Unbound

Herbalism is level 33!

Meditation is level 55!

Arrow of Perdition is level 35!

Cloudstep is level 35!

Tracking is level 25!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+3 PER

+3 END

Felix used handsign to ask as he ducked beneath a low branch.

Harn signed the equivalent of a grunt—somehow—into the hanging moss beside them. He crept forward with entirely too much silence for a man in full plate armor. His metal bits didn't scrape or clank in the slightest, even in a low crouch.

Felix nodded. It had been two days since the grasslands, two days of constant quiet intensity as they dodged between packs of wild beasts, all of them increasing in level until there were barely any Tier I enemies at all. It was either fight every ten feet or exercise some caution. As much as his friends wanted to test themselves—to push their Skills—neither Felix nor Harn wanted to advertise their location every second of the day.

Felix sharpened his gaze, peering through the tangled undergrowth with more than sight, and sensing the three two ton pigs covered in crystalline spikes. They glittered in the emerald light of the late afternoon, facets shimmering with every snort and snuffle as they rooted for food.

Voracious Eye!

Name: Glitterhog

Type: Beast (Greater)

Level: 55

HP: 9422/9422

SP: 7355/8119

MP: 343/343

Lore: Glitterhog's eat the crystalline deposits that forms on the roots of many tress in the Foglands. These crystals are digested and metabolised into their armor, which is highly resistant to magical effects. Their tusks are also made of the same ultra-hard crystal, equipping them with mighty weapons.

Strength: Charging; Defense Against Magic

Weakness: Bludgeoning Attacks

They had run into three packs of these beasts, and had even fought a pair of them a few hours back. That was how they found out about the anti-magic armor and sharp tusks. Alister nearly lost an eye. They had put it down with a lot of swearing and bashing. But those were simply Beast Types; these were listed as a Beast (Greater).

Felix signed to Harn, and was rewarded with the man silently cursing.

"Means your up," he replied.

Felix turned, just in time to avoid getting gored by a bright pink crystal tusk. The Glitterhog squealed in a basso roar that shook the nearby leaves, but Felix didn't flinch. He pulled the Femur of the Envoy from his waist as he spun out of the way, releasing a streamer of Essence into the weapon. It grew rapidly, flaring with a script normally invisible, and Felix brought it down.

Dodge is level 54!

Unfettered Volition is level 56!

You Have Killed A Glitterhog (Greater)!

XP Earned!

Weak against bludgeoning, he reiterated to himself. The giant pig's car-sized body had been smashed in just below the neck, bisecting the beast and driving his club into the ground itself. He freed it with an annoyed mutter while the ground shook beneath the charge of the second. As the first, it moved faster than a sedan-sized porkchop had any right to, but a single horizontal swipe dashed it's crystal-encased head on the forest floor.

You Have Killed A Glitterhog (Greater)!

XP Earned!

"Greater Beasts have better senses than the rest of their Tier," Harn said as he flicked a piece of crystalline gristle from his pauldron. "They made us soon as we got close. Shoulda spotted that."

"No harm done," Felix shrugged. He slung his club over his shoulder. "Didn't even have to use my transformation."

"Not the point, kid. You know why we're bein' careful. I can't have them know we're comin'." He pointed to the two Glitterhog corpses. "Dispose of those."

Felix saluted lazily and breathed in.

Ravenous Tithe!

The monsters both burst into sparkling black smoke, streaked with bits of pink, green-gold, and blood red. The Essence and Mana that made up the Glitterhogs coursed through his channels and settled into his core, joining a nebula of crackling energy that was slowing being eaten up by his core rings. He been packing in more and more into his core space in the past few days than he'd ever had during the invasion of Haarwatch. The Skills no longer appeared—likely due to the abyss at the center of his core space—but bestial Memories kept intruding into his dreams as he slowly processed the stolen power. They were unnerving, but relatively tame in comparison to some of the Memories he'd experienced, so he had no hesitation to stockpiling Essence whenever he could.

He could always find a use for it, after all.

"You didn't answer my question, Harn," Felix said after a while. The clearing was empty of enemies and other than the hundreds of insects and small Tier I reptiles hidden in the foliage, they were not threatened. "Why haven't you taught by the Spirit trick?"

"Too strong," Harn said as he hefted one of the Glitterhog's tusks. It was jagged like a lightning bolt or a kriss blade. "You practice pushing your Spirit and there goes our element of surprise. The Archon'll hear you from across the Foglands, kid."

"Okay, that makes sense. But that's no reason not to show me the general process," Felix argued. "I don't have to use it."

"Hah! You want to dance the axe edge? By all means." Harn set the crystalline tusk on his shoulder. "Close your eyes."

"Alright."

"Envision your Spirit."

"Envision my...what's it supposed to look like?" Felix asked.

"Dunno. Different for different folks."

"Oh, so it's like my core space? I need to visualize it as something pertaining to the space?"

"Maybe. Like I said, different." Harn hawked phlegm out into the woods. "You envision your Spirit, then you spread it out around you, like a big cloak, and press it down." He dusted his hands off. "That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yup. Stone simple, I'd say."

"So if I—"

"Ah ah, no practicin'!" Harn warned him. Felix lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay. Got it." He shook his head. "Envision my Spirit, huh?"

Where to begin?

Vess dropped onto the fallen log with a grateful sigh. Her armor was just the slightest bit charred, though it was quickly cleaning itself. Self-Cleansing was an enchantment woven into every piece of clothing and armor she'd ever owned, and always would be. The hassle otherwise was beyond comprehension.

Especially in light of days like today, she thought with a sour grimace.

The monsters had been tough and numerous that day, a multitude of Tier II beasts in the ground, trees, and the air. Vess had pushed herself to the edge, time and time again, which had proven fruitful for her Skills. Many of them were progressing quite well into Journeyman Tier, and even a few of her ancillary Skills were reaching that benchmark. She closed her eyes briefly and visited the temple atop her inner mountain, where the wind of the frozen peaks howled. Her Skills dotted the nearby mountains, many of them growing higher than she had anticipated.

With a flex of her Mind, she returned to the Continent, and to all of the aches and injuries she'd briefly ignored. Vess was not unique in that. All of them were battered and exhausted. As was evident when Evie slumped onto the log next to her, having barely adjusted her mass at all so she hit with a bone-bruising thonk.

"Food," she said and made hands at a pack that was almost empty. Their stores could only be stretched so much. "Gimme."

Vess handed over some trail rations and a waterskin. "Go easy. We will need to replenish soon."

"And that burning difficult without a fire," Atar groaned as he settled in across the way. The stones and logs were in a rough circle, though all that was between them were weeds and limp wildflowers. "I wish Thangle had come with us instead of Zara. At least then we could Obfuscate a fire and cook some damn meat."

"Eat something before you get so cranky you wake up the mountain," Alister said as he passed. His armored robes were torn and bloodied, and he pulled out a whetstone and inspected his rapier. He sighted down its length, checking for nicks and burrs in the edge. "How're the guards doing? I've noticed they've turtled up behind that defender of theirs."

"They have adapted their tactics in the face of enemies they stand no chance against. It is admirable," Vess said. "They proved themselves against the Tier I monsters we've encountered in the past."

"Doesn't really mean much when it's all Tier II. They're a bit of dead weight," Evie said between bites. She sprayed crumbs before washing it down with another swig of water. "At least they can be meat shields."

Vess frowned at her friend, letting her Spirit rumble with displeasure. Evie choked on her water as her fledgling Affinity picked it up. "Gah, sorry. It's a joke," she muttered, a touch sullenly.

"They only lack proper leveling. Their teamwork is very good, far better than my last team," Alister said. Vess felt his own Spirit dip into a brief dirge before evening out.

He thinks on his cousin, Vess realized. We never did find her body. Lilian Knacht had opposed them on multiple occasions, and at the last had been overwhelmed by a tide of Revenants. Not all of it, anyway.

"Forget them," Atar said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Either they'll make it or not. What do you all think on this Quest?"

"Felix's or Cal's?" Evie asked.

"Felix's. Cal's is simply that something is hostile toward her city. But our Primordial friend is bound to uncover a magical ruin unseen for Ages. I'd burn down this entire forest if it meant we'd reach it immediately." Atar's eyes gleamed, and Vess' Elemental Eye caught the flare of orange Mana through his system.

"Temple or not, this has been a good trip so far," Evie said. "Got some levels and my Skills have been getting the rust knocked off. Too much time thinkin' back at the Manor. It's good to get bloody again. Ooh," she interrupted herself to reach behind the log and carefully pluck something from the ground. It was a curling frond with pink and green coloration. "Solid. I've been bonin' up on Herbalism as a side gig. Turns out Aena's willing to pay a lot of money for a bunch of dirty roots, plus those city Quests were too good to pass up."

Vess nodded. She too had started a collection of rare materials to turn into the Manor when they returned. For them, the rewards of those Quests did not offer immense amounts of XP, but every bit mattered.

"What I can't stand is the idea that this Archon might reach the Temple before us," Atar said. "We all saw the Reforged back at that outpost. What are the chances the creature hasn't broken free of its Domain?"

"Breaking a Domain is hard, and even then, the monsters end up Mana starved normally," Vess said. "But Haarwatch feels like it was a test run of sorts. If the Archon has not broken free, he will do so soon, and I truly doubt he'll emerge weakened."

"The sigils on the Shrine of Vellus and the Essence Relays we retrieved have proven fruitful," Alister said. "Atar and I are leaning a lot from them. I hope to have something to lean on other than brute force when we face these Reforged again."

"Good luck. This is Felix we're talking about," Evie said.

"In his defense, brute force is much more appealing when you have so much of it," Alister amended. "But perhaps we'll uncover more at the Temple. As long as we can reach it first."

"Outrageous. Whatever is inside that Temple belongs to us—him. Felix," Atar corrected himself. "Bring on the ice warriors. I'll melt them all."

"We'll be ready," Evie said, placing a hand on Vess' arm. Warmth clumsily thrummed from her Spirit, and Vess smiled. Awkward or not, the attempt to soothe her was endearing.

Felix kept his word and didn't actually practice leveraging his Spirit. However, he did keep trying to envision his Spirit, but it was difficult to settle on what he wanted. His core space was an imitation solar system, so should he mimic that in some way? Was his spirit a burning star? A sparkling nebula? Felix didn't like any options he came up with and set them aside. He'd rather not have the ability then settle on a subpar visualization that didn't work for him.

He had plenty of distractions, of course. Their progress through the wild Foglands continued, slowed down considerably as they avoided more and more monsters. The Reforged were around somewhere, they knew that for certain now, and while they couldn't avoid everything they did a pretty good job of it. Of course, that still meant they fought a lot of creatures, all of whom were extremely aggressive.

Pit's Skulk is level 48!

Pit's Etheric Concordance is level 66!

Pit's Cry is level 51!

Pit's Cold Resistance is level 34!

Pit showed good progress, though he ached to fly. Smart enough to know why, he instead took his frustrations out on the monsters around them. Felix meanwhile used their bond to guide him toward the worst of the beasts, fighting as a team. And during their evenings, Felix had been using his Mantle of the Long Night to help train up his Companion's Cold Resistance. If they were going to fight the Reforged, then he'd need it.

Eventually his friends came up to him to discuss tactics and Skills. All of them wanted to move faster, and what better way than to work together, more efficiently. They'd had a few conversations in the past, but Felix was excited—it made his Mind spin as the possibilities unfolded before him.

Control the field. Destroy the minions but focus on the big bads. Classic tabletop strategy from a long time ago, when he'd rolled dice and pretended to be a mighty mage. With the array of Skills at their disposal though, Felix finally saw how he could accomplish that.

Bindings of the White Waste, Stone Shaping, Influence of the Wisp were all ways to shut down or guide a battle, while Fields of Flame, Pillars of the Domineering Sentinel, and Spear of Tribulations were excellent high damage area of effect Skills. Evie even had her Breaking Wheel, which was a bit more limited but still devastating, especially with her new chain.

In fact, all of their new weapons proved themselves over and over again. Alister's rapier was strong enough to drill holes into the hardiest Tier II monster hides, each strike leaving basketball sized divots that dropped their Health rapidly. Atar had his stave, which he found could channel his Sparkbolts, amplifying them just a little as he laid the shots out like a Gatling gun.

Vess' spear and Evie's chain both had proven their worth, able to lay down the hurt with considerable more intensity than before. The two of them were whirlwinds on the battlefield, mowing down enemies at a pace he'd never seen from them. They couldn't be touched, even by the rare Agility focused monstrosity, too fast and too skilled.

On the fifth day from the grasslands, they encountered the Reforged.

It was a squad of them, numbering at least ten, and all equipped with heavy, ice-forged mauls. They were impossible to miss as the smallest were fifteen feet tall, and the largest more in the realm of twenty or thirty feet tall. Still, despite their massive dimensions, the Reforged they encountered were clumsily combing through trees and undergrowth, their blue skin and icy armor carelessly leaving a wake of devastation in their path. Even worse, they had a number of canines the size of horses with mangy fur and complicated metal additions.

Vess signed.

The Hoarhounds once looked like giant wolves draped with an icy aura of power, but now they were..sickly. Their blue-white fur had largely fallen out, replaced instead with metal panels bolted into their bones. Their forelegs were replaced completely with dark metal claws, and their jaws were like bear traps as designed by H. R. Giger. Felix's sharp eyes picked out Profane Sigils across the metal portions, flaring like steady heartbeats. Felix grimaced. They hadn't been nice creatures, but this felt...obscene.

Nevia asked, her thick fingers twitching with anticipation.

was Harn's terse response.

Felix extended his Abyssal Skein over the group, a task which felt easier than ever yet still utterly unpleasant. They ghosted through the forest, moving to keep down into a dry gully in order to keep a low ridge between them and the Reforged. Felix guided Pit across the ground, ensuring his Companion had Skulk activated as they took a wide circle around the enemy.

The question remained, however: what were they searching for?

Their column jerked to a sudden stop, and Felix swept his senses ahead of them. His Body was ready for violence, but the sight of the tube-like creature before them put his Mind on pause. It looked like a six foot long snake with rocks for skin, no eyes, and was half buried in the solid stone and soil of the ridge. The thick, four-foot diameter creature wove back and forth, like it was...searching.

Pit almost tore from his grip, but Felix hauled back, and his claws only flashed out at empty air.

Pit! Stop! Bad idea!

The creature was a Wurm, looking much like an earthworm with armored hide, four-way jaws, and the ability to tunnel seamlessly through the earth. And when they got big, like this one, they could also breathe fire. All in all, not a great monster to encounter in a gully with a bunch of giants behind them.

It lifted its eyeless face, rearing up and spreading its jaws to reveal the wet purple flesh inside its maw. Dribbles of burning spittle oozed to the rocky ground.

Felix understood his friend's fury, though. The Wurms had captured Felix and Pit when both were far weaker, intending to eat Felix and experiment on Pit. The tenku had been put in a cage and beaten until his wings had broken. All of that history boiled through Pit's Spirit, legible to Felix as if it were written in front of his eyes.

We'll get them back for it, bud. But not now. We have to choose our time, okay?

By cajoling and bargaining, Felix pulled his friend back from the edge of disaster. Perhaps they could have taken the Wurm, but it would bring the Reforged down on them. And even then, they could probably kill them all. But what then? Fight another army to get to the Temple?

We're being quiet, Pit. The other option doesn't work.

Pit silently snarled before he dissolved into a flash of light. Thankfully, Abyssal Skein covered that, because the Wurm didn't even react as Pit converged into Felix's Spirit.

Thanks, bud. Just hold tight. His words were only met with meaningless, warbling grumbles.

Felix signed to the rest.

The two nodded, each limbering their respective weapons as they crept beneath the creature's questing head. It's jaws pulsed, opening and closing as if it were breathing or maybe tasting the air.

Abyssal Skein is level 45!

They slipped by it, just barely skirting it's craggy hide, though they had a close call as it began to move again. The Wurm arced forward, over their heads and into the earth on the other side of the gully, where it undulated through the ground. The lot of them breathed a sigh of relief as it swam away.

That relief lasted until Felix exited the gully, finding a hooked spear inches from his face.

"Who do you serve?"

The voice was melodic, almost painfully so, but her face was elongated with sharp cheekbones and large, almond shaped eyes. She—and it was clearly a woman—bared her wide, flat teeth at them all.

"Answer or die."

They had found the Henaari.

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