Unbound

Congratulations!

You Have Tempered Your Body! Again!

You Have Formed: the Seed Of The Unchained Mountain Body

+20 STR

+20 END

+25 WIL

+10 AGL

+10 DEX

+20 VIT

XP Earned!

You--

"Ugh, he stinks. Why does he stink?"

--Have Gained 4 Levels!

You Are Now Level 33!

+12 to WIL! +8 to INT! +16 to DEX! +4 to END! +8 to PER! +8 to VIT! +16 to AGL!

You Have 20 Unused Stat Points!

"He just dove head first into a big murder worm. You think you'd be smellin' pretty?"

Your Companion, Pit Has Gained 8 levels!

He Is Now Level 29!

+24 to WIL! +16 to INT! +32 to DEX! +8 to END! +16 to PER! +16 to VIT! +32 to AGL!

"What's wrong with that thing?" The thing kept talking. His eyes weren't working right, something--

Something grabbed him. Felix didn't think.

He didn't have to.

Unfettered Volition!

"AHH!" There was the sound of crunching metal and Felix could feel a warmth beneath his fingers. His vision had become a blur of glowing vapor, too bright and busy. Squinting, Felix leveraged his body upward, flaring Unfettered Volition.

The thing cried out.

"Get him off me!"

Arms reached under Felix's own, straining at first before another set joined them and hauled him off the creature. "Felix!"

It was like someone switched on a light. Suddenly the misty vapor parted from his eyes and he saw the prone form of Dabney, clutching his shoulder with a pained expression. Atar and the other Guilders crowded around him, while Evie and Vess had their arms looped around his own.

"You dare touch a noble? You swine!" Lilian shouted. Her small face was the palest he'd ever seen it. "If we were in Haarwatch, you be hanged for that!"

Felix ignored her, focused on the wincing Dabney. The man's armored robes were messed up. He'd crumpled the reinforced weave of the robes in his fist, but Felix noted that there was a lot of damage already. Some of it was from bits and claws, but most of it was as if it had been dissolved or burnt by something. The outfit was trying to fix itself, but the ambient Mana seemed...hostile.

"I'm fine," he said to the others, and they let go of him. "I'm sorry, I...I'm alright now."

"You? You almost crushed my throat!" Dabney had gotten back to his feet aggressively, only the thin arm of Alister holding him back.

"Calm yourself, Dabney. The man was confused. He clearly just Tiered up." Alister gave Felix a considering look. "Apprentice, if I'm not mistaken. But...weren't you Apprentice Tier beforehand?"

Instead of answering, Felix looked over the notifications that still hovered across his vision. Seed of the Unchained Mountain? And so many stats? He'd almost gained twice the stats his previous Formation had offered. Was it because of the higher rarity of the Essence he took in? It had been Epic, as opposed to the Rare poison he'd originally used in the heat of the moment. Maybe--

Felix shook his head and attempted to center his thoughts. His Mind was racing and his Body felt like a car battery was attached to his muscles. Spasms and ripples of energy shook him, as if he'd mainlined a gallon of adrenaline. His Spirit felt odd too, but less shaky, just more solid. Powerful. Likely that was his Will propping him up.

"Monster!" Lilian screamed as a black shape bounded to its feet.

It was Pit. Formerly twitching on the ground as he'd leveled up eight times, the tenku had gained another fifteen inches in height, now rivaling a medium-sized pony for size. His wings too had grown immensely, twelve feet wide with brilliant crimson primary feathers among his otherwise black colorings. Pit stretched them out with loud snapping sound, only slightly less loud than a damn gunshot.

Alister's rapier was up fast, too fast and too close to Pit for Felix to react in time. A bolt of blue kinetic Mana blasted from the blade and struck Pit in the wing. The tenku squawked in outrage and spread his wings again, white Mana flowing into the appendages.

"Stop!" Felix shouted, and Pit cut off the Skill. Harn grabbed the nobleman's rapier by the blade, redirecting the man's second shot into his own armor. He barely moved.

Alister looked at Harn in alarm. "You didn't even flinch."

Harn grunted and released the rapier. "Don't be so jumpy, kid. The chimera is with us, remember."

Alister looked at Pit again, perhaps seeing him without fear in his eyes. Felix's enhanced Perception could pick out the man's tremulous heartbeat begin to settle. "Of-of course."

Felix crossed the distance to his Companion, giving the still shaking tenku a hug. It was like putting his arms around a small tree trunk, though far softer. Next to each other, Pit's withers came up to his collarbone, putting the Companion's head a few inches higher than his own. You're so big!

A pleased rumble moved through Pit's chest. He ducked his head to nestle onto Felix's shoulder. Emotions and impressions moved between them, forming into concrete words. Easier to fight. Easier to hit.

Felix sighed. He could tell the kinetic blast had hurt Pit, but his Health wasn't terribly affected. You're agile. Focus on dodging for now. Maybe we can get you some armor at some point.

Glee surged through the bond.

"Alright. Now that we've got the crazy outta our systems, let's move." Harn looked up at the sky, the sun unmoved. "We don't got a lotta time til this avum is cooked."

Harn started moving toward the broken tower, but Alister held up a hand. "Now wait a second, we weren't done talking about that."

"What's there to talk about?" Evie asked. "Domain's gonna burst soon, so we gotta stop it. Stone simple."

"How?" Atar stepped forward this time. He gestured around them. "We barely made it through this lot. How're we supposed to stop this?"

Harn sighed and removed his helmet. It detached with a hiss of compressed air, as if it were sealed around him. His hair, shaggy and brown, fell out in a wet pile on his scalp and his craggy face looked more tired than Felix had seen for some time.

"Same way we did here. The only way, near as I can figure," Harn said.

"Destroy the Domain Core," Vess said, and her tone betrayed none of the uneasiness Felix knew she felt. Her inner chorus practically sang with anxiety. "Kill the Core, we kill everything else by proxy."

"No more Revenants, no more push to burst the shell," Harn said with a nod.

"But...but that will destroy the Domain anyway!" Atar shouted and the nobles all looked horrified. "It will be finished, completely!"

Felix understood what that meant, at least academically. No more Domain meant no more easy development for Haarwatch, no more farmed resources aside from, you know, actual farming. They way it'd been described to him suggested that most if not all of the cities on the Continent utilized a personal Domain to thrive. It was likely far harder to manage without one.

"It's better the Domain dies than kill everyone in the city," Evie said. Lilian's and Dabney's faces were both ashen, but narrowed at that.

"Better? If this Domain dies, then my family is ruined!" Lilian gestured to the other two noble Guilders. "All of our families! You can't kill the Core!"

"People will die!" Vess shouted right back. "Thousands upon thousands! Haarwatch will be torn apart."

"Our families would survive such an event," Dabney said, proudly. "We've soldiers and fortifications rivaling the Wall itself! But if the Domain falls, then we lose our status in the Heirocracy and our access to resources. That's untenable."

"You--you would rather the people in your city die than lose your fortune?" Vess asked, incredulous. "That's monstrous."

Dabney's face screwed up and reddened, but before he could retort, Felix jumped in.

"The creatures that escape here won't just be Tier I," Felix said while petting Pit's downy feathers. "All of them are rising in levels. Yet the Dust Quarter and Crafter Quarter were torn apart a few weeks ago by a few dozen Tier I monsters. You think the city will be able to withstand hundreds of them?"

"The Guild--"

"Will save it's own ass," Felix cut him off again. "And the redcloaks...they'll probably leave on their Manaship, right? You think your families' private mercenaries will keep you safe? What about when the Tier II monsters emerge?"

Silence greeted Felix's words. Everyone was looking at him, and he felt part of himself squirm under their scrutiny. But he shoved that piece of him aside and focused on his words.

"The Domain Core is feeding off these Larval Ravager things. The Sub-Cores. All those corpses and stuff it was eating? It was strengthening the Sub-Cores and, by extention, the Domain Core. When I...killed it, the connection was cut off, but I got a glimpse of more. There are at least three other Sub-Cores, each one feeding the Domain Core."

"Burn me," Atar whispered. "What level are they?"

"Considering this one was at level 68 before it died? A lot higher. The Domain Core is massive, easily twice the size of the Larval Ravager."

"That Larval Ravager was at least a Tier Two creature," Harn said with a worried frown. "It was eatin' those Tier One Revenants too, no problem. Domain Core'll be worse."

"A Tier Three? How do we defeat something so obviously beyond us?" Lilian asked, and Felix had to admit it wasn't a bad question. "We wouldn't stand a chance against such a beast! We should run!"

"We should leave now!" Dabney agreed, fear warring with anger on his face. "We nearly died today."

"You get used to it," Evie said with a stretch.

"You're all insane," Lilian said, color returning to her face again. "I'm leaving."

"How will you escape your own Elder? You think he doesn't know about this?" Felix gestured all around them. "He put them in here! These Primordial-Spawn? They're from something recovered from Shelim, from the Foglands."

Atar started at that. He looked between Felix, Evie, and Vess, searching their faces. His own paled at what he saw. "Burn me," he whispered.

Alister looked confused. "What? What am I missing?"

"The mission to the Foglands, the one I told you about," Atar swallowed, as if his mouth had dried out. "The Risi? Is this them?"

"No, the Frost Giants aren't part of this," Felix said. "This is about what we found at the center of the Labyrinth. A Primordial."

Everyone looked at him again, though most wore confused expressions on their faces. Atar and Harn, however, did not.

"A Primordial? You saw a Night cursed Primordial, Felix?" Atar was beside himself with both horror and a strange longing. Like Felix had described surviving a walk through a hurricane. In many ways, he was. Harn's expression was different. He looked startled and then clenched his jaw, tight.

"Survived one, yeah," Felix confirmed. He tried to refocus the conversation. "The point is, people were infected by this thing. Their blood, it does something to their blood and Bodies, though it doesn't have to start that way. The corruption it...can anyone, damn, I don't know what people can do," Felix said, frustrated. "Can anyone else see oaths? Like the silver strings of Oathbinding? It probably takes unlocking your Affinity."

"Uh, no?" Evie said. "You can?"

"Yeah," Felix huffed a breath. "The Larval Ravager had a hold of Okar and the others. That's why they changed. That and the corruption in the air, burning into their Bodies, is why everyone changed."

Atar and the nobles all looked down at their arms, each of them with patches of redness that had started to flake. Felix had spotted those early on, but tried not to focus on it. There wasn't anything he could have done before.

Evie swallowed audibly. "We saw bones at the entrance, but not near enough. So these---"

"Were all people. Noctis wept," Vess whispered.

"That doesn't make sense," Alister said with a frown. "You're saying the air in here is trying to turn us? Into one of them?" He gestured to a half-dissolved Revenant on the ground.

"Or just killing you, yeah," Felix said, shaking his head. "We don't know enough about this place. Teine might since he kicked this whole thing off, but...the nature of this place is twisted. Can't you feel it in the air? That burning on your skin? It invades everything, every--"

Felix cut himself off. The Maw was gone from him. Finally. But its legacy lived on in both the Domain...and in him. A thought brought up his Skills.

What Dwells Beneath (Un), Level 31

Still there. Not even broken as he'd hoped. Luckily his Bloodline Progression had halted at 75%, but Felix had no idea if that would move again were he to use his Unique Skill or his Ravenous Tithe. Or what would happen had his bloodline ever hit 100%.

Hopefully he'd never have to find out.

"Point is," Evie said with a tight, mirthless smile. "It's a race. Either the Domain breaks and Haarwatch is screwed, or we do, and whatever happens to the city is someone else's business."

"Grim," Harn nodded. "But accurate." Harn put his helmet back on with a click. His armor thickened across his chest and shoulders in a strangely organic way. "You run outta here now, or you help us. Either way, I ain't leavin' you at my back."

He unsheathed his axes and gave them a practice swing. "So which is it, kids?"

"--not going well, sir," Samson Hyde, Elder of Body, explained, his hamfists hard against the table. Olivia knew the man felt the day's losses keenly, despite his gruff exterior. "The Inquisitors have rounded up nearly the entirety of the outer Sunrise Quarter. And that's after their damn operation last night!"

Olivia couldn't help the chill that trailed down her back at that. Heretic purges. Four hundred Untempered went missing in the night, by their most conservative estimate, and the Guild was still reeling from that when a fight broke out in the Sunrise Quarter.

A fight between Masters.

Olivia Regis was Elder of the Mind, wore the Gold medallion of her Rank, and even had half a foot into the Master Tier. Her Mind had Tempered into it, though her Body and Spirit lagged behind. Yet even she could not stand up to a true Master Tier opponent. Despite that, an unknown opponent had fought back and, by all accounts, injured the Master Inquisitor.

Where is Eliza? She never misses a council session, emergency or otherwise. Olivia's Mind raced, picking at the problem that sat before them. Lant too. He'd at least have some suggestions on how to deal with this. The Elder of Spirit was too clever by half.

"Then we take the fight to them," Elder Holt insisted, slapping the flat of his hand on the table for emphasis. "Show these damn redcloaks who they're messin' with!"

"A poor idea, Holt. We've not the numbers to contest the Inquisitors, not if we also intend to man the Wall." Latvere adjusted the spectacles on his face, for all that he didn't need them. Reaching Journeyman Tier would have fixed any imperfections in his natural sight, let alone Adept. "But I do agree that we cannot take this lying down, sir."

Latvere had addressed Fairbanks, High Elder, who was studying the script-display of Haarwatch before him. "You say this Master Tier vanished after fighting Katan? Not died? Simply disappeared?"

"That is what we've learned, yeah. But the redcloaks won't let our people close enough to do an investigation properly." Samson grimaced and ground his teeth together. Olivia winced. It was a habit she'd been working to cure for quite a while now. She loved the man, but that grinding...

"Then we must--"

For the third time in as many weeks, the door to the Guild Council chamber exploded open. Pieces of the scriptwork locks, so painstakingly etched in the frame, whizzed into the room beyond. The hardware itself followed, embedding into the far wall and narrowly missing the shocked face of Elder Fairbanks.

"Who dares break the sanctity of this council?!" Elder Latvere shouted into the dust and debris, but neither Samson nor Holt waited for an answer. A half dozen Skills hurled into the breach, Mana vapor trailed visibly into the world from ice, fire, and even poisonous clouds. Olivia summoned her own protections and held her breath, hoping.

No. Not yet.

A blazing white sword cut through the Skills and her hopes as if they were paper. Mana swelled and fountained to either side of a tall, armored figure wrapped in a red cloak. "I dare."

"Master Inquisitor..." Olivia's heart dropped into her stomach, and she clung tighter to her defensive Skill, the glow of kinetic Mana tight against her skin.

"Katan! What's the meaning of this!" Fairbanks fairly blazed with anger and power. Despite being focused on the Master Inquisitor, Elder Regis still felt a thrill of fear as she gazed at the High Elder's gathering might.

"I warned you, Elders. I warned what your actions might force me to do," Katan did not move, but his aura swept into the chamber and pressed against the Elders. All of paled and Latvere even collapsed back into his chair, though Fairbanks did not.

"You have attacked this city, unprovoked. And now you accuse us of, what?" Fairbanks rasped, near hoarse with strain.

"Of a corruption so deep, it stains your tower to the core," Katan said, still outside the chamber. "A little bird exposed you all, for the good of the Heirocracy."

Despite the suppression of Katan's aura, Olivia was able to pivot her head just fine. At the Master Inquisitor's side was a slight woman wearing padded armor and large golden gauntlets. Eliza?

The damn woman stared at them all, more than a little defiance in her eyes. And...was that triumph?

"I have no clue what you are talking about, Katan," Fairbanks grated. "Whatever DuFont has told you is clearly a lie."

"I would have thought an Elder would be better at falsehoods," Katan didn't so much as smile. "I now know of your experiments in the Domain beneath us. You have played god with the powers of this world, and with the lives of your citizens. For that, you have lost all authority to this city."

"We are this city!" Fairbanks bellowed, his voice pushing passed the suppression of Katan's aura. Olivia's own eyes bulged at the waves of Mana the High Elder manipulated around himself. "All that we do is for our people's benefit. We don't hide in the dark and attack citizens in the sewers!"

"Indeed," Katan said, unsurprised by the High Elder's tactics or power. "You merely shove your citizens into a dangerous Domain that is mere days away from breaking apart completely."

Olivia gasped in horror and heard Samson growl. She caught his eye and felt that icy fear expand throughout her body. It wasn't that he was surprised by the revelation, only by the fact that the Master Inquisitor knew it. No, Samson. It can't be.Tell me he's lying.

But Hyde wouldn't meet her gaze again.

A sudden brilliant light flooded the chamber, as if a white sun had risen outside their windows. Olivia lifted her hand to shade her eyes and peered out of the windows behind her. She nearly choked. A full Manaship hovered outside the Spire and what had to be twenty Mana cannons were pointed directly at them.

One volley could kill us all, she thought, her Mind racing to figure out a plan, an escape, something.

The sound of ripping parchment filled the room, and all eyes swiveled toward the Master Inquisitor once again. He held an unraveled scroll in his hands and was tearing it in half. Streamers of visible Mana poured off of it as the various wax seals melted from its surface. The other Elders moaned in dread, but Olivia had become numb. She felt nothing as the Charter that codified the Guild's rule over Haarwatch was subsumed in flames.

Temporary Authority Invalidated!

"It is done," Khorun Katan said, emotionless. "And so are you."

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