Unbound

Chapter Four Hundred And Sixty Two – 462

Chapter Four Hundred And Sixty Two – 462

"Dunno how I killed it, honestly," Venali was saying as Felix guided them over the submerged forest. The boat was unwieldy and the sigaldry had proven to be even worse than Felix had suspected; his Mana was spilling out into the water through the rudder. "Bottomless Quagmire isn't something that kills often. Especially not aquatic monsters."

"Thing had a mouth," Tandagh said. "You choked it out. Sometimes it ain't complicated."

"I guess. Gained a level from it, anyway." Venali lifted a hand, swiping as he accessed his Status screen. "What do you think, Mr. Veil? You clearly have an abundance of Mana. Should I put my points into Willpower or Intelligence?"

"Oh, I'm sure you know how best to develop yourself," Felix deflected.

The Half-Elf glanced at Tandagh then back at Felix, lowering his voice below the constant splash of the boat. "We Lotuses don't have the same luxury of tradition that our brother society has. Please. Any advice would be appreciated."

The earnestness plea wisped across Felix's senses, and Pit barked, once as if in encouragement. "Uh, sure. You're a Half-Elf right?"

Venali nodded. "I am. The Elven portion of my heritage is several generations back, but you know what they say. Half-Elves breed true."

"Of course. That is what they say," Felix said, focusing his gaze on the water ahead. It gave him the advantage of not lying directly to the mage's face. "I don't know many Half-Elves though. Can you tell me what your level up distribution is like?"

"Oh, yes. I understand not being sure. Not all Half-Elves are the same, I know. But with my Elven ancestor being outside three Human generations, the effect is a bit diluted. So I gain one point in Endurance and Agility each level, and I also earn two free stat points to spend as I see fit." Venali snapped his fingers, as if remembering something. "Ah, and my Omen is The Emperor, so that's another two points for Vitality, and one point each for Intelligence and Willpower."

Felix rubbed his chin, marking down another Omen in the running list he had in his head. "Emperor. Not bad."

"Yes. Perhaps the only reason I was selected for the Gallant Lotus Society." Venali tapped his breastplate which, although pitted, was not nearly as ill-kempt as other parts of his armor. It gleamed as if polished, and upon the center was a lotus flower stamped into the metal and painted green-gold. "We're traditionally trained as support for the Knights Ghreldan, and as such we offer Skills that establish control, abjuration, and healing to a lesser extent. We were taught to focus our stats in Intelligence to increase the effect of our magics, but the resulting lack of Mana in our reserves is always a concern. With Willpower being provided through my Omen, why, the old trainers couldn't snatch me up quick enough."

A mixture of pride and frustration sang across Venali's Spirit...and expression. The man was either not interested or not capable of masking his emotions. In all honesty, Felix was starting to like the guy. "Alright. Well I always advocate for more Willpower. Not only does it deepen your Mana pool, but it allows you to contend with a target's resistance to your spell. A spell that paralyzes or stuns is much more effective when you can quash the enemy's opposing Willpower directly."

"That is...but what of the benefits of increased cognition and greater impact through higher Intelligence?"

Felix shrugged. "It's useful, I'm not gonna say otherwise, but if you had to pick one? I'd pick Willpower every time."

Of course you would,Pit scoffed across their bond.

Quiet, you, Felix sent back.

"Hmm." Venali didn't seem entirely convinced, but his Spirit hummed appreciatively. "I thank you, Mr. Veil. That gives me something to think on."

"Quiet and flare your Perceptions. You'll have all the time you need to think back at the Redoubt," the Knight said. He was standing again, holding his long spear in that odd stand attached to the prow. "Watch for Bog-Sprouts. That's the danger now."

Bog-Sprouts, it turned out, were the juvenile form of the Bog-Lures. Mostly harmless, they appeared to be large lilypads but speckled with a dark brown across the green in a distinctive pattern. They came upon six of them as they moved, and each time, Tandagh expertly pivoted and thrust his spear through their centers. The things would explode into movement, thrashing for all of a second before they expired, and immediate wisps of black smoke began to boil up from the water.

Juvenile or not, they apparently offered some good experience, because after the last one was killed, Felix heard the telltale trilling of the System from the Knight. The guy had leveled up, though he didn't mention it.

Why not have Venali fire shots at the Bog-Sprouts too? Does the mage not have a ranged attack? Or was the Knight just hogging all the XP? Tandagh seemed a nice enough dude, but he'd encountered more than enough people who abused their power to get more power. What was far weirder was Venali's answer.

"Oh, no. Ranged offensive magic? That is pointless. The Knights are to engage in melee, the Lotuses are to simply control the field. Mixing the two would result in a great many injuries," he said.

"I...guess that makes sense." Truthfully, Felix had only a few in-passing lectures from Harn and Darius about field battles. Nearly all of his experience had been as a lone combatant or part of a small team. "Wouldn't even a simple ranged attack like Sparkbolt be an easier way to earn experience though?"

To that, Venali only shrugged, though it was hesitant. "It is how the Lotus operates."

"I see."

Over the next ten minutes they completed the final stretch of their patrol, though the shadows were stretching longer and longer. An eye was kept for more monsters, and Felix kept his Perception spread in search of any Fathom spawn. He did not spot any, though parsing anything through the chaotic, tree-choked waters was very hard. Thick-limbed creatures that looked to be a cross between a hippo and an ape appeared near the end of things, swimming in peaceful pods at least twenty strong. Tandagh instructed him to swing wide, and Felix didn't argue; the creatures were all Tier III monsters according to his sense of things, and if they were anything like the hippos from back home, Felix wanted nothing to do with them. Hippos were vicious.

"A Bog-Lure so close to town, Hippotons grazing within sight of the walls...the patterns of the Wilds have been thrown completely," Tandagh spat.

Venali caught Felix's gaze. "Predators are getting hungrier by the day as prey dwindles. Hippotons are vicious, but they are prey for some of the nastier creatures out there. Like the Naga," he added, with a shudder.

"The Knight Commander will know how to proceed."

Tandagh's tone was firm as bedrock, Spirit too. Venali, however, was clearly uneasy which only escalated as the shadows of the distant hills finally draped the waters. Below, Felix could sense movement. The waters churned, debris clogging his Perception, but something was coming. A lot of somethings.

Felix increased their speed, and the boat spat out a thick cloud of Mana as it jolted forward.

"Hey! Careful, wanderer! You!"

"Knight Tandagh, look!"

The Orc's words stopped as he witnessed what Felix had sensed coming. The Hippotons were busy clambering up the branches of a stout tree, while all around them the water boiled with sudden fins and spines.

"Faster. Go faster, wanderer," he croaked.

Manaship Pilot is level 24!

More and more of Felix's Mana was wasted, blasting through the crude sigaldry and into the water behind them. Felix knew he wasn't being kind to the craft, but he didn't much care. The prow lifted, forcing Tandagh to shove his own weight forward to keep it level, and Felix didn't slacken their speed. Behind them, oozy appendages lashed out of the water and onto the Hippotons, drawing deep, honking cries of agony.

Draktopi. At least six of them, and more coming too.

When can we kill them? Pit asked. His haunches quivered, as if winding up to leap out any second.

Soon enough. Felix could handle them himself, but there wasn't a reason to do so yet, not if he was going to keep a low profile. He still had things to learn, and his ships weren't through the Pass yet. Let's see what's going on with these Knights first.

Pit flopped back into the bottom of the boat, his floppy, puppy dog legs hitting with as much sullen annoyance as he could muster. Fine.

Felix reached down at ruffled his big ears.

Soon enough they left behind the sounds of grisly chewing and interrupted honks, and came up to the walled expanse of the Redoubt. It was at the far end of High Side, where Bogfeld lifted up on its odd plinth of stone, and the walls of the town surrounded it. Up close, the walls were in rougher shape than Felix thought, with chunks missing where teeth or claws had latched onto them. There were also char marks and patches of ice so thick they were being chipped off by several workers with sledgehammers. The Redoubt itself also looked far larger than he'd estimated, and what Felix assumed was a small fort for a dozen or so Knights looked fit to hold hundreds. Tandagh guided Felix around the outside, to the rear, where a series of docks had been built.

"Had to make some sort of access to the outside," he explained. "Only way we can keep patrolling the area, keeping it as safe as we can."

Felix had dropped his speed and now was basically coasting until the hull smacked lightly into the side of a short dock. Tandagh hopped out and grabbed a mooring line, wrapping it once around a spar before pulling taut. "Out. Quicklike."

Felix, Pit, and Venali followed, hopping with easy grace from boat to dock. Once everyone was out, the Orc Knight reached down at grasped the gunwales and, with a grunt, lifted the whole dinghy above his head. Water streamed down all around them, beading impotently against the Knight's armor. "Can't let the monsters break our boats. We don't got so many as we can waste 'em. C'mon."

A fast walk down the short dock led them to a stone platform and iron-bound door, which opened for the Knight with a simple flash of light. Manasight traced it to the Knight's breastplate and the door itself, and his Affinity heard a paired chime as they went off. Magic lock. That's never not cool.

More Knights flanked the inner door, and they gave Tandagh a nod as he passed. They ignored Felix and Venali, though one was surprised to see Pit. Tandagh handed off the dripping boat to a pair of women off to the side, where a number of small boats were stacked. Both were dressed in thick leather jackets and aprons, each with a lotus worked onto the chest. "Tiller needs work. Started smellin' funny half way 'round the town," he muttered by way of explanation, before leading them all through a second gate and into a curving hallway.

Before the gate shut behind them, voices crept into Felix's Perception.

"...this is charred! Sigaldry's ruined!"

"Too much damn Mana. How fast did they need to go?"

"Damn, Knights."

The gate closed off any other sounds, and Tandagh led them up a winding set of stairs that branched multiple times. After several dizzying turns that Felix memorized just to be on the safe side, he was led into a wide courtyard that was at least the size of a football field and absolutely chock filled with people. Carts and stands were everywhere, the air above covered in hanging lines filled with brightly colored flags snapping in the wind, while countless noises and delicious smells settled on them like a physical weight.

Food! Pit sang through their bond. So much food! Can we get some? Can we?

"Welcome to Bogfeld Redoubt, Mr. Veil." Venali gestured expansively to the cheerful chaos in front of them. "You arrived on a good day. It's the middle of Lightsfall, and we've manage to salvage enough from the town to celebrate."

"Lightsfall?"

"That's right, you were in the wilderness for a long while, huh? Yeah, the rainy season is coming fast." The mage paused, grimacing. "I'd have guessed it was here already, but that flood...who knows how that happened?"

"One of the many things I need to report to the Knight Commander," Tandagh announced. "Mr. Veil, you mind stickin' with Gallant Venali? I'm sure Lady Lavin will wanna speak to you later about the Expanse."

"Sure." He'd intended to speak with her eventually anyway, once things got moving. "I've no problem with that."

Tandagh grunted, and lifted his visor to smile at them both. "Good. I'll be back shortly."

The Knight cut through the edge of the crowd and headed up a set of exposed stone stairs, before vanishing among another set of armored folks.

Venali clapped his hands. "Well. Would you like me to show you around, Mr. Veil? Perhaps a meal?"

"That sounds great," Felix said.

FOOD! Pit crowed, and took off into the crowd. The mage gave him a concerned look that Felix waved off.

"Don't worry. He's easy to find." Felix gestured ahead and the two of them started walking. "He'll be at the nearest food stall."

FOOD!