Unbound

With a blink of his eyes, Felix stood amid rolling, forested hills beneath a bright blue sky. Trees stretched in all directions, festooned with emerald leaves of all shapes and sizes, while distant, lone mountains thrust up from the temperate terrain. At first glance, all appeared the same as usual despite the recent evolution of the Skill. Looking a touch closer, Felix was awed by the changes.

The forest, while leafy and green, was replaced by trunks and branches made from a luminescent opal. Each was chased with color, ranging through a rainbow of hues as light from a distant sun flashed slantwise through the canopy. Even the upthrust mountains glimmered with a similar construction, their distance-faded shapes halfway translucent and ethereal.

“Holy crap,” he muttered.

The sun, which was always a vague ball of fire in the air, now felt somehow more viscerally real. The heat prickled his exposed skin, a pleasant burn that promised worse if he remained exposed. More than the sun, however, was the incandescent flare on the horizon. A second sun, hotter and more…wild. Its rays weren’t a warm cascade but a chaotic pulsing that set subtle shadows to shifting with every beat. Beyond that sun was his friend, Pit, curled up in whatever remained of his own core space as he slowly Evolved.

The Mote of Frenzy.

Felix still had no idea what the Mote really was; he supposed it might be connected to Essence Motes, which he’d once used to Temper himself. Or even the ruby-red motes that had eventually formed into his [Cardinal Beast Core]. It was clearly beyond that in terms of potency, as it had cured Pit’s curse as well as begun his next Evolution—even now, waves of its wild power rolled through Felix’s forest, illuminating the opal trunks as it rushed toward him, before crashing against walls of faceted crystal.

He looked down, marveling at the battlements he stood upon. They too were made of an opalescent crystal, dark where the forests were radiant, even as they sparked with a curious internal light. Blue-white and red-gold predominated, but traceries of other colors showed up within the many facets. Deep blues, icy purples, dusty brown, swirling white, golden-green, fiery orange, and a deep crimson, among many others. It was Mana as he saw it with his Manasight, all of it incorporated into the new structure of his Bastion of Will.

No. It evolved. It’s called Void Sanctuary, now.

Void Sanctuary (Divine), Level 100

My first Divine rarity Skill. Felix scratched his head. He hadn’t taken the time to inspect the evolved Skill before now—it was a bad habit, letting things get away from himself. He needed to fix it, and soon. He—

Whoa.

Following the curve of the crystalline walls, Felix beheld the full expanse of the dark opal Void Sanctuary. No longer just a hexagonal tower surrounded by a wall and turrets, now it had expanded into a veritable city, filled with crystalline buildings, green gardens, and flowering trees sprawled across a series of rolling hills. The grasses of his inner bailey were now replaced by strange and varied plants that crowded empty pathways and the edges of squat structures. There was even a river running through the center, though it wasn’t water.

Felix hopped down from the wall, landing without a sound between two large ferns, and crouched at the edge of the gentle stream. He dipped his hand into the rushing liquid, and a deep blue flecked with golden-green splashed around his fingers.

Pure Mana. Life and water. Some shadow too. The liquid was thick, like gel more than water, or rather…like his own Mana when he cast it from his channels. He stood up, flicking his fingers. Weird.

The buildings around him flowed with the land, one with it in a way that he hadn’t seen before. Though they were made of a sort of dark, faceted opal, there were no truly straight lines. Everything curved, as if to mimic the water itself. Down at ground level, the trees were more apparent too, each one covered in emerald leaves or bright blossoms of startling hue. Each tree resembled a mini Divine Tree, with thick boles and sturdy branches that spread out wide to shade them from the dual suns. The leaves were normal though—wrought of chloroplasts or whatever, instead of Essence and Memories.

Through the trees and buildings, at the very center of his Sanctuary, was a palace. Felix could spot it easily from beside the stream, and in a single, physics defying hop, he soared up into the sky to view it in full.

The palace was huge, easily ten times the size of the Kingsrock, and it thrummed with more internal light than any other part of the city. The main structure was a multifaceted orb topped by a needle-thin spire, which rose so high it pierced the belly of a silver cloud. Around the orb, the palace split into three distinct wings before rising into a series of six towers that formed the perimeter. Each faceted tower was emblazoned with familiar patterns, etchings of light bound into tumbling tangles. The other Skills in the Skill Array that Bastion of Will—now Void Sanctuary—was the center of; Skills that were, apparently, still connected with zero issues. Each tower rose half the height of the central spire, but pillars of near-physical light shot off into the sky like spotlights, further illuminating the cumulonimbus crown far above.

He hovered in the sky, breathing it all in. Everything felt sturdier—more real than the real world, somehow. This place, he reminded himself, had withstood the attention of a god and held firm. Weakened, maybe, distracted surely, but Felix hadn’t allowed himself to revel in the sense of safety it exuded. The power increase between Bastion of Will and Void Sanctuary was both tangible and astronomical.

“Felix.”

He turned, pivoting mid-air with thought. Far below, standing on the ramparts of his palace, was an elderly man with dark skin and gray-flecked hair. Felix flew toward him, landing at his side in a fraction of a second. “Karys. Glad you could make it.”

“Make it?” The old Nym gawked at Felix. “I have been pacing the Seal since you told me of the Eidolons! That was two days ago!”

“I—” Felix swallowed. Closed his mouth. Sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s been a trying few days.”

Karys met his eyes. “Tell me all you can.”

Felix did.

“—and now we’re deep in the Low Roads. Hundreds of leagues from the Hoarfrost and our quick route home.”

Felix felt like he’d been speaking for hours. The Void Sanctuary around them was unchanged, of course, but he was acutely aware of all of his limbs. His skin prickled at the memory of what he’d just laid out, all of it so fresh it was like reliving it again. Thanks to his Born Trait, that was quite literal. More than once, he’d suppressed his Mind as he recounted events, purposely dulling his senses as he told Karys everything.

With remarkable quickness, two wrinkled, age-spotted hands grabbed Felix’s shoulders. They squeezed gently. Without another word, Karys gathered him up in a fierce hug.

Felix was surprised and very nearly shoved the guy away…but he couldn’t find the strength. It was nice. In that moment, he wasn’t the Autarch or the Fiend or an Unbound. For a time, he was just Felix.

“Your sister. Felix, that is abominable.” Karys pulled back until he was holding Felix at arm’s length. “What can I do to help?”

Felix gestured all around them. “Can you explain how this happened?”

“As you’ve told me, the Skill evolved to a greater rarity. An increase in potency is expected as the specificity of its power sharpens. What Feature did you Temper it with?”

“Anchor. The System called it the ‘Weight of Obdurance.’”

“Hm. Yes, I see. You’ve turned the mental fortress and imbued it with a powerful force of refutation.”

“Yeah, I mean, that’s clear. The walls, the towers around it…it’s definitely safer. It held back the Pathless as it was being channeled through…Imara.” Felix put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “What I don’t understand is the addition of a city. The changing of the forest and even the mountains in the distance. I haven’t seen the acid sea that used to be nearby, but that’s probably been transformed too. What’s the point?”

“You’ve heard before that advancing will grow more difficult as you go, yes?”

“Too many times to count, yeah.”

“It will also grow esoteric. While Adept Tier is an introduction to power, Master Tier is the beginning of true strangeness. The Features you choose will have a greater impact than ever before, and that will continue to compound as you hit Grandmaster and beyond. Your significance will refine itself by these Temperings, fueling the Tapestry that you weave even now.”

Felix stared at his hand. Black scales and clawed fingers flexed, and in his mind he recalled the towering shape of a phantom fist, brimming with cataclysmic power. “Core Manifestation.”

“It is one of the building blocks for it, yes. As are your Pillars, which are perhaps one of the major influences on this Skill.” Karys tapped his foot to a curious rhythm. “The new Skill said it drew on the echoes of your significance. Does this crystal look familiar?”

“It does.” It looked like the crystalline formations around the base of his Pillars…and of course like the changes he’d made to his Divine Tree. “So what’s the purpose of all the buildings, then?”

Karys clapped his hands. “I haven’t the foggiest.”

Felix snorted. “The towers, the buildings…maybe it's all tied to the Skill Array.”

“That is quite likely. Skill Arrays amplify the power of their patterns, and this is a potent primary.” Karys rubbed his chin. “Could be that the buildings are just…room to grow.”

“Was that a pun?”

Karys chuckled, clearly proud of himself. “How close are you to fully Tempering into Master Tier?”

Felix pulled up his Status and tossed it to Karys. “Take a look.”

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