You Have Gained The Following:
+5 Levels To Any Mind Skill
+5 Levels To Any Spirit Skill
+5 Levels To Any Body Skill
Memories accessed!
Eidolon array consumed!
A burst of sense images flooded Felix's Mind and Spirit, each one a vibrant punch in the gut. Battles gone by and terrors faced down, each one worse than the last. Until it ended, and he found himself kneeling again. Felix's eyes bulged. How...? What would I have gotten if I'd taken all of his power?
The sword thrummed, as the EidolonKarysconsidered itself. I have become one with the Herald's Hook, the Inheritor's Will. For saving me from the oblivion that...Urge...intended, I promise to serve you as I had served my empress once before. I give you my Oath, bound upon my Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Brilliant silver threads were conjured at those words. Invisible to those without Affinity, they were nevertheless real, and bound Karys in unseen chains that were fastened firmly around Felix's own heart. He felt the sudden weight of it, far more than his friends' Oaths had put upon him, and it took the Unbound a long moment to shrug off the sensation.
"That is...I'm honored. But you don't even know me," Felix objected.
I have seen enough. Bound as I am to this weapon, I also see a portion of its nature. You will need my help harnessing it's true power.
Felix couldn't help but be intrigued by that statement. He could use all the power he could get against the Archon. "How so?"
Inheritor's Will is riddled with openings, places where the Crescian Bronze can pull in Mana from the outside. They are so small that not even your senses could detect them. Now that I am part of it, I can feel the grooves. The voice paused. It is tied to the array for Etheric Unification. It can absorb power, much as you yourself. Astounding.
Felix eyed the sword. Karys had somehow garnered a more complete understanding of Felix's nature during his journey. "Any power?"
Karys pondered that. No. It seems limited to sources of power you have gained Authority over.
Felix grunted. So he'd have to claim another city to power the thing up again. It raised...interesting possibilities.
"Okay, that's a problem for another day I think." Felix looked up, noticing the spiral staircase that had guided him down into the well had been shaken loose by the collapse of the Spirit Tree's grotto. "If you are set on hanging around, then we have to get moving. I've got friends waiting."
We seem to be trapped.
"Hardly," Felix said.
A lone figure crawled from the press of bodies. Its ice armor had melted, but it's metal-plated flesh still thrummed with the potency of its terrible master. The corpses had protected it from the intense heat and deadly flames, shielded its Vitality from the senses of that horrible, nightmare creature. It had survived.
Now it must flee.
Reach the city. Find the Master, its dread Father.
The Nym was alive! It was coming! It
a geyser of liquid earth and cascading lightning were the last things it knew.
You Have Killed A Reforged!
XP Earned!
Huh! Felix thought as he rode the solidified connections to the night sky. Lighting hung around him like a shroud or perhaps wings of electric blue. Didn't think there were any left.
With a flash of light, Pit emerged from his Spirit, coalescing beneath him in full barding and saddle. Felix cut off his Adamant Discord and gripped the reins.
Remarkable! Karys hollered in his Mind. The sword pulsed with green-gold light with every word. How did you accomplish that?
"How else?" Felix asked, urging Pit forward. "Magic!"
They exited the valley in record time, soaring above the still-burning landscape and utilizing the powerful updrafts it provided. Due to Pit's size, the way he flew was less physics and more magical power, but the warm columns of air still helped quite a bit.
From above, Felix's powerful eyes and Manasight had detected no other living creatures...at least not anything overtly hostile. He'd been lucky catching the last Reforged as he'd emerged from the underground well. Hopefully that meant the Archon still didn't know Felix was close, though the presence of his Mark made him question that.
"Karys, what do you know about Marks?" Felix asked over the wind.
The making of them, or their general nature?
Felix's eyebrows rose. "Making them?"
It is a simple technique, though one usually needs the power of at least a Master Tier to form the foundation of a Mark. Karys paused. Despite your own...impressive power, you are not even an Adept. In my time, a child was not allowed out into the wider world until they had Mastered their chosen Skills.
"Really?" Felix looked ahead of them as they approached the peaks. "Most people I've met are either Journeyman or lower. The number of Adepts and Master Tier folk I've met can be counted on one hand."
This...this is a strange Age to have returned to, Karys said after a brief pause. Yet I find myself no stronger than a Journeyman myself. The bulk of my power fed into your Will.
Meaning his sword. "Does that mean it's stronger now?"
I would imagine so, yes. The former Paragon's voice was dry. Stronger than the club at your side and...is that a lance?
"I mean, basically, yeah," Felix said. "But tell me what you know about Marks."
Generally speaking, they are an imprint of your Aspects upon another creature. A simple process, though as I said, the significance required would not congeal until Master Tier at the earliest.
"What about breaking them? Removing them?"
An interesting question. It can be done, but the cost is great. As a Mark is imposed on your Aspects, you must damage your Aspects to remove the Mark. This can lead to a plethora of problems, not the least of which is a shattered foundation. The sword buzzed at his side. It is not a procedure I'd recommend you attempt yourself. I have personally seen the results of Marks inexpertly applied and removed. It is...grisly.
"Thanks for the warning," Felix said. He dug his hand into Pit's soft mix of fur and feathers. "I'll have to find another way."
The surest solution is to destroy whatever dared Mark you, Karys explained. Who had the audacity to Mark an Unbound anyway?
"Easier to make a list of who doesn't have the audacity," Felix muttered. "I'll tell you about them later."
The Twins shone blue above, while the jaundiced light of Yyero shone slantwise from the horizon. They climbed over the peaks with a swirl of air Mana beneath Pit's black and crimson wings, rising up, up into the clear night sky. And with a giddy chirrup, they dropped.
Felix's heart leaped into his throat, but he thrilled at the fall. He was riding a free-form roller coaster, banking left and right around the tops of particularly tall trees, even managing a loop-de-loop at one point. If Felix weren't so concerned with stealth, he would have been whooping for joy. As it was, their descent was so rapid that they soon came within sight of several Henaari scouts.
And beyond them was a curious ring of monolithic statues. Nymean statues.