Unbound-Chapter Nine Hundred And Eighty – 980
It was a beautiful day. The twilit night had faded into the cornflower blue of early morning, and Gabby was almost hysterically relieved to see the sun, bright and gold above the horizon. After the moonfall and its aftermath, a part of her had been reeling. Now, the wind that gusted across the plains of Amaranth was a cool respite, settling her nerves as much as it appeared to put a bit of pep into the step of the soldiers around her. While she had spent the night wandering the lower districts of Aeonis, the Legionnaires had commandeered a restaurant.
Gabby wasn’t sure what it had been before Aeonis’ fall. The storefront was as nondescript as it was massive, built on a scale that no one but her found comfortable. Tables several feet higher than normal, chairs made three times as wide, not to mention doorframes scaled up for enormous patrons. It was, as the city description had indicated, a place for Gigas. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
That hadn’t stopped the Legion from using it, however—it had merely required several wobbling and unsafe additions to do so. Chitinous platforms ran up and down the kitchens and dining hall to accommodate all the soldiers clamoring for food, all of which were propped up by questionable architecture. Beef seemed to mostly know what he was doing, but he was careless. His dad had plenty to say about that.
“Here’s your meal, my Lady.”
A tray containing a very large bowl of stew, an entire loaf of bread, and a wide tankard of ale was set before Gabby. The Legionnaire who set it down was older, with white in his beard even though his skin was lineless and firm.
“Thank you.” She risked a smile and the man’s Spirit brightened as he bowed away, his purple cloak swirling from his shoulders.
“Please let us know if you are in need of anything else.”
“I think I’ll be fine.” She gave a lame nod, unsure what else to do. “Thanks.”
The Legionnaire stepped away, still pleased, and joined the queue of others who had taken up service duty that morning. The kitchen inside the shopfront had become their temporary mess hall, transformed now by their supplies and cooks. Of course, there was no food available in the resurrected Aeonis, but that didn't stop the Legion from spreading out and simply enjoying their time.
Gabby lifted her ale, watching over its wide rim. The giants were spread amongst the Legionnaires, who themselves were all around the shop front, set at tables made of chitin. These were expertly crafted, owing in part to Wendell's exacting instruction. Even now, Beef and his father worked through making a wide series of long benches to accommodate all of the Talons that were there with them, as well as the enormous stools built to hold the Risi Warriors and Witches. Their enormous allies were amongst the few that looked comfortable in their surroundings. It was a strange sight.
The Legion bantered back and forth, knots of off-duty soldiers laughing in between bites of steaming food, enjoying the sunshine.
It was…nice. Gabby took a sip of her ale and murmured appreciatively.
"It’s good, right?”
Kevin sat down at her table, folding his long legs across the wide bench. She’d been sitting there alone for the last half hour, despite the table being more than big enough for others, and it wasn’t until a few minutes ago that the soldiers had approached her to ask if she’d eaten. Everyone was avoiding her, and Gabby couldn’t blame them.
The Kobold smiled at her, his blunt snout smeared with crumbs as he set his tray onto the table. His soup was half-eaten and his bread was mangled by claws as he lifted his own mug. “I think Harn makes it.”
Gabby ran her thumb across her mug’s handle. “Harn…That’s the one in all the armor, right?”
She remembered him, but it wasn’t without a self-conscious wince. Last she’d seen of the man, Gabby had punched him through a tower wall.
Kevin tore into his bread again, nodding. “Yeah that’s the guy. Dude loves his armor. You’d like him.”
“He doesn’t make the ale. It’s his girlfriend, Palin.” Kevin’s brother walked up, his own tray laden with two bowls of soup and three loaves. “She’s got a brewery and tavern back in Elderthrone. Scooch over.”
“I got here first.”
“I was born first.”
“Doesn’t count. Besides, I’m taller now,” Kevin said, still seated and stretching his spine.
“We’re the same height, dumbass.” Shadow jostled onto the bench, shoving his brother more than was probably necessary. Kevin shoved right back, nearly spilling the tray of soup. “Hey! I got the extra for you!”
“Oh.” Kevin froze, then swiped the bowl and a loaf of bread. “Thanks.”
“Jerk.”
A wry grin twisted Gabby’s lips. Siblings were the same everywhere. “Have you two been, yet?”
“Elderthrone?” Kevin swallowed and glanced at his brother, who kept stirring his soup. “Uh, no. We’ve been…No, not yet. I hear it’s pretty nice though. Everything the Talons have said about it sounds pretty dang magical.”
"More magical than this?" Shadow gestured around them. "A city for giants rescued from the mists of time? This is some crazy stuff that you'd see in SwordLore."
The scales around Kevin’s eyes gleamed, catching the sun. “I hear Elderthrone has a magic school.”
Shadow grinned. “Now that I wanna see.”
The two of them had grown since Gabby had last seen them on the Omen Path. She'd noticed when they’d emerged from the Door, but in all the chaos she hadn’t taken the time to appreciate the changes. Grown to nearly six feet tall, the Kobolds were gangly and stretched like the teenagers they were. Shadow had even started to grow small whiskers on his upper lip, though they were barely more than the suggestion of facial hair. Their small horns had extended, branching now into small antlers, similar to Vess’ Drake Companion only far smaller. They’d even grown small wings on their backs, no more than a foot wide but exposed through their armor and twitching just above their shoulders. For all their changes, however, their coloration remained the same: Kevin was a green-gold in scale and fur while Shadow was a dark mirror in purple-black.
The pair of them were wrapped in new armor, recently sourced from the Legion. It was the silvered-green of mithril, standard issue save for the adjustments on their backs. That, and their cloaks, which had been swapped from the standard purple to yellow and black, respectively.
“What about you, Gabby?” Kevin asked. “You excited to see Elderthrone? Seeing as it’s your brother’s hometown.”
"I guess I am," she admitted. "If everyone is as welcoming as these Legionnaires, then I can't imagine it would be bad at all."
"Only idiots would be rude to the Emperor's sister," Elowen said, walking up to their table. "Do you mind if I take a seat?"
Stolen from novelbuddy, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Um, no, I don't mind." The deer mage clambered over another bench, settling her surprisingly heavy bulk down and groaned with relief. "I've been on my feet all night. You know, the Gigas left quite a number of partial wards around. I don’t know the base language yet, but they are truly amazing finds. I've been studying them."
“All night?” Shadow asked, his face twisted in disgust.
"We took a nap." Kevin gestured between him and his brother. “After the day we had, I think we all deserve a good rest."
"I’ll sleep when I’m dead; there is too much to learn! Ondine was of the same mind. She and her Guardian Beasts came along, eager to experiment with our newfound Skills. The possibilities are too enticing to sleep, especially with the avenues our Paths have opened up for us."
"Oh." Gabby leaned in, curious despite herself. "What Path did you receive, Elowen?"
The mage blushed beneath her dun fur. “It is a bit embarrassing but I am an absolute nerd for all things magic. The ins and outs of this world’s power systems are infinitely fascinating; it’s why I ended up at the Lucent Towers and rose through the ranks of the Violet. The System, in its wisdom, recognized the bent of my Mind and my Path options reflected it.” She took a breath before blowing it out with a grin. “I chose the Path of the Magister Savant.”
“Ooh, a wizard build,” Shadow said, nodding sagely. “Makes sense.”
“I thought so. It focuses on learning magic-based Skills as well as enhancing all of my information gathering Skills. My Mana pool was doubled, my Will soared, and my Intelligence has finally become my highest stat.” A gleam of stars was briefly reflected in Elowen’s dark eyes, or so Gabby thought. She blinked and they were gone. “The clarity of my thoughts is astounding. Understanding comes in great leaps now, at least when it comes to magic. That’s part of why I was studying the proto-sigaldry in this place; pieces of the city spoke to me, lighting up portions of my Mind I didn’t know were there.” Elowen let out a shaky, excited breath. “It drove me to distraction a number of times. Ondine had to reign me in as dawn got closer, even though she was possessed of a similar but different restless energy. It’s why I’m surprised you boys could sleep at all.”
"Well, I think all the changes," Kevin said, holding his arms out and gesturing at his body, "kind of wiped us out a little bit."
"Yeah, Kev's right. Our Path wasn’t concerned with our Minds as much as our Bodies.”
“Did you get the same Path?” Gabby asked.
“No! Thank god,” Shadow shuddered. “I’ve had enough of that my whole life. The System kept putting us together but in the end we’re walking separate Paths."
Finishing the last of his food, Kevin set down his soup bowl. "Yeah, that was a relief. I was worried, not gonna lie.”
“Do you mind sharing?" Elowen asked.
Gabby looked at them, unable to hide her interest. Kevin puffed out his chest. "I chose the Path of the Life Wyrm."
Gabby scrunched her nose. "Worm?”
“No! Wyrm, with a Y. It enhances all my nature-based Skills, and gives my Body more features from the draconic monster Type. It’s really cool. That's why I got these wings." He flexed them for good measure.
“But you both have wings…”
“Yeah, I think that’s more to do with our Race than anything else.” Kevin poked his brother’s shoulder. “It couldn’t have been our Paths, since I took this awesome one and you took the cringiest one imaginable.”
"Shut up, you're just jealous.”
Elowen smiled. “Shadow, what’d you take?"
"The Path of Inevitable Demise."
Gabby snorted. "Jesus."
"I know. Cool, right?"
"Yeah, very cool." Gabby caught Kevin’s gaze and he rolled his eyes so hard it was practically audible.
"The Path of Inevitable Demise enhances all of my poisons and increases my capacity for destruction by amping up my archery and expanding my AOEs. Now, all my hits are bigger and deadlier. It's incredible. Plus it made us, like, stronger and faster and sturdier and all that stuff.” Shadow shook his head slowly, gazing down at his flexing hand. “It is kind of crazy, though. I didn't know that getting an Omen Path would evolve our Skills. I thought it was just a leveling bonus."
“I was surprised too. But everything I know was filtered through some…untrustworthy sources,” Gabby admitted. “Elowen? Did you expect this?”
The deer mage drummed her fingers on the table. "It's not uncommon for Skills to be affected by an Omen Path, but the sheer range of powerful Paths we seem to have been offered is not what the records indicated for average citizens of the Continent. In part that is because we are Unbound, but it is also due to our relative advancement when stepping into the Omen Door, and the complexity of Vess’ own Path.”
Gabby nodded along. Considering all of the Titles, stats, and Skills that the System accounted for when offering her Paths, it was unsurprising that other factors would come into play. “What about the leveling bonuses? I’m sure we’re all getting solid boosts now with each new level, but we’ve all reached pretty high, haven’t we?”
“Mhm, a common concern. There’s some anecdotal evidence that, in long ago Ages, it was common for people to receive their Omen Key while still in Apprentice Tier. Those are suspect though, considering how rare the Keys are—all modern records indicate the least advanced were always in Adept Tier or even Master. As you can imagine, a leveling bonus at an advanced Tier is far less useful, but everyone always attempts the Path anyway.”
“Who cares about bonus stats when I got all this?” Evie said, hopping off the shoulder of a Risi Warrior. She flipped twice in mid-air before landing with an enviable amount of grace, her hand stretched out to the side and holding a two-foot long loaf of bread. She slid up into a casual slouch, taking a big bite.
“A baguette?” Shadow eyed her dubiously.
“That’s just fuel,” Evie slapped her breastplate. “Ghosts of the White Wastes!”
The earth crackled with frost, spreading from Evie’s feet for at least twenty feet in every direction. A few Legionnaires slipped, but they were caught by strange creatures only a foot tall and composed entirely of ice. They were spiky and clouded white where they were entirely translucent, their bodies composed of patterns of frost save for their bright red eyes.
“Ghosts!” Evie commanded imperiously. “Do stuff!”
Eyes gleaming the tiny ghosts cackled as they ran to the nearest unoccupied tables, lifting up trays, soup bowls, and chitin chairs by the dozen. Each ghost was surprisingly strong as well as nimble, able to spin their cargo around while tossing it to each other.
The Risi laughed, clapping their hands. “Rua ta fal! Little brothers!”
The Witches were just as delighted. The few in attendance watched Evie’s display with a certain amount of awe.
“Are those Sprites, Evie?” Elowen asked.
“Hm? No, they’re Ghosts. Says so in the Skill.” She walked forward with sure steps, ignoring the ice slick she’d laid down before sitting heavily on a bench.
“They certainly look like Sprites. I suppose that might be why the Witches are so impressed. Spites don’t listen to anyone.”
“Huh.” Evie glanced over her shoulder at the Risi Witches, all of whom noticed her attention immediately. They bowed at the waist, hands curled in odd symbols. “Their Spirits sound like respect. I’ll take it.”
“What’s your Path?” Shadow asked.
Evie grinned. “Path of the Ghostchain. It enhanced my chain, my acrobatics, but mostly my metal and ice-based Skills got a big boost. Since that’s nearly all of what I can do, it’s been a pretty great mornin’.”
Gabby reached out and one of the Ghosts shied away from her. Evie winced. “Yeah, they’re a bit sensitive to the heat…and you burn bright, lady.”
“Oh.” Gabby sat back. “Sorry.”
Evie shrugged. “Ain’t no skin off my back. They’re not thinkin’ creatures, exactly. They follow some limited orders and can make decisions if they aren’t too weird, but all my experience so far suggests they’re just… a side effect.”
Elowen leaned forward, attention captured. “Side effect? Of what?”
“Of all my Skills. I got this one for free when my Path kicked in. They’re just like, what’d’ya call it?” Evie snapped her fingers. “A manifestation. That’s it.”
Somehow, Elowen sat up even straighter and her deer-like ears pricked forward. "A Core Manifestation?"
“Ahh, yes,” a new voice said from beside Evie. “That is perfect.”
Evie shouted, her hand already coated in an ice gauntlet and swinging before Gabby even saw the weird rat-man beside her. What was stranger, the blow passed harmlessly through his head.
“Talk about ghosts,” Shadow murmured. “What the hell are you?”
The rat-man was dressed in old fashioned robes and had white fur that dripped from his chin like a goatee. His eyes, however, were the strangest; they were flat and empty, as if they were being studied by something without a single emotion. He grinned, and it was off too. “I am here to help.”
