Unbound

A few minutes later, the four of them were all assembled in the empty room. Felix had used his Voracious Eye on all of them as they came in, something he had neglected to do when he arrived. Evie was level 23, while Harn and Cal were level 39 and 42 respectively. His his new senses and Skill, Felix could even tell that both Harn and Cal were beyond their Second Formation while Evie was just shy of her First. However, he couldn't tell whether she was missing her Mind, Spirit, or Body. Voracious Eye was extremely strong, though, so he had hopes it would grow as he leveled it further.

Almost without him noticing it, Felix had begun to pace. Evie, Harn, and Cal all watched him for a bit before Evie belted out a laugh. "C'mon, Felix. Out with it. What's going on?"

Felix forced himself to stop and unclench his fists. His knuckles were starting to hurt. He took a steadying breath and looked at Cal. "Is there some way to ward this room against eavesdroppers or anything?"

Cal frowned. "I trust this crew with my life."

"With my life too?" Felix asked.

Cal looked at Harn, who shrugged. The man pulled a number of blue orbs from a pouch at his waist, a familiar artifact Felix hadn't seen in a while.

"Wardstones, huh? I thought you borrowed those from the Guild?" Felix grinned and Harn smiled right back.

"Got lost in the Foglands, the report said. Who am I ta argue?"

When the wardstones activated they bathed the small room in the cool glow of water Mana...well, to Felix anyway. He wasn't sure how prevalent that Skill was yet. That had to change.

"I have not been fully truthful with all of you before. I mentioned to Harn and others that I had been in the Foglands for a few weeks when we met, and that is absolutely true. What I left out is before that I was not exactly...here."

Evie gave him a blank look, while Cal and Harn frowned slightly.

"I was...jeez, this was easier with Magda. I told her this too, by the way. Ok," Felix took a breath. "Where I'm from, levels and Skills and magic don't exist. I'm not from the Continent. From what Magda told me, I'm an Unbound."

Felix expected shouting, but instead the silence was deafening. Evie had gone wide eyed, while Cal was pale. Harn, however, started laughing.

"Haha! Of course!" He slapped the table, putting a dent in the hardwood. "That makes so much more sense! Blind gods, no wonder yer so damn strong!"

Harn's reaction broke the floodgates, and soon both Evie and Cal were rattling off questions so fast that Felix had to ask them to slow it down.

"Mags knew? When?" Cal leaned forward, her face somewhere between earnest and solemn.

"Yeah, Magda knew. I told her while we were in the Labyrinth." Felix grinned at the the memory. "She reacted a lot like you, Harn."

The warrior smiled back and scratched his cheek, as did Cal. "Yeah, she would've. You drove her nuts, ya know? She never could tell what yer deal was."

Felix grimaced. "She mentioned that too. I feel bad for lying about it, but honestly I didn't know the first thing about this place when I arrived. When I met you all, I knew enough to worry what my Race or...'foreigner' status would mean."

"Your Race?" Evie perked up. "You're not Human?"

"Oh, right. No I'm not. It got...long story, but it changed when I arrived here." He paused before barreling through. "To Nym."

That got even more of a reaction, with Harn gritting his teeth and Cal folding her arms. Evie, however, had the best response.

"You mean those star guys? From the tower walls?" Felix smiled and nodded at her and Evie shrugged. "Nice choice."

"I didn't exactly make that choice. Like I said, long story. I was...assigned my Race, though I did get to choose my Born Trait. Keen Mind, like I told you once before Harn. Perfect recall for up to a month back. That's come in handy more times than I can count." Felix tipped his head and considered. "No wait, I could count, but that would be annoying."

Cal shifted in her chair her face grave. "This is a problem, Felix. The Nym are feared for many reasons, but those who even know the name are few. They're a Lost Race, which means Ruin scoured them from the world Ages ago."

"Ruin. I've heard that mentioned a lot." Felix frowned. "It's some sort of force? A monster? How does it extinguish entire Races?"

"No one knows, but we do know that anything deemed Lost is lost in true," Cal sighed, half frustrated half exasperated. "I wish I knew more. I've run into so many issues treasure hunting that I'd kill for an answer, Felix."

She shook her head. "But my point is, the Nym are Lost. Knowledge of them is pretty small. But the Unbound? The Unbound are myths and bogeymen, demons from the old religions. Even the Pathless talks about them. Everyone's been told an Unbound story when they were kids. They are feared and reviled, almost across the board."

Felix thought he followed. "So you're saying I'm screwed if people find out?"

Cal nodded. "That's what I'm saying. Is there any way to tell?"

"Not that I know of," Felix shrugged. "My Status doesn't even mention it. I only know the term because of Magda and Evie here." Evie shot him a confused look. "You mentioned it in that cellar after we met. Briefly."

"Can we see your Status?" Cal asked.

"Hey now, Callie. That's not right." Harn growled at the woman. "You don't just ask ta see a man's Status. You don't have ta show us nothin', Felix."

"He does if he doesn't want to be blind-sided by an Inquisitor. Or do you not recall who is in this city right now?" Cal looked at all of them in turn. "Those ranked Inquisitor or higher have some Perception Skills that are Rare or even Epic. Others can do stuff even I don't know about. The moment you run into one of them Felix, you could be identified and ambushed. An Unbound? They'd tear apart the city to find you."

Felix blanched and his heart beat a little harder. A sense of smug satisfaction drifted from his Bastion, but he quenched it with an internal growl. A trilling song pushed against his mind, and Felix calmed a bit. Thanks Pit.

"I encountered the Inquisition when I got into the city. They were being dicks so I uh," Felix scratched his eyebrow and didn't quite meet their gazes. "I may have knocked one of them out."

"Yyero's backside."

"Shit."

"Good," muttered Evie. "Blind fools can get what they deserve."

Harn placed a comforting hand on Evie's shoulder. She flashed the older man a smile before sitting up again. "So they know who you are?"

"Not so much. Apparently the Acolyte at the gate didn't Analyze me before I uh, slipped past her. Been avoiding their patrols ever since."

"That's good. Brainless beginning, but I'd rather be lucky than smart any day of the week." Cal huffed a breath and slapped her knees. "So. You willing to show us your Status?"

Felix thought it over a moment, but realized he had little to hide from these three. In fact, doing so would get in the way of his plans. "Sure."

He pulled it up and pushed it toward the three of them, willing it to remain unchanged. A blue window appeared before each of their faces, and Evie gasped.

"Siva's lily white ass! What the--how?"

Name:

Felix Nevarre

Level:

26

Race:

Nym

Omen:

The Magician

Born Trait:

Keen Mind

Health:

880/880

Companion: Pit (Tenku)

Stamina:

865/865

Mana:

1461/1461

Body: Moving Mountain

Mind: Godeater

Spirit: Dawnwalker

STR:

156

PER:

152

VIT:

176

END:

157

INT:

190

WIL:

273

AGL:

130

DEX:

127

Skills:

BODY

Resistances: Acid Resistance (C), Level 24; Fire Resistance (C) Level 19*; Cold Resistance (U), Level 20; Heat Resistance (U), Level 21*; Pain Resistance (U), Level 42; Poison Resistance (U), Level 40; Lightning Resistance (R), Level 1*

Combat Skills: Axe Mastery (C), Level 5*; Blunt Weapon Mastery (C), Level 10*; Dodge (C), Level 25; Long Blade Mastery (C), Level 15*; Parry (C), Level 4*; Small Blade Mastery (C), Level 10; Staff Mastery (C), Level 7*; Thrown Weapons Mastery (C), Level 11; Unarmed Mastery (C), Level 25; Blind Fighting (R), Level 21; Corrosive Strike (R), Level 25

Physical Enhancements: Running (C), Level 21; Swimming (C), Level 6; Acrobatics (U), Level 25*; Free Climbing (U), Level 15; Relentless Charge (U), Level 9; Armored Skin (R), Level 41; Physical Conditioning (R), Level 23

MIND

Mental Enhancements: Intimidation (C), Level 8*; Deception (U), Level 6; Make An Entrance (U), Level 10; Meditation (U), Level 33; Bastion of Will (E), Level 42; Deep Mind (E), Level 30; Ravenous Tithe (E), Level 2

Information Skills: Tracking (C), Level 13; Exploration (U), Level 27; Herbalism (U), Level 17; Voracious Eye (E), Level 25

SPIRIT

Spiritual Enhancements: Dual Casting (U), Level 21; Mana Manipulation (U), Level 10; Manasight (U), Level 40; Manaship Pilot (R), Level 1; Etheric Concordance (L), Level 27

Spells: Abyssal Skein (R), Level 11; Cloudstep (R), Level 8; Fire Within (R) Level 33; Influence of the Wisp (R), Level 26; Invocation (R), Level 1; Mantle of the Long Night (R), Level 13; Shadow Whip (R), Level 26; Stone Shaping (R), Level 25; Reign of Vellus (E), Level 33; Sigils of the Primordial Dawn (E), Level 19; Wrack And Ruin (E), Level 26

Title(s):

Survivor I (+1 END, VIT)

Survivor II (+1 END, +2 VIT)

Survivor III (+2 END, +3 VIT)

Natural Scholar I (+1 INT, PER)

Natural Scholar II (+3 INT, +2 DEX, PER)

Giantslayer I (+1 STR, AGL)

Giantslayer II (+2 STR, AGL)

Daredevil I (+1 STR, VIT, AGL)

Daredevil II (+1 STR, AGL, +2 VIT)

Butcher I (+1 STR, WIL, DEX)

Butcher II (+3 STR, +2 WIL, +2 DEX)

Butcher III (+4 STR, +3 WIL, +3 DEX)

Unconquered (+4 END, +6 VIT, +4 WIL)

Spellslinger (+4 INT, WIL)

Face the Charge (+4 WIL, +1 VIT, +2 STR)

Bulwark of the Innocent (+10% STR, VIT)

Pactmaker (+4 AGL, PER, +3 DEX)

Work Horse (+4 END, STR, +3 VIT)

Blind Pugilist (+4 PER, +3 DEX, AGL)

Exemplary Student (+5 PER, INT, +3 DEX)

Hero (+5% all stats)

Iron Will (+6 WIL, REI, +10 ALA)

Apprentice Magus (+10 Mental Stats, +10 RES, ALA)

The Broken Path (+10% Journeyman Tier Bonus)

Voidwalker (+10% Void Skills, +10% WIL, ALA in Void)

Unused Stat Points:

25

Apprentice Tier:

+10 Mental Stats, +10% Regen (Meditation)

+10% Perception, +25% to ID Mana (Manasight)

+10 WIL, INT (Tides of Vellus)

+10% WIL, +5 END, VIT (Mental Resistance)

+5 VIT, END, +5% END (Pain Resistance)

+10 WIL, +5% Internal Mana Control (Fire Within)

+5 END, VIT (Poison Resistance)

+3 AGL, DEX, END (Dodge)

+5 AGL, DEX, +3 PER (Acrobatics)

+10 ALA, RES, FORMATION (Deep Mind)

+5 VIT, END, FORMATION (Armored Skin)

+5 WIL, INT, FORMATION (Influence of the Wisp)

+5 STR, FORMATION (Unarmed Mastery)

+10 STR, PER, END (Corrosive Strike)

+5 STR, WIL, FORMATION (Stone Shaping)

+10 STR, PER, INT (Shadow Whip)

+10 INT, ALA (Wrack and Ruin)

+5 AGL, DEX, FORMATION (Etheric Concordance)

+3 INT, END, FORMATION (Exploration)

+3 INT, +2 PER, FORMATION (Voracious Eye)

Felix just grinned at their expressions. Evie was speechless (a rarity), and Cal looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Harn, however, just started laughing again.

"Yer absolutely ridiculous! Ye've got even more Skills than before too. An' so many are near or at Apprentice Tier?" Harn scratched his head. "Is this what an Unbound can do? No wonder they called 'em demons."

"Wow, your stats are...wow." Evie poked and prodded at his Status, smile wider every moment. "You're almost as fast as me, but have me beat in every other category. You're a beast, Felix."

Felix smiled uncomfortably. No wonder this is a cultural taboo. It's awkward as hell.

"What is wrong with these Skills?" Cal asked. She was pointing to those with asterisks next to them. Felix's smile turned into a wince.

"Those. During the final fight in the Labyrinth, Grimmar used an ability that damaged some of my Skills." Felix blew a heavy breath out of his nostrils, hoping to distract from his small lie. "It hurts to use them now. Can't even do a tumble without Acrobatics frying my nerve endings."

"Hmm," Cal leaned back in her chair, staring at his Status for a few moments longer. "Lotta Skills, lotta magic too. You a mage or a fighter?"

Felix shrugged. "I've had to be both. I'm whatever I need to survive. Right now, that means a little bit of everything."

Cal rubbered her chin and nodded. "You've got a way to keep this all hidden, right?" At Felix's nod she continued. "I don't see anything here that might indicate you're Unbound, except maybe just how much is here. But I'd keep it under wraps. You're far stronger than someone your level has a right to be, and that'll raise questions you don't want asked."

"She's right, kid. The Inquisition starts pokin' around they'll lock you up fer a thousand years. Yer worse than Sorcery, far as they're concerned." Harn drew small circles with his finger on the wooden tabletop, leaving uneven marks on it. "This conversation ain't leavin' this room, right?" Harn looked at all of them and everyone nodded. "Good, then we swear."

"Harn, what?" Evie turned in alarm to the warrior. "I'm not gonna spill anything."

"Kastos is right," Cal said with a sense of finality. She stood up and put out her hand, motioning to Felix to come closer.

"What is this? What do you mean by 'swearing?'" Felix looked to Harn as he stood up and ambled over.

"A Binding Oath, given freely and secured by the System itself," he said, placing his hand out next to Cal's, palm up. "We swear by our strength and power ta keep yer status, yer Race, and yer nature as Unbound a secret from all but the four of us. We break that oath and we lose levels, stats, even our formations in some cases. The System judges us."

Felix looked at each of them, surprised at the resolve in their faces.

Evie groaned, but she got up and put her hand in. "Ugh, he's right. This way none of us can betray your trust, whether intentional or not."

Harn waited until Felix also put his hand out, and began a low, wordless chant. It washed over them, the words themselves infused with green-gold Mana that spilled from Harn's mouth. The waves hit the warded walls and rebounded gently, like ripples in a pond. The chant was almost a song to Felix's ears, a gentle noise just beyond hearing. As the green-gold Mana built up in the room, swirling around the four of them, Felix saw increasing flashes of gold and blue across his vision and his head began to swim. Just as it reached a crescendo, all of the Mana in the room reversed course and was sucked into the center. Around their hands.

For a brief moment, their hands all glowed with brilliant life Mana before it sunk beneath the skin. Felix felt his skin tighten and prickle, but it passed. However his friends sucked in sharp breaths or cursed loudly, in the case of Evie.

"Noctis' tits! That hurts!"

"Maybe if ya trained up yer Pain Resistance it wouldn't be a problem," quipped Harn with a tight smile, flexing his hand slightly.

"You ok, Felix?" Cal asked, massaging her wrist.

Felix was staring off into space, a little startled.

New Skill!

Oathbinding (Rare), Level 1!

Through close observation you've learned to bind the oaths of the willing. Costs Health, Mana, and Stamina.

"Uh yeah," he said. "I'm good. I just learned Oathbinding."

"What?" Harn said, mouth opening. "Just now?"

"Yeah."

"Fuckin' Unbound," he muttered.

Felix frowned at the notification a bit longer before dismissing it. He wasn't sure why he'd gotten that Skill so easily when Manaship Pilot had taken a System reward to show up.

"Thank you, everyone. You didn't have to swear, but you did and I'm...I'm honored." Felix smiled at each of them.

"So what's it like being Unbound?" Evie asked, popping herself onto the table top.

"Honestly, I have as many questions as you do about it," Felix sat down with a grunt, and the chair creaked beneath him. He looked down in annoyance before continuing. "Unbound and Nym and I don't know the first thing about either."

"Well, we're not good sources for that," admitted Cal. "If we were still Guilders, I'd have you try the Archivist. She runs the Guild Librarium. Best damn mage I ever knew."

Harn snapped his fingers. "Not anymore."

"What?" Cal turned to him.

"She left a few months ago. Got into it with a few Elders over her book system." Harn barked a short laugh. "They tried ta rearrange all her books. She ended up hangin' the new archivist out the window of the Spire."

"Sounds about right?" Cal laughed. "Where's she now?"

"Runs a shop in the Wall Quarter. Elder Leaf or something."

"Elder Crown," Felix asked, heart sinking.

Harn snapped his finger and pointed at him. "That's the one. She'll know more about Unbound, maybe even the Nym if yer lucky."

"Yeah, that's me," Felix moaned. "Lucky."

They spoke at length about the Foglands and his time there, and Felix was happy to finally answer all questions honestly. It was amazing to not have to worry about weaving a convincing lie or telling a half truth.

Eventually the questions wound down and the subject of the Domain came back up. Felix explained what he meant about getting them access.

"Atar promised to get me access to the Domain. I can see if he'll stretch that to all of us."

"How'd you manage that?" Evie asked.

"He had something that belonged to me. I took it back until he decided to help." Felix grinned, but that slipped a second later. "Still lost my poison fang dagger and sword though."

"Oh right, you had that bronze hook blade, right? You lose that in the Labyrinth?" Evie said through a mouthful of bread. Where that bread had come from was beyond Felix. He was half convinced she had a Skill to produce food whenever she needed it. He nodded.

"Hooked sword? Was it made of bronze?" Cal asked. When Felix agreed, she sighed. "Damn. The Guild took it. I recovered a sword and a book from the Labyrinth. That and Mags....But the Guild was in a mood. They took everything my crew and I had, did their bastardized 'tribunal' and threw us out."

"Fuck em," growled Harn, taking a pull from a dark brown bottle. Felix Eyed it, though he didn't really have to; the smell alone was testament to how blindingly strong the alcohol was, way worse than the Twice Boiled Swill he'd had in the Void.

"So you had this too?" Felix pulled his journal from his satchel and showed it to Cal. She nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one. It was yours too? No one knew what it said, except that the first part was in Henaari. No Henaari scholars in the Guild, which shouldn't surprised anyone. Pretty secretive bunch, them. The sword they were much more interested in. Elder DuFont practically drooled over it."

"DuFont?" Felix asked.

"Elder of Acquisitions. In charge of gathering operations, herbalism and the like, but really it's just looting. She held onto that blade like it was her baby." Cal shrugged. "It's in their hands now, sorry to say. Unless you plan on raiding the Eyrie, that's where it's stayin'."

Felix frowned, but tried not to let the loss distract him. "Well, I'll see what I can do with Atar. I'm gonna see him tomorrow."

There were a few more questions, mostly about his time in the Foglands. He answered honestly for the most part, giving them a rough idea of the time before he met Magda's party. Eventually, the four of them wrapped it up. Outside the room, where the sun could actually be seen, Felix realized it was late afternoon. They'd been in there most of the day.

Evie walked him to the door.

"Your welcome to come train with us whenever. It'd be good to spar against you again."

"Sure," Felix smiled. "I still owe you one I think. You and Vess kicked my butt last time."

Evie paused near the door, going quiet. Felix stopped just before he grabbed the latch.

"What's up? Er, what's going on? You ok?" Felix asked.

"She's trapped up there, you know?" Evie nodded into the distance, toward the center of town. "Vess. The Elders and her Father's Hand are keeping her on a tight leash since the Foglands. The Duke has a lotta power around here, but he's also two cities away. With his Hand here, the Elders are keeping Vess locked up like a...like a songbird.

"I sent her a letter last month, but I haven't heard a word back. Callie and Bodie say we can't do anything, but something is wrong. The Guild...it never felt this way when Magda was around."

Felix didn't know what to say. He looked at Evie and saw the joy that was being crushed out of her, first by the loss of her sister, and now the loss of her friend.

"That really sucks," Felix agreed. "But what can we do about it? They way they talk, the Eyrie is impregnable. Filled with Bronze and Silver Ranks."

Evie shrugged and swiped her hair out of her face. "I know that! It's just--everything went sideways after the Foglands. I dunno."

Felix put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out. Somehow."

Evie smiled back. Felix turned and opened the heavy door, walking out into the late afternoon sunlight. "I'll see you tomorrow, Evie."

"See you tomorrow, Felix."

Felix wandered a bit after that, taking the streets of the Dust without putting too much thought into it. His mind was whirling with information, not the least of which was Oathbinding and that three other people now knew his secret. And he didn't have to worry! It was more of a load off his mind than he anticipated, and Felix reveled in the sensation of freedom.

Pit chirruped in his mind, responding to his good mood. Their connection grew stronger the closer he came to the Drum Tank. It was a happy sound, a joyful call that was like the ringing of bells.

Wait.

From the spires of various buildings, bells were being rung. As he listened more joined in, until the air was filled with the sound. Felix rushed up a nearby hill until he could get a clear view of the Wall in the distance. He could see blooms of orange fire and blue water Mana erupting from the top of the wall. Distantly, he could hear screaming.

"The Wall's being attacked." The flares of Mana sent a rumble of distant hunger to quake his Bastion. He clamped down on that as hard as he could, squashing it like a bug.

We're meant to feast, Felix. The Maw's voice slithered out from its cage. You cannot starve yourself forever.

Felix grunted and walled it off further, sealing the Maw's cackling beneath his mental tower. He didn't have time for the Maw's insanity right now.

SKREEE!

The cry came from above, and Felix whipped his head up to see five dark shapes come swooping out of the sky. Silhouetted against the evening light, he couldn't make out their details before they landed some streets away. The ground shook with their impact.

Then the screaming started.

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