Unbound

The wurm's jaws chomped down on Felix, the four-way mandibles snapping from all directions. Teeth the size of his arm rushed toward his body, but Felix was able to catch two of the jaws with his left and right hands. The lower jaws however, piercing his thighs with impossible speed and force, exactly where the Yungling had got him before.

"GAHHHHHHH!!!" Felix screamed, veins in his neck bulging as he fought with Helga's upper jaws. His arms trembled, the power behind the giant wurm too much to withstand, the pain in his legs nearly incapacitating were it not for his resistance. Felix cracked open his eye, blurry with tears, and saw the end of the bridge approaching rapidly.

She's still--!

Felix didn't think. He didn't plan.

Felix made magic.

Stone Shaping!

The sheared end of the bridge suddenly morphed, lifting up into a precarious incline that Helga barreled toward, her momentum impossible to defy. Felix staggered as his Mana drained to half, the spell cast sloppy and wasteful, and Helga's jaws suddenly slackened as his resistance disappeared. They hit the incline.

And they were airborne.

Helga screamed, a voice like a rattling timpani roaring from her throat as she found herself momentarily midair. Felix's stomach rose into his throat and his body briefly lifted weightlessly, before the wurm and Felix inside it were sent hurtling downward.

At the apex of her climb, Felix blasted forth. He clenched his body into a ball, but still felt skin and muscle rip and tear as he exploded out of the massive maw of the wurm. Purple blood and shattered teeth spiraled out around his body, carried on the force of his Skill, and Felix was launched toward the cavern exit.

The only problem was that he was aimed a solid fifteen feet too low.

"AHHHH SHIT! STONE SHAPING! STONE SHAPING!"

Felix forced his pathways into the arcane patterns of the Skill, twisting his power until it drilled into the earthen Mana before him. His Mana guttered out, suddenly flashing red in his vision, yet the cavern wall liquefied even as Felix collided with it at forty miles an hour. A great gout of thick stone sludge jettisoned from the wall, and Felix landed shoulder-first on the small five foot by three foot indent he had created.

CRACK!

"AGHH! MMMMHHFFF!" Felix howled, clenching his teeth until his jaw ached and the veins in his neck stuck out like cables. Pain Resistance let him keep his wits about him, and he didn't move, agonizing as it was. He was pretty sure he had just dislocated his shoulder too.

Stone Shaping is level 14!

Stone Shaping is level 15!

Pain Resistance is level 25!

Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier in Pain Resistance!

You Gain The Following:

+5 VIT

+5 END

+5% END

+New Skill Learned

New Skill Learned!

Armored Skin ®, Level 1!

Requires Apprentice Tier in Pain Resistance, Unconquerable Title, Face the Charge Title, Blind Pugilist Title. You've taken abuse that would cripple most and you keep on fighting. Gain physical damage reduction per Skill Level, reduces Stamina penalties by small amounts per Skill Level.

THIS PLACE SUCKS SO MUCH!

His lungs struggled to fill up, and something felt like it was leaking inside of him. The heat had disappeared, and he only felt cold now. Dimly, Felix could hear the enraged roar of Helga until that disappeared too. Worried, he saw an icon of a dazed looking face in the corner of his vision.

Status Condition: Shock (Major)

Grunting with the effort, Felix squeezed his uninjured hand into his satchel, feeling around for his healing potion. It was agonizingly slow, and the dislocated shoulder didn't do much for mobility, believe it or not. With a surge of Willpower, he suppressed his pain long enough to wrench the last vial from the bag, uncapping it with his thumb and pouring its contents down his throat.

The potion started working instantly, his flesh re-knitting painfully as his Health jumped up. The flashing icon dissipated in a few seconds, and Felix's head felt suddenly clear. He tried to sit up, only to feel a jolt of pain through his shoulder and chest. He left arm was weak and nearly useless, his fingers barely responsive; the potion had not fixed everything, not by a longshot.

The sound of banging could be heard coming from the platform, followed by the minute but definite sounds of rock grinding against rock.

The Arcids. They're at the doors. He looked down at his shoulder, already feeling it swelling, and bit his lip. I really hope this works.

With a breathy grunt, Felix pushed himself up on his right arm, then slammed his left shoulder directly into the ground. An explosion of pain lit his entire body on fire. Felix's vision blacked out for a few seconds, as if his nerves couldn't handle the sheer agony.

"MOTHERFFUUUUGH! HOW THE FSGHGHHHHHH!" Felix howled. Distantly, he could hear the slamming pause before resuming at a far more frenzied pace. Oh god, TV has failed me!

Then Felix got a most welcome notification.

Helga the Pendlewurm is dead!

You have gained EXP!

You Have Gained A Level!

You are now Level 19!

+3 to WIL! +2 to INT! +4 to DEX! +1 to END! +2 to PER! +2 to VIT! +4 to AGL!

You Have 5 Unused Stat Points!

Your Companion, Pit Has Gained A Level!

+2 VIT! +2 PER! +4 AGL! +4 DEX! +3 WIL! +1 END! +2 INT!

"AHH!"

The swell of that near silent orchestra vibrated across Felix's senses, his mind only catching the bare hints of their vibrations as power flooded through his body. Thinking fast, Felix dumped all five of his points into Vitality, then as the stat-gain high reached its crest, he jammed his shoulder once more into the ground.

POP!

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUCK!" He screamed, half joy, half pain as his body was still squirming with the unspent level up energy. His body arched in agony, then dropped limply to the ground as his nerve endings seemed to stop feeling entirely.

Armored Skin is level 2!

Pain Resistance is level 26!

Felix panted, exhausted. But his Health started rising again, slowly. What's more, the slamming above continued, and it was starting to be accompanied by the crunch and crack of breaking stone. He had to go. NOW.

Mustering his energy, Felix stood up, wobbling slightly as he nearly fell out of his shallow alcove.

"Whoa," he gulped, looking down at the bubbling magma a good hundred feet down. He looked back at his tiny hole in the wall. "I really cut it close this time." He shuddered, briefly imagining burning to death in lava. Much the way that Helga died, he figured.

Good riddance. He spit over the edge; or tried to, he was too dehydrated to actually have saliva at this point.

Heat Resistance is level 14!

Felix looked up, seeing only the knobby wall of the cavern as it stretched up and up and up. Then a small black and russet head popped out from a space within twenty feet and chirruped at him.

"Pit! You're OK!" Felix felt a weight drop of his chest, and he started climbing. The natural rock wall had tons of handholds in it, making it a short work for his Free Climbing Skill.

Free Climbing is level 13!

He made it to Pit in less than a minute, yet by the time he stood atop the exit platform he could hear a cacophonous crash from across the cavern. Felix's heart raced and he turned toward the exit, not bothering to see what he feared would be the golden Archon. Before him was another massive set of doors, also made of stone, yet bigger by half than the previous set. Glancing at his Mana, which had barely recovered to 50%, he gulped and tried to focus. Shutting out external distractions, he homed in on the Mana pathways that traced through his body.

A sudden panicked squawk was his only warning.

Terror echoed across their bond, hitting Felix at the same time as Pit's cry. He started dropping to the ground, but was too slow. A slab of rectangular stone the size of a basketball clipped his right shoulder as he fell, spinning his body around like a top and he hit the ground hard. Felix felt hot blood course down his arm. He twisted his head and looked back.

A half-demolished Big Boy stood there, one arm crumpled, the other still extended from its throw. There was no sign of Slender.

"Pit! Get back!" The tenku growled and retreated. Felix struggled to his feet and glanced at his Mana. He had only lost about thirty Mana from his aborted spell, but it wasn't great. His head was swimming from the backlash of built up Mana, and flashes of blue and gold sparked in the corner of his vision. So far that had only happened when he was at his worst. But that didn't matter. Felix crooked his left hand toward the Arcid.

Reign of Vellus!

Big Boy lurched backward, the rock it held falling as it nearly lost its balance. Small blue bolts of lightning sparked from it's metal appendages as it regained it's footing. Felix's felt something wet drip down from his nose, but he couldn't waste the momentum. He stood up, feeling the magic twist in his veins.

"C'mon Big Boy! Do your worst! You couldn't hit lava in a volcano!"

The Arcid's eyefires narrowed. It slammed it's fingers through a massive piece of stone, nearly half of the broken door. It screamed as it lifted it one handed.

"Oh," Felix gulped. "That's...yeah that's the worst."

Big Boy roared as it started spinning the massive slab, gathering enough momentum to crush Felix to paste even fifty plus feet away. It spun forward, looking to ensure it hit its annoying target.

Just a little more...c'mon...

The Arcid spun, the huge door only a grey smear in the orange light. It stepped up to the edge of the platform, Big Boy's feet thudding and digging into the rocky ground. Felix focused on the patterns in his Mana channels, the ones responsible for his Vellus Skill that he hadn't stopped circulating since his first shot.

Now!

Reign of Vellus!

The shaped spell discharged, a flood of azure light ripping toward the Arcid. Bolts the size of Felix's leg crackled and arced between Big Boy's metal body parts, but Felix didn't push.

This time, he pulled.

Muscles and tendons on his arms pulling taut, Felix used his body as much as his mind to shift the Arcid's weight even the slightest bit forward. He slid forward himself, only barely catching himself on the edge of an upturned paving stone. Gritting his teeth, he pulled on the already overbearing weight of the door slab, yanking it over the edge of the platform. It tried to let go, but it's arm wouldn't respond as blue electricity arced across its limb, and as the slab dropped...

...so did Big Boy.

Felix stumbled as he released the Skill, blood pouring from his nose freely. He grimaced as he straightened, feeling a bone weary ache radiate though his shoulders and neck. A few moments later, he received a kill notification for the Arcid.

Oh god, I'm--I've gotta--

Felix spun, heading back to the massive doors he hoped were an exit from this godawful place. His shoulder was torn, his head still swimming from Mana backlash, and as he tried to pull on the large metal rings in the doors, they refused to budge.

"Shit shit shit," Felix whispered, eyes stinging from the acrid fumes of the lava. "I'm low on Mana, low on Health, and remarkably OK on Stamina. I have to Meditate."

Felix sat down before the door, closing his eyes and getting as comfortable as he could. He had been maintaining Meditation while moving, fighting, even while casting spells all this time yet it hadn't leveled in hours. There had to be more he could do.

His Fire Within pulsed in time with his heartbeat, fast and agitated, and Felix slowed it down. He felt the flow of his Meditation Skill as it thrummed within his core, ephemeral but strangely physical, much like Mana itself. If leveling a Skill was all about expanding capabilities and garnering a better understanding, then he had to figure out just what Meditating actually was.

A way to increase my regen. A search for "oneness" or whatever. Contemplation? A...a steadying of the mind and body to...improve the functions of both...by channeling the power of my mind and body....

Meditation is level 27!

What, really? Felix's brows drew down in concentration, falling deeper into his thoughts. Then, by using Health, Stamina, and Mana the Skill forms a sort of loop, speeding up recovery by feeding them into one another? Did stats have anything to do with it? What were those called? Harmonic Stats, Resonance and Resilience; pertaining to mental and physical recovery, respectively. Harmonic. Harmony. That's a music thing, right? What--

Felix's eyes snapped open.

Does it have to do with the faint music I hear when I level up?

Meditation is level 28!

Meditation is level 29!

Meditation is level 30!

+5 RES

+5 REI

"Huh," Felix gasped. "Music?"

A sudden bellowing shattered his calm, the air itself shaking with the power of it. Felix scrambled to his feet to peer in the direction of the platform, but the broken doorway was still dark.

Not for long, I imagine. Felix looked at the exit. Gotta move.

Careful to keep Meditation active, Felix breathed and waited ten, then fifteen seconds. His Mana rocketed back up by nearly 60 points; it'd have to do. He could already hear the thunder of approaching footsteps. He didn't have much time.

Using his Fire Within Skill, he visualized his pathways, feeling the flow of his Mana through his body. He Willed his Mana through his chest, belly, arms, and legs, flowing it in progressively complex patterns that were nevertheless increasingly familiar to him. Felix only had one chance at this; if he got it wrong he wouldn't be leaving this volcano. As the power built and twisted into the required patterns, he released it.

Stone Shaping!

A five foot portion of the stone doors before him liquefied, flowing into an amorphous tunnel that Felix and Pit quickly stepped within. It was like stepping into pudding, except upsettingly warm. The thickened stone sludge flowed around and behind him, sealing up the pathway back even as a titanic scream shook the air.

"HELGA--!"

The scream cut off, and Felix sealed himself in stone.

Felix took a moment to breath.

His heart had jumped into his throat when he heard the Archon's voice. He was very angry, and Felix figured he knew the reason.

"Next time, don't sic your dog on people," Felix muttered. "Golden jerk."

Shaking himself, Felix moved forward his thoughts only on keeping the pattern tight and controlled. Stone shifted and moved around them, leaving only a small six foot by three foot bubble within a mountain of impenetrable rock. Using the Skill carefully like this was far easier than the sudden alterations he had done before; this way, his Meditation could ensure his regen kept up with the expense, if barely.

Felix kept his head in the game and kept moving. He wasn't out of the woods yet.

However, as an hour went by, Felix still hadn't cleared the door.

How deep beneath the earth was he? Was this not an exit?

What if he never got out?

The spell nearly cut out as his concentration wavered. Felix caught himself, firming his mind even as he poured slightly more Mana into the spell. His regen couldn't quite keep up with the increase, though. He'd have to take a break sooner rather than later.

Two hours.

Three hours.

Four hours and twelve breaks later, the bubble around Felix burst open into a blazing, brilliant light.

For a moment, Felix was blinded, his eyes used to the darkness of the mountain. He stumbled forward, tripping slightly on scree that slid and clattered beneath him. When the world came into focus, Felix's breath caught. It was gorgeous.

Beneath bright blue, cloudless skies Felix observed a towering mountain range that spread to his left and right, or north and south he amended with a glance at the setting sun. The mountains overlooked a wide valley that extended well into the hazy blue distance, and was filled with a variety of pines and leafy green trees.

And there, off in the distance, stone towers rose up into the sky.

"That's so far away," he sighed, shoulders drooping for a moment before he started moving down the mountain. "C'mon Pit! We've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall." Pit let out a low squawk behind him.

As they stumped down the mountainside, loose stones cascading around him, a booming voice echoed across his consciousness.

Challenge Complete!

You Have Survived!

Return To The Domain To Receive Your Reward!

"Wha?" Felix dragged his hand over his face as he minimized all the notifications trying to pop up. "Under the mountain? No fucking chance of that, mysterious system voice. You hear this Pit?" The tenku merely chirruped tiredly and kept shuffling sideways down the mountain. Felix shook his head, his face pinched. "Unbelievable."

They trudged down the mountain in silence.

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