Unbound

The Manaship had not landed atop the Waystone, but it was so close as to make little difference. Darius Reed glared at the craft, wishing he could simply send a windblade at it and finish this task once and for all. His ward was likely in dire danger while he dealt with frustration after frustration a thousand leagues away. The urge to let loose his Strength and the tempest within him was strong, curtailed only by the inevitable fallout his actions would cause. They Redcloaks hadn't landed atop just any roof, but the roof of the Governor's manor. As the Duke of Pax'Vrell's Chosen Hand, attacking it in any capacity would be the same as an attack by the Duke himself, and Reed refused to ruin his Duke's reputation on a whim.

Reed scrubbed his hand over his face, clamping his Willpower over the urge to scream. At anyone. Everyone. He remained quiet, however, still and contained. To do less was to be unworthy of his position.

"Four Redcloaks have exited the Governor's manor, sir," one of the Haarguard answered. "Southern exit."

"Two more have exited to the west," said another. "North exit reports another two."

"Stay here. I'll handle the south," Reed ordered. "Keep watch. We let none of them leave that manor."

"Aye, sir. And the west and north?"

Reed loosened his massive sword in its sheath, and grunted in approval. "Kelgan has the west, and the north will have to sweep around to the east to reach the Waystone anyway. Send the remainder of men to the Waystone, now."

Authority Recognized, Inheritor!

For Defeating A Local Threat, Seven Territorial Threats, And Raising A Legendary Ranked Spirit Tree

Do You Wish To Establish Your Authority?

Y/N

Felix stared at the notification in a combination of disbelief and outright frustration. He shouted up into the dark ceiling. "Now? You're dumping all this on me now?"

The System didn't answer, and he didn't feel the soft bundle of threads that he'd poked at while in the Path. For all Felix knew, getting a direct response from the System was never going to happen again. Mana vapor was condensing and steaming all around him, pulled into the silver sigils in a way that was compacting it into a silver layer that grew more lustrous as he watched. The air hummed and the array gleamed, glowing steadily now.

"Karys?"

It is an exceptional offer. And considering you already hold Authority over Naevis, I do not suspect you will have any issues with accepting this as well. Just...

"Just what?"

This is far more than just a city, Felix. It is a Territory. And different than any you've encountered.

Felix had noticed that. But wasn't that the same as Cal's Authority, then? "I've seen Territorial Authority on offer before. What makes this different?"

It is a Lost Territory. You are reestablishing lines that have faded with time and Ruin itself. I cannot predict how it will go.

He had a point there. So, ignoring the window asking about Authority, Felix focused on what he could see and sense. The array around him was complicated to the point of being nonsensical. Similar in how the Eidolon's arrays were above and beyond any he'd seen on a Golem, these were the same amount of advancement beyond even that. It almost hurt to look at, and they covered all of the floor, walls, and ceiling and even extended out into other rooms beyond that one. Pit was still poking around at it, though he hadn't strayed far, and he chirruped curiously.

Felix. Found something.

Wincing at the flare of pain from his Bastion, Felix strode forward to his Companion's side and saw him pawing at a series of carvings circling the central portion of the chamber. They were words, not sigils, in a tongue Felix could somehow read as easily as English. "Enter If You've The Will, Claim It If You've The Right."

The ancient challenge. A rite as old as the Ages.

At the center of the array—some thirty feet away—among the swirling lines inlaid with brightening silver, was an empty space. Right where a central, controlling glyph would go in a normal array, there was only bare stone. It was typically the linchpin or keystone of an array, the thing that provided an overarching meaning to the rest of it.

Felix could hear it call, a link between his hooked sword and the array. Between him and the array.

Felix, I think—

"Yeah, me too." Felix swallowed nervously. "I think I have to go in there."

"Diurnal Reach!"

"Shatterstrike!" Kelgan hissed in response, his spear glowing briefly before intercepting and bursting apart a volley of light Mana bolts. He spun it defensively, deflecting two arrows that sought his kidneys, and brought the blunt end down hard upon the nearest Redcloak.

You Have Defeated An Unknown Initiate of the Inviolate Inquisition!

XP Earned!

Another flare of Mana followed his own, intercepting two more arrows with projectiles that shone green-gold. Karp fired arrow after arrow, his quiver almost empty, but each one knocked back the two hidden Initiate's shots. Until, with a single bright flash, one of his struck true and the top of the opposing building was abruptly festooned in tangling vines.

You Have Defeated An Unknown Initiate of the Inviolate Inquisition (x2)!

XP Earned!

"Got em, Kel," the archer grunted.

"Good. Meera and Watts. Go and collect our friends. Bring em back here," Kelgan gestured to his feet, where another Haarguard was tying up the Initiate he'd knocked out. It had been extra difficult fighting to subdue rather than outright kill, much as he wanted to—his orders were clear. "Don't rough em up too bad."

Meera and Watts saluted and hustled off, heading to one of the wooden stairways that lined the outside of almost every building in Setoria. Practically beggin' for thieves.

"Lieutenant!"

Kelgan jerked in surprise, flaring his Strength. He'd hopped a full eight strides away, spear spun at the ready, before realizing who spoke. "Blind gods, Lady Zara. Warn a man."

Zara stood close by, flanked by those guards he'd set to watch over her and Thangle. Everyone was puffing for breath, the Gnome in particular, but Zara seemed utterly composed.

"Is this all the Inquisition you've faced? Three?" Her bright blue eyes swept over the prone Redcloak at her feet and then, unerringly, found the two above. "That seems a paltry number."

No. Not entirely calm. Kelgan could see sweat on her brow, and her fingers shook slightly before she clenched them tight in a fist.

"Maybe they're afraid of us," Karp suggested.

"Foolish to think so," Zara rejoined without much heat. Her eyes glazed over slightly, a look he recognized as someone accessing their enhanced Perception. "Reed has positioned men all around the Governor's manor, covering all exits. He's captured six himself, and more of your fellows have reached the Waystone to—"

She cut off, ice blue eyes wide. Kelgan followed her stare, turning to see the monolithic Waystone over the tops of nearby buildings. He'd seen several Waystones in his travels, and this one looked the same as all the rest. It was huge, a white sentinel against the night sky, topped with metal spires shaped into fluted spirals that the operators inside would adjust before sending out messages to another Waystone far, far away.

And, right then, the spires were lifting. All of them.

"They're already at the Waystone! They intend to contact Amaranth!"

"What!" Kelgan gripped his spear and started running. "Everyone! On me!"

"There is no time!" Zara snapped, before aquamarine light bloomed from her arms and legs. "I hope you have not just eaten?"

"Whyyyy—!"

Kelgan, Karp, and the other six guards on the street were lifted bodily by a wave of green-blue Mana. They took off like a shot, threading the empty allies with a speed that forced the breath from his lungs. At the fore, Zara surged, her hands directing the wave so that they banked around a sharp corner, crashing shopfront facades and scouring the cobbles below. The Waystone grew, taking up the horizon as the streets fled rapidly, until they barreled down the main causeway toward it.

"Redcloaks! Northwest and southwest!" Karp shouted.

Ahead of them, Acolytes and Initiates emerged from the buildings around the Waystone, filling the square with a sheet of golden light that slammed down and around their path. Zara screamed, and her Tempered lungs sent cracks through the road while a vibration built along the undulating wave of Mana. The power split, Kelgan and others shifting until they were behind Zara, while the Mana collected at the fore like a plow blade.

They hit the barrier of golden light with the sound of a roaring ocean, a tempest the size of a city. Yet the golden barrier held, if barely.

"Burn you! I'll not have this wasted!" Zara was shouting, but Kelgan couldn't make much sense of it. Her voice rose, a crescendo atop another, building until he thought his head might burst. "BREAK!"

Light flashed, golden and green and a deep, enduring blue. Ten thousand shattering glass panes, screaming metal, a titanic bellow that threw Redcloaks off their feet. Kelgan and Karp and all the rest fell to the cobbles in a loose heap, heads clutched tight against a pain barely faded. The lieutenant flared his Perception, afraid of being stabbed while he writhed, but all those around them had also fallen. The Initiates and Acolytes had been dropped, every one of them breathing but senseless.

What happened?

Zara was only a few strides away, but her chest heaved like a bellows and her sea-green hair hung limp about her shoulders. He was surprised she could even stand. She had spent everything she had on breaking that barrier. His men were slowly regaining their feet, but they had made it. Ahead of them loomed the Waystone...and one other.

A full-fledged Inquisitor. Adept Tier.

"You go no further, heretic," he rasped. His hands bloomed with a golden radiance. "I call to witness, Guardian of the Faith!"

A beam of golden Mana shot from the sky, as if from the Pathless Himself. It wavered and shook, but within its confines a hulking form emerged. An armored knight, eerily similar to those Arcid things but twice as big...and made entirely of light Mana. The Inquisitor pointed at them.

"Kill them all."

The pain of his held-back Skills intensified, waxing bright as Felix chewed his lip in consideration. He couldn't speak to why, but he felt a terrible sense of urgency, both in his Bastion and in the array around him. Like it wanted him to claim it, almost.

Notifications were still there, waiting to be checked. They were half cloaked by his Bastion though, so any perusal was painful in super fun ways that he was absolutely looking forward to later. He'd have to Tier up before long. But did he have time?

His vision spasmed and his notifications flashed again and again, brighter than previously. A soft, insistent trilling grew in the distance, a connecting thread of the System that sought his vision. A notification, he mused. Bypassing my partitioning of them. Resigned, Felix seized it.

Hidden Quest Completed!

The Door Of The Lidless Eye!

You have discovered a part of the dire secrets hidden within the Nymean Temple, have opened the Door and prevented the darkness within from escaping their containment.

Rewards:

+Title

+Increased Authority

New Title!

Champion of the Halcyon (Epic)!

By fist and fury, you have defeated multiple enemies of the ancient Halcyon Empire, so thoroughly that not even their Essence remains to taint the Continent. For this, you are to be commended and rewarded.

+5 Levels To One Body Skill Of Your Choice (Below Adept)

+Evolution Of One Body Skill Of Your Choice (Below Adept)

"What a Title," Felix said. "But that doesn't help right now. Except the 'increased Authority' bit, I guess."

Yes, that is a good thing. More Authority secures your position and ability to claim ever greater responsibilities.

He'd have to take Karys' word for it, as he felt nothing at the supposed gain. With stats, even a small boost, Felix would feel something. Even the metaphysical concept of significance was a heft in his core space. Authority was nothing.

Wait, what about my other Quest? Home Sweet Home?

Another thread floated toward him, urging him to connect to its frequency. Felix felt like he was starting to understand the smallest bit about the System. He grabbed at it, secured it with his Affinity and Intent as easily as catching a ball.

Quest Completed!

Home Sweet Home!

You have secured your ancestors' Temple from all threats, internal and external!

5 of 5 Threats Eliminated

Rewards:

+Title

+Home

+1 Gold Chest

Rewards Increased For Defeating Seven Legged Orit In Single Combat...

Rewards Increased For Defeating Incursion With Minimal Casualties...

Rewards Increased For Defeating Archon In Single Combat...

Rewards Increased Greatly For Defeating Unending Maw Completely...

Rewards Increased For Defeating Caged Urges (x6) Completely...

Title Upgraded!

Home Upgraded!

Chest Upgraded!

Rewards:

+Title

+Stronghold

+1 Platinum Chest

This time, it was like an explosion in his chest as the System sent a pulse of Harmonics into his core. They burst to spume, crashing against the rocks of Dissonance before blending together in a chaotic roil. More than that, however, as threads of terribly distant aquamarine thrummed in sympathetic pain. It stabbed at him, a knife of golden light hurtling through the green-blue—a familiar power he'd come to despise. Felix flared his Affinity, focusing on those distant threads, on a connection he'd partially cleansed from his soul.

A giant of golden light, so similar to the Archon that it blinded him to the fact that it was being fought off by familiar faces. Kelgan and Karp and others among the Haarguard. Thangle! Hands of ochre hue lifted and wove darts of deepest blue that shot off into the giant, breaking panels of light that reformed in moments. Pain and exhaustion echoed through it all, thoughts sluggishly fighting against a hundred accumulated wounds and overtaxed resources.

Fast as lightning, a boulder-sized fist took him straight in the chest.

"Zara!"

He staggered, almost thrown from his feet despite his stats and significant weight. His footing shifted as the entire room rang, a bell the size of a mountain droning in his ears. He stepped.

The world lit up in silver and gold.

Authority Recognized, Inheritor!

For Defeating A Local Threat, Seven Territorial Threats, And Raising A Legendary Ranked Spirit Tree

You May Lay Claim To The Lost Territory Of Nagast!

Do You Wish To Establish Your Authority?

Y/N

Accept Felix! Something is happening! It is far away, but there is danger!

"It's Zara," he growled. "Everyone's in trouble, they—the Redcloaks." Felix growled through the madness in his chest, worse now than it had been in a long time. He fought it down, smothering the chaos with all the power he could muster. He had questions about the Chanter, about her intentions, but he'd not let them die if he could help it. "Yes! Give me the damn Authority!"

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