Chapter Forty Nine - 049

Chapter Forty Nine - 049

They geared up and, surprisingly, filed down the stairwell. Felix took the rear, eyes on the walls to make sure they didn't change again, while Pit walked alongside him.

Why are we going down? Don't we want to avoid the streets?

Down they went, however, level after level. They passed their original entry point, their foot prints still discernible in the dust, and kept going. Felix worked his mental image of the structure, mapping out the floors as they went; he was reasonably sure they were camped out on the fifth level, so as they turned the last arc of the stairwell, he realized they were at the ground floor...and the archway leading out was entirely closed off.

The group piled onto the landing before the sealed archway, and Evie ran her hands across it.

"How do we open it?" She spoke softly, not really a whisper so much as a lower voice. Magda held up a finger, forestalling any further questions before walking to the other side of the landing, where the stairwell would have continued down had it not been ground level. She reached out toward a section of stone carved vines and puff, a faint wisp of Mana vapor poured onto the surface.

She has Mana Manipulation? Felix realized with some shock. He had taken Magda for a more physical type fighter, but considering her penchant for magical shields he supposed it made sense. Maybe she can give me some pointers. He didn't think that was too likely though. Despite her professed thanks, Felix didn't entirely get the vibe that she trusted him much more than before.

It's more like I'm useful, at the moment. Another body for the raid.

He shook himself from his thoughts, refocusing in time to see the wall before them...melt open.

That was the best way he could describe it. First it was a wall of carved stone, and then it faded like a time-lapse video of a melting candle. A breeze released from the now open space like a pent up breath, stinking of stale air, damp stone, and something fetid. The air in Felix's Manasight looked...the only word that came to him was foul. Like something that had been left rotting beneath a shed.

"Follow me. And stay quiet," Magda warned. She turned and continued down the darkened tunnel, her eyes glowing green just as the rest of them.

The Tin Ranks and Felix all shared a look. Then one by one, they followed.

The steps were slick, the slightest of moisture that felt awfully precarious to Felix in his leather boots. His soles didn't even have score marks, just flat slabs of leather. Felix made sure his Manasight was activated as high as he could manage, taking each step cautiously as they descended. The trip wasn't a long one; less than a minute later Felix could spot the warm glow of a fire ahead. As they followed the circular path two torches were revealed, lit and stuck into the ground in front of an open archway.

The fire flickered but burned steadily, even as another gust of uncomfortably moist air blew from the darkened opening.

"Wha--" Evie started to speak, but Magda raised a silencing finger. She followed that with a series of hand slashes and finger waggles in handspeak toward Atar. The mage cast his silence spell, letting the wispy yellow energy expand and envelop them all.

"Why can't we speak? And what's with the torches?" Evie asked, nodding at Atar in thanks. The fire mage just clenched his jaw in concentration. Felix could tell the spell took a lot out of him.

"Speaking is dangerous here. And the torches? They're to keep that out," she gestured into the dark archway, where a soft moan echoed from the shadows.

"What is that?" Vessilia asked, her voice slightly higher than normal.

In response, Magda only scooped up one of the torches and hurled it into the adjoining room. The light spiraled crazily around the area, highlighting a packed earth floor and large blocks of worked stone formed into semi-circular walls. The torch clattered to a stop roughly in the center of the room...and it illuminated a nightmare made real.

It was bipedal but hunched until it nearly touched the floor with it's spindly arms, its body cadaver-thin and covered in what looked like lumpy growths at the neck, armpits and inner thighs. As the creature oriented on the torch, Felix saw its face, or what passed for one: it was all mouth, from the chin up to the forehead, gaping open and filled with three rows of crooked triangular teeth set into an ovular head. It pounced toward the light in a weirdly graceful way, it's longer arms propelling it forward as a second smaller pair of arms reached out toward the light. But the moment the creature got too close to the torch, they skreeled in pain and retreated. The torch flickered wetly off their dark flesh as it hissed toward the source of its pain.

It looks like it has scales. Its skin was slick like a slug, covered in some sort of viscous slime.

Analyze...

Name: Umber Ofrenok

Type: Chimeric Aberration

Level: 21

HP: 615/615

SP: 845/900

MP: 180/189

Lore: Standard Ofrenok are sightless predators, roaming the darkened places of the Continent. They are a stalking predator, able to move quickly and silently over long distances.

Strength: Endurance and Agility.

Weakness: Intelligence and Willpower. They fear fire's heat.

Lot more information on these things than the giants. Why? In games it's usually a level difference thing, but this chimera is two levels above me. What other factor is involved here? Wait-- Felix blanched. Did we just eat that? Oh god. Oh god it was so good too...

"It's an Ofrenok. Seen em a time or two, even outside the Foglands. They're hunters, work in the dark, and have a bite worse than any snake," Magda grunted, gesturing at the creature. "They track by sound, so keep it quiet. The fire is to keep it at bay; it fears the heat even if it can't see the light."

"Avet's own, that's terrifying," Vessilia whispered. Felix agreed, only belatedly realizing that his focus on Analyze was to distract himself. That thing is nasty looking. I can't believe we ate it. He shuddered, but didn't feel sick. Hell, he was still hungry. "But I believe we could take it," Vessilia finished.

"Glad you think so. You're up first," Magda said. "Alone."

Felix smiled.

Evie's turn went fairly quickly. She dispatched the Ofrenok with her spiked chain at a distance, similar to Vessilia's tactic. The core difference was that she used her high mobility to disorient the gnarly brute, and whatever that Born Trait of hers did, it was more than enough to deal with the Ofrenok. Once she wrapped one of its limbs in her chain, it was over; she ripped the limb from its body with only a grunt of effort.

She took its head with equal ease.

Evie was back among them at the stairwell in only fifteen seconds, and Magda sought out one more.

Felix felt himself getting a little jittery. Do I have stagefright? He shook his head ruefully. Just another day in the Foglands, Felix.

He shook his hands and legs in turn, getting them loose. Doffing his satchel and sword, Felix set them carefully next to Pit who laid his head down on it. Poor guy is probably bored as hell down here. Felix could in fact feel the tenku's disdain for the Ofrenok...as if it weren't worthy of even worrying about. He smiled and scratched his Companion's head, cheered by his confidence.

Magda had returned, and soon so had another chimeric creature. This one looked the same as all the rest, dark, scaly, and covered in viscous slime. Felix took a breath and walked forward.

He tried to do so stealthily, perhaps raise that Skill a little bit, but the ground was too loose and gritty. Felix's boots scraped against the earth loudly, and the Ofrenok's face swiveled directly toward him.

So much for that. Plan number two, the--

The creature was somehow already half way to him, its face-mouth open and drooling. Fast!

Felix dove to the side, coming up in a roll to find that the hunched abomination was turning quickly to follow. Felix thrust his right hand forward, straining himself as he cast.

Reign of Vellus!

A cascade of blue lightning speared through the air as kinetic force slammed into and lifted the Ofrenok straight into the wall behind them. It hit with an audible thud, a wet meat sound against stone. The creature screamed, it's mouth wide and jagged teeth bared to the sky. It struggled against his control, applying pressure against his Skill in a way he hadn't experienced since the giants, and for a second it felt like something was pressing down on his...his everything.

The mouth. The teeth.

The Maw...

Vertigo assaulted Felix abruptly, as images cascaded through his mind, thoughts and sensations that were both familiar and hideously other. And somewhere, buried deep in his mind, held captive for weeks, a Memory surged to the front...

Of eyes in the acidic deep...of writhing appendages coursing through dark, brackish water...of a secret in stone and golden light....

SKREEE---!

The Ofrenok stopped screaming as Felix came back to himself, a fraction of a second later. Blinking away the Memory, he focused on the now with considerable effort, and looked up.

The creature...was "watching" him, even as lightning and a pulsing blue light held it up and against the wall. It tilted its head as if curious, mouth closed but teeth still exposed, considering Felix in turn.

Felix felt that familiar surge of unnamed dread, a horror that crawled from the deepest parts of himself. He shoved it away, glaring hate at the creature that dared invade his mind.

"Acid Stream," he growled. A powerful jet of potent acid sprayed from his left hand, caught up in the waves of kinetic force and deluged the Ofrenok. It started screaming again, but that didn't last long. The acid ate away at its chest and throat, rushing through its massive mouth and burning it from the inside out.

In less than a minute, mush was all that remained held in his mental grip, and he dropped it carelessly to the ground. He was breathing heavy and there was some ringing in his ears, but he turned away from the mush-pile once Magda laid a hand on his shoulder. She tilted her head back toward the group and patted him on the back, her face...kind, actually.

It was surprise enough that it brought him back, and the full realization that the others had watched him pin a creature to a wall then melt it into constituent goo with acid. He followed the shield warrior back to the others and braced for their reactions. Instead, all he received were approving nods and another pat on the back. Even Atar nodded and smirked in a not-entirely dickish way.

Huh.

Magda let them rest a moment as she did something out in the dark, but when she came back she spoke to them for the first time in what felt like an hour.

"You've all impressed me today. I was aware of your Skill before bringin' you on, and I've seen most of you in action in the field over the course of weeks, but I'm impressed with your growth. Come," she said as she led them back into the dark chamber. They walked until they were more or less centered in the room. "This was an assessment. Very soon we will make our assault on the giant's camp, and it will be the most difficult thing you have attempted in your young lives. To that end, you all deserve to be as prepared as we can make you. So this is it. Your Reveal."

The Tin Ranks looked at each other excitedly, but Felix only frowned. His Omen was already Revealed, he had told them that.

"I can tell you're wondering why you're here, Felix, since your Omen is already Revealed." The Tin Ranks turned to look at him in various ways, though he really only caught Evie's exaggerated eyeroll. That almost made him smile. "You're here to help. This is going to be difficult and only three would not be enough."

"Help? Help with what, exactly?" Felix asked.

Vessilia tapped him on the shoulder. He turned following her pointing finger. By the wall, a stretch of mud was bubbling.

No.

He turned, looking at all of the walls encircling them. All of the mud was bubbling, and a sloshing sound inundated the chamber.

"Good luck."