Chapter Six Hundred And Eighty Two – 682

Chapter Six Hundred And Eighty Two – 682

"Alright, now pay attention to the coin. See where it goes? Archie palmed a coin, a shiny golden one hed taken from the Vault of Nine Kings. It was worth a lot, but mostly it had a great weight. Perfect for sleight of hand tricks.

Into that hand! cried a little girl, her hair tied neatly back into a dirty ribbon.

Into this hand?" Archie flourished with the indicated hand, and the coin wasn't there.

"It's in your other hand," a young boy said, almost as excited as the little girl.

"No, it isn't! said another, older boy. He frowned. It's still in that same hand, but invisible. He's using magic."

"Nope," Archie said. "No magic here. All in the hands." He gestured, and from his opposing hand, he produced the coin. He closed it with a flourish and produced it with his other hand. Back and forth he moved it, pulling it from ears and noses, and even from someone's pot of gruel. The children giggled and screamed, utterly delighted. They loved it. If Archie were being honest with himself, and he always was, he enjoyed it too.

It was simple. Fun. It reminded him of his brother's kids back home and simpler times. Times before hed gotten shot and arrested by the cops. Before hed been snatched out of the back of a patrol car by a torrent of liquid light.

The laughing stopped, and even the chatter died away. The hair along Archies neck stood up and his heart pounded as primal instincts told him to freeze in place or run. He chose to freeze, just as a powerful flood of emotion nearly swept him away. It was one that Archie had grown all too familiar with over the past few days. Awe mingled with a healthy dollop of fear.

Gah, I hate it.

Archie could feel people's emotions now. It started the other day when his Body had Tempered into Adept Tier. The process had hurt like hell. His other Temperings had even come close, and he put the blame on the absolutely vile Essence Draught that hed been given. It had tasted like liquid lightning, piss, and flowers for some reasonbut it had worked. It had worked really, really well even if it had put a ringing in his ears that lasted for hours. When that finally cleared up, though, in addition to all of his boosted stats, he could suddenly hear what people were feeling.

It was the most annoying and most useful ability hed ever had. He imagined how many times he could have spotted someone lying back when he was running cons with the smugglers. Or when to expect a betrayal, instead of living on the edge of paranoia for days or weeks at a time. Now that he had it, he had immediately put it to use and learned several interesting things.

Firstly, he learned that Beef was basically broadcasting his emotions all the time, either because he didnt care or he didnt have any nuance. Archie guessed it was the latter. Evie, on the other hand, was very careful with hers, as was Harn, while Vess basically only projected calm assurance, except when she was stressed out. In recent days, that was often. Even Hollow and Pit eagerly gave off their emotional states, seemingly without a care.

Yin didn't. He was a Dragon, a tiny one, but Archie had been told he used to be big and powerful once, so it made sense that he was a blank wall into Archie's new and admittedly weak ability.

Felix, however, was a different story entirely. This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

"Archie, Beef." The thief turned around to find the imposing man standing next to the campfire. He was stirring the pot of gruel as if he'd been standing there the whole time.

"Oh, hey Felix, we were just taking a break," Beef said. He gestured to the townies around them. "They were just telling us a story about, what was it, a wolf and a baker?"

The townie that had been talking just seconds ago stuttered out something unintelligible before lapsing into an uncomfortable silence. Archie didn't even need his Affinity to know that the dude was freaked out. The thief extended his new sense toward Felix, hoping for something different than previous attemptsbut he got exactly what he expected. Instead of a blank wall like Yin, he felt a vast, unending darkness. It was like he was staring into the heart of a dead star.

A black hole.

No wonder everyone's terrified. Can they all feel this too? Archie didn't think they could. But the guy cut an intimidating figure, all muscles and fancy blue coat, with that gold eye and crown symbol stitched on it, and his own eyes. The shadow of the mountain fell over them here, enough that the cookfire was needed to help light the area. Yet it seemed darker around Felix, as if he were shrouded by something. Archie shuddered.

The man stared at him, and his eyes glowed a bright blue with red gold centers instead of pupils. They weren't the eyes of a person.

"Archie?"

The thief started. "Uh, what?"

Felix smiled gently, but his eyes still burned. "I asked if you wanted to come hunting with me. I noticed the cook pots here are kinda low, and I think we could get these people something better than gruel to eat." He looked around. I was thinking some fresh meat.

In Archies ears, an eager hunger and cautious joy overwhelmed that feeling of awe and fear from the townies. Many of them perked up, regaining some of the enthusiasm they had lost with Felix's appearance.

"Oh." Archie looked at the bowls of gruel in the nearest children's hands. Their bodies were thin and their cheeks as hollow as any beggar hed seen in Birchstone. Archie stood, dusting off his knees. "Yeah, I'll hunt. And we'll bring back a ton of food. All you can eat!

Of course. Youre both welcome.

All five of them traversed the forest, Felix bathing them all in his Abyssal Skein to keep a low profile. As they descended a bit further, the trees around them kept getting bigger until they were absolute giants, easily the equal of the California Redwoods back on Earth, except that these were exceedingly green and mossy. Insects the size of cats scuttled and buzzed atop the trees, flitting between the forest giants and drinking from the dew that collected on the thick moss and vines. Other creatures lived in the ground and up in the branches, most of them a lot more furry, but not all. Felix mentally marked them all, still searching for something worth devouring.

Eventually, they had left the fortress far behind and were utterly surrounded by the deep, dark forest. This should be good.

"All right." Felix stopped and handed out four skinning knives from his kit. Hed enchanted them all himself, each one made to preserve the flesh of whatever monster they stabbed, at least for a time. "Let's make this a contest, folks. Whoever brings back the most monster meat within three hours gets a prize."

Just meat? Hallow asked. Can we not forage for other sustenance?

Oh, uh, yeah. Of course you can. Addendum for everyone: meat or other edible foodstuff.

Lots of stuff is edible, Pit said. Do you mean edible to mortals?

Felix sighed. Yes, Pit. It has to be edible to mortals. We need to bring food back for the people in the fortress.

"What's the prize?" Archie asked.

Felix snapped his fingers. "Glad you asked. I'll help you configure your core space."

Beef made a silent 'O' with his mouth, clearly excited. "That would be... Vess already helped me out with mine, but that would be really... that would be cool," he said, composing himself.

To Archie, who seemed unconvinced, Beef loudly whispered, "He has a Skill that can really help."

Archie's eyes narrowed. "A Skill, huh? To affect other people's core spaces?"

Felix shrugged. "It's a Unique one. Otherwise, I'd teach everybody how to do it."

"All right, big shot. I'll win this, and then I'll see what your Skill can do."

But what do I get? Pit asked.

Yes, core space improvement does not entice me, Felix. Hallow tapped her wide, rocky middle. I do not have a core space.

I do, but you can help me whenever, Pit said. I want something neat instead.

Neat? Huh, welllet me think about it. If either of you manage to win, Ill make it worth your while, Felix said with a smile. I promise.

Pit shrugged. Good enough for me.

Me as well.

Beef clapped his hands, and it was like a boom in the forest. Felix was glad hed kept Abyssal Skein running, or else every monster in a square mile would be on high alert. The teen grinned sheepishly, and much more quietly said, "Okay. Ready?

Everyone tensed, pivoting toward the forested slopes ahead.

On your marks, Beef bent low, his powerful muscles bunching. Go!"

All four of them vanished into a whirlwind of leaves and torn underbrush, swiftly escaping the reach of his Abyssal Skein. They thundered across the forest, sending panicked creatures scattering as far as Felix could sense.

He sighed. This could take a while.