Unbound

Chapter Thirteen - 013

He felt bad as he walked away from the Henaari explorer. After all the help they had inadvertently given him, Felix felt they deserved a proper burial, not to be just left in the woods.

When I come back, he promised himself. For now, let's see what my new spells do and get some experience.

Watching the ground avidly, Felix searched through the multitude of tracks in the soft earth of the embankment. As what was probably the main source of fresh water in the area, he assumed there were tons of beasts close by, which made him both nervous and excited. Felix began to follow set of paw prints that were small, maybe the size of a big bunny. He might be eager to try out his power, but he wasn't insane.

Felix tried to move as stealthily as he could, but his sword sheath kept tangling in his legs. He had to keep a hand on the pommel at all times in order to walk normally. It was very frustrating. However, due to his focus and effort, he was able to raise Stealth by two levels.

The small tracks quickly led off into the brush, and they were singular, without any other small tracks around it. Hopefully that meant it was a small lone beast that wasn't too terribly high level. There were even a few places where he could tell the creature had run, probably from the other things in the forest.

You Have Learned A New Skill!

Tracking (Common), Level 1!

You have taught yourself to read the world around you for signs of life. Increased utilization of Perception per Skill Level.

Felix pumped a fist. Another Skill always seemed to help. In fact, as he looked down at the tracks again they appeared to light up, as if the prints were glowing. He could see the glowing tracks for about five feet before it cut off.

"Ooh, yeah. Very useful," Felix grinned and crept forward.

The landscape around the lake was the same as nearer the coastline where he arrived, temperate forests in the height of summer. The air was hot with a slight humidity that made his woolen shirt stick uncomfortably to his back. The plants all around him were green and vibrant, filled with colorful flowers and fronds. Distantly, he could see insects and small beasts flit through the air and branches, but they were entirely too fast for him to Analyze. He wondered how high their Agility was to be so speedy, likely more than twice his own.

A half hour later Felix found himself in a grove of Caplan Sprouts, massive twenty to thirty foot plants that had a proliferation of leafy fronds at their tops and thick, banded trunks with mazes of heavy roots that piled around their bases. But the most interesting thing about the grove wasn't the immense vegetation or even the spicy yet appetizing scent they wafted on the breeze, but of a large creature covered in a heavy brown pelt. It was shaped like a weasel in that it was long and sinuous, but it was the size of a sedan. As Felix watched from behind a rocky outcropping he could see the fluid grace in its movements. The monster had six, no, seven legs, each tipped with black claws that looked razor sharp. A short bushy tail stuck up in the back, whipping about as it attempted to burrow under one of the Sprouts.

Felix threw a quick Analyze at the thing.

Name: Seven Legged Orit

Type: Blood Beast

Level: 20

HP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

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Lore: Strengthened by dire rituals, the Seven Legged Orit has altered itself beyond its limits. Be wary.

Strength: Agility

Weakness: Unknown

This thing is way bigger than what I was tracking. And what's up with that Lore entry? Felix watched it carefully, barely tilting his head beyond the wide wall of the Sprout he hid behind. Does this count as a threat?

He toggled his Quest list.

Active Quests

Advance Five Spells To Apprentice Level!

0 of 5 Apprentice Spells

Home Sweet Home!

0 of 5 Threats Eliminated

Home Sweet Home!

0 of 5 Threats Eliminated

Threats:

Seven Legged Orit

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

That answers that. No way am I 'eliminating' that thing any time soon, though. Felix started to back away, trying to make as little noise as possible. He could hear the sound of digging continuing, followed by a large nose snuffling in the dirt. It was distracted, so he figured he wouldn't have any problem getting away. Next time, he'd--

Something cried out.

A high pitched wailing cry came from the roots that the Orit was digging into. It sounded frightened, and it tore at Felix's heart. Cursing silently, Felix crept back toward the edge of his Sprout and looked again. The giant weasel had moved, digging at a different angle, and he could see a small creature huddling in the shadows beneath the heavy roots. He only got an impression of fur and feathers and large, limpid golden eyes. This is what he'd been tracking.

Tracking is level 2!

Am I really doing this? But he was already casting a spell, an orb of green acid generating in the palm of his left hand. A pitiful yowl came from the roots as the monster crushed them against the ground, pulling and tearing at the thick wood. As the Orit pounced at the roots, slashing into them with its long black claws, Felix stepped out of his cover and let loose an Acid Stream. The concentrated acid jetted from Felix's hand, tearing across the distance and against the Orit's back.

SCREEEEEE!

The Orit stumbled to the side, all seven of its legs undulating its body as it tried to avoid the corrosive liquid. Felix was on it though, pushing his hand forward as he pumped more Mana into the spell to try and increase the flow. He stepped further out from the outcropping as the spell widened and pushed what felt like slightly more acid out, dropping his Mana at an even greater rate than before. The Orit screeched and ducked behind a Sprout. Felix cut off the spell and dropped into a defensive crouch, watching the vegetation for movement.

For a moment, all he could hear was the pathetic mewling of the small golden-eyed beast. Slowly he drew his sword, the soft scrape of metal on leather loud in the sudden silence. The wind rustled the fronds above them, gently tickling against the back of Felix's neck. He could hear the creak of his leather boots as he shifted in place, and his tunic felt heavy with sweat around the collar.

Where--?

A sudden feeling of terror made Felix tumble forward, pulling himself into an awkward half roll. He came up in time to see the Orit drop from above, claws and fangs slashing at where he just stood. Just barely climbing to his feet, the beast was already on him, slamming his body backward and sending him flying twenty feet. Felix landed in a heap, cracking his head against the trunk of a Sprout and losing his grip on his sword. He dimly saw it wedge pommel first between a tangle of roots, just out of reach. His Health dropped over two dozen points and a familiar blinking icon of a skull with a jagged line through it appeared in his vision.

Status Condition: Concussion (Minor)

Head trauma, we meet again.

Felix grunted and attempted to stand up, but fell down in a bout of dizziness. Which saved his life, as the Orit slashed at where his head once was; the follow up strike with the monster's fourth leg, however, connected.

"AGH!" Felix's right arm and chest burned where the Orit's black claws ripped through him. Skin and muscle shredded, his tunic torn and covered in blood, he bit back his pain and forced himself to roll away from the giant weasel. Felix stumbled to his feet, leaning heavily on his left arm. He was done. Absolutely done. Of all things, this?!

"I JUST GOT THIS SHIRT!"

Felix used Tides of Vellus.

Everything within a five foot radius of him was launched violently backward. Weeds, rocks, even a small sproutling, all blasted back like an invisible explosion went off. A faint haze of blue Mana rode the air, slowly dissipating as he watched the Orit rear backward, its forelegs pushed into the air by the Skill. The giant beast fell back to all paws with little actual damage done, but it eyed Felix warily and dropped low, snarling at him.

"Fuck off," Felix threw his Grubsticker at the beast's face, striking it directly in its sensitive nose. The Orit squealed in pain and pulled it's face down as it tried to claw out the makeshift knife.

Glancing at the rock shelf behind him, he swallowed and raised his left hand. Then he began to pour acid onto the loamy ground between the Orit and himself. He needed time to think, and if could ensure the Orit could only attack him from the front....

Felix increased the amount of Mana to the spell, causing a strange haze of green mist to gather around his left hand as acid continually spat out. Meditating and channeling Acid Stream, Felix's focus barely registered that the giant weasel had pulled the dagger from its snout. Suddenly, his Mana bottomed out and a whale of a headache pounded across his eyes.

An eight foot expanse of acidic mud separated Felix and the Orit in a semi circle, with the rock shelf guarding his back. The Orit kept well away from the acid, which was great because Felix's vision was blurring intermittently and his legs felt weak from blood loss. Still, he was able to finally get a good view of the creature, and it was terrifying. It was all of the worst qualities of a snake and a rat somehow combined and magnified. It's neck was serpentine in its movements as it inspected the mucky earth before it. Watching the monster snort at the still bubbling terrain, Felix carefully reached into his satchel and pulled out the hard leather potion case. Just as he was easing a red potion from the case, he heard something he hadn't expected.

"Why...do you...fight?" The Orit growled at him, it's voice a basso rumble.

Felix blinked, so surprised he stopped fiddling with the wax seal on his health potion. "Uh, what? Why? Why am I fighting you?"

The Orit nodded, it's black eyes never leaving Felix's face, and it's knife sized teeth showing as it panted.

Felix stood there, unsure how to respond. The Orit could speak! It was sentient! Felix had a sudden spasm of conscience. Had it just been hunting, like himself?

"Why are you attacking the, uh, that beast?" he waved in the direction of the small creature. The Orit made a horrible grinding noise in its throat, and it took Felix a moment to understand that it was laughing.

"Fun."

Felix grimaced. "Fun? How is that fun?"

"Screams...Pain....Fear...it all tastes so sweet, mmm," a tongue the length of Felix's forearm slurped out and licked its snout, tasting it's own blood. "A scent I cannot resist. Hunger...gnaws at me."

Felix's skin crawled at the naked lust in the Orit's face, a disturbing mixture of appetite and libido that he had no desire to decode. Then it snarled, hackles rising as it prowled the other side of the muddy pool. The Orit shook its head and sneered, something Felix didn't know animals could do, and looked Felix up and down. He felt a thrill of fear, cold lightning that crawled up his spine.

"You too smell...gooood." The Orit's black eyes bored into him, and it's wounded nose twitched. "Too good for this blasted waste."

Felix frowned, confused. Waste? What does that mean?

Another grinding noise in its throat, and it shook. "You will stay, I think." Then the giant weasel began to bark in sharp, high pitched whines, raising it's head up toward the sky.

That's ominous.

Felix immediately broke the seal and quaffed his health potion. He could feel it immediately begin to work on him, flesh reknitting and pulling taut. It was both intensely uncomfortable and a significant relief. Carefully, he stored the glass bottle back in his satchel as he watched a sickly red glow surround the Orit, gathering a mist-like ambient light around itself like a shroud. It felt violent and spoiled, like a river of coagulated blood, and Felix barely stopped himself from retching.

Is this Manasight? He chewed back bile. It's godawful. But thanks to his Skill, he could see the bloody Mana gathering around the Orit as it continued to bark rhythmically. As it collected it formed a funnel above it's body, like a small tornado of bloody energy. Whatever it was doing, it was very very bad.

Manasight is level 2!

Manasight is level 3!

Felix pulled out his only blue potion, broke the seal and chugged it. It felt like electric fire as it raced down his throat, scouring his veins as it went. A sudden weighty sensation appeared in his core, and his Mana bar rocketed up. Felix considered his options; he had trapped himself on a small island, his sword was wedged in some roots about thirty feet away, and he had barely 100 Mana left. The Orit's strength was it's Agility stat, and it was definitely faster than him. If he was going to have any sort of chance, then he needed to slow it down or....

He had an idea.

It was a terrible idea.

The Orit's strange ritual was reaching a crescendo, and some instinct told Felix that he didn't want to be here when it finished. He took a single, steadying breath. Pouring everything he had into his last spell, Felix channeled his Mana up from his core and into his arms and legs. He cast Tides of Vellus, except this time, he focused on putting all of the force down and behind him.

That's when the beast's ritual ended. "Mine!" It roared, and a torrent of blood-red energy blasted toward him.

Felix felt a pressure in his head and chest but willed his power to obey, threw his arms back and released.

Felix exploded from the ground, thrown ten feet into the air at an angle. The focused force of his spell launching him well over the shocked face of his enemy. He landed in a roll, coming awkwardly to his feet at speed as he raced toward his fallen sword. Behind him the bloody power smashed into the rock face, scorching it black as the Mana transformed visibly into crimson fire.

"NO!" The Orit roared again, quickly spinning around and running toward Felix. "Mine!"

Felix had angled toward the hiding place of the small beast, the creature that had started this. He pushed himself, trying to use all of his Strength and Agility to get just a few fractions of a second ahead, but he could hear the monster gaining on him. The terrible sensation of a bloody quagmire suddenly surged behind him, and Felix made a final desperate leap over a section of roots. Even as he fell, he activated his last spell, one he hoped he understood.

The world lit up in surges of blue white and bloody crimson before it all went dark.