"Right. System restrictions." Felix rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to let his body calm down. He'd run from door to door with barely enough time to think. He'd been torn apart, goddammit! Felix paused, his Mind lurching in pain as the memories tried to escape his Bastion. Calm.Breathe.
Meditation is level 56!
...
Meditation is level 58!
Deep Mind is level 62!
He had three Paths, each of which offered him a promise. Survival at any cost, with per level bonuses to his Vitality, Endurance, and Perception to increase his defenses. That one didn't appeal to Felix. He'd had enough of taking a beating and hiding. But did that mean he wished for the second Path? It was brutal and bloody, offense at the expense of his humanity. What he saw through the Path had been too gruesome by far, and Felix had more than once torn into an enemy and exploded them from the inside.
That left only the final Path, one that had more than a little touch of Divinity in it.
The Path of the Ascendant was superior to the rest, clearly. It offered an insane amount of bonus stats per level, and the future it promisedif that is what he sawwas remarkable. Powerful. Beautiful. Neither running nor brutal slaughter, but rising above. How could he choose anything else?
And yet...Felix couldn't make himself choose it. "This feels too easy."
Easy? Pit warbled. What's been easy about any of this?
"That's my point," Felix growled. "I've chosen all three doors each time. First it was because I didn't know what to choose, and then because I didn't want to miss out on the Omens. The System itself said I chose the hardest Path each time. So why only three? If my Paths are based on my Titles, Skills, and stats then I should have more, right?"
The others didn't answer him, but it didn't matter. Felix knew he was right. Something was wrong. He looked all around him, but the terrain and strangeness of the space was too off-putting. Everything seemed wrong on his island of green in the Void. Felix closed his eyes, centering himself, and immediately felt it.
Pressure.
Something was pressing down on...him? On the glade? Perhaps on the whole liminal space itself. Yeah. That's what it is. And I know this pressure, the taste of it. He'd felt it, not too long ago.
"Vellus!" he shouted into the dark. "Get away from me!"
The pressure quivered once before redoubling. The trees around him groaned and bent, like a giant hand was compressing them all, and Felix felt a sharp pain behind his eyes. The blue window showing his Paths flickered and glitched, static running across it in waves. When it cleared, there was only a single Path shown.
Path of the Ascendant (From Broken Path, The Shape Of Fate, and Fatebreaker Titles, Core At Ring Stage Or Higher)
+30 All Stats Per Level
"No," he hissed, and lashed out with his Will and Intent. It smashed into the pressure like a hammer into steel, denting it but leaving it whole. The hands of the divine pressed again, dropping Felix to his knees, all but pressing his face into the Path window.
Convergence!
Pit screeched the word and vanished in a flash of light. His presence drenched Felix's Spirit, and sent all of his Harmonic stats soaring to new heights as they combined with Pit's. With a roar, Felix refused to be bent or broken.
He refused!
Tyrant of Choice Is Active!
Thief of Fate Is Active!
Indomitable Is Active!
Against Catastrophe Is Active!
The Vein of Divinity within him hummed, spreading a intense heat throughout his First Pillar and core space. Everything within Felix, all of his Skills and Aspects and Titles, they ignited into a conflagration of furious Will and Intent. He would not be bullied or pressured, forced or coerced into being a slave to the gods. For he saw now what it was Vellus had wanted; she was in danger, had said so herself, all the gods were and they needed him to survive.
Him, and the other Unbound out there.
Once more, he refused. He denied them. His Titles of defiance all activated by Will, shaped by his razor sharp Intent. He sliced upward, through the pressure, through it all. A scream tore through him like a thousand cut harp strings, like a detonating mountain, like an ocean boiling. It bellowed, and then went utterly silent.
And in its place, Felix could feel the threads of possibility surrounding him. Enveloping him and Pit both. There wasn't just a single choice, and not three either. So many were there, hidden from them.
An Unbound was not held by the rules of the worldnot trulyand Felix was held by nothing unless he Chose it. With a sharp gesture, he tore away the veil of obscurity, baring the System before him in all its majesty. The black resounded, filled with a choral glory. A concerto thundered, pure and powerful enough to shake the heavens. It was there, and then it was gone in a second. Yet it burned in Felix's Mind, indelible.
Another blue window appeared, this one far, far larger.
Congratulations!
You Have Completed Your Path!
Choose One.
Path of the Devourer (From Ravenous Tithe, Thief of Fate)
+20% Essence Gain Per Foe Devoured, +20% Skill Gain Per Foe Devoured, +5 All Stats Per Level
Path of the Unconquered (From Hero, Unconquered, Face the Charge, Bulwark of the Innocent, Indomitable, Iron Will, Work Horse)
+15 Endurance, Strength, Vitality, +5 Agility, Dexterity, Perception Per Level
Path of the Cardinal Beast (From Cardinal (Major), Unleash the Beast, Cage the Beast, Sovereign of Flesh, Voracious Eye, Ravenous Tithe, Race: Primordial of the Unseen Tide (Lesser))
+50% Essence Gain Per Foe Devoured, +50% Skill Gain Per Foe Devoured, +7 All Stats Per Level, +5 Levels To All Primordial-Touched Skills
Path of the Ascendant (From Broken Path, The Shape of Fate, Fatebreaker)
+30 All Stats Per Level
Path of the Bond (From Pactmaker, Etheric Concordance)
+10 Affinity, Alacrity, Felicity, +5 Willpower, Intelligence, And Agility Per Level. Greater Benefits To/From Companion. Decrease XP Penalty By 5%.
Path of the Survivor (From Survivor, Vitality and Endurance above 500)
+10 Vitality, Endurance, and Perception Per Level
Path of the Scholar (From Natural Scholar, Aria of the Green Wilds, Voracious Eye)
+10 Intelligence, Perception, And Dexterity Per Level.
Path of the Slayer (From Giantslayer, Butcher, Frostbane, Titanslayer)
+15 Strength and Endurance Per Level
Path of the Magus (From Apprentice Magus, Iron Will, Spellslinger, 3 Epic Rarity or Higher Spells)
+10 Willpower, Intelligence, Intent, And Resonance. 5% Leveling Speed Increase For All Mana Skills.
Path of the Archmagus (From 3 Legendary Rarity or Higher Spells, Intelligence and Willpower over 500)
+15 Willpower, Intelligence, Intent, And Resonance. 10% Leveling Speed Increase For All Mana Skills.
Path of the Cardinal Theurge (From Cardinal Flame, The Shape of Fate, Fatebreaker, Broken Path, Cardinal (Major), Intelligence and Willpower over 1000, Theurgist of the Rise, 1 Transcendent Rarity or Higher Spell, Cardinal Beast Core, Thunderflame Core)+15 All Spirit Stats, +10 All Body Stats, +5 All Mind Stats Per Level. Increase XP Penalty To 50%.
Path of the Void (From Voidwalker, Abyssal Skein, Presence Of Void Elements In Core Space)
+10 Willpower, Alacrity, Agility Per Level. 50% Protection From The Void. All Stats Doubled While Within The Void.