Chapter Six Hundred And Sixty Three – 663

Mantle of the Stormlord!

Talon of Tumult!

A yowling moss green cat fell, easily five times the size of the Dire Hound puppy it had faced, but more than overmatched.

You Have Killed A Bogcat!

XP Earned!

Pit stood tall, covered in a shimmering aurora, like a storm held tight to his fur. The monster had immediately dropped into multiple pieces, the single strike so much that the Confusion Status Condition didnt even have a chance to apply. Pit cooed in disappointment. Hed been looking forward to seeing how that worked.

A rush of power crested up within his chest and burst across his core, sparking into a blue notification.

You Have Gained 1 Level!

You Are Now Level 75!

You Gain:

+60 STR, +59 PER, +54 VIT, +61 END, +57 INT, +60 WIL, +70 AGL, +70 DEX! +60 AFI, RES, and REI!

What a rush, he trilled. The sensation of System energy had filled him with a false sense of unlimited power before it inevitably faded. The fur on his back was still standing straight up. My new Evolution is so cool.

Since becoming a Primordial Storm Tyrant, Pit had gained an extra fifty points to every stat he earned during a level up. It was an embarrassment of riches, enough to seriously elevate his power with every jump in level.

Status.The roots of this story extend from novell bi?n origin.

Name: Pit

Level: 75

Race: Chimera - Primordial Storm Tyrant

Path: Guardian Beast

______

Health: 11154/11154

Stamina: 10798/10798

Mana: 9111/9111

______

STR: 1673

PER: 1384

VIT: 2230

END: 1992

INT: 1608

WIL: 1661

AGL: 2980

DEX: 2542

______

Dawn's Advent (E), Level 82

Executioners Stormblade (E), Level 48

Gloaming Shroud (E), Level 49

Howl At The Dark (E), Level 84

Breath of the Wild (L), Level 49

Etheric Concordance (L), Level 98

Mantle of the Stormlord (L), Level 62

Maelstroms Maw (L), Level 85

Talon of Tumult (L), Level 86

Tempest Fugit (L), Level 84

Ouranic Dominion (D), Level 73

______

Pit's Harmonic Stats

Hallow tilted her featureless head. A day. Two at most.

Pit had led Hallow out to train her Skills but mostly it had been to hunt for materials to push herself toward her first Evolution. Excellent! And your Skills?

Mana Dart is level 70. Switchshift has reached level 71. And Hallow Call is level 68.

Pit beamed at her, tongue lolling and ears perked forward. Its working.

It is. Hallow gave Pit a sharp nod. Thank you for this.

Psh. Just helping. Felix says we should always help when we can.

Hallow accepted that with the stoicism Pit had come to expect. Should we return to the group?

Yeah, probably. We kinda strayed a little far. It was also getting dark, but Pit wasnt about to admit that the swamp creeped him out at night. He was a Primordial Storm Tyrant! They werent afraid of anything. As the first and only Primordial Storm Tyrant, Pit felt confident in making that claim. Those hives lookunsteady. Think your Crawlers could give us a ride back?

A good idea.

Pit puffed out his chest. Im full of them now. My Mind is so much sharper than it was before He froze as colors and shapes shifted in the far distance. Hallow noticed too.

What is that? she asked.

Pit swallowed. People.

Not his people. Different ones.

Sneaky ones.

Vess skipped across the surface of the swamp, spectral Dragon wings spread from her back as she blurred between the rotted trees. It was full dark now, but that mattered little to her advanced Perception and Adept Body. Small, aggressive monsters that looked like a mix between a frog and a scorpion leaped from the branches above, and her partisan flashed.

You Have Killed A Pestilent Claw (x13)!

XP Earned!

The creatures were the size of her head and bled an alarming shade of yellow when pierced, but they werent too strong. Their speed and their ambush tactics made them far more useful as target practice than a resource for leveling.

After making a figure eight sweep of the nearby waters, she landed lightly atop the Gloaming Way once again. Fishing out a dark cloth from her belt pouch, she fastidiously cleaned the yellow ichor from her blade and considered the swamp around her. Moss and vines and twisted trunks met her eyes wherever she dared to look, but after glasses of her training she had come across new details. Vibrantly colored flowers nestled in the hollowed remains of a stump. A jewel-toned bird with a translucent beak. Even the murky waters swarmed with silver-scaled fish that caught the errant beams of moonlight that filtered through the canopy.

A place of decay and yet life blooms. She held out her partisan and looked at the Dragons etched into its length. It is not too late.

Cmon Pit, stop ignoring me, Felix said, seemingly to himself. His black hands were hoisted on his hips and his eye lid twitched in annoyance. Dang bird.

Vess suppressed a smile. She knew that Felix had made great strides in trusting the capabilities of his Companion, but she also knew that it was still hard on him. Pit had taken Hallow out for training glasses ago and had little communication with everyone, even when Felix had announced that they were eating dinner. She would be more concerned if she didnt know that Felix could see Pits Status at any time; if the tenku were truly in trouble, he would know instantly.

We are nearing the edge of the valley. He will return soon, I am sure of it, Vess assured him.

Felix blew a lungful of air out, the force of it sending small waves rippling across the water. Yeah probably. Hes just being a butt and is ignoring me.

I imagine he needs to focus while training.

True.

And interruptions could cause him to get hurt in a fight.

Felix glanced at her. ...Also true.

It seems to me that Pit is being exceptionally responsible in that regard. Vess let her smile widen. And also a bit of a butt.

Felix snorted a laugh.

Despite everything theyd been through recently, Pits wounds had only just healed. The Curse of Flame was too fresh in Felixs Mind and massive, major Evolution or not Vess doubted he would be comfortable with Pit in danger until the Chimera could prove himself. Vess had no worries in regards to that, however. The two of them were thick as thieves, sharing just about every thought in their heads with one another.

She envied them. Her Companion shared little.Yin was busily consuming the Superior Elemental Core, but he had not talked more about his steps toward his Evolution in quite a while. Whenever she brought it up, he just mentioned some beast they had to hunt once the core was depletedand it was shrinking fast. It was perhaps the size of a soccer ball now, and the Wyrmling's belly was noticeably rounded at all times.

Where does the Gloaming Way end, by the way? Felix asked. He nodded to the book buckled to her belt. Does that thing tell you?

She placed her hand over the battered tome. In a way. It describes many things about the area, and a few other books I rescued detail some northern portions of my fathers Territory leading into Levantier. Itwell it says there is a fortress where the mountains give way.

A fortress? Felixs interest perked right up. A Dragoon fortress?

If it still stands, yes.

Well then we need to visit it, Felix said. See if it has any clues about your order and the Dragons.

Vess heartbeat quickened, and she reached over and gave Felix a quick kiss on his cheek.

The man blinked, clearly stunned. Whawhat was that for?

For being you.

Felixs face lit up, partly from the blush that crept across his cheeks and mostly from his eyes. They literally shimmered with blue and red flames. He stepped toward her and

Felix! Pit landed on the path right next to them in Dire Hound form. He was soaking wet and trailing tendrils of moss.

Vess swallowed down a burst of irrational anger and she could feel Felix fighting to do the same. What great timing, he muttered. Then he got a good look at his Companion, and Vess felt his Spirit shift toward alarm. What happened?

Something is ahead, Hallow said, stepping from an undead Crawler onto the road.

Pit nodded, golden eyes bright in the dark. Raiders!