Chapter Sixty Six - 066

Chapter Sixty Six - 066

Time was difficult to gauge down in the Labyrinth. The light never changed, there was no sun nor moon or even stars, just the stones and the fog. If it weren't for his nigh-impeccable memory, Felix would have been as lost as Magda seemed to be, but he could at least estimate the amount of time they'd been down there. Technically, as it was within the past thirty days, Felix could count out the seconds and minutes, but that was both exhausting and worthless. It was enough that he could approximate the time: it had been around four hours since they had fallen into the sink hole.

For much of that time they were simply running, though battles occurred with increasing frequency. The Labyrinth lived up to its name, folding and moving through space in unpredictable ways. Multiple times Felix was positive they were rushing down a corridor that seemed to turn and take up the same dimensional space as another. His eyes told him it was just a turn, but his memory said it was exactly the same. More than his Manasight (which was still restricted, somehow), his memory proved to be their greatest boon. He kept leading them back, unerringly remembering the path they had traversed.

The enemies they found ranged the gamut of elemental types, and he found a chance to sample most of their Mana.

Lessons of the Past is level 20!

His Skill increased multiple times, but not once did Felix learn a new Skill or gain a Memory from the elementals' blood and Mana. Ever since his Body Formation his hunger had quietened, only rising up once in a while, as if it was slumbering. Without the engagement of that growling in his core, it seemed his Title and Skill had a far lower chance of activating. It was frustrating, to say the least. To focus that frustration, Felix threw himself into clearing the enemies before them with greater gusto. They had to get out of here, and to do that Felix needed to be far stronger than he was now...

To that end, Felix had dumped all of his Mana into the Elemental Shard that hung over his left shoulder. He didn't know at first how much Mana Storage was available in the shard, and decided to feed it slowly whenever they weren't fighting. Within the first ten minutes it was at capacity, holding exactly five hundred Mana and not a drop more. It was a significant bump in his pool, and meant he could be even more cavalier about his spell usage. That thought just led him back around to his annoyance at the lack of new monster spells, though he supposed he had a pretty damn wide repertoire already. No need to be greedy, he admonished himself. I still need to level up what I have.

The song still continued, of course. It was an endless refrain, a track on repeat with only minute changes in pitch and tone as the hours blurred by; it was maddening to listen to, and Felix kept his Bastion of Will engaged nearly all the time, despite the toll it took on his mental fortitude.

Bastion of Will is level 35!

During breaks and those stretches of corridor without enemies however, Felix attempted to level his Poison Resistance with the sheathed fang. Since the scales held in the poisonous aura it was safe to hold along the bottom eight inches. The top was tricky, however. He held the crude dagger in one hand while slowly edging that poisonous aura closer to his left forearm. The skin sizzled and eroded before his eyes, but the pain was no worse than an acid bath; better, perhaps, since his Body Formation. When the tip of the dagger got within six inches of his arm, his skin finally broke and blood poured out. Hissing in pain, he yanked the fang away, letting his natural regeneration repair it.

It was painful, but effective.

Poison Resistance is level 28!

He was healing faster now, his poison resistance neutralizing a portion of the Rotvein aura. Still, he'd yet to even touch himself with the fang.

How'd Magda withstand getting this through her fucking arm? Felix shuddered before capping the fang with an improvised scale plug. He had no way to carry it except in his belt or in his hand all the time, and the last thing Felix wanted was to touch the fang before he was ready. They had encountered a few more of the Greenfyre Serpents and he had fashioned a casing for the remaining four inches, knocking his Improvisation Skill to level 12.

He was growing by leaps and bounds down here in the dark. Despite the pain and the fear that dogged his every step, Felix felt an exhilaration that was both heady and freeing. Each encounter ended with at least a few Skill gains, and all the while his highest Skills edged closer to Apprentice Tier. The stats he gained during each Tier bump were significant increases to his power, and now he was extremely close to having all of his base stats above the one hundred mark.

STR:

102

PER:

111

VIT:

144

END:

120

INT:

111

WIL:

185

AGL:

105

DEX:

98

Pit was developing rapidly as well. The elementals they faced dropped a core at least twenty percent of the time, and each core was enough for 1-2 points in their favored stat. This led to an odd and scattered allotment of stats, but the results were more than satisfying.

STR:

49

PER:

52

VIT:

60

END:

53

INT:

37

WIL:

51

AGL:

93

DEX:

66

With the greater power, Pit was better able to take on the monsters with Felix, and their teamwork increased by the battle. He had always been fast, but he was lightning quick now. Wingblades and Frost Spears were the tenku's weapons of choice, allowing Felix to get within melee range and providing support. The support was Pit's idea, strangely enough. They're communication was evolving in a way that Felix found remarkable; it wasn't speech but the bundles of image, senses, and emotions became stronger and more concise. Pulses of sensation through their pact were enough for near instant understanding, and their Skill levels reflected that.

Pit's Wingblade is level 14!

Pit's Frost Spear is level 12!

Pit's Cry is level 24!

Pit's Rake is level 21!

Pit's Bite is level 20!

Lore: Near invisible on land and water, they are aquatic beings that have been corrupted by a blood curse.

Strength: WIL, END, AGL

Weakness: INT, Bludgeoning Attacks

With a roar, he brought both hands down onto the Stalker's face, shattering the stone beneath it as it was reduced to glass powder.

"Huff, huff," Felix sat atop the beast a moment longer, catching his breath. One of the disgusting fly/fish hybrids buzzed his way but he crushed it out of the air with a burst of Reign of Vellus.

Corrosive Strike is level 25!

Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier In Corrosive Strike!

You Gain:

+10 STR

+10 PER

+10 END

Energy poured into him again, the stats vibrating his flesh and bones in ways too minor to keep track of while something like adrenaline pumped into his veins. It was enough of a boost for Felix to suddenly sense the presence of three other creatures, all of them slowly moving forward...toward him.

Felix flared his Manasight, and for the briefest of instants he could see their forms: a lattice-work of green-gold life Mana filled with dark violet light.

Manasight is level 36!

Felix pulsed outward with Reign of Vellus, sending a staggering jolt into the near invisible Glassbone Stalkers and following up with a blast of his Mantle of the Long Night. The air around him began to steam as the temperature instantly dropped by thirty degrees and kept on dropping.

Mantle of the Long Night is level 13!

Ice began to form on the ground as the air around them began swirling in a frigid breeze, and the frost crawled over the Stalkers' forms as well, highlighting them against the darkness as they recoiled in pain. Alien, warbling yowls filled the air.

"Don't like the cold, ya jerks?" Felix scowled before pumping more Mana into the aura spell. The ice started to accumulate a little faster while his Mana began to drain like a sieve. The Stalkers yowled louder and lost their patience: with a blurring of frosted limbs they charged.

Reign of Vellus!

Influence of the Wisp!

Another blast of kinetic force burst from him, this time barely stopping their braced forms. He followed up with his Influence spell, and while the blue-white fire seared them the Enthrall failed to take hold. Their strong Willpower defended them. Growling with frustration Felix gathered his Mana for a Stone Shaping, pushing his Fire Within to sound out the familiar patterns. Yet as he did so, his ability to focus on Bastion of Will faltered, and an echo of something else shuddered through his pathways, something strange yet solidly familiar...

The Mother's song...

The pattern deviated, branching outward wildly as his Mana dumped into the spellform like a flood. Felix tried to stem the flow, but could only watch as power gushed from his core and channels, spilling out into the greedy earth in flashes of dusty brown and glistening silver. Groaning in pain and muscles straining with effort, he cast the spell.

STONE SHAPING!

The Stalkers didn't pause a moment as creaking groans sounded from all around them, their numerous clawed limbs mere milliseconds from eviscerating Felix. Then the outstretched claw of a massive statue slammed down upon the glass beasts, shattering two of them instantly and throwing the third into the path of a standing stone. Its impact was lost in the immense sound of the fallen statue, which had rung the earth like a gong and thrown everyone from their feet.

Felix saw that one of the nearest statues, one depicting a half feline/half reptilian Harnoq had been bent and knocked over somehow, though Felix suspected he knew why. His flickering Manasight could still trace wispy vapors of dusty brown Mana from the far end. It was just...so far away.

How did I do that?

Stone Shaping is level 25!

"Ah shit!" Felix gave the issue no more thought as he frantically cast around for his half-destroyed potions case. At the same time, the dark waters surged as another two dozen insect-fish creatures emerged, all of them darting in his direction. He threw himself down to dodge the first few, and though they missed him Felix began to feel a strident pain that flashed across his spine and brain, like red-hot fireworks. Then more buzzing creatures converged on him.

"Felix!" A yellow dome formed around him as he fell to his knees. "Hold it together!"

Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier In Stone Shaping!

You Gain:

+5 STR

Felix could only grit his teeth and bear it as energy surged though him, pinging off an invisible wound. Close to twenty fly-fish hurled themselves at the shield around him, each of them chittering for his flesh. Another sharp cry and close to half were diverted, streaming around him to attack the shield warrior who waded into the thick of it.

There! The case!

The pain surged again, just out of sight. He couldn't place it, he only felt the extreme agony of its presence, like an infected tooth. Felix snatched the Wandering Spirit draught from the ground, uncorked it with shaking limbs and quaffed it.

+5 WIL

+...

Uncommon Essence Draught Detected During Formation!

[Draught Essence of the Wandering Spirit]

Choose a Feature:

Wander

Dauntless

Chiaroscuro

What? A dull grinding resonated through his legs and it felt like his bones were splintering. Wander, that's...ah..that's ok. Moving aimlessly? Dauntless sounds..agh!...sounds good. Bold and fearless. But...chiaroscuro? Isn't that a painting thing? Something about light and dark? Why is that...eyaah...even here? Why is Italian here in the System at all?

The pain was coming increasingly fast. This was nothing like how his Body Tempered...or even the one Spirit Essence he tried. What is happening? The pain was transcending from bodily to something else, something that tugged at his heart and core as if someone was trying to tear away his skin. It was limb-weakening agony, and Felix fell to all fours. Felix blinked away sweat from his eyes and focused. The choice was before him and he didn't have much time.

He chose Dauntless.

Or he tried to. His mental choice didn't register. And then the box did something he had never seen before. It..glitched. The blue system message flickered and twisted, suddenly flaring an angry red as the three options all scattered around him like loose leaf paper in a breeze. Pain tore through him, more savage than ever, and his left leg and forearm were at the center of it. Felix reached out, but each time the options flitted away.

GAH! Just choose damnit!

He screamed as he closed his eyes and jabbed his arm forward, somehow trying to flare his Blind Fighting passive Skill.

Congratulations!

You have absorbed the Essence of Chiaroscuro!

Suddenly his body stopped hurting. The phantom injuries along his left side faded in an instant, and his skin felt normal and whole. That lasted for all of a second before the space around his core seemed to ignite, his internal fire eating away at his own flesh as soundless lightning crackled beyond his body, beyond anything tangible and struck at the heart of who he was...it was pure agony. Pure ecstasy. Then utter nothingness that consumed his entire world.