Unbound-Chapter One Thousand And Two – 1002

The Orcs met Felix’s gaze before both of them dropped to a knee.

"Hail to the Emperor!"

"Now this is more like it," Pit cheered before cracking into the crab-leg of the Mountain Prince.

The red-faced official’s eyes bugged out. It seemed that he couldn’t decide to stare at Pit, Felix, or the Tusknights. "Uvan? Are you in on this?"

The Orcs kept kneeling, not even looking at Rogier. Felix ignored him too. "You can stand. Tusknight Uvan, is it?"

"Yes, your Majesty.”

“I appreciate you believing me, though I suppose it’s easier with this off.” Felix pulled his Veiling Amulet from his neck.

“It did not require Analyze to determine your identity, merely common sense.” Uvan gave a measured glance at Rogier whose shattered sword now faltered in his grip. “I suppose you should forgive Lord Knacht for his suspicions. This gate, indeed this entire section of the town, was not here only a few days ago. It has put many on edge."

Felix glanced at the Shadowgate. "Oh really?"

Uvan grunted. "A great chorus filled the air as the earth reassembled itself, building this place from something deep underground. A Nymean ruin was found hidden underneath the streets of Korsk. My guild has been exploring it extensively, on contract with the city. We were also contracted to guard this. It tells us that it is a Shadowgate, something none of us have ever heard of. Even the mages have not found records of such things. But we have heard of the emperor, how could we have not? An announcement was sent to all. Your name, your title, and our new place in the world."

"You-you’re Majesty!” Rogier fell to his knees and pressed his face into the cold tiles.

Someone just Analyzed you again, Pit sent, along with a piping chortle.

“Forgive me for accusing you!” Rogier squirmed, looking up from the floor. “How could I have known?”

Pit narrowed his eyes. "The Shadowgate’s a big clue that we’re not lying."

“Of course! A vast oversight on my part, and one I would do anything to rectify.”

Felix held back a sigh. The guy had already said that activating the Shadowgate didn’t clear them of suspicion. Rogier was going to say whatever he had to in order to escape punishment. Lucky for him, Felix didn’t care enough to do much at all—not about that, anyway. “Did your Lord Governor get a message from my Chancellor?” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“I…am unsure, your Majesty.”

Pit crunched through carapace. "I thought Karys sent messages out to all the new Territories.”

"He did," Felix flared his Perception, sweeping the horizon once more for monsters. He found none. "Could be that Korsk isn’t important enough, Authority-wise. Has a Beacon been erected in this city?"

Rogier tilted his head up from the ground. "Yes.”

“Didn’t you get a letter through it?”

“We did. The contents were not shared with me or anyone outside the Governor’s inner council. The official stance of the Korsk Governor's office is that the Beacon is not to be trusted, nor the missives sent through it."

Great. Atar and Alister were going to have problems if more places acted like this. “Stand up.” Rogier popped up as if electrocuted. “You’re going to go to your governor and you’re going to tell them to listen to any messages sent from my Chancellor Karys. Or else I’m going to be very…unhappy.”

“At once, your Majesty!” Rogier bent as if to retrieve the shattered remnants of his two swords, but quickly abandoned the idea. “I only humbly request that you stay within the city bounds. The Lord Governor will want to speak with you, if only to offer you due respect.”

Felix frowned hard enough that Rogier flinched and fled. The official swept from the open air chamber through the stone doors he’d entered, and Felix could hear the man pant and curse as he tramped down several hundred stairs.

“Your Majesty, you have no need to listen to them,” Uvan said, his tone carefully neutral.

Felix raised an eyebrow. "You want me to run away?"

"This conflict grants you nothing, and you seem to be in a hurry."

"Oh, well. I am."

"Then go, if you please. The Tusknights will shoulder the burden of this moment."

I like this guy, Pit sent to Felix.

Felix did too. All the more reason not to let him throw himself on his sword. "I'm not having you guys get in trouble just because a few uppity officials couldn't keep their heads on tight. We’ll straighten this out."

"That is appreciated, your Majesty, yet surely your tasks are mighty in importance.”

Felix stepped to the edge of the tower and looked up. The Ruin was there, dark in the daylight yet burning like a second, distant sun. “You could say that.”

“If you wish to entertain the governor’s frivolity, we would welcome you in our guildhall. The Tusknights have fine lodging and food enough for a feast. The best in all of Korsk.”

"I appreciate that, but no. We’re not staying that long.” Felix glanced over the city. “Rogier can find us wherever, right?"

"He's capable of that, certainly."

"Good. Then let's walk."

A long trip down winding, ruined steps further convinced Felix of the structure’s Nymean heritage. The architecture matched, as did the grime mottled mosaics and Chimeric statuary that filled ten foot alcoves. Star-shaped windows peered out onto broken courtyards with empty fountains and moss-filled gardens that were more stick than blossom. Uvan hadn’t exaggerated when he described the size of the ruin—the whole place was fairly sprawling, and merely going from the gate tower to the front entrance had them traversing five separate floors.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The front door was a wide one, built of cleverly joined stone on hinges so perfect that they opened at a touch. Beyond were steps that led down into a fairly normal residential street, and the angle at which the cobbles bucked up gave credence to Uvan’s tale of the whole ruin rising unexpectedly out of the ground. Felix stopped.

“My Lord?” Uvan halted as well, brows drawn low.

“Did anyone get hurt?”

A spark of understanding crossed his eyes. “Ah. Some, but they were treated by the governor’s men. The population outside Korsk’s inner districts is…limited. The homes in this area are long since destined to be demolished.”

“Limited?” Felix cast his Perception outward, into the neighborhood. He saw what Uvan meant almost immediately: buildings were crumbling left and right, and few people inhabited those structures except the homeless and destitute. “Because of the monster attacks?”

“Yes. The Sunsend Peaks are brutal neighbors, even more so in recent years. The Tusknights do what we can, but it only blunts the swarms. The other guilds aren’t as large as us, but they do their part too. The truly hardest part is harvesting the corpses before more hordes rush us in the field. We manage to collect one in every thirty. That puts a dent in the coffers, for sure.”

“For Korsk too.” Felix understood the shape of things a bit better. Korsk seemed to rely on lumber and monster hunting to fuel its economy, but with the influx of monsters they had trouble getting both.

Behind him, Pit nudged the doors closed and gave a trill. “Looks like it’s a Five Star ruin.”

On the large stone entry, a five-point Nymean star was engraved into its center, surrounded by a sculpted wreath of flowering vines.

Felix hummed thoughtfully. “So mildly dangerous.”

Uvan and his Lieutenant Kval stared at him, their Spirits unveiled enough to show a hard disbelief.

“For us,” Pit added. “These folks will probably find it very difficult.”

“Good point.” Felix walked back to the doors and placed his hand on its carved face. “You can harvest a lot of quality materials from Nymean ruins, so that should help the city out.”

Inheritor’s Authority Recognized!

Welcome To Temple #G639, Emperor Felix Nevarre!

“That is if you can get past all its dangers.”

Surprisingly, a small menu popped up before his gaze. That had never happened before, at least not before he conquered the place and refueled the Belais crystal at its heart. Now, Felix felt the whole of the ruin before him, as if he held it in his hands. A power over its chambers that he’d never known before, all of it tied to his Authority.

I guess things have changed. He’d hoped to access some piece of the Nymean structure, but this was way better. He tabbed open the map, and the entire place laid out before him. In a few gestures, he investigated its many rooms and broken facilities, noting anything that looked particularly dangerous.

Uvan cleared his throat. “Your Majesty? Are you—what are you doing?”

“Accessing the map of the ruin. You’re in luck. The Mana Well here is empty, so you don’t have to worry about a mega monster breaking loose.” The Orcs exchanged worried glances, but Felix ignored them. “Sadly there’s little else in here of value—hah! Except this.”

Felix flicked the map, sending it the Tusknights.

Uvan and Kval’s eyes widened until the whites stood stark against their green skin. “Mana crystals?”

“Looks like several acres of them down there. Not sure if this place was a farm for them or if these just condensed in all that Mana across the Ages.” Felix shrugged and tapped several more tabs open. “Either way…”

You Have Added To The Whitelist For All Security Measures Within Temple #G639.

Please Confirm.

“Confirm.”

Acknowledged, Inheritor.

A deep, resonant bell echoed through the ruin, startling the Tusknights.

Kval gasped as the map before him flashed red-gold. "What was that, Your Majesty?"

“I turned off all the traps in the ruin. Your people should find it a lot safer to explore."

Uvan shook himself before kneeling once again. Kval rushed to join him. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"You’re welcome. The place is safe, and if you want to harvest those Mana crystals, you’re welcome to do so. Tusknights only though. I’ve set the whitelist to your people, so anyone following will probably get a few nasty surprises.”

Uvan looked like he’d been punched between the eyes. “I—why us?”

“Why not? My only stipulation is that you share the profits with Korsk, specifically in building better housing and infrastructure. You people need better walls and wards.”

Kval licked his lips, the gears clearly turning in his head. “The inscriptionists in Korsk aren’t up to the task. We would have to reach out to Setoria or Svoll and import them here.”

“Hire my Glyphworks. I’ll have them transported through the Shadowgates easily enough, and we can do the work at cost.”

If the Tusknights weren’t such musclebound stoics, Felix was certain at least one of them would have broken down. As it was, Uval simply put his head to the ground. “This is a gift beyond measure, your Majesty. We will treasure it.”

The guy hopped back to his feet a moment later and started calling out. Tusknights emerged from side streets in ones and twos—guards to watch the ruin gates. After a few terse commands, they fell in around Felix and Pit, surrounding them as they were led off through the streets of Korsk.

Why’d you do that? Give them the crystals, I mean.

Felix scratched Pit’s ears. The little pup had refused to walk again. It’s the least I can do. This place is a wreck, and not only because of this Nymean ruin that burst outta nowhere. He hadn’t known that activating all of the Shadowgates in the empire would lead to such a thing. It bugged him to consider how many other places might have experienced a similar, even more disastrous emergence. All because he had to claim the final piece of empire.

How do you know you can trust them? What if they don’t help the poor like you want?

Felix smiled. I just do.

A Bond stretched between him and Uvan. Kval too, and it was growing by the second with the Tusknights all around them. Felix could feel it deepening in real time as the consequences of his generosity were communicated through guild handsign.

The Tusknights brought them down every street and boulevard in the southern portion of Korsk, and in short order Felix had a grasp of the city’s layout. He could already access the Authority map of the area—perks of being the emperor—but each minute brought him more details. It also meant they ran into dozens of food vendors, each more delicious than the last. Pit whined the entire time, pushing his large gold eyes at Felix, until he caved. For all his Willpower, denying his Companion a treat was beyond his abilities. Soon enough, Pit had a trough full of food that he devoured as Uvan spoke of Korsk's populace and its struggles between the frozen steppes and the Sunsend Peaks.

"So your guild is the strongest in the city?”

"Aye, sir, that it is. We focus on protecting the outskirts. We hunt the beasts that roam the steppe as well as the mountains," he gestured to the south. "Though only into the lower reaches. It would take someone far stronger than us to be able to conquer their peaks."

"Really? You're high Adept, pushing toward Master, and you can't handle some of these beasts?"

"No. The rabble can be handled by anyone greater than Journeyman, but it is the Mountain Princes who give us trouble. As you saw, they often lead swarms of lesser beasts, and they impart monstrous boons upon them, making the horde all the stronger.”

Felix nodded along. “With one of them dead, will that help things?”

“Somewhat. The Princes change their hunting grounds frequently, however, and it will only be a matter of time before another comes for the city.”

“If there’s Princes,” Pit said through a mouthful of steaming meat and vegetables. “Are there Dukes? Kings?”

A few of the Tusknights shuddered, and it was Kval that answered. “Yes. There are three Mountain Kings which all Princes serve. They are mighty and have claimed one of the peaks for their own Domain.”

“Plus the Queen,” one of the others added.

“Plus the Queen,” Kval echoed. “A monster unlike any other, Tier X, said to walk the hidden valleys with the weapons of ten thousand warriors clinging to her hide. She never ventures out of her Domain, but she’s the true threat.”

Felix leaned closer. “Tell me more.”