Unbound

The sound of joyous, gleeful cawing faded as Felix's everything erupted with potency. Green-gold radiance surged into his channels and core space, spearing through the dark void between his spinning Skills, drenching it all in its sap-like consistency. It swirled, even as it spread, pulled inexorably toward his center until it reformed into an orb of brilliant, vibrant fluid.

Felix's core space shook, twisted with a hollow pain that made both him and his Companion startle. Pit's screech were accompanied by Felix's shouts.

His hunger, the dread abyss that dwelled between his stacked cores, it called for the Eidolon's power. The sound of gnashing teeth, of rumbling guts filled the space. The abyss had locked onto it, and there was no stopping its momentum. It flashed forward, a bullet into the dark, already stretching and pushing into the inky maelstrom at his center. The orb of power shredded apart, too fast and too slow, like a predator enjoying its meal.

No! Not this!

The dark pulled, but Felix pulled right back. Steel-like cords of connection formed between his consciousness and the orb, blinding in their radiance, and his cores sang in a cacophony of discordant harmony. As Felix raged, so did they.

You are mine! And you! Will do! As I say!

Title: Tyrant of Choice Engaged!

You Have Rejected The Rest Of The Eidolon's Potency!

The Endless Raven Is Amused!

Invisible claws slipped free of the green-gold power, and whatever laid within that abyss howled with an impotent fury that Felix no longer cared to hear. It cut off as easy as a door shutting in a room, his Bastion of Will blazing in the near distance.

Bastion of Will is level 70!

Bastion of Will is level 71!

Nymean Artifact Detected!

Substitute For Sacrificed Potential Found!

Potency Rerouted!

What?

Above the dark abyss, the root-like branch of Divinity resonated like a struck tuning fork. Waves of power hit and were enveloped within his [Thunderflame Core] and [Cardinal Beast Core], before being flung back out, this time a blue-white and red-gold arrow that shot toward Felix and his captured orb.

He and the Eidolon's power, its dang soul, were hurled out of the core space. They traveled backward, spinning through his channels at a breakneck pace, until they hit and burst from Felix's own left hand.

The same hand that held tightly to his Crescian Blade.

Inheritor Status Acknowledged!

Array Unlocked!

Suddenly himself again, Felix watched his hooked sword ignite in a storm of green-gold light and sloshing liquid Mana. It spun around the hilt and blade itself until it coated it entirely, and the array near the guard lit up, followed by a second one just above it. A new one. It sang to Felix's senses, almost overwhelmed by the vibrations of Mana and his own cores.

The liquid Mana sank into the weapon and disappeared entirely.

As if strings had been cut, Felix sagged and his arms fell limp. Blinking rapidly, he saw his Stamina, Mana, and Health had all been reduced to just below ten percent. The remnant Status Condition that blinked immediately away told him why.

Status Condition: Aspect Drain (Major)

Aspect drain? To say that was alarming was putting it mildly. Felix felt at this Aspects, but Body, Mind, and Spirit all felt hale and unchanged. His internal snapshot of his condition matched his current reality. So what drained?

A flash of emerald radiance called his attention to his Crescian Blade. There, above the hilt, were two elaborate glyphs etched into the metal. They glowed with an intense light that lasted only a few more seconds before the light, and the glyphs themselves, faded from the blade.

Voracious Eye!

Hoping for something, anything from the glyphs, instead Felix was surprised by an entire block of text he'd never before seen from the weapon.

Name: Inheritor's Will

Type: Weapon (Long Blade) (Enchanted)

Lore: A weapon known by many names, it was once an instrument of the Herald herself, used to defend the Golden Empire from those that would wrong it. It is made of Crescian Bronze, a material stronger than orichalcum and mithril, yet lighter than both and more welcoming to enchantment. Its function as a key to access Nymean Temples is known, but all else is a mystery.

Etheric Division - The first of several arrays. The blade may cut through spellforms and Mana formations at the Inheritor's request, but it is gated by the advancement of the Inheritor.

Etheric Unification - Nymean power resonates with the Blade, drawing toward itself other sources of Nymean sorcery.

Aside from the fascinating bit of history and strange enchantments, the substance of the weapon had been refined in some small way. It looked cleaner, sharper. Newer, almost. There was a vibrancy—just the faintest blush—and on the pommel of the sword was a crystalline shape. A two pronged star that looked much like an elongated diamond.

Two star ruin...Felix looked up and around at the broken well. Did I absorb the power of the settlement?

He checked his Local Authority, and it was still intact, and there were still greyed out commands and inaccessible sub-menus. Only now, the [Access Vault] option was entirely absent. Pit let out a curious chirrup.

"Hm? What do you mean, 'you feel something?'" Felix asked. But then he did feel something, the supremely satisfying and borderline painful sensation of waking after a very, very long sleep.

Who...where am I?

The Eidolon's voice was strong and deep, if not quite as deep as it was within the construct. Felix froze, as at first he thought he'd gathered another companion in his head, a new, far less menacing Maw for him to deal with...until he realized the voice wasn't coming from his core space at all.

It was coming from the sword. It wasn't his Aspects that drained.

"Hey there, Karys Taiv," Felix said and smiled tentatively at his faintly glowing sword. "How're you doing?"

I...am alive?

"Technically speaking, no, probably not," Felix said. Pit chirped his agreement. "But you're not dead either. Or consumed to fuel the hellbeast that may or may not be living inside of me."

W-what?

"Not important right now." Felix lifted the sword—Inheritor's Will, apparently—until it was eye level with him. "Somehow your...everything, got transferred to my sword. The Herald's Hook, as you called it. I don't know why, exactly, though I have an inkling on the how."

The Eidolon was quiet. You took everything. No...No I recall the voice, the absurd crowing. Something interfered when I attempted to gift you my Aspects. I can see it now. You—somehow, Felix could sense the ancient warrior looking at him in surprise—You rejected my power, for all that it would have elevated you even more. And the System found your blade instead. That is...I had heard the Unbound could be the greatest among us, but to pass on such power...I am humbled, Felix Nevarre. Truly.

Felix found himself gritting his teeth as the Eidolon went on. Of course his efforts at decency, at not eating another person's soul had caused him to lose out on more power. Except that wasn't entirely true. He recalled bits of the guardian's power draining into him. As if the System was waiting for him to make that connection, he received a notification.

You Have Absorbed A Portion Of Eidolon Exult Karys Taiv!

You Have Gained The Following:

+5 Levels To Any Mind Skill

+5 Levels To Any Spirit Skill

+5 Levels To Any Body Skill

Memories accessed!

Eidolon array consumed!

A burst of sense images flooded Felix's Mind and Spirit, each one a vibrant punch in the gut. Battles gone by and terrors faced down, each one worse than the last. Until it ended, and he found himself kneeling again. Felix's eyes bulged. How...? What would I have gotten if I'd taken all of his power?

The sword thrummed, as the Eidolon—Karys—considered itself. I have become one with the Herald's Hook, the Inheritor's Will. For saving me from the oblivion that...Urge...intended, I promise to serve you as I had served my empress once before. I give you my Oath, bound upon my Mind, Body, and Spirit.

Brilliant silver threads were conjured at those words. Invisible to those without Affinity, they were nevertheless real, and bound Karys in unseen chains that were fastened firmly around Felix's own heart. He felt the sudden weight of it, far more than his friends' Oaths had put upon him, and it took the Unbound a long moment to shrug off the sensation.

"That is...I'm honored. But you don't even know me," Felix objected.

I have seen enough. Bound as I am to this weapon, I also see a portion of its nature. You will need my help harnessing it's true power.

Felix couldn't help but be intrigued by that statement. He could use all the power he could get against the Archon. "How so?"

Inheritor's Will is riddled with openings, places where the Crescian Bronze can pull in Mana from the outside. They are so small that not even your senses could detect them. Now that I am part of it, I can feel the grooves. The voice paused. It is tied to the array for Etheric Unification. It can absorb power, much as you yourself. Astounding.

Felix eyed the sword. Karys had somehow garnered a more complete understanding of Felix's nature during his journey. "Any power?"

Karys pondered that. No. It seems limited to sources of power you have gained Authority over.

Felix grunted. So he'd have to claim another city to power the thing up again. It raised...interesting possibilities.

"Okay, that's a problem for another day I think." Felix looked up, noticing the spiral staircase that had guided him down into the well had been shaken loose by the collapse of the Spirit Tree's grotto. "If you are set on hanging around, then we have to get moving. I've got friends waiting."

We seem to be trapped.

"Hardly," Felix said.

A lone figure crawled from the press of bodies. Its ice armor had melted, but it's metal-plated flesh still thrummed with the potency of its terrible master. The corpses had protected it from the intense heat and deadly flames, shielded its Vitality from the senses of that horrible, nightmare creature. It had survived.

Now it must flee.

Reach the city. Find the Master, its dread Father.

The Nym was alive! It was coming! It—

—a geyser of liquid earth and cascading lightning were the last things it knew.

You Have Killed A Reforged!

XP Earned!

Huh! Felix thought as he rode the solidified connections to the night sky. Lighting hung around him like a shroud or perhaps wings of electric blue. Didn't think there were any left.

With a flash of light, Pit emerged from his Spirit, coalescing beneath him in full barding and saddle. Felix cut off his Adamant Discord and gripped the reins.

Remarkable! Karys hollered in his Mind. The sword pulsed with green-gold light with every word. How did you accomplish that?

"How else?" Felix asked, urging Pit forward. "Magic!"

They exited the valley in record time, soaring above the still-burning landscape and utilizing the powerful updrafts it provided. Due to Pit's size, the way he flew was less physics and more magical power, but the warm columns of air still helped quite a bit.

From above, Felix's powerful eyes and Manasight had detected no other living creatures...at least not anything overtly hostile. He'd been lucky catching the last Reforged as he'd emerged from the underground well. Hopefully that meant the Archon still didn't know Felix was close, though the presence of his Mark made him question that.

"Karys, what do you know about Marks?" Felix asked over the wind.

The making of them, or their general nature?

Felix's eyebrows rose. "Making them?"

It is a simple technique, though one usually needs the power of at least a Master Tier to form the foundation of a Mark. Karys paused. Despite your own...impressive power, you are not even an Adept. In my time, a child was not allowed out into the wider world until they had Mastered their chosen Skills.

"Really?" Felix looked ahead of them as they approached the peaks. "Most people I've met are either Journeyman or lower. The number of Adepts and Master Tier folk I've met can be counted on one hand."

This...this is a strange Age to have returned to, Karys said after a brief pause. Yet I find myself no stronger than a Journeyman myself. The bulk of my power fed into your Will.

Meaning his sword. "Does that mean it's stronger now?"

I would imagine so, yes. The former Paragon's voice was dry. Stronger than the club at your side and...is that a lance?

"I mean, basically, yeah," Felix said. "But tell me what you know about Marks."

Generally speaking, they are an imprint of your Aspects upon another creature. A simple process, though as I said, the significance required would not congeal until Master Tier at the earliest.

"What about breaking them? Removing them?"

An interesting question. It can be done, but the cost is great. As a Mark is imposed on your Aspects, you must damage your Aspects to remove the Mark. This can lead to a plethora of problems, not the least of which is a shattered foundation. The sword buzzed at his side. It is not a procedure I'd recommend you attempt yourself. I have personally seen the results of Marks inexpertly applied and removed. It is...grisly.

"Thanks for the warning," Felix said. He dug his hand into Pit's soft mix of fur and feathers. "I'll have to find another way."

The surest solution is to destroy whatever dared Mark you, Karys explained. Who had the audacity to Mark an Unbound anyway?

"Easier to make a list of who doesn't have the audacity," Felix muttered. "I'll tell you about them later."

The Twins shone blue above, while the jaundiced light of Yyero shone slantwise from the horizon. They climbed over the peaks with a swirl of air Mana beneath Pit's black and crimson wings, rising up, up into the clear night sky. And with a giddy chirrup, they dropped.

Felix's heart leaped into his throat, but he thrilled at the fall. He was riding a free-form roller coaster, banking left and right around the tops of particularly tall trees, even managing a loop-de-loop at one point. If Felix weren't so concerned with stealth, he would have been whooping for joy. As it was, their descent was so rapid that they soon came within sight of several Henaari scouts.

And beyond them was a curious ring of monolithic statues. Nymean statues.

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