Unbound

Felix made it all off three steps before he smashed straight through a wall.

“Shit.” He pulled his arm free, dropping a shower of dust and splinters onto the feather-strewn floor. “Just slow down.”

The wall collapsed, lath and plaster spreading in small dusty clouds around his feet. A sharp squeak sounded from the room next to him, and Felix blinked as he stared into the eyes of six people in white-green platemail.

“Sorry about that.” Felix stepped carefully, pulling himself back into his own room. “New stats. You know how it is.”

An Orc woman said something, but he was already pulling up his own Status.

Name: Felix Nevarre

Level: 110

Race: Primordial of the Unseen Tide (Superior)*

Omen: Magician

Born Trait: Keen Mind

______

Health: 53535/53535

Stamina: 46822/46822

Mana: 61729/61729

______

STR:15744

PER:12885

VIT:10737

END:7806

INT:13305

WIL:23383

AGL:9373

DEX:8002

______

BODY - Cardinal Scion (Grandmaster)

Resistances: Lay of the Unfallen (D), Level 140

Combat Skills: Heavy Armor Mastery (C), Level 15; Wild Threnody (E), Level 99

Physical Enhancements: Stride of the King (T), Level 133

MIND - Primarch (Grandmaster)

Mental Enhancements: Deception (C), Level 49; Meditation (U), Level 80; Negotiation (U), Level 50; Deep Mind (E), Level 97; Manifestation of the Coronach (E), Level 80; Quiet Cacophony (E), Level 34; Empyrean Embrace (T), Level 125; Void Sanctuary (D), Level 133

Information Skills: Unseen Beholder (D), 135

SPIRIT - Nightfated (Grandmaster)

Spiritual Enhancements: Manaship Pilot (R), Level 46; Multi-Cast (E), Level 90; Last Cry Of The Chthonic Host (M), Level 5; Exalted Conjunction (T), Level 98; Sovereign of Flesh (T), Level 145; Unite the Lost (T), Level 99; Fiendforge (Un), Level 133

Spells: Abyssal Skein (R), Level 99; Illusory Double (R), Level 55; Shadow Whip (R), Level 74; Arrow of Perdition (L), Level 52; Rain of Cataclysm (L), Level 81; Skein of Fate (L), Level 124; Void Nexus (M), Level 15; Adamant Discord (T), Level 138; Astrum Ascendance (T), Level 125; Magus of the Grand Design (T), Level 131; Sonata of Dominance (T), Level 124

______

Unused Stat Points: 165

Harmonic Stats

Resonance (RES): 10520

Intent (INE): 14772

Affinity (AFI): 21913

Resilience (REI): 19153

Evasion (EVA): 9428

Might (MIG): 5650

Alacrity (ALA): 6700

Felicity (FEL): 17533

Holy. Fucking. Balls. Felix stared at his Status screen, unsure what else he could say to encapsulate the jaw-dropping amount of stats he’d earned himself.

It didn’t feel that big of a jump just now. Felix lifted an arm, flexing his muscles beneath his dark scales that now extended all the way to his shoulders. They contracted into steel cables, lean and visibly powerful. Or was all the pain front-loaded into the Tempering visions?

Those had been a trip. The visions weren’t normally so intense, but something about devouring Siva’s memories had infected them…or maybe Grandmaster Tier was just that different. He’d have to ask Zara about it later.

For now, he needed to center himself. One wrong step and he’d—

“—Hey! I’m talkin’ to you!” A gauntleted hand grabbed Felix by the shoulder, tightening but unable to do much more than that. “You—damnation but you’re heavy—”

“Let go of me.”

The Orc smiled at him, jutting out her tusks. “No dice. The Grandmaster gave us instructions to bring you in the moment you woke up, so naked or not, you’re comin’ with us.”

Felix looked down at himself. He was naked, though black scales covered his legs and arms entirely…and spread outward from his belly button like a spiral.

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The others gathered close, their weapons drawn and glowing with the soft radiance of air Mana. “Captain, this one is strong. We shouldn’t do this.”

“Ahven, you back out now and don’t worry about turnin’ in your armor—we’ll carry it back, bloody and cold.”

The Hobgoblin grumbled, but lifted their sword again. “Good boy,” the captain purred. “Now you be a good boy too, stranger, and come down to the White Tower.”

“If you don’t take your hand off of me, I’m putting you through that wall.”

The Orc captain’s armor let out a soft clicking whirr as it was inundated with Mana. Felix’s sense of her thickened, like a stew boiling away its broth, and she pushed a short blade up against Felix’s neck. “There’s six of us, and together our mageguard sets would let us overpower any six Master Tiers, upper rank or no.”

“Good thing I’m not Master Tier.”

The captain’s eyes widened for only a second before his open palm met her chestplate—then she was gone.

And so was the far wall.

You Have Defeated A Captain Of The White Mageguard!

XP Earned!

She survived. Good. Felix looked at the others, lowering his hand slowly as the rain started blowing into their room. “Now’s a good chance to run for it.”

The mageguards traded looks…before the glow in their arms and armor winked out, and every single one of them ran out of the room and into the hallway beyond.

Felix breathed a sigh of relief as the last of them vanished, careful not to shift himself too much in any direction. He glanced at the wall, where nearly twelve feet of lumber, plaster, and glass had been blasted open by an oversized mageguard and a single, gentle shove.

This is crazy. He shifted his stance, only belatedly realizing his heels had sunk an inch into the floorboards—likely due to his attack. If I’m not careful I’m gonna punch myself through this entire inn.

He’d done worse when he was in Pax’Vrell, and that was with far less stats than he possessed now.

“Deep breaths. Careful movements.”

Felix stepped back into his room, each step plagued by feathers and grainy dust. If he kept his movements fluid and light, the chances that he’d shatter…everything.

He quieted his Mind and stilled his Spirit as much as he restrained his Body. It was harder now than ever before; a Grandmaster Temper was a formidable thing. Still, he’d had plenty of practice.

Meditation is level 81!

The Crown of Elysium settled across his head and his Void Sanctuary rose up within him, bolstering his Mind as an aurora of opalescent gold glinted from atop his shoulders. Shadows danced around the room, the spindly end table, thinly stuffed armchair, and broken bed nothing more than silhouettes.

Felix frowned as the pattern in his chest, once so familiar, carried a new refrain. Void Sanctuary sang a new song, one that felt far more aggressive than defensive. The walls within his Mind rose high, but they bore spikes upon their battlements, and the gates were wide. They rumbled, as something within himself pushed to get out.

Void Sanctuary is level 134!

The Crown soothing blaze sank deep within him, cooling the ardor of his Mind and layering gilded bars across the gates. They rattled, but they held.

His Body and Spirit, however, had no Regalia to reinforce them. Felix simply hoped his Skills hadn’t changed too much.

Stride of the King.

The pattern roused, dancing through his core space as it pulled Stamina and Mana from him in equal measure. Power thrummed through his channels, pushing and pulling at his muscles as if testing them for fight or flight—yet they obeyed his Will. He did not move, and his breathing eased even further. The Skill pulsed, a new verse rolling across his awareness even as his Perception pressed outward. Like a child on Christmas morning, curiosity tingled the edges of his flesh, urging him to get up and explore. To find out where those mageguards went…to see if there were any more.

No. Hold still.

The Skill dimmed, still burning, simply banked like the coals in his dusty hearth.

Stride of the King is level 134!

Fiendforge.

This Skill, unlike the others, was untouched from before. Untempered but uniquely powerful, the Fiendforge rallied across the edges of his Spirit and held them close. A vice designed of Intent and Will, fueled by Mana, Essence, and significance. It steadied himself, stilling the vibrations that had riddled his Spirit since his waking—vibrations that Felix hadn’t even felt until that moment.

Everything went quiet.

Fiendforge is level 134!

Fiendforge is level 135!

Deep Mind is level 98!

…

Deep Mind is level 106!

Master Tier!

You Gain:

+100 AFI

+75 ALA

+75 EVA

Meditation is level 82!

…

Meditation is level 100!

Master Tier!

You Gain:

+100 WIL

+75 RES

+75 REI

Felix smiled as a few final waves of System energy rolled through him, adding to the pile he’d already settled. It wasn’t so much that it upset his newly established control, but damn if it wasn’t close.

“Hoo boy,” he breathed. “I think I’m good now.”

With a single, smooth motion, Felix stood. The floor didn’t crack and he wasn’t launched straight through the ceiling.

“Success!”

Someone screamed.

He turned, finding a pair of maids standing and staring at him through the hole in the wall. Their faces were bright red, and one covered her mouth in what he assumed was mortified shock. The other one, however, was leering.

Felix covered himself. “Erm…hi.”

He really needed to find his Garment.

Once the shock wore off, the maids were very helpful.

It turned out that his magical outfit had been set upon the nightstand. Someone had stripped it off of him and set it aside to mend. According to the leering maid, it had been a lady with brilliant sea-green hair.

Zara. So my friends put me here to rest. Felix looked back at the hole he’d punched through the wall. But it’s clearly not a secret. How many more mageguards are hiding around here, just waiting to cart me off somewhere?

Felix had no interest in sticking around and finding out.

Leaving the maids the unenviable task of cleaning the two ruined rooms, Felix padded down the hallway. Lights flickered unevenly down its length, as if the Mana feeding them had been halted—as it likely had. Felix had devoured the source in Levantier’s Vent, which had in turn fed the enchantments across the entire city. He imagined a lot of sigiladry was going to fail if it hadn’t already.

He passed ten doors on his way to the stairs. Each of them were closed, and though he worried about it, none of them burst open. Still, Felix flared his Perception, and encountered sophisticated wards woven into each one. The Mana there was fading too, but he’d have to expend a bit of effort to break through them—effort he didn’t care to waste.

The stairs creaked under his tread, but they didn’t snap, no matter how much he seemed to weigh now. It tracked with the wards and the Manalamps; the place wasn’t cheap. Which made Felix wonder all the more why there was so much talking coming from downstairs.

Down two landings, the stairwell opened up into a wide commonroom absolutely filled with people. Humans, Goblins, Elves, Orcs, and many others were pressed shoulder to shoulder at long tables filled with bread and meat. The food was hot and plentiful, but it was clear that it had been hastily prepared for these patrons. Everyone was bruised and dusty, and more than a few had streaks of blood across their faces or hands. A minstrel sang something at the far end, where a wide hearth crackled with a massive fire.

It was lively, almost rowdy, but as Felix came down the last few steps, every single conversation stopped. Everyone, from the dirtiest youth to the aged barkeep, stared at him as if he were an unwelcome pest.

Or a monster.

From the depths of the crowd, robed figures squeezed forward. At least four separate groups, each color coded for Felix’s convenience, and flanked by armored mageguards. It was the brown-robed mages that spoke up first, however.

“Take not another step, false king,” the leader snapped. His robes were covered in slashes of deep brown among the creamy off-white. A Master Tier. “You will come with us, Felix Nevarre, and you will answer our questions, or I shall tear apart the very foundations of this inn.”

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