Chapter Thirty Seven - 037
Your Companion Pit Has Gained A Level!
+2 VIT! +2 PER! +4 AGL! +4 DEX! +3 WIL! +1 END! +2 INT!
"You can--" Felix pulled up Pit's stat sheet.
Name:
Pit (Companion)
Level:
8
Race:The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.
Chimera - Tenku (+2 VIT, PER, +4 AGL, DEX, +3 WIL, +1 END, +2 INT per Level)
Health:
219/219
Stamina:
268/268
Mana:
179/179
???:
???
STR:
44.444*
PER:
33.333*
VIT:
43.888*
END:
49.230*
INT:
25.128*
WIL:
33.333*
AGL:
70.256*
DEX:
47.692*
Skills:
Bite , Level 16
Rake , Level 18
Cry , Level 19
Skulk , Level 23
Companion Pact (U), Level 14
Wingblade (U), Level 5
Frost Spear , Level 1
Active Titles:
Gourmand
Survivor III
Butcher III
Unconquered
Face the Charge
Bulwark of the Innocent
Pactmaker
Work Horse
Blind Pugilist
Hero
"Gourmand...you have it too. And Survivor III, Unconquered...all of the big weight Titles are here. Everything that was Rare or Epic. Holy shit."
Felix was floored. This...this has to be an effect of the Pact, right? I gain, he gains? He scratched his scalp, the newly healed laceration itching slightly. Dried blood flecked off and onto his hands, but he didn't notice. But he didn't gain anything like this from the twelve Rockstrike cores he ate...just a few stats.
He brought up the Skill description.
Companion Pact (Uncommon) Level 14!
You have formed a pact with a denizen of the Foglands. Increasing Skill Level and Affinity will net larger gains from the pact, for both you and your Companion.
Upon reaching level 10, all Titles ranked Rare or higher will be shared with your Companion at a 2:1 ratio.
"Ho dang," Felix muttered. That answered that. Pit ran in circles next to him, chasing his bushy red tail as he enjoyed his suddenly larger frame. His little buddy was getting bigger...and deadlier.
A sudden groaning and thud from around the corner pulled him out of his reverie. Felix hustled to the end of the alley and peered out to see another collapsed Hoarhound mere feet from him. The creature twitched weakly before expiring, and with his Manasight still going Felix could see wisps of purple-white Mana smoke and fade from it's body. The sound of a meaty squelch made Felix look up, and he saw Vessilia standing atop the beast, eight foot spear in hand and covered in purple-blue blood. She blinked when she saw him.
"Felix!" She hopped off the hound lightly, almost floating in the air before landing neatly beside him. She looked tired under all the blood. "Where have you been? We lost you."
Harn looked to Magda. "We have to go. Now."
Magda didn't argue. They both turned and started running, calling back while they did so. "Keep up!"
The four of them all exchanged glances, then ran after.
Only a few more city blocks and they were back. Felix could see the remains of the collapsed building and the giant trees growing from them, and it was only a few hundred feet away. Several tumbledown structures stood in their way, having come along a different path than before. Harn signaled them all to stop, holding up a closed fist. He started making several hand gestures, some of which were familiar in a vague sort of way, and others which were complicated wrist and finger flexes that meant nothing to Felix. Everyone else understood, apparently, because they all got low and freed up their weapons.
Special hand signals? The only one I'm sure about was the "stop" motion.
Felix could infer, though. Something was up ahead. Or worse, something was waiting at their basement hideout. Harn crept forward, his armor not making a single sound, somehow. Felix wondered at that, but then saw a dark brown, near-black sludge-colored Mana swirling around Atar's left fist; the kid was mouthing a series of syllables, too. That's not earth. What kind of Mana is that shade of brown? As far as Felix could tell, every type of Mana had a corresponding color, at least in his Manasight. He'd have to ask Atar what he did later.
Now, Harn had disappeared around the corner. They sat there, crouching in the lee of a crumbling wall for a very uncomfortable set of minutes. Felix took the time to Analyze everything he could, a practice he had fallen out of during recent trials.
Much of the ruins came back the same as his previous tries. Ruined archway, ruined colonnade, ruined residence, etc ad nauseum. But he did pick out bits here and there. The various carvings, once intricately detailed and now weathered heavily, had begun to give him snippets of something. He spotted a larger than usual sculpture across the road.
Name: Weathered Sculpture
Type: Art Piece
Lore: Once a well crafted working of stone, the marble has long since lost its luster and definition.
The sculpture, barely two feet high, only vaguely resembled a humanoid figure. A too large head on top of a narrow body suggested non-human proportions, though the shapeless lump of stone at its feet was mostly unidentifiable. But Felix now knew the stone was marble, at least this sculpture, and that it was once well crafted. That meant skilled artisans. Which perhaps was obvious given the design of most of the ruins, but any tidbit felt useful to Felix and he carefully filed it away.
Felix was able to Analyze at least four dozen objects, as well as his allies again.
Name: Evie Aren
Race: Human
Level: 19
HP: ???/???
SP: ???/???
MP: ???/???
Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.
Strength: Agility, Perception
Weakness: Endurance, Strength
Name: Vessilia ???
Race: Human
Level: 20
HP: ???/???
SP: ???/???
MP: ???/???
Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.
Strength: Strength, Agility
Weakness: Endurance, Vitality
Name: Atar ???
Race: Human
Level: 17
HP: ???/???
SP: ???/???
MP: ???/???
Lore: Humans are adaptable and prolific breeders. They can be found in many corners of the Continent.
Strength: Intelligence, Willpower
Weakness: Strength, Vitality
Hm, some of it's new. The night before he could only make out their names and level. It's interesting to see their strengths and weaknesses. I could have guessed at them based on what I've seen even in that first fight we had. Atar is no surprise. Interesting that Vessilia has higher Strength and Agility than other stats.
A very slight scrape ahead of them made Felix whirl toward the noise, but it was only Harn returning. He gestured everyone close and made a complicated series of hand movements at the mage. Atar swallowed and frowned in concentration, both hands now moving in a circular motion while they fairly blazed with bright yellow Mana vapor. Felix watched as that vapor expanded and engulfed their entire group, though at a diameter of perhaps five feet they all had to press fairly close together. Once inside the Mana vapor, Felix realized the outside world was extremely muffled.
A silence spell. So is the bright yellow sound Mana? Is sound a function of magic here? Why not use this on Harn before?
Harn spoke up in a quiet grumble. "We have four giants holed up outside the basement. They're poking around some of the other buildings, and don't seem to know what they're looking for, but they're way too close. Another half block down is a group of three Hoarhounds, they're likewise sniffing around, but haven't caught any scents yet." Harn spread his gauntleted hands wide. "Magda, you and I can handle the giants, but if the hounds join in we'll have trouble. And that's if the Sworn isn't bringing more giants our way. Which I doubt."
The Sworn? The assassin?
Magda nodded, and slowly cracked each of her knuckles. Felix didn't understand the warrior, really. She had been a bundle of suspicion and nerves ever since he met her, but she was cool as a cucumber now, slowly deliberating. The spell Atar was casting died away. Apparently he couldn't hold it very long. Finished with her knuckles, the Shieldwitch nodded at the mage who slugged back a familiar blue potion before casting again. Once the yellow Mana vapor swept out over them, Atar nodded back.
"I'll go. Harn, you hold them off long enough for me to get in and get out." Magda turned, ready to go.
"That won't work, Maggie. The hounds're too fast. You won't make it in before the battle gets too heavy."
"And won't heavy fighting alert more of the giants? How many are nearby?" Vessilia asked, looking between the two leaders. Harn only shook his weird helmet.
"Too far. The fog hampers even our senses. There could be none in earshot, or there could be twenty."
A heavy silence weighed in on them as everyone mulled it over. Atar was sweating profusely, enough that Felix was starting to get concerned for him.
"We need the stones. Too much has been...we need them," Magda said, glancing at the Tin Ranks and Felix.
"Unless you can turn invisible, we're gonna have to call this a loss. Maybe come back for them another time."
"You know we can't, Harn." Magda rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated.
"I'll do it!" Evie volunteered, but her sister simply fixed her with a withering glare and her ebullience died. "I'm fast and stealthy. I can do it. Especially if Atar gives me a boost with this enchantment."
"It's too minor. He can barely cast it for long now. It won't last long enough to make it there and back," Harn said, gentle in his gruff way.
Felix cleared his throat. They have to learn to trust me.
"I can go."
Magda's expression narrowed and Felix held his hands out, palms open.
"What have you got to lose? Worst case, the giants catch me and I die, right?"
If he were being honest, Felix definitely did not like the way Magda smiled at him.
