Chapter Three Hundred And Fifty Seven – 357
Congratulations!
You Have Extended Your Authority, Autarch!
The notifications trilled at him pleasantly, and Felix felt a weight settle atop his shoulders. It was there only an instant before vanishing, but in that instant all of him was pressed to its very limit. Mind, Body, and Spirit screamed in pain and subsequent relief, as if he had condensed a week of extreme physical exertion into a single moment. He fought to stay standing and even the ice beneath him splintered from the metaphysical burden.
Authority...A mountain that will crush us, he thought as he flexed his legs and locked his knees. It was all that kept him standing. Yet I can't get out from under it, can I?
A burning hiss drew his attention inward, toward the Essence that roiled within him. The Necromantic Spirit had been a vile thing, as bad as the Urges in its own way, but its being had been reduced to it's quintessential parts and made...not safe, exactly. Digestible. Essence, motes of Memories, and the shimmering song of more danced in the swirling cloud among his Divine Veinor Divine Tree, he supposed.
A heaviness sat among those branches, pulling them ever so slightly downward, settling the Tree further into Felix's dual cores far below. Significance, he recognized. The weight of...what?
Significance was explained to him as a solidity in the core, where everything was firmer and more potent. The 'why' of it had not yet been explained to him, though he planned to change that soon. If Zara would actually tell him the entire truth, for once.
Felix put that thought out of his mind, focusing instead on the prompts that spread around him. The threads of the System wove wide, interfacing with each of the beings in the vast chamber and beyond. A cursory tracing of it suggested it was going out to everyone in the Temple.
The Haestus Temple Has Been Claimed!
His Inheritor's Will flashed, the first and second glyphs on the blade pulsing in time with the faint melody of the notification. Each time his Authority increased by virtue of being the Inheritor, the sword had pulsed. Now it practically strobed with a worrisome insistence.
"Karys?"
"I am unsure, Felix. Perhapsah, there we are." A coil of green-gold Mana vapor spun and pointed directly upward, to where a cluster of faintly glimmering crystal hung from the ceiling. Stalactites made of precious minerals. "Belais Crystals, and in the center is the Control Node. The Inheritor's Will is acting as a conduit for the System's re-integration of this Temple. Like all the rest, it was Lost and cut off, but you can change that. Simply thrust the Inheritor's Will into that formation, and the rest of the process should complete itself."
"Why? Nagast didn't work like this," Felix pointed out. "The sword didn't even come into play there."
"The Waterfall Temple was in far better condition than Haestus," Karys said. "I can practically feel the mold all around you. It is quite unpleasant."
"Fair." He eyed the distance. "I think I can make it."
"Make it?"
No sooner had the words echoed from the blade than Felix hurled it straight up. Karys' scream in surprise was cut short as the blade hilted itself between two large growths of crystal.
Around them, a fractal array burst alight, illuminating the dark waters and filling them with wisps of vibrant Mana. The dark opacity fled before the light, rendering the waters crystal clear and exposing the mess of bones and cast-off scales and waving plant-life clinging to the far bottom. Yet the process didn't stop there. Silver and gold lights tore up the walls, filling in the outlines of carved peoples and creatures, until the entirety of the containment chamber was blazing with light.
The Deepking flinched from it, as did his brethren, many of whom ducked into the waters in trepidation. But there was no escape from it all. At the apex of the chamber the Belais Crystal strengthened, until its amethyst brilliance shone down on them like a second sun, and the ambient Mana in the vast room doubled. Felix could feel his breath come a touch harder than before, the rising magic pressing at him almost as hard as the Shambling Horror.
Temple Seat Reestablished, Autarch.
Do You Wish To Begin Restoration?
Warning: Stores Of Essence and Significance Are Detected.
They Will Be Consumed In The Process.
Felix blinked, and used Adamant Discord to yank free his hooked sword. It fell, though Felix had to pull in it to make sure it landed back in his hands. With the connection between him and the swordand Karys on the other endit was easier than breathing; their link was steel solid and twice as strong.
"I-I-I do not like that, Felix," Karys said, an edge to his voice. "I actually think I feel sick. I do not even have a stomach!"
He grimaced. "Oh, you could, ah you could feel that? Jeez, sorry man. I didn't think the sword transferred stuff like that to you."
"Standard Perception sensations, though with our bond between you, the sword, and this Body it is no wonder I feel things more strongly. Just," Karys' voice firmed up, that slight note of subservience returning. "Please refrain from doing such things in the future. Or at least warn me, my Lord."
"I will," Felix muttered, tamping down the urge to apologize again. Instead he looked up, meeting the eyes of the Deepking. "The System wishes to restore the Temple. I...have a feeling that restoring it wouldn't be in your best interest."
The Abyssal Serpent hesitated, it's dark scales twitching in surprise and then acquiescence. "Whatever you choose to do will be accepted, Returned God. But my people would be easy prey without the protection of our...your Temple. Our home."
"Then how about a limited sort of restoration?" Felix asked, only partially speaking to the Deepking. "Karys, can we break down the restoration function? Like just the exterior walls or something?"
"It should be possible. We would need to look at the array directly, however." The sword vibrated in his hands. "Don't you dare throw me again."
"We'll go up together. Atar, Alister, Zara, I'll need all of your eyes on this one."
It took some doing, but Felix was able to fashion a pillar and crude staircase up to the ceiling of the chamber. There the five of them studied the complicated array, and were able to isolate enough of the sigaldry that Karys and Felix felt out the limited connection to the restoration sequences. They had been packaged among a series of large glyphs, one of the few formations that were still functional after Ages of wear and tear. Tweaking the array and his own access to the Temple Seat, Felix got a flurry of new notifications.
Theurgist of the Rise is level 80!
Invocation is level 59!
Limited Restoration In Process!
A solid quarter of the Horror's significance and Essence was pulled from Felix's channels and siphoned into the array, but it was far less than what a full restoration would have required. As it was, he could almost feel shattered masonry and broken walls begin to repair themselves in rapid order, returning to a semblance of what they had been before the Temple had fallen into the lake. The water remained, as the Deepking had requested; Felix had no issue with the Nagafolk residing in the Temple so long as he was allowed to use the Shadowgate without complications. In fact, having them there to protect it was to his benefit, or so Zara kept repeating.
As the array engaged, the silver and gold threads of light blazed brighter than ever. The power of it all struck the Naga, even the Deepking, sending fissures of pain skittering across their flesh. The Temple was transforming, fixing itself, and Felix's Spirit was woven into that process. The weight of it, now augmented by the Horror and the Urges and his Spirit Tree, the heft of it slammed into the Temple like thunder. A bell the size of a skyscraper. Not even his own people were spared the feeling as the array hit its crescendo; Legionnaires and Dawnguard and Risi Warriors all buckled and fell to their knees. Only those nearest Darius and Zara still stood, the two of them mitigating the force of it all.
"Perhaps a warning, next time Felix," Zara said through her sharp teeth. "It is quite rude to unveil your Spirit in such a way."
"Wasn't exactly on purpose," Felix said. He started down the crude stairway, heading back to the soldiers far below.
"That is another issue entirely then," Zara said. "When we reach dry land we will begin lessons in such things."
By the time they reached the ice barge again, the progress of the array finished with a flare of gold-silver radiance and a final spike of Spiritual pressure. The waters below roiled as a pale, ghostly serpent rose from the depths, his eyes blazing like burning blood.
"My king!" Jadorak cried out. His wide, snake-mouth hissed in rage. "I came as sssoon as I saw the blasphemousss System message! What have those creaturesss done?" Red eyes swept between the present Nagafolk, many of whom were still reeling from the pain of the Temple's activated arrays. When none of them, the Deepking included, answered Jadorak quickly enough the serpent's rage had boiled over into something far more volatile. "You! What have you done!?"
Jadorak lunged for Felix, the Naga's already unbalanced emotions adding fuel to a bountiful fire. Yet, Felix didn't have to dodge or defend himself at all, as Garox interposed himself between the charging Naga and his new liege lord.
"Enough, Jadorak!"
The albino Naga reared back, stunned. He looked to the Deepking, outraged at the Spirit Naga's actions. "My king! Thisss foul Human has befuddled you! Did you not see the message? This is a trick of the Fathom to sssteal our home!"
"Jadorak. This is no Human you accost, nor is it of the Fathom. He is Nymean," Garox said.
"That...that is imposssible!" Jadorak's great head swept between his king and the humanoid serpent. "It cannot be!"
"Silence your incessant prattle, Jadorak!" The Deepking roared. Water kicked up, thrown into five-foot waves by the force of the king's shout. The albino serpent cringed backward. "Do you doubt my Mind? Do you cast aspersions on my sovereignty?"
"N-no, my Lord. Of courssse not"
"Then be silent and accept the truth. The Nym have returned, and the God of Thunder and Flame stands before you!"
Jadorak's crimson eyes turned incredulously to Felix, who did his best to exude a sense of "don't fuck with me I'm maybe a god, probably." It was, he feared, less than convincing. At the very least, however, Felix maintained eye contact with the albino Naga until the guy turned away with a sneer.
"My Lord," the Deepking intoned, facing Felix once again. "I am relieved that you have chosen to preserve our home, and that you allow us to remain. The waters of Haestus and others besides are no longer safe to my kind. Bereft of these walls, we too would fall mercy to the Fathom."
"The Fathom?" Vess asked. "I am not familiar with this term."
The Abyssal Serpent's gaze flickered between Felix and Vess, as if assessing how he should respond to this new figure. "They are an old threat, come anew. The darkest, deepest places of the ten thousand lakes of these Hills hold things that no sky has ever shined upon. Ruins unseen, treasures untold, and monsters that would chill your soul. The Fathom are among those creatures, and the worst of them. We have fought many long years against its vile children, a war from which all Nagafolk have suffered. Season after season we dwindle while the Fathom flourish."
There was a vast sadness bowing across the king's Spirit, a descending note that shook the very room they were into Felix's Affinity, at least. And he was not alone. Vess, Evie, Zara, and even Atar looked affected by it. The Deepking nodded to Jadorak and the other Naga gathered in the chamber around them, their scales a smattering of greens and browns and blues.
"My people have waged war against them, brought the battle to them, but they are too many. Too...irksome to be vanquished altogether. I mention this only so that you understand the danger that this Temple protects us from, and what you shall have to brave if you are to leave it." The king hesitated, a strange thing to see on a giant snake. "I would beseech your aid, however, should you be willing to offer it."
New Threat Discovered!
The Fathom!
New Quest!
Defend The Depths!
The Deepking has outlined a nascent threat to your Authority: the Fathom. Find and neutralize the threat, protect your new people, and seek out the Fathom's purpose.
Purpose 0/1
Reward: Increased Authority, Resources, XP, Varies
Felix blinked at the notifications, a little surprised at the new Quest, before an explosion of movement and sloshing water filled the air. Jadorak, without another word, had dove into the water and surged away, vanishing through some underwater passages that Felix hadn't noticed before. A feeling of frustrated fury left with him, and no less then ten other Naga followed.
"As much as we would like to take on this Quest, we must head south without delay," Zara interjected.
The Deepking rumbled in his throat.
"Are the Fathom an immediate concern?" Felix asked.
"No," the Abyssal Serpent said. "We hold them at bay for now. The power of the Returned God would be a mighty boon to us, but we are still safe."
"Alright. Then I promise, after I settle up with things in the south, I'll be coming back and we can take a look into these Fathom at that point." Felix spread his hands. "That's all I can do at this time."
"Then that is what we shall accept." The Deepking bowed low enough to put his head once more on level with Felix and crew upon the ice barge. "That you have listened to our pleas at all is an honor, my Lord."
Unsure of what else to do, Felix nodded. It seemed to work, as the giant serpent lifted its head once more and called out in a guttural tongue to its people. To him, he said, "I offer you my people as guides to the edge of Haestus. As I said, the waters are not safe beyond these walls."
"That would be most appreciated," Zara accepted on his behalf. "We would like to leave immediately."
"So be it."
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel