Chapter 267 (Patreon)

Enjoy.


* * *


Voracious Eye!

Name: Wyvora
Race: Henaari
Level: 68
HP: 2434/2434
SP: 1189/1233
MP: 877/877
Lore: Henaari are a nomadic, matriarchal people that are known for their dedication to the Endless Raven. They excel at physical Skills and have a mild aptitude for the magical arts.
Strength: More Data Required
Weakness: More Data Required

Voracious Eye is level 52!

"Answer me!" the Henaari woman hissed. They were so close to the Reforged, to the damn Wurm. "Who do you serve?"

Felix held his hands out to the side, eyeing the hooked polearm in his face. The woman—the warrior, he corrected himself—was tense and ready for a fight, and her stance was strong. His Voracious Eye flickered across her armor, boots, the pendant hanging from her neck. Most of it was Journeyman Tier crafting work, and the pendant spoke for itself.

Name: Farwalker's Finder
Type: Necklace (Enchanted)
Lore: Made from the first stone found by a Henaari Farwalker on their first excursion, it has been enchanted to lead them to interesting places.

He'd seen it's like before. Had even worn one for a while, before the Archon took it.

"We're here from Haarwatch," Harn growled. He kept his voice low enough that it barely echoed in his helmet. "On a Quest."

Wyvora's stance softened, just slightly. She jabbed her polearm an inch or two closer to Felix. "Prove it."

"Felix?" Harn asked with a grunt. It wasn't his Quest to share, after all.

Felix looked at the Henaari's eyes, the set of her mouth, and listened to the beat of her Spirit. It was tense aggression and impatience. He had a solid idea what would happen even if he showed his Quest to her. This woman wanted to fight.

"No," he said.

Wyvora burst into motion, her spear going from zero to a hundred miles an hour in less than a blink. Felix slashed his arms up and down, expecting the strike...but she didn't attack him. The point of the polearm hit Harn instead, denting his chestplate and sending him sprawling to the earth with a clatter of steel.

"Imbued Sparkbolt!"

"Grand Impetus!"

"Bindings of the White Waste!"

Chains of ice Mana slipped harmlessly off the warrior, unable to find purchase as she became a literal blur and disappeared. Moments before crimson fireballs and a ram of kinetic Mana tore through her former position.

The Henaari flashed ahead, pulling Evie's legs out from beneath her with the hook of her spear, before pivoting and smashing Harn on the helmet for good measure. Vess leaped forward, her Dragoon's Footwork and Grace passive Skill almost blinking her across the intervening space. She led the way with her blue-white partisan, all of her Strength balanced at the tip of its blade...and Wyvora deflected it down with a whirling parry that sent a spray of dark feathers at the heiress. Vess flinched back, unbalanced, as her spear hit the rocky earth hard enough to split it apart, and a thunderous crack tore through the air.

"RRRUUUAAAAAAGH!"

"Great job!" Felix shouted at the Henaari. "You wanted a fight? You got one!"

Unfettered Volition!

The woman had lunged for the mages who still tried to pepper her with ice, fire, and force bolts. She had a solid twenty feet on him, was already running, and he was at a dead stop.

It didn't matter.

The earth concaved beneath his feet, but he was already gone, flowing across the gully like the wind itself. Over seven hundred points of Agility and near equal amounts of Dexterity meant when he moved, truly moved, it was like everyone else was standing still. Rocks and soil exploded beneath his heavy tread, his greaves creaking with the strain of his movement, and Felix spun Mana up from his core and into his left palm. A tendril of shadow manifested before splitting into two, and he slung it sideways at the warrior. They hit the hooked polearm and immediately bound it fast. The Henaari drew up short, her spear stopped feet away from Atar's chest.

"You—!"

"Me," Felix growled, and hauled back, hard.

The spear was pulled back, but Wyvora didn't let go. She flowed with it, her surprised expression quickly turning to a fearsome concentration. Fast as he moved it, she flipped, reorienting herself on the haft before pulling a long dagger from her waist. The Shadow Whip vanished just as she reached Felix, but he caught her blade in his bare hand. And stopped it.

"What?"

Felix didn't answer, but he squeezed, and the dagger snapped in half.

Wild Threnody!

Felix's Adamant Discord vibrated as Mana boiled out of his core and into his channels, shaped and sped along its way by his magical melee Skill, pumped into his bare fist. His left hook caught the Henaari in her right shoulder and hurled her powerfully backward. She hit the ridge with a muffled thunderclap, lightning still crawling across her armor.

"Reforged! Incoming!" Evie howled.

The ridge erupted into a cloud of jagged debris and dust, and the Henaari was buried in it as a half dozen bulldozed it over in their frenzied haste.

"RUUAAAGH! Kill wanderers!" the lead one bellowed. None of his people gave them the time to breath, however. Quick as a flash the lead Reforged was met with dozens of wooden and icy arrows, enough that they had to lift an arm to see through the barrage...and enough time for Harn to set his twin axes ablaze.

"Raze!"

They flashed with silvery Mana, and the Reforge's leg was severed completely. It screamed as it fell, but that only put it in range of Harn's axes once more.

It didn't scream a third time.


* * *


"No! I hate this Skill!" Atar shouted. Purple-white Mana vapor surged all around them as the Reforged activated their Mantles, a Skill they apparently retained from their former lives as Frost Giants.

Then the purple-white was beaten back by flares of brilliant orange, and Atar dropped a field of near-liquid flame onto the three closest. They screamed, but were not cowed and charged the defenseless mage. He gasped, finding himself entirely too close to run.

Pillars of the Domineering Sentinel!

Six vertical pillars of blue, kinetic Mana slammed into the earth, right atop the three charging Reforged. It stamped out the flames on their bodies, while simultaneously staggering them for a brief second. Long enough for Alister to drag him out of the way of their mauls, which slammed into the ground hard enough to split it wide open.

"My savior," Atar smiled.

"Don't be daft next time, Atty," Alister growled. "Maintain distance."

"I know that!"

Unfortunately, one of the three recovered quicker than the rest. Without a sound, it lunged for them both.

"High Bulwark!"

An Iron Rank sped ahead of the strike, slamming his shield into the earth. There was a scream of tortured metal as maul hit shield, but Vyne barely screamed at all. "Be-behind me!" Vyne gasped, before his own Mana rose up. "Carapace of Steel! Stone Thews!"

Atar stuttered to his feet, furious. "I'll not be saved by some Iron Rank! Crown of Ignis!" A triumphant, multi-tined coronet manifested entirely of flames. Orange Sparkbolts tained by a deep crimson snapped around him, motes that became bowling ball sized orbs of flame. "Burn."


* * *


The other six Reforged did not sit by and wait while the meatshield and mages made their stand, and instead stampeded across the dry gully toward the nearest targets. In this case, that meant the Haarguard.

Damn liabilities, Evie groused. Her chain gathered at her waist and she lightened her mass with her Born Trait. Lighter, she fairly flew across the battlefield, weaving between the savage burning fields Atar was creating. She was too far, though, and the Reforged too fast. Meanwhile the guards had stopped to make a burning stand, of all things. They're gonna die.

Arrows of enchanted wood and ice hit the Reforged like machine gun blows, but it barely dented their Health. Kylar zipped ahead, meeting one of their charges alongside Davum, their weapons blurring with the Stength and Agility behind them.

"Kata of the Butcher Bird!" Kylar shouted, and his already speedy longswords became looping whorls of enchanted steel. A heavy maul struck down at him but he danced aside, letting his whirling blades turn it aside with a surprising amount of skill.

"Poisoned Breath!" the Orc bellowed before a venomous green cloud sprayed outward to envelop the Reforged. The power of it was not inconsiderable, and Evie even saw it wither some of the less hardy plants close by.

The Reforged were not even inconvenienced by it.

"Wanderers die!" they screamed, vowels thick in their mouths. "No eyes! No wings!" They swung their mauls and their Mantles of ice Mana redoubled, quickly coating the ground in a thickening frost. Davum slipped and caught a maul across the back, smashing him into the earth and deforming his armor.

"Davum!" Kylar shouted. "You—!"

Whatever Kylar tried to say was lost as a Hoarhound pounced on him from the clouds of ice fog and rock dust. Its horse-sized body carried Kylar's fifteen feet before they landed with a sickening thud.

"Kylar!" Kikri howled before unleashing a bombardment of arrows twisting with heat and force Mana. The projectiles hit the Hoarhound in the flank, sending it stumbling aside before it angled it's metal-mangled head in the Elf's direction. It bit the next volley of arrows out of the air with a snap of its false-jaws, their magic doing nothing to the sigils that burned bright across it's face.

Kikri reached for another arrow, but she was out. There were no trees in the gully to fuel her Green Shaping. She backed up, nerves clearly fraying, and tripped over a stone outcropping. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

The Hoarhound lunged—

—and had it's snout bashed in by her bladed chain. It tried to howl in pain or dismay, but the chain twisted, altering its direction to wrap around its jaws before it became so damn heavy it sent the hound's head slamming to the earth.

"Bad dog," Evie puffed. "Lie down. Ice Spike."

A literal spike of ice formed in Evie's hand, moulding over her fist like a frozen dagger. She punched once, twice, three times into the Hoarhound, but its hide was too thick. The creature scrabbled at the earth, pulling at its weighted head with incredible strength. It stood on shaky legs, and its eyes blazed with madness.

"Damn, I'm a bad match up for ice monsters," she said before shrugging. The former frost wolf lunged again, leading with Evie's own bladed chain. "She isn't, though."

A blue-white partisan exploded out of the Hoarhound's belly as Vess landed atop it, pinning it completely to the ground. With a savage twist, she ended it. The mutilated creature fell, it's organs turned to chopped salad.

"Come. We will end the Reforged together," Vess said before leaping away, her Born Trait sending her soaring through the air.

"Yeah sure, right behind you," Evie groaned. With a flick of her wrist her chain came untangled and snapped back to its shorter length. But she barely took a step when the ground around her grew suddenly soft and treacherous.

"Shit."


* * *


"Ah burnin' Night! We got Wurms too!"

Felix's eyes were drawn from the battle to see Evie spiralling her chain around her body, defending from something that was leaping about her so rapidly it was a faint blur in the dust.

"How many?" Felix shouted out.

"Two? Three? They're movin' so fast I don't know!"

"Christ, it just keeps getting better," Felix hissed. One Wurm he was confident in fighting off, maybe two, but more than that he wasn't sure. Everything was happening so fast, seconds crowding on top of one another. Two of the Haarguard were down, Harn was still grappling with the one-legged Reforged, and he didn't even know where the Henaari went. He hadn't gotten a kill notification for her, so she was still alive. "Hold tight!"

Felix took a run up and blasted across the field, spinning his Mana through his channels in a familiar pattern.

Stone Shaping!

The rock around Evie loosened, turning to that pudding-like consistency before Felix shoved his hands roughly apart. Mana Skill met his Willpower and Strength, and he leveraged the hell out of both of them until the ground around Evie was ripped entirely free of the earth. Two Wurms dangled from the chunked and disrupted stone, disoriented and disadvantaged but not for long.

"Hit them hard!" he shouted at his friend. Her chain shifted from defense to offense in a blink, blades and spikes twisting like the weapon had a life of its own. It coiled and struck, wrapping around one of the Wurms. The creature bellowed, thick orange spittle oozing from its maw.

Influence of the Wisp!

His Will and Alacrity latched onto the both of them, pushing as hard as he could.

A Wurm (x2) Has Been Enthralled For 2 Seconds!

Blue-white flames ate viciously at both Wurms as they hit the ground hard. Felix didn't let them do much more than hold them in place, however. His hooked khopesh severed their heads in the space of a heartbeat.

You Have Killed A Wurm (x2)!
XP Earned!

"Damn, Felix," Evie wheezed. "How fast are you now?"

"Not fast enough," Felix said, looking at the two Haarguard on the ground. Harn had finished his opponent and had drawn away the rest from the Iron Ranks. Kikri and Nevia had pulled the two of them away from the conflict.

Before she could offer him false words of comfort, Felix moved on. Pit called to him from above, pointing out another target.


* * *


Wyvora lifted herself from the rockslide she found herself within. For a panicked moment she couldn't find her aphim, but the hooked spear was simply a stride away. She stood and through the settling rock dust, Wyvora saw a wild battle.

They're...fighting them off? The Humans were facing off against several of the Reforged monstrosities, and to her surprise they were holding their own. The abominations were a lot to handle, even for her Journeyman fighters. She saw a few of their number had fallen, but many had not.

Then she saw him. Their leader.

Not the one encased in metal, the one with the angry Spirit and burning axes. No. The other one. The one that shone like the sun to her senses.

He moved fast, faster than anyone she'd ever met below Master Tier. Perhaps the Farwalker could compare, before—but no. She watched as he summoned that tendril of shadow and large orbs of acid, each spell finding a target and either reaping a life or opening up a Reforged so that one of his warriors could do the deed.

He cannot be allowed to reach the camp. She hardened her resolve and touched upon the thread of power, flooding her Spirit with a dark potency. Raven bless me, for I need the strength to oppose our enemies.

Blessing of the Raven Received!
The Urge Hears Your Prayers!

Her wide eyes filled with darkness, and Wyvora let herself smile.


* * *


The mages were spent, Evie and Harn injured, the Haarguard useless. Still, the Reforged raged. They and the three remaining Hoarhounds howled as they barreled down toward Felix and Vess with all the subtlety and cruel strength of a tidal wave. They came from both ends of the gully, leaving Felix nowhere to run if he wanted to protected his friends huddled between him and Vess.

Felix and Vess found themselves back to back, her with partisan and he with khopesh and club.

"Brings back memories, eh?" he laughed nervously.

"If only it were storming and dark," Vess panted. "It would complete the portrait."

The remaining Hoarhounds and Reforged converged. They had seconds.

"Well, I can't do anything about the sun," Felix said and spun up Mana from his core. It crackled through his channels until it surged up and into both of his weapons. "Let's see about the storm."

Wild Threnody!

Adamant Discord!

Channeling the Transcendent spell through his weapons, Felix thrust them both forward until he felt the invisible notch that was his connections to his enemies. He poured his Mana out into the spell, bracing himself for the pain of what he was about to do.

Lightning burst outward, slamming into the three Reforged and Hoarhound that charged from his side. It seized their bodies. They fought back, but Felix screamed and brought his Strength, Endurance, and stupidly strong Willpower to bear. Things tore and burst, and a concerning wetness tricked somewhere inside of him, but Felix didn't stop.

He lifted them. All of them.

And with a roar he hurled himself in a semi-circle, dragging them with him, until they collided with the Reforged on the other side of the gully. They hit with the sound of thunder and crashing metal and stone and ice, and the gully detonated with the force of it.

"Spear of Tribulations!" Vess shouted over the cacophony. Felix staggered as he saw her seven silver spears shoot out into the dust cloud, before exploding themselves into whirlwinds of razor-sharp air Mana. The whirlwinds dissipated the clouds of stone and dust, revealing mangled flesh and oozing blue ichor.

You Have Killed A Reforged (x7)!
XP Earned!

You have Killed A Hoarhound (x3)!
XP Earned!

Wild Threnody is level 52!
Wild Threnody is level 53!

"Siva's Grace," Vess hissed. "You're bleeding."

Felix grunted. "From where?"

"Everywhere," she whispered. Her hand hitched before grabbing his shoulder. "You did too much. Again."

Felix coughed up something that he didn't want to think about. His Aspects felt absolutely abused, his legs shaky and his head pounding. "I did what I had to. Just what—"

"SKKREEAAW!"

Pit screeched from above, releasing a wave of air Mana that tore up the earth just behind Felix. Just close enough that Felix could twist and pull Vess out of the way of the Henaari's spear thrust.

His Companion had flown high above them and kept an eye out all this time for the Henaari's reemergence. Felix didn't know if he would have noticed her in time. Even now, looking straight at her, he couldn't sense her presence.

Pit! Now!

Pit swooped low and twisted his body, dropping the greatsword strapped to his saddle. Felix caught it and brought it to bear in a single, fluid movement. The massive blade stopped a hairsbreadth from the Henaari's charging face.

"Now. Let's talk."

Her eyes widened, if that were possible, and flicked between him and Pit in the air. Without warning, she dropped to her knees and...slammed her forehead on the ground.

"Beg mercy, Pactlord!"

Felix traded a glance with Pit as he landed next to him.

"What?"