Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty - 230"Now is the time," the Archon rumbled.
Dark, almost black energy flooded a gate before him. It was the twin of the one he'd sent his other Arcids through, only far larger. The Archon considered it, still troubled by the sensation of something touching his Mind a few minutes ago. It had felt...familiar, and he did not know why. Only that it filled him with wrath, and the urge to crush everything before him.
The golden giant thrust a massive hand forward, and yellow-red striations of power peeled out of his channels and roared against the flickering gate. He hadn't the Mana to open the way previously, but times were changing. The gate filled with brilliant carmine light and the sound of cascading chords.
"The Bloodmoon. It fuels the exit. It lacks the strength to shatter my chains. But you..." the Archon laughed and regarded the hulking form behind him. It stomped from the dark, its breath a bellows that kicked stone dust into the air.
"You shall pass."
The Dust was dark. The quarter didn't have many functioning lanterns at the best of times, and now the streets were as empty of light as they were of life.
Unless you count monsters, Felix groused.
His groupcomposed of himself, Vess, Evie, Cal, Harn, and Atarnavigated the back alleys, carefully avoiding the prowling Wretches and Simians where they could, and swiftly ending them where they could not. Felix took point, but Cal and Vess were not far behind him. Evie and Atar sat in the middle while and Harn took the rear. Felix had his Perception extended to its limits, but it was taking in far too much information. He was getting better at narrowing it down, but for now only a city block or so swam through his senses, and not all at once. The rain was a constant distraction, as were the occasional roars and shouts in the far distancesadly not everyone had evacuated the Dust Quarter.
The Ghostfire Simians were exceptionally silent, their padded feet and hands making only whispers of sound against the wet cobbles. But they couldn't hide their Spirit, not from Felix. He gestured behind him, signing for them to stop as they approached a blind corner.
Stone Shaping!
You Have Killed Ghostfire Simians (x4)!
XP Earned!
Felix waved the others forward, and around the corner were four corpses. Each one was impaled by spikes of stone shaped from the masonry. Felix reached out and claimed them.
Ravenous Tithe!
Another Stone Shaping and the spikes melted back into the walls.
"Well break into smaller groups," Cal stated. They'd all rested as much as they could amid all the preparations. The command group was clustered around her water stained maps of the city, laid out in the warded room where Felix had once Tempered himself. "Itll be more dangerous, but well be faster and harder to spot."
Harn pointed at the map. "Our team will go down the center, the most obvious path between our camp and DuFonts. The others will flank. Here and here.
, Evie signed and Felix shrugged. They prowled forward, out of the alley and away from the fading remnants of monster Essence. The next street over was shrouded in shadow and curtains of rain, which made sneaking behind another group of Ghostfire Simians easy, even for their group.
Felix rolled his eyes, but he could see the smile on his friend's face. It was true, his control and capacity had increased dramatically since hitting Journeyman Tier. He could practically feel the ribbons of light weaving beneath his cores; a sturdy column of vibrant light that spread through him in waves.
Felix smirked and gestured ahead. Evie gave an elaborate bow that ended with her chain zipping out through the air and punched straight through the monkey's skull.
Influence of the Wisp!
Blue-white fire ignited around the three humanoid monkeys, freezing them in place. Evie rushed forward, Cal and Vess close behind, the moment the others were close enough, Felix dropped the Skill.
my thing,> Atar signed. He was looking healthier than ever, even despite his blonde curls hanging limp in the rain. He flexed his hands around his sharp metal staff, nervously.
Felix signed back. He heard a faint chime along his Affinity and looked at the three women. All of them swiped a notification out of their vision.
"What do you known about two cores?" Felix asked.
"Two cores?" Zara said, eyebrow raised. "In one person?" At his explanation, her expression turned complicated. "That is...forgive me for saying so, but it is remarkable. And your Race changed as well?"
"Upgraded, it says," Felix shrugged. "I don't know what any of it means."
"You're not the only one," Zara noted. "Primordials are run from, not...PeopleHumans, Dwarves, Naiadswe don't become Primordials. All encounters with a Primordial in the past turned all those infected by its influence into either rampaging beasts or melted them from the inside out. Either spawn or dead."
"Are you saying you expected this? The Revenants, the Ghouls, all of it?" Felix clenched his jaw, feeling a familiar anger surge from his belly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would it have made a difference?" Zara said in a grim tone. She set aside the stone she was inscribing along with Felix and the others. Hector, Atar, and Alister were helping as well, following Felix's crude instructions. "Would it have stopped what you had to do?"
"...No," Felix admitted. He couldn't help feeling used, though. "But what if I hadn't been able to absorb the rest of the Maw? What if I had failed, or died?"
Zara's expression sent a shiver through Felix's Spirit that his Mind didn't catch up to for a few seconds. His gut clenched as he remembered.
'I could kill the Revenants, but not without demolishing the city...'
"You would have done that?" he asked.
"In a second," she replied. "But the Primordial and Divine...only an Unbound, and an outstanding one at that, could possibly touch upon their spheres of influence. To do it as you stepped into the Weaving Stage? That is simply monstrous.
"The growth atop your cores I am hesitant to name, but," Zara tilted her head. "I can hear it. It sounds like both Harmony and some atonal counterpoint are being woven together. The song inside you has grown strange, Felix Nevarre." Zara shook herself before moving back to the stones in her pile. Time will tell if you can make use of it.
A block further down, they encountered their first real threat. An ice-armored Reforged crouched among a Lesser Wretch and six Ghostfire Simians. It's body was moving strangely, but their angle of approach blocked most of the scene. Felix's Manasight picked them out from the dark and rain, but even normal sight would have spotted the Reforged. They glowed with a faint, purple-white luminescence. The Mana poured off them like steam in the cold rain.
Vess asked. Evie signed back to all of them.
Felix shifted his position and made out the dark smears staining its hands and arms. The thing turned it's craggy, inhuman face and sniffed. Blood coated the ice-armor around its mouth and forehead. It dove back down, chomping away.
Blood. It's eating somebody.
"What if we run into the metal assholes?" Evie asked, raising her hand. Yan nodded and Kelgan pointed at her. Keru had sat atop his head at some point. "I didn't catch big boy's level, but he gave you trouble, didn't he Felix?"
Felix nodded. "If we run into them, I can"
Cal shook her head. "Maybe there's only two Arcids left, like you said Felix. That might feel tempting no matter their personal strength, but theyll likely be surrounded by these Reforged. And every single one of them is a tough customer. We'll fair better if we dont engage any of them."
"Yeah," Felix said. "Thats not gonna work for me."
Influence of the Wisp!
Stone Shaping!
A wave of blue-white fire inundated the courtyard, washing up and over the Simians and Wretch, but leaving the Reforged untouched. Following nearly instantaneously, eight thick spears of stone stabbed up from the ground, each one four feet long.
You Have Killed Ghostfire Simians (x6)!
XP Earned!
You Have Killed A Lesser Wretch!