Felix took the steps six at a time, and thankfully the reinforced stone held. He'd found the stairs shortly before finding the chambers he'd spent the night in, deep in the sundered cliff. Access to them was warded, much as the stairs leading down into the Mana well had been, but that meant little to him. The sword at his side saw to that.

 

"The array is quiet," Karys was saying, his voice buzzing through that very same sword. "But that is where I believe you must go."

 

"That makes sense," Felix said, speeding up the long flights with only some of his massive Agility with his prize tucked beneath an arm. He could have move faster, but feared that pressing his Agility to its limit would break something or someone. As it was, the intricate lacework stone flashed past him in a blur, and a gust fairly howled behind him. "That array is...weird."

 

"It is just as I remember them, Felix," Karys said. "Perhaps it is not the array that is odd."

 

He couldn't agree. The array, which was at the center of his Temple, was entirely too helpful to be normal. When he'd accepted System Authority over the Territory of Nagast, it hadn't obfuscated or denied him information. Instead, it had been relatively transparent. Felix swept through empty room after empty room, chambers that were bare of any decoration or furniture that might have hinted at their prior use. He suspected the cliff, itself quite huge, was honeycombed with similar spaces that had once been part of the Temple. Now it was his. It was all very strange.

 

Twenty minutes prior, Felix had made use of his Champion of the Halcyon Title, reaping the rewards he had forgotten to claim in all the hubbub after the Archon's death.

 

 

As much as he had wished to see if there was a rarity above Transcendent, the Title wouldn't let him use the bonus on Sovereign of Flesh, as that would put it up and into Adept Tier. Which meant his choices were limited, but not necessarily worse. His Body, which was remarkable sturdy as it was, lagged behind the power of his Spirit and even Mind. Felix was planning to correct that, and focused on his next best choice.

 

 

The Title bonus had sunk into his core space, a strange feeling that Felix hadn't had the dubious pleasure of experiencing before. It slipped through the dark and right into his Unfettered Volition, setting it spinning wildly with a direct influx of colorless System energy.

 

 

The Skill swelled, its pattern of etched light rotating more and more rapidly. The song of it that Felix had grown quite used to, changed pitch and timbre, deepening and filling out in a way that sent tingles across his scalp. Power from his own core responded, sparking from his grinding rings and shooting straight at the Skill, soaking it in sound and light.

 

 

 

The Skill roared, an unstoppable train barreling toward anything that opposed it. Felix felt snatches of its song, its pattern, take root in his Body and it made him want to run and dance. To move.

 

Instead he focused on his completed Quest, the rewards for which he'd put off during the chaos of the last day.

 

 

First, the Title.

 

 

That would've been useful about fifty levels and several mega monsters ago, Felix groused, though he couldn't have completed the Quest any faster. What did that last bit mean about the 'strength of your Home?'

 

His musings were cut short, however, by a sudden growl and chime. The sound shook his core space, sending ripples that almost threw Felix out of the place entirely.

 

 

Stretching up from between the double-stacked rings of his cores was a trunk half again as thick as those cores, textured as true bark but colored a crimson-black that shone wetly in the light of his core space. It was the Vein of Divinity, the one that had poked from the depths of his cores and abyss both. The piece of the divine that Felix had stolen from a goddess. And it was bigger than ever.

 

 

The trunk extended both ways, above his cores and below. Underneath, it spread out into fine roots that tangled further with the Pillars he had been developing, a fine net that enmeshed the two extant Pillars in a way that he hoped strengthened them. Above the dual rings, the trunk extended for a goodly distance before branching out once more...directly into the clouds of Essence that hovered above his core space. Like a tree with cloud-like, nubula leaves and festooned with flashing, multicolored lights. Those bright lights were the Essence Motes and Memories he'd taken from various entities like Vvim and Karys, all of which were fixed in place by a portion of Felix's Will. He wasn't willing to part with any of them until he had to; luckily now his Will and core space was refined enough to allow him such luxuries. It would make Tempering very useful in the near future.

 

There were dozens of others, hanging like fruit on the new growth, but many were...rotten. Felix didn't much care how he knew that, only that it was true. Most were Memories taken from the Urges he'd consumed, and even letting his gaze roll across them filled him with revulsion and a distinct need to bathe.

 

Below him the abyss—the darkness at the center of his two spinning core rings—gnawed ineffectually at the crimson bark of the Vein of Divinity—Tree of Divinity now, he supposed. Its hunger was constant and frankly somewhat annoying, but Felix had promised it a meal of a monster in exchange for its good behavior. It felt like a monstrous, unseen pet...one he could not trust not to eat everything if it were let loose. If it even could be; Felix believed it to be the Hunger he had inherited from the Maw and had since conquered...but even a Primordial's Hunger was too strong to truly die.

 

The Memories were vile things he had no interest in seeing or experiencing, and it was almost a relief to hurl them down into the black. The abyss devoured them gleefully, though it had no face with which to emote. Felix just felt it in a way that wasn't dissimilar to his bond with Pit.

 

Shaking his head, Felix had emerged form his core space to find the tenku in question staring at him curiously.

 

"Hey bud, you sleep well?"

 

Pit warbled in the positive, but ended it with a questioning trill. The tenku could speak into his mind with words when he wanted to, but preferred to send flashes of sense-images to convey his meaning.

 

"I was Tempering myself, and taking care of some...undesirables," Felix said. Pit's large, golden eyes flicked to a portion of the room that was entirely empty. "What is it?"

 

An approach, he sent back.

 

Before Felix could ask what that meant, the air around that portion of the room twisted. A chest of shimmering silver and blue appeared out of nothing, plonking to the floor with a thud that Felix could feel through his legs. It was huge, easily four feet across and two feet deep, and made entirely of smooth metal, without rivets or fasteners of any kind. Exactly like the other Chests he'd seen, though those were different colors.

 

"The Platinum Chest," he murmured. "Right."

 

He'd received a Silver Chest before, had almost gotten Gold too, but Cal took that when she became the Lady Haarwatch. She never did tell him what was inside it. In fact, the Quest 'Enemy of the State,' the one Cal had issued to all of them, had promised a Gold Chest at its end. Felix and his team didn't see any benefit from it, but it had disappeared, indicating it had been resolved. Hopefully by Zara.

 

Pit put his beak right in Felix's ear, making him jump. Felix laughed. He was letting himself get distracted. He had loot to check. Pit trilled in agreement.

 

Felix crossed the room in a blink, stirring the dust in the far corners, and threw open the lid. It had no latch or seam, but it opened easily at his touch, and found a plush, velvet-lined interior. Three objects were nestled within.

 

"A...jumpsuit?" Felix asked as he pulled a length of shimmering cloth from the Chest. It featured a top and bottom fashioned into a single, gaudy outfit, but the cut and styling was strange and asymetrical. Beside it, however, were more promising finds. "A jewel and...Wow. No, that is a jewel."

 

A jewel the size of Felix's thumbnail was set next to a faceted, purple stone that looked like amethyst. While the smaller, teardrop jewel had sharp, clear facets, the amethyst had so may that it was basically a sphere. Felix lifted all three items from the Chest, and it vanished with the same twist of reality as before.

 

"What am I looking at here?" he asked as Pit nosed the items. Felix set them down on the floor, and lifted the shiny jumpsuit.

 

 

 

"I take it back, this is really cool." More than that, it would solve a problem Felix had encountered more and more. The enchanted clothing he'd received back in Haarwatch couldn't keep up with the punishment he put it through, often remaining torn or stained for long periods of time. This Garment of Many was leagues better and it could shift into anything he wanted? He had quickly put the clothing on, shedding his old tunic and pants without regret. It took a moment but flaring his Cardinal Flame quickly revealed the way of things; he was to manipulate his Mana into the cloth, which would then take the form of clothing he desired. He had to keep a continuous trickle of power feeding into the Garment, but it was negligible compared to his total and regeneration.

 

Seconds later, Felix stood in his room wearing a pair of dark jeans, a comfortable t-shirt, and a light blue hoodie. The changes felt liquid and easy, translating his thoughts into completed clothing with barely any delay. Felix smiled down at Pit, but the tenku clearly didn't appreciate the magnitude of the item. He instead was nosing the smaller of the two jewels.

 

"Trust me, it's super cool," Felix muttered, before crouching once more. He held up the thumbnail-sized jewel.

 

 

 

Felix transmitted it all to Pit and the tenku's eyes shone. His barding had begun to look a bit ragged around the edges, but perhaps this Stone would prove to be a better addition to it. Felix didn't once think of using it himself; his armor was his skin, much as that annoyed him. Felix would have loved to own a cool suit of armor. Pit pressed at it in excitement, clearly assuming such a treasure would be his—he wasn't wrong, but Felix wasn't gonna worry about that yet.

 

There was still one last treasure to go.

 

 

 

"Belais Crystal," Felix murmured. He thought it had looked familiar. "But what's all this about a Dwelling Stone?"

 

"A Dwelling Stone?!" The sword at Felix's waist had buzzed in surprise and a distinct amount of delight. "You have received a Dwelling Stone?"

 

"Yeah, I—" Felix began, before a ringing sound interrupted him.

 

 

"Right. The last reward for Home Sweet Home. But where's the Control Node?" Felix asked the air.

 

Karys' voice had shook from the sword, shaky in excitement. "I believe I know, Felix. Hurry, and bring the Dwelling Stone."