There. Take it. TAKE IT!
Felix let out an excited shout and flowed forward, talons out and fangs bared in a wide grin. The parasites came at him like a tidal wave, but Felix did not stop.
Unfettered Volition!
Mantle of the Long Night!
A wave of icy chill spread out from his body, swirling like a maelstrom around him, and it hit the parasites hard. Immediately he could sense them slowing, their bodies lagging as tendons and exposed joints stiffened. Felix hit them with his arms swept wide, letting his enhanced Strength and Endurance carry him through their ranks. They fell like bowling pins, Felix's charge knocking many off their feet while his talons cut through their bodies. A scythe upon wheat.
All too soon, it was over. Felix stood in the wreckage of their forms and panted, aching for more to appear. There was a thrill in his heart at the thought of more violence, a dark hunger to use his talons for their intended purpose. He almost stepped away, intent on finding more challenges, but Her voice brought him back. To the center.
You must free it, boy. Her voice was like honey, thick and slow and sweet upon his ears. Cut it free.
He did. His talons made short work of the tendons, and the flesh parted to reveal a large, glossy orb. It was lopsided, lumpy in a way that sent a shiver of unease through Felix, but the pure scent of its Mana made his mouth water. A deluge of concentrated Mana poured from the breached flesh, inundating him in its flow as he reached forward and plucked it free.
Name: Bloodstone (Greater)
Type: Core (Legendary)
Lore: A complete bloodstone. Made of a powerful creature's raw, immutable essence. This is a Greater version of it, and has been corrupted by a dark Intent.
BEWARE! YOU MUST HOLD ON! YOU--!
Felix clutched at his chest as the words pummeled his mind. He felt his Spirit quake beneath their intensity, and his grip upon the Bloodstone weakened. Then She choked the words from his Mind, until they were only an incessant roar at the back of his thoughts.
Ignore it! You must take this, Felix Nevarre. It is the only way to save them!
As if conjured by the words, the crystal clear memory of the Revenants rushing toward those people filled his mind. A deep, unreasoning panic settled into him. Felix's claws flexed against the Bloodstone and his heart thundered. Something about them...
It is the only way. Her voice explained, and for a brief, flickering second Felix thought he could see a gaunt hand lift the Bloodstone up to his mouth. You must devour it.
A long, slow blink. Felix felt twisted, turned around. His skin, rough and craggy, felt riddled with a maddening itch. His lips ached from where his teeth kept tearing them open. He--
I--
Ravenous Tithe.
The world began to rip apart all around him.
Pit stumbled, barely avoiding a wild thrust from a wrong-one. A series of Wingblades sent the creature reeling backward, thin lines of blood drawn across it's chest. It also acted to propel Pit backward, away from the front line and behind the two women.
He landed hard and shook his avian head. A buzzing scream still echoed through his chest, a painful burr that sent rippling shocks down his spine. Pit keened, as he felt his connection to Felix dim like a guttering candle. Wrong-ones still swarmed, but Pit was on the ground, unable to defend as the pain blazed through him. The sound of metal above him was a distant event, and the shouts of the Humans nearby mere echoes in his ears.
The earth shook, hard enough to force Pit's eyes open again. A deep, cavernous bellow shook the air and Pit looked up. The Enemy-worm, still looming high above them, flailed it's mouth-tentacles wildly. The bellow was squeezed out of it's drooling maw, and when it petered out Pit's eyes widened in alarm.
Parts of the Enemy-worm began to turn to smoke, it's massive body falling apart into crimson-streaked gouts of fog. Another tortured scream, this time from behind them, and Pit saw the remaining wrong-ones faltering and falling to their knees.
"What's happening?" The Pretty Killer asked, her face streaked with sweat and blood.
"I--I am not sure," the Dangerous One said. Her eyes were locked on the dissolving Enemy-worm and Pit traced her gaze. The smoke was collapsing inward, as if pulled by a powerful breeze or...or it was being sucked in.
Felix.
With an exhausted, warbling chirp, Pit got back onto his feet. The women looked at him and he chirped again while looking directly at the center of the smoke. Then he started running, heedless of whether they followed or not.
Felix was in trouble. That was all that mattered.
The power rushed into Felix, sparking along his channels like an intoxicating draught. First the Bloodstone dissolved, rushing into his core with remarkable ease, but then the rest of the Larval Ravager followed. It was far more monster essence than he had ever taken in at once, and as the pressure built Felix feared he wouldn't be able to take it.
The Larval Ravager bellowed, but it was a terrified gasp as it finally gave up the ghost. The flesh around him rotted away into that thick, pungent smoke.
He--
Where was he?
Felix's eyes widened in alarm as he realized he was suspended several stories above the ground. He was held in place only by a tether of impossible power that even still poured into him.
So much.
So much.
Bloodline Progression is 66%
Bloodline Progression is 67%
He couldn't contain it. The essence pooled above his core, stretching his internal space, pushing him toward a breaking point he'd never considered, never thought he'd reach. His channels throbbed with agony as the essence moved through even there, gouging looping patterns out within his Spirit. It felt as if his entire body was being stretched and torn, pushed beyond its capacity in the most brutal of ways.
What Dwells Beneath is level 24!
Bloodline Progression is 68%
Awake at last, Felix could feel the transforming pushing to completion almost as fast as his Bloodline Progression. Unable to breath or speak, he felt a savage terror take hold of him as his skin darkened across his chest and abdomen. He felt his bones creaking as they twisted, shifting into stranger, more bestial shapes. A scream arose, but it could not escape, instead burning within his chest like a bomb. He shook like a leaf in the wind.
Felix...!
A flickering sensation ignited within his chest, just left of his tortured screams. Worry, doubt, fear, and a deep affection spilled out from that light, though something tried to cut it off. Furious, Felix sought the connection, pulling back at it. Something resisted him, something strong, but he pulled hard enough that a flash of blazing light burned through. Felix could feel the desperate passion of his Companion. Briefly, his Mind cleared.
Etheric Concordance is level 35!
Etheric Concordance is level 36!
PIT!
FELIX! His name was bright upon Pit's mind, though the rest of his intent was merely a jumble of images. A collection of stars in the sky, of a bonfire burning in the dark, and of...of lightning...
A desperate, pained hiss sounded all around him, and the connection with his Companion dimmed once more. Unable to spare it any thought, Felix bore down on Pit's message. It was clear what the tenku was saying, buy why...? Felix dove into his core, Fire Within flaring.
And he saw an immense nebula of shimmering essence, literally crackling with a virulent potency above his core fire. His Skills revolved around him, each of varying brightness and intensity, each humming a slightly different tone. The essence was pushing at the darkness, straining it as it grew with every passing second. And--