Unbound

Chapter Twelve - 012

The first room was filled with empty stone shelves. It was narrow, probably ten feet wide between the heavy shelves on either side. It seemed like a pantry or larder, storage in any case. However, the shelves were empty of anything, even dust. Felix backed out of the room and moved to the next.

The second room was almost completely empty as well. The tiled floor extended uninterrupted throughout, spanning approximately thirty feet square. Felix almost turned and left but noticed that there were over a dozen hexagonal pillars hanging from the ceiling. They only extended ten feet before all of them terminated at a 45 degree angle. A large gash in the ceiling hinted at some sort of violence occurring here. But what could cut through solid stone like this? With a worried frown, Felix stared to back out of the damaged room, but paused.

What?

Along the back of the room, obscured by the hanging pillars, Felix made out some sort of mural. Taking a few tentative steps around the center, he saw the image of a humanoid etched into the wall. Neither male nor female, they were spread-eagle, arms and legs out like in a medical diagram. And just like a medical diagram, there were a number of details picked out on the person's form. Swirling, looping lines trailed through the figure's arms and legs, each of them coming back toward a circular shape nestled just above their navel.

Felix blinked in recognition. That's what my Fire Within feels like...He let his eyes roam the diagram again. Is this...are these veins? For the fire?

What purpose did that serve?

There was little else in the room of any note, but Felix couldn't quite tear his eyes off the diagram. It had the feel of an educational tool. He just wished he knew what he was supposed to be learning from it.

Felix had to cross the hall to get to the third room, this time giving the green metal door a wide berth. This door looked more damaged than the rest, with deep gouges all across its front. They looked like claw marks. Sword held to the side, Felix pushed open the third door.

Inside was around the same size as the damaged second room, but it was filled with shelves similar to the storage area. Except the majority of these shelves were built into the walls, and small bits of script decorated their edges. They were inert as he approached, dull and lifeless to his touch. The wall opposite of the door was dominated by a heavy stone desk, also with shelving and drawers built into it. The drawers were impossible to open, appearing to be either carved faux drawers or requiring someone with MUCH greater strength. No chair sat behind the desk, just a low stone ledge against the wall where perhaps someone once set knick-knacks.

There was one more room left. Said room was smaller than the study and diagram rooms, but bigger than the storage area. And what's more, it was filled with things: A tent, blankets, a bedroll, even a larger more complicated looking backpack sat against the side wall. Whatever this room was used for in the past, it had been turned into a temporary camp by someone. And if Felix had to guess, it was done by the Henaari currently decomposing down on the shore.

A quick peek into the backpack nearly caused him to cheer. Rolled up and stored among a variety of food, a waterskin, and sundry other small items there were several sets of clothing.

"Oh hell yes," Felix closed his eyes and hugged an armful of clothes to his chest. "Finally."

For the first time in what felt like weeks, Felix had a restful night's sleep.

Partly because he felt safe; the hidden chamber was secured by those magic inscriptions, and the door to his room had a thick wooden beam he could drop to lock it. It was luxurious, this safety. For once he didn't feel like a monster was going to rise up and eat him in his sleep.

The other part definitely had to do with the bedroll. The thin padding was sumptuous after sleeping on tree branches and cave floors. Felix woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than ever. For a few moments, he reveled in the fact that he was warm, comfortable, and fully dressed. Before he had drifted off, Felix had put on a short, beige woolen tunic, a pair of dark leather pants, and even a set of thin woolen socks. Socks!

Sitting up, Felix rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and assessed the room. Before he had been tired and excited about the clothes and had only given the Henaari's camp the most cursory of investigations. In the light of morning (not that any natural light could be seen), Felix found himself questioning just why someone was up here in the first place. Did it belong to the Henaari? No, that didn't track. Why would he be camping out if he owned the place? Despite the suspicious lack of dust and rust, the structure had clearly been abandoned for years. Decades, even.

Felix scratched his chin. Centuries? Who knew with magic in the mix.

He idly checked his notifications from the night before.

Explorer is level 3!

Explorer is level 4!

Explorer is level 5!

Huh, makes sense. This place is an amazing find for me. For anyone, even....Felix's mind clicked.

So, the Henaari was just exploring. Like a fantasy archaeologist. Which made sense considering the Henaari Lore he had pulled:

Lore: The Henaari are a matriarchy that reveres the Endless Raven, as such they long to explore the unexplored and find the unfound.

Whatever the Endless Raven was, it encouraged exploration. And the Henaari was extremely prepared. The backpack was similar in structure to a hiking pack back home, and contained numerous pockets, pouches, and compartments all filled with various oddments. Most of it was obvious; dried rations, a waterskin, a flint and steel, even a hammer and a few more black iron pitons. There was also a handbound journal filled with little drawings and cramped handwritten passages. The language wasn't one Felix had ever seen before, more a gathering of pictograms than letters. He set that aside for later.

Two items in the pack made his heart race. A dull blue rock on a leather strap, and an unadorned ring made of the same bronze material as his sword.

Name: Farwalker's Finder

Type: Necklace (Enchanted)

Lore: Made from the first stone found by a Henaari farwalker on their first excursion, it has been enchanted to lead them to interesting places.

Name: Gathered Light

Type: Ring (Enchanted)

Lore: Enchanted by the dawnspeakers of the Henaari, these rings are meant to collect and disperse light as a means of uncovering the dark places in the realms.

He wasn't about to argue against two more magic items. As far as Felix was concerned, the more magic tools he had the better. The ring even seemed pretty useful as a means of lighting his way, if he could figure out how it worked. The necklace was another matter; the Lore entry was vague on the effects of the enchanted necklace, other than specifying "interesting places." That could be a whole host of things. Felix decided to keep the necklace in the pack, for now.

Items cataloged and sorted, Felix turned toward his notifications. Specifically, his unused stat points from his most recent levels. He took a bite of a kelaar fruit as he pondered his Status screen.

Health:

115/115

Stamina:

157/157

Mana:

266/266

STR:

35

PER:

20

VIT:

23

END:

28

INT:

33

WIL:

50

AGL:

22

DEX:

25

Felix's Willpower and Mana was off the charts compared to rest of his stats, but most everything else was in a decent balance. His Intelligence was keeping up, but surprisingly his Strength had outpaced it due to his recent Butcher Titles.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about those Titles. I mean I can't argue with them, I did slaughter all of those Wisps. But being called a Butcher feels...not great. But his Titles were powerful, especially the rare variety. The bonuses increased as the rarity and the series increased, rank III giving much more than rank II. Which made sense, considering the prerequisites for his Butcher Title; gaining rank IV would mean he'd have to kill many more enemies in a single battle, probably several thousand. Could he even do that?

Idly, Felix wondered how his Strength compared to other creatures at this point. How much lifting power did 35 Strength represent? Would a sword strike from him overpower the average person? Or was he still weak? After all, he was only level 9. His lack of information and comparison frustrated him. With a breath he tried to let it go.

Considering a balance between his stats, he decided to place +2 in Vitality, +3 in Agility, and the remaining +5 in Perception. More Health is always good, better reflexes and speed would compliment his increasing Strength, and his Perception had been clutch in multiple situations at this point. As far as he was concerned, he'd never go wrong with more Perception.

Health:

115/125

Stamina:

157/157

Mana:

266/266

STR:

35

PER:

25

VIT:

25

END:

28

INT:

33

WIL:

50

AGL:

25

DEX:

25

That done, Felix decided to do a little more exploration of his new home. Maybe he'd climb down the cliff and inspect the nearby forest, too. He felt good, like he finally had a handle on things. Smiling, he reached out to unbar the door when another notification appeared with a trilling sound.

You Have Received A Quest!

Home Sweet Home!

You have found a safe place in the wild Foglands, an ancient Temple long thought lost. You are charged with securing your ancestors' Temple from all threats. Be wary, young Nym for your trials have just begun.

0 of 5 Threats Eliminated

Reward: Title, Home, Variable

"What."

Felix's mind stuttered to a stop before whirling wildly. It was his Race again. The mosaics! They weren't humans, they were Nym! The same as him, apparently. What were the odds of that? And this place was a Temple of some sort, which meant religion probably. Felix scrunched his nose in distaste. Religion wasn't a favorite subject.

He didn't like that last sentence, either. What trials did he have to look forward to? And what were these "threats" he had to eliminate? Wait, no, they were probably monsters. Big nasty, level 35 monsters. He was sure of it.

Felix squeezed the bridge of his nose. He was feeling a headache coming on. However, at least there were rewards. A new Title (which could be a big boon), a "Home" (whatever that meant), and some more stuff depending on how he did. What did the Home reward mean? What if he didn't plan to stay here? He was still interested in finding civilization, after all.

He shook himself. He was spiraling again. Felix sat down, closed his eyes, and breathed.

Ten minutes later, feeling much calmer, he exited his Meditation.

Meditation is level 14!

"Huah, ok." Felix stood up and stretched.

During his Meditation, Felix had whittled down his situation until he was presented with two options. One, he could flee this Temple and the safety it offered, taking his chances with the forest and monsters and hoping he'd find a town somewhere. Two, he could secure his position here, establish a foundation where he could get stronger. Then when he was ready, he could travel beyond the forests and find civilization again.

Amazing how much easier thinking is when I Meditate. This Skill really helps. I need to learn to keep it on at all times. Felix resolved to practice ongoing Meditation as much as possible in the future. For now, he had to get geared up, because his choice was simple. He would seek the strength to survive, and staying here was the best route to that. For now.

The weather was too warm for the padded leather jacket he found in the pack, so he kept his woolen tunic and leather pants he had put on the night before. He belted on the scabbard and bronze blade, checking to make sure it was free in its sheath like he had seen in a movie once. It unsheathed with a soft metallic sound, moving easily despite the sword's strange shape.

Felix actually found a short knife in the pack as well, the blade about the length of his palm and very sharp. Its blade was made of steel, or at least something that looked like it. It came with a small sheath that he fixed to the opposite side of his belt. His last Grubsticker got tucked into the satchel, along with his potion case, the magic rope, finder necklace, and the hammer and a single piton.

Finally, he considered his beat up and torn sneakers. They had served him well the past few days, and they weren't brand new when he arrived here either. After a brief hesitation, Felix kicked them off and put on the tall leather boots he found. They were a medium brown color and came to the middle of his calves. At first he was worried they wouldn't fit, but a couple of ingenious brass buttons on the outside of the boot adjusted them to fit his legs.

"Huh, not bad," Felix said after a few testing steps. He flexed his hands and took a deep breath. Time to go.

Climbing down the cliff face was both easier and harder than he had anticipated. Felix had to hammer a new piton into the floor of the waterfall cave, but it only took a few swings of the hammer to drive it into the stone. Felix was concerned at first, worried the ground was soft or weak, but it seemed like normal rock and a quick tug proved it wasn't going anywhere. Quickly he put the brightweave coil into the piton's loop and considered how to make it tie itself into a knot.

"Tie," he commanded.

The thin rope just laid there.

"Knot," he tried.

Nothing.

Felix scratched his head and thought about it. He could always tie it himself, but...why? The Lore entry said the magic rope would tie and untie at command, but there had to be more to it than that. What else did it say?

Lore: Brightweave is the process of weaving Mana into a material, typically silk or something of similar quality. This rope was woven with an enchantment for durability, and with a limited ability to obey commands. It can tie itself into a knot upon command, and release said knot as well.

"Hm, if the rope is woven with Mana, then is more Mana needed to make it work?" It was worth a shot. But how to get his Mana into the object?

Felix held onto a part of the rope and tried willing his Mana into the brightweave coil, as if casting Acid Stream. Briefly he felt a stirring in that core above his navel, where his Fire Within resided and where he had devoured the Mana of the Wisp.

Felix focused on his core as he once again tried to will his Mana into the rope. He felt a lurching sensation again, but this time tried to guide the power up and across his chest, over his shoulder, and down his arm into the hand holding the rope. The power felt hot, like standing too close to a bonfire but inside his veins. It hurt, but not as much as the Wisp's Mana. When the power burned into his fingers, he could feel it hit a barrier. The Mana wouldn't bridge the gap between his fingers and the rope.

Felix grunted and doubled down, applying his considering Willpower toward the effort. Pressure mounted in his fingers, and he had a brief thought that maybe this wasn't a good idea, when something burst. A shimmer of white light dazzled in his grasp before sinking into the brightweave coil, which immediately lightened in color and moved in his hand like it was alive.

Panting and covered in a flop sweat, Felix held the rope with a shaky grip, sending it a single mental command. Knot.

And it did.

Fire Within is level 10!

Congratulations!

You Have Learned A New Skill!

Manasight (Uncommon), Level 1!

Your eyes can perceive the spectrum of magical forces that inhabits the world. Increases detail, strength, and distance moderately with Skill Level.

You Have Learned A New--

ERROR!

#(##$*

That burning pain hit him again, harder than ever before. He felt it claw at him, like he'd swallowed knives, and it didn't stop until he dismissed the latest notification. Once he did, the pain receded, and Felix hit the ground.

Hodang, what was that? He had started to feel the rush of another Skill hitting level 10, even as he had clearly spent too much Mana on that rope. And then errors. Again. What Skill did I learn?

He checked his Status, but could only see the addition of Manasight. Nothing else. His head spun as he sat there, worrying at his lip. With some effort, he cleared his mind and tried to Meditate. A few minutes of that set him right and he put the strange experience behind him. Felix was getting good at that.

He climbed down the cliff a short time later.

Climbing the enchanted rope was remarkably easy compared to his ascent the previous day. Sure, gravity was in his favor but he had expected it to be a little challenging. His Strength let him hang on easily though as he just hand over hand let himself down.

Hitting the ground below, he scanned the area for any obvious threats. He saw nothing but early morning light and a forest that swayed in a warm breeze that promised a scorcher of a day. I'm gonna regret this wool shirt, I think....Nah, way better than being half naked all the time.

With a quick glance at the Henaari's hidden corpse, he crept toward the tree line, trying to look in all directions at once.