Chapter Five Hundred And Forty Eight – 548
The Frostfather is our god. He of the ice and night, whos power birthed our people, Naberius said.
They were walking across the frigid plains, but most of the snow was hidden under the weight of bat corpses. The enemies kept on coming, even after the initial rush. He devoured their bodies as he listened to the Witches' explanations. To their credit, Naberius managed to hide her shock as clouds of smoky lights poured into Felixs mouth. Her voice barely stuttered.
Wh-when the first breath of winter arrived on the Continent, the Frostfather was there, shepherding it until it formed our home. The Hoarfrost. From the ice, he made us. The Risi, born to thrive in the lands of cold stone. To rule.
Wait, Felix said, a wisp of Essence trailing from his mouth. I thought the Mother had her hands in things. And that mortals pushed the Risi into the north. He remembered that from his first interactions with the Frost Giantsand an instructive discussion with Grimmar. But youre saying youve always been here?
Sitri clucked her tongue and her jowls shook. Born of ice and stone, but with Spirits of fire. The Risi seek conquest. For a great many generations, we lived in the southlands. We claimed them.
And the Mother isapocryphal. That one being created all the various monsters upon the Continent is foolishness bordering on blasphemy. Naberius bared her teeth at the middle distance, as if remembering something foul. It matters little, now. The Cult of the Mother is dead.
Huh. They kept walking, albeit at a fast pace. Felix didnt trust the footing, not with sheets of ice breaking apart hundreds of yards away, but he was also in a hurry. He would have flown if hadnt acquired an audience. Ahead, the ground had been sheared through when several more spires had fallen during his battle, exposing more and more of the rotting ice and deep, dark water below. Felix half expected every rock they passed under to do the same.
Pit walked beside him, alert and eager. Hed earned two levels in that fight, and was still buzzing with the residual energy from all those stat increases. Dont worry about the Mother, he said. We killed her anyway.
Silence met Pits words while confusion, curiosity, and disbelief spun in clouded circles around the Witches. He was happy for the quiet. Felix wasnt going to explain that whole situation, even if they asked.
His thoughts drifted instead to the notifications he had received. The new Title was nice, and likely indicated hed more than surpassed this first layer. That was good, since this was probably the place that needed the most culling. The Brumalbats didnt offer a lot of Essence, but every ocean was made up of individual droplets of water. For now, hed take all he could.
The second notification was the real issue. It indicated this Frostfather was a literal being, and not just some religious thing of the Frost Giants. Felix had no reason to believe some random god was fake, not with how his life had turned out, but it was still disquieting. Is he an Urge or an actual god? Or another Primordial?
The Mother of Monsters had another name, after all. Before he devoured her.
The goal is to keep moving inward right? Through the layers? he asked.
It is. The exit lies ahead, at that glacial ridge there.
Got it. Felix scanned ahead, noting colony after colony of glittering Brumalbats between them and the miles distant ridge. Stick close, then.
It was bloody work, slaughtering their way through the icy plains. Felix and Pit took to it with gusto at first, but it quickly grew tedious. After only a few more battles, the ice bats started avoiding their party entirely, fleeing on sight. Pit and Felix chased a few of them down, but the effort to catch, kill, and consume them swiftly proved futile. The experience and Essence they provided was meager at best, especially in the small quantities that they were able to capture at once. Felix considered lingering in the first layer to track them all down, but Naberius told him greater beasts were located at each successive layer. That sounded good enough to him.
Now they stood before a massive glacier that stretched across the entirety of the horizon. It was like a wall, vanishing into swirling clouds of snow to either side.
Behold. The exit of the first layer and entrance to the second. Naberius gestured to the craggy ice wall before them. It was riddled with crevices and ridges, but there was no cave or tunnel. Just solid ice.
Okay, Felix said, drawing out the word. Is this something we have to climb?
The Witches did not answer, and for once their Spirits were still. Felix raised an eyebrow. Clearly this was another test.
Pit looked up. I think I can manage a climb, he said.
Dont worry about it. Lemme check it first. Felix scratched his friends ears, prompting his horse-sized back leg to stomp involuntarily. Be back in a second.
Cloudstep!
Adamant Discord!
Lightning surged upward and Felix rode atop of it. Hed made sure to cushion his leap with a Cloudstep, but the sharp sound of splitting ice followed him as he ascended. Whoops.
No time to worry about that now.
Felix continued to pull, hauling back with a huge amount of his Strength and hurtling upward at a ridiculous speed. The ice wall before him, however, never abated. He burst through clouds into brilliant sunlight and back into clouds again, yet the expanse of the glacier was endless. It had no top, which meant climbing it was a fools game.
He shot back down.
No climbing, he said as he landed, this time far softer than his takeoff. Felix glanced at the Witches. Foris was peering at him and then back up, Sitri had bundled herself in her robes, and Naberius simply watched with a faint smile on her angular face. What do you think, Pit?
His Companion was standing closer to the glacier, beak almost pressed against the ice. A crack had split some of the ground and taken a chunk out of the wall too, and he raised a talon and dragged it slowly against the ice. Chips fell off, and to Felixs Manasight they smoked with an intense vapor.
I think we have to break through, Pit said. Without another word, he slashed his talons full force into the ice. A large section broke away, easily twice as big as Pit himself and forcing him to dance backward away from its collapse.
Hurricane Rasp is level 80!
Weakness: Poor maneuverability.
They were clearly physically powerful, and their poor speed was made up for by what looked like impressive Strength and Endurance for their level. Monster levels were a little misleading as a gauge, though, since Evolutions played a huge part in their growth cycle. Felix had no clue how advanced these Obelons were, only that his Voracious Eye ranked their overall advancement as a Tier III. Like with peoples advancement, the ranking was a feeling more than a System certainty, but hed never been wrong before. A Tier III was equivalent to a high Journeyman combatant. Easy, in other words.
The Witches seemed to be unconcerned as well, though their Spirits betrayed them. Felixs Affinity detected strains of eagerness above all others, and Naberius was clearly watching him with a steady, unabashed gaze.
Frankly, the moment he categorized their threat, Felix couldnt have given two shits about the monsters ahead or the Witches behind. Pit?
Im here. The answer came through their bond, the Etheric Concordance, words and sense images. Felix saw a brief vista that looked remarkably similar to his own, but definitely not the same.
Are you okay? Came through the portal without any problems?
Im fine. These bigturtle bugs havent even noticed me.
Youresouth. I can feel you. Just over that icy ridge. Hold on, Ill be over there in a second
No! I said I can do this. I Emotions tumbled through their bond, too knotted to be any one thing. Ill meet you at the second layer exit, okay?
Felix clenched his jaw, but didnt argue. Alright, bud. Im here if you need me.
I know.
Their connection never faded, but Felix could tell when his Companion shifted his attention away. Toward danger. In the distance, he could hear the sound of thunder.
Human. Why do you dawdle?
Barely restraining a snarl, Felix forced himself to let the tension ease out of his shoulders. The challenge is to just get through the layers, right? Or is there more to it?
This is not simply a trial of survival, Naberius said, as if that was enough explanation.
Fine. This time he did growl. Then lets make this quick.
He kicked off the ground, uncaring if he shattered the ice or made the Witches path harder. He was only focused on the obstacle in his way.
Stone Shaping!
Sliding to a stop right before the rhino-bugs, Felix let his Mana blast forth from him in a wave of dusty-brown. It crossed the final distance to the nearest Obelons and sank into the very rock of their bodies. Two dozen beasts roared in anger and confusion, their many eyes rolling as Felix grasped and twisted.
They exploded in a shower of vibrant silver viscera.
You Have Killed An Obelon (x24)!
XP Earned!
Beyond, the herd bellowed and charged him as one.
Rime Shaping!
Stone Shaping!
Dual Skills sounded within him, burrowing into the earth through the Mana Gates at his feet, before erupted in two monoliths of ice and stone.
Youre in my way! he shouted, and slammed his hands together.
You Have Killed An Obelon (x43)!
XP Earned!
All that remained on the field was a shattered column of frosty rock and pools of splattered silver ichor.
Chthonic Tribute!
And then even that was gone.
