Unbound

Atop the massive walls of Pax’Vrell, a contingent of armored men and women of all Races stood shoulder to shoulder. Bows and spears of varying make were held at the ready as they stared solemnly at the horizon that shone brighter by the moment. Dragoons, Drakengard, and ranks of constables filled the battlements, all of them silent.

Waiting.

From atop one of the many crenelated towers on the wall, Vess could not help but fret as the scout’s words washed over her.

“They will be here within the hour,” the scout reported. “They are moving…unnaturally fast.”

“Not unnatural at all,” the Duke said, lifting a spyglass to his eye. They were accompanied by only some of his council—not all were able to fight. “An army must move at the pace of its slowest soldier, that and the logistics of food and water are why it takes a long time to move from place to place.”

Vess’ mouth firmed into a thin line. “And if all your soldiers are Adept Tier…”

“Yes. They move at an incredible pace because they have nothing holding them back.” He nodded to the scout. “Dismissed.”

The scout saluted and scurried off.

“So even the Paladins and Priests in the surrounding villages are Adept now?” Baron Welvig asked.

“Surely that is impossible,” said Countess Vilora.

“Would that it were, but the Seal does not make mistakes.” The Duke put the eyeglass down and pointed. “We will meet them beyond the walls. I do not intend to make this city a battlefield, and we can put our Skills to greater use out there. Edvin, will you lead the left flank?”

Welvig gave a firm nod that set his jowls to waving. “Of course.”

“Odette? I would ask you to take the right.”

Countess Vilora gave a curtsy. “It will be done, my Lord.”

“Dismissed.”

The two councilors led the rest away, leaving Vess and her father alone within the tower chamber. They remained silent for a while, staring into the distance as the sun passed through clouds.

“I hope your allies are as effective as you claim, Vessilia.”

“They are, papa.”

“And your friend? The Autarch? Where is he?”

“He is working on a solution to our problems,” Vess said, casting a glance back at the Citadel. “He will be here too, when the time comes.”

Her father followed her gaze, and though his cheeks were gaunt his eyes were hard. “I hope so. We face the greatest challenge of our lives, today.”

Vess took her father’s hand. “We have each other, and we have our spears. That is enough.”

He smiled. “As wise and fierce as your mother.”

“I hope at least half as clever,” Vess said. “I have an idea.”

Fiendforge!

The vice-like grip of his Skill clamped onto his core space, securing it for the process to come. Felix drifted through, glancing briefly at his spinning cores sparking against one another, and the Divine Tree that rose above it. The tree was opalescent in construction and filled with starry nebulae in place of leaves. All around that was a latticework of opalescent roots spreading in a cone from above, tapering as it fell below his cores, a mimicry of the Seal of Khasma.

His Skills spun all around him as he descended, planets in orbit around his dual cores, gathered in clustered Skill Arrays to enhance their functions. Below all of that was the dark horizon of his Hunger. She shifted and flared, swirling as she pulled a steady diet of Essence and Mana into itself. And then, of course, below that were his Pillars, nine of them, each one twisted and braided together in a complex, dense pattern made of opalescent crystal and threaded Divinity. At their base, sealing them into their foundation were another latticework of crystals, solidified power firming up the very basis of Felix's might.

My foundation. Let’s make it stronger, shall we?

The weaving of another Pillar was an insanely complex undertaking and required an immense understanding of the forces at play as well as a Will and Intent harder than orichalcum. Thankfully, he’d done it nine times previously, and his perfect recall had captured every moment.

"System, I want to weave my Tenth Pillar."

Energy immediately gathered around him in small waves that lapped against his waist, flashing gold and blue.

Title: Champions Convocation Is Active!

Weave All Nine Pillars Before Level 100 And You May Weave A Tenth!

Choose The Skill For Your Tenth Pillar.

“Sonata of Dominance.”

Above, a massive planet colored orange, white, and crimson rang as if struck. A beam of light coalesced from that sound, shooting down from on high to strike into an empty spot at the dead center of his foundation. Next came light from his dual cores, a ribbon of red gold and blue white that struck to either side of his Sonata’s light. And the very last were opalescent roots from the base of his Divine Tree that extended downward past his Hunger. Felix seized them all and began to weave.

The light acted more like luminous tethers though they were all slick as if covered in oil. Each twist and braid threatened to fall apart unless he applied a continuous pressure with both his Will and Intent. The roots thrummed with the piece of Vellus’ Divinity still contained in its core, which made the Pillar all the harder to create. But he persisted, working his way up and over as the Pillar was woven from the very base on up. It was beyond complex, but his fingers moved according to his memories, and Felix didn’t allow himself to question the strange knots and bindings he created atop one another.

It was working.

Pressure built within him, similar to how it had in the past when he’d finished a Pillar, and Felix was only a quarter of the way through. This is gonna be intense. Focus. Don’t lose grip.

He only had so much time until—

A screeching chord tore through his core space, and a flare of wild colors assaulted his vision. When it cleared, Felix found his weaving complete undone, all the way to the base.

What the actual hell?

A notification bordered in brilliant silver with letters of onyx and gold flashed before him.

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You Are In Violation Of Ouranic Law!

You Tread Upon The Broken Path!

Cease Now And You Will Be Forgiven.

You’re kidding me.

The words and presentation seemed as genuine as any System message, but Felix knew it rang false. His Affinity flagged a strange dip in the melody as it appeared, as if it were tinged by some poorly scrubbed emotion. It took only a few seconds to determine that it was a muted rage.

The gods. Felix swiped away the notification angrily and grabbed the pieces of his Skill, cores, and tree once more. He began to weave, starting from scratch. Yet before he got so far as the second layer a blast of prismatic force tore it from his hands, collapsing all his efforts. Felix snarled in frustration.

Are You Unable To Weave Your Foundation?

“Siva,” Felix hissed.

He opened his true eyes to see a faint silhouette against the empty air, as if a strange vaguely female form stood too close behind a plane of frosted glass. Beyond the silhouette, the air was crystal clear, but the silhouette had no distinct features. Her outline was too long and slender, and her limbs weren’t attached to her body correctly, as if the hand that made it had forgotten what people looked like. A mane of sleek, floating hair hung around her head like a halo, foggier for its distance behind the head, but no less unnerving. Two pairs of eyes opened, burning with silver light as she regarded Felix across the barrier.

I Sense A Frustration In You, Bondbreaker.

"Oh, do you?" Felix said, quelling his unease. "I wonder why that is."

Ignoring the goddess, Felix dove back into his core space. Yet she followed, her voice a whisper against his ear.

Do You Require Assistance, Bondbreaker?

"Fuck off."

Felix grasped the roots and the threads of light, braiding them together once more, only to have Siva’s power blast them from his hands.

"Oh, you absolute—! What’s your deal?"

I See That Your Efforts At Tending Your Weave Has Been Stymied Again. I Sympathize, For I Too Know How That Feels. The Frustration. The Pain. The Rage.Do You Rage, Bondbreaker?

Felix gritted his teeth. It was quite clear Siva still wasn’t happy about what he’d done to the Oaths, and this was her payback. He considered briefly moving further away, but while she was no doubt stronger in her Shrine and he was close, he was not within its borders. The barrier told him that much. That meant Siva could affect him like this no matter where he went. The words of another goddess floated across his Mind, burned indelibly into him.

“Your Skills and titles bind us closer together, providing a connection."

With that connection, Vellus had tried to take him as her Vessel. She had tried to trick him into it, in fact. Siva was no doubt using the same playbook. So he ignored her once again, firming up his grip on his core space with Fiendforge, and began to weave again.

He focused upon his task, fixing his Will on the ineffable strands before him took more than all of his focus. The boost to his Intent was useful though, as the effort slackened slightly, if only for a moment.

You Must Learn, Bondbreaker.

That prismatic power struck at him, and everything collapsed.

You Must Not Reach Too High.

Felix started over, only to have it blasted apart moments later.

Lest You Founder Upon The Rocks Below.

Again and again, he struggled against her power while he held firm onto his core space. Compared to the nightmares he’d dealt with in only the last few months, this wasn’t a test he planned to fail. He refused to even acknowledge the goddess. No matter the strain it began to put on him, on his Aspects, he endured.

Fiendforge is level 86!

…

Fiendforge is level 89!

Fiendforge held him together through every wave of Divine punishment, even when the dark nothing of his core space began to tremble. He held it tight, all but inviolate against the predations of a short-sighted goddess.

Fiendforge is level 90!

When the last touch broke down his efforts, Felix took a breath. His Mind and Spirit felt raw and bloody, and when he licked his lips he tasted copper and salt.

If You Are Having Trouble Advancing, Aid Is Here.

You Have But To Take My Hand, Nevarre.

That prismatic force formed into a familiar hand. Too many fingers with too many joints stuck out from a palm that was too long and too pale to be real. Felix slapped it away.

"I need nothing from you except your absence," he said. “Go eat a turd.”

VILE.

Her response was a prismatic blast that tore through his strands, sending them careening back to Skill, cores, and Tree, before shaking his other Pillars with a chiming of crystal against crystal.

Do Not Underestimate Me, Unbound.

You Have Broken My Oaths Again And Again, Violating All That I Hold Dear.

That Is Not Allowed.

You Are Not Allowed, Felix Nevarre.

Felix bared his teeth. It wasn’t even that he was opposing her Will, just a piece of her Divine power, which was a pain in the ass. His Fiendforge may have held him together so far, but it wasn't enough to complete his Pillar for him. He needed other options.

Help.

The words came not from Siva, but from the dark disc of swirling nothing that lay above him.

"Hunger?" Felix asked. "How can you help?"

Un-Feed.

The last time those words had been uttered, his Hunger had given him a bounty of its meals, regurgitating them for Felix to utilize in weaving his Ninth Pillar. Without waiting for him to confirm, Hunger gushed, releasing a thin tendril of darkness that dangled from the edge of her ever-spinning maw. Felix recognized it immediately: Noctis's power, stolen from the Creature in Khasma.

"You still have some?" He asked, more than a little surprised.

Saving. For Today.

Felix was struck dumb by that. His hunger had done this before, but Felix always assumed it had been a one-time deal, a survival instinct, perhaps. But if she was saving this for so long, what does that mean? At the moment, it didn't matter, so Felix put it out of his mind.

"Yes," he said to her. "I would use your help."

Just. Repay Me.

"Later." Felix grinned. "You got it."

The dark power oozed out of his hunger, pouring down into the space below his cores. And he grappled with it. Pulling at the roots of his divine tree, and calling once more upon the light of his cores and his Sonata of Dominance, he wove them, following the pattern once more, over and over. A dense, incredibly complex pattern. He wove fast, putting everything he had into it, until a latticework of crystal formed across its base, sealing it in.

Siva played her hand, hurling her might at his nascent Pillar…only this time the weaving didn't fall apart.

Fiendforge is level 91!

…

Fiendforge is level 97!

It shuddered, strands flinging to one side and to the other. But Felix recovered. He kept weaving.

What Is This?

That pale hand returned, reaching for his Pillar and grappling with its growing length. More of her power hit him, scouring away at his visualized self but Felix hardened his Will.

Stop!

Siva tried harder, and her hand tore into the strands of light as if trying to pry everything apart by force. The Pillar shuddered, strands unraveling, but the core of it held. Felix wove, putting everything he had into the dense layering of warp, weft, and braid. Shimmering silver energy spun around him, clawing at him and every inch it could, but he refused to stop. Refused to give in.

A triumphant blaring of horns and strings rose around him, sounded through the depths of his Pillars until the crystal sung like a chorus all around. Harmony and Dissonance sang, a rhythm he could remember now. It blossomed within the Pillars as well, feeding into his Tenth until crystalline lattices grew around its base and the threads from above would twist no more.

It was done.

A glorious chord swept through Felix's aspects, as if the very essence of pleasure, triumph, and glory were channeled through every nerve. Siva screamed in frustration and his Hunger howled.

You Have Formed A Tenth Pillar!

Congratulations!

Due To Vein Of Divinity (x2), The Skill Woven Into Your Pillar Gains Seven (7) Levels!

Sonata of Dominance is level 104!

Master Tier!

You Gain:

+100 AFI

+100 RES

+75 WIL

New Title!

Unshakable Foundation (Mythic)!

Weaving ten pillars is a feat worthy of legend. Doing so while opposed by a goddess? That is the province of myth.

+25% Resistance To All Attempts At Sundering Your Pillars

Felix rose from his core to find himself oozing blood like sweat through his pores and on his knees. He breathed hard, and stared into the dual eyes of an incensed goddess.

He smirked, exhausted, but triumphant.

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