Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Seven - 127For the second time in his life, Felix was bulldozed underwater by the force of a waterfall. Except this time he was conscious, whether he liked it or not. A golden arrow jutted from his abdomen, a painful point of savage pain that burned like fire; a perfect, awful counterpoint to the icy water.
He was forced down. Into the cold. Into the dark. His head spun, rattled by the dual impact of stone and water. Instinctively, he tried to flare his Manasight. But for the first time ever it wouldn't come. He flipped over, shoved by the strong currents of water and sent spinning dizzyingly until he couldn't tell which way was up. He tried again, and this time, not only did it not work, but a rush of golden light snuffed out the Mana that lingered in his channels.
The golden arrow was messing with his core.
Before Felix could process that, something brushed against him. It was hard and rough, disappearing almost as soon as he felt it against his back. His heart hammered, fear surging though his veins like molten iron; he tried to activate Abyssal Skein, to hide, but that Skill couldn't bypass the deleterious arrow either.
Something hit him again, this time with the force of a truck. It bowled him over, flipping him ass over teakettle in the pitch black water. Ironically, the golden arrow preventing his sight did give off some light, just enough to illuminate a small area in front of him. As Felix spun, pushing his arms and legs outward to slow his nauseating tumble, the light was plenty to see the horror that faced him.
A massive eel creature, its head easily the size of his entire body, was winding toward him. Its body was covered in sharp, dagger like scales colored some murky green, and it's pale, milky eyes were filled with hunger as it bore down on him. Felix kicked away, propelling himself through the water slower than he would expect without the aid of Unfettered Volition, and the eel caught up to him almost instantly. It twined through the murk, spinning around his form before tightening its coils around Felix with a sudden and inescapable rush.
The golden arrow was shoved deeper into his gut.
Bubble streamed from Felix's mouth before he could bite off the scream, saving what remained of his precious oxygen. Black splotches started to creep into the corners of his vision. He knew he had maybe a minute or two before he'd start sucking down water. Pain lanced from his middle, lightning that pulsed through every one of his limbs; limbs that were growing more numb by the second.
The eel squeezed.
Maybe less than a minute.
The creature was strong. Felix felt his ribs creak and the skin along his arms tear as the razor-sharp scales sliced into him. He feels his breath trying to escape, his chest compressing. Felix strained with every ounce of Strength he had, but the cold had seeped into his flesh, the creature was stronger, and he had no Skill to fight back. He felt...disconnected from his core in a way that was utterly terrifying.
Armored Skin is level 44!
Armored Skin is level 45!
A voice, faint but filled with an alien and all-encompassing wrath bellowed at him. Fight, you fool!
FIGHT!
Something stirred within him, a connection that strung between the dark, empty space where he once felt his core. It began to hum, then it began to scream. Felix's eyes blazed a brilliant cyan, lighting up the dark water around him. He opened his mouth wide and small white teeth floated away in a puff of blood, instantly replaced by inch long fangs.
Felix bit the damn thing.
His teeth sheared into the creature's skin easily, sinking through the scales and into the meat of the monstrosity's body. Dark ichor poured into the water, clouding all around him, but also streaming down into his throat. His insatiable maw.
Strength filled him, as did his Hunger.
His transformation Skill had nothing to do with his Mana, and everything to do with his connection to the remnant Maw still trapped within his Spirit. A connection that he could yet feel, for good or ill.
What Dwells Beneath is level 10!
...
What Dwells Beneath is level 15!
Felix felt his body shift and change, morphing into that monstrous half-form he had adopted in his Bastion. His Strength and Endurance jumped, new power coursing through his veins like lightning, and with a furious shoving Felix heaved the eel creature away from his body just enough to slip free.
Orienting on the path of the air bubbles his escaped breath left, Felix swam up. Yet he knew he couldn't make it, not without dealing with the beast first. His Perception could just barely pick it out, swirling in the depths just below him, preparing to strike. The golden arrow still stuck from his gut, that and his blazing eyes were better than a spotlight, screaming out his position.
The arrow...
With a malformed claw, Felix reached down and tried to pull it out. Incredible pain seared through him, burning something vital inside of him. He couldn't pull it out, even with his crazy Strength.
The water roared around him, and Felix sensed the approach of something huge. The cold pressed in, pushed its numbing chill upon him again, but Felix refused to succumb.
He's been here before. He'd used his Fire Within to burn inside him, to heat up his core. It burned hot, but it was not true was Mana, the lifeblood of everything. But he doesn't have access to his Fire Within, just his teeth. Furious, he flared What Dwells Beneath, pushing it harder than he'd ever dared before.
What Dwells Beneath is level 16!
His Hunger roared through him, cracking like thunder through his channels. The water around him began to ripple, then shudder. The eel was within sight, undulating toward him with the speed of a freight train.
Felix reached for the arrow, still shining with pure golden light. He devoured it.
Ravenous Tithe!
The golden Mana was pulled into his body completely, consumed entirely and leaving not a scratch on his flesh. The power rushed through him, a deluge from that small projectile, packing his core full even as his inner fire once more ignited. The eel was closing in fast, and Felix hurriedly fed the golden Mana into his core flame.
The water around him erupted into furious bubbles as everything around him began to boil. The eel flinched as it charged, but it's jaws had already opened wide to swallow him whole.
Felix grinned with a mouth made for slaughter. And he dove into its gullet.
The eel swept past, coming to a halt only thirty feet away. It's pale eyes bulged and it writhed as boiling water poured from it.
REIGN OF VELLUS!
The entire creature exploded in a shower of lightning.
You Have Defeated An Unknown Monster!
You Have Gained XP!
A dark form was hurled downwards from the explosion, deeper into the water. Felix hit the bottom of the cistern with a muted crack, kicking up a massive plume of silt.
For a moment, everything was still. Then Felix stood up, his body still malformed with dark, thickened skin and bone-white spines. Blood clouded the water around him, and he saw his Health had dropped 30% already. Still, Felix could feel his core again. He could sense all of his Skills, and it was a joyous reunion.
But his Perception snagged on something out there in the cloudy dark waters. He flared his Manasight, and immediately wished he hadn't.
The floor of the cistern was crawling with eels.
Vess had watched, helplessly as Felix plunged off the side of the bridge. And then she had fought, trying to convince herself that he would come back up at any second. Now she stood, panting and bloody as she dodged yet another blast of intensely concentrated light from the Initiate before them.
"Sure wish our boy would hurry up!" Evie hollered as she flipped over another beam of light. Even so, a scorched line marked the back of her leather armor. Evie hissed in pain, but recovered her footing just in time to evade another blast.
"Oh, almost got you there!" laughed the Initiate, who still had not moved from his original position. "Please! Keep it up! Let's see who fails first, my Mana pool or your bodies!"
"Get stuffed, prick," Evie shouted, simultaneously hurling her impossibly long chain at him. The links stretched beyond their appearance, rattling toward him like a spiky serpent.
The Initiate lazily blocked the strike with a glowing sheet of light. "Come, now, heretics. You can't expec--!"