Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Five - 285

Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Five - 285

The sound of joyous, gleeful cawing faded as Felix's everything erupted with potency. Green-gold radiance surged into his channels and core space, spearing through the dark void between his spinning Skills, drenching it all in its sap-like consistency. It swirled, even as it spread, pulled inexorably toward his center until it reformed into an orb of brilliant, vibrant fluid.

Felix's core space shook, twisted with a hollow pain that made both him and his Companion startle. Pit's screech were accompanied by Felix's shouts.

His hunger, the dread abyss that dwelled between his stacked cores, it called for the Eidolon's power. The sound of gnashing teeth, of rumbling guts filled the space. The abyss had locked onto it, and there was no stopping its momentum. It flashed forward, a bullet into the dark, already stretching and pushing into the inky maelstrom at his center. The orb of power shredded apart, too fast and too slow, like a predator enjoying its meal.

No! Not this!

The dark pulled, but Felix pulled right back. Steel-like cords of connection formed between his consciousness and the orb, blinding in their radiance, and his cores sang in a cacophony of discordant harmony. As Felix raged, so did they.

You are mine! And you! Will do! As I say!

Title: Tyrant of Choice Engaged!

You Have Rejected The Rest Of The Eidolon's Potency!

The Endless Raven Is Amused!

CAW!

Invisible claws slipped free of the green-gold power, and whatever laid within that abyss howled with an impotent fury that Felix no longer cared to hear. It cut off as easy as a door shutting in a room, his Bastion of Will blazing in the near distance.

Bastion of Will is level 70!

Bastion of Will is level 71!

Nymean Artifact Detected!

Substitute For Sacrificed Potential Found!

Potency Rerouted!

What?

Above the dark abyss, the root-like branch of Divinity resonated like a struck tuning fork. Waves of power hit and were enveloped within his [Thunderflame Core] and [Cardinal Beast Core], before being flung back out, this time a blue-white and red-gold arrow that shot toward Felix and his captured orb.

He and the Eidolon's power, its dang soul, were hurled out of the core space. They traveled backward, spinning through his channels at a breakneck pace, until they hit and burst from Felix's own left hand.

The same hand that held tightly to his Crescian Blade.

Inheritor Status Acknowledged!

Array Unlocked!

Suddenly himself again, Felix watched his hooked sword ignite in a storm of green-gold light and sloshing liquid Mana. It spun around the hilt and blade itself until it coated it entirely, and the array near the guard lit up, followed by a second one just above it. A new one. It sang to Felix's senses, almost overwhelmed by the vibrations of Mana and his own cores.

The liquid Mana sank into the weapon and disappeared entirely.

As if strings had been cut, Felix sagged and his arms fell limp. Blinking rapidly, he saw his Stamina, Mana, and Health had all been reduced to just below ten percent. The remnant Status Condition that blinked immediately away told him why.

Status Condition: Aspect Drain (Major)

Aspect drain? To say that was alarming was putting it mildly. Felix felt at this Aspects, but Body, Mind, and Spirit all felt hale and unchanged. His internal snapshot of his condition matched his current reality. So what drained?

A flash of emerald radiance called his attention to his Crescian Blade. There, above the hilt, were two elaborate glyphs etched into the metal. They glowed with an intense light that lasted only a few more seconds before the light, and the glyphs themselves, faded from the blade.

Voracious Eye!

Hoping for something, anything from the glyphs, instead Felix was surprised by an entire block of text he'd never before seen from the weapon.

Name: Inheritor's Will

Type: Weapon (Long Blade) (Enchanted)

Lore: A weapon known by many names, it was once an instrument of the Herald herself, used to defend the Golden Empire from those that would wrong it. It is made of Crescian Bronze, a material stronger than orichalcum and mithril, yet lighter than both and more welcoming to enchantment. Its function as a key to access Nymean Temples is known, but all else is a mystery.

We seem to be trapped.

"Hardly," Felix said.

A lone figure crawled from the press of bodies. Its ice armor had melted, but it's metal-plated flesh still thrummed with the potency of its terrible master. The corpses had protected it from the intense heat and deadly flames, shielded its Vitality from the senses of that horrible, nightmare creature. It had survived.

Now it must flee.

Reach the city. Find the Master, its dread Father.

The Nym was alive! It was coming! It

a geyser of liquid earth and cascading lightning were the last things it knew.

You Have Killed A Reforged!

XP Earned!

Huh! Felix thought as he rode the solidified connections to the night sky. Lighting hung around him like a shroud or perhaps wings of electric blue. Didn't think there were any left.

With a flash of light, Pit emerged from his Spirit, coalescing beneath him in full barding and saddle. Felix cut off his Adamant Discord and gripped the reins.

Remarkable! Karys hollered in his Mind. The sword pulsed with green-gold light with every word. How did you accomplish that?

"How else?" Felix asked, urging Pit forward. "Magic!"

They exited the valley in record time, soaring above the still-burning landscape and utilizing the powerful updrafts it provided. Due to Pit's size, the way he flew was less physics and more magical power, but the warm columns of air still helped quite a bit.

From above, Felix's powerful eyes and Manasight had detected no other living creatures...at least not anything overtly hostile. He'd been lucky catching the last Reforged as he'd emerged from the underground well. Hopefully that meant the Archon still didn't know Felix was close, though the presence of his Mark made him question that.

"Karys, what do you know about Marks?" Felix asked over the wind.

The making of them, or their general nature?

Felix's eyebrows rose. "Making them?"

It is a simple technique, though one usually needs the power of at least a Master Tier to form the foundation of a Mark. Karys paused. Despite your own...impressive power, you are not even an Adept. In my time, a child was not allowed out into the wider world until they had Mastered their chosen Skills.

"Really?" Felix looked ahead of them as they approached the peaks. "Most people I've met are either Journeyman or lower. The number of Adepts and Master Tier folk I've met can be counted on one hand."

This...this is a strange Age to have returned to, Karys said after a brief pause. Yet I find myself no stronger than a Journeyman myself. The bulk of my power fed into your Will.

Meaning his sword. "Does that mean it's stronger now?"

I would imagine so, yes. The former Paragon's voice was dry. Stronger than the club at your side and...is that a lance?

"I mean, basically, yeah," Felix said. "But tell me what you know about Marks."

Generally speaking, they are an imprint of your Aspects upon another creature. A simple process, though as I said, the significance required would not congeal until Master Tier at the earliest.

"What about breaking them? Removing them?"

An interesting question. It can be done, but the cost is great. As a Mark is imposed on your Aspects, you must damage your Aspects to remove the Mark. This can lead to a plethora of problems, not the least of which is a shattered foundation. The sword buzzed at his side. It is not a procedure I'd recommend you attempt yourself. I have personally seen the results of Marks inexpertly applied and removed. It is...grisly.

"Thanks for the warning," Felix said. He dug his hand into Pit's soft mix of fur and feathers. "I'll have to find another way."

The surest solution is to destroy whatever dared Mark you, Karys explained. Who had the audacity to Mark an Unbound anyway?

"Easier to make a list of who doesn't have the audacity," Felix muttered. "I'll tell you about them later."

The Twins shone blue above, while the jaundiced light of Yyero shone slantwise from the horizon. They climbed over the peaks with a swirl of air Mana beneath Pit's black and crimson wings, rising up, up into the clear night sky. And with a giddy chirrup, they dropped.

Felix's heart leaped into his throat, but he thrilled at the fall. He was riding a free-form roller coaster, banking left and right around the tops of particularly tall trees, even managing a loop-de-loop at one point. If Felix weren't so concerned with stealth, he would have been whooping for joy. As it was, their descent was so rapid that they soon came within sight of several Henaari scouts.

And beyond them was a curious ring of monolithic statues. Nymean statues.