Unbound

Chapter Seventy Four - 074

Exploration is level 25!

Congratulations! You have reached Apprentice Tier in Exploration!

You Gain:

+3 INT

+3 END

...

Rare Essence Draught Detected During Formation!

[Essence Draught of Dragon's Wing]

Choose a Feature:

Soar

Eclipse

Guide

He had no time and no context for theses choices. He chose with his gut. It hadn't failed him yet.

Congratulations!

You have absorbed the Essence of Eclipse!

A rising thrill of coruscating power hit him like a wave, but it was almost lost in the chaos as Skill up notifications streamed past his mind.

Sigils of the Primordial Dawn is level 13!

Shadow Whip is level 26!

Pain Resistance is level 42!

Armored Skin is level 38!

Cold Resistance is level 20!

Etheric Concordance is level 26!

Deep Mind is level 30!

Analyze is level 25!

Congratulations! You have reached Apprentice Tier in Analyze!

You Gain:

+3 INT

+2 PER

...

Mythic Essence Stone Detected During Formation!

[Essence Stone of Consumption]

Choose a Feature:

Consumption

Consumption

Consumption

Through the scintillating shimmer of System power, blue and gold sparks exploding like fireworks in his vision and mind, he reached out.

He chose.

Congratulations!

You have absorbed the Essence of Consumption!

3 of 3 Mind Essences Formed!

Tempering Has Begun!

It was like a tsunami, a roar that was his entire being, a screaming symphonic terror. And strangest of all, the hunger inside of him, that vast emptiness: it moved. Like a living thing, it crawled up his spine and into his head, where it nestled at the base of his skull.

No! What are you doing!

The Maw railed at him, rushing across his core. It was a blood-drenched hole in his gut, lit by the guttering flickers of his inner fire, but the creature flew straight and true; all the while tearing at everything within reach.

D4NGER! YOUR SKILL ACROBATICS HAS BEEN D/////#$MGeD!

54% OPErATING CApACITY!

DANGER! YOUR SKILL AXE MASTERY HAS B23N D)(_MGeD!

81% OPERATING (((((ApACITY!

You'll not take this from me! Your flesh is MINE!

The Maw barreled directly for the grouping that burned the most fiercely: the Skills Deep Mind, Exploration, and Analyze. Paralyzed by paroxysms of power and sound, Felix could only watch as the pustulent effluvia of the creature's form rocketed toward his Skills, radiating a sinister and deadly light. Corrosion spread in its path, the space itself shaking as the Maw opened wide.

The three Skills exploded in a supernova of light and fire, releasing their own wave of untamed might. The Maw was thrown back, it's form disrupted until its oozing body was a mass of jagged spikes. It reeled in pain and fury.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!

A wall of shimmering light encased Felix's Skills, all of them, as trilling notes and strummed chords reached a stunning crescendo.

Congratulations!

You Have Tempered Your Mind!

You Have Formed: the Godeater Mind

+10 INT

+10 WIL

+5 PER

+25 ALA

Felix felt his mind expand, blooming like a flower in sunlight. Everything felt more, and each thought held such a weight as to be practically physical. His hunger raged at the base of his skull, pain shooting across his brain stem and flickering down his spine. Instinctively, Felix sucked in a breath, and the crimson energy that suffused his flesh was sucked into it. Suddenly, the Bloodbind locking his body failed, and Felix stumbled forward.

Without a second to lose, Felix ran toward the Anchor.

You terrible child! You'll ruin everything!

Felix crossed the circle, passing beyond the icy coating on the floor. Only ten feet away, a powerful force ripped him backward. As if a hook had been implanted in his gut, he folded in half and flew through the air to land on his ass just outside the circle again.

STAY!

Crimson power welled up within his channels, forcing itself into his muscles and sinews. Felix took another sharp breath and they too were consumed, Mana vapor devoured by his insatiable hunger. He stood back up.

YEAAARRGH! My Bloodbind--! The Maw's voice echoed across his flesh, sending quakes and tremors flinching through his entire body. Then I'll do it myself!

Felix felt the Maw flood his channels, snaking through his pathways like a malignant eel. He felt pieces of its purulent form plunge into him. These pieces were like spikes that began branching outward, vaporous veins and capillary-like formations that anchored it's power. Felix stumbled and stalled, his body only responding in jerks and spasms as the Maw's dominance was reestablished.

"Get out of me!!"

CHIRRRRUUUUP!

The hunger responded, eating away at the spikes in his body. But he couldn't keep up. The Maw was too old, too crafty, and still too strong by half. It sped up, traveling in loops through his pathways, at every twist and turn planting more root-like spikes to stop him. He didn't stop, not for long. Each pause was punctuated by another step, another inch forward.

You're too weak, Felix! You're a confused little boy in a strange new world, and you're weak! The Maw laughed, the buzzing dissonance of it still there, still jarring to his senses. I'll hollow you out and wear you like a coat. I meant to leave you somewhat whole, but you've gone too far. I'll break your Skills one by one until you've nothing left, until you're just an empty sack for me to puppet! I'll make do with a broken Vessel, and you'll beg to be released into death by the time I'm done!

"Why--" he grunts, taking a single step forward. "Isn't. This. Working!"

Felix flexed and pushed with his internal control, flaring his inner fire and sending it coursing down his channels. It barely made a dent, but was able to tear up a few more of the Maw's roots. He sucked in a breath, and more gaseous pieces of the Maw were consumed. Pit shrieked, a fierce attacking cry, and Felix felt reassurance through their bond. My hunger isn't doing it! Something changed!

Felix remembered fighting for his life on a rooftop, struggling to survive a brutal poison. He had fed the poison to his inner fire, burning it away, same as when he took a Draught or ate the Essence Stone. But now his hunger had separated from his core, moving to his head for some reason, and it wasn't working. It wasn't enough.

He needed more than Mana vapor, this time. He needed the Maw's oozing form itself.

Repressing his revulsion, Felix spun his core harder, pouring his Will and Alacrity into stoking that inner fire and sparking his azure lightning. He pulled, hard as he could, yanking more of the vapor through his channels and the barest, tiniest piece of the Maw itself. The fire flared purple where the crimson ooze hit the blue. Electricity danced at the contact point.

A...memory flashed by him, brief and dizzying. He faced off against an endless legion of bronze-armored warriors. Each armed with spears and swords that glowed with elemental Mana, mounted atop shrieking tenku and harnoq and wendigos. It was gone in a moment, but Felix grinned.

It had worked.

HOW DARE YOU!

A rotten, corrosive power surged through his channels, and Felix's grin disappeared as he was thrown bodily into the air. Straight up, Felix didn't stop until he hit a buttress that arced across the dome of the ceiling, crashing into it and breaking it apart.

You sniveling little THIEF!

Felix was blasted again, sideways this time, colliding with another support and shattering it. Felix felt something snap in his chest and a wet gurgle as his breath was forced from him in a wheeze.

Status Condition: Broken Ribs (x3)

Status Condition: Perforated Lung

YOU STEAL FROM ME!? Use my gifts against...You're not STOPPING!?

Gritting his teeth, Felix pulled again, and again, pushing through the pain. Tiny, infinitesimal pieces of the Maw's form were torn free and burned up. This time only bare flashes of memories struck him, images that went by too fast to recognize anything except the dominant impression of fire and blood. He started to fall.

The Maw growled and Felix's body rattled with vibrations. An immense pressure slammed him up against the ceiling, cracking the heavy stone of the dome and sending chunks falling below. Felix grew dizzy, the floor so far below him and his entire body being pressed upon, as if he were being crushed by Grimmar all over again. But his hunger was stronger than ever, sharper by the moment, a cavernous void in his being that demanded sustenance.

He pulled.

More memories flashed through his consciousness, flickering things that buzzed and broke into static after only a few seconds. Fire and blood and broken towers. Armies in bronze armor, opponents made of living rock and crystal, creatures devoured by the thousands. A jumble of violent, desolate imagery rampaged through his brain.

The Maw screamed again and dug itself deeper in his channels, pushing itself further, back toward his core. Its power buffeted Felix, pressing against his chest, his limbs, his neck; it crushed him ever deeper into the ceiling, until he feared he'd burst like a grape. He did the only thing he could. He pulled.

RARAAAAAAGH! Curse you Felix! I take it away! All of your gifts!

TITLE: GOURMAND IS LOST!

SKILL: LESSONS OF THE PAST IS LOST!

Blinding pain tore through him, head to foot. Fissures appeared on his skin, cracks that widened into bloody wounds that snaked across his abdomen. Felix tried to move his right arm, to stem the bleeding, but the Maw's power hurled it aside, and a bone-deep crunch and crack sounded as his right arm snapped again. Felix would have screamed had he the breath for it, and Pit cried out in sympathy. He felt feathers brush against his consciousness as the tenku tried to stem the tide, focusing on their wounds so Felix could fight back. It was all he could do to keep moving forward. To keep pulling.

And even though he was wounded and his Health was dropping fast, Felix took heart.

The Maw was getting desperate. It was losing ground.

Felix growled. This is my body! And in here, I'm the monster!

A piece far larger than ever before was ripped from the Maw's contorted form. It fell, screaming into his Fire Within. Teeth of fire and lightning chomped down on it. The glistening ooze of the Maw, that bloody, rotten corruption fulfilled some part of him that Felix could no longer restrain. His hunger raged forth, eating as much as he could.

Synergy Detected Between Mind Formation And Primordial Foe!

All Choices Have Consequences.

Continue With Skill Creation?

YES, GODDAMN IT!

Discord built within his core, a reverberation that sent jagged bolts of pain in all directions, tearing at the fissures in his flesh. A new symbol written in light and fire and blood was scored into the walls of his core, a monstrous, inhuman pattern that snarled.

New Skill!

Ravenous Tithe (Epic), Level 1!

Consume completely an object or creature which you have claimed and can physically touch. Uses Mana to power conversion. Chance of gaining Skills and/or Memories from target if applicable.

Ravenous Tithe!

Without waiting, Felix engaged his new Skill and felt more pieces of the Maw rip apart and disappear in his core. The Fire Within raged, growing larger than ever before as it fought to burn up the concentrated essence that piled on. Lightning struck, charring and shattering segments, electric teeth masticating the disgusting meal.

A horrible, bottomless wail echoed from the Maw.

Energy flooded his limbs and Felix felt the fissures in his skin dimple and twist, closing even as his blood boiled in his veins. Steam, literal steam poured from his mouth as the Maw's pressure relaxed, and his teeth sharpened and grew longer and longer, pushing through his jaw and gums. Felix's body twitched and spasmed, each contraction throwing him across the ceiling like a bug, his muscles stretching and ripping as the corrupted power tore through him.

THAT IS MINE! YOU ARE MINE!

STOP!

Sharp claws burst from Felix's hands, tearing furrows in the stone above him before rotting and falling off. Toothy spikes twisted and burst from his back and shoulders, points of agony that left him slick with his own blood. A second surge of released power made them explode in size, piecing the ceiling and dropping a rain of stone and plaster to the ground below.

NO!

Felix screamed.

Everything went dark.

"Bumble?"

Felix started and sat up. His face felt wet, and he wiped drool from his chin and cheek. He was in a...kitchen? The walls were painted canary yellow and a variety of dried herbs and garlic was strung from the unpainted oak cabinets. A half full sink sat nearby, chipped on the edge where someone had banged into it, and a pink frosted cake was sitting on the counter. Someone had cut a piece out of it. Crumbs were everywhere.

"Bumble, when did you get here?" The voice was warm and welcoming, and very familiar. Felix turned around and realized he was on a barstool in his mother's kitchen. His mother stood a few feet away, in the doorway with a bag of groceries.

"Mom!" Felix hopped off the stood and rushed over, so fast his mother blinked and swayed backward. He wrapped her in a hug that must have been entirely too tight.

"Ok! I'm happy to see you too!" Felix let go as his mother gasped for breath and laughed. "What's gotten into you?"

Felix quickly took the bag of groceries from his mother's hands and set it on the counter. There was something cold in it, though he didn't bother checking. "I'm just...it feels like a long time."

His mother gave him a strange look before pursing her lips and giving him a once over.

"You're not drunk, are you?"

"What? No! Of course not," he said.

"Good. Those friends of yours have been a bad influence, I think." She started bustling around the room, taking items out of her bag and putting them away.

Felix's thoughts flashed back to his friends he would hang out with back home, the ones who threw the parties on the beach and got wasted every night after their shifts. He shook his head, almost unable to believe the kind of dumb stuff he had gotten up to with them. His eyes landed on a poorly wrapped package on the counter, a gift covered in newspaper and not even the comics or anything, it was the Business section. There were a couple other presents on a small table near the archway to the living room, and something clicked in his mind.

Gabby's birthday. This was Gabby's birthday party.

He was in a memory.

"Oh no, Bumble! Did you eat some of Gabriella's cake? Tch." Felix looked down at the crumb filled plate before him before grinning sheepishly. His mother rolled her eyes and pulled more groceries out.

A bittersweet feeling swept through him as he let go of something he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He wasn't home. He was just hallucinating, probably while the Maw choked the last bit of life out of him.

Thoughts of the Maw made the memory flash an unpleasant reddish hue, and Felix quickly banished the idea. He didn't know how long he had.

"Mom?"

"Mm?"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do," she looked at him strangely from over the top of the ice cream she was doling out. He could hear the screams and cheers of teens in the backyard. They were probably playing in the pool, though he wasn't sure. He didn't end up staying at the party in real life.

"What's going on, honey?" His mom leveled her warm brown eyes at him, her brows tilted up in concern. Felix had to clear his throat a few times before he could manage to speak.

"Nothing special. Just...just a rough few weeks." His throat ached, for some reason. "I got a dog, though. A rescue."

"Really? Do you have the space for a dog?" His mother smiled when she saw his face, knowing the answer. She patted his cheek. "You and your bleeding heart, Bumble. Someone's gonna take advantage of you, one day."

"Yeah," Felix swallowed, the room tinting vaguely red.

"Oh but don't change, honey. I know it's tough out there, with jobs and everything, but you're a good boy," she smiled at him again before picking up a platter of ice cream and cake. "You gonna come wish your sister a happy birthday?"

"Yeah I--" The room turned a deeper red, and this time it didn't relent. Felix looked around, wild-eyed.

"What's wrong?"

"I--I gotta go, Mom," he walked up and gave his mother another tight hug. "I'll miss you."

"Oh honey," she sighed in his ear before holding him out at arm's length. "You can always come back."

Felix smiled, and his throat ached even more. He swallowed a few times, the room starting to pulse with crimson. "Bye, Mom. I love you."

He fled from the house, unable to look at her again, or at the party out back. As he ran outside, he thought he heard her say something behind him, but he couldn't make it out.

The door slammed.

Felix woke up still screaming.

Slowly, he stopped, instead taking big lungfuls of air. His breath was hitched and painful, his lung still not working correctly.

Status Condition: Collapsed Lung (x1)

Status Condition: Broken Ribs (x2)

Status Condition: Broken Arm (x1)

He was enveloped in a cloud of steam and pulsing crimson Mana. It sparked and sizzled against the blue and gold in his aura, though he didn't see much of his aura at all. The steam was still pouring from his mouth, and as he stopped screaming, he realized that his jaw was packed full of oversized fangs. They bristled like a nightmare angler fish. When he tried to reach his hand up to touch them, he found his upper arm immobile. His body was stuck too, and Felix couldn't quite parse why everything felt...upside...down.

Shit.

He was hanging from the ceiling, the spike-like teeth that had erupted from his back, shoulders, and upper arms fixed him securely in the stone. As the steam cleared even more, Felix could see his skin had become rust red and scaled in places, like a rash was spreading across his chest and shoulders. Pain still blazed across his entire body, but it felt...muted.

You're mine, now.

The voice startled him, not because he'd forgotten about the Maw, but because he couldn't fully sense it at all. Whereas before the Maw was a congealing ooze within his Mana channels, now it felt...omnipresent.

Eat me, strike me, slay me! You'll never defeat my power! I am Unending!

The Maw kept screaming at him, hating him but reveling in its victory. Felix had consumed the Maw's power and essence using his new Skill. It was the only thing he could do. He could feel the creature's power roiling inside him, burning away the parts of him that were Felix and replacing them with...with itself. He was changing, slowly maybe, but inevitably. Felix could sense the Maw's consciousness was held back, much weakened by it's sacrifice, so much so that Felix's newly Tempered Mind was able to restrain it for a time.

Still, it's potency overwhelmed him, powerful in a way that Felix couldn't comprehend. He couldn't hold it for long, and he knew that when he lost his grip, it would devour him whole.

And the Maw would be free.

Felix had consumed enough of its memories to understand what would happen next. What the Maw truly desired. It would burn across the world, devouring all life, animate or otherwise. Everyone would die.

Everyone.

Unless he did something.

He looked down at the Essence Anchor. It was over a hundred feel below him, but he could make out its details as if he were standing next to the thing. The sigils on its surfaces flashed rapidly, the same ones he'd noticed before. He knew what it said now, mostly: Anchor The Beast and Draw Its Power Into The Infinite Void.

The Maw still screamed, but it faltered when Felix stared at the Anchor.

There's no way out for you, Felix Nevarre. You're mine, for all eternity.

Felix ignored it, instead visualizing his Bastion. It was whole again, not unmarred by its experiences, but the waters had been driven back. Atop the tallest tower he stood and found Pit waiting. He knelt down, and the tenku rushed to give him a hug, chirping loudly.

"Hey buddy," Felix had tears in his eyes when they separated. "I'm gonna do something stupid, now. So you gotta go."

Pit ruffled his feathers and let out a rebellious, trilling note. Normally it would have been followed by sense images and pantomime, but the two of them were still bound closer than flesh. Felix understood Pit completely when he chirped.

No. To the end.

Then he headbutted Felix in the chest, pushing the rest of his body into another hug. Felix hugged him back, throat aching again.

"Ok," he managed. "To the end, little man."

Something dripped from his real eyes, but it wasn't tears. It was blood, and it fell downward until it came within twenty yards of the Anchor. A great, pyramidal obelisk, it rose to a sharp, tapered point, and Felix's enhanced Perception marked the blood as it swirled around the Anchor, spinning closer and closer until it was absorbed by the bronze metal.

Felix pushed back with his left forearm, leveraging his left shoulder from the stone. The tooth-spike came free with a grinding thunk. Now free, he rotated his arm and placed it against the ceiling, bracing it for a final push.

No! You fool!

Felix pushed, straining against the stone.

You'll perish!

He was strong now, much stronger than when he'd started. It was easy. A final tug and he dropped.

Falling through the air, Felix couldn't help tensing, but he refused to close his eyes. This was his choice, made of his own free will.

And then, resounding in his mind, a memory dredged from beyond a slamming door, finally perfectly recalled.

I love you too, Bumble.

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