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Chapter 681
🕑 Added 2023-11-29 13:00:03 +0000 UTCEnjoy!
ToC
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Atop the wall of the keep, Felix was mostly left alone. That was partly because of how hard it was to reach this section of the wall, as well as his occasional practice unveiling his Spirit. The few curious guards had been driven away when the very air felt like it was going to murder them.
His only companions were the cold wind as it whipped down off the mountains, and his burning thoughts.
Felix had spent the majority of the previous night talking to his Chancellors through his Void Sanctuary. Thanks to their connection he was able to pull them into his inner world, just as he was with Karys. It made communicating with them far easier, even when they were thousands of leagues away. It was a task that he’d been sort of putting off partly because he hadn’t wanted to explain how his Bastion of Will had changed, but mostly it was because he was confident that the people he’d chosen to rule in his stead were as willful as they were competent.
From Kingsrock, Kimaris informed him that the Claw had left the city and was expected to reach Elderthrone in less than a week. They were moving slower without Felix to open the Dark Passages, though. That had been somewhat expected on Felix's end, as much of the use of the Labyrinthine Wing was determined by personal strength, and the Claw were at best high Journeyman Tier.
Kimaris had also told him that almost all of the Risi Clans had come to Kingsrock and were now living there. It was a tumultuous experience, and required a great deal of compromise and diplomacy from the Covens, but Kimaris had taken to the task with relish. Felix had been happy to know that he’d chosen the right person for the job.
Ahkestria was doing well, according to Klzik, with trade now booming between them and Jaast as well as some southern Territories Felix hadn't ever heard of. That had caught Felix’s attention, as he knew the Unbound Kobold twins were somewhere in Jaast. After some bowing and scraping from the Yttin Chancellor, Felix had made him promise to speak to the young Master Iretus and have him search for any sign of the twins in Jaast. It was a relief when Klzik actually knew what a Kobold was, as it was a Lost Race and not one of the famous ones either. The message would be sent, he was assured.
From Elderthrone, Karys had told him that Zara was still facing opposition to her Chanter school, which wasn’t something he could do much about even if he was there; at least enrollment in the school had begun, and over three hundred students were now being taught the basics of the Chant and Harmonic stats. That was the good news.
The news from the Ghreldan Hills had Felix severely pissed off. That someone, anyone, had dared to capture his people in order to coerce him into an alliance—Felix didn’t know whether to laugh or race to the Hills to strangle Prince Tevin. The fact that Alister had been forced to go and settle the issue also put him on edge. Coupled with the infuriating news of some sort of terrorists blowing up buildings in Elderthrone, Felix had ended his talk with Karys almost vibrating with rage. Not even the idea of Atar and Isla teaming up, buddy cop style, brought him any joy.
A piece of his Sanctuary had lit up at that point, the semi-translucent structures briefly glowing with a series of violently crimson and golden lights. No matter what Felix did, his anger and guilt just about boiled an entire quarter of his Sanctuary.
He’d quickly sent his Chancellors on their way.
Felix desperately wished to return to Elderthrone and sort things out. Were he there, he’d have found the explosive bastards and ended them just as fast as he'd rip that prince a new one. But he could do none of that until he got to Pax’Vrell and restored the Shadowgate. To do that, he needed to face down another Grandmaster.
Avet was right, he thought with a twist of his mouth. I don’t have time to get it perfect. I need to advance, now.
It was time to figure out his Tenth Pillar, once and for all.
Of nine Skills, he had only Tempered Void Sanctuary for his Mind and Astrum Ascendance for his Spirit. To make that more complicated, the latter wasn't even at level 100 yet, though it needed to be before he could fully Temper the rest of his Spirit. Felix was a mere handful of Skill levels away from Master Tier, but to achieve it he would need to fight someone worthwhile in order to push himself the rest of the way.
Feeling a pang of regret that Avet wasn't still around, Felix rotated his shoulders, loosening them up. Guess I'll have to settle on a Grandmaster in Pax’Vrell.
If Felix stuck to his previous patterns, he imagined he'd hit Master Tier at the worst possible time—probably while fighting the Hierei. He wanted to push the last of his Skills up over the hump before then, but given how hard it was to gain Skill levels beyond ninety he didn't have much hope.
Not unless I can discover something profound about them.
Skills leveled as much from stress and use as they did from understanding. He'd been told a long time ago that understanding his Skills would eventually become the only way for him to advance. Rory hadn't known Felix was Unbound at the time, nor that he'd be constantly fighting outside his weight class. Felix hadn't ended up needing much revelatory knowledge to push himself into Journeyman or Adept Tier. But maybe Master Tier was different.
I have Sovereign of Flesh, Song of Absolution, and Relentless Resolution all at level 98. Voracious Eye and Chthonic Tribute are 96 and 99 respectively, with Void Sanctuary already sitting above 100. And Theurgist of the Rise, Adamant Discord, and Astrum Ascendance are all very close as well, at 98, 97, and 93. He leaned back, putting his hands onto the stone wall behind him and staring up into a cloudy sky. Now would be a good time for a climactic insight.
The wind whistled and, somewhere in the distance, a very large bird dog trilled in delight.
Worth a shot.
In addition to all that, he also had the opportunity to evolve four of his Skills, thanks to Titles he shared with Pit. One of those evolutions he was setting aside for whatever ended up being his Tenth Pillar, but the other three he intended to use on his weaker Tempered Skills. Weaker was relative of course, but he had earmarked Voracious Eye, Theurgist of the Rise, and Chthonic Tribute. Voracious Eye, because of its only Epic Rarity, and the other two because they were of Legendary Rarity. The Song of Absolution and Relentless Resolution were also at Legendary Rarity, but both of them had evolved before and were quite strong already. Of the three, Voracious Eye and Theurgist of the Rise felt the weakest and least useful as is, so an evolution should boost their capabilities. And as far as Chthonic Tribute went…well, it was his bread and butter.
Mm.
Felix patted his belly. Hunger’s approval felt like a miniature earthquake rolling through his center. I figured you’d like that.
I Do. We Must Grow.
"Hold that thought.” He sat up, Mind racing around an idea that had been tickling his brain for days, ever since they’d descended into the swamp. “Vibrations. If I use Astrum Ascendence—”
Stone Shaping!
Around him for forty feet, the thick wall was seized and molded into a flat plane. Wracking his memories, Felix stood and etched out an array. It had been a long time since Rory had performed the ritual for him, but his high Intelligence coupled with his Born Trait made for a mean memory. In a few seconds he had used Stone Shaping to etch out the very outlines of what he recalled.
“No. That won’t work.” Back when Rory had performed the ritual, it was to absorb a large amount of monster cores and utilize their energy in order to combine Skills that the Maw had broken. Felix smoothed out several sections where monster cores had once been placed. He didn’t have any and he didn’t need them either. “Let’s do this.”
Over the course of a dozen minutes, Felix tweaked and altered his array. The inputs for monster cores were gone, and in their place he etched in radial compilations of elemental sigils. He covered each and every element that he currently had a Skill for, adding the sigils for acid, earth, life, and so on.
The inputs were miniature variations on his siphon array, and were still needed to power the formation. Since he had removed those sections, he added a new array into the very center, combining input and output sigils into one. A single siphon point directly where he would sit, to pull the Essence out of himself, power the array, before pouring it all back in. It was convoluted and inefficient, but Felix could only tweak the idea so much before it just stopped working entirely.
Felix's idea, if it worked, would be to forge some sort of connection using Astrum Ascendance in concordance with the rest of his shaping Skills…and to see if he could get the System to respond.
"No time like the present." He sat down on the siphon point, folding his legs beneath him and cleared his Mind. “Invocation.”
Invocation is level 78!
The array activated with a vibrant hum and a sharp, pulling sensation. His store of Essence was drained from the manigates in his feet and knees. Although he had a sizable store of it, the array was already losing some of it in the transfer. Felix could see it whispering above the now-lit signals around him, evaporating power into the world. He had to move fast. Felix had no clue how much this effort would cost him.
Diving into his core, Felix activated Astrum Ascendance. As it spooled up and sang its curious song, all of his shaping Skills vibrated in sympathy. Sovereign of Flesh, Green Shaping, Stone Shaping, Ferric Shaping, Storm Shaping, and Hand of Calamity. But more than them, even the secondary and tertiary Skills in his shaping array shook under the influence of Astrum Ascendance, under the influence of the Cosmic Flame, Multicast, Invocation, Theurgist of the Rise, and Maniship Pilot.
The connection made sense, but what didn't were the other patterns that seemed to be quickening across the span of his galactic core space. They flickered with burgeoning light and thrummed with the aborted sounds of an orchestra warming up to play. Shadow Whip, Illusory Double, and Arrow of Perdition.
Odd.
One by one, he poured the power into most of the Skills of his Shaping Array, ignoring all the rest. Sovereign of Flesh was ignored as well due to the fact that it was already Tempered and thus part of his Pillars. His Tenth Pillar could not involve any Skills that had been previously part of his foundation.
The other Skills spooled up properly, singing along with Astrum Ascendance as the cosmic flame inundated their patterns. Mana and cycled Essence poured into them all, coursing through their planet-like appearances like stolen starlight.
Focus.
With Astrum Ascendance, the songs of his collective Skills were more apparent than ever. To his honed ear, commonalities in their patterns began to stick out, where once they were lost beneath the folds and turns of the Skills' vibrations. Now he could see points where they could be braided together. Combined.
Gathering his Will and Intent, Felix tried just that. He pulled at each of his shaping Skills, grasping at their commonalities through the use of Astrum Ascendance and the recycled Essence from his array.
It hurt.
Oh god. That…that’s not good.
It was like pulling fingernails off of his soul.
Felix’s Skills vibrated, pieces of their patterns rising in brilliant harmony. And for a moment, despite the pain, he was sure it would work. It was working, as the patterns shifted ever closer together to join up—until a terrible buzzing ripped through his concentration.
Dissonance. A burr in the Harmony of their song and a counterpoint to the rhythms that bound the shaping Skills together. By its very existence, it shredded the connections Felix had built.
All at once, his attempt failed. The working fell apart and his Mana and Essence rebounded in all directions, slamming into the roots of his Divine Tree and ricocheting off of his other, inert Skills. Felix was unceremoniously thrown out of his core space and into his still kneeling Body.
Agh. Shit. He rubbed at his chest. Each breath felt like broken glass in his lungs, but he kept at it as his inside quietened down.
Eventually it faded enough for him to notice anything else, and when he did he heard the last fading remnants of his Skills. Like a song half-remembered, it struck him with a vague familiarity that mingled with his lingering pain. There was something to it; something wild and free. Something beyond the cacophony of Dissonance and Harmony. Something whole.
Again.
Felix's head snapped up. "What was that?"
Again. His hunger was eager, encouraging. We can be better, Hunger said.
Felix blinked. Then a grin unfolded from one end of his face to the other, until he was baring his teeth at the sky itself. "Hell yeah, we can."
He settled back onto his knees and closed his eyes. Felix took a breath, and then a second, and engaged the array one more time.
Comments
Nicole Hicks
The fact that the more powerful he grows the more his "Hunger" communicates with him makes me wonder what it's turning into. What it really is. The fact that it has a female "voice" makes the likelihood of it being a new version of the old Maw more and more of a possibility. Not it's the Maw, more like the remnants of the old Maw that has turned into a seed for a new Maw with the same hunger and instincts but a new growing personality to evolve into what, possibly, the original Maw had once been. Before it became corrupt. I've wondered plenty of times throughout this series as I've read it if the hunger the Maw always felt was a byproduct of something missing in itself that it had to give up or was taken from it and if this happened because it had a connection to how it managed to survive what managed to eventually destroy so many other Primordials and the Nymian Empire so long ago. I also wondered why Felix never asked it more questions about it's past or the past in more general terms. There were plenty of times when he had the opportunity and time and of all the entities that existed at present and had existed at that time in the past the Maw was the one he had the most contact the most consistently with. And because of that, it was also the one to be most likely to answer any questions he had about that topic and about that Era. The Maw was a source of information to a past that practically no one had and of the ones that did, weren't talking. At least not to him or anyone that wasn't also alive during that time period. I'm not saying the Maw would have answered all his questions or even any of them. I'm saying he didn't even think to ask, let alone actually ask and in my mind that was a mistake on his part. Not being from that world, from the beginning Felix knew information, any information and the gathering of it is really important. So much so that of all the born traits he could choose from he chose one that enabled him to remember things better and to recall past memories and information more clearly with more consistency than he ever had before. What's more, he kept having to deal with things from the past on a very regular basis. Ignoring that font of information because of how much of a problem it was to deal with, to me, made no sense. Even if he didn't get the information he wanted or any information out of her. Even if he thought there was no point he still should have tried. Knowledge is power and fore warned is fore armed because you never know what little piece of information might be helpful and/or important in any given situation. If he had asked questions and gotten any answers, he might now have a better idea of what his "Hunger" is and have a better understanding of his power in general and a better understanding of what it means to be a Primordial specifically. But, I can understand not limiting a character with Knowledge that might be a hindrance to the growth and changability of what an author will have a character doing and what said character is capable of throughout the story.
Rajeev Roy
TFTC
