Chapter Nineteen - 019
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 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 determine 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.
Name:
Felix Nevarre
Level:
14
Race:
Nym (+1 to WIL, INT, DEX, END, +5 Bonus Stats per Level, -5% XP Gain)
Omen:
The Magician (+2 to WIL, +1 to INT, +1 to PER per Level)
Born Trait:
Keen Mind (+2 INT, 30 day perfect recall)
Health:
242/283
Companion: Pit (Tenku) Additional +1 PER, +2 VIT, +4 AGL, +3 DEX per Level
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 , Level 13; Pain Resistance (U), Level 15; Poison Resistance (U), Level 17
Utility: Analyze , Level 17; Improvisation , Level 4; Running , Level 15; Stealth , Level 15; Swimming , Level 3; Tracking , 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 , Level 6; Physical Conditioning , Level 11
Combat: Dodge , Level 19; Long Blade Mastery , Level 8; Small Blade Mastery , Level 7; Staff Mastery , Level 1; Thrown Weapons Mastery , Level 9; Unarmed Mastery , Level 4; Acrobatics (U), Level 17
Spells: Acid Stream , Level 17; Fire Within , Level 16; Influence of the Wisp , Level 11; Tides of Vellus , Level 15
Title(s):
Gourmand (+1 INT, VIT)
Survivor I (+1 END, VIT)
Survivor II (+1 END, +2 VIT)
Survivor III (+2 END, +3 VIT)
Natural Scholar I (+1 INT, PER)
Natural Scholar II (+3 INT, +2 DEX, PER)
Giantslayer I (+1 STR, AGL)
Giantslayer II (+2 STR, AGL)
Daredevil I (+1 STR, VIT, AGL)
Daredevil II (+1 STR, AGL, +2 VIT)
Butcher I (+1 STR, WIL, DEX)
Butcher II (+3 STR, +2 WIL, +2 DEX)
END:
12
INT:
16
WIL:
15
AGL:
45
DEX:
26
Skills:
Bite , Level 10
Rake , Level 9
Cry , Level 9
Skulk , 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 Rockstrikes. It was a huge creature that came through here, and 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. Bio luminescent 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, and 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 providing 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.
After four hours traversing the deep dark caves they had delved into most of the tunnels and were on track to reach the end of the cavern system within thirty minutes, if Balfur's Memory was to be trusted. They had gathered a total of twelve cores out of fourteen Rockstrikes, and he fed all of them to Pit. Each core was like a mini level up, granting a smattering of stat points in Strength, Agility, and Endurance. The points were often only 1 or 2 per stat, and it was a crap shoot on whether all stats would bump up or just some of them. Felix wasn't sure how it all worked, but he was glad it did. He was finally able to increase Pit's Strength by a significant margin, and now his Rake and Bite attacks actually had some oomph behind them.
Health:
135/135
Stamina:
195/195
Mana:
115/115
???:
???
STR:
30
PER:
25
VIT:
27
END:
36
INT:
20
WIL:
21
AGL:
57
DEX:
34
Pit also leveled up three times, which not only boosted his stats, but also netted him a new Skill.
Your Companion, Pit Has Learned A Skill!
Wingblade, Level 1!
You have learned to shape the ambient Air Mana into weapons. Increases range and accuracy moderately with Skill Level, damage increases slightly with Skill Level.
Beasts, it seemed, gained preset Skills as they grew. It was a welcome addition to their growing arsenal. Pit was becoming a formidable creature, though he hadn't grown any larger, being a little smaller than a medium sized dog.
The hunting was good for Felix too: he had gained another two levels. He also put his Gourmand Title to the test and tried Rockstrike blood six times. It was gross. Their blood was a rotten orange color, like something had gone wrong with it, and it made him gag every time. It wasn't until Felix had a moment of inspiration and bit directly into a fading shadow tendril that he had results. The shadowy flesh burned on the way down, but Felix immediately felt his Fire Within begin to grab and digest the power. The pain was excruciating, radiating from his throat and belly and into his limbs, as if acid was being pushed through his channels.
Pain Resistance is level 16!
Felix watched his Health begin to drop as he circulated the caustic Mana, but he restrained his panic. It hurt when I ate the Wisp too, he reminded himself. Just circulate it. Push. Through. It.
A few more excruciating minutes and the burning stopped.
Congratulations!
Your Title Gourmand Has Garnered You Insight!
You Have Fully Digested Your Opponent's Mana!
You Have Learned A New Skill From A Rockstrike!
Shadow Whip (Rare), Level 1!
Manifest a tendril of pure elemental shadow. Range, accuracy, and damage increases with Skill Level. Amount of tendrils increases with Skill Level.
Felix grinned. With this spell, he now had another offensive skill, and he finally had five spells for his quest.
He was still celebrating inwardly when he turned a corner and found the end of the caverns. His grin faltered, and Felix took a quick glance behind him, making sure he hadn't gotten lost. Balfur's Memory was particularly clear here, and there weren't any branching tunnels for a mile. Then it came to him. Balfur had used his earth magic to seal the cavern.
Just as Felix realized this, his enchanted ring guttered and cut out, plunging them into darkness.
"Shit."
