Unbound

Pit was flying.

Clutched beneath the arm of the Dangerous One, Pit screeched in triumph and anger. They were close now to his Companion, to his desperate battle. They soared above the amassed wrong-beasts, lifted up by the Dangerous One's strange jumping ability. Her shiny weapons floated beside them, bobbing in the air but otherwise unfazed by their speedy ascent.

"It is time! Brace yourself!" The Dangerous One shouted to him, and as they had done twice now, she released the tenku from her grip. Disguise already banished, Pit spread his wings and glided alongside her for a moment.

"Dragon's Descent!"

With a burst of speed, the Dangerous One plummeted. All seven of her spears flashed forward, each embedding into the horde with meaty thunks and tortured screams. She landed an instant later, and the force of her impact sent the wrong-beasts scattering. She stood amid the gory wreckage and twirled her spear among a tiny forest of silver poles and writhing bodies.

"Come and fight, beasties."

The wrong-beasts around her, shocked at her entrance, roared and charged in. From above, Pit crowed again and unleashed a rain of Frost Spears.

Frost Spear is level 27!

More screams from the wrong-beasts, thought this time it was pain rather than rage. Pit knew his attacks would not kill a healthy wrong-beast, but each strike added up. Of those more directly hurt by the Dangerous One, one or two Frost Spears could finish them. And Pit had Mana to spare.

Yet still they swarmed. Pit glided above, keeping to a circling pattern as the Dangerous One engaged the enemy, waiting for her next leap.

"Binding of the White Wastes!"

Icy chains burst from the ground, restraining several wrong-beasts as they rushed her. Their legs simply flash froze to the stone beneath, white fog boiling off of them. The Dangerous One looked up in relief, still whirling the one remaining spear in her hand.

"Watch ouuut! Breaking Wheel!"

Grey metal flashed by Pit's eyes, narrowly missing his pinions as the Pretty Killer dropped her lengthy chain. Somehow she'd joined the ends so that it made a massive, bladed circle that fell with far more force than the slight female should be able to impart. Pit had seen this same move twice before, and it still astonished him.

Pit suddenly felt a wash of icy fear, followed by a sudden spike of rage. A terrible pain tore at his chest. In the distance, Pit could see the writhing Bad Thing, but he could not see Felix.

Pit shrieked in fear. Felix was hurt! And...Pit could hear whispers through their bond. Soft, scratchy sounds that crept along the edges of it. The Enemy. It's awake. They were running out of time.

The chained wheel hit the earth like a thunderbolt. White chains shattered, as did the wrong-beasts beneath as the bladed chain tore through them. Four or five died, while more were ripped open by the oversized blades on the chain wheel. The wrong-beasts didn't scatter, there wasn't enough room on the field to do that, but they hesitated.

That was all they needed.

"Pierce the Sky!"

The Dangerous One rose form the earth like a bird, as if she had grown her own pair of wings. Pit, still circling above them and growing lower and lower with each revolution, was plucked from the air by the female's skilled hands. Together they ascended once more.

Behind them, the Pretty Killer followed, her body somehow lightened so that when she hurled her heavy chain into the sky it yanked her from the earth's grasp. She was flung into the air like a ballista bolt, surging past the both of them with a speed that still surprised the tenku.

"Seven Tribulations." The Dangerous One whispered, so soft only Pit could hear her. Behind them, all seven silver spears exploded, shredding the Revenants and hurling them away.

We're coming, Felix! Pit pushed at their bond, sending his sensations as he felt them. We're coming!

Etheric Concordance is level 32!

Felix spat a stream of blood from his mouth, standing up from the cracked ground once more. A clutch of Revenants rushed him, those rare few still lingering around the Larval Ravager, but Felix didn't have the time.

Influence of the Wisp!

Influence of the Wisp is level 31!

The Revenants froze, each and every one. Wisplight ate at their scales, burning through their muscles and bones.

Reign of Vellus!

A wave of concussive force swept from Felix's right hand, impacting the Enthralled Revenants. Their bodies resisted for a brief instant before they burst into meaty paste.

You Have Killed A Manawarped Revenant x5!

XP Earned!

Dual Casting is level 24!

Panting, Felix let his arm drop. He was bone tired. He had driven off Okar, but Felix had an increasing suspicion that Okar had retreated purposefully. Just not for his own purpose.

Felix looked up, where the Larval Ravager still loomed. Somehow the Ravager was controlling Okar and would have controlled the rest too had they lived. The how of it confounded Felix, and his Mind raced even as he dodged another volley of vicious bone spurs.

Unfettered Volition!

Sliding through the Ravager's offensive, Felix circled it, summoning a blast of concentrated kinetic energy. And lightning, one couldn't forget the incongruous lightning that wreathed Felix's hands.

Dodge is level 29!

Reign of Vellus!

Even as he let it loose at the base of the beast, Felix knew it wouldn't matter. The force of Reign of Vellus tore open a gushing wound in the Larval Ravager's side, but it began to seal back up in seconds. His attacks only functioned as a minor distraction, at best.

The damn thing wouldn't take damage properly. His acid did nothing, neither did his Stone Shaped spikes or freezing Mantle. He'd been bludgeoned and nearly crushed several times. The Larval Ravager's body wasn't fast, but it's mouth tentacles made up for it. In addition, it could grow those bone spurs from its slick flesh.

Not fun.

When he had enough Mana to keep Unfettered Volition up, he could dodge them with relative ease. But early on that meant his Mana kept bottoming out. Armored Skin had increased, of course. It was level 48 now. Closer to Tiering up, which would have been exciting had he even a single Essence Draught on him.

Reign of Vellus was the only skill he had that was even a little effective, but hitting it hard enough to truly damage the thing ate through his Mana fast. Felix's head ached as his Mana dropped low again; too low to keep Unfettered Volition running.

That heat, the radiation in the air, it was providing some sort of regeneration to the beast. Anytime he hit it hard enough to bruise, it's gaping mouth sucked in big gulps of air. To his Manasight, it was like a giant vacuum, sucking up the ambient Mana.

Like in the Vault. With the Maw.

Felix flared Meditation as best he could, but his Mana could only regenerate so fast. And his Health...he was below 50% already. The Nym needed a way to neutralize the beast, but it was a mountain. How did you fight a mountain?

Unbidden, Felix's mind teased at the mystery of the Revenants. Of Okar, Yvette, and Elwick. All of them had turned, transformed somehow into these things. It sent a very particular sort of terror through Felix, one he'd been avoiding thinking about. Dodging around the Larval Ravager though freed up his Mind as his Body acted. What Lies Beneath was very similar to these Revenants. Not in appearance, of course, but the feeling in the air. That heat, that corruption. Somehow the Larval Ravager had latched onto these creatures and turned them. Felix feared it had something to do with the Oathbindings the Guilders were under. But how could the Larval Ravager do that?

The Maw could manipulate the System. Alter it somehow. He mused, tucking into a roll and fetching up against the beast's mucous coated hide. Could this thing do the same?

It's too weak to do that. It exploits the bonds, spreading its warped influence through Siva's damn strings. The Maw's voice was a surprise, though it shouldn't have been. It sounded pissed.

Siva? The goddess?

Who else? Even dead She can't stop getting in my way.

Definitely pissed.

The Maw had become more and more verbal as the fight wore on. Three minutes in and he wasn't sure which hurt more: his wounds or his ears.

Spiritual ears, he supposed, and almost laughed. He was getting loopy.

What?

Nothing. Shut up. Listen, how do we kill this? Felix flared Unfettered Volition again and ran up its back, hopping between bone spurs as they regrew. Nothing I do is working!

You know what you must do, Felix Nevarre. You are simply too afraid to try.

Felix paused, almost disastrously, as the spur he stood up on was ejected from the Larval Ravager's body. Kicking off, he flipped backwards and into its slick flesh, sliding down twenty feet before he fetched up against another spur.

It is the only way.

Felix didn't want to hear that. She (it!) had been pressing the issue since he swung his first punch. The Nym didn't have enough Strength to fight this battle, nor a proper weapon. Except that wasn't true; he had both. But the cost was terrifying. And the Maw was likely lying, leveraging the moment. Felix wasn't an idiot.

Still, he feared it was right.

Screaming. Far different than the howls of the Revenants, this was a painful shriek from close by. Still leap-frogging the bone spurs of the Ravager, Felix cast his Perception outward. There. Evie. Vess.

His stomach dropped as something in his chest burned. Pit!

He could feel Pit's fear. Separated by the horde, but he could sense the tenku coming to him, rushing as much as he could. But there wasn't enough time. His Companion couldn't overcome this beast, the same as Felix.

Not without sacrifices.

You should be used to sacrifices by now, Felix Nevarre. The Maw taunted.

"SHUT. UP." Felix panted, his mind whirling. They're all gonna die. Everyone he cared about in this dumb world. And he could stop it.

He could stop it.

What Dwells Beneath.

Through their connection, Pit cried out in fear, but it was too late. Pain clamped its jaws on Felix, as if every single part of himself was on fire. His flesh tore and lengthened, his skin hardening as it darkened toward leathery black. Spikes of bone tore from his forearms and elbows even as his fingers formed long, curved talons.

He screamed.

What Dwells Beneath is level 18!

Bloodline Progression is 51%

The scream drew the Ravager's attention. It had been toying with him, all this time, letting Felix wear himself out against it's impervious hide. But something rattled the air as he shouted, something primal and entirely not Felix. A mouth-tendril whipped down at him, intent on smashing him into the ground once again. This time, however, was different.

Unfettered Volition!

Felix could no longer parry attacks, so he didn't bother trying. Instead, he vaulted the bone spurs around him, lashing outward with his talons and hit the tentacle straight on.

His claws sheared right through it.

Caustic blood drenched him as Felix's overhand strike carried through the limb like a hot knife through butter. It smelled of rot and rust, as if it were already partially congealed within its veins. It was delicious.

And he wanted more.

Pit felt it when Felix embraced his Enemy-form.

The sensation slithered around their bond like a serpent, an eel that clutched at their connection. It wasn't evil, not like the wrong-beasts or the Enemy, but it was dark and clawed. It was hungry.

He didn't like it. Moreover, Pit knew that Felix had issues resisting it's call. The Enemy-form carried a tempting song, a cord that thrummed strangely against all the rest of his Skills. Perhaps the Enemy-form would win the fight...but Felix would need Pit in the end.

Yet they were blocked.

They were close, perhaps only another two jumps away when the wrong-man had come for them. The females had hissed and shouted, but they met the wrong-man head on without flinching. His attacks were wide and sweeping, and he killed more Revenants than not with them, but the wrong-man was dangerous. Something about his scent and that rapid pulse in Pit's ears...

The females were hurt. Bloody from their long fights, tired from pushing themselves far harder than they should have. Pit tried to help, tried to use his own power to weaken and distract the wrong-man. But it was no use; the creature's hide was too tough for Pit's Skills to penetrate.

"Eat...grow...strong..." The thing panted, barely pausing between clawed strikes and kicks. The Pretty Killer moved fluidly, doding nimbly out of its way as she brought her whirling chain to bear. When she smashed it across his chest, the wrong-man grabbed it, slicing his own unnatural hands to ribbons as he did so. "Eat...!"

"Eat this!"

Three silver spears shot into the wrong-man's chest, followed by a flurry of nearly invisible Wingblades. Then they exploded, the air Mana carving the wrong-man's abdomen to pieces. Dark, clotted blood poured from him in a heavy cascade, yet the wrong-man still stood. Still struggled.

"E...eat...stronger...feed--"

A Frost Spear, thick as a human's thigh, punched into the wrong-man's throat. Finally weakened by the females' attacks, it was enough.

You Have Killed A Manawarped Revenant!

XP Earned!

Pit shrieked, sharp and high. System power pooled in his core, reverberating against his flesh. He fixed the females with a sharp, golden eye and shrieked again.

"Right. Let us hurry," the Dangerous One said. She gathered Pit up in her arms again, and launched up from the earth. Behind, following quickly after them, Pit could hear the Pretty Killer mutter to herself.

"Eat this?"

Strength surged through Felix's veins as a weighty feeling dropped into his gut. He sank his claws into the Ravager's flesh, just below it's roaring, circular jaws and held himself there. A swirling power manifested above his core.

Monster essence.

The Larval Ravager quivered, all of it's mouth tendrils spasming wildly. Thousands of tiny eyes bubbled up and formed beneath Felix, and he kicked at them with savage glee. They burst like enormous abscesses, pus and blood pouring down the already slick, pebbled hide. Felix felt strange, like his emotions were on a roller coaster. The essence coiled within him, boiling above his core fire. A wild, unnerving laugh shot out of his throat, insuppressible.

Something is wrong.

The Ravager twisted, it's body moving as slow a massive whale, but quite fast all the same. The great tube of its body, wormlike in composition, twisted on itself until he could see the many bone spurs forming upon a lower section...now directly beneath him.

The bone spurs launched, flashing upward with impressive strength. Felix hissed, his teeth dripping thick saliva as he spun, rolling out of the way even as he kept his razor sharp claws embedded in the beast. Like cleats, he dug into the Ravager's skin, tearing chunks from it as the bone spurs bombarded him. The Ravager screamed as it impaled itself countless times over, the spurs sinking deep into it.

What Dwells Beneath is level 19!

Bloodline Progression is 52%

Yet Felix couldn't dodge them all. One spur after another slammed toward him, until he was thrown off the beast entirely.

Something is wrong!

Free falling, Felix snarled at the oncoming bone spurs. The Larval Ravager had pulled itself high up, bending itself into the letter 'C' in order to dislodge him. But he wouldn't relent because of this; he couldn't.

Reign of Vellus!

Felix twisted in mid-air, using the kinetic shove of his power to reorient against the passing bone spurs. As another passed by him, dangerously close, Felix latched on with the Skill. He grabbed hold, letting its momentum slingshot up upward, back toward the Ravager's mouth.

Reign of Vellus is level 39!

Felix soared through the air, more free and more alive than he had felt in...in forever. His mind was clear, finally clean of anxiety and worry. In its place he only felt a steady and warm hate, directly solely at the Larval Ravager. With more grace than he'd known he possessed, Felix ducked above a thrashing tentacle, sliding over it's slick surface as he rode his stolen kinetic force. Another tendril rose up, thicker than the rest, and Felix flared Reign of Vellus again. The burst of electricity gave him enough push-back that he reversed his course, though not before altering his angle and hurling himself further into the Ravager's range.

The tentacles writhed all around him. They shifted, fluid-like, consolidating from four dozen to a score of thicker appendages. Each and every one of these mouth-tentacles converged on Felix's course, and the real fun began.

Reign of Vellus is level 40!

Unfettered Volition is level 21!

The mad tempo of the fight continued. Felix ricocheted from one tentacle to another, never stopping longer than it took to reverse his path with an aimed blast of kinetic energy. Unfettered Volition proved more than useful as well, enhancing Felix's talent into a deadly grace. Understanding bloomed within his Mind and Spirit as he pressed the two Skills, leveraging them both for all the power he could grasp. Lightning crackled around his body, slithering up and down his limbs even as it set his nerves alight.

Lightning Resistance is level 26!

The agony of that level was finally enough to cut through the wild bloodlust. Felix blinked his eyes, feeling as if he'd woken from a disturbing dream. But then he was confronted with yet another tentacle, this one attempting to crush him between its limbs. Instead, Felix brandished his deadly talons, tearing deeply into the thicker tentacle so that its rotting blood poured out. It splashed all over him, a torrential downpour of effluvia.

It was so good.

Pain slithered up his back, but shifted to a sense of relief as something suddenly protruded from his spine. A wild glee surged once more in his Spirit, and the pain faded. There was only the pleasure of the hunt.

Of the kill.

What Dwells Beneath is level 20!

Bloodline Progression is 53%

He dipped and dove, altering his approach with precision blasts of Reign of Vellus. The Skill was more than the brute force implement he had made of it, and somewhere in his Mind he knew that. His Perception finally clear, he could utilize his Skill to its utmost.

But then, the Larval Ravager split its limbs up, banished its efforts at sturdier (and slower) attacks. Then it did it again, and again. And again. Until the air before him became an impenetrable net of waving tendrils, each one no thicker than his arm. They swung, en masse for Felix.

He tore into them, pushing at them with Reign of Vellus. But the low intensity he'd been using it on only pushed them back slightly, like a sail on a ship. He hadn't the Mana to spare for greater workings, but his Mind didn't care for resource management. He had other ways to deal with this monster. His claws had proven quite effective.

The tendrils tore easily, his talons making them into little more than ruptured blood containers. The Larval Ravager bellowed in pain and...a surprised sort of rage.

"You didn't know I'd fight back?" Felix screamed. He spun atop the lip of the Maw's open mouth. "You absolute shit head!"

Reign of Vellus!

Felix exploded upward, his ascent followed by the ozone smell of discharged lightning. A net of tendrils tried to grab him, but his talons and teeth shredded them even easier than the larger variations.

Do it, Felix Nevarre!

Without questioning, Felix spun himself, flipping in mid-air as he reached the zenith of his rise. He set off another kinetic push, launching off the writhing mass of a tentacled above him. He shot, like a bullet, into the Larval Ravager's gullet.

The last thing he heard was the painful scream of some sort of bird.

Who is---

Then darkness.

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