Chapter Four Hundred And Two - 402
Lightning shattered the tunnel, again and again, forcing Felix to continually remake it. The sands rebelled, fighting his control but he seized them with all the weight of his Will and Intent...and still only barely managed to stave off total destruction. Yellow lightning blasted into him, sizzling across his hands and arms, moving less like true electricity and more like a living creature.
"GAH!" Beef yelled, a piece of the storm's fury leaping onto him. Felix dared a glance back, only to see the man's stolen breastplate burnt and corroded almost all the way through.
"Don't get too close! But stay with me!" Felix growled. "I'm gonna draw this goddamn storm's attention, then you can run!"
"Youyou'll die!" The Minotaur said, tears starting to stream down his face. "You can't! I said I can take the damage, so let me take it!"
Stone Shaping!
Adamant Discord!
Felix surged the Mana in his core outward all at once: one formed a tunnel of compressed sand for as far as he could reach...and the other grabbed Beef by the chest in chains of lightning and hurled him down said tunnel. The guy didn't have a chance to do much else but scream in terror, before even that was cut off by the storm's renewed rampage. The tunnel fractured and collapsed all around Felix, swirling into a chaos of sinuous lightning strikes and burning winds that ripped at the loose sand around him.
"Fine! Let's do this the hard way, then!" Felix shouted, and leaped straight up through the eroding sand above. "Chthonic Tribute!"
Beefhammer didn't know what the hell was happening.
First he was arguing with Felix, and then he was flying through the air. Earth. Whatever. Beef groaned as he emerged from the ground, his armor and fur streaming with rivers of cascading sand. He shook himself, spraying it in all directions and took stock.
"This armor is busted," he said. The majority of it had been scorched to hell, and advanced corrosion had eaten away big chunks of its center. "Damn. This was the best stuff I could find. That lightning is nasty stuff."
The Paladin's armor had shrugged off some huge hits in the past, and it hadn't even held up to a few lightning bolts. Though they had felt stronger than beforehe'd been hit by those bolts during crossings before, but never like that. They way they had slammed down, so many at once...like the storm wanted them dead, personally.
Beef shuddered and fumbled with the straps. The buckles of his breastplate were fused together, but that didn't matter much to him. He simply grabbed it where the armor had split and gave it a sharp yank. It resisted for a second, but the damage had been extensive and he was very strong. The breastplate ripped in half, and he awkwardly shuffled out of it.
Thunder crashed, and Beef jerked his attention back toward the stormwall. How he'd ignored it was a mystery, as the thing was miles wide and miles high, a tornado bigger than anything he'd ever seen on TV. Dusty winds roared and slashing rain of molten glass tore through the air, all while caustic yellow lightning spread like tree roots. Or they should have. Instead, Beef watched as bolt after bolt struck the same place in blinding succession, the impacts so fast, so close together that the thunder hit like a machine gun.
"Felix!" he shouted, uncaring about what monsters were nearby. He could see his new friend, his only friend, as a lump of dark, unmoving material in the center of that furious onslaught. "Relentless Char!"
Before the Skill could activate in his chest, the stormwall bulged then twisted, pulling inward on itself. Yellow lightning and crimson-orange sands turned to incandescent smoke as a dark, scaled figure erupted from the cyclone.
"What the hell?"
Beef watched, confused and unbelieving as Felix crashed into the sand, throwing it up in huge wave. For all his size and weight, it knocked the Minotaur on his ass as it hit. "Oof!"
Clouds of crimson-orange dust swept over Beef, blocking the bright, blue, midday sky as he laid there. His Mind whirled, processing what he'd just seen and not quite believing. Did he...did he disintegrate part of the stormwall?
Abruptly, a claw, black taloned and monstrous, reached out of the dust. A helping hand that glowed faintly with crackling, yellow energies for a single heartbeat. Then that faded into the ebon scales.
"Sorry about throwing you," Felix said, and the clouds of sand settled enough for Beef to see two eyes of intense, glowing sapphire. His mouth quirked in a grin. Nervously, Beef grasped the proffered hand, and almost shouting aloud as he was hauled to his feet.
"Fucking shit, you're strong!" Beef exclaimed. Felix looked at him with those inscrutable eyes, and Beef felt a flush of embarrassment at his outburst. Of course the guy was strong.
"We should get moving. We're out in the open here, and I don't know what kinda monsters are about," Felix said.
Beef coughed, attempting to collect himself. You're not some kid! You're a savage warrior! Remember! Out loud, he said, "Erm. Lotta creatures in the sands. Dangerous stuff. Giant Scorpions and Glass Whiptails are the most of what's around here though. They stopped being a challenge for me weeks ago." Beef looked at Felix, surprised to see that the scales along his arms and chest had vanished...and his torn clothing was repairing itself. "Is...is your shirt healing itself?"
"Hm? Oh yeah. Cool right?" The man walked up the dune with quick, easy movements. Somehow he didn't sink into the sand at all. "Which way?"
Beef clambered after him ungainly. With every other step he sank to the knee and had to yank his legs free, each time kicking up a wave of sand like a damn plow. "West. Toward those dark cliffs there."
"Hm."
Without another word, Felix started walking. His strange gryphon-looking Companion emerged in a flash of white light, though he didn't take to the air like Beef half expected. He'd been excited to notice that Pit wore armor and a saddle, suggesting that Felix could ride on top of him during flight. The sheer idea of that sent Beef's imagination soaring. If he could get a flying creature and have Hallow possess it...but then, he hadn't seen a creature big enough to lift someone as heavy as Beef had become. His mood crashed faster than it had risen, and he trudged after the both of his new friends.
Dune after dune passed beneath their feet as the minutes ticked by. Felix and Pit were steady and unflappable, both of their eyes constantly sweeping the terrain for threats, and a low hum of...something came from them both. Beef shook his head. He was pretty sure he'd just lost too much blood. It happened sometimes, that ringing, but usually only when he was hurt bad enough. Beneath them all, Hallow rumbled through the sands. Beef got the distinct impression the spirit was unnerved by Felix, but couldn't figure out why and hadn't had a moment alone to ask.
Maybe just weirded out that either one of these guys could kill us easily, he thought. How'd he survive that lightning? And without a scratch on him?
Beef had spent a lot of time since meeting Naos thinking he was special. He had rapidly become way stronger than anything he came against, monster or otherwise, and his durability was off the charts. He could heal from any injury, given enough time, and his necromancy gave him an edge that hadn't been matched even by the Paladins.
But Felix fought both of us to a stand-still. He looked at the guy, a full two feet shorter and far smaller...and he didn't understand. Is it just the level difference? He said he's level fifty-seven, and if I was that level, I'd have a lot more Strength and Endurance just from my Race. What...what does a Human get? He gasped. Did I pick the wrong Race?
"Felix. Are Humans OP?" he asked.
The man was talking in a low voice to his Companion and had slowed, but he looked back over his shoulder at Beef with a raised eyebrow. "Overpowered? No, Humans are probably one of the weakest Races."
"Huh," Beef said, scratching his jaw. It had been weird at first, having a bull-face, but he'd gotten so used to it that now it just felt like his face. Beef barely remembered what Michael used to look like; and good riddance. "Then how are you so strong?"
"That...is complicated," Felix said. "Titles played a big role in my early days, but I get less of those now. The best boosts I've gotten are all due to Tempering, really. Most of them, anyway."
Beef frowned. He'd Tempered once, earning his new Aspects as NaosIslarecommended he did. It had made a world of difference...but Felix couldn't have had more than one more Temper above him. "That Strength and your Vitality, how high are they?"
Felix turned, his head tilting oddly. "Over two thousand," he said.
"Wwhat!"
That's impossible! Beef's own Strength was barely over a thousand, and he'd poured more than was reasonable into it, plus his Race, plus all of his Titles he'd earned by surviving in the desert. But to have two stats a thousand points higher? "How?" he asked.
Felix frowned, and his eyes flashed bright sapphire again. He pointed. "Monsters. Forty-nine of them, over that dune."
The statement drove all questions out of his head like a snuffed candle. He'd done this dance too many times and knew the rules: thinking instead of fighting gets you killed. Beef whirled, his great maul manifesting in his hands. The weight of it was reassuring as he dropped into a battle stance. "Level and Type?"
"You called it. Seems like Glass Whiptails, and they're pissed off." Felix laughed, which confused Beef. "Pit? You wanted to go wild, so have at it."
The tenku next to him shrieked in obvious glee and bounded into the sky just as a horde of shimmering lizards crested the nearest dune. Purple-white vapor condensed and splashed outward, manifesting into massive icicles that shot from Pit's huge wings. The Whiptails screeched as they shattered into bloody chunks, but more surged forward, their barbed and razor-sharp tails lashing wildly.
"Hey! Save some for me!" Beef yelled.
"Not gonna send Hallow in?" Felix asked. The guy didn't seem concerned at all. Like he was...bored?
"I don't need Hallow for this," Beef said and he forced a grin so wide his cheeks hurt. A rush of fear-propelled blood roared in his ears. "Relentless Charge!"
I'll show him something interesting then!
Felix watched Pit and Beef go to town on the Glass Whiptails. The creatures were around level 30 and not much of a challenge to either of them, but the sheer amount of them proved interesting. Pit was able to keep out of most of their attacks, except for the glass shards they would launch at range, and even then he was fast enough to dodge most and tough enough to tank the rest. If nothing else, it was some good stress relief for his Companion. He'd been forced to remain cooped up in Felix's Spirit for far too long in recent days...and Felix wasn't the only one who burned at losing to Kel'lyv.
More interesting than Pit's aerial maneuvers, however, was the Minotaur. Beefhammer waded into the fray without concern for physical harm, screaming and laughing as he swung his huge maul. He was all physical force and unstoppable motion, moving from enemy to enemy without regard for their advance. 'Tactics' was obvious a non-concern for the Minotaurinstead he chained activations of Relentless Charge and summoned new, chitin-shaped weaponry as old ones shattered. The guy didn't even bother to avoid the Whiptails' attacks, instead tanking every one with his powerful Body.
Strong but reckless. No plans, just all out assault. Felix's mouth twisted in sobering self-reflection. Sounds like me, half a year ago. He chuckled. Probably more recently than that.
The fight threatened to take a while, especially since Beef was refusing to utilize his undead friend. While the Minotaur bathed in the hot, transparent blood of the glass lizards, he flared his Stone Shaping once more. Earthen Mana poured from the Mana Gates on his feet, sinking into the sands and tracing branching lines toward the swarm. Small spikes erupted from the dunes, all at once puncturing bellies and hearts and lungs of the monsters. His Eye watched them keel over, most too overcome by pain to do more than curl up and die. A rare few screeched, once, before following suit.
It was over.
You Have Killed A Glass Whiptail (x22)!
XP Earned!
He plodded after Beef, quick Stone Shapings forming just beneath his every step. Felix's surprising density and weight were a huge benefit during battle...but in the sand it meant he was constantly sinking. A little surreptitious shaping fixed the issue, though he kept the small stone platforms he made buried by at least a six inches of sand. The last thing he needed was for some curious Paladin to come across a set of shaped tracks leading right to him.
"Great job, Beef. Let's get a move on though. I want to find this tomb fast," he said.
The Minotaur blinked several times, as if shaking off a fugue state. "They're...all dead? That usually takes longer."
Pit landed next to them in a shower of sand, and chirruped in fierce delight. Felix laughed. "You had some help."
Surprisingly, the Minotaur sniffled. "Ooh." He cleared his throat and turned pointedly away from Felix. "Okay. Good. We uh, we need to go this way."
Felix hadn't missed the way Beef's Spirit had trembled with complicated emotions. His heart ached in sympathy for the kid; Felix knew what Beef had gone through, after all, but at least Felix had Pit and the others for much of it. Beef had been alone, all this time, with only a hidden Chanter for support. Wordlessly, Felix followed after, Pit beside him.
The journey across the desert took longer than Felix had anticipated. The warning he'd received from the Prioress was proving true as they encountered wave after wave of monstrous beasts. Most of them were in small packs, ten or fifteen at once, but a few like the Glass Whiptails showed up en masse. Felix wasn't shy about using his Mana to fend them off, and eventually Beef was convinced to commit his spirit friend to their progress as well. With Felix's Stone Shaping and Hallow's incredible speed and ability to travel beneath the sands, they swept the rug with almost everything they encountered.
Eventually, however, they approached where Beef had indicated the tomb was located. It was a canyon fronted by a series of dark mesas that somehow screened much of the sands from flooding the area. Instead Felix could sense a number of spots that hummed with a familiar aria. Life, thick and fecund, was within the ravines ahead of them.
As was death.
"That's a lot of undead," Beef said slowly. Just over the lip of the nearest cliff, the two of them could make out hundreds of Dustwights milling aimlessly at the bottom of every gorge in eyesight. "Way more than I've ever fought alone."
"Good thing you're not alone," Felix said. "And I've got a plan."
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