Dissonance: A LitRPG Adventure, page 18
part #1 of Unbound Series
"True danger?" Atar looked pale, though it was hard to tell in the low light. He swallowed, his boyish features never so apparent as now. Blind gods, they're so damn young.
"Oh yes, kid. True danger lurks in the Foglands. Things even I can't kill," Harn added with an evil grin. "They say there's even a cabal of Lost sorcerers here, hidden from the world. Practicing magic so dark, it'd burn your soul clean out!" Harn's voice rose to a dramatic whisper as he leaned toward Atar. "Boo!"
Atar jumped, nearly landing on his feet if not for his robes, and instead face-planted in the dirt. Harn laughed, a quick and loud chuckle that became a wheezy guffaw.
"Enough, enough," chided Magda. She glanced up at the moon, hazy and indistinct in the fog. When she looked back, Atar was giving Harn a venomous look before he rolled over, blanket pulled on to ward off the chill of the foggy night. Evie was giggling quietly, and Vess looked clearly uncomfortable.
Magda sighed and walked away. "We move in five hours." She stalked to the edge of the ward, script light illuminating her face. "I'll take first watch."
Wasn't much to say to that, it seemed. They all turned in within a few minutes, leaving Magda alone with the blissful silence. She settled down by the edge of the ward, watching the cloudy darkness beyond the ruined tower.
We're close, Callie, she thought, eyes searching the dark for some clue.
Just hold on.
CHAPTER TWENTY
It took five hours to find the cave.
Felix's uncanny memory led him true, but the strange fog that pervaded Balfur's recollection confused him. There was no sign of it. The forest was the same as always, full of a variety of trees, dangerous beasts, and a plethora of interesting herbs.
Congratulations!
You Have Gained A Title!
Natural Scholar II (Uncommon)!
You have Analyzed over 1000 different species of flora and fauna! +3 INT, +2 DEX, +2 PER!
Felix had gathered dozens of different plants, all with an increasing variety of uses, and his Herbalism Skill jumped up by 3 whole levels. Some were regenerative for Health, Stamina, or even Mana, but most were focused on curing status ailments like Bleeding, Dazed, even one that supposedly cured Petrification. The implications of that one worried him.
The journey was further complicated by no less than fourteen monstrous beasts, ranging from a level 20 snake creature to a level 24 moth bigger than him. The levels seemed to increase as he moved further, closing in on this cave. Felix crept around most of these enemies, content to observe rather than spend hours fighting them off. His Stealth Skill even raised by 4 levels, along with Breath Control.
There were a few, however, that were too Perceptive for him to avoid. Felix and Pit dealt with them, but it drained them. More time was spent recovering back to peak before moving on. All in all, his Dodge gained 4 levels, Acrobatics increased by 3, Dual Casting by 3, Physical Conditioning by 3, Long Blade Mastery had jumped up 2 levels, Running gained 1, Manasight by 1, Meditation by 1. Even Unarmed Mastery gained a single level when a serpentine cat had knocked his sword from his hand. It was exhausting, the constant fighting, but Felix couldn't deny he felt a primal sort of glee every time he survived a fight.
His magical Skills progressed as well, each of them gaining a few levels due to heavy use. Mana was his highest attribute, and it recovered faster than Health or Stamina. He still wasn't sure what determined regeneration, though Felix was convinced it was a hidden stat of some sort. Something was affecting it.
It was as he struck down a yellow-furred squirrel the size of a dog that he finally saw the cave. It was heavily obscured by several large fern-like plants all around it, neatly blending into the rocky terrain.
Your Companion, Pit, Has Gained A Level!
+2 VIT! +2 PER! +4 AGL! +4 DEX! +3 WIL! +1 END! +2 INT!
You Have Gained A Level!
You are now Level 14!
+3 to WIL! +2 to INT! +4 to DEX! +1 to END! +2 to PER! +2 to VIT! +4 to AGL!
You Have 5 Unused Stat Points!
"Huh. Nice." Felix smiled and wiped his bloody sword on the matted fur of the big tree rat. He looked over at Pit, who had already started eating another one of the giant squirrels. "C'mon, Pit. We'll take a break in the cave."
Pit yipped and grabbed one of the corpses, dragging it in for a meal. The Tenku had grown again, and was now nearly two feet at the shoulder. He was easily able to carry the dog-sized squirrel in his beak, though most of it dragged on the ground.
Exploration is level 10!
Just inside the cave was fairly dark, the late afternoon ambient sunlight illuminating only a short distance within. Felix strained his Perception, looking for any sort of threats in the cavern. His Memory detailed this as quite the labyrinth, filled with numerous beasts that hopefully would stay within, for now. Sensing nothing, Felix sat down on a rock and assigned his bonus stats.
He quickly allocated 1 point to Endurance and the remaining 4 to Perception. He had noticed a significant improvement since hitting 50 with his other stats and wanted to bring the important ones up to snuff. Felix shook his head. As much as he used his magic, he couldn't get away from the urge to balance out all of his stats. Maybe he'd be more powerful if he'd focused on Strength and Vitality over spreading himself out like this. Maybe. And maybe he'd end up too unbalanced and would die because he was strong but not fast enough. Balance, as far as he was concerned, was life or death.
Name: Felix Nevarre
Level: 14
Race: Nym
Omen: The Magician
Born Trait: Keen Mind
Health: 242/283
Stamina: 210/276
Mana: 238/417
STR: 53 PER: 47
VIT: 56 END: 50
INT: 55 WIL: 78
AGL: 45 DEX: 43
Skills:
Resistances: Acid Resistance (C), Level 13; Pain Resistance (U), Level 15; Poison Resistance (U), Level 17
Utility: Analyze (C), Level 17; Improvisation (C), Level 4; Running (C), Level 15; Stealth (C), Level 15; Swimming (C), Level 3; Tracking (C), Level 11; Breath Control (U), Level 12; Companion Pact (U), Level 6; Dual Casting (U), Level 12; Free Climbing (U), Level 12; Exploration (U), Level 10; Herbalism (U), Level 17; Meditation (U), Level 20; Manasight (U), Level 11; Lessons of the Past (R), Level 6; Physical Conditioning (R), Level 11
Combat: Dodge (C), Level 19; Long Blade Mastery (C), Level 8; Small Blade Mastery (C), Level 7; Staff Mastery (C), Level 1; Thrown Weapons Mastery (C), Level 9; Unarmed Mastery (C), Level 4; Acrobatics (U), Level 17
Spells: Acid Stream (R), Level 17; Fire Within (R), Level 16; Influence of the Wisp (R), Level 11; Tides of Vellus (R), Level 15
Title(s):
Gourmand (+1 INT, VIT)
Survivor III (+4 END, +6 VIT)
Natural Scholar II (+4 INT, +2 DEX,+3 PER)
Giantslayer II (+3 STR, AGL)
Daredevil II (+2 STR, AGL, +3 VIT)
Butcher III (+8 STR, +6 WIL, +6 DEX)
Unconquered (+4 END, +6 VIT, +4 WIL)
Spellslinger (+4 INT, WIL)
Face the Charge (+4 WIL, +1 VIT, +2 STR)
Bulwark of the Innocent (+10% STR, VIT)
Pactmaker +4 AGL, PER, +3 DEX
Workhorse +4 END, STR, +3 VIT
Unused Stat Points: 0
Felix laughed at himself. Focusing on his stats and Skills kept his mind off the dangers he was about to face. He was a long way from the man he was on the beach, but he still wasn't enough to survive all the dangers here. There was always something worse out there. Chances were, that something was inside this cavern. Even if it weren't, something had chased Balfur out of that stone city, something that made even a level 20 Irontooth Ape mortally afraid.
Shaking himself and slapping his knees, Felix redirected his attention. It was much easier to focus himself recently, likely due to his huge Willpower and rising Intelligence. Thinking felt a lot faster, like the gears were all lubricated and juiced up, and he was having ideas he wasn't sure he'd have thought of a few weeks ago.
Pit lounged nearby, picking clean the bones of that giant squirrel. He was still eating a ton everyday, but it was much less of a problem now that he could hunt for himself. Felix watched him, smiling slightly. The little guy had been an invaluable companion to Felix, lightening his mood considerably just by existing. Suddenly, Pit's head perked up and oriented into the darkness.
"What is it, bud?" Felix slowly stood, unsheathing his sword. He focused on the darkness, trying to leverage his Perception to glimpse whatever it was his Companion sensed. There was nothing.
Then nothing attacked.
Shadows whipped from the edges of the cavern, tendrils of darkness that tangled around Felix's legs and yanked. He fell with an "Oof!" and the tendrils pulled him toward the cavern.
Grunting with exertion, Felix sat up and hacked down at the shadowy tendrils, bronze sword striking true. As he did, the runes on the blade flashed a bright gold, and the shadow screamed as it partially dissolved. Felix scrambled to his feet, holding the still-glowing sword in front of him like a torch. Something moved in the darkness, silent save for the slight hissing from its wounds.
An idea struck, and Felix held up his left hand, the one wearing a simple bronze ring. A flood of light bloomed from the ring as Felix activated its enchantment; it had been passively gathering light for the past few days, and should have plenty to light his way. The shadow creature squealed in alarm and perhaps pain, and Felix could finally see its full form.
It was made of rock, or looked like it; it was shaped like a pillbug, covered in plates of rocky material, with six heavily-jointed legs spread out for balance. It sat low to the ground, and it had four tendrils made of darkness whipping wildly in the air.
Name: Rockstrike
Type: Elemental
Level: 23
HP: 289/342
SP: 260/252
MP: 72/72
Lore: An elemental born of a confluence of Earth and Shadow. It is eternally hungry.
Strength: Strength and Agility
Weakness: Light
It did not like the light, hissing from beneath its armor, and the tendrils struck back out against him. They struck Felix across the chest, wrapping around his right arm as it attempted to disarm him. Felix cried out, the shadow-stuff burning against his unprotected skin. He wrenched his arm away, but an angry red welt was left on him. The tendrils coiled back, then launched once more at his face. Too fast to dodge, Felix tried to tuck and roll away.
He knew he'd be too late.
A sharp cry tore through the cavern, and Pit was momentarily surrounded by a haze of red.
Pit used Cry!
Rockstrike is Stunned for 1 second!
Cry is level 10!
Felix glanced up, seeing the Rockstrike's tendrils drop limply to the ground. He burned Mana, forcing power through the looping channels in his arms as he cast a focused Tides of Vellus. A cone of blue light blasted forth, throwing the Rockstrike back and into the cavern wall. It smashed into the jagged surface and fell onto its back. Before it could recover, Felix jumped toward it, his 53 points of Strength propelling him fifteen feet toward the elemental, and struck downward with his hooked sword. The glowing blade cut into the elemental's body like it was paper, sizzling and spitting as the wound released gouts of shadowy miasma. Felix had to stumble back to evade the noxious cloud.
Doing so saved his neck, as the Rockstrike went berserk, whipping its shadowy tendrils in all directions. One smashed against Felix's chest, throwing him back ten feet, directly into a stalagmite. The breath exploded out of his lungs, and Felix felt like a vice gripped his chest. He was still stumbling to his feet when his friend leaped onto the flailing elemental.
He tried to cry out, to tell Pit to stop, but he couldn't get a breath. He could only watch helplessly as the Tenku ducked the powerful tendrils and began to savage the Rockstrike's wounded underbelly. The elemental tried to attack, but Pit was too close, the tendrils not quite flexible enough to hit his small form. Despite his condition, Felix could almost sense Pit's fury, his fox-like tail bushy and stiff, wings tucked close to his body.
Bite is level 9!
Bite is level 10!
Rake is level 8!
Rake is level 9!
Pit was a flurry of primal fury, his claws and beak tearing into the Rockstrike with abandon. Before Felix even got to his feet, it was done. The Rockstrike's tendrils fell limp to the ground, its legs slowly curling and stiffening up. Pit pulled back, holding a strange chunk of black rock in his beak as he trotted happily back toward Felix.
"What have you got there?" Felix wheezed, his breath coming back to him. Pit came up to him and dropped the rock into his palm before settling back with a smug look on his face. "Good job, buddy. Didn't know you had it in you."
The rock was odd. It was definitely stone, but it felt slick like oil and radiated a strange sense of...he wasn't sure. Hunger? To his Manasight, the stone leaked a cloud of brown and black, swirling together in a way that tasted like deep dark earth. He Analyzed it.
Analyze is level 18!
Name: Rockstrike Core
Type: Elemental Core
Lore: An elemental core is the central node of any elemental. While not always solid, it provides the majority of their power as they live and evolve. Can be used for many purposes, from smithing to enchanting.
Rarity: Common
"Oh, it’s like the Blood Remnant, I think," Felix offered, holding the core up to his face. "It was really smart to take this ou—"
Pit snapped the core from his hands, and gulped it down.
"Dude!" Felix lunged forward to stop him, but Pit scurried backward, pleased as punch. Then he started to glow. With a yipping cry, Pit suddenly shimmered a brilliant black and red, and his wings snapped out to full. Dark red feathers filled out along his wings, primaries and secondaries bursting forth like crimson spears, while the inner coverts filled with lustrous black. As the light faded, Pit was no bigger than before but seemed...
Felix toggled Pit's status.
Name: Pit (Companion)
Level: 6
Race: Chimera - Tenku
Health: 75/75
Stamina: 64/64
Mana: 83/83
STR: 6 PER: 21
VIT: 15 END: 12
INT: 16 WIL: 15
AGL: 45 DEX: 26
Skills:
Bite (C), Level 10
Rake (C), Level 9
Cry (R), Level 9
Skulk (C), Level 18
Companion Pact (U), Level 5
"Holy hell, how'd that happen?" Felix was flabbergasted. Pit had...absorbed the core? And it gave him a stat bump? How? Wait, no, that didn't matter. What DID matter was if it was repeatable.
"Pit, little bud. Wanna eat some more elementals?"
Pit barked and flapped his wings, clearly ecstatic.
They traversed the cavern, pushing deeper and deeper as they sought out more elementals like the Rockstrike. Felix was following the Memory map from Balfur, but wasn't above taking a detour. His Keen Mind kept him from getting lost, so the two of them moved carefully and inspected as much as they could.
Barely fifteen minutes into their trek, however, Felix's Tracking Skill noted odd marks along the floor and walls. Sharp divots, less like footprints and more like depressions left by iron spears, they nevertheless faintly glowed in his vision. His Skill pegged them as tracks, but they were easily a dozen feet apart, much wider than the Rockstrike’s. A huge creature had come through here, then disappeared. The tracks vanished before he made it to the next intersection. Felix shivered, memory of Balfur's fear of the "Other" rising to mind.
Tracking is level 12!
Felix changed his mind. Delving deeper into these caverns was a mistake. The risk of encountering a foe they couldn't handle was too high. Level 20 might be doable for them at this point, but Felix doubted that was the limit of the monsters here. After that, they kept to the Memory path.
In the interest of training as well as survival, Felix exercised his Stealth while Pit used Skulk, which operated in much the same way. Felix kept his ring to a low burn, casting only a dim light around them, enough to see without completely giving away their position.
The caverns were beautiful, in their own way. Bioluminescent fungi lined the walls in the deepest places, and the constant drip drip drip of water echoed through many of the passages. The cavern walls were smooth and worn, likely thousands of years old, and in the light of his enchanted ring, he could make out the striations of layered sediment. These were the bones of the world, and like much of the Continent, it seemed very similar to Earth.
If it weren't for all the monsters and moons, this would be like some wilderness back home.
They encountered a number of Rockstrikes along the way, each one fast and dangerous. Felix and Pit developed an effective strategy against them: they would stun them with Cry or Influence of the Wisp, flip them, then hack at their unprotected underbellies. Due to their strong armor and hides, this would take a few minutes unless they got lucky, and that was provided they didn't get lashed with those shadowy tendrils. There was more than one close call.
Felix still tried to better his use of Tides of Vellus. It was his most versatile spell, as well as his personal favorite. The problem was the conical burst, which in the tight confines of the cavern was too much. Most of the force was lost as it rebounded wildly off of the rock around them, often pushing Felix around more than the enemy. He focused on trying to reduce Tides to a sharper, more precise angle. It was hard work, costing him more Mana and concentration, but Felix hoped it would pay dividends eventually.
