Unbound

Chapter Fifty - 050

They came, like a midnight wave, surging from the vile muck.

Evie spun toward the three of them. "Get into a circle! Atar, make with the fire! They fear the heat, so keep them from surrounding us!"

"Got it!" Atar immediately began conjuring Sparkbolts.

"Vess! Guard the mage! Anything that gets too close get stabbed, yeah?" Vess nodded grimly, leveling her spear and stepping in front of Atar. Evie turned toward him then, grinning wildly. "You'n I are on long range. Wreck em before they step too close!"

Felix felt his face grin back, almost against his will as a surge of energy flooded his veins. Blinking, he noticed a small icon flashing: a head and torso, arms akimbo and chest pushed out.

Affected by Skill: Rally The Troops

Effect: +2% Combat Regen, +0.5% Endurance

Felix laughed, the joy bubbling forth despite knowing the monsters were only seconds from crashing into them. This is extremely cool. She's better at this than I thought.

Six of the abominations lunged out of the dark, ebon claws grasping toward their shouting, and the four of them burst into action. A crown of fire manifested above Atar's head, and from this close Felix could feel the searing heat of it. How the mage was able to withstand it only inches above his hair, he had no clue. Five more Sparkbolts whirled into existence, joining the previous ones and spinning out thirty feet with a gesture from Atar. They began to rotate quickly around them, forming a loose barrier.

"It'd be better if we had flammable materials I could set on fire!" Atar grunted. "This won't be a perfect defense!"

"Doesn't have to be perfect. Just has to give us room to breathe," Evie insisted, nodding at the mage. "Vess, hold the fort. Felix, c'mon!" With that she ran forward, her chain already unspooling from her shoulder. Glancing quickly at Vessilia and Atar, he followed. At the same time, the first of the Ofrenok reached the whirling barrier.

SKREEEEEEAAAA!

The creature took a fiery orb to the shoulder, skidding to the side as it screamed in pain. Evie got to it first, her chain whipping forth to smash the Ofrenok directly in the face. Their head snapped backward and they stumbled, giving the woman enough time to sling the chain back and lash it forward again with preternatural speed. The Ofrenok got an arm up in time, somehow sensing the bladed chain, but it only entangled itself; it suddenly found the chain difficult to hold up at all, falling into the dirt arm first.

Felix focused away from Evie as he spotted two more of the monsters heading his way. He cleared his mind and shaped his Mana, tracing pathways that felt more than a little familiar by this point.

Reign of Vellus!

The lightning surged from the ground as the chimeras were immediately smashed forward into the earth; Felix hadn't even felt them resist it, likely due to their forward momentum. He didn't stop to ponder though, instead pouring dual cast Acid Streams all over their prone forms. The powerful corrosive ate into their bodies rapidly, dissolving large portions of their hide and revealing orange muscle and blood beneath.

Sick. He stomped on their prone bodies, shattering the skull of one and feeling something crack in the chest of the other.

You Have Killed An Umber Ofrenok (x2)!

You Have Gained XP!

That was easier than the first time. He looked up, seeing Evie flip around three different opponents as she used her chain to bash and bind by turns. The bladed links would slash open their bodies even as they caught and redirected blows meant for her, and her strange Born Trait made it all the more unstoppable. His fight had brought him closer to her and for a brief moment he felt the concussive wave of clashing metal, like cymbals the size of city crashing together. Felix blinked, alarmed, but the sounded faded just as quickly; it was replaced by Evie's face, lit up in a manic smile, her joyful spirit unimpressed by the increasing odds.

And they were increasing. Felix's quick scan noted at least a dozen of the creatures either arrayed against them or emerging from their mud tunnels. It was strange. None of the Umber Ofrenok carried with them the same dread as he experienced previously. Their features were still terrifying, but that familiarity had faded.

The Dread is only a Memory. You escaped it. He shook it off, clenching his fists.

Four more chimeric aberrations rushed toward him, and Felix went to meet them. This time, he brandished his hooked sword and flared one of his lesser used spells.

Influence of the Wisp!

Blue fire burst across his body before echoing across distance and ensnaring one of the creatures. Body limned by flickering, heatless fire, he felt its weak Will crumble before him.

An Umber Ofrenok is Enthralled for 2 Seconds!

He ran forward, using his sword to decapitate the monster before it could recover. Before the body even fell he moved onward, engaging two more of the beasts, one with a parry and the other with a point-blank Reign of Vellus that swept its feet out from under it. A swift knee smashed the Ofrenok's face into his leg, shattering teeth even as it tore his pants further. It went down and he dismissed the kill notifications as he focused on the remaining two.

Felix was grinning now, his blood singing and muscles warm. He dove and ducked beneath the monsters' blows, though a few times their smaller arms caught him on his shoulders and forearms, slicing neat lines into his toughening hide. Yet still. The combat called to him, like when he had fought his first giant, and he felt an inexplicable need to laugh.

Strange. He blinked, wiping away sweat from his brow. I think I'm having fun now.

Vessilia was not having fun.

She ranged about, circling Atar as he conjured bolt after bolt of arcane fire, making sure to keep well away from his crown of intense heat. His circling ward did some good against the mounting odds, but as more of the disgusting creatures poured from their fetid lair she could see it weakening. She jabbed her spear into the throat of another creature that had made it through, spinning into a slashing sweep to trip up two more. She dispatched them too, an efficient motion that penetrated the heart of the Ofrenok with brutal speed. She moved on, unable to pause, to catch her breath. Five minutes had passed, an eternity in battle, and Vessilia found herself flagging as she moved through the forms drilled into her since childhood.

Step, half-step, turn, evade, thrust...

The movements weren't so rigid as a dance, but the Seven Steps of the Dragoon were infinitely versatile, able to be combined endlessly. She chained her movements, if for nothing else than for the conservation of her own Stamina; without her movement technique and spear mastery she'd have fallen to the ground minutes ago.

Which is why she was especially jealous of her friend Evie, who despite her weaker Endurance, had enough Skill in Acrobatics that she had Stamina to spare. Even after evading the multiplying attacks of the Ofrenok, her friend was like a ghost, unable to be touched. For all that Vessilia was touted as a genius, she felt that Evie outshone her in battle ten times over.

Felix, on the other hand, was simply impossible.

He was barreling through the monsters, taking them out with spells and sword and more of his insane fist fighting. He had been at it the entire time, his Stamina apparently endless as he moved quickly but gracelessly between enemies. Once she even saw him barrel bodily through one of the monsters, knocking the both of them to the ground, where he simply pummeled it to death.

His Skills are unpolished and wildly inefficient, but he has such raw power. She frowned. He must have come across quite the collection of Titles to amass such stats at level 19. It is the only answer.

Then it went quiet.

Evie landed next to her with a soft thud, bending her knees to absorb the impact. "Is that it?"

Vessilia looked around, her eyes (normally so sharp) were of limited use in the Foglands. Even here, inside this stone structure the thick mist was ever-present. "I am not sure. I somehow doubt it."

"Yeah," Evie grunted in agreement. "Can't see this being Magda's real test anyway. Too easy."

"Maybe...for you," panted Atar, who still wore his Crown of Ignis. Despite the lack of enemies, he was playing it smart and still had Sparkbolts circling them. "I can't...keep this up...forever. Those BASTARDS took out...nearly half of my...Mana pool already!"

"Incoming!" Felix's voice shouted out from the fog. He sounded close, but that was never a sure thing in the murk. Then she heard it. Not the wet squelch the creatures had been making as they left their muddy burrows, but a distinct bubbling noise.

The mud all around them was boiling with movement.

"Night! Redouble that barrier, Atar! Vess, take the left side. I'll take the right! Felix!" Evie shouted into the fog.

"Yeah?"

"Get the back side of the chamber! How many are out there?"

"At least...twenty!" He replied.

"Shit," Evie cursed, looking to Atar and Vessilia. "This is gonna be hard. Whatever Magda did stirred up a whole nest of these bastards, and they're hungry. The fight before was just a snack. Time for the main course, now!"

Vessilia could feel Evie flare her leadership Skill, Rally. She let it wash over her, as did Atar, feeling the small bump to her Endurance and regeneration. It was not much, but it could make a difference today, and would only grow stronger in the future. Spinning her spear and resetting her grip, Vessilia nodded at her friend before taking her position.

I cannot fail. Not here.

Felix could feel them.

Insane as that was, Felix could feel the abominations rushing at him. He could see them, sure. They shone with some sort of twisted life Mana, a pus green twisted around a dark red core. But now, for some reason, their very presence was beating against Felix's senses. Like a sore tooth, an infection.

What is this?

He didn't have long to consider it. They converged on him, five of them heading directly for him, their senses stronger than the fog.

He fought. With a rising, ruthless joy, he fought.

It was madness. The ground shook and sounds echoed all around him as his companions used their Skills and special abilities, doing undoubtedly remarkable things that he did not have the attention to see. Instead he was overwhelmed by dark, scaly flesh and multiple sets of claws that raked and slashed at his vitals. He blocked and parried with his sword, using it one hand while making Corrosive Strikes with the other. But these creatures were smarter or perhaps just faster than the previous ones; one of them grabbed Felix's arm, wrenching him around and threw him down into the mud. The ground had gone soft with spilled blood and acid, their steps churning it all into a gnarly muck. Felix splatted down and was quickly pounced on by two of the Ofrenok.

Maws of stained yellow teeth set in blackened gums filled his vision, and he lashed out with successive Corrosive Strikes. He smashed them away, but more came, swarming his apparently vulnerable form. Their presence felt like a broken guitar string, twanging and out of place. So close, their Mana tasted like sickness, a corruption different and yet similar to the bloody Mana from the Orit and Archon.

It soured against his vision, befouling his senses.

No, get away!

Influence of the Wisp!

The three on him briefly froze as blue fire engulfed them.

"GET OFF!"

Reign of Vellus!

The creatures exploded away from him, launched up and into the air in twenty foot arcs even as Felix felt himself pressed deeper into the mud by the counter-force. Without a way to leverage his Strength, he could only endure the sudden mass of four full grown Ofrenok as they sailed away.

Groaning in discomfort, Felix pulled himself to his feet in time to see two of the four monsters reconverging on him once more. Then he heard screams from behind him.

Rather than look, he only frowned and yanked one of the Ofrenok toward him. At the same time, he used his right fist to conjure a Corrosive Strike; the combined force blasted his fist and forearm straight through the abomination's skull, shattering teeth and skull fragments in a shower of putrid green-black ichor. Throwing the body off his arm, he did the same to the next one, putting his fist up and into their chest before driving their newly-made corpse into the ground. The last one reached him too late, and Felix spun to his feet and backhanded it; he had aimed from its head, but its sudden evasion took the bone breaking blow against its shoulder and sent it tumbling away.

"Shit," Felix said, watching the chimeric aberration struggle to stand again. "I'll deal with you later."

He ran off. Back toward the others.

He had gotten caught up. His job hadn't been to kill as many as he could. He was there to help protect the others.

He arrived to a madhouse.

"AHAHA! COME! CHALLENGE MY MIGHT, FOUL BEASTS!"

The Tin Ranks were surrounded by black-scaled monstrosities. There had to be at least three dozen of them, each snapping and clawing at the pile. The only thing keeping them at bay seemed to be Atar's frantically conjured Sparkbolts, which whirled around him even as he laughed maniacally. The crown atop his head was brighter than ever, and the waves of heat pushed back at the Ofrenok; those closest even had their hide rapidly blister, scorching from heat alone. There was a manic gleam in Atar's eyes and his curled hair was sticking up in all directions as he laughed again.

"I AM THE GREATEST FIRE MAGE IN ALL OF TE'THYS! NONE SHALL SURVIVE!"

What the hell? He spotted Vessilia fighting a section of the Ofrenok, spear whirling near constantly as she sliced and stabbed and parried the long talons of the abominations. She was coated in green-black ichor, and as he watched arterial spray spouted into the air as she decapitated another monster. Of Evie he could only make out a swinging chain on the far side of the group. They were fighting for their lives, and Felix wasn't sure how much longer they could keep it up.

Then the earth thudded beneath him.

Once.

Twice.

Felix looked up and saw a different version of the Ofrenok, elongated and made somehow more upsetting. It had six legs, heavy scale plates on his limbs, face, and back, and was entirely black and slick with viscous slime. Its mouth still took up its entire head, but that head was now the size of Felix's entire torso. If the Ofrenok were infantry, then this was the tank.

Analyze...

Name: Umber Ofrehulk

Type: Chimeric Aberration

Level: 25

HP: 844/844

SP: 984/1100

MP: 150/150

Lore: Sightless behemoths, Ofrehulks are known to grow to gargantuan sizes if left unchecked. Not as fast as their smaller brethren, they are far stronger.

Strength: Endurance and Strength.

Weakness: Intelligence and Willpower.

SKKKKREEEEOOOOOONK!

The beast's cry reverberated through Felix's chest like biggest subwoofer he'd ever experienced. It dwarfed his own heartbeat, and for a second Felix forgot how to breath.

Then it charged.

"FINALLY! A WORTHY CHALLENGER!"

Atar spotted the behemoth heading his way, plowing through the skeletal Ofrenok that weren't worthy to fight him face to face. None of them could stand up to the Greatest Fire Mage in Te'thys, Apprentice to Sig'nyh Kel'lyv, Grandmaster of the Desert's Fire!

The six legged beast trumpeted out a cry, crushing more of its fellows as it sought Atar, who only laughed louder.

In a dim portion of his mind, Atar felt the stirrings of panic but it was overridden by an ecstatic anger and terrible joy. The Crown atop his head was the sovereign of true destruction, and he its avatar! Fear had no place in his mind, not so long as his magic sang in his veins. With a word and gesture, the young man's flesh went up in flames as Spiritual Immolation surged across his limbs.

A relentless, overpowering heat poured from Atar; the Crown amplified the effects of Immolation as he became subsumed in light. The beast slowed its charge, finally feeling the effects of Atar's primordial aura, or perhaps the resistance of the Ofrenok surrounding it. True fear must be surging in its primitive brain, he crowed internally. Only natural, for true destruction invokes terror in all.

"Face me, beast!" Atar sent a flurry of Sparkbolts out toward the monstrosity, each one a sizzling speck against its immense hide. But they did their job, driving the mindless beast into continuing its charge.

Rising up within him, a strident horn sounded, a call to arms and a rush of thunderous beats upon a drum the size of a mountain. It filled his body with a terrifying vigor even as that dim portion of himself cried out in despair; something was coming. Something he had never before experienced, a tearing within his soul that his compartmentalized self found agonizing. But confidence and rage poured from his Crown, and Atar laughed away the limb-rattling anticipation even as his Mana use surged.

The beast was within twenty feet now; it wasn't stopping, heat or no.

Atar snarled, his face a rictus of pain and ecstasy. He would tear this beast limb from limb, rendering its body into Avum chow with nothing more than his bare hands. Only two seconds, then he'd soak his Spiritual Immolation deep into his flesh, burning it for a boost in physical stats; Strength Ignition, his greatest trump Skill.

The beast bore down, only a dozen feet away now, and Atar shifted his Skill and pushed. The fire invaded his flesh, filling him to bursting as his physical stats skyrocketed beyond his limits. He felt invincible, untouchable. He rushed forward, tearing down two of the lesser creatures on his path toward the behemoth; he went through them like tissue paper. He came up short and braced himself, confident in stopping its rampage.

And that is when his Mana guttered out.

"No," eyes wide, the mage stared at his darkened hands. "No!" Weakness invaded Atar's flesh like a rot, withering his muscles and dropping him to the ground. The hulking monster didn't stop, it only bellowed out rage and an all consuming hunger from it's faceless maw.

Then, from nowhere the muscle-bound bumpkin hurtled into the behemoth, diverting its forward momentum just before it hit the mage. The earth shook as the hulk took several booming steps to catch itself, even as Felix crawled over and jumped aside.

A sudden glimmer of steel caught Atar's fading vision, the last flickers of firelight gleaming from her chain as it lassoed the beast about the neck. Blades dug into scaled flesh with a heavy shunk as the chain massively increased in weight, and Evie hauled on the line. Mere moments later, the crackle of azure lightning assaulted the monstrosity as well; Felix's strange magic grabbed hold if it, tipping the scales and sending it toppling the ground.

NO! THAT'S MY KILL! Rage beyond words tumbled through his mind, and something in his chest finally tore completely. Like a cheesecloth put to torch, whatever covered him was consumed in a flash of pain and power.

Atar's body suddenly surged with unspent potency as a chord within him reverberated uncontrollably; the mage's skin burst with scorching hot fire Mana until it flowed out from him like an insufferable cloak. The Ofrenok all around him evaporated into ash as this concentrated power splashed against them, until the area within three yards of him was completely clear of life. All he could hear was a resounding beat that shook his body, all he could feel was the crashing melody of a triumphant horn that shook his very bones.

But he could still see. The shirtless fool rushed toward him, intent on stopping Atar's glorious ascent.

No! The ever-dimming portion of himself cried out. You're burning yourself up! Wake up!

Wake up!

But he only dimmed further, until the world faded to black.

Felix rushed to Atar, lifted his body up and checked his pulse. He was surprisingly light.

"He's alive," Felix breathed. This close he could feel the residual heat of the Crown the mage once wore, and the ground itself is baked dry in a range of four yards. Moreover, Felix heard the fading remnant of the orchestral music from before...a denouement that settled into silence.

Felix looked up, but there was only silence from his party. He turned, finding Evie on her knees, eyes half closed as she was wracked by a similar distress. He called out to her, but she didn't respond. Then, as he watched, a wave of deep blue Mana poured from her body, crashing against the few remaining Ofrenok arrayed against her; distantly, he heard a frenetic drumming, a cymbal crash against a stormy sea made of a series of rising chords, pushing at the sky itself. It peaked, and fell.

The music...it's their Reveal? I'm hearing their Reveal?

The Ofrenok had all fallen, scorched into nothing or bashed against the rocky ground by relentless waves. Seeing both Evie and Atar down but breathing, Felix searched for the third. Some distance away, surrounded by the minced corpses of her enemies, Vessilia half knelt against the earth. Spear planted and body heaving, he saw the last moments of her own Reveal; near-invisible gusts spun around her, shearing through any corpse too close. The ground around her was a soaked field of offal and gore, her body covered in more of the green ichor.

Setting Atar down again, Felix moved closer to her in the hopes that she was likewise alright. Once within a few yards, he could make out a fading sound. However, before it vanished he perceived a cool clarity, a balm of trilling uptempo woodwinds. An allegro spring breeze, balanced between winter's cold edge and summer's promised warmth.

She didn't move, except to breath, eyes closed but somehow locked in place.

"The Reveals are complete."

Felix turned toward Magda, who had reappeared on the field after leaving them to fight. He was bone weary, and only mustered a frown.

"They're hurt. We need to leave before more monsters arrive," Felix's own Stamina was dangerously low, though he'd be fine given a few minutes rest.

Magda nodded, face serious but a certain pride showing through her eyes as she regarded the Tin Ranks. "They did well, all things considered," she turned to Felix. "As did you, Felix. I'm impressed you're still able to stand after your display."

Felix straightened, his body creaking and popping in protest. "I did what I could."

"And it was enough," Magda nodded and turned toward her sister and Atar. "Thank you."

Felix chewed his lip, considering the shield warrior as she walked away. Then he turned toward Vessilia and got his arm under her.

It was going to be a long walk back up those stairs.