Unbound

The items on the shelf burst into brilliant vapor, their essence torn free and streamed into Felix's open mouth. This, he realized, this is what is worth stealing in a church.

Power surged in him.

A storm lit within his belly, and a confusing flurry of notifications flickered in front of his eyes. With a fierce effort of Will, he muscled them down for later review. More importantly, the influx of Essence helped counteract the nightmarish pressure that had built up in his core. Fire Within told him a dangerously potent gathering of System energy pooled within him, blocked by his Will and the desire not to Tier up. The pain faded though as the two seemed to balance one another, System-granted and Felix-stolen, but the pressure didn't go away. He'd have to make choices before too long.

He was sick of not thinking things through, however. He wasn't going to Tier up again in the heat of the moment.

The priest shouted in outrage but his voice was distant and slow. Felix could feel the strain in his core ease even further, and the rampant, static inducing flickers of his notification icon slowed and settled.

He was finding a balance. But he needed more.

More.

Ravenous Tithe!

Felix swept his arms down the shelf, putting his body into the abundant aura of the relics. They pressed at his Manasight like a screaming crowd, smelling of laughter and joy, while the sound of choir bells danced along his tongue. Potent.

Goblets and statues and tiny glass enclosures filled with bones. All of it burst apart at his touch, turning entirely to glowing vapor filled with multitudinous lights. Gold predominated, but white and green and deepest blue was present as well. All of it rushed into him, inhaled in a moment, and he straightened with a sudden alacrity.

Felix turned toward the priest who had stumbled backward in shock and horror. "What have you done!"

"People keep asking me that," Felix muttered. He narrowed his eyes at the priest and gestured around him. "Unless you want the rest of your hoard evaporated, I'd suggest you let me pass."

I can't use my Skills, apparently, unless I want to get hurt. I'll just have to rely on my stats, then.

The priest's eyes darted down at the would-be thief's prone form, then back up at Felix. Light still gathered on his liver-spotted hands, not dimming in the slightest, and Felix could see that Stabby had disappeared. Before he could even wonder where he'd gone, they all heard a terrified scream from overhead.

"No! NOOOEEUUUGHGH!"

Wet squelching and tearing sounded from above, and the scent of rotten, putrid blood coiled through Felix's sight. No. Not here too.

Moments later, the Revenants crawled from above. Three skittered across the ceiling and walls while five more landed heavily upon the ground. They had their varied snouts in the air, tongues lolling with thick spittle as they lashed about.

"God damn it," Felix snarled, and took a gamble.

Sovereign of Flesh!

Sovereign of Flesh (Transcendent)

Flesh is as clay to you! Gain increasing control over your Body, increasing your Strength, Endurance, and Vitality by a flat 25% when active. Requires Essence to function. Control and speed of transformation increases with each level, pain decreases moderately per level, and Health regeneration increases slightly per level. Amount of Essence required per transformation decreases minimally per level.

Immediately, Felix's skin began to shift and transform. Heavy scale plates formed across his chest and shoulders, midnight black in color, while finer growths appeared down his arms and legs. It was mostly hidden by his shirt, trousers, and boots, but his face and arms were easily visible. His skin burst and twisted, accommodating the breaking bones beneath the surface as the monster inside of him was unleashed and his Body swelled with muscle. A discordant thrum of power surged through his veins, siphoning away a large portion of the Essence he'd just taken to fuel the Skill. A series of glowing cyan lines formed upon his chest, arms, and legs, shining even through his clothes, swirling atop his scales like convoluted knots.

Felix barely registered the priest's screams when he began to move.

All of them looked exactly as he'd recalled. Rust-colored scales covered most of their bodies, save for the pulsing veins of sickly yellow flesh that criss-crossed their arms and chests. Their faces were different from one to the next, ranging between canines, lizards, and worse. Yet all of them lacked eyes and their fanged mouths took up nearly half of their faces.

A quick pivot and they hissed when they saw the priest. When they looked past him and noticed Felix, every single one of them let out a baying rattle-scream, as if their throats were filled with vibrating thorns. They recognized him. They knew him.

Part of him, at least.

Like hounds loosed for the hunt, they exploded into motion. Felix didn’t give them a chance.

They had barely shifted when Felix appeared, slashing his black talons into them. Limbs flew as his preternaturally sharp claws cut through enhanced scale, muscle, sinew, and bone in one swoop, and a dark, fetid ichor poured onto the rubble strewn floor.

"REEEAARRCH!"

The thing screamed piteously, and he knew that each Revenant was once a Human or a Dwarf or any number of poor innocents shoved into the Domain's corruption. But Felix had no mercy left in him. Not for them.

He ducked under the wounded creature's wild swipe, spinning around to slash at two others. Scales split without effort, and the stink of their blood tripled in less than a second. Screams cascaded through the room, but not for long. Felix pushed himself, moving through them like a ghost, and he tore them to pieces.

It was over in fifteen seconds. Their bodies piled upon the ground, meat and blood, some faintly twitching with the last memory of life.

Yet he wasn't done. Dropping to his haunches, he thrust his hands out, driving his talons into as many bodies at once as he could manage.

Ravenous Tithe!

The Revenants burst into dark, shimmering smoke that he inhaled in a single, powerful moment. Once more, and they were all gone.

The storm in his core quieted once more as he became flush with monster Essence, but it was more than that. Felix felt something else enter him this time. It felt...complete, somehow. More than Essence, Felix had taken in something more essential and vital from them. Within his core, Felix could see the cloud of Essence grow thicker and more complicated, while below the golden-blue radiance of System energy sparked and flared, stymied. Between them both was his core flame, a ring of roiling, almost liquid seeming fire that spun around a dark void. Flickering near that ring were eight sparks of ruby-red energy, brighter by far than standard essence, all spinning counter to his ring of blue-white flames. With a shock of recognition, Felix knew what they were.

Pieces of Maw, Felix swallowed audibly. Echoes of its power found in each of the Revenants. Now it's mine. Back where it belongs.

Felix stood up abruptly and felt a cold shiver down his spine. That last thought hadn't been his. Had it?

"St-stay back, monster!"

The priest stood between Felix and the open reliquary, as Felix now realized the room was, and both of his hands were wreathed in halos of golden light. Felix considered the old man, noting the way his hands shook and how his nervous jaw clench sent small ripples through his loose jowels. Carefully, Felix raised his own hands and held them, palms out.

"I don't plan on attacking you, father," Felix started, but was interrupted by a bolt of light that shot out and bored through his palm. He snatched it back and hissed in pain.

"I'm no father of yours, creature," the man spat. "I know you, Fiend. You truly are a monster."

Felix snarled and bared his fangs, but held himself back. He had no reason to kill the bastard, though there was a part of him that very much wanted to...

The priest's Skill flared again, but before it could go off, Felix hurled himself forward. Bridging the gap between them in a single bound, he reached out and grabbed the mans flaring hand.

Ravenous Tithe.

The golden light burst into glowing vapor and Felix breathed it in. It sank smoothly into his core. He looked down at the old man, and the priest flinched so hard he nearly fell on his ass.

"Don't ever do that again," he growled softly, trying not to lose his already frayed temper. Then he released the man's hand. The priest stumbled backward.

Somewhere in the dark, Felix sensed movement. He focused his Manasight and sifted through the dusty-brown of stone threaded with shimmering metallic inclusions, until he spotted the bright red and green-gold of blood and life Mana. There was another room attached to the one he was in; in fact, the door was cracked and several faces were peering out of it. A few wore the familiar white robes of this priest, while others had jackets and dresses on. It was far away and dark, but Felix was almost positive their clothes were expensive. Nobles. At least ten that I can sense.

It seemed they had holed up here in the church during the troubles outside. He glanced back at the ichor smears on the ground. Troubles that were still ongoing, apparently.

"You're welcome for killing the Revenants," Felix said, before turning and walking away, into the dark.

Convergence!

A flare of bright light filled the underground chamber, and Felix felt Pit's unconscious form nestle back into his Spirit before he took a running leap straight up. With his enhanced Strength and Agility it was easy to clear the fourteen foot distance. He landed amid the tumble-down ruin of a cathedral; only three walls still stood, along with a number of cracked pillars and one extremely durable flying buttress.

It was still dark, but with his Manasight functioning it wasn’t a hindrance. The night swirled with flows of black shadow Mana, dusty brown earth Mana, and white flows of air Mana. Along it all, however was a pervasive sense of agitation. The tiniest touch of rage. Courtesy of the Revenants, he had no doubt.

The skies were cloudy and impenetrable, just as Hisser had said. Far off, blue-white flashes of lightning Mana tore jagged scars though the clouds, but there was little light and less sound. It was a hypnotic display, one Felix would gladly have watched for hours were he not convinced more monsters could be nearby. Yet despite his vigilance, he didn’t sense her, not even for a second.

“You’ve grown.”

Felix spun toward the voice, claws up. He let them sag when he saw who it was.

“Zara.”

“Felix. Or should I call you the Fiend right now?” The ochre skinned Naiad smirked, showing off teeth nearly as sharp as his own.

“Please don’t do that,” Felix groaned. He hated that name. With a pained groan, he released his transformation, and his bones realigned with audible snaps and cracks. His muscles deflated and the scales sloughed away into luminous ash. He was left looking like a normal, if athletic human man with black hair and blue eyes, for all that they had once been a dark, muddy brown only a few short weeks ago. "I'd rather that name not get more popular than it already is."

"Too late," Zara laughed and picked her way toward him through the rubble. "It's the name on everyone's lips, these days. You put on quite a show up there."

Felix grimaced, the fight against the Ravager King flashing through his mind. The power he'd taken...eaten...he clenched a fist.

Zara stepped up to him, only a few feet away, and regarded him. Her eyes flashed with an aquamarine glow, gone in less than a second. "You're hurt."

Felix waved her off. "I'm fine."

Zara pointed at his core, just above his navel. "No you're not. You're stuffed to bursting. What's happened?"

For a moment, Felix considered answering the question, but found himself suddenly suspicious. "Why're you here? I've been out for hours, apparently, and you're just now showing up?"

Zara arced and eyebrow at him. "This city is quite big, Felix Nevarre, and you are not my only concern. Other events have been plaguing Haarwatch, events that have been destroying this city, piece by piece."

Felix blushed, abashed. "Right. The Revenants." He rallied and refocused. "How are they here? I thought they had all died in the Domain."

"Some escaped as the Domain collapsed, but it was no more than a hundred or so from what I sensed."

"Oh," Felix's shoulders sagged in relief. "That's manageable, at least."

Zara started walking, and Felix followed her. "I wish that were so. The population of these Revenants has exploded in the hours since their arrival. That first hundred turned to two, then three, and now there are nearly two thousand spread across this city at my last estimate."

Felix choked and stopped walking. "Two thousand?"

He imagined the damage they could do, a mess of Tier II monsters imbued with the Maw's worst qualities. It was horrifying to think on. "What's happened to the people? Dusters and everyone else?"

Zara's face was grim in the dark. "Many have died. Far too many."

Holy shit. Felix's heart ached. Is this my fault? If I hadn't interfered with the ritual, would the Queens have eaten all of the Revenants?

A sleepy pulse of warmth shot through his chest, a formless, wordless comfort that settled his spinning Mind. Pit was right. Had they not interfered, it was likely the Ravager King would have killed them all. That thought sparked another, and Felix looked to Zara with urgency.

"Vess and Evie? The others? Did they all make it out?" Zara nodded, and Felix sighed so deeply he nearly lost control of his core. A quick, fierce struggle with his Fire Within mastered the volatile mixture of essence and power, but it sent a wave of sweat across all of his skin at once. "Where are they?"

"Back at Calesca's warehouse, though that term may not be entirely accurate anymore," Zara said, but her eyebrows tilted in concern. "Felix are you alright? Your Mana seems...tangled."

"I'm...fine."

Zara gasped. "You're holding back your Tier. Of course. How long?"

"Been a bit over nine hours, maybe," Felix grunted. "Glasses. Whatever."

"You should be fine for nearly a day, yet. Why do I see such pain in you?" Zara put a hand on Felix's shoulder.

"Monster essence and...System energy doesn't mix well," Felix said, and revelation lit up Zara's face.

"That...explains much," she said. "I had wondered how becoming part Primordial would affect you."

Felix's eyes snapped up to Zara's, but the Naiad was patting her robes as if she'd forgotten something. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a large, fresh fruit. "I figured, despite your meals below, you're probably hungry for actual food, yes?"

Felix eyed her, but took the fruit and ate it after quickly identifying it. Kelaan fruit. He hadn't had once since he'd left the Foglands.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Well, that is quite a broad question," she admitted and started walking again. They were heading west, near as Felix could tell. Without the stars or familiar buildings to orient on, he was mostly guessing. "Regarding your situation, I know that you've had some unfortunate encounters with the Primordial in the Labyrinth."

"Unfortunate. That's a good way to put it," Felix snorted a laugh. He had spent so much time fearing that Zara would find out about his connection to the Maw and she'd known all along. What was the point of hiding anything, anymore? "I killed it back then, sorta. Then I killed it for good in the Domain."

Zara was tapping her lips, watching him with her ice-blue eyes, far more vivid than his own. "No, you absorbed it. Which, strictly speaking, is impossible."

Felix felt his gut lurch, but he refused to give into the fear. "No. It's dead. The Mind of the Maw was destroyed when I ripped it from the Ravager King. It's gone for good."

"Perhaps," Zara admitted. "Perhaps not. I will say, however, the Primordial's power is still extant in this city. So in that sense, your Maw is still quite active."

The Revenants. Felix nodded, unable to muster the energy to object to the Maw being termed as "his."

"I have to admit, Zara. I figured you'd kill me if you found out I'd had a piece of the Maw riding inside me," Felix said.

"That is a completely reasonable fear," she agreed. "I would have, had things been different."

"Different?" Felix asked, ignoring the admission of his potential murder. "What are you talking about?"

"You conquered it, Felix. A task I would not have imagined attainable, yet here you are. Whole. Of sound Mind, Body, and Spirit," Zara shook her head. "It is remarkable. An achievement that only reaffirms my commitment to making you my apprentice."

Felix wasn't sure what to say to that, so the silence stretched as they navigated the ruined streets of Haarwatch. The city had been broken in many places, but there were still swathes of neighborhoods that seemed entirely untouched. Untouched, that is, save for darkened windows and smokeless chimneys. Everything Felix had seen had been abandoned.

"Where did everyone go?"

"There are several hidden redoubts around the city, though most are like the cathedral I found you in. Small with relatively limited access to food and water. It has been in flux all night, but a new balance is forming. There are three camps. The Guilders at the Wall, the Inquisitors in the Sunrise Quarter...and you."

"Me?" Felix asked, confused.

"Well, the Blue Eyed Fiend, at least," Zara smirked at Felix's frown. "A third camp has gathered, and the vast majority are doing so under your name."

"What? Why?" Felix gaped. "How?"

"I think showing is better than telling, don't you?"

Felix clenched his jaw. Zara's smile could have cut glass.