Silence - Chapter 17

3/3


* * *


Unarmed Mastery is level 27!
Dodge is level 26!
Physical Conditioning is level 24!
Manaship Pilot is level 15!

Felix wasn't sure how long he'd been piloting the sloop. He'd stopped counting the times he'd reached Mana fatigue. His regeneration, while slowed, still had enough to bring him back from the edge again, and again, and again. Now that Felix was aware of his Gates constantly releasing and taking in Mana, it was impossible to ignore. The thinness of the Void was like trying to breath on top of a mountain. He couldn't even devote the mental energy to focusing on fixing them, as he danced on the edge of exhaustion.

They had been attacked two more times by roving voidbeasts. A smaller flock of Tenebrils and a full on murder of Harrowings—he'd ruled that group nomenclature as the most appropriate. If there was ever a creature that deserved it...regardless, they had killed or driven them off. Left with little Mana to spare, Felix had instead focused entirely on the physical while Pit supported him with magic and the occasional Rake or Bite.

Skill levels had grown, though not as much he figured they should. That anemic quality of the Void felt like he was starving for System energy, whatever it was that fueled Skill and stat growth. What little he'd accomplished was likely only because he'd been a blood-drenched rag by the end of each of those fights, covered with more cuts and rents than ever before. Pit fared a bit better, but the monsters had targeted him almost exclusively. No doubt because Pit had more available Mana than Felix by that point.

Pit's Wingblade is level 20!

Pit's Frost Spear is level 18!

Pit's Poisonfire is level 14!

Pit had grown a bit as well, though neither had gained another level. Which, in his addled state, Felix considered almost funny.

Could I even gain a level in this place? His Mind spun, teetering on the edge between wakefulness and sleep as the featureless Void slid inexorably past. Felix clamped down on his thoughts as he clutched the Control Node, marshalling them to this Very Important thought. He'd gained three levels when he'd arrived, but that was part of a Quest. What—

Something crunched ahead of him, and his ship lurched and sent him sprawling forward. That was all he knew for a period of time, as the pain in his Mind sent ripples of agony up and down his spine.

—listen for once, you idiot child.

Felix blinked bleary eyes up at the Maw, who was floating in front of him. Or was that above him? How long had he been on his back?

Ugh. Mortals. Even Unbound are pathetic. Look!

The Maw pointed to the distance, but as he sat up, Felix first only saw the rock formation he'd run into. It was tall, going at least twenty feet higher than his ship's deck, and extending about the same distance below. A single, large symbol was carved into a rough-hewn side, a swirling shape that he couldn't parse. The monolith bobbed from their gentle impact, like a buoy.

"It's a rock, Maw," Felix groaned and held his head. Mana deprivation was sending pulses of pain in a straight line from his core to his head.

It's carved, you clod! That means mortals are nearby. Now we have to find out where, and perhaps you can navigate us out of this Blighted place.

Felix grunted and settled back against the low railing. "Is that a sigil?"

A glyph, actually, the Maw said with a tilted head. Right. You have touched on their construction. Sigils of the Primordial Dawn. How...humorous.

Felix rolled his eyes, wincing at the effort. Either the Maw was going to share something or it wasn't, either way, he refused to rise to its bait. "If it's a sigil—or a glyph—" he added with a groan. "Then it's part of some sort of magic, right? So why is there no Mana in it?"

An...astute observation. The Maw floated toward the monolith and ran its intangible fingers across the glyph. Were it active, it would glow with the living light. The Void has drained this array.

Felix fought against his aching Mind and Body and forced himself up. Once he started moving, the pain was a bit easier to manage. "So if it's drained then someone should come to refuel it, right?"

The Maw froze, and turned back to Felix with an odd look. That is not...an absurd idea. It floated through the stone, only to emerge seconds later. One that has merit. The repository is empty, but not entirely. We have but to wait.

It was a measure of Felix's exhaustion that he felt neither annoyance or glee at the Maw's surprise. Instead he sank against the railing and let himself drift away.


* * *


"Ahoy the ship!"

Felix jerked away, though this time he managed to keep relatively still. He stretched his Perception outward, and could barely make out a figure in the near distance. He turned, just his head, careful to move slowly until his eyes cleared the edge of the railing.

A small...dinghy? Probably a dinghy, it floated out in the black. It was around four feet long and barely half that wide, enough for a single person to fit inside. The person inside was a Korvaa, one of those birdlike people, and what plumage could be seen beneath his plain trousers and cloak were brown and a mottled off-white. Wings hung from his back, but were obscured by his dark frock and wide collar. He held a long pole in thin, clawed hands, with which he navigated forward. The pole was made of voidbeast bone, just as the dinghy, and had a strange organic pouch growing from the top. Each movement sent a soft ring of undifferentiated Mana spiraling outward, propelling the small craft forward a few feet at a time.

Do not mention pirates, the Maw insisted. It was hovering just behind Felix and he twitched at the proximity. He will doubtless overreact.

"Ahoy the ship!" he called again, his wide, hooked beak snapping off the words. It was a curious, sharp sort of accent. "Is anyone still alive?"

Felix put up his hands, slowly. "Yes, ahem, yes we are alive!"

The Korvaa pulled up, their own craft knocking gently against the monolith. "A Human! What are you doing way out here? There isn't a Human settlement for a hundred leagues."

Felix smiled and ducked his head. "Bad luck I suppose. I got on the wrong side of some pirates. I barely made it out of there alive."

You idiot!

Voracious Eye!

Name: Bateo
Race: Korvaa
Level: 32
HP: 1127/1127
SP: 643/994
MP: 434/0
Lore: Korvaa are highly intelligent and agile, gaining bonuses to both at each level. They are known for being relatively physically weak compared to many other Races, though they are stronger than Humans and Gnomes.
Weakness: More Data Required
Strength: More Data Required

Zero Mana total?

Deception is level 8!
Deception is level 9!

"Pirates!" Bateo squawked, and Pit perked up from his own nap. "Molt! A chimera!" The hawk-like Korvaa looked at Felix with wide eyes, his beak agape. "I can tell you've quite the story to tell, stranger."

"You don't know the half of it," Felix muttered. "I've been fleeing on this stolen ship for...days? A long time." He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs of his long, delirious sleep. "I'm lost and I could use some help."

Bateo was quiet a moment, tapping his clawed fingers on the grey bone of his pole. Felix didn't miss that the hawkman's eyes landed on Pit more than a few times. Bateo let out a soft, helpless sigh. "I think—I think you should come with me."

"Come with you where?" Felix asked.

"To Echo's Reach. You must see the Conference."


* * *


"What? What?" The Half-Orc batted away an insistent nudging and grunted. "Leave me be you blasted Elf!"

The nudging persisted.

"Alright, fine! What?"

Celaat was pointing into the distance and Bridgven was forced to push herself up onto her elbows to see over the railing. A league or so distant, the boy was being...towed away by a—was that a Korvaa?

Celaat gestured and Bridgven groaned. "How should I know? Korvaa are rare anywhere you find em. Doubly so in the Void. Captain'll be ecstatic to find another."

Celaat frowned and pointed after them.

"Why are we waiting then? Let's go," she grunted and took the helm. The ship flared as her Mana trickled into it.

Silent as the Void around them, they followed.