Chapter Four Hundred And Eighty Four – 484

Chapter Four Hundred And Eighty Four – 484

Sunken Ward is level 22!

Adamant Discord is level 83!

When the last of the chaotic maelstroms released their party a full two days had passed, and all of them were exhausted. The War Naga had taken the brunt of the punishment, of course, but even clinging tightly to their backs had proven a real challenge. At a certain point, Felix and Beef had been forced to fashion harness and saddles for all of them, if only to allow them some modicum of rest.

So now, as the roar of the riptide faded and the wild chaos of water Mana was tamed into the steadier currents of the deep, their party descended to the pockmarked and pitted stone shelf just beyond it all. Toa'ut groaned as they came to a stop, while Beef and Felix dissolved the constructs with a brief flaring of their Skills. Isla and Vess slid gracefully from their Naga's back, while Pit and Hallow flopped somewhat ungainly onto the lake bed.

> Pit complained. He wobbled in the water, afloat but unable to stay properly upright. >

> Hallow added, her voice reverberating more than usual through the Sunken Ward.

> Pit pointed out.

>

Felix slipped from Toa'ut's back with less grace than usual, still feeling the all-over feeling of strain to his Aspects. He stifled his groans, however; he'd had worse. The exhausted Naga settled themselves onto the thin layer of silt atop the stone shelf, their scales grinding audibly against the grit. Toa'ut let out a tired, hissing grunt. >

> Felix turned so he was including all of the War Naga in his statement. > Toa'ut, Rou'd, Lavix, and all the others bowed, their heaving chests and haggard expressions easing now that they were at rest. >

> The Naga propelled themselves from the lake bed, tails lashing with the dregs of their Stamina.

Felix and his team followed.

Outside of the Mountains That Howl, the water was easy to move through, especially for people with their stats. The rocky shelf soon split, fissuring until they were surrounded by a network of cracks that grew larger with every hundred feet they swam. Thin canyons formed, within which more and more plant life began to swell, until it was like flying over a miniature jungle. Felix kicked his legs and knifed his arms through the water, his Endurance and Strength more than enough to keep up with the tired War Naga. Easy enough that his Mind wandered, turning over the problem he still hadn't resolved.

After the fight against the disturbed Den, Felix had propelled them onward with all of the force he could muster. Adamant Discord yanked aside currents and grasping plant-monstrosities, hauling their party in its thunderous wake, but he could only keep that up for so long. The tendrils of connection he'd established with the Fathom twinged with every casting, almost calling out to him from the shimmering ooze far below. Once he'd established enough distance from the site of the battle, Felix had ceased using his Skill, instead trusting the War Naga to lead them through as before.

There was a large part of him that was afraid of establishing contact with the Fathom again. It was powerful, of that there could be no doubt, but more than that: it was familiar.

He just didn't know why.

The familiarity was even more upsetting than the sheer, rampaging power behind the Fathom's roar. When it had turned its focus on him, it was like a burning brand that twisted and writhed, a living thing of fire and heat and pain. It was the writhing, the sense of chaotic disorder, that allowed Felix the time to erect his Bastion of Will. Without that beat, the Fathom could well have blasted through Felix's Mind and more. Instead he'd been able to cut it all off in time, feeding the potency of the ooze to his every hungry abyss.

More, it rumbled at him.

Quiet. Felix wanted to rub his temples and lay down for a week, but instead he had to focus on the notification that still floated in his periphery.

Attention!

A Challenge Has Been Issued!

You Have Been Challenged For Your Authority!

Child Of The Nym! Do You Accept?

Y/N

He'd shown it to his friends and followers, hoping for someone to pipe up with an explanation, but all of them had stared at it in confusion. >

Isla had been the first to respond. > She had pursed her lips in that way she had, adding a severity to her face that seemed to add decades to her deep eyes. >

> Vess had said. She looked just as shaken as Felix by the roar, but rage was catching up to her fear. >Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

> Felix said. >

> Beef said, more than a little sulkily. >

> Felix glanced at the young teen in the enormous bull-man Body. >

>

He unlocked at least one Harmonic stat. It was likely to be Affinity as well, considering what he was hearing. >

In response, Beef just swiped something at him. A blue window rolled into existence before Felix, displaying an impressive new Title.

Congratulations!

You Have Earned A Title!

The Puppeteer (Epic)!

You have learned to operate your servants from a great distance away, while still maintaining precision. Increases Endurance and Agility of all Risen by 5%. Increases control limit by 5.

> Felix said.

> After the battle, Beef had spent a good portion of his time trying to capture and Rise one of the Fathom spawn. Control limit aside, the new Risen had been too weak and ungainly to navigate the pressures of the Mountains That Howl. They were ripped down into the vortexes, time and time again.

> Felix asked.

singing to me.>> Beef shuddered. >

Felix immediately knew what he was talking about, though at this point he unconsciously tuned it out. >

>

> Felix started saying, but a slender pile of platinum curls and flowing blue gown cut him off.

> She flowed through the water with more grace than Vess, her movements clean and natural-seeming, as if she routinely walked along the bottom of a lake. >

Felix tried not to frown. >

>

> the Minotaur corrected.

>

>

> She sniffed. far more work than lifting heavy things and setting them back down again.>>

Felix repressed a sigh, letting Isla take over the conversation. He'd get with Beef later and tell him what he knew; there were other things Felix needed doing. > He kicked off the lake bed, sending up a small cloud of sand and silt.

> Beef shouted after him.

Felix gave the kid a thumbs up as he shot away, deeper into the cavern to where Pit and the others were settling down around food and impromptu beds of sand.