Chapter Six Hundred And Fifty Two – 652

Chapter Six Hundred And Fifty Two – 652

The rocky tunnel was short, compared to what his team had traversed so far. In thirty minutes, Eagin had stepped through the opening of a cave and into a bright and sunny afternoon. The rest followed closely after.

Its warmer out than I expected, Beef said, lifting a thick hand to block out the orange sunlight. And later. Is that west?

Aye, Telys confirmed. Is this where we wished to end up?

It is, Vess said. The setting sun bathed her features in flame as she smiled. Weve reached the southernmost tip of the Rimefang Mountains. Down there, in fifty leagues as the Ffen flies, we shall find the borders of my fathers Territory.

Home sweet home, Archie muttered. He adjusted his goggles against the glare. At least its warmer here.

Felix had noticed that. There was still a chill in the air, but the breeze wasnt nearly as bitter as it had been near Birchstone. It even carried a hint of damp and the furtive scent of greenery.

Bout time for it to be spring, Evie said. Winter felt like it lasted all year.

Feels good, Beef agreed.

Not all of us have fur, Archie said, clutching his woolen cloak. If we dont get outta this wind, I think my balls are gonna fall off.

Felix rolled his eyes, but set about scouting a path down the mountain. Ahead of them was the valley between peaks, with a few lesser mountains between them and what looked like a dark smudge on the horizon. Even with his advanced eyesight the area was devoid of much detail, though he could make out a mess of trees and the faint glint of water.

Maybe its enchanted, like the Foglands. He sounded his Voracious Eye, intent on finding outonly to have a deep, stabbing pain strike at his innards.

Fly Fast, Navarre.

Events Are Catching Up To You.

It Is Dangerous To Go Alone.

Take This As A Gesture Of Goodwill.

He gasped, clutching his belly, and everyone around him began shouting in alarm. Scalding heat clawed through his pathways, scorching them even as they seemed to freeze solid. Felix ripped at his Garment, his shirt and jacket shredding beneath his claws as he bared his naked chest. Wild power pulsed from beneath his skin, and his core was going crazy. Black scales crawled across his torso, pulsing back and forth from the edges to the center, as if chased away by the hammering of chaotic energies.

A Touch Of Divinity Detected!

Your Companions Evolution Has Changed!

Vess ran to him while the others stared, mouths open, as time slowed to a crawl and color drained from the world all around him.

Felix, what is h a p p e n i n g ?

The world around him shattered.

Pit opened his bright golden eye. He was still huddled in the hollow of a tree, the same one he had found on that first day. It was busted apart, broken to splinters where it stuck above the dirt. Hed had to revert himself to his smallest size to fit, and then only barely, but he found a measure of safety beneath the earth.

Above, the entirety of Creation shook apart.

After that final blow against Imara, Pit had fallen into his core space, which had originally been a replica of the forests in the Foglands. Then the Mote of Frenzy had made itself known, and it had taken all of Pits Agility and Strength to escape its onslaught.

His core space had been turned into a wasteland. Up above, trenches were constantly torn up by errant blasts of raw elemental forces, trees were reduced to charred stumps, and even the cliffs were frozen until they exploded. The ground was churned dirt, all but lifeless, and the Mote of Frenzy soaked everything with power.

Roiling energies stabbed through the ground, sparking off the roots and onto his tiny shoulders. Pit let out a high pitched whistle of pain, but tried once again to pull the power into himself. Shifting lights flickered around him, flaring where they met his Mana Gatesbefore dispersing.

Barely anything. Pit had been trying to take in the power of the Mote fordays? Weeks? Hed been soaked in pain and mud for too long. Time had ceased to have meaning. All that mattered was his progress.

Evolution Progress: 9%

Pit moaned. Like the forest, his wings were stumps charred and frozen. His legs were bloody. His crest nearly plucked clean. But he wouldnt stop. Not now. Not ever. You can do this, he reminded himself. Youre a tenku. A Guardian Beast. You gotta do this. For Felix.

Breath of the Wild.

Breath of the Wild is level 49!

Healing energy flowed through him, closing small rents and lessening the brunt of his burns. He hung onto his healing and mantra by the tips of his talons. They were all he had. Without their relief and guiding focus, hed long have fallen

Pit jerked his head up and stared as if he could see through the packed soil. Somethings changed.

The constant pain had lessened.

The Mote of Frenzy wasdistracted?

Pits Mind was filled with a distinct, vivid image. A hand, vast as a continent, reached out and grabbed the condensed might of the Mote of Frenzy. A piece of him thrilled at the sightonly to recoil in horror as he spotted too many fingers, each with too many joints. He had seen hands like that before, and wished never to see them again.

Stand, Guardian. Stand And Fight.

Golden eyes wide, Pit didnt realize he was standing until the voices words had ended. Ill fight you!

A deep, thunderous chuckle answered his threat. So Much Alike. Perhaps You Will Surprise Me Too.

The world above went utterly silent.

Run.

The word sparked something primal inside of Pit. Before he could make sense of the word, he was racing up the short tunnel, back to the surface. He burst through the last foot of dirt, sending clods cascading onto a war torn landscape.

Holy nuts. Its worse than I thought.

His core space was absolutely leveled, until it was an endless plain of disturbed earth, half charred and half frozen. Hung above him, set into a sky of blackened clouds, was the Mote of Frenzy. It appeared as a sun though was constantly changing in size and shape and composition. It was also grasped firmly by the hand of a god.

There was only one thing on the horizon apart from the shadowed hand and the eclipsed Mote. Only one chance.

Molten Mana and Essence flowed through the Woven Tree and into his core. Sound and fury spread into Pit, inundating his Mind, Body, and Spirit in waves too violent to comprehend. Light bloomed, chased by shadows and the beleaguered phantom of his own fears.

You cant hold this

Youll die

Reject it! Run from it

No.Pit wouldnt give into fear. He rejected those thoughts, and he endured. This is mine.

Evolution Progress: 15%

Like an unblocked drain, His [Four Star Core] suddenly accepted the power, drawing it in at a steady pace. Not exceedingly fast, but faster than hed ever managed before.

Evolution Progress: 20%

Evolution Progress: 25%

Progress faded as the remains of the meteor was taken in, until nothing was left but the burning chaos sun in the sky. Just as it did, a drop of foreign power hits, like a thorn hidden behind a beautiful flower.

Take This, Chimera. With My Blessing.

A notification popped up, soon followed by a legion of others, all of them accompanied by a swell of brilliant Harmony.

Adjusting Evolution Choices

Choose One Of The Following!

Chimeric Catalyst Tenku

Chaos Stormdeacon Tenku

Elemental Verger Tenku

Unlike before, knowledge of what those Evolution choices meant flooded Pits Mind. Chimeric Catalyst had a focus on transformation and the nature of his Race. Chaos Stormdeacon focused on a powerful control type skillset, with the potential to alter his Skills to match them. Elemental Verger was also focused on power, but specifically on all sorts of elemental magic, promising to offer him complete dominance over the field of battle. Pit found temptation in every single oneand yet was repulsed.

Every single option was tainted by Avets Divine touch.

Catalystdeaconverger, Pit listed out. All of them pieces of Avets influence. Hehe wants to put chains on me. OrPit looked up, through the gap in his Woven Tree, and spied a monstrous Felix vying against the cascading power of the Mote. Or Felix, through me.

Pit slashed a claw through the window, rejecting them all.

Felix! he shouted into the storm. More!

The nightmare of flesh and scales in the sky turned a bright blue eye upon Pit, and smiled.

More? You got it!

Hm. Interesting. Would You Let Your Companion Die, Nevarre?

Felix laughed, and teeth rippled across his expanding, nightmare shape. I would let him choose!

A piece of Felixs conceptual shape split, limbs and teeth pulling back to let through a cascade of the Motes power. It shot down, faster than the meteor, before snagging in the outspread branches of Pits Woven Tree. Mana and Essence were snagged, funneled down into his [Four Pointed Star Core].

Pit howled, the backlash burning his feathers to ashes and withering his once-bushy tail. More! I can take more!

Evolution Progress: 30%

Adjusting Evolution Choices

Choose One Of The Following!

Avets touch only increased as the Mote flooded his core. More options appeared, but Pit rejected them again, not even taking the time to read them.

More!

Evolution Progress: 45%

Felix bellowed in sympathy, their Etheric Concordance blurring the lines between them. Pit regretted that, but he could barely form thoughts. All he could do was endure the Mote, as more and more power funneled into his Woven Tree and core.

Evolution Progress: 70%

More power. Absorption. Rejection.

Again, and again, and again.

I need to do this. Not for Felix. Pit clacked his curved beak. For me.

Evolution Progress: 85%

Pit set himself, fur and feathers turned to ash. His muscles quivered, and he might have fallen had the Woven Tree not pressed to tightly against his flanks.

I am a tenku! A Guardian Beast! And I will not be stopped!

The sky shook, as if it were a painting, and the clouds ran in rapid circles around his center. The very edges of them blackened.

Very Well. Let Us Cease Holding Back.

Mana, Essence, and unrivaled Divinity came crashing down.