Unbound

“Eidolons! Defend!” Vess commanded before engaging On The Wing and running forward as fast as she could.

The Bethir were faster still. Their many legs blurred, sliding over the terrain as if it were ice, and their large maws opened to unleash a barrage of deadly lightning.

“Chains of the Protector!”

“Keratin Conception!”

Lightning met chitin and chain before blasting it all away, but it blunted the edge of it. Vess dodged the weakened bolts, Spears manifesting around her in a ring. “Matriarch’s Lament!”

A spectral Dragon’s head formed around Vess’ own, and a roar of terrible sorrow ripped from her core. Despite their advancement the Bethir stumbled, afflicted by her call.

A Bethir Is Ennervated (x4)!

Duration: 10 Heartbeats

Matriarch’s Lament is level 79!

Matriarch’s Lament is level 82!

The Bethir flinched, their blue eyes fluttering as the Ennervation hit them all, reducing their Stamaina and Vitality, but the one in the lead did not stop. It ran at Vess, slick as lightning. It caught Spear after Spear in its mouth and was undeterred as its jaws snapped over and over. Vess leaped backward, through the Eidolons that had gathered behind her, and the beast crashed against their stony Bodies.

“Go no further, monster,” Ogun said, his voice a basso rumble, before he brought his clenched hands down onto the Bethir’s back. The beast cried out in pain and spat out more lightning.

By that point, the others had recovered from her Ennervation and were mobilizing. Two surged ahead, rippling around the Eidolons as their throats glowed a brilliant blue-white. More lightning shot out, chased by the sound of crashing thunder—but was met by Bedlam.

Beef slammed his hammer down, and a light cooler and brighter than lightning burst from its icy head. The crackling breath split apart, turning at once into a colorless sludge before dissolving entirely.

“Ha! It worked!” Beef crowed, staring at his hammer in delight. “C’mon you oversized newts! Let’s dance!”

The Bethir roared loud enough to shake loose stones before barreling into Beef’s stout Body. They were met with crystalline projectiles, courtesy of Hallow, each the size of daggers and twice as sharp. Thin wounds opened across their snouts and writhing necks, but most slid harmlessly past. Far more effective was his hammer, Bedlam, which smashed their heads down into the dirt.

“I’ve got this one!” A chain snaked its way around one of the beasts, pulling it up short as blades shot out from its length. The Bethir let out a strangled cough as Evie landed atop them. “Slip away from this!”

Chain blurred as it pulled through Evie’s grasp, tearing through slime and flesh with equal measure until blood poured onto the craggy floor. The beast twisted on itself and closed its monstrous jaws onto Evie.

“Ahh!”

Ice snapped like thunder as her breastplate deformed, and the Bethir twisted back, hurling Evie away. She hit the wall, and the stone shattered.

Evie! Vess kicked off the ground, spectral wings propelling her through the air. She summoned Spears and hurled them at the monsters.

The Bethir did not wait for her, however, and dodged. The dodge became a full on gallop as it crashed into an Eidolon from the side, taking its legs out and bringing the stone giant to the ground. The other two Bethir, seeing their opportunity, swarmed the remaining Eidolons and knocked them back on their heels.

Beef screamed and Hallow bellowed as their own foe chomped its dire maw around the Minotaur’s arm. Blood sprayed in all directions and Bedlam fell to the earth.

Vess gritted her teeth. “Yin! Aid me!”

“As you wish, little Dragoon.” The Dawn Wyrmling leaped from his claimed core, summoning tendrils of water that streamed in his wake. “Adherents of Ophidia!”

Dragons of water rolled forward, jaws parted in silent screams. Water-shaped teeth latched onto the legs of Beef’s opponent, and suddenly the slickness of their flesh made no difference. Blood fountained, spattering Beef and the Eidolons with gore as two of their limbs vanished completely.

The Bethir let out a hideous wail, releasing Beef’s arm. Lightning filled its maw and its blue eyes glowed with rage, but two meaty hands slammed it shut.

“No you don’t!” Beef roared, before wrapping bloody arms around the thing’s jaws. Lighting streamed out from between its lips and teeth, but he and Hallow held fast. “No! More! Biting!”

Eagin shouted over beasts that crawled atop him and the other Eidolons. “The creatures are too strong! We must focus on one at a time!”

Very well. Yin!

Of course, little Dragoon.

Vess and the Wyrmling soared as high as they could manage before flipping mid-air to kick off against the ceiling with immense force. Spears of metal and wind manifested around them, joined by swirling Dragons of purest water and a brilliant bolt of golden light.

“Draconic Stormfall!”

“Skyflare!”

Spears and Dragons met Beef’s erstwhile opponent, followed close by the intense radiance. The Bethir fell back, bloody and burnt, before screeching in rage…only to find Vess atop its back, Spears stabbed into its wet flesh.

“Spearmaiden!”

Despite fighting two other Bethir, one of the Eidolons grabbed at the stunned beast’s feet from where it laid out on the ground. The stone guardian hauled back, knocking the creature onto its side and allowing Vess to summon more Spears while detonating the old ones. The monster’s flesh burst, dark ichor pouring like a fountain as Spear after Spear blasted pieces of it in all directions.

You Have Killed A Bethir!XP Earned!

Another Bethir, with Evie’s chain still hanging from its neck, jumped at Vess but was dazed again by a flash of incandescent light from Yin. Blind, it lunged before being caught short by a pair of slender hands on its chain.

“Evie!” Vess cried out. “Can you fight?”“I can damn well try,” the woman grunted. She held onto the end of her chain again, and the second Bethir snapped its jaws wildly trying to catch one of them. “Stop squirmin’! Bindings of the White Waste!”

Icy chains thrust up from the ground, wrapping around its neck and legs just as the monster tried to regain its footing. Leverage lost, it flailed its long body with increasing ferocity.

“Enough of you,” Evie growled, before her chain rotated in her grip. Blades the size of Vess’ hands chewed through its neck, coating the ground with gore before catching on thick, powerful muscles.

“Evie!” Vess warned, and her friend leaped back, chain uncoiling as all ten of her Spears sank deep into the open wound. “Ten Tribulations!”

Again, the combination of their powers broke through the beast’s final defenses, and its head dropped from its body.

You Have Killed A Bethir!XP Earned!

You Have Gained A Level!You Are Now Level 66!

Spear of Tribulations is level 84!

“Two more to go,” Evie said through gritted teeth. Her hand was held tight to her side. “I’ll—”

A roar tore across the dark.

“That sounded…big,” Archie said from behind a stalagmite.

“Focus on Beef’s opponent. Keep them away from Felix,” Vess commanded, pointing Yin and Evie toward the Minotaur. Felix had stopped burning, but he was still slumped unconscious in the center of the battlefield. She leveled her partisan at the distant dark, where that roar had sounded. “I shall handle this.”

Yin zipped away without question, already summoning Dragons of water. Evie lingered, however. “That sounds big.”

A rapid tattoo shook the earth, jolting both of them up a half span, while the distinct sound of rushing water grew louder and louder.

“What is—Oh,” Evie said, swallowing hard. “Noctis’ tits.”

A massive beast emerged from the shadows, fully twice the size of a normal Bethir and borne upon a surge of water Mana like a tidal wave. Its many legs paddled, moving it about with surprising precision, like a sea serpent on land. Behind it, over a dozen more Bethir followed.

“Hold the lesser ones!” Tzfell ordered, throwing her strange geometric spells into the air. “We shall take the greater beast!”

Laur threw forth a shimmering wall of wards, blocking the smaller Bethir long enough for the Eidolons to step to his aid.

The immense leader, however, was not deterred.

Analyze!

Name: Dire Bethir

Type: Reptile

Level: 122

Vess’ Mind twinged as Analyze failed to penetrate the creature’s defenses, but she didn’t need it to recognize it was above Tier VI. Nor to notice the creature’s two heads growing from its long, serpentine neck that slammed into Tzfell’s small body. She was crushed to the earth, but a blast of corruscating energy threw its mouths back. It reeled, swimming atop its platform of waves, and slammed the prone Dwarf with its mighty tail.

Tzfell didn’t get back up.

“We have to stop it,” Vess said, spying Felix’s prone form in its path. The Dire Bethir’s four eyes flashed like embers of sapphire, before dual mouths descended on him.

The Fang of Havoc is level 82!

On The Wing is level 83!

Vess shot forward, partisan thrust out, and skewered the beast where its leftmost jaw met its neck. The blade dimpled the slick skin and failed to penetrate, but it knocked the beast askew. It stumbled, momentum foiled.

It howled, and the water beneath it answered.

On The Wing is level 84!

Pure water Mana slammed into her, washing Vess from the air and into the ground. Its mouths slammed shut a span from her feet, but that mattered little as she tumbled head over heels, her partisan torn from her grip as she was driven hard into a stalagmite.

Status Condition: Concussion (Severe)!

“My Lady!”

Through the rush of water, Vess heard the bellow of the Eidolons. The Dire Bethir spun, whipping its tail into the stone guardians even as its platform of water swung out, smashing into Evie, Beef, and Hallow as well. Vess couldn’t see much, not through the continuous flood of water Mana, but she heard the clatter of slick flesh and high Tier stone. Heard their shouts of surprise and felt the pulse of their Spirits. The Eidolons were afraid.

The Bethir set upon them all.

Indescribable fear for her friends nearly froze her in place, but Vess shoved it aside. She pressed forward, pushing with all her might against the wave that held her in place. The pressure only mounted, ramming her back into the stone.

Status Condition: Broken Collarbone (Major)!

Without warning, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. She was pulled back—through the stalagmite itself.

Darkness consumed her senses, a great pressure unlike anything she’d felt before. Her lungs strained, fighting to breathe as even her limbs were held in place by an implacable force. Then light. Air. A gasp tore from her throat as the world opened up again, and blessed the return of pained cries and rushing water for it meant she was alive.

“Sorry! I couldn’t warn you with all the water,” Archie said, leaning over her face. He was shouting, but it sounded muted. “It’s too strong! We gotta run!”

“No,” she managed, leveraging herself into a seated position. “Felix is out there.”

The Delven thief dragged his two small hands across his cheeks. “GAH! Fine!”

He dove forward, vanishing into the ground with a ripple.

Vess summoned a Spear and pushed herself to standing. Through the undulating waves that sprayed around the stalagmite, she saw it. The Dire Bethir stood alone on the battlefield amid a continuous whirlpool of water, all others washed away. It towered over Felix’s unconscious form.

It lunged at him with both mouths wide—

—and caught a pair of molten daggers in its eye.

The creature’s roar was deafening, but the waters flagged. Vess stumbled forward into a run, spectral wings forming atop her back.

I can make it!

Archie leaped toward Felix, small hands outstretched to drag him into the ground…but the monster swung its mighty neck blindly and bashed him. The Delven went skipping across the still waters like a stone.

“Fang of Havoc!”

The dual maws lunged for Felix and plowed into him, tearing a furrow through the earth and past Vess’ trajectory before it impacted the stalagmite she’d just left. A cloud of dust ripped in all directions, and the cavern itself trembled.

No!

Beneath the cloud, its jaws shut to the sound of thunder.

Felix blinked. The stars were gone, replaced by hot, fetid breath and pink shadows. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what had happened, nor why his clawed hands were holding two separate snouts filled with very large, very sharp teeth.

“That’s…you’re bigger than I remember.”

The jaws of either mouth snapped shut, over and over, but they couldn’t reach him. He was briefly reminded of his sister, back when they would fight as kids. Holding her back with a single hand while she flailed at him.

“Hey.” Felix blinked again, forcing his Mind to focus. “I was taking care of something.”

The monster screeched, and lightning surged out of its mouths. It tore across Felix, blasting into him and the stalagmite behind until the stone melted into red-hot lava. Answering blasts of lightning came from around the cavern, blasting into the ankle-deep water before spreading. He heard his friends crying out, and a deep anger welled up within him.

“Hey!” Suddenly, the lightning vanished as if blasted by a phantom breeze. Even the electricity in the water. “Stop that.”

Storm Shaping is level 62!

…

Storm Shaping is level 66!

The beast—a Dire Bethir, Felix saw—stared at him in clear confusion. He stood there, untouched amid a field of molten stone.

The Dire Bethir wasn’t stupid. It tried to flinch back, but Felix’s claws held it fast. “No. You don’t get to run.” His eyes flashed bright enough to paint the cavern in azure. “None of you do.”

Astrum Ascendence.

Fire burst from his palm Gates, but it was different than before. Red-gold, blue, deep green and a vibrant purple; it shone like stardust and burned like the sun. A song arose with it, a shining crescendo that seemed to describe the very curve of each licking flame. The inferno surged over the Dire Bethir, through its open mouths and through its noxious interior. The creature flailed, unable to detach itself from Felix’s mighty grip, as cosmic flame burned it from the inside out.

Not enough.

Yes. More!

Hunger roared and Felix roared with her, and the Astrum answered. From his elbows and knees and mouth came rivers of Mana and Essence turned to scintillating flame that wove around the bulk of the Dire Bethir. It screeched through the air, a hunting hawk, before diving directly into the closest monstrosities. In a flash, they were consumed.

You Have Killed A Bethir (x2)!XP Earned!

Felix marveled at his hands, still held fast to the thrashing beast. The song of each combined Skill was there, flowing out of him like a radio. He could hear pieces of them. Fire, heat, light, and even the echo of ice. It was there, working as one. As more.

The Dire Bethir was dried out, its flesh razed…but still it lived. He poured his might into the spell, guiding its fury through the creature. Around him, the other Bethir tried to flee, but the Astrum could not be denied. Bars of liquid light speared outward, pinning them in place and heating the stone until the water boiled and the ground turned molten. They tried to spit lightning, but he shaped a muzzle of liquid flame and plugged their mouths.

The power burned, lighting their withered flesh from within…until each and every one popped.

You Have Killed A Bethir (x14)!

XP Earned!

You Have Killed A Dire Bethir!

XP Earned!

Astrum Ascendence is level 91!

Astrum Ascendence is level 92!

New Title!

To Seek The Peak!

You have climbed further upon the Broken Path, Ascendent! Though trials and tribulations leave crevasses in your way, you have filled them with a sea of corpses. Fire leaps to your command, shaped in ways not seen in many long Ages. Beware, for you have not gone unnoticed, and fear shakes the Ouranic Heights as they consider what you might do. What you might become.

+Increased Benefits From Tempering To Grandmaster!

+Bonus To Forming Your Core Manifestation!

Well…that’s good. Felix eyed the part about ‘Ouranic Heights.’ The gods, I’m assuming? Not exactly telling me much more than I already know.

Felix stepped around the charred corpse of the Dire Bethir, looking for his friends. “Is everyone alive?”

Vess helped a clearly injured Evie to her feet. Both of their armor was broken and blood streamed from them in various places. Beef was little better with one arm torn nearly to the bone, and Hallow had a deep crack across her center.

“None have died this day, my Lord,” Eagin announced. The Eidolons stumped toward him, an unconscious Tzfell and bloody Laur in their arms along with Harn. Ironically, he was probably the least injured of them all.

“Kind of a shit time to take a nap,” Archie said dully. His face was cut open but he seemed mostly fine. “I almost died tryin’ to save your ass.”

Felix nodded. “I appreciate it. Are you okay?”

“I’ll live.” Archie shrugged. “Stoneswimming is useful for more than transport. Getting swiped into a wall isn’t nearly so bad when you can slip into it.”

“Vess?” he asked.

“Injured, but surviving. We will need treatment soon, however, and this cavern is…well. Unfit, at the moment.”

She gestured to the ankle-deep water and various smoking corpses all around them. Felix scratched his jaw. “Right. Hold on.”

Felix ate them all.

Chthonic Tribute!As streamers of smoke and flashing Mana poured into his mouth, a deep sense of satisfaction rumbled through his middle. Hunger was pleased. Power thrummed through his core, threading across his Divine Tree, into his dual cores before hitting the accretion disc of his Hunger. There was a sudden shifting, as if a process had finally completed…and a bolt of brilliant light shot out of the dark void of his Primordial passenger.

Quest Completed!

Delicious Devour IIYour Primordial Hunger has requested a reward for all of its hard work. Prey must be Tier VII or higher if a monster, Grandmaster or greater if a mortal, or the equivalent in magical potency.

Rewards dependent upon prey devoured.

Reward(s): Doubled Significance, Varies

New Title!

Comrade of the Elements (Legendary)

Due to destroying the Arcane Sentries and freeing their enslaved elementals, you garnered the respect of a Supreme Elemental. Allowed to partake of its Mana and Essence, you have gained greater resistance to that which it commanded in life. Fire and earth Mana will do half as much damage to you, while all damage from other Mana types will be reduced by five percent.

As the new significance sank into his core space, Felix barely stayed on his feet. His sense of the world flexed—he felt more than the sum of his parts.

The fire in his chest dimmed. Some of the pain he’d been handling for days vanished, both direct into his core and indirectly. His bond with Pit relaxed for the first time since he’d consumed the Mote of Frenzy.

Etheric Concordance is level 94!

Pit… Felix checked his friend’s status sheet, and as always, any Title above Rare was shared with his Companion. He could tell that his friend was suddenly more comfortable. The Mote of Frenzy was still burning through him—them—but it was a touch less terrible.

“Are you well?” Vess asked him, stepping closer to pull him upright. “You very nearly fainted there.”

“Yeah. Just completed a Quest. The—” Felix’s skin prickled and he turned toward the shadowed end of the cavern. At the very edge of his senses, Felix detected movement. More creatures were reacting to the noise they had made. They were coming.

Eat Them All.

We can’t. Everyone on his team was hurt. Felix clenched his hands tight. “We gotta run. More are on the way.”

Evie groaned. “This place is stupid.”

“That’s what I keep saying,” Archie muttered.

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