Hunger: A LitRPG Adventure (Unbound Book 3), page 4
They walked for another ten minutes, crossing the blasted kill zone on light feet, and all the while, Felix watched the gate guards. They were Acolytes, whatever that meant, and as they drew closer Felix could make out the details of their armor. Each wore an identical set of silvery chainmail with a snow-white tunic belted over it. The tunic was trimmed in gold thread, accenting a golden starburst pattern emblazoned on their chests.
Similar starbursts were etched into their white-enameled pauldrons and helms. The helms were similar to German sallet helms with a domed top and a sort of half visor, leaving only a slit in the front. Their gorget (or whatever it was called) extended upward, covering their neck, chin, and mouth. It would have made for an intimidating look, had the Acolytes kept their helms on. Lafei had hers tucked under an arm, while Keryk's was nowhere to be seen, and both were sweating in the mounting heat of the morning.
In fact, it was so hot outside the trees, Felix was starting to feel a tingle along his limbs. Not quite pain, but pressure that he was sure would make the switch were it to get much warmer. Damn broken Heat Resistance!
"Those're Inquisitors. Low-rank, I think." Mervin tilted his head and looked up and down the wall. "They weren't out here a day ago, just other Guilders. Something must have happened."
Felix was starting to regret approaching the gate like this, but it was too late to back out now. Sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Halt," called Lafei, studying them with lazy eyes. She leaned back against the gate itself, not bothering to come closer. "State your names and your business."
"Tin Rank Mervin Cors, Protectors' Guild apprentice, coming in from patrol." Mervin saluted smartly, though maybe he puffed his chest out a little more than usual. The Acolyte's eyes drifted toward Felix, who met them impassively.
"Felix. Out hunting."
"In the monster-infested wilds? Who authorized you to leave Haarwatch? Do you have a Writ of Passage?" Lafei asked without much inflection, and she slowly opened a scroll and checked it. Meanwhile, Keryk stepped forward and eyeballed Felix. Both Acolytes carried halberds in their fists and a small side sword at their waist, and Keryk ground his haft into the packed earth below. Felix ignored him and addressed his partner.
"I wasn't aware I needed authorization or a Writ. I've been away for a bit, living in the wilds. I guess the rules changed on me." Felix kept his gaze steady and his expression as blank as he could manage, attempting to convey the sense of casual authority he'd seen in Harn.
Deception is level 11!
Keryk stepped closer, sniffing before making a face. "He certainly smells like it. Damn backwater yokels, haven't you heard of a bath?"
Felix tamped down his anger even as Pit squawked inwardly in outrage. The tenku was getting smarter every day, and his anger burned up and down Felix's spine, practically urging him to do something, anything. A flex of his Willpower held the emotions at bay for now.
"Been a while since I've seen civilization. You let me through, and I'll be sure to get right on that." Felix smiled, though he realized it was more like baring his teeth.
"Impossible. You're not on the log as having come out, so you can't come through the gates." Lafei sniffed, clearly disdainful toward his breach of protocol. She busied herself with re-rolling the scroll in her hands. "This is being done for your own safety."
Keryk stepped closer. "The Foglands are thick with Sorcery, ya see? You never can tell when someone's been… corrupted."
Felix glanced at Mervin with disbelief, and the Tin Rank only widened his eyes and shook his head slightly. When he looked back at Keryk, the man reached out and poked him in the chest.
"And you can't do nothin' about it," he whispered. "So piss off."
Reign of Vellus took Keryk right in his smug face.
He flipped end over end until he smashed against the metal wall. Azure lightning crackled and spat across his armored form, making him twitch and spasm even as he slid into an unconscious heap on the ground.
"Damnit."
"Keryk!" Lafei's eyes followed her partner's crumpled form before spinning toward the offender. "Cease your casting! Stop—!"
But there was no one there, save for that cowering Tin Rank who looked up at her in confusion.
"Where'd he go!?"
CHAPTER THREE
Oh thank god this is working, Felix thought with relief. Abyssal Skein felt difficult to summon, far more so than when in the Void, but it camouflaged him enough that, when he'd run to the wall and out of line of sight, it compensated. Lafei didn't even glance in his direction. That was so stupid. Why did I attack?
He didn't know what had come over him. He had just felt so angry.
It took Lafei eight entire seconds to call for reinforcements; he knew because he was frantically counting down the time until Abyssal Skein ran out, and he had to take a breath. His chest felt fine so far, but he had a minute at most. Once Keryk stopped convulsing, Lafei banged on the gate, sending muted thumps through the strong metal. In moments, more white-and-gold-armored Acolytes and even an Initiate, whatever that meant, flooded out.
Abyssal Skein is level 5!
"What happened, Acolyte? Report!" The Initiate was wearing armor of a similar design to Lafei, but wore her helmet and had a thick crimson cloak draped from her shoulders. She also gripped a gold-chased longsword in her left hand, one that shimmered with barely-held-back fire Mana. Lafei saluted, throwing her fist to her heart.
"There was a suspect, ma'am! He attacked Acolyte Keryk with an unknown Mana Skill and fled the scene."
"Who was it? Name and level." The Initiate looked around the area with sharp eyes, stopping briefly to stare at Mervin, who sat on the ground before them, not daring to move. Felix crept closer to the open door, but there were two armored figures in the way, and the way his Skill inverted colors made walking a little queasy. "Any day now, Acolyte!"
"Ah, um, ma'am, I didn't..." Lafei looked flustered and was sweating. "I didn't get a chance to Analyze him."
"What?" The Initiate's voice went low and flat. "Why?"
"He-he didn't seem like a threat, ma'am. Keryk—" Lafei's eyes looked down to her still-unconscious partner.
"Keryk is a buffoon. I had thought assigning him to you would curb his impulsiveness. I appear to have been wrong." The Initiate growled the last. "So we have a rogue element who attacked one of our own with a Skill of unknown provenance? You let such a threat escape, Acolyte? Is that what you're telling me?" The sword in the Initiate's hand started to cast off hazy waves of heat, and a small flicker of fire licked the tip of the blade.
"Y-yes, ma'am. But!" Lafei frantically pointed to Mervin on the ground. "This one arrived with the assailant. He knows them!"
All of the Inquisition members stepped toward the Tin Rank, and Felix found his opportunity. He crept to the open door as quietly as he could. He cast a final look at Mervin, who was still cowering on the ground with wide eyes and trembling hands as the Initiate stood over him with that flaming sword. Felix clenched his jaw but had to leave it at that; he couldn't hold Abyssal Skein much longer. Either Mervin would give up what he knew about Felix or he wouldn't; there was nothing Felix could do about it now. He ducked through the doorway...
...and nearly ran into another Acolyte who rushed through. Diving forward, Felix rolled to his feet and agony shot up from his heels to his spine. He stumbled forward, barely catching himself before he barrelled through another member of the Inquisition. Felix staggered toward the tunnel wall and got his bearings, his lungs beginning to burn for oxygen.
He was in a corridor that extended nearly fifty feet, with numerous holes in the ceiling through which he could see various men and women in leather and mail armor moving about. The corridor was filled with Guilders, each of them wearing their Tin Rank badge on their chest. Felix didn't stop to gawk, but stuck to the shadows and hurried out.
The tunnel emptied out into an open field, easily two hundred feet wide and as long as the exterior wall. It was all hard-packed earth and stone, and there were a few dozen groups of armored figures clustered throughout. Lungs aching for breath forced him toward an unattended cart, half-filled with unmarked wooden crates. Reasonably out of sight, Felix let out his breath and felt the oil slick sensation of the Void dissipate.
Eugh, that sucks. Feels harder to do here, more… strain. He was panting, gulping air and sweating beneath his light clothes. Footsteps crunched all around him as Guilders and a few members of the Inquisition moved in groups to train, guard, or whatever they did here. Taking a few quick breaths, he pulled in as deep as he could and activated Abyssal Skein again.
Felix peered through the wheels under the wagon and saw another gate on an inner wall, about three hundred yards down to his right. There were a number of carts throughout the field, each one in the process of being unloaded. Timing his movements around the soldiers, he swept past them, stepping as fast as he could while still remaining quiet. That turned out to be pretty fast, almost equal to his old Earth running speed.
Abyssal Skein is level 6!
Abyssal Skein is level 7!
Each bump in level made the breath in his chest a touch easier to hold onto, a bit less of a burning burden. The sun was rising now, but it came from the east, the opposite side of the city. Long shadows from the walls cast the grounds into cool shadow, and by moving cautiously between the carts, Felix was able to make it across the field and to the internal wall. It was made of a pale gray stone, granite according to his Eye, and was both fifty feet shorter than the outer wall and entirely mundane.
Keeping low, he managed to get to the inner gate, tailing behind a departing wagon. This gate was manned entirely by medallion bearing Guilders, Tin Ranks both, and low-level ones at that. Felix passed by them without causing either to blink, and in seconds, he was in. He had made it.
So this is Haarwatch?
The street was paved with wide, flat stones and rose ahead of him in a low but steady incline. The shadows were still thick there, the hill Haarwatch was built upon raised the houses in tiered rows that blocked the rising sun like a mountain. Even so, dawn broke across many of the building's highest edges, their roofs limned with honeyed light. In contrast to his dark surroundings, the sky was a bright, robin’s egg blue with only a small scattering of clouds. gray plumes drifting lazily from the businesses and residences around him, and had Felix been able to take a breath, he was sure wood smoke would have filled the air.
As it was still early morning, the streets were mostly empty, though the scant exceptions were all Guilders. They moved to and from the wall, fresh faces scurrying forward with cleaned weapons and armor while a tired few came down sets of stairs built into the inner bulwark. Those trudged off in various directions, the street splitting into one that ran parallel with the wall and one that led up toward the apex of town.
Inns and taverns filled the thoroughfare before him, more than he expected, and they were beginning to bustle with early morning business. Felix hustled forward, less concerned with being spotted now due to the increase in people. He wanted to drop his Skill as soon as possible; the feel of the Void was not pleasant, oily even. It was damn useful, however. Idly, as he passed lamp posts and tavern after tavern, he wondered what Skills he might have picked up from a Tenebril or Narhollow.
Idiot. Considering how long the Nochtnatter took to digest, one of those mega-whales would've split me apart.
A sudden spate of shouting behind him caused Felix to flinch and glance backward. A few Acolytes had run out through the inner gate and were gesturing furiously to each other. They tried to be quiet and calm, but Felix focused his Perception and could just barely make them out.
"What's going on? Why aren't you at the wall?" An older Acolyte had stopped his fellows from shouting, trying to make sense of their agitation.
"Initiate Zala sent us. Says someone got inside, a human male, younger looking with blue eyes," one said, looking around furtively.
"She suspects Sorcery! A beast, loose in the town!" another Acolyte offered, not nearly as quietly.
"Quiet!" the older Acolyte grumbled. "Things are bad enough with the murders, I don't need you to start a panic!"
Felix moved beyond the range of his senses, but didn't stop. He'd heard enough. He started looking for a viable inn, somewhere he could hideout and rest. Felix spotted a sign with a huge, round horse eating a pie and smiled. The Fat Horse, huh? It looked inviting at first glance, but soon he realized the place was swarming with Guilders. Briefly, he could see the telltale flash of white enamel and gold trim among its early morning crowd. Inquisitors.
There was the sound of metal against stone, and the jangle of harnesses that drew his eye back down the street, toward the inner gate. Two of the Acolytes were sweeping down the road, eyes panning and halberds at the ready.
Shit shit shit. Felix's lungs were beginning to burn again. He needed to move fast. He ducked down a narrow side street, little more than an alley between two wood and stone buildings. Seconds later, he burst onto another street, this one just as wide as the last and running parallel. The main difference was that it was significantly quieter.
Which made it far easier to hear the *clomp-scrape* of booted feet coming his way.
Screaming inside, Felix rushed to the nearest building and tried the door. Locked. He ran to the next, but it was also locked. Few of the buildings here had smoke rising from them, and those that did were closer to the wall road. Toward the Acolytes.
The next door had a sign above it with an illegible script and the picture of a book, a needle, and a candlestick. For a moment, looking at the sign, he thought he heard… something. A piece of song on the breeze, alluring, it vanished in seconds. Felix didn't care what kind of shop it was; he needed to get off the street. With a mental apology to the owner, Felix placed his shoulder against the door and pushed. With a tearing sound and the metallic plink of hardware falling apart, the door opened. Felix shoved himself inside and closed the door, releasing a gasp as the Void fled his body once more.
Abyssal Skein is level 8!
Inside, he saw all manner of strange things, from food to rope to what looked like candles, all of it filling a half-dozen shelves that squeezed the small shop front for all the space it had. A barrel was next to the door, filled with what looked like nails. Felix grabbed it and rolled it in front of the door just as the sound of booted feet came close. He ducked and invoked Abyssal Skein again, but his Mana was running low. The Skill was extremely inefficient now that he was out of the Void and used a ton of his Mana, so much that even his prodigious recovery wasn't enough. He used the Skill to scurry forward and past the rows of shelving, which he ducked behind and released his breath.
Muted voices sounded outside, too soft and muffled for him to make out much of anything. For a short, worrying moment they lingered… before continuing onward.
Felix huffed a relieved sigh and leaned back against a burlap sack of dried beans. Holy shit, buddy. Why can't I just have a normal day? Pit let out an annoyed squawk and Felix sighed. Ok ok, hold on.
There was a bright flash of light, near blinding in the dark shop, and Pit rematerialized next to him. The tenku shook his body and wings, though at least had the good grace not to extend them. The aisle was much too small to accommodate his increased wingspan. Felix bit his lip and furrowed his brow.
Anyone who Analyzes Pit is gonna know he's a Chimera. Hell, anyone with eyes will figure out he’s some sort of beast. I gotta find a way to hide him, something better than Convergence. Even if I brought Etheric Concordance to level 200, that still wouldn't be enough to hide him full-time. He scrubbed at his face and rubbed his eyes, feeling the hours of no sleep weighing on him more heavily than ever. Not to mention that I'm rocking a Lost Race, one that isn't well thought of. I'm sure Mervin Analyzed me, even if he doesn't know who or what the Nym are—wait. He sat up. If he identified my Race, why were the Acolytes chasing me looking for a 'human?' Oh. Right.
Felix brought up his Status.
Name: Felix Nevarre
Level: 26
Race: Nym*
Omen: Magician
Born Trait: Keen Mind
______
Health: 233/864
Stamina: 732/873
Mana: 141/1458
______
STR: 157
PER: 154
VIT: 175
END: 161
INT: 191
WIL: 277
AGL: 131
DEX: 128
______
BODY
Resistances: Acid Resistance (C), Level 24; Fire Resistance (C) Level 20*; Cold Resistance (U), Level 20; Heat Resistance (U), Level 22*; Pain Resistance (U), Level 42; Poison Resistance (U), Level 42; Lightning Resistance (R), Level 1*
Combat Skills: Axe Mastery (C), Level 5*; Blunt Weapon Mastery (C), Level 10*; Dodge (C), Level 30; Long Blade Mastery (C), Level 15*; Parry (C), Level 4*; Small Blade Mastery (C), Level 10; Staff Mastery (C), Level 7*; Thrown Weapons Mastery (C), Level 11; Unarmed Mastery (C), Level 29; Blind Fighting (R), Level 23; Corrosive Strike (R), Level 28
Physical Enhancements: Running (C), Level 24; Swimming (C), Level 6; Acrobatics (U), Level 25*; Free Climbing (U), Level 15; Relentless Charge (U), Level 17; Armored Skin (R), Level 41; Physical Conditioning (R), Level 24
MIND
Mental Enhancements: Deception (C), Level 11; Intimidation (C)*, Level 8; Make An Entrance (U), Level 12; Meditation (U), Level 33; Bastion of Will (E), Level 44; Deep Mind (E), Level 36; Ravenous Tithe (E), Level 11
Information Skills: Tracking (C), Level 13; Exploration (U), Level 27; Herbalism (U), Level 17; Voracious Eye (E), Level 29
