The more Beef talked, the more Felix got a handle on his strange Hallow abilities. The creature that inhabited his Risen, as the System called them, seemed tied to Beef's Spirit Aspect in some way. How it split itself apart was anyone's guess, but clearly raising his Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception were key to increasing their capabilities. Not to mention Harmonic Stats, which dealt more directly with the Spirit. When he asked Beef about those, the guy hadn't a clue. Apparently Isla was keeping the cards close to her chest for some reason.
He had met Isla, then Naos, in one of the mining layers of Ahkestria. After some Yttin told him of a city, he'd set out to find it and eventually did after a lot of searching. He'd had to muscle through the stormwall around the city to get in, but even then Beef managed it. Nearly died, but he did it. Except once he was inside, he couldn't get much higher than the lowest layers. Apparently people need a badge of citizenship to climb the upper layers, and Beef had been refused entry on account of him not having anything except the bloody Sandwolf pelts on his frame.
"Naos showed up and helped me, giving me some healing for all the cuts I'd taken coming through the storm," Beef said. He blew air through his snout. "Taught me all sorts of things I hadn't learned out fighting in the desert."
For months they had a mentor/student relationship. Naos would provide him with healing and Beefhammer would fight and level and grow, each time pushing back out through the stormwall. Naos helped him temper too, which was a revelation. Beef didn't like the direction Naos insisted on guiding him, but was told it was necessary to solidify his "foundation."
"Naos wanted me to focus on Strength and Vitality, just like I'd originally planned. But I refused. I had magic, finally, and I was gonna use it. You know?"
Beef grew stronger and more capable, and slowly his magic came into its own. He even learned a few tricks from Naos, who had a weird insect theme going on, like the Chitin Construction Skill he'd used earlier. Hallow was getting stronger, a bit, securing enough Risen for him to fight against the desert's monstrosities, and things were getting better.
"Then I heard about the Tomb, and I knew I had to get to it. A big monster just sitting around? How strong could I get with something like that?" Beef grinned and rubbed his big hands together. "It has OP written all over it."
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Beef led them up the first, sloping dune. Felix followed behind, more than happy to listen as this strangely exuberant Minotaur rattled off his life story. Felix did notice, however, that Beef never really talked about who he was before he came to the Continent. They reached the top of the dune, and Beef pointed into the distance, where the darkened maws of a hundred wide caverns punctured the walls.
"Gotta go through those and get outside the city and stormwall, then we can find the Tomb," he said.
"Wait, outside the city?" Felix frowned, and reflexively looked up. He obviously couldn't see through the miles of stone and darkness, but the connections to his friends and allies were there, bundled in his chest. They each gave off a faint, humming vibration. "I thought you said this monster body was close? I figured it was down here somewhere."
"Oh no. It's outside the city a ways. I was searching for the Tomb for like, weeks. That's how I got my armor," Beef said, slapping a hand against his breastplate. As Felix had noted before in his visions, it was the bloodred plate of a Paladin.
"The Paladins? In those dreams I mentioned, I saw you fighting against them a couple times," Felix said. "Why are they after this Tomb?"
Beef shrugged. "No clue. The old legends talk about it like its some king's final resting place, though Ahkestria's never had any kings according to the High Justiciar."
"Wait. You spoke to Haim?" Felix stopped walking, the slimy face of that jerk popping perfectly to mind. "How? When?"
"It was coincidence really. I was looking for the Tomb and found an encampment of dudes in full on armor. And those swords? Damn they are nice. Aside from the insect armor I can make, I'd never seen so much quality gear. I uh, well I got excited. Introduced myself right away. They were nice too, inviting me in for food and drink, all that." Beef scratched the back of his neck. "Haim was even nice. Gave me this armor."
"Really," Felix said through his curled lip.
"Hey! I didn't know they were assholes at first! Paladins are good guys! We talked, Haim and I, for a while. All night, it felt like." Beef sighed. "I may have told them more than I should've. Like how to get into the city, so long as you can stomach the storm, about monsters around the area.
"About the Tomb."
Felix bared his teeth, immediately spreading his Perception all around them. Could the Paladins be down here now? But no, they wouldn't survive the stormwall. Beef could, and Felix had done it, but it likely took a considerable amount of protection to manage it. If they could have done it easily, the Paladins would have taken over the city already.
"I take it they were interested in the city," Felix said.
"A little. Well, more than a little, but they seemed more into the Tomb. Haim was really interested, said he'd heard of it himself. And I may or may not have told him uh, everything about it. All the stories I'd heard, where I thought it would be." Beef recoiled from the look Felix gave him. "Hey! He was a Paladin! That's so cool! How was I to know he was a dick?"
Beef sighed. "After a while though, the questions stopped and Haim stopped being so friendly. Said I was a 'Lost Race' whatever that meant, and after talking so long about myself I may have let slip that I just...appeared in the desert one day."
"He knew you were Unbound," Felix said. "That's why they've been chasing you and knew who and what you were. You basically told them."
"Uh, yeah. It was the first time I'd heard the term. Naos didn't even use it til I came back. The Justiciar guy went from nice to evil in a second, having the guards come hold me down. Said I'd be coming back to his boss or whatever, and the way he said it...I just knew it wasn't good."
"How'd you get out?" Felix asked. Pit had landed nearby and was listening as well. Hallow was nowhere to be seen, though.
"Well, I never told him about my magic. Figured I'd save that to really impress him." Beef laughed, bitterly. "Good thing I did too. None of them expected Hallow to come blasting outta the ground in Multipede form. I got out, and with my Strength put some distance between us. None of them were stronger than me alone, and that paid off. A few were really fast though and I...I had to kill them."
Felix only nodded. "And the Tomb? The Paladins have found it?"
"Yeah. They've been guarding it a while now, trying to get into the doors of it...I figure, together, maybe we could get past them and check it out?"
"You want to go fight an unknown amount of Paladins, thwarting whatever plans they have for this Tomb, all on the off-chance it let's your friend grow stronger?" Felix asked, listing the points off on his fingers.
Beef grimaced. "Uh, yeah."
"Which tunnel are we taking?"