Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six - 126They ran.
Vess led them, watching the ground like a hawk, but still easily navigating breaks in the path. She was using some sort of tracking Skill, that much was clear to Felix, though he wasn't sure what she was tracking. It wasn't until the second or third intersection that he spotted a suspicious scuff on the ground. He was focused and it lit up in his sight with a strange glow.
Tracking is level 14!
Tracking is level 15!
After that it was a bit easier, but whoever this kid was, he was either extremely light on his feet or had a nicely leveled stealth Skill. His Tracking Skill was still Beginner Tier, but Felix's Perception wasn't anything to sneeze at. Yet the clues, despite lighting up, were few and far between. Vess, however, didn't have that problem. She followed his path like a bloodhound, and despite their circumstances, Felix was pleased to have most of their group back together. They only needed Atar now.
Felix smiled to himself. Maybe not Atar.
Resounding blows echoed down the tunnels behind them. Despite the distance, Felix could sense the rock wall he'd created wasn't going to last long. The strikes grew more rapid and furious by the second.
How many are after us?
That fact would greatly determine whether they could fight them off or not. Felix knew he was strong and fast, but he also knew he couldn't fight everyone. You don't spend weeks nearly dying, fight after fight, without gaining some appreciation of your limits.
They put on a burst of speed, and Vess furiously scanned the ground. Her Skill was interesting, clearly a higher rarity than his Common ranked Tracking. He could have asked, but--
The sound of a mountain breaking apart rocked the tunnel.
--They didn't have time.
They're coming. Felix couldn't hear anything except their own breathing and the distant rush of water. The sewers were a mix of storm runoff and waste water. The recent rain had pumped the area full, which explained all the water back where he and Evie had first entered. Now, that rush had once again become a thundering that filled the air and the three of them burst into a wide open chamber.
The pathway opened up into a fifteen foot wide bridge centered in a huge room perhaps a hundred feet wide. It arched over a deep cistern of some kind. Water cascaded down one side of the chamber, pouring from trefoil openings to their right and dropping nearly two hundred feet to a tumultuous confluence below. The air had grown cold previously and now was filled with a chill mist that swirled over everything, including the pathway. If Felix hadn't had his enchanted boots, he wouldn't trust the footing at all.
"He went this way?" Felix asked, pointed at the far end of the room, perhaps three hundred feet away. The roar of water filled his Perception like static, but his eyes could still make out the discolored rungs of a ladder built into the wall. It led upward, disappearing into the misty gloom above.
"Had to, right?" Evie said, panting slightly. Felix was reminded her Endurance and Strength weren't that high; that run probably knocked a bit out of her Stamina.
"I think so...it is too cold now, though. His tracks have leeched away." Vess groaned in annoyance. She appeared as unhappy as the others that this Mettias had run off. Felix watched with Manasight as her eyes swirled with power, alternating orange fire, gold light, and green-gold life Mana. They thrummed to his ear, weaving in a dizzying pattern.
She must be using some sort of...thermal vision? That's extremely cool. Felix found the thrumming pattern of her Mana, although faint, to be almost hypnotic. He idly wondered if he could make his own Mana mimic that effect; his Fire Within provided him with a good amount of internal Mana control, enough to shape out patterns for his various Mana Skills. Maybe I'll ask her later if I can observe the Skill again.
Vess turned and caught Felix staring at her. She blushed, and Felix felt like a deer in headlights.
"What?" she asked.
"Oh uh, the Mana..." Felix coughed. "It's nothing." He looked at the both of them and started moving toward the ladder. "We have to keep moving. The Inquisition can't be far behind."
"We took lotsa turns back there, hopefully they lost us," Evie said, but she followed after.
The were only a few steps away when Felix's instincts screamed at him, and he grabbed both women and leaped forward. A second later, a wave of fire rushed through the tunnel behind them, exploding into a flower of flame. Heat and light bloomed from the entrance, barely twenty feet away, carrying a terrible, intense heat with it before winking out.
"HEEUUUNNG!" Felix groaned, pushing back to his feet as his nerves danced with roiling torment. He hadn't been hit, but the wash of heat was agony on his broken Skill. Focusing his Will and Pain Resistance, he pushed past it, forcing his Mind to ignore his screaming Spirit.
H($t R3$(%74nce is level 22!
"You just had to say something," he panted at Evie. She smirked at him, but her eyes danced with fear even as she unspooled her spiked chain.
"I sense two of them," Vess said, low enough that Felix hoped only they could hear it. "We can take them."
"Levels?" Evie asked as the end of her chain began to hover slightly above the ground. Felix blinked, his mind off the pain for once. That's new.
"I cannot make them out. Inquisitor armor blocks Analyze below Adept," Vess said. She had pulled a long silver spear from...somewhere, and she held it firmly before her.
Flames still licked the interior of the tunnel, vestiges of whatever Skill had just hurled toward them. Water roared all around, but the humidity didn't put a dent in the pockets of fire. The sound of clanking footsteps reached them only moments later, and waves of orange Mana flared in the tunnel mouth. Felix watched as the Mana stoked the fires back into size, billowing them with power as two plate armored Acolytes stepped forward.
They wore the full silvery platemail of their order, enameled in white and detailed with a golden sunburst upon their chest. Each of them also wore a sallet-style helm that almost completely covered their face. Still, Felix could make out their eyes, which were hard and focused on them. The larger of the two led the way, while the other, slighter by only a small margin, stepped carefully behind.
"Heretics," intoned the leader in a heavy baritone. Felix thought he recognized the voice. "Put down your weapons and come with us."
"I'll pass on that, thanks," Evie quipped, letting her chain slowly begin to spin.
"You would arrest us?" Vess drew herself up and frowned imperiously. "On what charges?"
"By order of the Master Inquisitor, all of those found at the illegal gathering are to be tried for false worship, sedition, and heresy." The smaller of the two spoke with a clear, acidic conviction, and Felix knew he recognized the voice.
Voracious Eye.
There was a moment of resistance, but it was barely a blip. Felix pushed past it easily.
Name: Aenda Karcan, Acolyte
Race: Human
Level: 33
HP: 343/343
SP: 213/284
MP: 685/685
Lore: Humans are multitudinous on the Continent. They are statistically weaker than most Races, especially at lower levels.
Strength: Intelligence and Willpower, fire Mana
Weakness: Martial Proficiency, Endurance and Vitality
Name: Niall Palast, Acolyte
Race: Human
Level: 31
HP: 644/644