Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Seven – 267Voracious Eye!
Name: Wyvora
Race: Henaari
Level: 68
HP: 2434/2434
SP: 1189/1233
MP: 877/877
Lore: Henaari are a nomadic, matriarchal people that are known for their dedication to the Endless Raven. They excel at physical Skills and have a mild aptitude for the magical arts.
Strength: More Data Required
Weakness: More Data Required
Voracious Eye is level 52!
"Answer me!" the Henaari woman hissed. They were so close to the Reforged, to the damn Wurm. "Who do you serve?"
Felix held his hands out to the side, eyeing the hooked polearm in his face. The womanthe warrior, he corrected himselfwas tense and ready for a fight, and her stance was strong. His Voracious Eye flickered across her armor, boots, the pendant hanging from her neck. Most of it was Journeyman Tier crafting work, and the pendant spoke for itself.
Name: Farwalker's Finder
Type: Necklace (Enchanted)
Lore: Made from the first stone found by a Henaari Farwalker on their first excursion, it has been enchanted to lead them to interesting places.
He'd seen it's like before. Had even worn one for a while, before the Archon took it.
"We're here from Haarwatch," Harn growled. He kept his voice low enough that it barely echoed in his helmet. "On a Quest."
Wyvora's stance softened, just slightly. She jabbed her polearm an inch or two closer to Felix. "Prove it."
"Felix?" Harn asked with a grunt. It wasn't his Quest to share, after all.
Felix looked at the Henaari's eyes, the set of her mouth, and listened to the beat of her Spirit. It was tense aggression and impatience. He had a solid idea what would happen even if he showed his Quest to her. This woman wanted to fight.
"No," he said.
Wyvora burst into motion, her spear going from zero to a hundred miles an hour in less than a blink. Felix slashed his arms up and down, expecting the strike...but she didn't attack him. The point of the polearm hit Harn instead, denting his chestplate and sending him sprawling to the earth with a clatter of steel.
"Imbued Sparkbolt!"
"Grand Impetus!"
"Bindings of the White Waste!"
Chains of ice Mana slipped harmlessly off the warrior, unable to find purchase as she became a literal blur and disappeared. Moments before crimson fireballs and a ram of kinetic Mana tore through her former position.
The Henaari flashed ahead, pulling Evie's legs out from beneath her with the hook of her spear, before pivoting and smashing Harn on the helmet for good measure. Vess leaped forward, her Dragoon's Footwork and Grace passive Skill almost blinking her across the intervening space. She led the way with her blue-white partisan, all of her Strength balanced at the tip of its blade...and Wyvora deflected it down with a whirling parry that sent a spray of dark feathers at the heiress. Vess flinched back, unbalanced, as her spear hit the rocky earth hard enough to split it apart, and a thunderous crack tore through the air.
"RRRUUUAAAAAAGH!"
"Great job!" Felix shouted at the Henaari. "You wanted a fight? You got one!"
Unfettered Volition!
The woman had lunged for the mages who still tried to pepper her with ice, fire, and force bolts. She had a solid twenty feet on him, was already running, and he was at a dead stop.
It didn't matter.
The earth concaved beneath his feet, but he was already gone, flowing across the gully like the wind itself. Over seven hundred points of Agility and near equal amounts of Dexterity meant when he moved, truly moved, it was like everyone else was standing still. Rocks and soil exploded beneath his heavy tread, his greaves creaking with the strain of his movement, and Felix spun Mana up from his core and into his left palm. A tendril of shadow manifested before splitting into two, and he slung it sideways at the warrior. They hit the hooked polearm and immediately bound it fast. The Henaari drew up short, her spear stopped feet away from Atar's chest.
"You!"
"Me," Felix growled, and hauled back, hard.
The spear was pulled back, but Wyvora didn't let go. She flowed with it, her surprised expression quickly turning to a fearsome concentration. Fast as he moved it, she flipped, reorienting herself on the haft before pulling a long dagger from her waist. The Shadow Whip vanished just as she reached Felix, but he caught her blade in his bare hand. And stopped it.
"What?"
Felix didn't answer, but he squeezed, and the dagger snapped in half.
Wild Threnody!
Felix's Adamant Discord vibrated as Mana boiled out of his core and into his channels, shaped and sped along its way by his magical melee Skill, pumped into his bare fist. His left hook caught the Henaari in her right shoulder and hurled her powerfully backward. She hit the ridge with a muffled thunderclap, lightning still crawling across her armor.
"Reforged! Incoming!" Evie howled.
The ridge erupted into a cloud of jagged debris and dust, and the Henaari was buried in it as a half dozen bulldozed it over in their frenzied haste.
"RUUAAAGH! Kill wanderers!" the lead one bellowed. None of his people gave them the time to breath, however. Quick as a flash the lead Reforged was met with dozens of wooden and icy arrows, enough that they had to lift an arm to see through the barrage...and enough time for Harn to set his twin axes ablaze.
"Raze!"
They flashed with silvery Mana, and the Reforge's leg was severed completely. It screamed as it fell, but that only put it in range of Harn's axes once more.
It didn't scream a third time.
"No! I hate this Skill!" Atar shouted. Purple-white Mana vapor surged all around them as the Reforged activated their Mantles, a Skill they apparently retained from their former lives as Frost Giants.
Then the purple-white was beaten back by flares of brilliant orange, and Atar dropped a field of near-liquid flame onto the three closest. They screamed, but were not cowed and charged the defenseless mage. He gasped, finding himself entirely too close to run.
Pillars of the Domineering Sentinel!