Expanse: A LitRPG Adventure (Unbound Book 6) Read online

  EXPANSE

  Unbound Book Six

  NICOLI GONNELLA

  Copyright © 2023 by Nicoli Gonnella

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedicated to my patrons, who have supported me since the early days, and without whom none of this would have ever happened quite the same. You folks rock.

  CONTENTS

  Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Afterword

  About Nicoli Gonnella

  About Mountaindale Press

  Mountaindale Press Titles

  NEWSLETTER

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  CHAPTER ONE

  "The truth of Fire is that it is never satisfied. There is always more to burn, more to purify. That is why we pair it with Light. The Light reveals, and the Fire burns the dross away."

  -Rahven Haim, Master Justiciar,

  Paladin of the Pathless

  The yellow-orange grit cut at him as he ran, razors on the wind that split open the gash at his side again and again. Clouds of it pummeled him, almost tearing the tattered crimson cloak off his wide, chitin-covered shoulders. The sands rattled off his armor, blasting thin chunks free with each new gust, and only his weary use of Chitin Forging kept any of it whole. The wind shifted, and the cloak at his back twisted and snapped, flaring open wide enough to display its emblem. A clenched white gauntlet atop a black shield, all of it superimposed above a golden sunburst on blood-red cloth. He tossed his horns and snorted, expelling jets of sand before tucking his head against the wind and pressing on.

  Health: 2817/4639

  His Health wasn't getting better, and they had almost found him twice. The sandstorm—furious and loud in a way he felt in his bones—would rage for hours yet, at least. It was cover only a crazy person would take advantage of; luckily, he'd gone nuts months ago.

  "Monster! Unbound!"

  A form materialized out of the storm, a tall figure wearing crimson plate and an identical cloak. A heavy, two-handed sword lifted, ignited, and golden-orange flame lit the sands. The figure didn't shout anything else, only charged in a flash of Agility that his Perception couldn't track. Still, he'd fought the Paladins enough to recognize their opening move—it was always the same. A charge and overhand strike.

  He dropped his head and took the blow straight to his curved horns. The Paladin gasped.

  "You noobs never expect that," he growled.

  Then twisted.

  The Paladin screamed as the greatsword was wrenched from their grasp, its still-flaming blade hurled with a casual jerk of the neck. His hand snapped out, clamping onto the Paladin's helmet and palming it. Yanking them off balance, he slammed them into the shifting dune beneath their feet.

  "UAGH!"

  The Paladin hit and flared with golden light, flipping themselves to the side even as his mighty stomp collapsed the sands. The over-armored idiot pulled a side sword, a toothpick compared to their usual blades, and charged again. This time, they screamed.

  Black-green Mana rolled out of his channels, spearing into the sands. Despite the Paladin's Agility, they never made it into melee range.

  Hallow! Now!

  A tail made of bone and chitin shot upward from beneath the sands, flashing directly through the Paladin's breastplate. A needle-like tip—as long as a shortsword—stabbed behind the warrior, covered in blood.

  "Sick," he said with a queasy swallow. Blood drenched the sands, and the Paladin's Health dropped to nothing.

  He winced, his own wounds bleeding again. There wasn't time. If one found me, then the rest aren't far behind. Hurriedly, he spread his large hands and let more of that black-green Mana gather from his palms. It coiled, tensing with a purpose he hadn't given it yet. He'd learned this trick through a lot of trial and error, but it worked. Usually.

  "Hallowed Rise!" The Mana shot out and down, injecting itself into the Paladin's wounds. Filling them. With agonizing slowness, the corpse twitched and jerked, rising unsteadily to its feet. From within its dented helmet, its once-Human eyes blazed with necrotic energy.

  Hallowed Rise is level 34!

  "Over here! The creature runs!"

  Adrenaline pumped into his veins, and he pivoted on the spot. The sound had come from close by, but directions were hard to judge in the storms. Terror overwhelmed his anger, and he fled.

  "With me, you two!" he hissed. Behind him, the ex-Paladin l
umbered after with surprising speed, while beneath their feet, a small wave disturbed the sand, following in his wake.

  Safety. He knew it was nearby. He only had to make it there alive.

  Health: 2343/4639

  Dad, he whispered to himself. Dad, I—I don't want to die.

  A discordant yowl tore through his senses, and Felix jerked awake. Through the haze of sleep, he could still hear a faint, thrumming melody on the wind. It was gone in a moment, but not before Felix's Affinity caught impressions of towering sand dunes and a terrible storm.

  "Was I a Minotaur?" Felix muttered to himself. It had felt real—extremely so—enough that he checked his own Health.

  Health: 7378/7378

  He sat up completely, rising from the rock-hard bed, silently praising his Body for its lack of aches and pains. Sleeping on stone like this would have twisted his spine to hell back on Earth. It was dark, the room around him lacking windows, and the one door closed so cleverly it hardly made a seam in the stone. He'd found the chamber after a day of exhausting talking and exploration, the former with his friends and new allies and the latter concerning what remained of the Temple itself. The room he had found was a bedchamber, judging by the empty bed slab that dominated it, though no other furniture survived the Ages. It had been enough.

  The bed slab dwarfed him, but Pit slumbered deeply at his side, sized more like a smallish elephant than any dog he'd ever had. Felix scrubbed his face with his hands and smoothed down his wild mane of hair as he swung his feet to the ground.

  That Paladin said "Unbound.” And a Minotaur...A Minotaur was among the seven other Unbound he knew of, the ones he had been shown in his Omen Path. Felix doubted very much it was a coincidence. Not the way my life is going.

  "Felix. Good morning."

  Unfettered Volition!

  Corrosive Strike!

  Adamant Discord!

  All three Skills surged within him, bringing him to his feet while Mana swirled about his fists in clouds of acid and lightning, lighting up his crude bedchamber. A tall, golden-hued figure raised its mismatched hands in a gesture of peace. Even before it spoke again, Felix let his Skills fade.

  "Karys. It's early." As he said it, Felix flared his Perception and let it spread beyond his enclosed room and into the Temple itself. His Authority hummed, pushing his awareness even farther so that it swept beyond the Temple and into the forest and river and mountains and—he cut it off. Felix blinked. Nothing seemed much changed from the night before.

  Karys stood before him on new legs—a new Body entirely. Felix still hadn't gotten used to the ancient Paragon walking around in the Archon's old armor, but the ten-foot tall body was modified now with pieces of dark iron they'd salvaged from the battlefield. His entire right arm was a smaller version of the left, darker and thinner, but seemed functional enough. The construct had a self-repair function, but it had been gutted when Felix had cleansed the Profane Sigaldry from its chassis. Karys' expertise with Eidolons was all that kept the thing running. He jerked himself into a stilted bow, though the golden helmet that passed for his head never took its eyes off Felix.

  "Yes, I apologize for the hour. I know you have exhausted your Stamina and attention since claiming this Territory." Karys took a step closer, clattering only slightly. "But you asked that I awaken you before the day had lapsed."

  "Oh," Felix said. "Right. I did."

  A day ago, Felix had...acquired, he supposed, the Territory of Nagast. Claiming Authority through a strange array beneath the Temple, he'd taken on a new set of responsibilities as well. Seeing to them, his people as well as his enemies, had taken much of the night and following day. All the while, he was holding off Tempering his Skills, too worried, too concerned that the shadows would contain yet more enemies for him to face.

  "If you wait much longer, your Skills will begin to Tier up whether you are ready or not," Karys said.

  "I know," Felix said. He brought up his Status.

  Name: Felix Nevarre

  Level: 56

  Race: Primordial of the Unseen Tide (Greater)*

  Omen: Magician

  Path: Cardinal Fiend

  Born Trait: Keen Mind

  ______

  Health: 7378/7378

  Stamina: 6512/6512

  Mana: 4909/4909

  ______

  STR: 1424

  PER: 1240

  VIT: 1445

  END: 1176

  INT: 1257

  WIL: 1860

  AGL: 1142

  DEX: 1235

  ______

  BODY - Calamitous Dawn (Journeyman)

  Resistances: The Song of Absolution (L), Level 85

  Combat Skills: Dodge (C), Level 63; Heavy Armor Mastery (C), Level 1; Blind Fighting (R), Level 45; Corrosive Strike (R), Level 58; Wild Threnody (E), Level 61

  Physical Enhancements: Armored Skin (R), Level 75; Unfettered Volition (E), Level 64

  MIND - Fatebreaker (Journeyman)

  Mental Enhancements: Deception (C), Level 30; Meditation (U), Level 63; Negotiation (U), Level 26; Bastion of Will (E), Level 74; Deep Mind (E), Level 74; Manifestation of the Coronach (E), Level 63; Ravenous Tithe (E), Level 77

  Information Skills: Alchemy (C), Level 32; Tracking (C), Level 30; Exploration (U), Level 53; Voracious Eye (E), Level 73; Aria of the Green Wilds (L), Level 81

  SPIRIT - Rising Sovereign (Journeyman)

  Spiritual Enhancements: Dual Casting (U), Level 50; Manasight (U), Level 63; Manaship Pilot (R), Level 22; Etheric Concordance (L), Level 74; Sovereign of Flesh (T), Level 74; Unite the Lost (T), Level 49; Fiendforge (Un), Level 1

  Spells: Abyssal Skein (R), Level 49; Cloudstep (R), Level 35; Invocation (R), Level 42; Oathbinding (R), Level 35; Shadow Whip (R), Level 46; Stone Shaping (R), Level 68; Mantle of the Infinite Revolution (E), Level 49; Arrow of Perdition (L), Level 40; Cardinal Flame (L), Level 76; Rain of Cataclysm (L), Level 50; Theurgist of the Rise (L), Level 71; Adamant Discord (T), Level 79

  ______

  Unused Stat Points: 15

  Harmonic Stats

  RES: 484

  INE: 660

  AFI: 1446

  REI: 732

  EVA: 600

  MIG: 513

  ALA: 845

  FEL: 1165

  His resource pools had grown tremendously, as had his stats thanks to his new Race and Path. The Skill levels didn't reflect all of his gains, however, as his Bastion of Will was currently clamped tight around a handful that were primed to Tier up to Adept.

  "Watch over me, please."

  "Of course," Karys replied.

  Clenching his jaw against the pain, Felix dove down into his core space. He plunged into a sea of darkness punctuated by points of brilliant light. His dual cores—a rarity, apparently—were shaped like two rings made of liquid flame and lightning, stacked atop one another like a sandwich. The red-gold [Cardinal Beast Core] sat atop the blue-white [Thunderflame Core], each spinning in an opposing direction so that they ground against one another, each revolution producing arcs of potent, multi-colored energy.

  Between them, where the hole of a ring would be, there was instead an abyss that was darker than the shadows that surrounded them all. It echoed with a hunger that had changed over the months, a willful desire to consume and grow, but one that listened, in a way. It can be bargained with, at least. That's a lot better than the Maw.

  Pushing through both cores and, somehow, through the abyss, was a branching shape that looked like a tree or veins, depending on the viewer’s perspective. It was colored crimson-black and spread both upward and downward, weaving its way into the two Pillars that supported his cores, strengthening them with its power. A Vein of Divinity, the System had called it.

  Surrounding all of this was a field of lights that revolved around the center. Like stars, they shone brightly all on their own, convoluted patterns of light and vibration that represented each Skill Felix had learned. Since his defeat of the Archon, they had attained a heft that was not
present before, as if the light and sound had gained mass. According to Karys and his friend Harn, it was due to the addition of significance to his core space. It was a solidity of being that came with great power and time, a feature he had stolen outright from the Urges beneath the Temple.

  And not the only thing he'd taken.

  Above his cores and Skills, a stormy cloud of Essence boiled and flashed. It resembled nothing so much as those nebulas he'd see in colorized space photos or sci-fi movies: a tempest of light and shadow, solar winds and crackling, cosmic energy. That, above all else, was what would help him Temper his Skills.