Unbound

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Nine – 179

Felix secured some replacement clothes, similar to the natural ivory and taupe color of Evie's own get-up. Felix had asked her about her armor, but she'd just muttered something about it being ruined and a new set was being made. Apparently Rafny had made it back and was doing some work on new equipment for people.

I never did get back to them about armor, did I? Felix had wanted to get some armor since he got into town, but one thing or another kept it off the table for him. Now with the unnatural armor provided by his Sovereign of Flesh, should he even bother? He figured he'd check, at the very least.

He'd left his Khellish tunic and trousers near Pit. The enchantments on them would use ambient Mana to repair them eventually.

Outside the warehouse it was pushing toward midday. His Tempering and Gauntlet attempts had taken up more time than he had figured, yet Felix didn't feel a bit tired. Quite the opposite, as those occasional surges through his core kept jolting his nerves into high alert, as if he'd injected a bit of adrenaline each time. So he tried to keep himself even-keeled as they walked out into the glaring summer day.

It was hot. Hotter by far than Felix had experienced on the Continent, comparable to some of the worst days in July back home. Regardless, people rushed to and fro outside, intent on their errands and tasks. It almost felt normal if he only ignored the looks of gaunt dismay and desperation everyone wore. A dangerous undercurrent thrummed through everything, a rapid tattoo that Felix could feel as a rising anxiety through his Affinity stat. He gasped.

"What? Felix, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I," Felix took a breath and tried to shrug off the sensation. It took him two more attempts before his attention shifted. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? Cuz you're sweating. Like a lot," Evie pointed out.

Felix didn't answer, just kept walking out into the broken cobbles of what was being called the courtyard. Central between the three main warehouses, this was the area protected the most by the trash wall that had been erected from stray debris. People were everywhere, many of them carrying bulging sacks that likely were all their worldly possessions, most with children of varying ages. Felix had recognized a few when he'd arrived, and he saw even more that rang a familiar bell of recognition in his Mind. His perfect recall matched their faces to ones he'd seen in the Dust, Wall, even the Crafters Quarter.

A long way to go during a monster attack, he thought, pairing a few faces to ones he'd seen revelling back the night of the clandestine chorister gathering. How'd they end up way over here?

The city of Haarwatch was divided into four Quarters. The northernmost was the Dust, home to those that labored in the nearby mines or on the Ianus River docks that snaked through the city. It was the poorest Quarter, but also the most heavily populated; citizens lived piled atop one another in towering, ramshackle tenements and ill-repaired multi-generational homes. To the west was the Wall Quarter, which was mostly weapon and armor shops, taverns, and the ubiquitous Wall, a magical construct made of mystical metal and heavily enchanted in some way. The south had the Crafters Quarter, within which dwelled most of the skilled craftsmen in the city, your wainwrights and tailors and artists, as well as many merchants. Finally, the Sunrise Quarter was to the east, filled predominantly with minor nobility. When the Eyrie fell, it fell down toward the Crafter and Wall Quarters, doing heavy damage to those parts of the city and likely killing more than the Revenants had.

So far.

Water was being hauled across the crooked cobbles and the sounds of disorganized shouts and cries came from all over. It was a mess of flesh and noise and heat and smell. Evie came up behind him and nudged his arm.

"So how'd you wanna help?" Evie asked. "I think there's lots that needs to be done, but I'm not keen on running errands for the smiths or anythin'."

"I figured we could run patrols or train people or, I dunno," Felix shook his head. "I'm not sure what the camp needs, other than more weapons, more fighters, and better walls."

"Then let's start there," Vess said. She gently tugged on both of their shoulders and they were swept along behind her as people hurried to get out of the heiress' way. She gave off an aura of nobility, somehow, intangible and not at all like an aura of power. It was an aura of attitude. Vess was in charge, and apparently people started to recognize that.

She led them toward the debris mound that acted as their impromptu wall. "We need to flag down whoever is captain of the guard here."

"Cal's inside, so that means Bodie," Evie offered, already panning the area for the man. "There he is."

It was easy enough to find him, as he was often head and shoulders taller than most Humans and half again as wide. He stood atop one of the mounds and was speaking in low tones to a group of barely armored volunteers.

More Untempered folk, looking to fight, Felix mused. Why aren't they huddling in the camp where it's safer? He looked at the shoddy wall again. Relatively safer.

"Hey! Bodie!" Evie shouted, startling Felix and causing a crowd of people to turn and stare at her. "We need to talk to you!"

Evie looked back and met Felix and Vess' stares. "What? It's easier this way."

Bodie looked up and spotted them. He gave Evie a wide smile and jumped straight up into the air. Well, straight up wasn't quite right. It was more of an angle, and his parabolic arc had him land before them with a muffled thud.

Bodie was a big guy, easily six and a half feet tall, with short, curly hair and built like a wall. He wore the usual half-plate and leather armor Guilders preferred, a mish-mash of styles more concerned with protection than looks. A huge mace hung at his hip, lightly enchanted according to Felix's Eye, but he bore no other weapons aside from a small dagger across his chestplate. Felix had sparred against him once or twice, and his body still remembered some of the bruises.

Behind him, the dirt wall he'd leaped from half crumbled under the force of his jump. Bodie winced before brightening again.

"Evie! And your friends too! Glad to see you all. Especially you, Felix," Bodie rumbled with a barely concealed laugh. "You won me quite a few crowns, coming back when you did."

"So I keep hearing. People were really betting on me living or dying?" Felix asked.

"Some maybe," Bodie laughed. "But mine was on when you'd come back." He clapped Felix on the back, before grunting and grinning even harder. Felix had barely moved.

"Bodie, we wanna help around here. What've you got for us?" Evie asked.

The large warrior fingered his dark chin and lowered his voice. "I could always use more patrols. The Untempered here are enthusiastic but...let's say I only have so many skilled warriors to babysit them."

They all nodded. Felix had seen that first hand with Yan and his team. "I'm up for patrol duty, but...I was thinking I could do something for the camp."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Your wall--" Felix started, grasping for the words.

"It's shit," Evie said. "You just knocked it over by jumping too hard."

Vess smacked her shoulder, but Bodie only chuckled with a grim sort of humor. "It needs improving, that's the truth. Problem is, none of us are engineers, and the only one with a good shaping talent is some Untempered Dwarf lady. She can't use it more than a few seconds, let alone long enough to make anything proper."

"Well, I have Stone Shaping nearly to Journeyman. I think I could help with that."

"Can you make stone blocks?" Bodie asked, suddenly excited.

"Yeah, I think so. Never tried before but I made a boat once. How hard could a few blocks be?" Felix said.

Bodie clapped his big hands together and grinned. "That's the best news I've had today. I'll clear the way and let you know where to start." He took off with another leap.

"See? Easy enough to help," Vess said with a smile.

"Why's he jumping around?" Felix asked. Evie snorted.

"Low Agility, high Strength. Bodie can't run for beans, but he's strong. Jumping's faster."

In a few short minutes, the area was cleared of patrolling guards. Unfortunately, that meant a whole lot of people had stopped what they were doing and were now watching them. Felix felt his skin crawl under their gazes, like there was an extra heat in the air entirely separate from the noonday sun.

"Just ignore em," Evie muttered.

"Sure. They're not staring at you like you've grown an extra head, though."

"It's just overworked rumors," Evie said. "People're all in a tizzy over, uh, everythin'."

"She is right," Vess added. "Once they get used to you the attention will fade."

"Yeah, just try not to do anythin' too flashy," Evie suggested.

Bodie walked over to them and gestured toward the packed earth of the wall. "You've got the floor, Felix. Do what you can, and my people can take it from there."

Felix nodded and took a steadying breath. The extra attention on him was a bit more unnerving than he had anticipated, but he tried to shrug it off as he flared his Manavision. Weaving threads of vibrating light burst into being all around him. The stone, the dirt, the people, the air itself; everything was Mana, everything was fed by it and gave it off in some measure. Zara called it the Grand Harmony and she wasn't wrong, as Felix could hear a rousing chorus of infinite complexity the further he focused...but he pulled back. He wasn't here for that.

Refocusing, Felix stared down at the earthen mound they had constructed. It quivered with dusty-brown earth Mana, interspersed with smoky black shadow and tiny threads of green-gold life Mana denoting worms and insects. Below that, however, there were silver-grey flashes of metal Mana. A rough-hewn framework sat beneath the earthen mounds, likely giving them support and strength.

"Bodie, do you mind if I clear the debris?" Felix asked.

"Clear it?" Bodie nodded at his people, who made sure to get out of the way. They did so, but several gave nervous glances outside the walls, perhaps worried that something would attack. "How're you gonna do that?"

"Not sure. Let's find out together."

Making sure one last time that everyone was clear, Felix flared his old favorite.

Reign of Vellus!

Like before, the Mana for its use surged through his channels with such speed and potency that it felt like trails of fire tore through him. Unlike previously however, Felix flared his Will and attempted to alter the pattern of the Skill; he wanted to wipe out a large section instead of concentrating the strike. But the Skill fought back. Rippling vibrations shook his core, a kick almost like shooting a rifle, and the unchanged Skill manifested from his outstretched hand.

And consumed the earthen mound in blue light.

That same silent roar shook the air, and a ten foot wide section of the impromptu wall was hurled into the distance. Pulverized dirt and twisted hunks of metal launched at speed nearly forty feet, a few of the shards going so far as to stick into the sides of the nearest buildings.

Silence reigned.

"Ah, that was too much, I think," Felix managed through his suddenly dry mouth. The ground before him had been leveled almost completely. Felix thought he could see a few cobbles torn up too. Whoops.

Before he could think about all of the people now staring at him, Felix dove back into his core and reached for his next spell. It was almost effortless, as he'd used Stone Shaping so much it felt as much a part of him as his arm or leg. Visualizing the Skill, pulling it's elaborate pattern up out of his core, Felix sounded its length. Mana tightened and twisted, flowing through his channels with a now familiar burning intensity.

Stone Shaping!

A six foot square section of the ground before the wall went jelly, turning into a thick sludge of competing earth tones. With a flare of his Will and Mana, streams of the sludge flowed up and out of the newly formed pit, congealing slowly into a roughly shaped block that jiggled with each additional layer. It was a relatively quick process, though far longer than a kinetic blast, and in only three minutes a new giant block had formed. The composite matrix of cobbles, bedrock, and other varied stone beneath the road appeared quite sturdy, even if it was ugly as hell. Browns and dirty yellows and a few dark greens dotted the six foot square block, and if you focused you could pick out where the stones got fused together by his Skill.

"Whew, ok. There's one," Felix panted. The Skill left him as out of breath as the Gauntlet, and Felix found himself wishing for a chair. "Gimme a second on the next."

More silence greeted his words, and when Felix looked around he saw Bodie's flabbergasted face.

"I-I thought you were gonna make some bricks," he admitted. "This is...amazing."

Oh, dang, Felix froze. Bricks would've been way easier.

"Impressive, Felix," Vess said. "I have seen you make a few such things, but I too thought you were going to make bricks. Is this to make it easier for the camp? I admit it would have been challenging to lay and cure brickwork while being attacked by monsters. This will begin to protect us immediately." She nodded in appreciation.

"I thought I said 'don't be flashy,'" Evie said from his other side. "Now you got all your admirers aflutter."

Felix tried not to look, he really did, but that comment had him curious. He glanced to the sides and saw an increasing number of Untempered folk all watching him. Some had wide eyes and scared expressions, but most of them were smiling. Their emotions scratched at him, and though Felix denied his Affinity, he could still sense a surge of giddy relief that appeared to pass through them in a wave. He wondered if it was him or the wall that made them feel better.

"Felix. Can you do it again?" Bodie asked him as he walked back from the block. His face was serious and quite earnest. Felix smiled at the man and shrugged.

"It'll take a while, but sure. Let's do it."

It was nearly three hours later when they'd finished the first stretch of wall. The composite stone was strong, though he doubted it would hold up long against a Revenant's claws for long. His own would probably shred it like paper.

Still. He'd placed two hundred blocks, each out fitted snugly against each other. That had taken some doing, especially when the line of the wall curved. As he'd progressed, the blocks had become more and more regular and refined. The large chunks of composite materials had shrunk until they were simple specks in the overall makeup of the blocks, and Felix knew in his gut that such a thing made them stronger.

Stone Shaping is level 41!

Practice makes perfect, he mused, though he felt the tiniest flash of annoyance. All that and only a single level? He had a feeling moving through Journeyman Tier was going to be tough.

Collapsing onto a stool someone had gotten for him, Felix let his Meditation sooth him and steady his exhausted breathing. Even with his Stamina and Mana regeneration rates, the amount of work involved had him wrung out for now.

They had only managed to lay out the first line of stone blocks, completely replacing the earthen mound. It was not finished, but it allowed them to start on another project. A trench was being dug out, using the gouged pits Felix left after stealing the stone beneath the road. They were being expanded and filled with sharpened stakes. A small Dwarven woman had appeared an hour back and was helping them shape the stakes; she appeared to have a similar stone Skill, if not nearly as advanced as his own. Evie and Vess had helped too, using their Skills to break stone and widen the trench as best they could.

Other people soon joined in on the effort, breaking down the cobbled streets with hammers and picks and forming teams to haul the stone out. Felix had almost forgotten that many in the camp had mined for a living. They were fast and efficient, and soon the six foot tall wall had become twelve feet tall and fronted by a wide slanting trench. Now, at least part of their camp was more easily defended.

At some point, Yan had come out with several stout casks and started passing around drinks. It was ale of some variety, rough and sour smelling, for all that the workers downed it with relish. Felix passed in favor of several pints of water. He still had several lengths of wall to do yet, and wanted to keep a clear head for that and for whatever his Chanter training would entail. Zara still hadn't come and found him yet, so he figured she wasn't yet ready for him. She hadn't given a time so much as a vague indication of 'later,' so Felix couldn't do anything except make himself useful.

Felix stood up and Eyed the wall.

Name: Wall of the Blue Eyed Fiend

Type: Structure (Rough-Hewn)

Lore: Built almost solely by the magic of the Blue Eyed Fiend, this is a wall meant to protect innocent life.

Ugh, he groaned. The goddamn wall was named after him. No, not me. My...folk hero persona.

Honestly, it was flattering that so many looked up to him, but Felix couldn't escape the uncomfortable horror of it. Who was he to be idolized? He could barely save himself, most days. But there was nothing to do about it, so he rubbed his eyes and did some more thinking.

The wall could use some arrays worked into it, maybe defensive and offensive arrays to help protect people. The problem with that, however, was that Felix was still very much a beginner when it came sigil knowledge. The ones he'd slapped together in the Domain were rough shod and temporary, but this would require more finesse and detail than he could manage. He had a few inklings of how he might have gone about it, but that was System assisted knowledge; it was unfortunately not paired with a working understanding of sigaldry theory. In order to do it, Felix either needed a tutor or a mess load of books.

Maybe Zara has more on the subject. He'd read all that she'd had in her parlor, the parlor in the house that had been thoroughly demolished by the Inquisition. That made it two libraries she owned that Felix had messed up, if you included her bookstore in town. Maybe finding a tutor would be easier, he thought with a wince.

As he kept walking back toward the beginning of the wall section, Felix felt...something in the air. Ignoring the whispering spectators and the constant cross-stream of hustling folk, Felix felt his Perception snag on a rough sign posted above one of the smaller warehouses. Healer's Ward, the sign said.

"Do a lot of people get injured in the monster attacks?" He asked a nearby Goblin. He was leaning against one of the ale barrels and tilting his large head to look at the sky. The clouds had retreated, finally, and it was a deep sapphire blue.

"Huh? Oh! Me? You're asking me?" The Goblin jolted and nearly fell over. "Um, ah, yes. People get hurt all the time, but the Healer's Ward is full up of sick folks."

"Sick? With what?" Felix hadn't really heard of sickness being an issue in the Continent. Everyone had potions, and a Vitality stat, and magic for god's sake.

"I dunno. Somethin' about the monsters and how they're so dangerous, is all I know. It's been hittin' us Untempered more than others, seein' as we don't have any fancy constitutions."

Felix started walking toward it. "Thanks. I appeciate it."

"Anytime! Just uh, just remember ol Noggin when you go out fightin'!"

Felix didn't bother to answer. That something in the air was growing stronger the closer he drew to the makeshift hospital. It had been built up against one of the larger warehouses and was constructed in much the same way with overlapping corrugated metal plates covering the walls and roof. Just outside the doors, there were two large Orcs in leather armor holding spears. They ignored him as he walked through the door.

Inside it was relatively large, perhaps fifty feet wide by two hundred feet long. Improvised cots had been set up down the length of it, rows deep. Some were actual cots and others were wooden pallets or scavenged trestle tables; anything to keep patients lying flat and still. There had to be two hundred beds, and each one was full.

Light groans and whimpers filled the air, and that feeling Felix had sensed pulsed powerfully. His Affinity tried to pull the patients' emotional state from them, but he repressed it; Felix could imagine none of them were feeling great. Instead he focused on the heat in the air, separate entirely from the baking summer warmth outside. It was intensely familiar, almost exactly like the air in the Domain.

Are the Revenants creating this?

All around him, people were lying wrapped in bandages and covered with red-irritated skin and weeping sores. Similar symptoms to what he'd seen before on Alister and Atar, but way worse. Felix stepped closer to the nearest patient. He could feel the corrosive Mana pouring off of them, like body heat turned up to eleven.

Not just the Revenants then. Their victims are putting it out too.

He didn't have to be a mathematician to know that was bad. Given the amount of Revenants out there and the amount of victims there likely were, it was only a matter of time before the whole city was inundated in this stuff.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Felix looked up and saw a tall blond woman with a pixie hair cut and flowing green and white robes. A series of belts and sashes crossed her waist and torso, each filled with pouches and pockets. She hustled across the ward until they met eyes and recognition flashed across her features.

"Oh," Portia said and slowed down to a walk, still heading toward him. "It's you."

"Sorry, hi. I don't know if we were every really introduced. I'm Felix."

"I'm aware," she said as she crossed the distance and gestured for him to follow her. She led them toward a small office he'd missed as he walked in.

"Portia. I was...I was wondering if I can help, somehow."

"Help? I appreciate the sentiment, but I've plenty of help as it is." Felix followed, discovering a small wooden table for a desk and two rickety chairs. She sat with visible relief. "All we can do for these people is keep them clean, dry, and reapply my ointments and salves whenever I can."

Portia let out a frustrated sigh. "What I need is more yarrow and flitweed, or kelaat root and silverleaf. Anything to keep these people from the edge."

"You're short on supplies?" Felix asked.

"Strapped for them. The supply chain was bad enough when the Inquisition was blockading the Sunrise Gate, but now there's nothing." Portia ran her hands through her short hair and groaned. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be burdening someone else with this."

"Hey, no, I get it," Felix said. "This is bad. How do we get more supplies?"

"Short of hunting the ruins of the various markets around town, I don't know," Portia said. "Even if we could get them, it's just a stopgap. Harn told us how the Domain was affecting people, how it affected your friends. We just don't have any idea how to reverse it."

Felix straightened like he'd been prodded with a burning poker. "My friends?"

"Yes--you didn't know? I thought-" Portia stopped herself and cursed. "Of course not. I'm sorry. Atar V'as and Lord Alister Knacht have been my patients ever since Harn dragged them, unconscious, out of the Domain. They haven't woken since."