He put it out of his mind and turned back toward the sound. It shook in his chest and down his arms, and where it quivered him his Body felt...not better, but stranger.
Pit squawked.
"I don't know, man," Felix said. He took a step, fumbling through the knee-deep water. Everything felt bruised, if not worse. Inside his gut fluid sloshed around in ways he was pretty sure weren't good for him. "But we can't go back up. That Grandmaster nearly killed us."
Then where? Pit asked.
Felix didn't answer. He only stumbled through the water, deeper into the dark.
Invocation is level 65!
Theurgist of the Rise is level 81!
Armored Skin is level 80!
Corrosive Strike is level 73!
Cloudstep is level 49!
The fight had been good for Skill levels, if little else. Felix brought up the notifications as he traversed the watery chasm, pressing deeper and deeper into the rocky heart of the mesa.
New Title(s)!
ERROR!
Due To Advanced Tier, Acquisition Of New Titles Less Than Rare Are Restricted!
Unbound Detected!
Recalculating...
New Titles Lost!
Despite his bone deep aches, he snorted derisively. Of course.
Recalculating...
New Skill!
Last Cry Of The Chthonic Host (Mythic), Level 1!
You were born of the earth and fire both, and though the darkness is home you will not be denied the heavens. Though the fiery hosts might hurl you down, you shall always, always rise. As your Health approaches zero, expend Essence and significance to instantly bring Health and Stamina back to full. Can be used once per month. Frequency of use increases extremely slightly with level.
The power of that Skill doubled Felix over, sending him splashing to his knees as System power thundered through his core space. The Skill formed, a Skill almost as complex as his Transcendent Rarity ones, and just as big and bright as his Bastion of Will despite its low level. The song of it shook him, heels to the ends of his hair, and his Aspects all failed him at once.
Like a candle in the wind, everything went out.
Time slipped away, but when the spinning darkness resolved once more into the waterlogged tunnel, Felix just laid there and let the water course over his overheated skin.
Fuck me, what kinda Skill is that? He pushed himself up on an elbow, the water barely up to his armpit, and scrubbed his face. It looks damn useful though. If I had that against that gray-skinned prick...I'd still be here, most likely.
It was hard to lie to himself, sometimes.
Felix stood shakily, his Body twinging in every conceivable spot, but as he did he noticed that the water level had decreased considerably. In fact, the sound he had been following was clearer than ever but was also now accompanied by the soft roar of a waterfall.
"Hear that Pit? Sounds like a big drop and some wide open space," he mumbled. Pit let out a ragged chirrup, happy at the idea of freedom but too tired to celebrate it. The tenku was entirely too large for the narrow chasm, even if he had recovered from the Grandmaster's assault.
Etheric Concordance is level 77!
Felix knew his Companion wasn't only hurt, but sour about his inability to fight against the Grandmaster. Everything in that battle had happened so fast, the two of them hadn't even had a chance to separate. And even if they had, Felix doubted it would have mattered. That fight had been a wake-up call. Maybe Felix was strong and had the stats of someone far above him, but there was a gulf of power he hadn't even approached yet.
They followed the twisty chasm, taking branching paths as the song ebbed and flowed alongside the water. Felix's Health was just shy of full, but that didn't matter for what ailed him. He limped and gasped along the uneven pathway, pushing himself despite his sudden weakness.
It'll pass. Strain just takes a bit to heal, that's all. Felix tried not to think about what was happening up above, about the sacrifice the Grandmaster and Paladins were planning. Kel'lyv said two days. Two days before the "ritual" was needed to be performed. Could he heal up before then? Even if he did, what could he do against someone so far above him?
The song flared again, encouraging him to follow it further. He knew now that it was a piece of the Grand Harmony. Zara had shown him a snippet once back in Haarwatch, and he recognized its like now. The piece was short and repetitious, as if it were a signal being broadcast across the area...or a lure. There was an Intent buried in the song, and though he couldn't parse all of it out, it amounted to: come and find me.
It was an intoxicating melody, and Felix found his steps speeding up the closer he came to its origin. He barely noticed the chasm end with water cascading over a lip of stone, and a narrow pathway etched by nature into the sheer cliff face. Pit chirped curiously as they half-slid down the trail, while a yawning abyss spread out to their right. Winds howled far below, as if the ground was breathing, buffeting Felix but doing little to his extraordinarily heavy Body. He plodded onward, until the path opened up once more.
A far deeper ledge had been formed here, and atop it was a ramshackle cottage made of carefully stacked stones and thick, woven reeds. Felix approached it carefully, spotting a shadow moving among the yellow-orange illumination. A fire burned merrily in a wide, pot-bellied oven, and as Felix drew abreast of the door a Yttin wearing embroidered silken robes turned in surprise.
"Oh," the Yttin clicked. It's copper eyes glowed, bright and round. "I was not expecting you at all."