against their bodies, torching their feathers and crushing their segmented legs in equal measure. Those wounded beasts that fell were quickly dispatched by Nevia, Kylar, and Davum. Ice and sword and great axe rose and fell as they fought to keep pace with the rest of the team.

His friends were taking the enemy apart, the only issue being numbers. So many monsters littered the sky, too many. Felix's eyes flicked down the slope, and he could spot plumes of black smoke rising like a cloud of pollution into the sky. Mounds of bodies were behind them, carpeting the forest floor.

How long have they been fighting? How long was I out?

Felix? Pit sent. Are you okay?

Aching and sore, but okay, Felix sent as he leveraged himself into the saddle properly. Pit warbled in concern. I'm good to fight. Probably.

His sword buzzed and glowed green-gold. If you are not certain, do not try, Felix. Pushing yourself is well and good, but too much will cost you.

Felix grimaced, feeling a pain in his chest that radiated to his limbs. I appreciate the advice, Karys. But I don't have a choice. They need help.

Do they? Karys asked.

A screaming sawblade of sound cut through his senses. Affinity pinged it, a sound like an anvil ringing, like a hundred blades condensed into one and hit with a hammer the size of a house. Silver flame burst above them, consuming at first one then two, then all of the monsters in a cluster. Harn laughed, already falling from where he'd leaped out of a tree. He landed along with dozens of still-burning corpses.

Above, storms of wind swelled and burst, the air Mana whipping like knives through the centipedes and birds. They died by the score, spear after glittering spear detonating atop their wings and chests and heads. Vess herself fell atop another, spearing it through its metal plating and into a third, skewering them all atop her partisan. She rode their flailing bodies to the earth, smashing through acid-burned boughs and Green Shaped trunks alike.

Others screamed in rage and fear, the former overcoming the latter, but were met with a punishing length of spiked chain. One so heavy it smashed their bodies to the ground hard enough to crater it. Evie swirled among them, a tornado of icy metal and cold precision, her normal smiling face replaced with a seething grimace.

Behind her, flame and force followed, each burst of Mana ending a monster with pitiless grace. And still, the Haarguard finished all that they could, arrow, axe, sword, ice, and shield all doing their part.

I may have...judged too quickly, Felix admitted.

Indeed, Karys said. Pit chirruped in agreement.

Felix could admit when he was wrong, but he still felt sour. Not at his team, but at his own decision-making. They'd been fighting together for months. How had he misjudged their abilities? The sour, bitter sensation compounded and concentrated, no longer emotional but physical. Immediate. Felix checked his core space and found his Abyssal Skein Skill chipped and faded; not broken but not whole either. What's more, his Essence stores were empty again. The hard light of Karys' and Vvim's Memories were all that hung above his cores and Skills.

Was this you? he asked the abyss. He half expected an answer, but none came.

Back to himself, Felix raised a hand and twined it into the expanding black smoke of the murdered beasts. He gripped it with his Will, it and all the rest it mingled with, and he breathed it in.

Ravenous Tithe!

He fed the power directly into his cores, letting equal amounts flow into each. His [Thunderflame Core] and [Cardinal Beast Core] belched out ribbons of light, streamers that hurtled wildly into his core space until Felix seized them as well with the force of his Willpower. Utilizing his honed Intent, he sent the refined Essence into his damaged Skill where it pooled against the pattern and shook with sympathetic vibrations. The stress fractures he could sense eased and settled. Not fully healed, but mended.

He needed more Essence.

Pit, he sent. His head felt woozy again, and the already inclined ground tilted oddly. Pit I need to get closer...

Felix blinked. Again, slow and steady.

When he opened his eyes at last, he beheld rough stone walls lit by flickering flame. He was in a cavern, and no longer on Pit's back. Felix pushed himself onto his elbow and it felt far easier to do than before. The trembling weakness he'd felt earlier had almost completely abated. Beside him a fire burned merrily while sigils around them warded sound, light, and smoke. Something else too, but he couldn't tell, not without looking closer. In the distance, outside the cave, he heard the faint cawing of birds.

A steaming bowl of stew was shoved before his face, the steam tickling against his skin. Vess stood over him, still bandaged and currently frowning. "Eat."

Felix took the bowl wordlessly. Vess watched him take a few bites before she nodded to herself and stomped off, toward Evie and Wyvora of all people.

"What are we doing? Why aren't we moving?" Felix asked.

The Haarguard stared in disbelief, but Harn snorted a laugh. "He wakes up from nearly cripplin' himself, and he asks why we stopped. You don't got quit in you, do you Felix?"

Felix finished the stew in three more bites and sat up fully. His muscles protested, but it was the honest burn of too much use, rather than his Aspects. "I don't appreciate being a sitting duck, no. You kill all the beasts following us?"

"Most of them, those that didn't flee," Harn said. He nodded at Atar and Alister. The mages were huddled by the edge of the warding script, discussing something in low tones. "Those two managed a working that sent a familiar sort of lightning down the mountain, to the north. Said it was a lure or somethin' like it." He spat in to the fire. "We found this network of caverns shortly after. Enough pathways in here to confuse the best trackers, Human or otherwise."

"More have come, more flying beasts and stranger things," Kikri added. She, like all the Haarguard, looked more than a little exhausted. Her fingers were covered with inscribed bandages in white and green. "I tracked them, just enough to see. To the last they were following the trail north."

"It'll give us some time, at least," Alister said, sitting down around the fire with a groan. "Best we could manage at short notice."

"Took half the monster cores I've been collecting just to power that array," Atar complained. His fingers were bandaged, as well as his left thigh. He sat gingerly. "Copying your Mana signature is tricky, Felix. Still not sure I did it right."

"My Mana signature?" Felix asked.

"Mhm. Thing is, it changes depending on the Skills you're using, which is—" Atar cut himself off, not quite glancing at the Haarguard. "Makes it difficult, is all."

Felix nodded. He's saying it because I'm Unbound. I can use all sorts of Mana types without restriction. His eyes widened. Is that why the Archon was able to create his Profane Sigaldry? It's based on the Dissonance that runs counter to the Grand Harmony, as far as I can tell. He can use it because he can use all types of Mana, all types of vibrations.

To the others he said, "So where is this place? Are we close to crossing these mountains?"

"Through here, we should be able to avoid the mountain peak completely. Cavern goes a ways back, not down or up, simply straight through." Harn ate his stew with big, lip-smacking bites. "Evie and the Henaari did some scoutin'. Looks promisin'."

"Ah," Felix said. "Good."

"We got time, is what I mean," Harn said, finishing his stew with a loud slurp. "Time for all of us to get some needed rest. I figure the last bit will be the final leg of this particular journey, eh?"

Felix estimated the distance from the mountains to the Waterfall Temple. It was not far at all. "Just about. After we climb down this mountain, we're less than a day from our destination. Then we finish this Quest."

Excited murmurs fluttered among the Haarguards, but Felix didn't bother to listen. He let them be excited at the prospect of the Quest rewards, both this one and the potential reward for the Territory Quest Cal had given them all, and that Felix had shared with the guards. No need to tell them how hard it'll be. Not yet. Felix pet his Companion and received a low rumble of pleasure from the tenku. Time enough in the morning.

As the others settled to sleep, however, Felix found himself increasingly alert. His nap had done him wonders, and he had things to address before they moved on. He summoned his notifications.

Armored Skin is level 73!

Unfettered Volition is level 58!

...

Unfettered Volition is level 60!

Deception is level 24!

Deception is level 25!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+5 INT

+5 DEX

+5 PER

Exploration is level 48!

Mana Manipulation is level 51!

Bastion of Will is level 72!

Deep Mind is level 57!

Meditation is level 56!

Fire Within is level 66!

...

Fire Within is level 70!

Much of his gains seemed to happen during his murkier memories, when the Abyssal Skein was truly straining him. He must have taken quite a bit of damage from the Skinks during their flight, or perhaps his own carelessness, to push his Armored Skin up four entire levels. Deception had even Tiered into Apprentice, likely due to his fooling the Skinks. That his Mana Manipulations and Bastion increased was easy to understand, along with Meditation and his Fire Within. Without any of those, he wouldn't have held his Abyssal Skein together at all, or had the wherewithal to mend it.

The System sent power into his core as his Skills increased in size, complexity, and position within his celestial array. And it truly did look like an array, now that he thought about it: it was circular and studded with symbols etched in light and power, all fueled by a bright pair of cores. Strange.

Before he'd passed out, Felix had earned a new level as well, along with 10 more bonus stats. He quickly assigned those to Perception, bringing his total to 808. He'd found his Perception to be increasingly more important as he progressed; being able to anticipate an attack was just as vital as being strong enough to withstand it, if not more so were he given time to avoid it altogether.

That left Perception, Vitality, Agility, and Dexterity as the four stats below a thousand. At the pace he was going, Felix was unsure how long it'd take to reach the Third Threshold.

You are moving quickly, Felix, Karys assured him. I'd be more concerned at just how fast you are developing.

"What? Why?"

Strength invites challenge, so it ever was. Your strength above all. The Unbound, it is said, were creatures of the gods once, before the Founders aided our nation. Now, I fear, even the gods would take umbrage at your continued growth.

Felix chuckled, but there was no joy in it. "Already have." He frowned in thought. "The Founders. You mean the two Unbound. The husband and wife?"

You have heard the story. Ah. Yes, I see it in your Mind. That is...broadly accurate. Karys glowed softly in contemplation. I was not there. It was Ages before my time. But yes, my—our—ancestors summoned two Unbound to aid them in a desperate time. We flourished with them at our side, conquered those that would enslave us all. I...I have sensed some of your thoughts during the past day.

Felix clenched his jaw. "I don't suppose I need to guess at what you mean." He sighed. "Vvim told me that. Gave me a Memory, in fact, that would answer all my questions. Or so he said."

The Geist were too clever by half, but they were an honorable people. They alone held the line at Mendaat's Gate, when the Absolem fell to the Inferii, and the Fires of Dawn were routed. Each unfamiliar word sent a wave of conviction and green-gold light from his sword, the blade almost vibrating out of its sheath. It disgusts me that an Unbound would betray us at the close of the War. Unconscionable. You must access this Memory, with all haste.

"That's the plan," Felix said. He pulled the Inheritor's Will from its sheath, eyeing the blade and the two glyphs that shown to his Manasight. "Will you help me?"

As I can, Felix. I promise you that.

Felix nodded and planted the sword tip first atop the stone at his feet. Within, the Memory of Vvim dangled above his cores like a star. Banishing his nerves with an effort of Will, he gripped it and guided its light down, down, until he reached the flowing, liquid edge of his [Cardinal Beast Core].

Does it matter which core I put it in? He was fairly certain it didn't, but the decision was take from him. That moment of hesitation almost cost him everything, as the abyss between his cores surged with a great and terrible need. The Memory slipped, his Will somehow failing against that powerful pull.

Hold!

Karys' voice was a bar of white hot strength that shot through Felix's Will, and the former Paragon's Intent sidled along Felix's own. The Memory halted, stuck halfway to oblivion.

Pull Felix! Pull!

Felix heaved back with everything he had, fighting against the growling strength of whatever dwelled inside that abyss. It Wanted. It Needed. An urge it couldn't suppress...but one Felix could control.

You can have another meal soon! A powerful one, as before, he shouted at the dark. I've given you that already! Just let go!

Without warning, the counter-pull vanished entirely, and Felix hauled the Memory fully into his [Cardinal Beast Core]. It vanished with a red-gold flare of liquid light.

Nothing good will come of that, Felix. Karys was nothing more than a green-gold blob of light beside him, but he could tell the man was looking at his abyss between the stacked core rings. Nothing good.

Felix wasn't afforded the time to reply. The world around them pulsed, leached of all color, before it shattered entirely.

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