Unbound

By the end of that first day, their team had made significant progress across the swamp. The Dragon statues that marked the Gloaming Way forced them to take many less-than-efficient routes, often circling around large stands of trees or clusters of a particular kind of tall grasses. Beef had moaned about it more than once, even though his newly evolved Skill was more effective than ever.

There were reasons for the Gloaming Way’s errant construction, however. More than once Felix sensed monsters within an avoided copse or swaying field of swamp grass. Not just any monsters either, but swarms of things that could chew through your average Journeyman Tier and would prove a threat to any Adept.

They were smart, whoever laid down these statues. It was likely that by moving around those monstrous breeding grounds saved the original creators a great deal of time, despite the greater distance.

Yet, mile after mile, Felix felt not a stitch of true danger. Instead, the entirety of the swamp sang a familiar tune, one he recognized from his Aria of the Green Wilds. That Skill called the Green Wilds a sort of peaceful counterpart to the “Songs of War” as embodied by his Wild Threnody Skill. He’d asked Zara about it, months prior, and she said they were all minor chords in the wider tapestry that was the Grand Harmony. Pieces of a whole.

Felix had long since learned to recognize the song of the Green Wilds. He’d heard it in almost all of the less-tamed parts of the Continent with varying degrees of clarity. It was…calming.

Reminds me of the Foglands, Pit said through their bond.

Felix sent back pleased agreement, before raising a metaphysical eyebrow. I thought you went hunting?

I did. We found a nest of these weird frogs—

How strong?

Felix smoothed the worry out of his Spirit, careful to keep it hidden from his friend. Okay. Stay focused. Call me if you need help.

Aye aye cap’n! Though their bond remained open, it went distinctly mute as if Pit had hung up on him.

Felix rolled his eyes. Pit was right, of course. He could handle himself now…and Felix had other things to occupy his attention.

After learning of the two Unbound’s Skills, stats, and other Status Sheet details Felix had devised a training regimen for their continued growth. He had focused first on their Born Traits, and then their major Skills—or at least the ones they could train while on the move. For Beef that meant Blunt Weapon Mastery, Circle of Smash, Seismic Shatter, and his new Entropic Paradigm. Hallow Rise and Hallow Call, while hugely important, could be trained by Hallow herself. A bit of a cheat, but Felix certainly wasn’t above exploiting everything they could.

When he’d arrived on the Continent, Beef had chosen a Race that would aid him at becoming a great warrior, and the Born Trait he’d chosen had followed in that vein. According to him was one of his many early mistakes. After seeing its description, Felix vehemently disagreed.

Born Trait: Beast’s Endurance - Your Stamina depletes 20% slower.

No modifiers or restrictions at all. Anything that used Stamina (which was basically every physical movement, especially at lower Tiers) would cost Beef less than others. At lower levels that meant little, since his Stamina total wasn’t that high, but now it meant he could keep going when others at the same level and Tier would pass out from exhaustion.

The kid was happy to hear that Felix approved of his Born Trait—but that joy had turned to dread as Felix started having him do multiple tasks at once to make the most of his reserves. So for the past half a day, Beef had been building the road and swinging his warhammer according to Harn’s shouted instructions. Now Beef was dripping wet with sweat and swamp water as he swung the immense weight of Bedlam in a circle around his head and shoulders, all while conjuring chitin out of condensing Mana.

“Faster! Swing faster!”

“Eeugh!”

He’ll be alright. With how Beef could harvest the entropic energy from the air around them and his reduced Stamina use, the teen necromancer could keep going for a long while yet. Harn knows his limits. He won’t push him too far past them.

“Oh god, the pain!”

“Faster!”

Probably.

While Beef was busy building the road one ten-foot section at a time, Archie had resumed his movement training. He was skimming across the mud with ease now, having found the trick of it, but he hadn’t stopped there. Whether Felix’s words or his fight with Beef, something had lit a fire under the guy’s butt. He had made it a point to phase through every obstacle he encountered. Rock, lump of island, or thick tree roots; he passed through them all with growing confidence. He even managed to skim through the thick layer of algae atop the water, though he sank after only a few yards.

Honestly, he was insufferable about it all—but hearing the undiluted joy in the man’s Spirit almost made up for it.

Archie had a number of interesting Skills. Stoneswim and Blindsense were the most used ones, but his Fanblade was very cool, and was an evolution of Small Blade Mastery and Parry, both Skills Felix had once used before they had been folded into his Wild Threnody. Fanblade allowed Archie to spin his weapons so fast that they turned into the next best thing to a blender. It could also deflect projectiles or turn aside melee attacks, but the latter required Strength that Archie didn’t really possess.

He had a Climbing Skill, a new Swimming Skill, Cold Resistance, Light Armor Mastery, and even Poison and Piercing Resistance. According to Archie, the last two had been a result of a great many training “accidents” back when he had worked for Thrumm the smuggler. But those smugglers and thieves had taught him quite a bit, from how to haggle, to sensing traps and disarming them. Mostly though, they taught him how to move.

Evasive Gait was a movement Skill designed to increase the distance between himself and his target while avoiding projectiles. It was less effective in up-close fighting, but mostly because it was so focused on defense. If Archie wished to attack, he’d have to drop the Skill, which would then expose him to harm.

Lost In The Crowd was his stealth Skill, though it consumed Mana as it produced an illusion that made Archie appear bland and difficult to pick out in a group. Or it would have, were there any crowds in the swamp. As it was, it just made him kind of fuzzy and easy to ignore.

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Archie’s final Skill was called Innocuous Suggestion, which was fairly insidious in Felix’s opinion. It built a filter between Mind and Body, and he could put a single, concise thought into that filter. Usually it was that Archie was the target’s trusted friend. It lasted a good while, and most didn’t have the Mind to catch it even when it faded. It left some muddled memories but no lasting damage. To those with the proper Will, it did nothing, so it was of limited use.

Archie’s Born Trait, unlike Beef’s, was fascinating but far more situational.

“Your Born Trait is called Attractive?” Felix had asked when they’d found out. “Is that a…does it make you more handsome?”

“Does it work?” Archie had grinned. Harn snorted a laugh. At Felix’s amused confusion, he had only sighed. “Thought it was something else at first too, but it’s not that. Kinda like my shit Race, I didn’t exactly read the fine print.”

“What’s it do?” Beef had asked.“It lets me draw in loose coins and baubles from a certain distance away. Attract them, you see?” He had shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with their blank stares. “Certainly makes stealing a bit easier.”

While his Born Trait didn’t lend itself to a training regimen, it certainly didn’t hurt. Felix had told him to start experimenting on what sort of things the Trait could attract, how heavy they could be, and how far away he could affect things. Archie had rolled his eyes but agreed.

All in all, the man had a powerset that would be the envy of any criminal back on Earth, and likely on the Continent too. That had stymied Felix’s plans for training at first, until Harn suggested that Archie help out at the front of the road.

“This is demeaning!” he protested for the hundredth time.

“Someone’s gotta clear the way,” Harn said. “Those spinnin’ blades of yours are excellent at trimmin’ back the weeds, so that’s what we’re doin’.”

“I thought I’m supposed to be training?”

“You are. Focus on the movements of your daggers. Note how fast they’re rotatin’, how much Mana and Stamina they can handle before the Skill tops off. There’s lots to learn from even the simplest movements.”

Archie, sweating and grumbling, returned to the roots and weeds that blocked their way.

“Now swing!” Harn instructed Beef, all but ignoring the Delven now. His crutches skipped across the ground as the Minotaur brought Bedlam down onto the chitin path. A deep crack appeared, crumbling a piece of it back into the swamp. “Tch. You’re supposed to stop it before it hits, kid.”

“It’s…so…heavy,” Beef panted, wet shoulder rising and falling as he took great big gulps of air. “It’s…impossible.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you just need to rearrange what you think is possible, yeah?”

“I—” Beef blinked. “Does it work like that?”

Harn adjusted his crutches. “You tell me.”

Beef ran his tongue across his teeth and spat into the swamp. “Right.” He leaned down and grasped the haft of his enchanted warhammer and heaved it back up with a grunt. “Again, then.”

Felix smiled. It was going well.

Blunt Weapon Mastery is level 74!

Mental Resistance is level 34!

Entropic Paradigm is level 79!

Hallow Call is level 72!

“Lord Beefhammer!”

Between one swing and the next, an echoing voice shouted into Beef’s ears. He almost dropped his hammer but managed to recover enough to catch and lower the icy weapon to the ground. Once he did that, he focused on what the voice was saying.

“This is Lieutenant Cors. We have reached the Kingsrock. I am reaching out as requested.”

Beef raised a hand to his ear, though he knew he didn’t need to; his communication was entirely mental. “Hold on a sec.”

“Of course, my Lord.”

“Is that the Claw?” Harn asked. Beef glanced over at the man as he reclined in a chitinous chair and sipped on a wineskin. “Or are you tellin’ me your too tired to keep trainin’?”

“No! I mean, yeah. The Claw. They reached the Kingsrock.”

“Took ‘em long enough,” Harn grunted, before taking a long pull of his wineskin. “Damn those Dwarves know how to make a drink.” He gripped a crutch and pulled himself to his feet with remarkable ease. “No use dawdlin’ here. Let’s go tell Felix.”

Beef hustled after the older warrior, too tired to be annoyed at how fast the guy was even on crutches. The tiredness faded into surprise as he saw how far they had come. The chitinous path wound through the swamp for perhaps a half mile before they reached the rest of the party, all of whom were enjoying an evening meal. Skewers of cooked meat hung over a large empty pit, though there was no sign of fire.

Felix probably cooked it with his fire magic or something. Beef couldn’t help the happy smile that stretched his snout. Magic is so cool.

“Beef? What’s going on?” Felix stood up, and the others did too.

“Claw reached Kingsrock,” Beef said, eyeing the juicy haunch. It had like five thick legs dangling from it, each of them smelling spicy and delicious. “Lieutenant Cors is reaching out. Wants to know what to do next.”

“Oh! Moving through the Dark Passages took them longer than I expected. You’re still in contact?”

“Yeah. They’re speaking through the Multipede.”

Beef’s Hallow Call was primarily used to summon his Risen to himself and take direct control over them in battle, something Hallow usually handled herself. But in cases like this, he had proven that he could communicate and control his Risen across vast distances, even if Hallow was otherwise occupied as she was now.

“Tell them to go ahead with their report,” Felix said.

“Lieutenant Cors. I have the Autarch here.”

“Thank you, my Lord. We have reached the Kingsrock and are preparing for the next leg of our journey to Nagast. The trip through the Dark Passages was long but not overly arduous. Lieutenant Loquis has prepared a report on it and will have it available to you when you return.”

Beef faithfully repeated all of the words to Felix and the rest. Without Hallow nearby he couldn’t transmit the sound directly, but he made do.

“One thing of note, my Lord. Before we left the Rimefangs we ran into some Dwarven forces.”

“Ran into?” Felix frowned. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, sir. We stayed well away from them, only sending a few scouts to observe their movements.”

“Where were they heading?” Harn asked.

“South.”

Felix and Harn exchanged glances, and Beef didn’t have to be a genius to understand what that meant. They were to the south.

“To us?” Felix asked.

“We cannot tell. Some of the Henaari wished to sneak into the camp and find out, but their guard was too tight. They had some powerful wards that obscured a lot of their force.”

“I’m glad you didn’t try. It’s not worth the risk.” Felix rubbed his jaw. “If they’re headed here it’ll take them a long time to reach us, let alone find us. The Rimefangs aren’t exactly small.”

“Understood. What do you wish of us?”

“Head back to Nagast, as planned.”

“As you wish, my Lord.”

Felix sighed as Beef felt his Hallow Call deactivate. The guy looked tired and stressed, but there was an intensity about him that never faded.

Vess was tapping her foot, pondering the information. “They might be far away, but if the Red Shields are mobilizing, then we have to assume their allies are as well. They will come for us, eventually.”

“Agreed,” said Tzfell. “If they are moving, then they know something. And we cannot discount the threat of Imara and her Inquisitors.”

Beef glanced at Felix just as the man’s eyes began to burn blue. “No, we cannot.” He swept his bright, fiery gaze at all of them as he spoke. “Eat up. We’re pushing through the night.”

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