There was a long minute of silence, a time that stretched on for several eternities to Felix. Then, unexpectedly, the tension eased by the barest fraction, something loosening in the air. Magda took a shaky breath. "A Lost Race...No wonder you're so damn strong."
"What?" Felix asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Your ignorance makes so much more sense now," Magda half-muttered. "A Lost Race is one that fell to Ruin, and Ruin only comes to those who...reach too far. Burn too bright. Humans have been around for Ages, longer than history is recorded. That's because we're weak, all things considered. We only get three free stats each level, after all."
"Really? No bonuses?" Felix asked.
"Nothing else. We're shafted compared to almost any other Race, we just make up for it by sheer numbers. Talent too, that counts for a lot. But we're safe from the Ruin." She laughed, a trace of wildness in her tone. "We thought you were a noble who lost his retinue. Hah! You're just a kid in over his head, Lost race or no."
Weirdly, Magda seemed almost happy about it all. Felix felt his chest loosen. "Is being Unbound a bad thing?"
Magda hesitated before she shrugged. "Old folk, specially the religious kind, they say the Unbound were demons sent by the gods to ravage the world."
"I'm not planning on any ravaging any time soon," Felix offered with a tentative smile.
"No didn't--didn't think you were," she coughed, hacking something wet and phlegmy onto the ground. "Achem. You're probably the least terrifying demon I've ever met. And the first."
Felix, finally feeling stronger, leveraged himself to his feet. "Glad of that. I certainly wouldn't want you for an enemy."
"Damn straight."
"Is this better or worse than a spy for your Guild?" Felix asked.
"About an even split. One the one hand, you're a cursed Unbound monster sent by the Blind Gods. On the other, you're not a boot-licking toady for the Elders." Magda fixed him with a grin. "Tall tales or no, not being the latter is heavily in your favor."
Felix laughed, a bit awkwardly, but he could feel that last of the tension drain away. Pit cautiously nosed his way between the two of them, cooing as both of them starting petting him.
"Still doesn't change the fact that your Spirit is fucked up," Magda added. "You shouldn't Temper the last bit just yet. No telling how bad it might go. Even for a Nym."
Felix bit his lip and eyeballed his two, no three Spirit Skills that were close to Tier. Acid Stream, Shadow Whip, and Companion Pact. With a deep sigh he dismissed his Skills and rubbed his temples. "So what next?" Felix asked after a moment, looking out over the waters.
"Next we figure out a way across the water. Got any ideas?"
Felix did, in fact, have an idea.
Using Stone Shaping he formed a wide boat to hold the three of them. It took exactly twenty-three tries before he figured out the air to stone ratio, feeling out the shape until the thing was thin enough to float but strong enough to hold all of their weight. Felix got absolutely soaked and wasted a bunch of Mana, but the thrill of creation was almost a reward in and of itself. The end result was a wide rowboat with a deep draft, and he even added a few bits of carvings to the edges, little geometric shapes that had no real rhyme or reason. He also made two oars out of the same stone, which was the easiest part.
However, his Stone Shaping was greatly improved since it Tempered. Whatever the hell Chiaroscuro did for his Spirit Formation, it somehow increased his dexterity with the spell by an order of magnitude. Shaping stone felt as natural as breathing and Felix had to devote less mental energy to sounding out the spellform with Fire Within. So far all of his Tempered Skills had improved greatly in some way, which Magda explained as one of the main effects of Tempering aside from forging yourself anew.
Forty minutes later, the three of them moved confidently onto the calm waters of the Statue Sea, as Felix dubbed it. While at first the traversal seemed oddly easy, they soon found that each statue would shift alarmingly each time they drew close. Unsure whether they were designed to collapse onto them or something even more sinister, they made it a point to avoid them at all costs. The waves grew in strength as they drew deeper into the waters, and by the first mile their stone boat was riding up and down eight foot waves while swarms of monsters burst from below to attack them. While a few were Glassbone Stalkers, they were mostly those fly-fish amalgams that thoroughly grossed him out. They were called Felkies, apparently, and nothing about them was good except that they were easy to kill. They attacked in swarms, even. Felix's best tactic was simply blasting them with Reign of Vellus, often having to keep the kinetic spell up for several minutes while it discharged blue lightning all around them. Pit helped with well placed Frost Spears as often as he could, though the constant motion threw off his aim.
By the time they dragged their boat ashore on the other side, it had been two hours. Their strength was enough to propel them at great speed, despite the rough waters. They had also killed hundreds of Felkies, enough that Felix felt he was at the cusp of another level. Pit, meanwhile had already leveled up twice, to 13.
Smug bastard, Felix thought, feeling the tenku's exhilaration as he strut around on shore. He cracked a smile though, happy that at least his Companion was getting stronger. In fact, the double level ups had boosted the tenku's regeneration enough that his wing had healed completely, though not before Magda had insisted on rebreaking the malformed joint. It was painful, for Felix and Pit both, but necessary. Pit agreed to it, and despite the flare of pain he felt during it, the tenku was grateful toward the large shield warrior. Especially once the extra energy from the System helped heal it properly this time.
At the edge of the room was a set of stairs, twenty feet wide and going up at a steep angle until they disappeared into the fog. A smaller set of stairs was carved into the center, built for shorter legs and smaller feet.
Geist steps, Felix mused.
They climbed. For nearly an hour, they climbed. It was exhausting, even to Felix's quick Stamina regeneration. He didn't have a "stair climbing" Skill, so his usage soon outdrew his regen by a healthy measure. They had to take several breaks, mostly for Magda. She seemed...not great. Felix didn't mention it to her because he had no solutions, and surely she already knew what was going on. Whatever Grimmar had done to her plus the Rotvein Poison was taking its toll.
As they crested the staircase, Felix realized they were on top of a large platform, overlooking a substantial section of the Labyrinth. The fog blocked most sights, but looming nearby they could see a dark, ruined building. It was huge, big enough to be seen somewhat through layers of the damn mist, but close enough that it wasn't completely obscured. Trading nervous looks with Magda, they kept going.
The way forward was twisty and full of dead ends, as much of the rest had been, but it was remarkably lacking in traps of any sort. Or monsters. It was utterly quiet, save for their footsteps and Pit's clacking claws.
It was damn eerie.
When they finally came to the foot of the building, they found it to be a dark, dingy fortress made of blackened stone and bronze metal. It was monolithic, with not a single visible join or seam, rising far above them and disappearing into the fog. The plaza they entered was wide open with no standing stones or structures and it measured somewhere long the lines of three hundred foot square. Across the plaza, directly opposing Felix and Magda, was a massive circular door, easily fifty feet in diameter, and banded with strips of that same bronze metal. Metal that seemed very similar to Felix's hooked sword.
More Nymean structures? He'd noticed that they enjoyed building with that particular metal, for whatever reason.
Felix looked at Magda, who was busy inspecting the plaza before them.
"This feels like a trap," he said.
"Oh yeah. Big trap."
Felix flexed his Manasight, which had been coming a bit easier recently. He could see the faint impression of...something...that had rubbed against the ground nearby. Traces of thick crimson energy were splattered here and there, and Felix eyes went wide when he recognized the scent of it.
"Magda, there is--"
The screeching sound of metal on stone interrupted them, and they both whirled toward the source. A massive black and brown creature dropped from the wall, as long as a school bus and half as tall, and it's massive metallic claws rang unpleasantly on the ground. Eyes of black with red-irises stared at them with undisguised hunger, though any sound it tried to make was turned into a wheeze by its strange collar.
Wait, Felix looked again and noticed that it wasn't a collar at all. Someone had hammered three bronze-gold spikes through the creature's neck.
Analyze...
Name: Bloodtainted Guardian
Type: Blood Beast
Level: 49
HP: ???/???
SP: ???/???
MP: ???/???
Lore: Corrupted by blood rituals, this creature was punished by its own people.
Strength: ???
Weakness: ???
Then the screeching sound came again, and a second Guardian joined the first.