Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Obligation

Fethum Starseeker, Stormlasher, ran through the corridors of his home. The fortress nestled at the peak of a flying mountain. The armor he was carrying hummed with power, his Soul ached as it was being pulled, as all that embodied his being was amplified.

He had only felt power like this twice before, never in any real combat. Ra’azel had gifted them the secrets to greater power, but it came with a cost. One that Fethum was glad to make.

He and his people never had the opportunities and the resources that the rulers of this world had. They had to fight and claw and steal everything that they had, just so that they could keep up. Just so that they could have what all should’ve been granted at birth—safety.

Now they’d come to their home, and Fethum wasn’t about to run away in fear. He would fight, even if it meant burning his own Soul out in the process.

His flight through the corridors sent shockwaves blasting out, sent people tumbling out of his way. He didn’t have the time to waste.

He reached Ra’azel’s workshop, a large black door covered with glowing runes that were only visible to him because his helmet had runes allowing him to see what was hidden. The entire tower was covered in them, preventing anyone from sensing anything going on inside, though the reverse was true as well.

Ra’azel couldn’t sense anything happening on the outside either. Fethum walked over to the door in haste, then placed his hand on a panel next to it. A tiny shiver of energy passed through, activating the rune made device.

He waited for a few seconds, and nothing happened. He grimaced, then placed his hand on the panel again. He knew that it was working, which meant that Ra’azel was ignoring him.

When nothing happened after another dozen seconds, he started pressing the panel in quick succession. He was losing his patience. If the yeti didn’t open the door soon, he would have to try and break through.

The yeti had an obligation toward them, and this assault was directly linked to what he had asked of them. And… they needed him, as much as Fethum would’ve liked to say that they alone were powerful enough to fight off any attack, the yeti was more powerful still.

Finally, as Fethum nearly lost it, the door groaned, the runes flashed, and it slid open.

“What?” Ra’azel pushed his head out to glare at Fethum.

“You are needed, we are under—”

“—Attack,” Ra’azel finished, his eyes turning to look straight at a wall, but Fethum knew that he was looking in the direction of where the fighting was taking place.

“Kael has asked for you to help the fight,” Fethum stepped aside as Ra’azel walked out of the dark room, barely sparing him a glance as he closed the door behind him. “We need to hurry,” Fethum added.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Ra’azel flicked his hand and was suddenly covered in armor, similar as the ones he had made for the rest of the Unchained, though far more intricately made. The faint glow of runes so small and precisely carved into its surface made it look as if it had glowing lines etched all over its surface. Just standing in his presence made Fethum’s own armor react.

The ones that amplified his perception nearly screamed in his mind as they revealed to Fethum the magnitude of Ra’azel’s Soul.

“Oh,” Ra’azel spoke, his face turning into a grin. “What fortunate turn of events, there are few things I’ve been missing.”

Before Fethum even had a chance to react, space rippled around the yeti and he was gone.

“Asshole,” he cursed. Ra’azel could’ve taken Fethum with him, but the yeti had barely paid any attention to him.

He turned, intending to head back and join the fight himself, then he paused. His armor’s perception rune strings activated, announcing a presence on the display inside of his helmet.

He frowned; his own perceptions felt nothing. His skills felt no disturbance in the passage of the air, the charge of Essence around him, everything seemed normal. Yet, his armor was detecting something.

Had one of the attackers gotten inside the fort? He wondered. Getting someone to ambush them from their rear was a valid tactic. Fethum used the controls on his wrist to dial in his armor. He didn’t have any affinity with the Soul, only a few of them had any, like Berion and Kael. So, each armor was unique, made for the person meant to wear it. His armor had a different control input system than the rest.

A reading came up on the inside of his helmet listing an unusual rise in an Essence presence that wasn’t supposed to be there—Oblivion.

Immediately Fethum raised his guard, he knew who attacked them and knew what the presence of Oblivion meant. He pulled out his blade and chain, letting the spiked end drop next to him. With a swipe of his little finger along the edge of his blade then his wrist and a tiny sliver of Qi, he activated the runes of his weapon and armor. Then bright blue lightning danced across them.

Suddenly Fethum’s readings changed, the presence surged and surrounded him, filling a large area. He could sense anything, which put him on edge. He dashed back and put his back against the workshop’s door, then started spinning his chain.

“I’m surprised that you noticed me,” a voice spoke. “My mistake.”

Fethum’s armor had a rune string that tracked the origin of sounds. It told him that the voice was coming from sixteen different spots surrounding him. Sound manifested in the air at the exact same time in all spots, making it sound as if it was spoken by a single voice.

“Is she in there?” The voice asked.

Suddenly Fethum’s senses narrowed, both what his armor and himself could perceive suddenly cut off a few dozen meters away from him. As if the world beyond it just suddenly stopped to exist.

“Answer me bef—”

—Fethum acted.

He let his chain fly, his will leaning on his skill and Qi flowing through the chain links. He burst fired all his boosting perks and activated his [Chained Power] to link the {Storm Unleashed} technique with his Class perks.

His armor increased all of his stats, even more now that Berion’s Soul runes were active. The world bent around the tip of his chain; the stone of the corridor cracked as it flew through it.

Fethum already knew where his enemy was, his armor could detect a higher density of strange Oblivion Essence standing just around the corner.

With a flick of a wrist and an effort of will, he triggered his attack.

A storm came into being in the corridor. Blue Lightning and a rapid expansion of Air in a confined space.

The stone of the fortress exploded, the world shook. The backlash flew in Fethum’s direction, but his armor activated, already keyed into his Essence it diverted most of the explosion back, feeding the storm.

The entire section of the wall leading up to Ra’azel’s tower was blown apart, sent flying over the mountain’s side. The storm expanded as it was liberated, winds billowing and lightning flashing, it rose over the fortress guided by his will in order not to damage the fortress too much.

Fethum smiled as he saw no sign of his enemy.

Then the world turned black, and the wind died.