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. > Isla had only shrugged. > Vess had frowned at her before regarding Felix, concern briefly winning against her battle fury. > > Felix had paused. <> > Isla had confirmed. > > Beef had asked. > > Vess had explained. The notification glimmered at Felix, bright gold and deep azure. There had been no further sign of pursuit by the Fathom spawn since their battle. The brief connection Felix shared with the dragon was not enough for it to pinpoint their location; how he knew that, Felix was unsure. Yet it sat within him regardless, solid and certain, like the knowledge that such details would change were he to choose either 'yes' or 'no' on the Challenge. He closed it again, without choosing. Below them, the crevices had split open into large gorges, and the proliferation of frond and wriggling vine continued. Felix looked up, gazing into the hazy distance, and could see that the cracks in the lake bed only grew wider and wider. He wondered how far they went, when the Naga dove down into one of the thinner crevasses. Felix and his team followed. Toa'ut led them deep into the verdant canyon, past narrow lips of pockmarked stone and among the twisted sea grasses, thick bundles of crimson algae, and luminous, gelatinous orbs. Those floated in the invisible currents, glowing golden and warm, tethered to the cliffs by knobbly tendrils and thick roots. The foliage was deep and varied and surprisingly colorful for so far beneath the surface; Felix would have expected muted greens and pale whites, but he supposed the light that emanated from the odd bio-luminescent orbs helped with that. The path wound further and further, eventually hooking a sharp turn around a ridge that completely hid it from sight. Toa'ut swam ahead, whipping through the waters with renewed energy as he entered a dark cavern. > Felix coasted to a stop just outside the mouth of the cavern, pressing his Perception forward into the dark hole. As far as he could tell, the cavern was relatively shallow and completely free of monsters or other threats. He nodded to Toa'ut. > The other War Nagas arrived seconds after him, and his friends just behind them. As the giant serpent people settled in, Felix realized they all carried bushels of crimson algae, fronds, and even a pair of those gelatinous lights. Vess floated to the ground beside him as the others swam past, each hurriedly claiming a portion of the sandy floor. She held her hip with her left hand, partisan floating effortlessly beside her, and was grimacing. > > Felix nodded at her hip. > > Vess waved his concern away, but her cheek dimpled with a half smile. > > Beef float-stepped his way toward them. He was quite heavy, but still his small hooves were having trouble finding purchase in the thick layer of sand underfoot. > Vess promised, her soft smile turning wry. > > Beef added in. > > Felix assured the teen, and Beef let out a loud sigh of relief. > Felix could use the sleep too. According to his memory, he hadn't slept in six entire days. That was entirely too long to go without sleep, even if his Endurance and Vitality made sleeping more of an optional thing. > he said. > Vess added. > Felix shook his head and tried to ignore the sensation of his long hair wafting in the water. It was weird. > Karys had stayed behind in the Stronghold, but he had direct access to Cal, and as Lady of Haarwatch, she would have reported if the Hierocracy had shown up. Felix supposed he would call his Chancellor in the morning. The old Nym still wasn't particularly pleased with Felix for staying behind, so the conversation was unlikely to be comfortable, but it'd set some minds at ease. > Beef said as he came to a wobbling halt. His fingers toyed with the haft of his war club. > > Vess patted the Minotaur on his bicep as she swam away. > The two Unbound watched Vess leave, both lost in their own thoughts. Felix couldn't stop thinking about his friends heading into a dangerous battle, which looped into his concern over their own coming fight. Beef, on the other hand, seemed to be worrying at another issue entirely. > he said. > > 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. <> 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. <> 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.