Chapter Two Hundred And Ninety – 290
Felix knelt next to a mossy stone. Collection of stones, really. They were on the side of a gentle dell, the trees high and the rocks piled to one side as if excavated in some long ago fashion. Maybe they had been. Felix wasn't looking for lost architecture however, instead he brushed aside some of the Vergris Moss and peered into the small hollows they had created.
The moss clung in dense clumps that kept in moisture and shade, which was the perfect place for a little colony of fungi to thrive.
Aria of the Green Wilds is level 55!
Felix heard the song inherent in the woodlands. It pulsed across every root and leaf, through the soil and the gentle breeze, a lilting melody that had no beginning or end. Each time he inspected a plant or even some monsters, the Skill would vibrate within his core space, feeding on the knowledge he garnered andin some casesproviding him with more.
Voracious Eye!
Name: Modus Sillcap
Lore: Modus Sillcap were named by the scholars of the Blue Tower in Levantier. It is a useful fungus that grows only in areas of dense shadow, life, and water Mana, typically in the interior of the Continent.
Alchemical Properties: Soporific, analgesic, useful for Sleep Tonics and Numbing Tonics.
Ooh, useful. Felix reached out and pulled the entire colony from the soft earth, careful to preserve the tiny Mana veins inside their stalks. He only knew to do that because of a few poorly harvested prior plants, and the inexplicable knowledge fed into him from his Skill. At Journeyman Tier, picking the mushrooms was easy, as long as he didn't rush.
"Felix? What's the hold up?"
He stood, his hand still gripping a selection of almost translucent mushrooms. Atar was several steps down the rocks, looking back over his shoulder. Felix held up a hand. "Sorry, found some cool mushrooms."
"Found someFelix those are Knockout Stools," Atar said carefully. His eyes widened. "You touched those with your barehand?"
Felix glanced between the fungi and the mage. "Yeah?"
"Ugh, of course you aren't affected. Put them away," Atar said. Once Felix tucked them safely into his satchel, he continued. "Those knock people out with a single touch. A normal person would have grabbed one and fallen over, likely breaking their skull on these rocks."
"Oh." Felix looked at his hand. "I don't have anything on me. You think it's because I preserved their Mana veins when I extracted them? Hm. Yeah, the power is likely within those, which means I didn't rupture the delivery vessels." He wished he still had his old journal to jot some notes down. Unfortunately the Farwalker had taken it as proof of the old Matriarch's passing.
"Mana veins? Really? Iwait. No, we have to go." Atar stopped his own curiosity with some effort. Luckily his Willpower had grown considerably. "C'mon. We're crossing another one of those bridges."
"Excellent," Felix said. He secured his satchel and made sure both his Femur and Crescian Blade were in their sheaths before hopping lightly down the mossy stones. He'd reached the bottom, which was lush with a grey-green grass and deep burgundy flowers called Feverclutch. They were another piece of flora that the Fogland produced, a part of an endless cavalcade of useful and powerful growths all around them. It required him to flex his Will every so often, just so he was not constantly distracted by the singing of his new Skill, or the interesting possibilities in the plants and flowers all around them.
If your Will was not sufficient to combat the distraction of that Skill, I'd suggest sundering it immediately. It feels strong, but wild. Karys had begun giving him unsolicited advice after the last week of constant questions from Felix. The sword had quickly realized that Felix was filled with questions, and not all of them were verbalized.
"I've got it," Felix reassured his new, old friend as he walked. "I'm not gonna be pushed around by some Skill, Legendary or not."
Atar landed behind him thirty seconds later, his hop and slide down the stones fast if lacking in grace. He hurried to catch up to Felix, who had already departed the dell and was well into the shadow of the thicket.
"It's unnerving when you speak to your sword, Felix."
"We all have our quirks," Felix said with a smile. He'd attempted to have Karys speak with everyone else, but aside from Vess and Evie, no one could hear him. The women could only hear a faint whispering, and both found it eerie.
"The idea of being taken out of my body and forced into another is...unpleasant to say the least. But then to be shoved into a sword?" Atar shook his head and shivered. "A nightmare."
It is an honor, boy. An honor!
"He can't hear you," Felix said to the sword.
"Oh good. I realized what I said was somewhat rude," Atar said with a grimace. "That spirit has been through more than I could ever conceive. I wouldn't wish to insult it."
Ahh...that isthat is better. Yes. Thank you, young mage.
Felix smiled to himself as they progressed through the darkened thicket. The thorny bramble had been hacked apart, creating a wide pathway that more than accommodated our larger members, which meant it become an easy stroll for all the rest. Beyond the cleared trail was his team, all of them crowded around the edge of what was one of many jagged ravines that streaked the Foglands. This one seemed just as large as all the rest, and the far end was even hidden by passing clouds.
"What's with all the chasms out here?" Felix asked. They'd climbed in elevation since they'd left the Henaari, but every dozen miles they'd end up at some eroded gap between the chunks of land.
It wasah, if I recall correctly, the-the...Karys stuttered to a halt, his voice taking on a quality Felix had grown to dread. It was reminiscent of the manner the Paragon had spoken when he'd first awakened. II apologize, Felix. I seem to have forgotten.
"Don't worry about it," he said, attempting to keep his voice light. "It was just an idle thought."
Of-of course.
It wasn't the first time Karys had forgotten something. He'd mentioned holes in his memory before, but they'd grown to chasms themselves in the last week. It always made the Paragon uneasy, so Felix quickly moved on. Scratching Pit's neck, Felix stepped into the group huddle his team was making. "What're we doing? Thought we found a bridge?"
They number fourteen, his team, which felt a little...unwieldy. Practically an army, considering the amount of force each of them could bring to bear. Less force than could be, he was sad to say. Battle had been scarce as they tried to stay stealthy, but Felix had still attempted to get the Haarguard involved in some combat. Even a few more levels would increase their chances in the fights to come. The main problem, of course, was that monsters were too strong for them this deep in the Foglands. The average level rose rapidly as they moved further west, with almost everything they encountered being a Tier II creature.
He couldn't fault their diligence though. The Haarguard were standing just outside the huddle, watching the forest and the chasm itself for danger. They'd proven more reliable than Felix had expected.
"We did, but that is the problem," Vess replied, and Felix's attention snapped back to her. She stepped aside, revealing the pale white bridge spanning the wide ravine. If Felix had to guess, it was four or five hundred feet across, and the drop below was at least twice that. "The bridge is guarded."
The bridge itself was just like the others they had seen spanning these chasms, each one almost identical. They were spotlessly white and made of some sort of super dense bone, not stone or wood. They hit one of them once with a sword, and the thing had rang like a bell and hadn't a scratch on it, even from Harn. More importantly than any of that though, was how they looked. Each bridge was designed to appear to be two immense people, a man and a woman, reaching across the divide to clasp forearms. The thick, stylized arms were the bridges, and the top was so well designed water wicked off of either side and the traction was perfect, even in the light rain they were experiencing.
And across that expanse was a strange...blob thing.
Voracious Eye!
Voracious Eye Failed
"Oh I don't like that," Felix muttered. "My analyze Skill failed."
"That doesn't happen often," Evie said. "What's it mean?"
"That its either too strong, or he's bein' blocked," Harn said. "Either way, I don't like it. Smells like a trap."
"You think the Archon knows we're coming?" Alister asked.
"Felix is Marked. He might," Atar said. He brushed his damp curls out of his face. "I've heard of Marks being used that way."
"Not without us knowing. Mark would burn bright to Felix were he being traced, even if it was placed by a Grandmaster." Harn sliced his hand through the air, cutting off that line of thought. "Ain't no reason for the metal idiot to know we're here. And that thing is just waiting, not coming in for the kill. That means someone else noticed us."
"I've never seen its like before," Wyvora added, staring at the thing with curiosity coming off her in waves. "It appears to be made of mud and clay. Could it be a construct?"
"Perhaps. It smells of earth and rotting vegetation, but that could simply be the mud itself. If we were to approach it, I can provide no guarantee it would not attack," A'zek added. His deep voice was cautious, but he showed a similar amount of curiosity as the Farhunter.
"Okay. We can sit around and talk about this all day." Felix took a breath. "I'll go have a chat with it."
"As will I," Vess said.
"I'm comin' too," Evie said. She tapped her chain. "You'll need some capable hands to watch your back, Felix."
Pit let out a wordless, stubborn chirrup as well.
He smiled at all of them. If they wanted to come he wasn't going to argue. Though they'd be stuck out on a bridge over a thousand foot drop, they were the three most likely to survive the fall, aside from himself. "Alright. Let's go."
"Careful, Felix," Harn said. "It looks familiar, but I can't place it."
Felix gave the warrior a grin and kept walking, his two friends flanking him. The wind was far stronger out in the open air, and those low hanging clouds swept across their path, each time obscuring the path ahead and slowing their progress. Felix half expected the blob creature to jump out at them through the clouds, claws or teeth or whatever first. But it remained stationary, only it's lumpy head pivoting to follow the four.
Voracious Eye!
Voracious Eye Failed
Felix tried his Eye again, now that they were closer, but still was unable to gain purchase. The creature was of medium size, not any larger than a Human, though it was wider at the shoulder than most linebackers Felix had seen. It was also covered completely in a thick, pungent mud. Said mud oozed over it's head, shoulders and down it's limbs, like someone was constantly pouring new muck over it's form. Hollows in its sodden skull made the barest suggestion of a gaze, but Felix had the sharp sensation of being observed by something dangerous.
Pit trilled. Caution. Sense danger.
Your Companion is correct. That is an amalgam of several magics, many of which I do not recognize, Karys added.
They stopped twenty feet away from where it stood at the center of the bridge. The wide, clasped hands were below them while the rain began condensing into actual droplets.
"Hi there," Felix said. "My name is Felix."
The sound of glopping mud and the whistling breeze was all that answered him.
"We want to cross this bridge. Will you allow us to do so?" Vess asked.
Again, nothing.
"Well, this is a waste of time," Evie muttered. "Hey! You! Get outta the way or we'll knock out off."
At this, the mud monster shifted, pushing one foot forward and raising it's hands. Like it was ready to fight.
"Whoa, hey Evie, we don't even know the strength of this thing," Felix said.
"It is unwise to fight it yet," Vess agreed. She stepped forward, her partisan ringing against the bone bridge like a chime. "We will deliver violence if that is what you wish, but I had hoped we could instead speak."
The mud man's blank face turned, slowly, until it was looking right at the heiress. "Stand aside."
A voice like a burbling cesspool boiled up from the creature. Vess gripped her partisan and Evie made a gagging noise.
"Eugh, gross."
"Stand aside? Do you wish to pass by?" Vess asked.
In response, the creature's leading arm blurred, turning to a whip that crossed the fifteen foot distance in the blink of an eye. Vess was faster, barely, but the spear she conjured to parry it was instead smashed into swirling motes of air Mana. The mud monster's hand, turned into a spiked flail, smashed into and penetrated the bone bridge.
"Whoa!" Felix shouted.
Unfettered Volition!
Sovereign of Flesh!
Felix surged ahead, his skin transforming just in time to intercept a second strike by the monster's other hand. The appendage had become a wavy blade, and it hit him harder than the last Arcid. Felix was lifted into the air and hurled from the bridge.
Shit!
Adamant Discord!
Lightning bloomed from him and Felix gripped the piece of the world that meant 'up.' He pulled, and ascended on a bolt of blue-white lightning.
Just in time to see the monster backhand Evie out of the air.
"Pit!" Felix shouted as he ascended. His Perception slowed. Pit was already moving, swooping off the bridge to catch the falling chain fighter. Vess advanced, her spears and partisan joined together to strike out at the monster's legs. Felix pulled harder on his Skill, feeling a burn in his Aspects and core but not caring.
He exploded upward, and drove his knee into the mud monster's chest.
Mud erupted everywhere. Vess leaped backward, evading the lot of it, but it got all over Felix. It smelled of rotting flowers and musty water, and it congealed over Felix only moments later, massive, goopy arms strong enough to make his bones creak. With a crushing pressure, the rest of the mud folded in on itself, trapping him.
It is a construct! Disrupt its artificial core!
"I'm trying!"
Pit swooped back up, crying out, but his paralysing Skill didn't take. Vess pummeled with her spears and air Mana, but the mud resisted or reformed right after. Evie's chain did even less, only managing to cut furrows in the mud's surface that closed almost immediately.
Felix was dragged down, deep down into it. Until all he saw was endless muck.
Adamant Discord!
The lightning burst from him, pushing in all directions, but the mud resisted. Lightning was grounded into the liquid all around him, and the force was somehow absorbed.
Extend your senses! The core is here!
Felix pushed his Perception outward, but it was confused by the swirling contents of the mud Golem. His Affinity, however, snagged on the placid expanse of an artificial Spirit. Only...it felt alive. Felix reached, his hands stretching out, until the tips of his fingers touched a hardened coil of jagged wood. It wobbled from his reach.
Gimme that! He thought, straining his muscles to push him just an inch further.
He grasped it, and he felt his abyss rumble in anticipation. In excitement.
Ravenous Tithe!
The muck around him turned to black, luminescent smoke and Felix fell. He landed atop gleaming bone, his heavy metal greaves ringing against the surface, and a coil of wood gripped in his hand. Green, gold, purple, and black light swirled around it before rocketing straight into his channels.
You Have Gained A Memory From Vvim!
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