Chapter Five Hundred And Ninety One – 591
Its a Memory, Felix realized. Hed seen more than his fair sharejust never out in the real world. What isis the Seal projecting this?
He ran his hand through the ghostly Dwarf, and it felt much the same as when Knowledge had appeared in his Stronghold. This time, however, the illusion spread, until it described a sphere approximately thirty feet across. Other Dwarves showed up, many of them dressed in armor like the Forge Knight. Many looked battered, and every bared weapon was streaked with uncleansed gore. The floor was dull, as less than a quarter of the Seal was lit up.
System! Did you hear me! I claim this throne! For the Undermount! For House Galion! The Dwarven prince struck at the throne, then clutched his gauntleted hand in pain. Damned ancient ruins. It is like it cannot hear me at all!
My Lord, one of the Forge Knights spoke up, and somehow Felix recognized him. Was it the way he stood, or the hammer and heater shield on his arm? Cousin. We cannot hold the gates any longer. Youve tried to pull Authority from these stones for months!
The Prince whirled on the Forge Knight, the same one Felix had fought down below. You overstep yourself, cousin.
The Forge Knight ripped off his own helmet, revealing a square jawed face endowed with a mussed and sweaty beard. I followed you on this foolhardy mission, Bavan. I stayed silent when you insisted we press into the Frost Giants stone-cursed Domain. You have had my hammer and my shield since the startbut I cannot stand by now. The monsters are at the gates, and we cannot stay here.
This is my birthright, Mavir! The records!
Damn the records! We will die here! Mavir stepped up to his cousin, until their armored chests almost touched. We must flee!
Something shook the room, but it was beyond what the Memory showed. Regardless, every Dwarf in the room shifted nervously as a deep basso pounding sounded. The Seal sparked once more before fading again.
Prince Galion growled and he grasped his cousins collar. Mavir let him, but did not shift his confrontational gaze. Fine, cousin! We shall flee from our birthright, tail between our legs! He shoved the Forge Knight away. And you shall lead the way!
The Memory dissolved without warning. Felix looked around, but there was only the shining Seal and the throne at his side.
What the hell was that? Beef shouted over the gleaming Seal. He was pressed up against the boundary like a kid at the penguin enclosure. Were those ghosts? Why do you talk to so many ghosts?
Memories, Yintarion said, hovering above the crowd. Set in stone.
Felix placed his hand onto the throne, and an electric jolt ran up his arm and down his spine. The words repeated, but he didnt need them. Yes, he replied. I claim this place.
The world flexed, it shattered and reformed, and along the way an orchestral triumph rang through all the halls of the Kingsrock. It crescendoed, reaching a peak that was beyond hearing, beyond even Felixs Affinity, before it swooped back down. The Seat and Seal ignited in curtains of silvered-gold.
Authority Recognized!
Unbound Detected!
Greater Primordial Detected!
WARNING!
Authority Cannot
Inheritor Status Recognized!
Inheritor Status Supersedes All Bloodlines!
Authority Granted, Champion!
Felixs chest was on fire, the System power like a scouring pad ripped through his center and channels. He breathed, pulling the agony close, and fed it all to his Hunger.
This Territory Has Been Lost!
What Is Your Choice?
Forsake Or Unite?
Unite!
Power fled his core, ripping through tender channels and into the throne before him. Mana, Essence, and almost all of the significance hed accrued. The world flexed once more. People screamed.
It was done.
Khalheim!
The Shield Unbroken!
Lost No More!
All Hail The Inheritor, Colossus of Khalheim, Felix Nevarre!
Felixs ears were ringing as the notifications piled on top of him, and he only briefly realized hed taken a seat in the massive throne. It was cold beneath him, bitterly so, but it was sized perfectly to him now. He blinked. When had that changed?
He jolted upright, looking at the notification that still stared him in the face. That didntdid it? He grasped his hooked blade and poured his attention through it. Karys! Karys are you there?
The Inheritors Will buzzed once before glowing with green-gold light. Felix? What has happened? You sound panicked.
Did you see the notification?
For claiming Khalheim? Yes, I did. I received word of your ascension to the throne via our shared Authority Screen. Karys voice was warm. Im quite proud, my boy.
Uh, thanks, Felix said. He straightened up. But what I meant was, did you get a System announcement? Like when I took over Nagast?
No. Nothing of the sort. I imagine just your Chancellors were made aware of your new Territory.
Felix leaned back, relief flooding every inch of his body. He hadnt just broadcasted his location to the entire Continent. Again. Good.
Yet, the thought lingered. As the takeover of Neer proved, all Territories were under threat by the Hierocracy. Khalheim was only different in that the Pathless had no reason to seize the north. According to Karys and Zara, everyone considered the Hoarfrost as a monster-filled wilderness with no resources to easily harvest. Felix imagined that if his enemies found out he ruled the north, that would change.
They need to prepare Before he could complete that thought, another deluge of System alerts appeared in a series of descending chimes.
Quest Updated!
The Path of Empire: 3 of 4 Territories Secured!
The Path of Empire!
Many are the benefits of empire, and many are their enemies. Secure a total of 4 Territories under your banner and gain a reward worthy of the ancient emperors. Beware, for the higher you climb, the greater the winds that will attempt to force you from the Golden Path. Unification may be your destiny, but violence is your birthright. Gird yourself, Felix Nevarre!
3 of 4 Territories Secured
Reward: XP, Title(s), Advanced Authority, Varies
Oh. Excellent. Felix hadnt originally been sure if the Hoarfrost would qualify as a Territory for that Quest, but hed grown more confident the longer hed spent up there. It was vast and mostly wilderness, but it was vital and had plenty of people that called it home. Just one more forsomething good, I hope.
He wasnt sure what would happen when he claimed the last Territory, but he had no doubt itd be interesting at least.
Hidden Quest Completed!Throne of Khalheim!
You have persevered against incredible odds and arrived here, at the heart of the north. The Seat and Seal of Khalheim have judged you worthy, Felix Nevarre, and from you shall the new line of Authority extend!
Rewards:
+Mithril Chest
+Title
+5 Levels
Now thats more like it. Hed hoped for something like that. Eagerly, he tabbed through the next two notifications.
New Title!
Colossus of Khalheim (Legendary)!
The people of the Unbroken Shield have always been warriors of terrifying capabilities and immense stature. When the Nym united the warring bands of the Hoarfrost and established the Kingsrock, the greatest of these warriors took on the mantle of leadership, and the onus of defending the north from all threats. The first was called the Colossus, and that name has resounded through the Ages, heir after heirto you.
+100 END, STR, VIT
+Increased Authority Within Khalheim
+Complete Access To The Stronghold Of Kingsrock
You Have Gained 5 Levels!
You Are Now Level 68!
+100 to STR! +110 to PER! +110 to VIT! +130 to END! +120 to INT! +140 to WIL! +130 to AGL! +145 to DEX!
+100 All Harmonic Stats!
You Have 90 Unused Stat Points!
An influx of System power raged through him. Even though hed expected it, Felix could only choke out a gasp before falling out of his throne. His hands clenched, fingers tearing through stone like soft clay; his head swam, lost amid a sea of surging inputs from overtaxed senses. He felt the Kingsrock around him like living flesh, like his own skin. Giants outside traipsed upon him, feet tickling like insectsso small. Insignificant before the bones of the earth itself.
The Kingsrock pierced the world. Or rather, it was the upthrust arm of something far greater, and Felix glimpsed it. For a moment, a veil parted and he sawa green majesty, a chaos of design without end, a fractal unfolding of all things over and over. An egg, broken and spilling yolk, but gleaming with the light of stars and singing the song of Ages. It wasconnected. A web of colors he couldnt name, bound to a vibrating field that was everlasting and always changing. An appellation swam up to him, from nameless depths: The Continent.
He could feelNo.
It was gone.
A vacuum replaced it, clutching at him as sensation fled. Replaced by a surge of incandescent sound that sang an ode to all things, lost and found. That bell sounded again, but it was not from the systembut from him. It was the roar of his Hunger and the eager creaking of a Divine Tree. But above all else, it was the clashing noise of his cores grinding into one another, the product of Harmony and Dissonance filling him to the brim. It spilled outward, into the throne room and onto the Seat and Seal.
Gold and silver light were drenched, until the color of the vast array transmuted like reverse alchemy. No longer aurum and argent, it burned like fire and lightning, blue-white and red-gold.
People cried out, giants and Claw falling back and shielding their eyes. A nova of radiance subsumed the chamber, connecting Felix and the Seal. An umbilical of potency that lifted him back to his feet before setting him down into the throne itself.
A shockwave rippled out, igniting sconces with merry flame and blasting open wide windows. A song faded, not ending but merely sinking below the surface of his skin, into veins of blood and channels of Mana.
Silence descended.
Felix? Pit crept forward, the only one remaining on his feet. Are you
Vibrant mist poured from Felixs mouth, his eyes bulging as a familiar Skill moved within him. That ghostly Dwarf returned, but this time he was surrounded by Forge Knights bearing a stout banner of gold on black. The mist spread, until the ghosts looked real as fleshand fire sprouted among the walls.
Put it out! Mother Vepar hissed, still crouched at the far end of the room. Before were consumed!
Stop! It is not real, Vess said, halting the giants in their tracks. Even the Claw had moved to act upon seeing the visceral scene before them. None of them stir the air. It is a Memory.
Another one? Harn growled. Im about sick of enemies I cant hit.
The radius of this Memory expanded far more than the last. It filled the throne room, revealing those same armored Dwarves carrying ragged banners, some featuring a burning hammer and others a shield bearing a single nine-tined crown. The Dwarves were breaking artwork, melting it to slag with their Skills whenever things were too heavy. Fires raged, much as Mother Vepar noticed, burning up the walls and across the Seal. The Dwarves ran, carrying all that they couldand froze, just before they left.
Time stopped.
Rewound.
The fire vanished, the artwork restored itself, and fine tapestries were made whole once again. The Dwarves zipped along, played at high speed until they were a blur. Then they were gone. The golden sky rippled, liquid churning with threads of light over and over againbefore it all turned blue once more. Cold wind howled through open windows, and Felix saw the sun and moons arc across the cloudless sky, so fast that they formed solid lines that curved across horizons.
Empty Ages, Tzfell whispered. How long ago does this go?
Eventually, the vacant years came to an end. The Memory jerked to a stop and showed the room around themthe entire top of the tower, in factwas unfinished. Dwarves were there again, not wearing armor but curious robes and smocks that gleamed with stitched enchantments. Gnomes and Goblins and Geist moved about too, along with a great many other Races, inscribing things into the stones that were being laid onto the walls by enormous Frost Giants.
Whatwhat is this? Naberius whispered.
The beginning, Kimaris said. Beforebefore everything. She gasped. Is that?
A number of tall figures strode about, some in full robes, others stripped to the waist. The former were directing a number of activities, from the inscriptionists to the artisans putting a mural together. The latter were hauling stone alongside the Risi and Dwarves, all of them sweating as they moved massive, multi-ton blocks into place.
The Memory froze there, a tableau that set Spirits soaring across the throne room. It dissolved, condensing once more to thick mist before rushing back. Not to the Seal, but to Felix.
He ate all of it.
Mana, Essence, and Significance swelled within him to a point well beyond where he was previously. All he spent and more returned, just as when hed raised his Spirit Tree and restored Naevis.
What Is Lost Can Be Regained.
Felix gasped as the flood of power finished with him. The last words of the System hung like a divine proclamation above his head, and he stared at them for several long seconds. They soon faded, replaced by Skill notifications.
Ephemeral Evocation is level 26!
Ephemeral Evocation is level 43!
Noctis tits, Evie whispered.
As if to punctuate her words, a massive Mithril Chest slammed down next to Felix. A crippling spiritual pressure followed it, pushing those below Adept back out of the throne room entirely. Incredibly, Beef struggled back in, fighting against the pressure. His eyes glittered, and glee surged along every inch of his Spirit as he shouted.
I. Wanna. See. The. Loot!
Felix kicked the lid open, and the pressure vanished. In its place was a terrifying pull. All of the Mana around them surged forward, collecting around the Chest like a storm cloud. Lightning flashed, multicolored and blinding.
Beef gasped. Whats in it?
Felix blinked against the light and peered down.
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