Unbound

Chapter Ninety Seven - 097

Armored Skin is level 42!

Relentless Charge is level 11!

Shadow Whip is level 27!

Corrosive Strike is level 27!

Blind Fighting is level 22!

Dodge is level 26!

Relentless Charge allowed Felix to leap up atop the nearest building, making his already sizable jump into a gravity defying display. He was gone before the Hobgoblin woman could say much else. He didn't have time to chat, not if he was gonna stop the rest of these bugs.

There were just so many. What he had first assumed was only a handful turned out to be at least fifteen. They had somehow flown over the wall and gotten into town, evading what Felix had to assume was substantial defenses. How else could this town survive? But they didn't display their flight again, instead focusing on scurrying through streets and buildings, either climbing them or breaking right through the walls. The screams of their victims was deafening.

Felix had found a discarded cloak during his first approach and was glad for it, even if it didn't sit exactly right across his shoulders and the cowl was too big. The last thing he wanted was his face being described to Guilders or Inquisitors by a hundred different bystanders.

Felix came to a stop at the edge of another roof, his Far-Afield Boots helping keep balance on the slick tile. A street beyond, he could see another few buildings half demolished and the clik-clak of the bugs scuttling feet carried through the screams. At least thirteen people were running from two more Prismatic Wretches, the insects snapping their huge mantis claws behind them. He focused.

Voracious Eye...

Name: Prismatic Wretch

Type: Insect

Level: 35

HP: 984/984

SP: 543/899

MP: 437/610

Lore: Born as Shimmer Larva, the Prismatic Wretch spends twelve weeks devouring corpses before it can pupate into it's current form. It will pupate again after it has eaten 10,000 more.

Strength: Powerful claws, quick reflexes, and hard chiton exoskeleton.

Weakness: Their underbellies are the least defended part of their anatomy.

This one was the same as the others, almost cookie cutter copies. And like all the rest he'd anaylzed, this Wretch had some sort of aura around it. A type of Mana vapor as far as he could tell; it distorted the air around the insect, like hot air above pavement.

Okay, round three. Felix grinned and sucked in a breath and activated Abyssal Skein, fading slightly into his surroundings. The oily slick sensation of the Void crawled over his skin, and not for the first time Felix wished for a mirror to see the effect. When I get back to the inn, maybe.

He bolted along the edge of the roof, running parallel to the Prismatic Wretches. The citizens of the Dust were keeping well ahead of their claws. Felix Eyed them as he ran, noting that not a single one was above level 13. They shouldn't be fast enough to evade them....Ah, right.

Felix looked ahead and perceived the lengthy shadow of another Wretch hiding behind the corner's bend.

These bastards are pack hunters.

He couldn't waste any more time, with a final leap Felix pushed off the edge of the roof and into the air. The sound of shattering tiles exploded behind him, and he felt bad about that for a brief second. The noise caused the trailing Wretch to look up in alarm, though it clearly didn't see him.

Influence of the Wisp!

Wrack and Ruin!

Wrack and Ruin!

Prismatic Wretch is Enthralled for 2 Seconds!

Blue fire crawled across him and the Wretch in an instant, while Felix summoned two dark orbs of sizzling acid. Still falling through the air, he launched them directly at the monster's head. The first spell splashed against the creature's hardened shell, weakening it. Then the second drilled through the insect's head like a red-hot knife, sending out a wave of green ichor across the cobbles.

You have defeated a Prismatic Wretch!

You have gained XP!

Felix hit the ground with a roll, but the movement sent a blade of agony through his side and up his spine. He gasped and fell to the side, momentarily incapacitated. The sense of the oily Void vanished from his skin as he breathed, and he felt more than saw the attention of the other monster.

"F-fuck," he panted, pushing himself to his knees. "Right. No Acrobatics, idiot."

The second Wretch was already scuttling toward him, it's six legs moving far faster than it had while herding the Haarwatchers. Felix threw out his hands and conjured twin Shadow Whips that he immediately split into four separate sections. The tacky shadow-stuff tangled with the Wretch's legs and sent it floundering, it's heavy claws pulling it face first into the ground.

Wrack and Ruin!

Felix bounded to his feet and summoned another acid orb as he darted at the creature. But the damn creature had learned from its companion's demise, it rolled its body in a single fluid motion. The orb blasted into the street, tearing a furrow in the stone before its energy petered out.

"Damn it!"

Stone Shaping!

Stone Shaping!

Felix kept running but threw his left arm up as he cast the spell, sending his Mana streaming out of him in a spiralling pattern. His Fire Within barely had to work at it, the effort as easy as breathing. The rubble nearby clinked and clacked, drawn together into a massive car-sized boulder and settling into the earth this a resounding THUD.

The damn bug was tearing through his Shadow Whip, flailing it's limbs in an attempt at right itself, and Felix knew he had little time. He focused his Mana and came up behind the boulder he'd made, stretching out a hand and summoning the storm.

Reign of Vellus!

The azure lightning crackled from his body, rising from the earth to impact the boulder with a crack of thunder. The rock was launched forward at speed, hitting the Prismatic Wretch and driving it into the building opposite. All that was left was a green smear on the street.

You have defeated a Prismatic Wretch!

You have gained XP!

Reign of Vellus is level 34!

Screams sounded again as the Haarwatchers found the hiding bug, and the crash of its oversized mantis claws filled the air. Felix huffed a tired breath and took off. People scattered, running to the right and away from the measured flailing of the Prismatic Wretch. Street lamps, rare here in the Dust, illuminated the shimmering carapace of the bug and cast its shadow large upon the buildlings around it.

Just let them die, Felix. They aren't worth the trouble. Or better yet, whispered that malicious voice. Eat them.

Felix flared his Willpower and Bastion to seal of the voice, but not before the Maw managed the last word.

We're hunters, Felix! We eat and kill! That is--

"Shut...up," Felix panted, and threw himself forward.

Relentless Charge!

Zipping through the intervening space, Felix body slammed into the Wretch. His shoulder charge snapped through two legs before he careened into the bug's chitinous exoskeleton. He followed that up with two Corrosive Strikes, each blow denting it's impressive armor. The Wretch screamed in pain and rage and spat a clear, viscous liquid directly onto his right arm. The substance sizzled and burned and blinking notifications informed Felix that he was being poisoned.

He didn't stop, just maneuvered constantly around the Wretch and delivered strike after strike into its body. Kicks and punches, left hand mostly as the right had gone almost completely numb. He started laughing. Felix devoted part of his mind to drawing the poison from his system, feeding it to his Fire Within as he kept up his offensive.

When the Wretched managed an underhanded jab at him, Felix was launched nearly twenty feet backward. He smashed through a shop window and into some sort of display case. He barely felt it, but he noticed his Health was nearing the half-way mark. These Wretches had done a number on him so far.

I can't keep getting hit. But I can't give away my entire skillset. His spells were very recognizable, as far as he knew. What was the point of hiding his face if he had bystanders describing all of his attacks? He hopped back through the window and onto the street, checking to make sure his cowl was on right. His Mana was still good, and rising. They've already seen my lightning-kinetic spell. Let's try this.

Reign of Vellus!

Reign of Vellus!

The debris around him lifted from the street and hovered in midair for a moment, a field of glass and wood and stone. He heard gasps from nearby but didn't pay any attention to them. With a pulse of his mind, he fired the lot off at the final Wretch.

The shrapnel sliced through the air like bullets, embedding itself into the bug's hardened carapace. It reared back in pain, and Felix exploded forward.

Relentless Charge!

Relentless Charge!

Corrosive Strike!

Like a bullet himself, Felix darted down the street, spamming his charge Skill as he reared back with his left fist. Acid spat and sizzled from his grip, and the moment the Wretch's iridescent thorax appeared before him, he struck. His fist shattered through the weakened carapace, cracking into it like a massive lobster only to have gallons of green ichor pour outward onto him.

You have defeated a Prismatic Wretch!

You have gained XP!

Relentless Charge is level 12!

Felix stumbled back, careful not to slip in the thick mess on the street. He wiped his mouth, intending to push the foul ichor away from him, but accidentally tasted it.

Mmmhmmm...

His inner ear buzzed as the Maw sent discordant strains echoing from his Bastion. Her (its!) music rattled his bones, and...and made his teeth itch. Felix walled it away as best he could, flaring his Bastion of Will. It diminished, but the Maw was gaining ground.

No no, that's not good. Felix had no idea what damage the Maw could truly wreak, but he very much liked it locked up in a dungeon, even if said dungeon was only in his Mind. He cast about, searching for distraction, and saw the crowd.

The thirteen or so souls he'd been saving had huddled up at the corner, perhaps half a block down. There, much to his surprise, was the Coldforge smithy. Eldrunna and Rafny were there, handing blades to many in the crowd and shields to others. The gathering had placed its back to the smithy with their attention in all directions. However Felix could sense that more than a few of them were looking at him, the lone man who'd fought off the monsters.

He tugged his cowl further over his face, hoping none of them had some sort of vision Skill that'd expose him. He'd checked his Amulet of Veiling earlier and somehow it had changed again, masking his level, name, race, everything. It was a sea of questions marks; as was his own confusion, but he could ask Caerwin exactly how the thing worked later. For now, there were more monsters to kill.

Felix looked around again. Somehow he'd gotten pulled further afield than he'd intended. Felix quickly traced back his steps, his Mind easily backtracking along his wild path. He had turned from the route to the Drum Tank and had headed south and west. He was nearer the Wall Quarter than before, which made sense.

The monsters came from across the Wall. He peered into the distance, unable to see the power being hurled atop the Wall but clearly able to sense it. Then if there are more...

A hissing screech echoed from down the avenue, it's switchback curve and thick shadows preventing him from seeing too far. A clicking sound announced the arrival of at least two more Prismatic Wretches, or something like them. Felix risked a glance behind him, searching the area for anyone else who might be willing to fight these things.

Other than the crowd of locals, all of whom were low level, there wasn't a single armored Guilder out here.

Did they not care that the city was being attacked? Or are there more monsters attacking elsewhere? The thought crept through his mind, a thrill that lanced through his gut. Was the city being overrun?

Thick greasy smoke poured from the rapidly decomposing corpse beside him, and Felix moved forward, ready to intercept another attack. Despite his circumstance, Felix felt a giddy joy at returning to combat. Fighting these insects had knocked the rust off several of his Skills and set his heart racing...

Two more Prismatic Wretches skittered forward out of the darkness, and Felix cycled his Mana through his channels, watching them draw closer. The streets here in the Dust were tight, far more than anywhere else he'd seen, and the Wretches were forced to come at him single file. A dark orb of acid gathered in his fist, one that he hid from the bugs and the crowd behind him in the folds of his borrowed cloak.

C'mon...a little closer.

The Wretches scuttled forward again, cautiously, clearly put on edge by the smoking remnant of their kin.

Closer...

Suddenly, Felix's senses screamed at him, and he threw himself forward. An earsplitting crash shook the earth behind him and when he risked a look he saw an entire chimney had fallen onto the road, only inches away.

"What the--!?"

Another Wretch leaped from a nearby roof and landed atop of him, it's massive ten foot high body easily straddling his entire form.

"WHOA!" Felix released the acid orb straight up, sending it drilling straight through the underbelly of the Wretch. The acid ate through it's weaker carapace in an instant, boring straight up through its innards and out of the back of its head. Gelatinous ooze and offal poured down atop of him even as the Wretch collapsed to the side.

"Gak!" Felix choked on the foul juices, while part of him (that foul betrayer) reveled in it. It tasted of sweet fury, better than the finest meal he'd had since coming to Haarwatch. It washed against his pallet, sweet and savory and so damn good. Felix felt a sudden burning need to devour every last scrap...but he wrestled with his Hunger, pitting his Willpower against the rising temptation and rolled slowly to his feet.

"Haah...hahaah..." Felix panted, more exhausted by his internal battle than by the damn bugs. He could feel clawed hands scratching against the fresh walls he'd erected. His teeth itched terribly. His hands...

SCREEEE!!!

The two Wretches ahead started charging at him, barreling down the narrow street, but he paid them no heed. Instead, Felix stared down at his hands, a feeling of horror ripping at his guts as he turned them over again and again. A dreadful laugh cut through his Bastion.

His hands had discolored, the skin blackening toward the tips of his fingers: dark with purpose, twisted from true, were wicked, deadly talons.