Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Nine - 199

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Nine - 199

Felix and crew returned just as three other squads were heading out. Felix hesitated near the gates, watching as newly minted Tin Ranks and those with a bit more experience stood at attention. Those that had come here earliest, who were first to by thrust into the fire, they had come out Tempered Apprentices. Iron Ranks in all but name, there were only three and each led a team of nineteen Tin Ranks.

"Keep to the southwest, where we've seen new herds of mouthers gatherin'. Don't go too far south or east. There's larger monsters out there, things called Ghouls," Karp was saying. The man's bald head shone in the light of the mid-morning sun. "They're strong. You see em, don't even think of fightin'. Run fast." Murmurs spread through the recruits, but it was light. Karp grinned through his bushy red beard. "Alright. Ready? I don't care. Move out!"

The three squads all saluted. It was a mish-mash of styles and enthusiasm, but it got the point across. Karp started shouting orders to each of the Iron Ranks in the lead, and the squads filed out of the gates.

Felix stood there as they passed, and to his surprise, the rest of his team hadn't left. They all spread out behind him, watching in the same manner. Bemused, he put it out of his mind. Instead, he focused on making eye contact with as many of the passing fighters as he could. His experiments with his...influence, he supposed, had yielded certain results. Felix nodded, once. A wash of stirred symphony spread through their Spirits, a tiny ripple in unsteady seas. Yet backs straightened and chins lifted as the squads passed.

It's something, he insisted to himself. He couldn't be out there, protecting everyone that fought. If his presence made them feel more confident? He could do that, gladly.

As the rest of squads left and his own Tin Ranks were dismissed, Atar caught Felix's eye. "It's strange, you know."

"What is?"

The two of them had started crossing the wide, busy courtyard. Folks of all ages were scurrying to and fro on various errands and tasks, or, in the case of a wild knot of screaming children, just enjoying the morning's relative coolness. The summers there were turning into real scorchers.

"How you act around all of them," Atar gestured vaguely at the crowd. "You actually seem like you know what you're doing."

Felix laughed. "I don't. Just trying my best, like everyone else."

"Mm."

The both of them tried looking for Zara again, but she was still gone.

"You seem upset," Atar noticed. "I won't lie, I do wish she told someone her whereabouts. I'm told she's quite talented with sigaldry and I'd love to pick her Mind."

"I'm not upset, I'm worried," Felix clarified. "We're falling behind. We can't afford to let the Inquisition gain the Authority over Haarwatch."

Atar rolled his eyes. "They've got a small army, Felix. All we've got is a bunch of rough commoners that're barely beyond Tin Rank. We'll never keep up with their Contribution, even if you were out there all day and night. The only thing we can do is find the Nest, and Cal already has people searching."

Felix grunted. He knew Atar was right, he just didn't like all the waiting. Most people also couldn't wipe out dozens of Revenants a day like he could; should he and Pit go back out there?

"Oh no, I know that look," Atar said.

"What look?"

"The one where you start suggesting increasingly dangerous and unlikely tasks and then we all almost die," Atar scowled. "No no, I'm still tender from the last one."

The blonde fire mage looked around, his curled hair still well-coiffed despite hours in the field. "Let's...yes. Let's go see this Hector you've been telling me about. If I can't pick Zara's brain, then another Inscriptionist will do nicely."

"Hector? He's a good guy," Felix said, and Atar started guiding him in the direction of the wall. "But he's probably busy"

"No way to know if we don't try," Atar grinned.

"I suppose," Felix allowed. So off they went.

Construction of the wall had passed from Felix's hands a while back, one of the refugees with a similar Skill taking over for him. He'd heard they were doing very well, but it was slower going. Felix almost wanted to hop back in and finish the job, but it was good for grinding Skill levels for the Dwarven woman. He'd be a jerk if he just swooped in and took over.

Near the wall was a tent, purposefully temporary so that it could be relocated every couple of hours. It was fairly large, as tent's went in Haarwatch, but it needed to be in order to hold a collection splintering wooden tables, each utterly covered in scrolls and reams of parchment. Hector was there, bustling about a large stone with an inscription stylus in one hand and a hammer in the other. Surprisingly, there was another person there too.

"Alister?" Atar said with a smile. "I thought you were still at the ward."The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñòv€l-B1n.

Lord Alister Knacht looked far different than when Felix had first met him. He still had the wavy dark brown hair, but his face was covered in the rough scratch of a two week old beard. On a teen like Alister, that was still pretty patchy though. His wide smile was guileless as they approached, but Felix didn't miss the dark circles and gaunt cheeks.

"Atar. And Felix," Alister raised a well-manicured eyebrow. "I would have thought the two of you would be hunting until evening."

Atar laughed. "Ah too boring for me, plus this one got tired."

"How the mighty have fallen," Alister quipped, before he hobbled forward on a cane. The noble hadn't recovered nearly as well as Atar, it seemed. He gave Atar a tight embrace. "Glad to see you safe."

"I was never in trouble. Felix would barely let me kill a monster or two," Atar said, joy in his voice despite his words.

"I mean, maybe two," Felix admitted. The mages met eyes and shook their heads. "What's going on out here?" He looked between Alister and Hector. "Sigaldry lesson?"

"Of a sort," Hector admitted. He had hung back as they talked, but now he stepped forward and shook Felix's hand. "Your friend was giving me a hand, and also telling me about the unique glyphs you saw in the Domain."

"Yes yes, the, what did you call it, Atar? Butcher's Sign?" Alister said, nudging the mage.

"Ye-yes! Please!" Hector practically shoved the remaining cores at him. "As many as you can!"

Atar laughed, a touch bitterly. "Yet another thing you can do, Felix. When, exactly, will you stop surprising people?"

Felix just grinned at the mages and got to work.

The hours burned by as a new facet was added to his routine. Felix would hunt and gather Essence, and then he'd come and infuse the cores in the wall. It was solid work and an additional task to take up the stretch of hours when his team needed rest. Felix fought, he inscribed, and he concocted in Aenea's shop as well. Over the course of four days, they had proven Felix's strategy dozens of times over. No matter the concentration, the Revenants were drawn to him. Moths to a flame.

The Ghouls continued to appear, and in greater numbers. Felix had only fought them one at a time, luckily, but that would likely change soon. Zara still hadn't returned, but everyone was frightened by their growth. The Revenants were already too much for most to handle alone, and more than one team had been lost when a Ghoul had stumbled across their path.

That hadn't sat well with Felix, but there was little he could do. He just trained all the harder, killed the Revenants faster, and tried everything he could to speed up their production of tonics, tinctures, and his own personal sigil project. He'd made significant progress, but had to push himself harder and harder each time.

Invocation is level 25!

Apprentice Tier!

+5 INT, WIL, INE

Mana Manipulation is level 45!

Theurgist of the Rise is level 57!

Tracking is level 19!

Voracious Eye is level 47!

Corrosive Strike is level 47!

Dodge is level 49!

Wild Threnody is level 49!

Dual Casting is level 44!

Abyssal Skein is level 35!

Cloudstep is level 24!

Influence of the Wisp is level 43!

Mantle of the Long Night is level 38!

Shadow Whip is level 39!

Stone Shaping is level 44!

Wrack and Ruin is level 42!

Arrow of Perdition is level 24!

Alchemy is level 27!

Apprentice Tier!

+3 INT, DEX, PER

Herbalism is level 29!

Apprentice Tier!

+3 INT, DEX, PER

No rest for the weary. Felix was tired. He'd driven himself to the edge, over and over again against the Revenants and whatever Ghouls he could find. He was getting better with his weapons, but in his exhaustion he'd returned to the brute style he'd favored most of his time on the Continent. His training sessions with Rory felt like they dissolved beneath the weight of Stamina and Mana loss.

But he had so much to do, and the clock kept ticking. It didn't matter that he couldn't see it, in fact that made it worse. How soon would the Inquisition take the Nest? How much farther had they to go? They had to be stopped, no matter what.

He forced himself to his feet.

Again.