Felix had no time for anything except to brace himself. The multicolored wave impacted his core space and was met with violence. The System's power struck the build-up of Primordial energy like a hammer meeting an anvil, and Felix was iron between.
Buzzing Dissonance met angelic Harmony, and a light show of Essence and Mana burst all around him. He was in the center of an explosion, and each conflagration sent mounting agony stampeding through his Aspects. Body, Mind, Spirit all quaked and tumbled from the collision, so hard that Felix was nearly tossed out of his own core space. But tooth and talon, he held on. His Willpower was—my god—over 1300 points, and only by flaring it did he retain his consciousness in the mad cacophony.
The wave rode up onto an invisible wall around his core space. It roared, building and building, neither stopping nor relenting. The wall flashed a deep, dark crimson while a million different lights glimmered from the liquid light. Each time it flashed, the wall—and Felix—quivered.
His universe shook.
Powerful tremors as the undifferentiated Mana flashed and the dome of Essence crackled back. Beasts of two masters, they raged against one another in all directions. Buzzing interrupted a frenetic song, atonal notes undercutting the melodic majesty of the Grand Harmony.
Felix and Pit, joined together, weathered the pain and disorientation that subsumed them. They cast out their Affinities and Perceptions, each looking for a way out. With crystal certainty, Felix knew that if the clash continued, it would kill them both.
The dome of dark power splintered further.
The Maw existed for thousands of years! And other Primordials too, according to Harn. Felix pushed his Mind, collecting and tossing aside recollections and ideas as fast as he could come up with them. How did they exist—UGH!—without being destroyed by the System?
A wave of light and crippling nausea assaulted him in unison. Pit squawked, as if surprised. Before the both of them a stream of blue boxes appeared, one after the other. His notifications, suppressed near the end of his fight, opened without his permission. Felix couldn't stop them.
Ravenous Tithe is level 70!Deep Mind is level 56
Meditation is level 54
Bastion of Will is level 68
Cloudstep is level 28!
Fire Within is level 65!
Influence of the Wisp is level 44!
Mantle of the Long Night is level 40!
Shadow Whip is level 40!
Stone Shaping is level 49!
Armored Skin is level 61!
Song of Absolution is level 65!
Make An Entrance is level 43!
Negotiation is level 15!
Exploration is level 44!
Arrow of Perdition is level 31!
Apprentice Tier!
+10% STR, VIT, DEX
Oathbinding is level 34!
Apprentice Tier!
+5 to INT, VIT, END
Felix screamed through clenched teeth as his Aspects trembled; Body, Mind, or Spirit attuned to each of his Skills. Each notification that charged through his consciousness was a white hot bar of agony as a ray of fluid light streamed inward. It struck his blue-white core and ricocheted up into the newly formed Primordial core before boomeranging back out. This time, it was colored gold, blue, and a deep dark crimson that was nearly black. It rushed outward, in seventeen flows, each one spearing one of his leveling Skills. The patterns of light, etched into his core space, flared with new power; each grew into tumultuous orbs of incandescent light.
Slower, the notifications still kept coming. As the next arrived before him, Felix felt his Mind and Spirit quiver in unison. Before he could question it, the blue box pealed in triumph.
Voracious Eye is level 48!
...
Voracious Eye is level 51!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5% PER
+5% AFI
+...
Multiple Essence Sources Detected During Formation!
Choose An Essence Mote!
This again!
Literally dozens of Essence Motes appeared before him. They clung to the rim of his Primordial ring, shimmering but somehow prevented from being devoured by the hungry abyss below. Felix's Eye picked out [Essence of the Sun], two [Essence of the Stalwart Faith], even [Essence of Hearthstone Flame], the last an Essence Mote he'd garnered before. They clearly belonged to the Inquisitors he'd defeated; had he stolen the Essences they'd used to Temper themselves?
More light speared into his dark cosmos, each finding their way into his twin rings. More power washed in and out, spitting against the Primordial Essence in the air. Felix bit down his scream. He had to move faster. He scanned his Eye over the Essence Motes, noting their rarities more than anything else. The ones taken from the Inquisitors were either Rare or Uncommon, not worth considering. With a flex of his Will, he cast them both into the depths of his abyss.
*RUMBLE*
His cosmos shook with tiny tremors, almost imperceptible compared to the clash of Essence and Mana on the outside. But something felt different.
Felix shook his head.
[Essence of Rectification] and [Essence of Captive Struggle] were both cast aside, their Epic rarities paling before their source. Both pulsed with yellow-red power, the Archon's own energies coursing through them. Felix hurled them fast into the abyss, unwilling to even toy with their consideration.
*RUMBLE*
Essences from Revenants and Ghouls flitted past his Perception, all frantically discarded into the darkness as none were greater than Rare. They made up the majority of the Essences clinging to his core, but four others waited. Shimmering brighter than all the rest.
[Essence of Pride's Fall]
[Essence of the Unyielding Genesis]
[Essence of Devastation]
[Essence of the Evensong]
All of them were Legendary. The first came from the Pride of Blight, while the second came from the Broodmother. The third was sourced from the Seeds of the Ravager King, while the last...the last came from the Belois Crystal itself.
What?
*RUMBLE*
The Essences shuddered before his abyss, but Felix gripped them with his Will and held them up. His notifications flashed and shook, and the pain mounted into a spike that was driving between his temples. Felix gritted his teeth and fought down another scream. With trembling hands, he chose.
Legendary Essence Detected During Formation!
[Essence of Pride's Fall]
Broken Path and Fatebreaker Titles Found! Journeyman Tier Bonus Added!
Calculating Effects...
Choose A Feature:
Collapse - Come to Nothing
Cascade - Plunge Into the Deep
Honor - Fidelity Unto Death
Felix grunted in surprise. He had rejected Vellus, so he hadn't expected the helpful hints to continue. He immediately discarded Collapse and Honor, however. He had no interest in tying his Mind to "nothing" nor to a nebulous fidelity. Fidelity to what?
No, there was only one choice.
Congratulations!
You Have Absorbed The Essence Of [Cascade]!
The etched pattern of Voracious Eye lit up in brilliant flame, brighter by far than any of his other, untempered Skills. The energy stored up in his core surged outward, gold, blue, and dark crimson crackling as a ribbon of light formed between the Skill and his lower blue-white core. Its revolution stopped, arrested by the swelling illumination.
3 of 3 Mind Essences Formed!
Tempering Has Begun!
His Mind wobbled, vibrating with the advent of his Tempering, but his notifications didn't slow down at all. Felix braced himself as his vision went white and the cracks around his core space deepened. He couldn't stop. He knew it deep in his bones. If he stopped, it would all fall apart. So he endured, because he had no other choice.
His Mind screamed as it was impacted by several notifications in quick succession.
Manasight is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5 INT, WIL, PER
Dual Casting is level 47!
...
Dual Casting is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5 WIL, DEX, INT
Mana Manipulation is level 49!
Mana Manipulation is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5 INT, INE, RES
Unfettered Volition is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5% STR
+5% AGL
+...
On the last, his Mind quietened and his Body resonated, Unfettered Volition pushing into the fore. Still blinded by the vibrancy of his Tempering Mind, Felix used his Affinity to choose another of the Essence Motes He plucked it free and claimed it with his Will and Intent. The core space trilled with light and sound he couldn't see and barely hear.
Legendary Essence Detected During Formation!
[Essence of the Evensong]
Broken Path and Fatebreaker Titles Found! Journeyman Tier Bonus Added!
Calculating Effects...
Choose A Feature:
Crepuscule - Proclaim! The Dusk
Nox - Revel! The Dark
Aurora - Hark! The Dawn
The Essence permeated his being, half sinking into his Body Aspect even as he considered his choice. This was the Essence taken from the crystal, but more than that, it held hints of fire and earth and a golden-blue radiance he found desperately familiar yet could not place. He flickered through his options, Dusk, Dark, and Dawn. Zara had spoken to him at length about Essences and how they functioned. They took concepts of their whole and broke them into parts, allowing one to Temper with the idea of them. How that worked was beyond him, but he knew he had enough of darkness. Dusk was a dying of light. He did not want his Body to weighted with darkness and death, even as concepts.
He chose.
Congratulations!
You Have Absorbed The Essence Of [Aurora]!
The Essence sunk completed into his Body Aspect, and Felix couldn't restrain a gasp. He knew, now that it began soaking into his Body, where the Essence had truly been sourced. It may have been stored in the crystal, but it had nothing to do with it.
It was an Essence of the Nym.
Unfettered Volition doubled in size, glowing with that same internal light as another ribbon of power connected his core to it. All of this, felt through his Affinity and as the vibrations within his Mind increased it was getting harder and harder to parse the chaos around him.
Wild Threnody is level 50!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+5% INT
Felix's Body once again shook, vibrating along with the advent of his Body's final Skill. He seized the [Essence of the Unyielding Genesis], but something else seized him. His Affinity strained to make sense of it, filtering out the war of sound all around him. Something...there was a single Skill notification left. He could hear it.
+5% STR
It called to Felix, resonating with the Primordial Essence that eddied all around him. Echoes of it shook his Spirit and Mind, both already Tempered. But it also sent powerful oscillations through his Body. The Essence in his grip shivered and fell, consumed by the abyss.
+5% END
Felix knew. A tempest whirled in his Mind, but he knew.
Some Skills were used by more than one Aspect.
His opportunity to Temper Wild Threnody passed, and the Skill hummed with renewed power as it merely Tiered up. Felix groped for the final Essence, and clutched it to himself.
Sovereign of Flesh is level 50!
...
Sovereign of Flesh is level 52!
Journeyman Tier!
You Gain:
+15% STR
+15% END
+...
The Essence Mote in Felix's grip sublimated away, its vapor attempting to pierce into his Spirit Aspect. His Tempered Spirit rejected it, sending it reeling and a fissure of pain through Felix. He could sense the Primordial energy around him crater, letting in that much more colorless System power and propelling the Essence Mote onward. It pivoted toward his Mind, but Felix mustered all the Will and Intent he could spare, and pushed.
Toward his Body.
Legendary Essence Detected During Formation!
[Essence of Devastation]
Broken Path and Fatebreaker Titles Found! Journeyman Tier Bonus Added!
Calculating Effects...
Choose A Feature:
Raze - Ashes Behind You
Havoc - Tumult Within
Calamity - Upheaval Before You
Guided by his Affinity, he saw terrible connections to both Raze and Havoc. His world was one of strife, destruction, and chaos. But that wasn't what he wanted. Devastation? No. I want change!
Congratulations!
You Have Absorbed The Essence Of [Calamity]!
3 of 3 Body Essences Formed!
Tempering Has Begun!
Warning!
You Are Tempering Two Journeyman Aspects At Once!
Influx Of Power Doubled!
Warning!
Chance of Death High!
You Are Not Permitted—
ERROR!
You Are NoT—
ERR0R!
Felix felt at the connections that swarmed around him, all the thousands of threads connecting him to countless others. They pulled at him, a titanic weight upon each strand, and he gathered them up. His Skills flared in a coruscating light show, invisible to him save for his Affinity, and Pit's wings wrapped around him in unspoken, eternal support.
Felix pushed.
You—
—Have Made Your Choice!
All Choices Have Consequences.
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