Unbound

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."

Vessilia turned to the Silver Rank, a small trace of fear in her features before she firmed them up and nodded. Magda gestured to Atar and the mage dropped his silence spell, his forehead dripping with sweat.

I gotta ask him about that. Maybe I can make that work better. It seems...inefficient. Felix patted Atar on the back in thanks, but he had his hands on his knees and didn't respond. When Felix looked up, Vessilia was already striding out toward the creature.

This will be interesting. How effective will her strange footwork be against an Ofrenok's Agility? Felix took a measured, careful breath. And he watched.

The creature stood still in the room, but had straightened slightly from its pained huddle. It lifted its head, bobbing it as if...sniffing? Vessilia approached it at an angle, holding her spear between the two of them. The torchlight glinted off of her spear's polished surface, but the creature didn't react, only tilting toward the far wall as the spearwoman carefully padded up.

As Vessilia drew near, she reared back with her spear and thrust forward.

The Ofrenok twisted unnaturally, body stretching into an arc around the spear. It used it's smaller left hand to push at the steel polearm, rotating it's body to get inside Vessilia's reach. Felix was certain that was it for her, but the noblewoman somehow got under the creature's strike, somersaulting forward and coming up to her feet with her spear and guard reestablished.

There's something...The creature reminded him of something, but he couldn't place it. Which in itself didn't make sense; he had perfect recall. It nagged at him, however, like a smell from his childhood, or a sound from an album he hadn't heard in years. As the monster lunged and snapped at Vessilia, Felix kept coming back to its mouth. Something about it...something terrible...

A sudden spike of dread washed over him, a weightlessness in his gut, as if he'd just dropped several floors in an elevator. Vertigo assaulted his senses and a dim clash sounded in his ears, a clash that resolved itself in the Ofrenok's claws against Vessilia's silver spear. With an effort of will, he shook it off. It was probably nothing.

Probably.

During the entire battle, the distance between them stayed the length of a spear. Vessilia used her graceful footwork to evade the Ofrenok's teeth and talons. The creature's body took wound after wound, even suffering a sudden flurry of high speed thrusts that punched five holes in its torso. The Ofrenok stumbled at that, suddenly retching a dark blood from it's oversized maw. With a sudden spin and flourish, the spearwoman severed the creature's head from its body.

Snicker-snack. Hot damn. It had been so smooth, from start to finish, as if she wasn't wasting any extra movement on useless things. He stole a glance at the Silver Rank, but she didn't seem terribly impressed. Maybe Magda's seen better, but it was flawless compared to my scrapes.

Vessilia returned to them, breathing heavily and sweating, but victorious. A round of silent congratulations went out from the other three, Felix giving a smile and a thumbs up, which apparently confused her. He figured he'd explain later. They all looked to Magda, who strode back out into the dark room.

Exchanging looks, they watched as the shield warrior walked over to one of the curving walls, feet squelching in the mud that appeared as the walls loomed closer. Close to the far left wall, she made a strange strangled cry, startling all of them.

"What the hell was that?" Felix asked.

Magda looked at him, her eyes glowing green in the dark, and angrily put her finger to her lips as she walked back toward them.

Then they waited.

Felix had started to contemplate revisiting his stolen Memories again when they all heard a grotesque sloshing sound. It was faint, but Felix's eye caught movement in the shadows. A dark shape emerged from the mud at the base of the far left wall, exactly where Magda had made her call. It slid through the muck, a fish in water, until it regained its feet and made its cautious, head bobbing advance into the chamber.

Magda looked at them and pointed to Atar, who paled slightly. He rallied as he became aware of their gazes, and strode forward purposefully. His feet struck the earth solidly, with confidence.

The Ofrenok was on him in seconds.

"Sparkbolt!" Atar cried, an orb of fire materializing in his hands only to zip into the charging monstrosity's face. The Ofrenok reeled back, screaming in pain.

These things really don't like fire. Felix observed. Is that noise gonna call more of them, though?

The Ofrenok rounded on the mage quickly, reoriented with a snap of it's gruesome jaws.

"Crown of Ignis!" Atar threw his hand into the air, where a crown made of red-orange fire flickered into existence. One, two...five Sparkbolts appeared and began to hover around the crown. The Ofrenok hurtled forward, jaws snapping and long limbs lunging toward the mage's scrawny neck. One after the other, the Sparkbolts whizzed unerringly toward the creature, pelting it in the head and shoulders and causing it to retreat in pain.

Holy shit, is that was he did to me? I didn't see the crown before...Felix watched the fight, enthralled at the strange magic Atar utilized. It was fascinating to him.

As the Sparkbolts regenerated around the Crown, Atar threw his arms out wide. "Spirit Immolation!" His entire body burst into a familiar flame, from his boots to his curly blond locks. The Ofrenok retreated back a pace, the heat from the fire too intense for it.

It never recovered.

Sparkbolts rained down on the monster five at a time, sizzling into its flesh until its hide was withered and cracked like the bottom of a dry riverbed. Thirty seconds later, it wobbled on its feet as the Crown finally disappeared in a flare of light, nearly finished. But as the light of Atar's magic faded, the fire seemingly to soak into the mage's body, the Ofrenok grew bold; it hurled itself at the robed teen.

Atar caught its large claw in one hand. He wrenched its arm down and to the side, causing it to shriek in anger. Then he delivered a straight punch at the monstrosity's chest.

His fist went entirely through it.

WHAT! Felix was blown away. He looked incredulously at the others, who looked similarly impressed. Where did that come from!?

Atar slumped forward onto the corpse, a sudden glow disappearing from his body. Felix hadn't noticed it at first, but he had been flooded with a strange combination of orange fire Mana and green-gold life Mana. Magda and Evie went out to help him. It took some doing to get Atar's fist out of the Ofrenok's chest cavity, as apparently whatever he had done left him fairly weak for a bit afterward. Ultimately, Magda had to cleave the thing apart. While she was busy luring another of the nasty creatures from the depths of the dark, Felix gave Atar an impressed nod.

"Why didn't you do that against me?" Felix whispered.

Atar looked at him, irritated. "Are you mocking me?"

"What? No, why? That was seriously impressive," Felix mimed a punch. "Just wondering why I didn't get that treatment before?"

Atar's dour expression eased toward a guarded one. "You're too fast." He turned away from him, walking to the other side of Evie.

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."