Unbound

The winged ship was very big, and Felix had designed it to more than accommodate all of the people who followed him. Rooms for sleep, to eat, and most importantly: rooms to train. Two entire lower decks had been made, reinforced as best Felix could manage, so that the Claw could spar and practice their Skills with little worry. There had been a few explosions and incidents of elemental shenanigans, but it was easily repairable.

He commandeered the prow of the ship for himself.

Wild Threnody is level 88!

Hand of Calamity is level 74!

Meditation is level 80!

Manasight is level 90!

Manaship Pilot is level 46!

Multi-Cast is level 89!

Green Shaping is level 86!

Rime Shaping is level 90!

Auroral Forge is level 84!

Abyssal Skein is level 82!

Illusory Double is level 55!

Journeyman Tier!

You Gain:

+10 INT

+10 RES

+10 PER

Ferric Shaping is level 37!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+10 WIL

+10 INT

+10 MIG

Mantle of the Infinite Revolution is level 75!

Adept Tier!

You Gain:

+15 MIG

+15 INT

+15 END

Storm Shaping is level 35!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+10 EVA

+10 RES

+10 INT

The past few hours had been intense for him. Left without responsibility for the first time in a while, Felix put all of his building frustration to work. His concern over Pit’s injuries, the worry that he’d mess up his interactions with the Frost Giants, even his fear that he’d be too late to save the Gnome. He grasped all of it and burned it as fuel.

He trained.

Felix’s Skill levels had grown, some by significant leaps, but most by small increments as he learned to leverage the patterns in his chest. His shaping Skills were growing especially well, though Ferric and Storm Shaping still had a long ways to catch up. He had put both of those Skills into his Shaping Array, and was still hoping to combine them all together at some point, but it wasn’t right yet. The patterns were just slightly off.

Interestingly enough, Abyssal Skein was also easier to use within the Dark Passage. Conversely, it was also a lot stronger, and actively fought against Felix’s Will. He realized that it was affected by the proximity of the Void, the darkness inside his core space reacting to the darkness without. The true Void hadn’t worked like that, but the Dark Passages weren’t really the Void, just as they weren’t really the Corporeal Realm. Something about the in-between nature tried to destabilize the Skill whenever he tried to use it, like an explosion in a pressurized chamber. Felix hadn’t tried to use it more than once, but ironically his revelation was what bumped the Skill up several levels, going from seventy-seven to eighty-two all at once.

Those Skills with the lowest levels were the easiest to advance; the advantage of having a powerful Body, Mind, and Spirit he supposed. Anything below level 90 had advanced at least a little, while those above it were stuck in place. Felix knew he required a greater challenge, or perhaps greater understanding, to push those up and into Master Tier. It was still incredibly frustrating though. He had tried for hours to push Relentless Resolution up by a single level, racing across the forward deck like a madman in complex loops, leaps, and turns. The problem, as he saw it, was his Body and Mind were too strong. Relentless Resolution was about turning thought into action, and only by pressing himself to his utter limits would he see more growth.

He tried, but when the deck had burst into flame and shattered he was forced to tone it down.

Hours later, sweat dripped from Felix's brow as he settled against the foremost point of his ship. A great deal of his concentration and thought had gone into his training—he wanted to eke out whatever advantage he could from their time in the Dark Passage. Now, he just wanted to rest. Which of course meant a different kind of work: as he caught his breath, he thought about his bonus stats.

He had ninety bonus stats, a veritable windfall for anyone else, but considerably less for him. The eternal question was whether he wished to pursue a balanced build as best he could, or if he should emphasize his strengths.

Am I close to the next Threshold? When asked, Karys hadn’t known if there was another Threshold after the third; Zara hadn’t even heard of the third until Felix reached it. As with all power on the Continent, people who had as many stats as Felix weren’t interested in sharing details.

He brought up his stats.

STR:4184

PER:3202

VIT:3240

END:2642

INT:3347

WIL:4254

AGL:2835

DEX:2957

Certainly not bad. His Strength and Willpower were his two highest, followed closely by Perception, Vitality, and Intelligence. But even his Endurance, Agility, and Dexterity were monstrous in comparison. From what Felix gleaned from his friends, few had more than one stat higher than a thousand. His friends were growing past that, though they remained fairly specialized. Evie was focused on Agility and Dexterity, Harn on Endurance and Strength, Atar on Intelligence and Willpower, and Vess on Strength and Agility. Even Beef wasn’t as far ahead as Felix, which he was certain was just blind luck; Felix had stumbled into his fair share of bad encounters. His greatest feat, in those early days, was that he kept surviving—if only barely.

Thankfully, their Link with him was hastening their growth. It was many times greater than the strange effect he was having on the Claw, which was already pushing them to advance their Skills just a touch faster. He knew, one on one, his friends were more than a match for anyone at their own Tier. Together? They were a walking bad day for whoever opposed them.

Karys had explained that most people in his Age were in the two thousand point range when approaching Master Tier…and then, only in a handful of stats. Specialization reigned even in the Golden Empire, apparently, though the old man claimed the opportunities for advancement and growth were far greater. “War,” he had said, “is a remarkable accelerant.”

Felix mentally clicked on the little feather icon in his display.

Pit’s Stats

STR: 873

PER: 728

VIT: 910

END: 1152

INT: 894

WIL: 861

AGL: 2226

DEX: 1802

Even if Pit only had Agility and Dexterity as his primary focus, he would be faster and more nimble than most Adept Tier combatants. His other stats, however, meant he could fight several Adept Tiers head-on without much worry. Specialization was strong, but only until you met a counter. Balance was the go to for anyone that had to fight alone. Balance would keep them alive.

And yet…

It’s only ninety points, he reasoned. I can earn those back pretty fast.

Felix put all of them into Willpower. It was the stat that had gotten him to this point, after all.

WIL:4511

He took a deep breath as System energy spun through the funnel of his core space. It narrowly avoided being sucked up by his Hunger before crashing into his dual cores. The spinning rings swelled with their respective lights, turning the colorless potency into vibrant rays of power. It wasn’t too many stat points, but Felix could feel his Mind clarify just a touch. With a slight press of his Will, he rose into the air.

I’ll never get over that. Being able to propel himself via Willpower and Alacrity was the only thing Felix had ever missed about the Void. It was easier than ever, now.

He settled back onto the deck with a muted thump. I suppose since I’m making decisions, I should assign my extra Skill levels.

The Title: Champion of the Long Night had granted him (and Pit) an extra ten levels to apply to a single Skill below Adept Tier. He’d held off, attempting to train what he could before spending the Title’s bounty. Felix knew he’d rather spend the free levels on a Skill that was as close to Adept Tier as possible. But…what if the Skill was too close to Adept? Would the Skill levels push it beyond? Or would they be wasted?

Stupid opaque System. Still, he checked his status once more. A list of Skills too hard or too strange to level normally, closer to Adept. He could choose Fiendforge, but that could be trained and it was of no immediate use. Perhaps the Last Cry of the Chthonic Host, his life-saving trump card. It was an insta-heal ability, only able to be used once per month—the extra levels would surely reduce that cool-down, perhaps by as much as a day. He discarded that idea.

He knew what to choose.

Congratulations Champion!

You Have Added 10 Levels To Your Skill!

Unite the Lost is level 52!

…

Unite the Lost is level 61!

Aside from its help in fixing Pit, just in case this Mote of Frenzy didn’t pan out, Felix had a feeling he will need the Skill a lot in the coming days. The Systems word echoed in his memory, as clear and sharp as diamonds.

What Is Lost Can Be Regained.

He certainly hoped so.

Felix lounged against the gunwale, elbows up against the rounded railing. Pit. How’s training going?

AH! It’s good! Totally fine and safe!

Are you lying?

Why would I do that? Don’t—Hey! Spread the fire evenly—Yeah, sure. There was a sound of crashing, and if Felix focused he could hear the whoosh of wind from somewhere below decks. Everything’s fine. Don’t even, uh, worry. Gotta go.

Their bond dimmed, pinched tight by his Companion, and Felix rolled his eyes. He knew nothing was wrong with his friend—he could see the tenku’s Status Sheet after all. What annoyed Felix was that Pit had begun downplaying a lot of the dangerous things he got into; a bad habit that he needed to shake, quickly.

At the very least, it was mollifying that he had been burning through the Skill levels as much as Felix.

Cold Resistance is level 70!

Long Blade Mastery is level 48!

BloodBloody Gnaw is level 85!

Hurricane Rasp is level 86!

Howl At The Dark is level 84!

Dawn's Advent is level 82!

Tempest Fugit is level 84!

Mantle of Tumult is level 88!

Poison Resistance is level 55!

Journeyman Tier!

You Gain:

+5 VIT

+5 END

+5 STR

Heat Resistance is level 42!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+7 VIT

+7 END

+7 AGL

Breath of the Wild is level 25!

Apprentice Tier!

You Gain:

+5% PER

+5% VIT

+5% END

Dark Glacial Guard is level 59!

Journeyman Tier!

You Gain:

+15 END

+15 STR

+15 VIT

Pit had also already chosen his Skill for the Champion bonus. Dark Glacial Guard was a tough one to level compared to most of his others. His friend had been fighting the other Claw members for hours, just like Felix, and it had barely risen five levels from the repeated attacks. Adding the Title bonus pushed it right into Journeyman Tier and got him a solid stat boost, too.

The ship sailed onward through the tepid darkness, the occasional distant mountain peak their only sense of progress. Felix was fairly certain they were reaching the end of the Passage—knowledge from Labyrinthine Wing that rumbled through distant pieces of his Mind.

How much time has passed in the real world, this time? he wondered. With the Skill’s increase in level, it had already changed a lot. He had been interested in using his Champion’s bonus on it, but the Skill wouldn’t take the extra levels. Shame. But we’ll get there, one step at a time.

“Ah!” Beef shouted from further down the deck. Felix craned his neck, peering toward the living tree-mast and his bulky friend sat beneath it. “Oh, we’re back.”

“You needed the break,” Vess said. She stood up and gave a languid stretch. “As did I.”

Felix had been keeping an eye on the two of them for a while now. Vess was an exceptional teacher, and he truly hoped she had impressed on Beef the value of what she offered. The kid meant well, but he could be stubborn—he still hadn’t even shown Felix his core space. Too shy, his Spirit reported. Felix didn’t really understand why.

But he was growing. Already there was a new, ineffable sense of strength about the Minotaur. He felt…grounded. Felix tilted his head at that; Affinity did more than sense emotions, it sensed the web of connections all around them. As Beef stood and started stretching, Felix could feel gossamer, unreal threads flexing and going taut. One was to Vess, but the biggest was to Felix himself.

Hopefully that means he did well in there. All of his people were growing. Many had leveled during the trip across the Step, and Pit had helped the majority of them polish their Skills. Only six were patrolling the gunwales, while the rest were below decks. Something boomed beneath him, rattling the deck very slightly.

We’re fine! Pit sent.

Felix rolled his eyes and settled in. He also sent the six patrolling guards to rest or train, as they wished. He could handle anything that lurked in the darkness.

Little did.

The Dark Passages had changed in many ways, but somehow the borders of it were far stronger. Felix could sense a few Void beasts lingering here or there; flocks of Harrowings, for instance. It was a sizable flock, numbering around a thousand, but he wasn’t really concerned with them, not as he would have been once before. The real worry were the mountains, which had proven to host strange, tentacular beasts. But the few they had drawn close to were empty expanses of lifeless rock. Not even weeds grew on their gray slopes, and all were riddled with holes, worn through by acid or digging claws…but the dark dens were void of all life. Felix made sure of it.

The ship continued on.

Somewhere around the six hour mark, Felix’s Labyrinthine Wing alerted him to the approaching edge of the Passage. At the same time, his powerful Perception flagged a distant peak straight ahead.

Felix straightened, standing so that he braced his foot against the base of the spar. “Holy crap, that’s a big mountain.”

Though the ship didn’t accelerate, the mountain drew closer way faster than it should have. Soon, the Sailwhale was before a mountain that made Everest look like an ant-hill, and people began to crowd the deck.

“Blood and ash,” Evie cursed. Felix agreed.

Their hundreds-feet long, blimp-like crystal cast enough light that their way forward was clear: through an enormous gate, easily ten times the size of the ship, bored through the center of the mega-mountain. It was open and empty, though Felix picked out the rusted remains of metal along its edges. It was otherwise shaped like a giant, nine-pointed star.

“You think that’s Nymean?” Beef asked.

“Gotta be,” Evie said.

“Wasn’t here before though,” Harn pointed out. “Is that on you?”

Felix nodded, but said nothing. He was engrossed in the details as they drifted through the first open gate. Another was beyond it, a half mile ahead, and he could see a third in the distance as well. Between each one were rotted and broken down structures that had been carved into the sheer side of the mountain. From the pitted stone and cracked foundations worn to rounded nubs, they looked as if something had devastated them a long time ago.

Unlike their swift approach, moving through the gates was a slow affair. After perhaps twenty minutes, they passed through the third star-shaped gate to find a wide circular platform built into a deep, terraced mountainside. A caldera of sorts, empty now, but filled with the crumbling remnants of an ancient outpost or city. Nearest to them was an array of crumbling landing bays, and Felix had the ship guided to the one that looked the sturdiest.

He made sure to Stone Shape it back together, just to be safe.

“Down and out, folks!” Felix shouted. “I’m opening the rift very soon. Assemble there.” He cast Illusory Double and a shadowy shape manifested several dozen yards into the quay. A tumbled down pathway of arches framed his illusion as it waved its hands.

“Move your asses!” Harn bellowed.

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