Unbound

Chapter Five Hundred And Ninety – 590

Chapter Five Hundred And Ninety – 590

Beef was done with all the fighting. It had crawled up his spine, an old familiar feeling from back homefrom his parents. It had taken all of his Willpower not to lash out at the nearest giant. When Felix mentioned the wall, Beef didnt have to think. He needed out.

The wall, however, was much less than he expected.

AH! Beef shot through the illusion and directly onto a wide balcony that, unfortunately, had no railing at all. Almost a thousand pounds of muscle didnt stop on a dime, and Beef hurtled out into the empty air.

Light flashed, the aurora around the Kingsrock surging across his fur, sparking from his orichalcum-coated horns. Another roof, another storm overtook him. For a moment between screams, golden twilight became rain-soaked night, and the ribbons of light became lightning in a Texas sky.

He fell.

AHHH KerKeratin Conception!

Mana fled from him, burning across his channels to eject itself from the bottom of his hooves directly into the tower. Chitinous limbs, segmented and strong, snapped around his middle.

Heurk!

The appendages groaned, pieces snapping off to fall around him like rain. Beef followed their descent. His head whirled. They were way higher than he had thought, and the wind whipped at him like a violent knife. Thin towers spread in all directions, with tiny, far away bridges between thembut below he could see the golden ground around the Kingsrock. It was a tiny circle, a frisbee disc among heaving glaciers, dotted with a swarm of blue and white specks. Giants, the size of ants.

Beef threw up.

Eugh, he moaned. Hope that doesnt hit anybody.

MichBeef! Are you hurt?

He pivoted, looking back up at the balcony hed charged off of, and found Hallows three Bodies peering at him with concern. He gave a shaky thumbs up.

I will be right down!

The Sharpwing Matriarch buzzed out, curving around until the undead lizard latched onto Beefs pauldrons. Taking several breaths to brace himself, Beef dismissed his chitinous conjuration and immediately fell againbefore the Matriarchs wings counteracted gravity and they ascended back into the sky. In moments they were on the balcony again, though Beefs knees were quivering so hard he almost dropped to all fours. Almost.

Hallow fussed over him, using the rocky Homunculus to check him over. There were scratches on his knuckles where he must have hit the tower on the way down, and a few straps on his armor were split. Hallow tsked at each new detail. Are you sure you are unharmed?

No. Beef sucked in a jagged lungful of air, but it wasnt enough. His stomach couldnt stop cramping, and his feethoovesshook. No.

Beef? Felix emerged from the solid wall, sword first and his blue eyes blazing. The illusion rippled around him like water, but the Autarch paid little attention to it. Instead he focused on Beef and then on the balcony itself, which rose into a set of stairs on their right. What happened?

Beef forced the words out through his jumping chest. What was wrong with him? Fell. Almost.

Youre good though? Beef gave him a shaky nod. Damn. They dont even have railings out here. Felix stood casually on the edge of the incredible drop. He didnt look worried in the slightestbut then, Beef had witnessed the guy literally fly on the back of a lightning bolt. He wasnt sure Felix ever got scared.

Hallow rested a stone hand on his own. Beef. Your heartrate is

Im good, he said, talking over Hallows echoing voice. Her last Body had pushed through the false wall after Felix, and both the enormous Multipede and smaller Sharpwing watched him with concern in their blackened-green eyes. He stood up. Just didnt expect an illusion. Thats what it is, right?

It is, Tzfell said, striding through. She and that Elven dude ran their hands in weird gestures across the fake wall, and it rippled. A high Tier Skill forged this illusion. Well beyond Master.

It is tied so well into the architecture that I would never have seen it, Laur admitted. This must be Nymean made, or perhaps Dwarven craft.

Not Giantfolk, Sorcerer? Naberius asked sharply. You are too new to the frost. You cannot guess what might we bear, hidden from the likes of you.

For all your talent with curses and elemental ice, this is beyond your people, Tzfell said. Her words were calm, but her intent was sharp as bared steel. Beef hunched at the animosity he heard in their Spirits, big shoulders drawn inward. He shook.

Stop. Felix was there, sword in one hand. He lifted his other one and brandished a snap-crackle of lightning between his claws. I told you. Youre being manipulated by a spell.

What? Mother Vepar asked. Her old face always looked like shed eaten half a lemon, but now it twisted up even more. I am in full control of myself.

Explain, the Dwarven Chanter said.

If you would listen, I wouldnt have to, Felix said. Its a trap, just a lot more subtle than the first one. Theres a construct pulling at our aggression, our fears, and I cant get it to stop. All of you need to control your emotions, now, before someone does something they regret.

I would not regret taking a Dwarf down a peg, Naberius said.

Felix squared up against her, small compared to the giants nine foot height. I would make you regret it.

The Witchs Spirit spun, a clash of noise that drove Beefs molars against each other. He braced for violence, grabbed his hammer haftbut she backed down. The music faded.

Felix gave a sharp nod to everyone present. Good. Get the rest to follow. I know the way.

He led them up the steps, just to the right of the balcony. It was wide enough for the giants to walk two abreast, but they proceeded single file due to the whipping winds. The aurora was much more pronounced there, weaving among the towers like actual ribbons. They reminded Felix of his core space, of how he envisioned his Tempered Skills. There was some sort of magic going on with them outside of decoration, but he couldnt tell what.

The Kingsrock was hiding things.

Inheritors Will led them across their first bridge, over a hundred feet long. Just like the balcony, it was without any guardrails to speak of, and a single misstep would send them plummeting to the earth. Felix wasnt worried for himself, but many in his group lacked the Skills to survive such a fall. They moved carefully.

Across the bridge was another spiraling staircase that led down into a tower, once again through a false wall. The interior there was much the same, filled with emptied out chambers and defaced artworks that looked too heavy to be moved. All the while, that foreign music beat at them, driving their emotions wild. It was easier to ignore now that they recognized itFelix hadnt ever felt a thing, but he could certainly hear it working. He had already tried to activate either glyph on his hooked sword, but they hadnt helped. Etheric Division had cut through the lingering spellforms hed spottedbut the sound returned after only the briefest of pauses. Etheric Unification simply refused to work at all. That led him to believe that it wasnt Nymean magic, but something left by a former occupant. The giants? Or the Dwarves? It was impossible to tell, and he wasnt about to ask anyone and open that can of worms again.

They finally pressed across another thin bridge, higher than the last, and had to endure the increasingly violent winds. Rope was passed out to tie themselves together in pairs, but Felix didnt trust that alone. Pit was there, balanced atop the bridge. Without his wingsFelix grasped at the air, forcing his Mana out of himself in great streams, and took control of a piece of it.

Storm Shaping is level 12!

Felix didnt so much stop the wind as he bent it around them all, until he formed an invisible tunnel along the top of the bridge. The air howled, split above and below it, but they were untouched. Move. Quickly.

Storm Shaping is level 23!

Multi-Cast is level 85!

By the time his entire party was across the long bridge, Felixs channels stung. The low level of his shaping Skill meant more Mana was required to achieve just about anything, but it also meant the cap on the amount of Mana he could put into the Skill was low. Felix suspected he would have had trouble shielding just himself had he not also had the Multi-Cast Skill. By stacking casts of Storm Shaping, he built up enough of a bulwark, just at the steep cost of thousands of Mana.

Well, steep for most. Felix checked his Status. His Mana was already rebounding and would be full in a few more seconds.

Beyond the bridge was another gate. It was similar in size to the Gloaming Gate, and covered in similar carvings. Local nature was depicted here, but also a stylized crown, shaped like nine stars bound together by a curving band. Rays of light exuded from the crown, a starburst pattern centered on where the gate was meant to split in two.

As Felix walked up, Witches and Chanters alike stepped back from it.

We have tried to open it, but it refuses our touch, Mother Vepar said. She placed a calloused hand against it and a shimmer of glacial light sparked off. Her hand was tossed back, and she winced.

There is a complex warding here, Laur said. I could perhaps disassemble it given enough timebut I think that is wasted effort. He nodded to Felixs hand, where the Inheritors Will swirled with the same glacial light.

Hm. Probably. Felix looked around. The tower they stood on was where the aurora seemed to linger the most, each ribbon of light undulating away before returning. As before, it reminded Felix sharply of his core space, and how each Tempered Skill was connected to his dual cores. For that reason alone, he was positive they were in the right spot.

He brushed the engraved crown with his fingers. The gate opened on smooth, soundless hinges.

Was that a crown? Pit asked. Are you getting another one?

Felix narrowed his eyes down the short corridor, which split ahead to the left and right. This place has been picked clean. If theres a crown here, Ill eat your barding.

No! I like this armor.

Inheritor's Will pulled Felix forward, one slight nudge at a time. It chose turn after turn, up another flight of stairs and through passages that were choked with dust. That caught everyones attention, as right where the Kingsrock cleansing enchantments failed was also where it began to smell of an ancient and decrepit fire. Char marred the walls, baked black into the stone, and ashes mixed freely among the dust. The ransacking had been utter, in that place.

Tempers flared again, but it was a weak thing. The manipulating enchantment had also failed, and soon a solemn sadness replaced it. They walked in silence, until finally they were directed to a narrow alcove somewhere deep in the tower. The moment Felix walked up to it, the sword went limp in his hand.

This is it, I guess, he said, sheathing the blade.

Looks cozy, Evie said.

I dunno if Ill even fit in there, Beef added.

Felix kneeled down in the alcove, running his Perception across the floor. It was clear that, at some point, a heavy object had occupied the space. Judging by the boot-shaped indent in the floor, it had two very wide feetfeet bigger than his torso. A Golem, maybe? He wasnt sure, but it had likely been taken by whoever stripped the place.

The wall at the back was where the real details were located. It was marked very faintly with stars, and those hung below a blackened placard. Felix reached up and scrubbed at it, flaking off Ages of dust, char, and debris. Words were revealed, carved deep into the stone, and they were in an ancient language that Felix suspected was Nymean. The language bypassed his conscious thought, their meaning rolling through him without hesitation or confusion.

Enter If You've The Will, Claim It If You've The Right, he read. the same words hed found in Elderthrone.

Authority Acknowledged.

The alcove transformed. The walls folded into themselves, masonry pulling out and down to combine with the floor, while the ceiling stretched high into a vaulted expanse. A two hundred foot span of polished stone flooring stretched ahead of them, contained within circular walls that appeared to take up the majority of the towers circumference. Hexagonal pillars clung to the edges, lifting triangular pediments filled with detailed sculptures, all of which framed a far larger mural featuring a snow capped mountain surmounted by a field of stars. Directly beneath that was an absolutely monumental throne, carved from what looked like ice, stone, and metal.

Well. Throne room found, I guess, Felix said.

And it is sized for a giant, Naberius said. She stared at the throne like a lioness sizing up an antelope. As we knew it must be!

Without waiting, the Witch strode forward and onto the polished stone, intending perhaps to grab the big chair with her own mitts. Felix wasnt sure, because the moment her foot came down a brilliant series of silver-gold lines erupted into being. Naberius shouted and was thrown backward, as if she had been swatted by an enormous hand. She landed hard among her people, a furious scowl already on her face.

Learning to exercise patience would do you well, Tzfell said primly. It seems we have also found the Seat and Seal.

Apparently. Everyone stay put, Felix said. He stepped forward. A sharp tingle ran through his heels, but otherwise he was unharmed. Whew. That would have been embarrassing, otherwise.

He strode toward the throne, which was situated at the exact center of the complicated array. It was just as fascinating and nonsensical as the working beneath Elderthrone. The further from the entrance he stepped, the more mind-bending the silver and gold inscriptions became. It folded around itself like a fractal knot. Felix still had no clue how the things worked, but he knew that he needed to stand in the very center, where the pattern was empty. A veil of shimmering light now separated the throne from the rest, the exact same as the aurora that hung around the Kingsrock itself. He approached it on sure feet, but slowed as the huge chair loomed close. Felix took a steadying breath. Here goes nothing.

He stepped through. That bell tolled again, the floor shook, and the sky outside the windows filled with swirling colors. Immediately, the power of the place surged against his skin, covering him until it found his Mana Gates. There it paused, gathering to pinpricks of blinding radiance, and Felix had to blink away the afterimages.

Authority Recognized, Inheritor!

For Conquering The Ironskin Domain

For Displaying Mercy For The Frostfather

For Overcoming The Starfield Steps

For Overcoming The Unquiet Dead

You May Lay Claim To The Lost Territory Of Khalheim!

Do You Wish To Establish Your Authority? Y/N

Khalheim, Felix said. The tolling continued, a single note that pulled at his center. Does that include all of the Hoarfrost?

He didnt expect an answer, but one bloomed in his Mind regardless, unveiled to him like a dream. A series of vistas, viewed as if from the head of an onrushing gale as it ran the length and breadth of the Territory. Snowy tundra gave way to bleak, forbidding mountains to the north and south, while the west became impassable glaciers that fizzed in an acidic sea, and the east turned to a vast forest of dark conifers and prowling shapes.

The vision ended, and Felixs attention returned to his Body with a snap. He shivered. Ill take that as a yes.

Do You Wish To Establish Your Authority? Y/N

Felix braced himself, and reached out to mentally toggle Yes.

Aye, said a dour, gravel-throated voice.

Felix jerked to the side, finding another figure standing beside the giants throne. They were wearing heavy armor that looked worth a small kingdomgilded with geometric designs and decorated with jewelsbut their face was bare. It was a Dwarf, with a massive beard combed and twisted into three, gold-capped braids.

And he was entirely transparent.

I aim to claim this crown, and no monster will stop me.