Unbound

The wind blew hard across the desolate city, though it barely moved the heavy fog that clung its streets. The sun had risen an hour ago, filling the sky with jeweled tones and providing much needed light for his warriors. Grimmar stared once more into the sink hole, the entrance to the Holy Depths less than a mile below.

So close, but...

"Lord Champion," a youthful voice said from behind him. Grimmar turned and beheld a youngling, kin barely grown into his beard but wearing the armor of a Warrior proudly. The youngling flinched when he noticed Grimmar's regard.

"Does something trouble you, warrior?" Grimmar said through his teeth. He knew exactly why the youngling flinched, why most of his warriors no longer would meet their cheiftain's eyes. They are in awe of the gift She has given. In awe of ME.

"No, Lord Champion. I have come to tell you that we have found traces of the escaped prisoners," he all but quivered with relief as he finished. Grimmar burst into a delighted laugh, which only grew stronger when he noticed the youngling cower.

"Excellent! And the Angry One?"

"Her body was not found. All signs point to her being with them."

Grimmar clapped his hands, a rush of powerful wind expelled by the motion. "Then we begin. Send half our warriors and all of the Circle to find the prisoners. If they cannot be returned, kill them all. The rest shall come with me."

"W-with you, my lord?" The youngling's voice cracked, and Grimmar decided to give him an encouraging smile.

Grimmar turned away, already contemplating the descent. He did not see the youngling's face pale at his smile, but he could smell the fear in his blood.

It smelled delicious.

As they ran, Felix kept toggling his notifications.

Your Companion Pit Has Gained A Level!

+2 VIT! +2 PER! +4 AGL! +4 DEX! +3 WIL! +1 END! +2 INT!

Pit's Bite is level 18!

Pit's Rake is level 20!

Pit's Skulk is level 25!

Pit's Skulk Has Reached Apprentice Tier!

Your Companion Gains:

+5 PER

+5 AGL

+5 DEX

Energy swelled within his Companion's form as power from the System poured into him. This close, Felix felt the vibrations of a song blare out before fading to silence, like triumphant horns. Fascinated, Felix focused on the sensation, both with his eyes and the unique pact sense buried in his chest. Pit relaxed in his arms as the energy soothed away his remaining hurts, the stat bumps fuel to the fires of his regeneration. Felix had always healed a touch faster after leveling, so it was the same with his friend.

Companion Pact is level 18!

That wing is gonna be a problem, though. It hadn't healed much, though it didn't appear to be bleeding anymore. Felix imagined they should set it or something, but he didn't have the foggiest idea on how to do field medicine. He decided to keep an eye out for herb or something that might help, though he felt that was a long shot.

Focusing on Pit was a good distraction for Felix, because Magda pushed them at a punishing pace, intending to put as much distance between them and the giants as possible. It had been at least an hour so far and he kept up easily enough, but that wasn't the issue. A storm of energy still raged in his belly, flaring around his core and traveling in uncomfortable flashes to each of his limbs at random. When he had stumbled for the third time, she had explained.

"You're feelin' the after-effects of Tempering your Body," she said as they navigated a path densely coated with half burned inscriptions. They were traps, his Analyze said, and those he could see were all discharged. Magda continued. "You get decent gains dependin' on the type of Body you Form, but it's almost always an upgrade. So what your feelin' is your new Body beginning to work for the first time. Your like a...really strong baby."

Felix huffed a laugh, easily done through the low level pain. He'd experienced worse only a half hour ago. "Big Strong Baby Body, that's an image."

Magda flashed him a grin through her heavy breathing. "Honestly...I'm kinda jealous at what sorta boost you got from those Rare Essence Draughts."

"They're better than Iron, yeah?" Felix asked.

"Definitely better. But not in the way you might think. It's more about...particulars. The Essences offered...by the higher rarity daughts are obscure, arcane, and specific. Iron Draughts woulda gotten you something like Hard or Unforged, both of which are...common enough to metal Essences, if broad and general."

"Hey," Felix said, hoisting Pit farther up his shoulder. He was getting big. "Unforged was one of my options for the Orichalcum draught."

"Sure. It's a metal. They all got things in common. But the difference between iron and somethin' like orichalcum is great, so you'd still have gotten a better boost." She paused, her torn armor creaking as she shift her weight and hopped off a small stone ledge. It was a five foot drop and the path continued onward. Another trap, already set off. "If ya...don't mind me askin'...did you pick that one?"

"Nah. Picked Mountain." Felix half shrugged, careful not to disturb his sleeping Companion as he also hopped down. "Unforged sounded bad."

Magda coughed and held up a hand for a break. They stopped, leaning against a wall covered in withered plant-life. Ten seconds later she looked back up and nodded. They started up again. "Unforged isn't bad. It's about potential. Iron can be made into passable weapons and armor, perhaps great if a powerful Smith was involved. Orichalcum is used to build city walls and magical weapons. They're not in the same league."

Felix considered that as they kept moving. It made sense, as a higher rarity generally meant an increase in value, at least in the games on Earth. Interesting that there could be the same Essences for different draughts. The quality of materials affected the result apparently, orichalcum over iron for instance. How did alchemy get involved? He itched to find out more about that particular skill set, the idea of mixing potions and powers a strong draw, but he shook off the impulse. That was for another time. If they survived.

"Felix," Magda said as she slowed her pace to a fast walk. She turned to look at him, as he walked slight behind and to her left. "Don't push yourself too hard. You're gonna feel some...backlash from using those Rare Essences."

"Backlash?" Felix asked, sending his senses inward. Other than the intermittent pulses of pain from his core, what she had termed the resolution of his Body Formation, he felt nothing was amiss. Interestingly enough, his hunger had faded as well, having become nothing more than a faint ache in his gut ever since he'd completed his Temper. Why is that? What exactly is this hunger?

"Rare Essences take more of a toll on a body than Common or Uncommon Essences. Somethin' about higher concentrations of Mana." Magda shrugged but sent a concerned glance his way. "You might feel more than twinges soon."

Felix frowned at that, but kept moving. "I'll deal with it."

They ran onward.

After a half hour of traveling he couldn't really determine if they were any closer to getting out. Since they couldn't go back up the scaffolding, the two of them were forced deeper into the Labyrinth. However, Felix had expected more danger and resistance than what they had experienced. The Labyrinth was desolate, picked clean as far as he could tell. The dark was nearly complete, his Manasight not nearly as useful as it was on the surface, and the only light was from glowing lichen and an odd glow from the fog itself. They hadn't heard the sound of pursuit, but even now the giants could be barreling toward them and Felix wouldn't know until they were on top of them.

If this is what everyone had to deal with all the time on the surface, no wonder they were so jumpy. His nerves felt frayed with anxiety, but the quivers and pangs of his newly Formed Body weren't helping. Admittedly, Felix was thrilled with his new Body, the name alone had the ring of something extraordinary. Moving Mountain Body, he mused as he climbed atop a series of standing stones, following Magda's lead. Vessilia wasn't messing around with those Rare Essence Draughts. I feel so much stronger than before...sturdier too. His body hadn't seemed to have changed physically, Felix still felt he looked the same, it was just the power within his muscles had increased dramatically. Those stat boosts from Forming this new Body were wild. What will happen when my Mind and Spirit Form?

Despite the danger they were in, he was excited to find out.

Running is level 21!

After another two hours, they came to a circular room, as Felix came to think of these places. There were long passages and discrete rooms in this maze, and it honestly matched his idea of what a labyrinth would be: high stone walls, twisty turns, even a few dead ends. This circular room was an interruption in the path, with one entrance and three exits in various directions. Magda chose to lean against the far wall, near the exit opposite where they entered, and slowly slid to the ground. The fog flowed through the room, filling it with a slight glow that made it both easier and harder to see.

"Rest up. Ten minutes," she half muttered, her eyes closing almost immediately.

Felix was surprised. The shield warrior was usually more tireless than this, though she had been pushing them hard. The pain of his Tempering had faded to almost nothing, just the occasional twinge in his calf or forearm, and Felix felt bursting with energy. His Stamina regeneration had jumped up, and with the Running Skill hitting level 21 his Stamina usage had declined dramatically when this was all they were doing. Attempting to make use of the break, he did a round of stretches that Harn had taught him, bending his legs, arms, and hips. His new Body might be strong, but he had no idea what to expect until they actually got into a fight, and a pulled muscle could spell doom for him and Pit. Magda too, probably.

She seems hurt. Weakened, somehow. Felix looked up, back toward the way they came. What happened to her up there?

Pit was feeling better, so Felix asked him to keep watch on the path back, which the tenku did with a huff of annoyance. Remember, Pit. If you see someone, send me a message this way, then run to me as fast as you can. Got it? Felix received a warm assent that felt like a beak nudging against his leg, for all that Pit was over forty feet away by then. Companion Pact is such a cool Skill. It was getting closer to Apprentice Tier and Felix hoped they gained another benefit as they had at level 10.

He took the time and contemplated the Skill within his core, trying to reach some sort of new understanding. Magda roused before he was able to do much, however. Felix got to his feet, calling Pit over with a brief pulse of intent through their pact and the tenku obediently trotted their way.

"He's different," Magda said from behind Felix. He turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

"He's grown an inch or so," Felix agreed. Magda waved her hand.

"No, he looks different. I didn't notice when you had him in your arms. He's not as...blurry. He had four eyes before and now I only see two. And his wings..." Magda scratched her head and blinked a couple times, as if she wasn't believing what she was seeing.

Holy shit, Felix had a hunch. "What does he look like now?"

Magda frowned. "Like a bird and a fox had a weird baby. His wings look like normal bird wings now."

"Up on the surface, I'm pretty sure he was being affected by whatever illusion made the fog. It made him seem scarier, from what I could tell, which made others attack him," Felix explained. "This is what he normally looks like. What he's always looked like to me."

Magda tapped her chin. "Then the spell that makes the Foglands the Foglands isn't in effect here. Why?" Her eyes lit up, suddenly transforming her entire tired face. "The artifact. We were right. It's down here, negating the power of the illusion."

Felix's eyes widened. He'd just about forgotten about the artifact. It wasn't important anyway, not to him. He could see just fine in the Foglands.

"Tch, damn. Still no Analyze though." Magda grunted, and Felix's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that.

That's lucky for me. No illusion but still interference. Why?

Magda seemed charged with a new energy, moving quickly to the nearest passage off the circular room. "Since we can't go back, and we can't climb out, our only option is to move forward. Deeper."

Felix nodded. They had learned that early when Magda attempted to scale one of the impossibly high walls. She had done just fine up until the fog completely obscured her, then she described the wall as becoming slick and impossible to hold onto. They assumed it was a spell of some sort, though Felix's Manasight wasn't able to pick up anything from them.

"And what will we find when we go deeper?" Felix asked, worried he already knew the answer. "I don't imagine it'll be puppies and rainbows. Not if the giants were after it."

Magda frowned. "All I know is that Callie said it was something bad. Something that spooked even her, and she's one of the toughest people I know. She figured it had to do with the artifact, though. Could be if we find the artifact and destroy it, then this entire place stops functioning. Then we can escape."

"That reminds me, how is this spell still working? Haven't the Foglands been like this forever?"

"Not forever, but for the past two Ages, yes, as far as we can tell. Haarwatch has only existed for a few hundred years, barely a blip compared to some places on the Continent." Magda ran full out through the empty corridors, Felix pushing himself to keep pace despite his Agility almost reaching 100. Her Running Skill must be sky high!

"Right, so this spell might have been around since the...Second Age?" Felix asked, innocently as he could.

"What?" Magda panted and gave him a brief look. "No, the Third Age."

So that means it's the Fifth Age now. "But that means this spell has been running for...?"

"Two thousand years, give or take a few centuries," Magda shrugged, her damaged armor squealing slightly. "That's why I think this artifact must be powering it. It's probably a Mana Battery of some kind. Some Nymean ruins had things like that, small fist sized objects that drew in ambient Mana to power simple workings."

"But this spell is the size of the entire Foglands. How big is that? How much Mana would that require for two thousand years?" Felix's mind boggled at the numbers he was hearing, even as he grew excited at the knowledge.

"Big. No one's been able to map the Foglands before. So this artifact is gonna be huge, maybe the size of a building or a ship." Magda shook her head and grit her teeth. "At least it won't be hard to find," she grunted.

Felix hoped not.

Another thirty minutes passed this way, with Magda taking the left tunnel at each intersection.

As obviously dangerous as this place was, Felix was continually surprised at the amount of death and destruction he encountered. The walls were scorched, pierced, and liquefied in spots where deadly traps had triggered, and they found bit and pieces of humanoid bodies scattered all around. It was clear that the imprisoned Guilders had died over and over to push this far into the Labyrinth. The only upside, as far as Felix was concerned, was that they hadn't encountered a single armed trap themselves.

Pit was feeling better, at least able enough to run on his own. They made better time that way, and unburdened Felix was able to truly feel his new Body in motion. The ease of movement was exhilarating, each step smoother than before, an explosive power in his muscles that had not been there previously. With Magda in the lead and Pit taking up the rear, Felix let himself revel in the sensation.

That, of course, was when he stepped into the trap.

They had entered a "T" shaped room, two twenty foot wide corridors set perpendicular to each other, the walls carved with the same flowing, intersecting lines as always. The floor was dressed fieldstone, big rough blocks of blue-grey stone placed into the ground in whatever combination fit, and half of it was coated in a thick moss. As Felix stepped on an innocuous stone, he heard a terrifying clicking noise, likely the last thing many prisoners had heard in this life.

Then the wall beside him exploded in green fire. He was hurled sideways.

"AAAH-!" Felix howled, cut short by a sudden impact into the far wall. He felt the wall give slightly as a deep crack formed in the stone, and Felix fell heavily to the ground.

Fire Resistance is level 19!

"Felix! Get up!" Magda shouted from what seemed a very far distance away, but Felix's vision was blurry and his ears were ringing. A sense of alarm and fury radiated into his chest. Then the clash of steel and low pitched snarls pushed passed the buzzing in his ears. With a snap, his vision and hearing refocused, and Felix came to his feet.

Nearby, Magda was fighting two huge serpents, each the size of a school bus and made of a solidified green fire. She blocked and smashed at them with her shields, but they were strong, and between the two of them were wearing down her shields quickly. Pit was launching Frost Spears at them from a distance, but the ice was melting before it hit their fiery hides, doing only minimal damage. Since she was tanking both of them, Magda kept getting in Felix's light of sight, so he gathered himself and rushed into battle.

Relentless Charge!

Mantle of the Long Night!

Felix blasted forward, ripping up the moss between him and the monsters in a wave of concussive force. He moved faster than ever, appearing before one of the two serpents almost as if he had teleported. Without hesitation, Felix let loose his aura skill, hoping his ice might have more benefit than Pit's. A wave of freezing wind radiated outward from Felix, spinning in a ten foot radius and instantly coating the moss beneath his feet with a layer of frost. He heard Magda curse slightly but didn't have time to apologize for catching her in the radius. The serpent struck.

Corrosive Strike!

Meeting it's darting head with his own fist, Felix watched almost in slow motion as the emerald flames dimmed within his aura, leaving it vulnerable as his acid-coated fists clobbered the serpent right in the snoot. It's face crumpled, burning blood squirting in all directions as he broke the skin and cartilage that made up this nightmare beast. He threw Analyze at it.

Name: Greenfyre Serpent

Type: Elemental

Level: 30

HP: 735/981

SP: 555/562

MP: 156/234

Lore: Composed of poisonous flame, the Greenfyre Serpent is dangerous to engage in melee. Attack from a distance.

Strength: AGL, DEX

Weakness: INT, WIL

Already committed to his actions, Felix shrugged off the warning and waded in with another three strikes.

Corrosive Strike!

Corrosive Strike!

Corrosive Strike!

The serpent's head snapped back each time, more and more of its burning blood launching up into the air and sizzling against it's own flames. His Mantle was hurting it more than his unarmed attacks, so Felix took a chance and dropped his fists. The serpent immediately struck, flinging its wide open mouth in the Nymean's direction. Moments before its maw snapped closed, Felix put a hand on the upper and lower jaw, stopping the beast in its tracks. With a burst of Willpower, he flared his Mantle, shaping it's effect directly into the serpent's open mouth. Not all of the aura moved how he wanted it, but his 182 Willpower was not to be denied and most of it shaped into a wide blast of icy wind. A flare of purple-white light went off above Felix's left shoulder, and the Serpent's green flames flickered and died in seconds.

Mantle of the Long Night is level 11!

Mantle of the Long Night is level 12!

It's body fell limply to the ground, now a dark, burnished looking brown. Felix panted lightly, surprised at how easily it died. He turned and saw Magda still using her shield to bash her opponent senseless, its body-fire guttering. As he watched, the Greenfyre Serpent reared back and struck, lightning quick, clamping onto Magda's left arm with his huge fangs.

Before Felix could react, a barrage of yard-long icicles speared the creature's head. He grinned at a panting Pit, whose mouth still glowed from the icy discharge. The serpent fell with a resounding thud, it's mouth opening and releasing Magda. Unwilling to take a chance, Felix ran forward and blasted it with Acid Stream. Devoid of lifeforce, it's body began melting almost immediately, so he cut it off.

"You ok?" Felix asked, putting a hand on the shield warrior's large shoulder. She had fallen to a knee, cradling her left arm close. A few seconds later, Magda leaned back and looked up at him.

"Yeah," she breathed, her eyes red and jaw clenching. "I'll be fine."

Her arm was pierced straight through, a large yellowed fang still embedded in the flesh. It glowed an awful, sickly green.

She was poisoned.

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