Unbound

The gargantuan serpent beast roared as the shield opened, huge jaws agape and wet tongue quivering, but Felix and Pit gave it little time to act.

Adamant Discord!

Shadow Whip!

Felix changed his mind, resheathed his weapons, and they flew out of the Redoubt with all the speed and subtlety of cannonshot. The monstrous thing barely had time to rear back and they were before it, thick Shadow Whip stretched taut between the two of them. Lightning flashed, and they passed through, clothes-lining the serpent-like creature hard enough to snap it's head back.

Spittle and blood shot into the air as it's massive jaws snapped shut, Felix's second Shadow Whip coiling about it's knobby snout with as much Strength as he could put to bear. It's severed tongue flipped up and out, a fountain of thick, amber colored blood. With a grunt, Felix landed on its back, which was covered in barbed spines three feet in length, but his metal-shod feet shattered those closest and landed firmly on its slick scales.

No, not scales, he realized, kicking through another barbed spine that cracked like wood. Bark.

Voracious Eye!

Name: Slaughter Nettle

Type: Plant (Manawarped)

HP: 20299/20299

SP: 13149/15958

MP: 3485/3485

Lore: A Slaughter Nettle is a rare evolution of the Bog-Lure, and just as violent as its name suggests. Born in thick marshland, it incorporates fibrous plant-matter into its form, growing larger with each piece of the Green Wild it subsumes.

Strength: More Data Required

Weakness: More Data Required

Manawarping again! Up close it really did look more like a plant than a real monster, for all that it had those same blue, oozing tentacles that the Draktopi had on them. He could see the goopy material wrapping around the creature's lower Body about twenty feet below them, but above that was thick, ridged bark, thorny branches, and moss-wrapped tendons of creaking wood. All of it formed into the shape of some sort of serpent that reminded Felix heavily of the Naga. Is the ooze the cause of the Manawarping? He hadn't seen any on the Hatchlings or the Depthwurm.

Watch out! Pit cried.

Those oozing blue tendrils exploded out of the water and slashed up at Felix, nearly slapping him free of the Nettle's back were it not for the flurry of frozen projectiles. Jagged spears of ice rained from above as Pit strafed across the Nettle's position, and each spear burst upon impact, flash freezing parts of the ooze even as electricity danced across the rest. The ice didn't last long, but it locked them up for a few seconds at least.

More Draktopi down here! And the Knights are firing! Pit reported, whipping in tight circles just out of the Nettle's reach. Draktopi are crowding the shield, and it's flashing like mad!

Felix could see that, even around the bulk of the Nettle. Waves of color were flowing off the Redoubt's shields, blues and greens now, but getting lighter and warmer as the monsters kept attacking. Focus on the lesser beasts! Keep the people safe.

Got it!

Pit flew off, and the shrill zip of arrows filled the air. They hit hard, so hard that even from the other side Felix could feel them impact the creature's wide, tube-like torso. Quagmires and paralyzing bindings formed around the oozing tendrils and the Draktopi that still flailed against the Redoubt's shields. There were dozens of the crocodilian squid beasts jetting through the churning waters, but many were being cut down by the Knights and Gallants on the walls, filling the already murky water with dark ichor.

"Ready! Fire!"

From atop the wall, Felix sensed a potent salvo coming from the assembled Knights, but he had no chance to do anything but hang on. A screaming bundle of raw heat slammed into the monster and engulfed it, so searing it set Felix's tunic ablaze. He gritted his teeth against the pain. Frankly, he was surprised it cut through his resistances at all, but it was clearly enough to hurt the Nettle, which vibrated so hard Felix nearly fell off, even with it's throaty roars muted by the Shadow Whip.

Rime Shaping!

Ice Mana surged downward from Felix's feet, shaping a trail of hoarfrost along the Nettle's vegetation before impacting the sizzling goop of its tendrils. It hit the water fast and hard, crashing into the surface and freezing chunks of the monster's appendages in place. The tops of the tentacles had some mobility, but Felix held onto the Shaping, trying to send more and more to crawl up the beast's limbs. All the while, arrows and strange, arcane spells crashed into it and the lesser Draktopi below. Between Felix holding it tight and Pit attacking its tendrils, the creature was well locked down and an easy target for the Knights.

Yet it wasn't defenseless.

With an almighty lurch, the Slaughter Nettle fell backward, hurling its serpent Body into the water and a huge stand of thick-branched trees. Felix held on, summoning his battle form and clinging tightly to his Shadow Whip as he was slammed down onto branches and trunks, shattering them and the ice before plunging into the depths.

Everything went silent, yet rushed all the same. The Nettle landed atop him, writhing and twisting with all the malicious glee of a crocodile, grinding Felix into the rocky ground at least twenty feet below the waterline. Rocks shattered beneath them, tearing what was left of his tunic and pants to shreds and carving deep furrows into his scaled back while dirt and debris clouded his vision. Even with the protection of Armored Skin and his Sovereign of Flesh, Felix couldn't stop the damage, only repair it, and his Essence stores were burning up with the efforts to boost his healing.

Felix dropped Shadow Whip and dug his talons into the Nettle's bark, tearing chunks of oozing sapwood with every movement. His boots retracted into armored rings around his ankles and freed the talons there to kick and claw as well, until Felix burrowed an entire damn hole into the creature's back. The Nettle was still grinding itself against the lakebed, but he was out of the way now, and finally his Sovereign of Flesh was able to catch up on the damage to his Health.

Felix! The flagship is coming in fast! Pit sent to him, sounding out of breath even in his Mind.

Great. Wait! Yes! Great! Felix fumbled at his waist, awkwardly pulling free a small dagger. Tell them to head toward me! Full speed!

Okay!

Felix could sense Pit fly away, but he put it out of his Mind and instead focused upon the dagger. Alright, you. Let's hope you still work. Slick sapwood and rank water was all around him and below was scraped-raw bedrock. With all of his might, Felix slammed the dagger up, pommel first into the Slaughter Nettle. Grow!

Mana surged from Felix's channels, a rushing torrent that soaked into the grip of his Skyslain's Riposte like water into sand. In response, he was thrown so fast and so hard that it was all Felix could do to hang onto the dagger's crossguard as the blade hit the bedrock, stopped, and kept growing in the opposite direction. The entirety of the Nettle was hurled upward at speed as the power and growth of the Skyslain's Riposte shoving it bodily from the water.

Just in time for the Manaship to ram right into it.

"Take it down!" Harn bellowed, and the Fiend's Claw responded with a cry that sent the water skittering away in waves. Felix scrambled out of the Nettles wound, his massively grown dagger now wedged straight through the Nettle's center mass. Getting that out would be some work, and with the absolute hurrican of Skills that were slamming into the beast all around him, Felix wasn't willing to take the time. He hopped out of the shallow wound and yanked himself upward, grasping the thorns along the Nettle's back with every vaulting pull.

Far below, oozing tendrils whipped up from the water, smashing into the prow of the ship and sending a number of the Claw stumbling back. In an impressive feat of athleticism, Alister ran forward, sliding along the slick deck on his knees as Mana rushed outward from his hands and head, forming a massive shield nearly forty feet in width. The next strikes slammed down, but they rebounded with a crash, leaving smears of its bubbling ooze behind.

"Use the shield! Beef!" Harn shouted, before leaping up onto the edge of the force shield and running along its top. More tendrils slashed after him, but Harn was too fast, springing over them before taking a final jump straight onto the Nettle's rough Body. His axes slammed into the creature's bark skin with twin thwacks, followed only seconds later by the oversized form of Beef and his massive great maul.

The Nettle swayed, and from his higher vantage, Felix could see the Redoubt's shields flashing in deep oranges and reds. A high pitched whine had entered the battle, barely audible over the fray, but increasing in volume with every handful of attacks. For some reason the Knights were standing back, no longer attacking despite the danger. Felix could sense a number of Perception Skills being trained on him specifically, but very few even seemed to care about the monsters. The Draktopi were thinning out, but there were still at least twenty going absolutely rabid at the base of the fortress. Sooner or later, the shield would fall.

Pit! The Draktopi!

On it!

His Companion flew low, sweeping right over a number of the Claw's faces and shouted something. Thirty of them split off, heading to the port side of the ship and unleashing their ranged attacks against the Fathom spawn in the water.

Below, silver fire and washes of dark gray chitin started to overwhelm the Slaughter Nettle. It was proving to be very strong, though; even after being stabbed through and pummeled with magic, its Health was only at around half.

"I'm not done yet," he muttered, an unsheathed his curved khopesh. The bronze blade glimmered with magic as he activated Wild Threnody, sounding the sour strains of his Corrosive Strike until the entire sword was dripping with virulent green liquid. Mana congealed onto the blade like a second skin.

Wild Threnody is level 75!

Adept Tier!

You Gain:

+10 WIL, INT, END

Ignoring the notification, Felix struck downward onto the monsters angled neck. Acid ate through vegetation and moss, sizzling over the vines and cutting deep furrows into its sapwood. Again and again, each swing biting deeper than even his talons had, each swing swelling with more acidic Mana. Tendrils reached up, slapping at him where he hung, forcing Felix to dodge among the thorny protrusions on the Nettle's back. But Wild Threnody sang in him, an untamed music that spiraled through his channels and pumped like the drum beat of war. Mana was his to command, to shape, and it burned through his Mana Gates and surged across the face of his Inheritor's Will.

Wild Threnody is level 76!

...

Wild Threnody is level 80!

Something inside him rang out, a massive gong struck by the worlds largest mallet, and the Skill shifted. A new pattern surged into place, smoothly adding onto the old Threnody as the Mana within himshot from his channels with more force than ever before. Again, two tendrils whipped up, but this time instead of running, Felix pivoted and slashed...sending two crescents of sizzling acid Mana flashing outward. They severed the tendrils with a sizzling pop that made the Nettle shriek into the sky.

"Oh, I like this," Felix said with a grin.

"What are they doing, ma'am?" Knight Covain asked.

"You can see just as well as I, Yani."

Knight Covain could in fact see what was going on, the problem was she couldn't believe it. The strangers had sailed their Manaships toward the monstrosities that had besieged them and, not hesitating in the slightest, had rammed their crafts into its side. The ship was greatly damaged, but none seemed to care, and instead figures in armor and dark cloaks had begun raining destructive Skills atop the monster horde. Even more unbelievable was the one that had somehow infiltrated their fortress in the first place. According to her Knights it was a man, but the creature she saw laughing atop the Slaughter Nettle was not a man at all.

You Have Killed A Draktopus (x27)!

XP Earned!

You Have Killed A Slaughter Nettle (Manawarped)!

XP Earned!

She grunted in surprise over how...little XP she felt settle into her core. The majority of it came from the Draktopi, of which they'd outright killed more than a few. From the Nettle, however, she barely felt a trickle. "Gallant Quin. What was its Health?"

"Over ten thousand, ma'am. My Analyze couldn't get a full read on its totals, just its current when I joined the wall and...and the foreign combatants had already done a number on them." A woman with dark orange eyes stared out through the shields, to where the strangers were gathering just atop the downed Slaughter Nettle. "It is remarkable."

"Indeed," Knight Covain said. They had not put through even a portion of that amount of damage, despite the opening Sunder Blade that the Knight Commander had sent out. That was part of why she'd halted their offensive, once she had seen the two enemies engaging with one another. "Hold yourselves ready," she said again. "Skills at bay."

She did not know what to expect from these strangers. They were too strong. As Covain watched them kill the last of the Fathom spawn her guard did not ease. That man. Someone that could stop these creatures, almost single-handedly, was—

Another Gallant stepped forward, tapping his heels and saluting at the Knight Commander. "Ma'am. The...he is requesting entry. Again."

Covain gripped her sword hard. She hadn't noticed the man move from atop the dead Nettle, but he was there, floating before their shields like some sort of ghost. His entire Body was covered in dark, tight-fitting armor and blades at his waist dripped with gore...but his expression was mild. He waved.

"Let him in," the Knight Commander ordered.

"Ma'am," Covain warned, but the Commander only held up a single finger. Covain clenched her jaw, forcing her protests back down.

The armored man floated through the gap in their shields. The whining from them increased in volume only a short while before fading as the gap closed; the shields were still damaged but would repair themselves in time. The man landed atop the wall, his feet sizzling a bit with miniature blue-white lightning, and he gave a wide smile to everyone. "Hi. Sorry for barging in earlier."

"Is that what you call infiltrating a private convocation?" the Knight Commander asked, her voice far more...comfortable than Covain liked.

The man winced and ran a clawed gauntlet up and through his hair. Covain wasn't sure how, but the armor flexed as he did so, moving with his Body. "Ah, well. I was worried you were going to attack my ships."

"They are yours?" The man nodded once again. "Who are you?"

"Oh!" He stuck out his hand. "I'm Felix—ah dang, one sec." Covain nearly dropped her sword when the armor on his entire Body just...vanished, turning into skin and hastily repairing clothes. He put out his hand, this time entirely scale-free. "I'm Felix Nevarre. Autarch of Nagast and the Leviathan Depths. Nice to meet you."

No. Not a man, Covain thought with a quiver of fear.

A monster.

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