Epheral Evocation is level 25!
Apprentice Tier!
You Gain:
10 AFI
10 FEL
10 RES
Felix shook himself from the mory hed stolen from the last Door Guardian. It wasnt much of anything, though it was beautiful. Hours of simply flying among the frigid clouds, reveling in the wild winds as his transparent ice-wings cut through them. It was a nice experience, and even made Felix regret killing the Ice Elental. A little.
The Lesser and Inferior Elentals offered little in the way of mories. Not to say they didnt have any, but that they were wan and simplistic. Using Chthonic Tribute en masse as he had been, hed seen plenty of mories flash into his core space, but they were all the sa: flashes of weather and the occasional bloody violence. Life in a Domain, at least for the weaker creatures, was extrely unvaried.
Not only that, but hed learned nothing from them. Too weak, maybe. Ri Shaping and Stone Shaping covered most of what they could do, though he had held out hope the Obelons could give him sothing like tal Shaping. No such luck.
The fourth layer was smaller than the three previous, as seed to be the pattern. Felix imagined it as concentric circles, and all of it seed to converge on the lone mountain that dominated the skyline. Thick clouds and swirling winds blocked the upper reaches of the mountain from sight, even his own enhanced Perception. Still, Felix kept his sights locked on its invisible peak as he ran through rocky foothills, all while killing dozens of Lesser Elentals with each executed Skill. What was up there?
An eternal blizzard, Naberius told him when he asked. Winds sharp as honed steel and as cold as the darkness that ca before creation. None have ventured into its boundary and survived, let alone reached the peak.
Well. That sounds like a challenge to .
Hed need the Essence anyway. He was compiling a lot, holding it aside from the regular tithe he fed his Hunger, but more was always good. He had plenty of uses for it.
Hope youre doing okay, bud.
Pit stood shakily atop a pile of bloody at and fur, half caked with snow that was already turning to crimson ice. Blood poured from between segnts of his barding, but he had done it.
Hed survived.
Breath of the Wild! Pit said between ragged breaths. Imdiately, a wind of light and green-gold motes rose up all around him. His wounds began to close and the shakes that wracked his horse-sized fra ceased as his Strength and Vitality were temporarily boosted.
Breath of the Wild is level 19!
Cold Resistance is level 49!
The fourth layer Door Guardian had been so sort of giant apepig thing, and it was as ugly alive as it was dismbered. All four of its arms had been tipped with tal talons, viciously sharp and far longer than should be allowed. Most of his wounds had co from those claws, and his barding had several deep scratches that would take forever to buff out.
Harncan havethe apprentices do it.
You Have Digested An Inferior Elental Core (x108)!
You Gain:
8 VIT
5 END
You Have Digested A Lesser Elental Core (x13)
You Gain:
14 STR
12 VIT
Ugh. Now it digests. Pit scowled at the small boosts hed received, despite the truly outrageous amounts of foes hed eaten.
He limped off the corpse, unwilling to root around in the four-hands remains for an elental core. He wasnt even sure it had one, and he didnt care now. The portal was right there, and the wind was so cold. Forward was better than stagnation.
The icy surface of the portal slid over him like diving into the bottom of Khasma, except every part of him. Even his Mind shuddered as his thoughts slowed to a trickle. There was only forward. Only the fight. And then it faded, the world turned suddenly warm as a bright noon sun straddled the sky, and Pit gasped.
Spring?
It wasnt, but the impression remained. The terrain was far rockier than the foothills from the previous layer, but the wind didnt cut so deeply and even the ice underfoot was pleasant rather than a bitter punishnt. Pit closed his eyes and enjoyed it, just for a mont.
He could continue in a second.
Pit!
Felix barreled out of the snow, appearing as if out of nowhere and catching Pit up in a too-tight hug. Pit coos of delight were cut short by a sharp burning pain.
Felix pulled back. Oh! Youre hurt! He reached to his waist, where a hard-cased pouch sat and pulled free a bulbous crimson potion. Here. Drink.
Pit did so, happy to see the Health Potion almost as much as he was to see his boy. He drank deep and enjoyed the scritches from his Companions sharp claws. The potions boosted his flagging regeneration, pushing the worst of his wounds closed, and the lack of pain was a treat more delicious than any elental core. He relished it.
Im glad I found you. The Witches didnt tell the fifth layer was a sort of safe zone until we got here. Had I known I wouldve rushed ahead way faster. Felix was staring up the mountain, frowning. Theyre hiding things.
They were much closer to the mountain, and the ice, tal, and stone of the Domain was lifted in miniature peaks that would perhaps be considered mountains in any other place. Here they were like children playing in the shadow of their father. The storm above flashed, and a deep thunder rolled.
Witches say its the end of the Domain up there. Im more interested in what theyre not saying, though.
Pit grunted. I just want to finish the Path.
You too? Felix nodded when Pit confird it, looking as if hed expected nothing less. Good. Well topple this damn peak.
A tired trill fled Pits throat, and he settled his head against his Companions once again. They stayed that way for a bit, until chanting from down trail pricked their ears.
Whats that?
Witches, Felix said. Cmon. Theyre down here, doing so ritual thing.
At the bottom of a small crevasse made of stone striated with tal and ice, a strange little stave church had been built. Felix supposed it wasnt really a stave church, but that was the closest analogy he could find. The structure was a single layer, but layered with roofs that looked like theyd been copied out of so history book on vikings. Oh, and it was made entirely of cloudy ice.
The door was open.
I guess we go inside? Felix said. Pit was following him a few yards back, walking carefully as if he was still injured. Felix fought the urge to obsess, but hed noticed his friends Health hadnt healed all the way to full. It was stuck about three quarters of the way therethe only reason for that was a significant injury. Whys he hiding it?
After you, Pit said, tossing his head. Ill make it there on my own, just fine.
Alright.
Felix wasnt stupid. He knew his friend was having a rough ti; he just didnt know what to do.
He pressed on, pushing through the open ice-door. Beyond the interior of the structure was all one huge chamber. Support struts like narrow icicles stretched between the ceiling and floor, creating the impression that the walls were made of thin sticks, bundled together over and over. In the very center, impossible to miss, were the Witches.
Frostfather, the Caretakers have co to replenish the gifts you have given unto us. Naberius voice was just as sharp and high as before, but it had a certain resonant quality. Felix couldnt tell if it was the acoustics of the room or just plain old magic, but he was betting on the latter. We bring to you sacrifices.
Oh, I dont like the sound of that, Pit sent as he padded up behind Felix.
If they an us, theyre gonna have a bad day. But theyre not that stupid, Felix pointed at the giant blue won, who were now pulling oddly shaped objects from their robes. Look.
The Witches got busy unwrapping the objects, as they were each covered in a number of animal skins, like weird skin-presents. Felix watched, eager to soak in their process. Upon coming to the fifth layer, the Witches had inford him that this was their task to fix the Domain.
They each have a designation, like I do, except theirs lets them move through the lower layers like ghosts. Nothing will touch them. Caretakers they had called themselves, as opposed to challengers. It made sense, if the chanisms of the Domain needed attention, then why not hire your priesthood to do the dirty work?
Like we do, Pit said.
What?
In response, Pit nudged his head forward and a blue window rotated into Felixs view. It was from the Frostfather, as his own had been, and it accepted Pit as a challenger on the Path of Rule.
Whoa, what? Felixs Mind whirled. Is that why we were separated?
The sound of splintering ice filled the building, and they both dropped into battle-ready stances imdiately. But instead of an enemy coming for them, the ground had opened up and was flowing with near-solid ice Mana. The thick, gelatinous liquid power crackled as it ford, shaping into an eight foot tall pillar upon which a large, shallow bowl manifested before the entire thing snapped from Mana to true ice. It was an altar.
Let us do as you have commanded us, Fornis said. Flesh of prey, given in fear.
Fangs of predator, taken in battle, Sitri wheezed.
The breath of life, stolen from the world, Naberius intoned. After each sentence, another item was unwrapped and placed upon the shallow basin of ice. The leg of so hooved creature, dried and festooned with fur. The teeth of a monster, each fang the size of a dagger blade and exuding a vicious poison Mana. Finally, a glass bottle that contained within it a whirlwind. The mont they touched the altar, ice climbed across the offering like crystalline spiderwebs, until they were fully encased.
Thats an Inferior Air Elental. Felix could tell that much before it was entombed in the altar. The magic of whatever was going on here was interfering too much for him to tell what the other things were, even with Voracious Eye.
Blood calls to blood, the water within us all. We offer that last, to seal our pact. As one, all three of the Witches lifted transparent daggers and drove them into their abdons.
Felix took several steps forward, shock, concern, and uncertainty warring within him. Blood poured from the Witches wounds, but none of them had so much as flinched. The crimson stream soaked the ice until the altar basin was brimming full. Only then did their wounds cease flowing and the ice knives were removed. They were clean.
Frostfather! Grant us renewal!
The words of all three in unison shook the chamber. They buzzed through levels of harmonics in Felixs senses as if piercing through sothing more than frigid air.
The altar began to glow. Purple-white and silvery-gray, it ratchets up from dim to blinding in a matter of seconds, forcing Felix and Pit both to squint. The structure around them rumbled, just a little at first, as that buzzing noise lifted into higher frequencies. But the rumbling grew louder, the resonance more intense, until it felt like they were standing inside a ringing bell.
Felix bared his teeth, reaching for his Skills, but was surprised by a purple and white notification that appeared in the air above the altar.
Ritual Rejected!
The Frostfather Denies Replenishnt Until The Challengers Complete Their Path!
Ascend To The Peak!
That has
Never happened before.
Challengers, Naberius said. All three Witches looked to Felix and Pit, varying degrees of shock and dismay swirling openly on their large faces and agitated Spirits.
Bring it on, Pit growled.
Felix snorted. What he said.
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