Unbound-Chapter Eight Hundred And Fifty Eight: 858

Felix bustled around the Alchemical Lab for several hours that night, checking on the work of his apprentices and overseeing the testing of the Nascent Fruits. It was a relatively exhaustive process, but the Hatchlings’ health relied on getting this right—Felix left nothing to chance.

The first step was developing a Cleansing Elixir. When Pit had devoured a Spirit Fruit, it had immediately blocked his channels and caused harm to his advancement. To fix it, Felix had to figure out a Cleansing Elixir that would wash the impurities from his Companion’s channels, and allow the Fruit to be fully digested by his core. He had, and Pit had gained some minor benefits from the Fruit. The gains were entirely too minor and the elixir was entirely too expensive to produce for the Fruits to be consumed in that way—besides, they were better off being used to make Essence Draughts instead. The goal now, then, was to determine how they could cleanse the effects of a Nascent Fruit without harming the patient. It took several iterations and his entire team’s efforts, but eventually they had come to a final Elixir.

Felix held it up, inspecting it with his Unseen Beholder.

Name: Nascent Cleansing Elixir F

Type: Potion

Lore: Developed by Emperor Felix Nevarre and his Alchemical Laboratory in Nagast, this elixir is one of many designed to completely break down the effects of a Nascent Fruit. However, the cleansing effect is only viable before full digestion occurs.

The Lore was the same as the previous iterations, so that wasn’t as promising as he’d thought originally. Still, the ineffable potency of the elixir was strong. The System didn’t categorize it, but his Skill pinpointed differences between Elixir F and its predecessors.

“I think this one will work, my Lord,” Apprentice Sari said from his side. She was a talented alchemist, though her advancement lagged behind many others, as she’d only recently moved to Elderthrone. “The distillation process was far more refined.”

“Mhm.” He swirled the pale liquid in its glass bottle. These elixirs were different from the previous Cleansing solutions he’d developed, as they had to account for not only Mana and Essence, but also the additional influx of significance. That had been the real sticking point for them all. “Give me the dish, please.”

“Of course.” Sari pushed over a shallow bowl filled with the recently pulped remains of a Nascent Fruit.

Felix pulled it closer and uncorked Elixir F. “Here goes nothing.”

He poured the entire bottle over the Fruit.

Immediately, it began to bubble and fizz, like hydrogen peroxide on a scraped knee. For a moment, that's all it did. Felix watched closely, pushing his Perception as he waited for something very specific to happen. "C’mon. Work this time."

The mashed pulp of the Nascent Fruit held firm…until it didn't. Then, with a soft, bubbling whoosh, the fruit dissolved entirely, leaving nothing in the bowl but a shallow pool of pale sludge.

"Yes!" Felix grinned around as his apprentices cheered. "Good job, everyone!”

“Does this mean they’re safe to consume,” Sari asked.

“No, but at least we’ll have a failsafe in case it goes bad immediately.” Felix lifted a glowing Nascent Fruit from the pile on top of his workstation. “We still don’t know what happens when it’s fully digested.”

The Fruit was about three times the size of his clenched fist, like a glowing blue cantaloupe. The skin had a polished sheen to it but it was only firm to the touch, not hard like an apple. More like a giant plum. If the power contained within this thing can be utilized safely, then that’ll be a game changer for a lot of people. For the Hatchlings, the power could add up quickly. Still, judging by what his Unseen Beholder could perceive, the Fruits contained enough potency to be a real boon to monsters below their third Evolution. Beyond that, however, it would likely have diminishing returns.

"My Lord."

Felix glanced up from the Fruit to see Sari still standing there. She had another bottle of Elixir F in her hand. "Yeah?"

"Those Nascent Fruits…are they available for any of us to consume?"

He leaned back. “You could certainly try…but we’ve only tested these on monsters, and even then, not on purpose. I don’t know what it would do to you, Sari.”

“I’m willing to accept the consequences,” she said, voice firm. “It would aid our research greatly, would it not?”

Felix nodded slowly. “It would. I could see how the Fruit affected your channels and core space. I just don’t want to see anyone hurt by this.”

“That is why we’ve developed the Elixir, isn’t it?”

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“It is.” Felix sighed. “If you’re sure, Sari—What Tier are you?”

“High Apprentice, sir. I’ve been stuck at the edge for months. I’d like to see if this could help.”

“It might.” He handed her the Fruit. “If you’re sure and accept the risks, then we can do this.”

“I am positive, my Lord.”

Felix watched carefully as Sari lifted the Fruit to her mouth, as did a dozen others. His alchemical apprentices leaned in, work forgotten as one of their own took a gamble. For a moment, Felix considered telling them all to back off and continue their important work…but he couldn’t fault them for their curiosity.

"May the Burning Eye bless me," she murmured.

Felix blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Instead of answering, Sari chomped into the Nascent Fruit. In several very messy gulps, she consumed the whole thing. Felix pressed his senses to their limits as he observed the Fruit sublimate within her mouth, becoming a thick vapor that poured into the Mana Gate at the base of her skull. From there, the power of the Fruit flowed into her channels and descended deeper, beyond where casual observation could follow.

"Do you mind?" he asked.

Sari smiled nervously. "It doesn’t hurt?”

“It doesn’t.”

She took a breath. “Go ahead.”

Felix reached out, placing two fingers just below her sternum and cast himself forward. He fell into a river of blue light that poured down twisting gullies before falling into a vast darkness. There, suspended within the black, was a glass house filled with greenery and the smell of damp soil. The river of blue splashed atop of it, soaking the glass panes before catching along gutters and between cantilevered hatches that opened to funnel the power into the greenhouse. It fell like rain upon the accumulated plants on the racks and shelving below, and there was an immediate reaction.

Oh, now that’s cool.

All at once, the plants surged in size. Fronds lengthened and stalks rose, as the power fed the soil. New leaves budded on fresh shoots that broke from darkened loam, and entire empty beds blossomed into a green and blue and yellow carpeting of flowers.

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Felix turned, taking in the entirety of Sari’s core space. He was happy to realize that he could sense no lingering residue or impurities blocking her channels. All of the Nascent Fruit’s power had soaked in completely, without exception.

He pulled himself back. He blinked back to awareness of his body to find the woman beaming at him and everyone else.

"It worked! I can feel it," Sari said. "I'm on the cusp of it!” She looked around, a frantic glee limning her Spirit. “Where are my tools? I need to work!"

She rushed off to her workstation, grabbing her implements and immediately activating her Skills. Felix grinned. He knew that feeling, and it was a good one.

"Jed and Wessen,” he said, pointing out two High Journeyman alchemists from the crowd. “Watch over Sari. Keep the Elixir F to hand if she encounters any difficulties…and if she does Tier up into Journeymen, make sure her Essence Drafts are well to hand."

“Of course, my Lord.”

“It would be our pleasure.”

They scurried after her, resuming their tinctures and potion distillations—though not without heavy, continual glances in Sari’s direction.

Felix smiled, considering the bevy of options before him. These will be useful. He lifted up another Fruit, just in time to snatch it away from the jaws of a red-furred dog.

"You can't have any," he said to Pit.

"Aw, man," the Dire Hound sat heavily on top of his white stone workbench. "But that lady just had it."

"It wouldn't do anything for you.”

“Really?”

“Even if you were on your second Evolution, I doubt it would matter much to you… Or to any of our Linked friends.” Felix rolled the Fruit between his hands. Way too many of his friends had soaked up the runoff when he’d devoured Primordials. “Still, these should help the Hatchlings for some time yet. Frost Giants and Nagafolk too, so long as they’re below their third Evolution. We’ll see how Sari fares before we start handing them out to everyone, though.”

Pit sniffed at the now empty bowl. “Thought you said it was safe now?”

“As far as I can tell, it is. It’d be irresponsible of me to hand them out to everyone when I don’t know the effects.”

Pit jerked his snout toward Sari, across the room. “She seems fine.”

“And will hopefully stay that way. Regardless, we should know more in a few hours. In the meantime, you and I’ve got work to do.”

"Oh no thanks. I’m morally opposed to work." Pit hopped off the workbench, following Felix as he walked out of the Alchemical Lab.

"Morally—don’t be a butt.”

Pit let his tongue loll out of his mouth in a doggy grin as he hopped down the stairs. “So where are we going? We just got back.”

“Not far.” Felix pointed down at the floor.

“Oooh. Gotcha.” Pit grimaced. “I hate getting wet.”

“Speaking of downstairs, did Scylla get home fine? I forgot to ask.”

"She did. I escorted her right through your Sanctuary and it was nice and boring. Though she gave the gate guardian a bit of a... confused stare. It's not often you see a giant bronze version of me lurking around."

"What’d she think of that?”

“She said it was powerful looking,” Pit said, puffing out his chest as they passed the Primary Beacon. The light glimmered off his russet fire like small bits of thin fire.

Felix smiled wide. “I'm excited to find out what Thalgrym thinks."

Pit groaned. "Oh, no. That'll be so embarrassing.”

“Which captain did Karys end up sending with her?"

"Mervin. Mervin Cors."

"Oh, him? That's a good choice." Felix nodded. "He'll help them out."

Pit followed Felix down, chasing after him with his smaller legs as they walked the steps into the Temple of the Eye proper. "He seemed put off to be sent away again. Apparently he didn't get much to do in Jaast."

"What? I heard he fought with everybody else."

Pit shrugged.

"Hmm. Well, this is important. I hope he sees it that way." Felix needed someone reliable to help handle things out there. “I have a feeling he'll have his hands full with the Chimera.”

Pit bobbed his head in agreement as they walked across the Eye. There weren’t many people about, thankfully, but still a handful were visiting the recruitment centers at the far end. Most were signing up for smithing. "Thalgrym is coming here, so Mervin won’t have to deal with that. The guy’s a real pain."

"Why should he change his attitude?" Felix quipped as they opened the door to the spiral steps leading further inward. The Claw guards at the sides saluted. "You only saved his entire Territory and the life of everyone in it. Gentlemen."

“Sir,” they said in unison.

The door shut behind them, and they were left with the Mana lit steps into the depths. "Yeah, crazy me, right?”

They walked down the spiral steps deep into Felix's stronghold, all the way to the bottom where the Seat and Seal resided. From there, they stepped across the gold and silver fractals that shimmered beneath their steps and into a room filled with a pale blue light. It emitted from the tiled floor, where sigaldry outlined a wide, rectangular depression that filled the confines of the chamber.

The Pool of Halcyon Oaths.

A figure flickered into existence at the edge. It was five feet tall, wrapped in white and purple robes, and had a face that was furred and narrow, like a weasel and a Human had been mushed together. Its hands were folded together into the sleeves of its robes which were stitched with sigildry that faded in and out of existence, while his eyes gazed at Felix blankly.

Knowledge, memory construct of the Pool, bowed.

“Hail, Emperor Nevarre. Welcome to the Pool of—”

“I know what it’s called, Knowledge.”

The Geist's illusory eyes flickered. Was that annoyance? The construct didn't have a Spirit. It was a bundle of memories somehow woven into the semblance of a person. But did that mean it couldn't feel? Felix wasn't so sure.

"Knowledge, if I pass through the Pool again, will I level Void Nexus?"

"It depends on various factors," the Geist said. "But at your current level, the Mythic Skill Void Nexus will experience an increase in viability."

Felix let out a relieved breath. "Yes. Perfect. I need to improve things before Mervin opens up any Dark Passages."

Pit looked at him in alarm. "I thought you said he could put a Manaship through them?"

Felix winced. "Okay, look. I'm almost positive he can, but it doesn't hurt to hedge my bets." Pit grumbled darkly. “I’m sorry. But it’ll be fine!”

"I assume you wish to enter the Pool, then?"

Felix turned back to Knowledge. "Yeah, obviously. What's my chance of survival now?"

Knowledge's eyes glimmered. "Do you wish me to scan your foundations?"

"No," Felix said, quickly. "I don't have the time to waste. And that doesn't seem to help in my case."

The construct pursed its lips in the memory of annoyance, while its eyes changed not at all. "Very well. My best guess, then, would be a 45% chance of survival."

"What?" Pit asked. "What was it last time?”

“Previously, it was 54.1%," the Geist said.

Felix frowned. "And what's the reason for the drop? I'm a Grandmaster now. Plus, I ate Siva, the Goddess of Fortune."

“Yeah! The lady that ran this whole thing. Chomped her right up.” Pit shoved his beak forward at Knowledge’s chest as he shifted into his larger, unMasked shape. The Geist seemed unperturbed.

"Interesting. Those are all factors to consider."

The movement of the construct, always very little, froze. Sigils flashed across its robes and through its pale face, rotating like tumblers spinning across its form. It was clearly moving through calculations that Felix couldn't begin to imagine, yet several long minutes stretched onward. Pit grew impatient, his tail swishing and paws tapping irritably on the stone floor.

"What do you seek from the pool?" Knowledge asked, suddenly.

"What?” That wasn't normal. Knowledge had never asked him that before. And yet, it didn't repeat the question. The construct only looked at him, waiting.

"Well…" Felix thought on it. "I want to strengthen Void Nexus and all my transit-related abilities. I want to increase my connection to my empire, and hopefully that will help. But also..." He sighed. "I need to find out what's down there. Siva ruled in that Pool, right? It was the heart of her power, the stuff she stole from Veridaan. She’s gone now, and I think…"

Felix fixed Knowledge with a glare that crackled with blue lightning. "I need to know what happens when a god dies."