Unbound

The Larval Ravager teeth were many. Row after row of overlapping fangs twisted and clenched, some missing him by mere inches.

Others did not.

Armored Skin is level 49!

His arms and shoulders bore the worst of it, though the wounds started clotting almost immediately as the monster essence he held inside of him diminished rapidly. Minutes ago, he would have been confused perhaps terrified by that detail. Now it was nothing more than a fact, one that meant he might succeed.

Short, tight bursts of Reign of Vellus sent him careening through the Ravager's throat. It spared him more injuries, at least until he cleared the last row of teeth. Then he met the pulsating esophagus of the beast, the wet, purple-red organ lined with massive thorns that rattled with its panicked breaths.

The Larval Ravager screamed, and the thorns shook like a million maracas. Though he'd surprised the monster by his move, it wasn't taking it lying down. Half-summoned, his latest burst of kinetic force died on his fingertips, blown out like a match in a windstorm. A terrible buzzing crawled across his skin as Felix fell, ricocheting freely off the thorn-lined esophagus, a sound that pushed into his head like a drill. But all it found inside was the same inchoate noise, roared out from within his very Spirit.

Its (Her!) voice was a balm on Felix's senses, a music that somehow drowned out the deafening bellow of the Ravager. Felix heard the call in Her tone, the passion. Memories. Of all the beasts he'd fought, those few touched by Her song had formed a core of power. Solid and hidden, he somehow knew these cores fueled the abilities and transformation of Her progeny. Her children. This one was a fake, a pretender to the throne that She would not tolerate.

He knew what to do.

Blue lightning slashed to the rear, propelling Felix into the slick surface of the Ravager's innards. Talons of ebon night tore away at it, slipping at first, before catching and tearing. Ripping. Viscous, dark fluids poured out of the hole, and Felix couldn't help but laugh. He opened his mouth wide, teeth flashing in the after shocks of his lightning, and he let the tumult cover him. Power, swirling clouds of essence formed within him, drawn from the beast's flesh. It gave him strength, more than enough to keep moving.

Bloodline Progression is 63%

The flesh around him quivered and shook, but it could not dislodge him. What it could do, however, was heal rapidly. The fissures he created sealed quickly behind him, new fat and muscle reforming as the Ravager bellowed and sucked at the ambient Mana. Like a weevil in a wall, he burrowed deeper, fleeing the closing flesh while seeking the one thing his Mind, Spirit, and Body all screamed for: sustenance.

What Dwells Beneath is level 22!

Bloodline Progression is 64%

A heat stopped him. Not anything from among the Larval Ravager's organs, but from within. His chest. A...calling?

STOP!

He couldn't stop. That wasn't possible. He was so hungry.

REMEMBER!

The memory of feathers and fur stirred in him, of a beak that nipped his fingers. It had been hungry too. Growing. He--

A pain clutched at his chest, and Felix curled up within the Ravager. Unnamed fluids pooled around him, drenching him, soaking his clothes. The pain was a hard, sharp stone jammed into his heart. No, five stones, gripping his chest as if to strangle. As if to rip something out.

The calling stopped, dimmed too dark, and so too did the pain. Neither faded, not completely. But it was enough for him to unclench his limbs and keep moving. Forward. Toward the core.

The Ravager's flesh was tough, resistant to all but the preternatural edge of his talons and teeth, so the going was slow. He moved like an eel, a snake, sliding his body along the path he forced open with the burning Strength in his arms and legs. His skin had become dark once more, rough like stone or bark, not quite scaled but a far cry from smooth. Spurs of bone jutted along his forearms and legs, sharp nubs that aided him in his crawling advance even as they tore apart his jacket and trousers. Had his boots not given him incredible traction in the slimy confines, he would have kicked them free. His feet felt cramped, talons pressed tight against the enchanted material.

He felt like a new being. Strong and tireless, even when the Ravager attempted to bear down and kill him. Creatures came for him, mostly small and formed of chitinous knots of appendages surmounted by leech-like mouths. The moment he attained greater space, an abscess within the Ravager, these things came for him.

Parasites, She whispered in disdain. They are nothing.

And She was right.

The parasites fell before his claws, their strange bodies broken with a single strike. He ate one of them to sate his Hunger, but the taste was foul. Whatever they were, they tasted of refuse and waste. He ate two more just to be sure. More came, relentless, endless, but he plowed through them, digging deeper.

Notifications flared and passed as he moved and fought, simple things that the growing storm within him fueled. Felix tore stubborn pieces of fat and muscle from his path, often eating it with a squirming relish, pushing himself ever forward.

Blind Fighting is level 25!

Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier in Blind Fighting!

You Gain:

+5 DEX

+10 PER

Unarmed Mastery is level 33!

Unfettered Volition is level 22!

What Dwells Beneath is level 23!

Bloodline Progression is 65%

Meaningless words. All that mattered to him was moving, pushing, eating. And the core. Soft, whispered words floated through his Mind, just as his Hunger pulsed within his Spirit. The Body followed, urged by the cravings that could not be denied.

The screeching split his concentration as he entered another abscess, it's tone loud enough to distract. The parasite he fought, far larger than those previous, took the opportunity to slash open his chest. Felix flinched from the attack, hissing. A sense of desperation and fear inundated him, tumultuous emotions that muddled his mind.

STOP!

Enough! Felix snarled in his mind, ducking away from the parasites that tried to flank him. Multitudinous limbs flashed with sharp claws, their many eyes glowing in the fetid dark. Their bodies were knots of bone and gristle, large as they were, like skeletons made to an insane man's vision. But the creature in his mind could not be stopped. The wet world around him faded as light bloomed, and suddenly Felix was outside, looking through someone else's eyes.

He stood amidst the horde, now surging toward him and two others. Two women, different in many obvious ways but similar in conviction. Each held their weapons at the ready, their bodies low and grounded, ready for the fight. His not-eyes flicked between the oncoming monsters and the women, while surges of wild emotion flared in his chest.

Remember, Felix!

Etheric Concordance is level 33!

Etheric Concordance is level 34!

Tightness enveloped his heart, his connection. That tunnel of light flickered out once again, strangled by Her dark hand. Soft assurances snaked through his ears, redirecting the snap-back of foreign rage and dismay. Turned outward, toward the parasites that still accosted him.

Pain bloomed from his chest and hip, and Felix discovered more jagged wounds where his toughened flesh did not quite reach. Roaring in pain, he barreled forward, pushing off a slick protuberance and launching himself, talons first at a parasite. The creature flailed defensively, scoring strikes against Felix's shoulders and arms, but their claws scraped harmlessly off. A flurry of wild swings eventually caught them, tearing off one of their many limbs and dumping their foul ichor into the cavity. Felix landed at the far end, injured but healing.

Several mouths screeched at him from across the abscess while the meaty walls pulsed like a heart. Corrupted Mana surged through the area, lighting everything with a bloody stain, and Felix turned just in time to see the parasites leap for him. They hit him like a speeding truck, driving him through the slick walls and into a cascade of violet ichor. They gripped him with bony appendages, lashing with wild abandon at his head and neck. Felix lifted his shoulders, protecting his neck from immediate harm, but the parasites were relentless.

Reign of Vellus!

A surge of lightning blasted the parasites from atop him, sending them flying much farther than Felix had anticipated. He rolled to his feet, surprised to find himself in a larger area, somewhere deep in the recesses of the Larval Ravager. Visible bones lined the walls, as if he'd entered some sort of rib cage....except it was only the size of a high school auditorium at best. Far too small to serve as a true rib cage to the beast.

A wet shuffling caught his ear and through the swirling Mana, Felix could see the parasites gathering. There were far more than two. They drifted in from around the chamber, nightmarish skeleton monsters with too many eyes and too many limbs, skittering across the 'walls.' A web of thick tendons sat in the center of the abscess, an organic pillar that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and which glowed with an irratic light. A dissonant hum filled the air, slithering through the space in a way that Felix found familiar.

There. Take it. TAKE IT!

Felix let out an excited shout and flowed forward, talons out and fangs bared in a wide grin. The parasites came at him like a tidal wave, but Felix did not stop.

Unfettered Volition!

Mantle of the Long Night!

A wave of icy chill spread out from his body, swirling like a maelstrom around him, and it hit the parasites hard. Immediately he could sense them slowing, their bodies lagging as tendons and exposed joints stiffened. Felix hit them with his arms swept wide, letting his enhanced Strength and Endurance carry him through their ranks. They fell like bowling pins, Felix's charge knocking many off their feet while his talons cut through their bodies. A scythe upon wheat.

All too soon, it was over. Felix stood in the wreckage of their forms and panted, aching for more to appear. There was a thrill in his heart at the thought of more violence, a dark hunger to use his talons for their intended purpose. He almost stepped away, intent on finding more challenges, but Her voice brought him back. To the center.

You must free it, boy. Her voice was like honey, thick and slow and sweet upon his ears. Cut it free.

He did. His talons made short work of the tendons, and the flesh parted to reveal a large, glossy orb. It was lopsided, lumpy in a way that sent a shiver of unease through Felix, but the pure scent of its Mana made his mouth water. A deluge of concentrated Mana poured from the breached flesh, inundating him in its flow as he reached forward and plucked it free.

Name: Bloodstone (Greater)

Type: Core (Legendary)

Lore: A complete bloodstone. Made of a powerful creature's raw, immutable essence. This is a Greater version of it, and has been corrupted by a dark Intent.

BEWARE! YOU MUST HOLD ON! YOU--!

Felix clutched at his chest as the words pummeled his mind. He felt his Spirit quake beneath their intensity, and his grip upon the Bloodstone weakened. Then She choked the words from his Mind, until they were only an incessant roar at the back of his thoughts.

Ignore it! You must take this, Felix Nevarre. It is the only way to save them!

As if conjured by the words, the crystal clear memory of the Revenants rushing toward those people filled his mind. A deep, unreasoning panic settled into him. Felix's claws flexed against the Bloodstone and his heart thundered. Something about them...

It is the only way. Her voice explained, and for a brief, flickering second Felix thought he could see a gaunt hand lift the Bloodstone up to his mouth. You must devour it.

A long, slow blink. Felix felt twisted, turned around. His skin, rough and craggy, felt riddled with a maddening itch. His lips ached from where his teeth kept tearing them open. He--

I--

Ravenous Tithe.

The world began to rip apart all around him.

Pit stumbled, barely avoiding a wild thrust from a wrong-one. A series of Wingblades sent the creature reeling backward, thin lines of blood drawn across it's chest. It also acted to propel Pit backward, away from the front line and behind the two women.

He landed hard and shook his avian head. A buzzing scream still echoed through his chest, a painful burr that sent rippling shocks down his spine. Pit keened, as he felt his connection to Felix dim like a guttering candle. Wrong-ones still swarmed, but Pit was on the ground, unable to defend as the pain blazed through him. The sound of metal above him was a distant event, and the shouts of the Humans nearby mere echoes in his ears.

The earth shook, hard enough to force Pit's eyes open again. A deep, cavernous bellow shook the air and Pit looked up. The Enemy-worm, still looming high above them, flailed it's mouth-tentacles wildly. The bellow was squeezed out of it's drooling maw, and when it petered out Pit's eyes widened in alarm.

Parts of the Enemy-worm began to turn to smoke, it's massive body falling apart into crimson-streaked gouts of fog. Another tortured scream, this time from behind them, and Pit saw the remaining wrong-ones faltering and falling to their knees.

"What's happening?" The Pretty Killer asked, her face streaked with sweat and blood.

"I--I am not sure," the Dangerous One said. Her eyes were locked on the dissolving Enemy-worm and Pit traced her gaze. The smoke was collapsing inward, as if pulled by a powerful breeze or...or it was being sucked in.

Felix.

With an exhausted, warbling chirp, Pit got back onto his feet. The women looked at him and he chirped again while looking directly at the center of the smoke. Then he started running, heedless of whether they followed or not.

Felix was in trouble. That was all that mattered.

The power rushed into Felix, sparking along his channels like an intoxicating draught. First the Bloodstone dissolved, rushing into his core with remarkable ease, but then the rest of the Larval Ravager followed. It was far more monster essence than he had ever taken in at once, and as the pressure built Felix feared he wouldn't be able to take it.

The Larval Ravager bellowed, but it was a terrified gasp as it finally gave up the ghost. The flesh around him rotted away into that thick, pungent smoke.

He--

Where was he?

Felix's eyes widened in alarm as he realized he was suspended several stories above the ground. He was held in place only by a tether of impossible power that even still poured into him.

So much.

So much.

Bloodline Progression is 66%

Bloodline Progression is 67%

He couldn't contain it. The essence pooled above his core, stretching his internal space, pushing him toward a breaking point he'd never considered, never thought he'd reach. His channels throbbed with agony as the essence moved through even there, gouging looping patterns out within his Spirit. It felt as if his entire body was being stretched and torn, pushed beyond its capacity in the most brutal of ways.

What Dwells Beneath is level 24!

Bloodline Progression is 68%

Awake at last, Felix could feel the transforming pushing to completion almost as fast as his Bloodline Progression. Unable to breath or speak, he felt a savage terror take hold of him as his skin darkened across his chest and abdomen. He felt his bones creaking as they twisted, shifting into stranger, more bestial shapes. A scream arose, but it could not escape, instead burning within his chest like a bomb. He shook like a leaf in the wind.

Felix...!

A flickering sensation ignited within his chest, just left of his tortured screams. Worry, doubt, fear, and a deep affection spilled out from that light, though something tried to cut it off. Furious, Felix sought the connection, pulling back at it. Something resisted him, something strong, but he pulled hard enough that a flash of blazing light burned through. Felix could feel the desperate passion of his Companion. Briefly, his Mind cleared.

Etheric Concordance is level 35!

Etheric Concordance is level 36!

PIT!

FELIX! His name was bright upon Pit's mind, though the rest of his intent was merely a jumble of images. A collection of stars in the sky, of a bonfire burning in the dark, and of...of lightning...

A desperate, pained hiss sounded all around him, and the connection with his Companion dimmed once more. Unable to spare it any thought, Felix bore down on Pit's message. It was clear what the tenku was saying, buy why...? Felix dove into his core, Fire Within flaring.

And he saw an immense nebula of shimmering essence, literally crackling with a virulent potency above his core fire. His Skills revolved around him, each of varying brightness and intensity, each humming a slightly different tone. The essence was pushing at the darkness, straining it as it grew with every passing second. And--

And tendrils of that smoke were being siphoned off. Directly into--

What Dwells Beneath, Felix breathed. You piece of--MAW!

A delighted chuckle rose from the darkness, pulsing from his Bastion of Will like a whisper of wind. The siphoning did not stop, only increased.

What Dwells Beneath is level 25!

Bloodline Progression is 69%

Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier in What Dwells Beneath!

YoU? //)N>>

ERROR!

ERROR!

ERROR!

Synergy Detected!

What Dwells Beneath Is Compatible With Multiple Skills!

Do You Wish To Evolve?

Y/N

No! Felix reached out and grasped part of the essence himself, pulling on it to redirect toward his core fire. Tendrils of the essence dipped below and were consumed almost instantly, but it was too little. The pressure kept building, threatening to rip him apart.

What Dwells Beneath is level 26!

Bloodline Progression is 70%

What Dwells Beneath is level 27!

Bloodline Progression is 71%

Stop! You can't do this!

I can, hissed the Maw, an edge to its voice. This is my power, after all!

Felix gripped the clouds of essence and wrestled with it. Flaring his Willpower, he maneuvered great chunks of the power into his core flame, digesting the condensing essence as fast as he could.

Fire Within is level 41!

Fire Within is level 42!

Fire Within is level 43!

What Dwells Beneath is level 29!

Bloodline Progression is 73%

Felix felt the shift covering his body more and more completely. The pain spiked through him, terrible schisms within his bones and muscles as altered composition. Something much deeper than a few claws was happening, and Felix felt his knees weaken. He couldn't contain it, neither the essence or the rapid progression of his monstrous nature. Even the pieces of essence he'd managed to digest were too condensed and wild for him to do much more than store within himself.

I have to hold it. Lights flashed across his eyes, his Skills revolving ever faster as the pressure built within his core. But the rest...

The rest of the monster essence, still streaming in, was too much for him. Too much for anyone, he wagered. And the taint to it, the corruption that stained the essence was not something just anyone could take into themselves. Not unless they were already infected by it. It was a stroke of luck that he could handle this much at all. That he--

What Dwells Beneath is level 31!

Bloodline Progression is 75%

His core shuddered.

What?

The blue-white fire below, surmounted by bolts of azure lightning, had shifted its radiance. It had taken on a distinct purple hue. Whirling his perception, Felix saw that the essence funneling into his Unique Skill was overflowing, it's power spreading around his core like a crimson stain. And it was growing.

What have you done! Felix shouted.

Only what I must, the Maw whispered back at him. This is not my end, Felix Nevarre. I am...sorry it must be yours. But at least you will not be alone.

It was trying to make him into a Revenant, or something like it. Trying to stain him. Turn him into a perfect Vessel, once and for all. And--his vision split, Felix's Mind snapping into place with a resonant thrum. Silver strings were all around him, more than a few connected to himself. The corruption had started to creep along his Oath strings too...steadily corroding them.

Heading for his friends.

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