Chapter Sixty Nine - 069The massive door, more like a circular bank vault than anything else, pulled upward slowly with the sound of shrieking metal and grinding stone. Beyond was a soft darkness that almost seemed to...breathe. Felix flared his Manasight (a task that had become far easier), and he perceived a whirlwind: streams of multicolored vapor and light were being pulled into the doorway, all of the ambient Mana in the area gone in an instant.
Devoured.
Bastion of Will is level 35!
Felix gulped audibly, his pulse a rapid tattoo in his neck and chest. In the few moments before his Bastion of Will reestablished itself, he had heard that entrancing song, louder and more persuasive than ever. It sent through him a wave of dizziness that, coupled with his copious blood loss was enough to stagger him. But then it was gone, and Felix was left staring at the void beyond the doorway.
Another notification hit him.
Quest Complete!
Advance Five Spells To Apprentice Level!
You have proven yourself an apprentice mage!
You Gain The Following:
Title: Apprentice Magus (Rare)
You have shown the bare minimum required of a Magus. You advance...for now. Gain +10 to Mental Stats, +10 to RES, +10 to ALA
ERROR!
...Rewards Increased Due to Advancing 6 Spells to Apprentice Tier
...Rewards Increased Due to Advancing 6 Spells of Rare or Higher Rarity
...Rewards Increased Due to Advancing 2 Spells of Epic or Higher Rarity
Unlocking Resonance and Alacrity...
Already Unlocked!
Accessing Options...
Unlocking Intent and Affinity...
+10 To All Harmonic Stats
+25% XP Gain Toward Next Level
You Have Unlocked A Harmonic Stat!
Intent - Affects influence upon the Harmonics. Confluence of Willpower and Strength.
Current Value: INE - 63
You Have Unlocked A Harmonic Stat!
Affinity - Affects empathy and connection. Confluence of Vitality and Perception.
Current Value: AFI - 57
The usual currents of effervescent energy boiled through him, expanding Felix in ways he could neither see nor understand. He simply felt...more. The music swelled higher and higher, the pure and crystalline sound sweeping away the breathy dissonance of the dark doorway. Vibrating through his entire being, as if he were the worlds biggest tuning fork, struck upon the bones of the earth.
When the rush faded he was on his hands and knees, blinking at the cracked and riven ground. Before him was a crimson gemstone the size of a plum. It glittered in the glowlight of the Labyrinth's moss and fog, bright with a certain vitality that attracted him even as it repelled him. Instinctively, he Analyzed it.
Name: Bloodstone (Complete)
Type: Core
Lore: A complete bloodstone, made of a powerful creature's raw, immutable essence.
Felix picked it up, certain he knew what it was; another notification soon followed, confirming his suspicions.
Quest Complete!
A Light In The Dark!
You have collected 4/4 Blood Remnants! All four Remnants have fused into a single Bloodstone.
You Gain The Following:
x1 Essence Stone of Consumption (Mind Essence)
Name: Essence Stone of Consumption
Type: Essence Stone (Mythic)
Lore: A rarefied and crystallized Essence from a high tier source. It will grant the Essence of Consumption, a Mind Essence.
The Bloodstone dissolved in his hand, transmuting from a plum-sized gem to an oblong rock approximately an inch long and a half inch in diameter.
Essence...stone? Mythic?! Felix shook his head and palmed it as he got to his feet. He'd worry about it later. For now he was more concerned about Pit...and Magda.
The two of them were fifty feet away, and Magda was still on the ground. She wasn't moving at all. Felix walked a bit, then when his body didn't fall apart he started to jog over. Pit was nervously pacing around her downed form, and he gave a small chirp at Felix when he approached. Felix couldn't tell if she was breathing, her armor too bulky. There was a slow ooze of blood from a nasty gash in her forehead, but that was the least of her wounds. Her left shield was broken, just a hunk of twisted metal, and the arm underneath it was mangled too. The armor was rent even further than before, the script seal nearly gone. Gashes extended all over her mail and leather kit, the edges melted or burnt by the Guardian's dark lightning. It had been a powerful spell, capable of blasting apart her mundane and magical shields, its dark energy having left clear marks where it traveled up her left arm and discharging from her shoulder. Both were a charred mess, and Felix imagined her left side was basically shot at this point.
"Magda? Magda?" Felix knelt down, but his leg muscles a little shaky so it was more of a sudden squat. "Are you-?"
"I'm...alive," she wheezed. "For now."
Felix breathed a sigh of relief, dearly wishing he could get a read on the woman with Analyze. "You got any more of those script seal things? You've got an awful lotta wounds." Felix felt a pang of worry from Pit. When had the tenku gotten so close to Magda?
"Side pouch...right hip," Magda offered. Her eyes were scrunched closed with what looked like concentration. "You know...how to use em, Unbound?"
Felix was already at her hip, pulling out a supply of cloth bundles, each marked with a different symbol in red. "Not a clue, Shieldwitch."
She grunted, annoyed and amused in equal measure. "Grab...the one labeled...with yarrow."