Chapter Sixty Six - 066Time was difficult to gauge down in the Labyrinth. The light never changed, there was no sun nor moon or even stars, just the stones and the fog. If it weren't for his nigh-impeccable memory, Felix would have been as lost as Magda seemed to be, but he could at least estimate the amount of time they'd been down there. Technically, as it was within the past thirty days, Felix could count out the seconds and minutes, but that was both exhausting and worthless. It was enough that he could approximate the time: it had been around four hours since they had fallen into the sink hole.
For much of that time they were simply running, though battles occurred with increasing frequency. The Labyrinth lived up to its name, folding and moving through space in unpredictable ways. Multiple times Felix was positive they were rushing down a corridor that seemed to turn and take up the same dimensional space as another. His eyes told him it was just a turn, but his memory said it was exactly the same. More than his Manasight (which was still restricted, somehow), his memory proved to be their greatest boon. He kept leading them back, unerringly remembering the path they had traversed.
The enemies they found ranged the gamut of elemental types, and he found a chance to sample most of their Mana.
Lessons of the Past is level 20!
His Skill increased multiple times, but not once did Felix learn a new Skill or gain a Memory from the elementals' blood and Mana. Ever since his Body Formation his hunger had quietened, only rising up once in a while, as if it was slumbering. Without the engagement of that growling in his core, it seemed his Title and Skill had a far lower chance of activating. It was frustrating, to say the least. To focus that frustration, Felix threw himself into clearing the enemies before them with greater gusto. They had to get out of here, and to do that Felix needed to be far stronger than he was now...
To that end, Felix had dumped all of his Mana into the Elemental Shard that hung over his left shoulder. He didn't know at first how much Mana Storage was available in the shard, and decided to feed it slowly whenever they weren't fighting. Within the first ten minutes it was at capacity, holding exactly five hundred Mana and not a drop more. It was a significant bump in his pool, and meant he could be even more cavalier about his spell usage. That thought just led him back around to his annoyance at the lack of new monster spells, though he supposed he had a pretty damn wide repertoire already. No need to be greedy, he admonished himself. I still need to level up what I have.
The song still continued, of course. It was an endless refrain, a track on repeat with only minute changes in pitch and tone as the hours blurred by; it was maddening to listen to, and Felix kept his Bastion of Will engaged nearly all the time, despite the toll it took on his mental fortitude.
Bastion of Will is level 35!
During breaks and those stretches of corridor without enemies however, Felix attempted to level his Poison Resistance with the sheathed fang. Since the scales held in the poisonous aura it was safe to hold along the bottom eight inches. The top was tricky, however. He held the crude dagger in one hand while slowly edging that poisonous aura closer to his left forearm. The skin sizzled and eroded before his eyes, but the pain was no worse than an acid bath; better, perhaps, since his Body Formation. When the tip of the dagger got within six inches of his arm, his skin finally broke and blood poured out. Hissing in pain, he yanked the fang away, letting his natural regeneration repair it.
It was painful, but effective.
Poison Resistance is level 28!
He was healing faster now, his poison resistance neutralizing a portion of the Rotvein aura. Still, he'd yet to even touch himself with the fang.
How'd Magda withstand getting this through her fucking arm? Felix shuddered before capping the fang with an improvised scale plug. He had no way to carry it except in his belt or in his hand all the time, and the last thing Felix wanted was to touch the fang before he was ready. They had encountered a few more of the Greenfyre Serpents and he had fashioned a casing for the remaining four inches, knocking his Improvisation Skill to level 12.
He was growing by leaps and bounds down here in the dark. Despite the pain and the fear that dogged his every step, Felix felt an exhilaration that was both heady and freeing. Each encounter ended with at least a few Skill gains, and all the while his highest Skills edged closer to Apprentice Tier. The stats he gained during each Tier bump were significant increases to his power, and now he was extremely close to having all of his base stats above the one hundred mark.
STR:
102
PER:
111
VIT:
144
END:
120
INT:
111
WIL:
185
AGL:
105
DEX:
98
Pit was developing rapidly as well. The elementals they faced dropped a core at least twenty percent of the time, and each core was enough for 1-2 points in their favored stat. This led to an odd and scattered allotment of stats, but the results were more than satisfying.
STR:
49
PER:
52
VIT:
60
END:
53
INT:
37
WIL:
51
AGL:
93
DEX:
66
With the greater power, Pit was better able to take on the monsters with Felix, and their teamwork increased by the battle. He had always been fast, but he was lightning quick now. Wingblades and Frost Spears were the tenku's weapons of choice, allowing Felix to get within melee range and providing support. The support was Pit's idea, strangely enough. They're communication was evolving in a way that Felix found remarkable; it wasn't speech but the bundles of image, senses, and emotions became stronger and more concise. Pulses of sensation through their pact were enough for near instant understanding, and their Skill levels reflected that.
Pit's Wingblade is level 14!
Pit's Frost Spear is level 12!