Chapter Twenty Six - 026
The wurm's jaws chomped down on Felix, the four-way mandibles snapping from all directions. Teeth the size of his arm rushed toward his body, but Felix was able to catch two of the jaws with his left and right hands. The lower jaws however, piercing his thighs with impossible speed and force, exactly where the Yungling had got him before.
"GAHHHHHHH!!!" Felix screamed, veins in his neck bulging as he fought with Helga's upper jaws. His arms trembled, the power behind the giant wurm too much to withstand, the pain in his legs nearly incapacitating were it not for his resistance. Felix cracked open his eye, blurry with tears, and saw the end of the bridge approaching rapidly.
She's still--!
Felix didn't think. He didn't plan.
Felix made magic.
Stone Shaping!
The sheared end of the bridge suddenly morphed, lifting up into a precarious incline that Helga barreled toward, her momentum impossible to defy. Felix staggered as his Mana drained to half, the spell cast sloppy and wasteful, and Helga's jaws suddenly slackened as his resistance disappeared. They hit the incline.
And they were airborne.
Helga screamed, a voice like a rattling timpani roaring from her throat as she found herself momentarily midair. Felix's stomach rose into his throat and his body briefly lifted weightlessly, before the wurm and Felix inside it were sent hurtling downward.
Not a chance! Reign of Vellus!
At the apex of her climb, Felix blasted forth. He clenched his body into a ball, but still felt skin and muscle rip and tear as he exploded out of the massive maw of the wurm. Purple blood and shattered teeth spiraled out around his body, carried on the force of his Skill, and Felix was launched toward the cavern exit.
The only problem was that he was aimed a solid fifteen feet too low.
"AHHHH SHIT! STONE SHAPING! STONE SHAPING!"
Felix forced his pathways into the arcane patterns of the Skill, twisting his power until it drilled into the earthen Mana before him. His Mana guttered out, suddenly flashing red in his vision, yet the cavern wall liquefied even as Felix collided with it at forty miles an hour. A great gout of thick stone sludge jettisoned from the wall, and Felix landed shoulder-first on the small five foot by three foot indent he had created.
CRACK!
"AGHH! MMMMHHFFF!" Felix howled, clenching his teeth until his jaw ached and the veins in his neck stuck out like cables. Pain Resistance let him keep his wits about him, and he didn't move, agonizing as it was. He was pretty sure he had just dislocated his shoulder too.
Stone Shaping is level 14!
Stone Shaping is level 15!
Pain Resistance is level 25!
Congratulations! You Have Reached Apprentice Tier in Pain Resistance!
You Gain The Following:
+5 VIT
+5 END
+5% END
+New Skill Learned
New Skill Learned!
Armored Skin , Level 1!
Requires Apprentice Tier in Pain Resistance, Unconquerable Title, Face the Charge Title, Blind Pugilist Title. You've taken abuse that would cripple most and you keep on fighting. Gain physical damage reduction per Skill Level, reduces Stamina penalties by small amounts per Skill Level.
THIS PLACE SUCKS SO MUCH!
His lungs struggled to fill up, and something felt like it was leaking inside of him. The heat had disappeared, and he only felt cold now. Dimly, Felix could hear the enraged roar of Helga until that disappeared too. Worried, he saw an icon of a dazed looking face in the corner of his vision.
Status Condition: Shock (Major)
Grunting with the effort, Felix squeezed his uninjured hand into his satchel, feeling around for his healing potion. It was agonizingly slow, and the dislocated shoulder didn't do much for mobility, believe it or not. With a surge of Willpower, he suppressed his pain long enough to wrench the last vial from the bag, uncapping it with his thumb and pouring its contents down his throat.
The potion started working instantly, his flesh re-knitting painfully as his Health jumped up. The flashing icon dissipated in a few seconds, and Felix's head felt suddenly clear. He tried to sit up, only to feel a jolt of pain through his shoulder and chest. He left arm was weak and nearly useless, his fingers barely responsive; the potion had not fixed everything, not by a longshot.
The sound of banging could be heard coming from the platform, followed by the minute but definite sounds of rock grinding against rock.
The Arcids. They're at the doors. He looked down at his shoulder, already feeling it swelling, and bit his lip. I really hope this works.
With a breathy grunt, Felix pushed himself up on his right arm, then slammed his left shoulder directly into the ground. An explosion of pain lit his entire body on fire. Felix's vision blacked out for a few seconds, as if his nerves couldn't handle the sheer agony.
"MOTHERFFUUUUGH! HOW THE FSGHGHHHHHH!" Felix howled. Distantly, he could hear the slamming pause before resuming at a far more frenzied pace. Oh god, TV has failed me!
Then Felix got a most welcome notification.
Helga the Pendlewurm is dead!
You have gained EXP!
You Have Gained A Level!
You are now Level 19!
His Fire Within pulsed in time with his heartbeat, fast and agitated, and Felix slowed it down. He felt the flow of his Meditation Skill as it thrummed within his core, ephemeral but strangely physical, much like Mana itself. If leveling a Skill was all about expanding capabilities and garnering a better understanding, then he had to figure out just what Meditating actually was.
A way to increase my regen. A search for "oneness" or whatever. Contemplation? A...a steadying of the mind and body to...improve the functions of both...by channeling the power of my mind and body....
Meditation is level 27!
What, really? Felix's brows drew down in concentration, falling deeper into his thoughts. Then, by using Health, Stamina, and Mana the Skill forms a sort of loop, speeding up recovery by feeding them into one another? Did stats have anything to do with it? What were those called? Harmonic Stats, Resonance and Resilience; pertaining to mental and physical recovery, respectively. Harmonic. Harmony. That's a music thing, right? What--
Felix's eyes snapped open.
Does it have to do with the faint music I hear when I level up?
Meditation is level 28!
Meditation is level 29!
Meditation is level 30!
+5 RES
+5 REI
"Huh," Felix gasped. "Music?"
A sudden bellowing shattered his calm, the air itself shaking with the power of it. Felix scrambled to his feet to peer in the direction of the platform, but the broken doorway was still dark.
Not for long, I imagine. Felix looked at the exit. Gotta move.
Careful to keep Meditation active, Felix breathed and waited ten, then fifteen seconds. His Mana rocketed back up by nearly 60 points; it'd have to do. He could already hear the thunder of approaching footsteps. He didn't have much time.
Using his Fire Within Skill, he visualized his pathways, feeling the flow of his Mana through his body. He Willed his Mana through his chest, belly, arms, and legs, flowing it in progressively complex patterns that were nevertheless increasingly familiar to him. Felix only had one chance at this; if he got it wrong he wouldn't be leaving this volcano. As the power built and twisted into the required patterns, he released it.
Stone Shaping!
A five foot portion of the stone doors before him liquefied, flowing into an amorphous tunnel that Felix and Pit quickly stepped within. It was like stepping into pudding, except upsettingly warm. The thickened stone sludge flowed around and behind him, sealing up the pathway back even as a titanic scream shook the air.
"HELGA--!"
The scream cut off, and Felix sealed himself in stone.
Felix took a moment to breath.
His heart had jumped into his throat when he heard the Archon's voice. He was very angry, and Felix figured he knew the reason.
"Next time, don't sic your dog on people," Felix muttered. "Golden jerk."
Shaking himself, Felix moved forward his thoughts only on keeping the pattern tight and controlled. Stone shifted and moved around them, leaving only a small six foot by three foot bubble within a mountain of impenetrable rock. Using the Skill carefully like this was far easier than the sudden alterations he had done before; this way, his Meditation could ensure his regen kept up with the expense, if barely.
Felix kept his head in the game and kept moving. He wasn't out of the woods yet.
However, as an hour went by, Felix still hadn't cleared the door.
How deep beneath the earth was he? Was this not an exit?
What if he never got out?
The spell nearly cut out as his concentration wavered. Felix caught himself, firming his mind even as he poured slightly more Mana into the spell. His regen couldn't quite keep up with the increase, though. He'd have to take a break sooner rather than later.
Two hours.
Three hours.
Four hours and twelve breaks later, the bubble around Felix burst open into a blazing, brilliant light.
For a moment, Felix was blinded, his eyes used to the darkness of the mountain. He stumbled forward, tripping slightly on scree that slid and clattered beneath him. When the world came into focus, Felix's breath caught. It was gorgeous.
Beneath bright blue, cloudless skies Felix observed a towering mountain range that spread to his left and right, or north and south he amended with a glance at the setting sun. The mountains overlooked a wide valley that extended well into the hazy blue distance, and was filled with a variety of pines and leafy green trees.
And there, off in the distance, stone towers rose up into the sky.
"That's so far away," he sighed, shoulders drooping for a moment before he started moving down the mountain. "C'mon Pit! We've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall." Pit let out a low squawk behind him.
As they stumped down the mountainside, loose stones cascading around him, a booming voice echoed across his consciousness.
Challenge Complete!
You Have Survived!
Return To The Domain To Receive Your Reward!
"Wha?" Felix dragged his hand over his face as he minimized all the notifications trying to pop up. "Under the mountain? No fucking chance of that, mysterious system voice. You hear this Pit?" The tenku merely chirruped tiredly and kept shuffling sideways down the mountain. Felix shook his head, his face pinched. "Unbelievable."
They trudged down the mountain in silence.
