(Second Book Complete!) Runeblade: A Delving & Skill Merging LitRPG

Stepping aside so that Porkchop could join him in the airlock that led to the giant’s enclosure, Kaius pulled closed the first steel door and locked it tight. As he’d originally suspected, the second door wouldn’t open if the other was left open. A precaution on letting any specimens escape, he presumed.

He turned, looking through the enchanted glass tunnel to focus on their target. It still stood in the far corner of the room, twitching as it stared at the wall. Odd behaviour, even for a depths-born, but he doubted that it would last once they entered.

He rolled his shoulders, loosening himself up, before he drew his sword and moved over to the next steel door.

“Ready?” He asked, looking at Porkchop, who gave him a short nod in return.

He took a breath, hopping up and down on the spot to get his blood pumping. The tension of pre-battle started to flow away as his heart started to race, his Bloodsong igniting in full force. Reaching for the spindle that held the door closed, he spun the wheel. With every click and clank of the geared mechanism he grew hotter and hotter.

With a thud the wheel stopped. The door was fully unlocked. He set his shoulder and heaved, heavy steel swinging open soundlessly on oiled hinges. They charged into the room, starting their confrontation in earnest. Eager to capitalise on the giant’s lacking focus while they could.

Two deep blue needles shot from his raised hand, racing across the room to sink deep into the back of the Champions knee with a spray of blood. It broke whatever spell held the giant in place, the four armed abomination howling at his assault.

**Ding! You have challenged a Champion: Subject #38949 ‘Lover Boy’**

The giant spun in place, entirely unhindered by the tiny wounds he had left in its leg. Kaius’s eyes widened, the damned thing was fast. Its eyes snapped from him to Porkchop, before deciding that the charging greater beast was the more immediate threat.

It only managed to a single lunging step before the arcane payload he had left in its knee detonated, sending its lower limb spinning away in a shower of gristle and gore. Entirely unphased by the grievous wound, the Champion ripped its eyes away from Porkchop to focus on him as it threw itself forward with a howl of fury.

Landing on its four arms it clambered across the ground, crawling towards him fast enough to match him at a full sprint.

The heat of battle already well and truly stoked within him, Kaius only grinned. Good. This one seemed like it would be a proper slog. Gripping his sword in both hands, he fell fully into his Bloodsong and raced forwards to meet it.

Porkchop pivoted, launching towards the giant with an outstretched paw. He raked his claws along its ribs, though it only hissed in fury and redoubled its charge towards Kaius. Huffing in frustration, Porkchop wheeled around and chased after it.

Kaius snapped off another arcane needle, aiming to take off one of its arms. In a surprising display of reaction speed and agility, the giant duked to the side. His spell was faster still. The needle sunk deep into its chest, shredded flesh blowing out of its clavicle a moment later.

The giant was uncaring. Mana pulsed in the creature, forcing Kaius on to high alert. A skill. Moments later there was a gush of roiling flesh that surged through the wounds he had given it, nondescript red goop flooding the hole in its chest and trailing from its leg like a whip. Another moment and it was healed, returning to its feet in the space of a single stride.

Kaius’s eyes widened. The cost of the skill on the creature’s Health must have been ruinous, but if they couldn’t cripple the beast then this was going to get rough.

The giant arrived. All four of its limbs smashing towards him in a storm of rapid fire haymakers. Doom came at him from every angle, Danger Sense pushed to its limits as it tried to keep track of the flurry of blows. Kaius grit his teeth and moved. He slipped around two punches, the slightest steps and twists letting him avoid the blows by hairsbreadths.

**Ding! Danger Sense has reached level 14!**

**Ding! Dodge has reached level 15!**

A third came from above. He nearly missed it, so focused on dodging that only the last minute warning of his skill saved him from being pasted. No time to dodge. He pivoted to the side, biting deep into the giant’s forearm with his blade as he just barely managed to deflect the overhand punch.

Porkchop arrived, snarling as he launched himself at the giant from the side. He clawed at its ribs, tearing into its chest before the fourth arm smashed him back with a crunch of cracked bone.

“Careful!” He called to his friend, stabbing deep into its leg as he stepped around another wild blow. The giant roared, and doom flared. A quick jump backwards saved him for an open handed slap, only to be caught flat footed as the skinless abomination kicked out.

Kaius cried out in agony as the kick caught him full in the chest. Bones snapped with a sickening crack, ribs forced deep into his chest as he was sent stumbling backwards. He coughed, blood flooding his mouth.

Health going to work, Kaius felt a sickening burning itch followed by a droning series of pops as his ribs snapped back into place.

**Ding! Adamant Body has reached level 19!**

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 9!**

He scowled, burning a hole in the giant with his gaze as he watched it spin to deal with Porkchop, who had returned to harass the Champion once more. The bastard was smart. It had forced him right where it wanted him with that slap.

He rushed back in, firing another two needles into the leg of the giant. Gore splattered his face as the spells detonated, severing the creature’s leg once more. Mid-battle as it was, the giant was far less capable of dealing with the sudden wound, pitching over and hitting the ground hard. Right in front of him.

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Porkchop descended on the Champion immediately. Tearing into its good leg with abandon in an attempt to further hamper its mobility. The giant scowled, trying to boot Porkchop as he shredded its hamstring.

Explorer’s Toolkit twinged, shunting Kaius’s attention towards one of its arms that had gotten pinned behind the giant’s back. He didn’t waste the moment. He brought A Father’s Gift high overhead as he stepped in. Then he chopped.

Exposed muscle parted with ease under the force of his full bodied swing, though his blade glanced off its bone. He ripped his sword free, pivoting into a whirl of alternating cuts as he attacked the limb.

The giant roared in fury, rolling into a backhand that forced him to dodge.

**Ding! Dodge has reached level 16!**

He slipped back in, leaving cut after cut in the Champion’s flesh. It had forgotten Porkchop now, flying into a rage as it launched itself up onto its knees and tried to crush him with a series of pounding blows. It was faster than him, but with the moment of warning of Danger Sense he managed to stay one step ahead of the creature, slipping through the storm of heavy fisted blows that thundered and splatted against the stone floor around him.

**Ding! Dodge has reached level 17!**

**Ding! Danger Sense has reached level 15!**

Every now and then he caught an opening, blade lancing out to puncture the giant’s flesh whenever he could, holding its attention while Porkchop continued to harry the Champion from behind. Eventually it had had enough, Mana pulsing briefly as more grisled flesh burst from the giant’s wounds to heal them instantly.

Kaius swore, narrowly avoiding another punch as the giant rose back to its full height.

“It’s gotta be out soon, right?!” Porkchop yelled in frustration.

Kaius didn’t respond, too busy trying to survive the Champion’s ardent attempts to flatten him. Forcing him back with three simultaneous smashes, the giant followed up with a ruinously fast backhand. Kaius barely had the time to realise it had cornered him before the oversized hand was a stride from his chest. He brought up his sword in shock, blocking the blow. One of his forearms gave out, snapping under the ruinous strength of the Champion as he was sent skidding back. Stumbling from the sudden force of the blow, Kaius just barely managed to get his feet under him before he toppled over.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 10!**

Groaning from the pain of his shattered arm, Kaius waited for his own regeneration to kick in as Porkchop snarled and plunged blades of mana into the giant’s back in an effort to give him time to heal.

If there was one saving grace, it was that the energy of the blow had significantly charged his vambraces. Unfortunately, it was still only half full. At the pace the fight was going, one of them would be dead before he got the chance to use it. Oh well, at the very least he’d get to use it in the next fight.

The giant turned, clobbering Porkchop with a hammerfist, before its attention focused on him once more. It descended on him with a fury, pushing his skills to the limit as he was forced to dodge over and over again. Too fast, and too strong, and with his arm still broken, there was little he could do to punish the assault.

**Ding! Danger Sense has reached level 16!**

Something had to give.

“Get its attention!” He yelled to Porkchop, diving out of the way of a grasping hand that tried to snatch him up.

**Ding! Danger Sense has reached level 17!**

Porkchop roared, sinking his teeth into the meat of the giant’s leg and tore out a weeping hunk of mutated flesh. The giant’s exposed maw twisted into a mockery of a scowl, turning to deal with the most present threat.

He felt the snap of his bones realigning. Not healed, at least not fully, but enough that he could hold his sword properly once more. As the giant howled and began to lay into Porkchop with bone cracking punches, golden light spilled out of Kaius’s hand as he cast.

Four needles shot out, each one sinking into the Champions shoulders. Or near enough to count, he hoped.

Explosions rocked the enclosure as his spells detonated, ripping its arms free of its torso in an explosion of gore that splattered from floor to ceiling.

“Take that you big bastard!” Kaius yelled with glee as he rushed in with a swing of his sword, cutting a deep line into its back that almost instantly clotted with the now familiar regenerative tissue they had seen in all abominations. He held himself back from using any more of his spells, he only had four left, and there was no way to know if the giant could still use its regenerative skill.

As it screamed in maddened agony mana started to rage inside of the giant, flooding out from its core to settle deep within its tissues. It started to steam, muscles creaking as they inflated to twice their size. Doom screamed in his mind. He tried to move.The giant blurred, its leg scything out into a heel kick that crashed into his shoulder before he could react. Shattering his arm, shoulder, and ribs and sending him flying back.

Kaius smashed into the glass wall of the enclosure, gasping as his head whipped backwards and cracked into the wall. He slid down to the floor with a weak groan, vaguely aware of a distant roaring as his mind swam. He lifted his head up, barely able to make out the ongoing battle through the haze of his tunnelled vision, agony coursing through his body with every slight twitch.

He coughed, splattering his front with blood. Seemed like scalemail did just about fuck all against brute force. Letting out a chuckle, he whimpered as the motion made his shattered ribs cut into his chest.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 11!**

Gods his head hurt. He focused on the burn of his Health, the way the all consuming itch sank into his flesh. It didn’t remove the pain, far from it. Thankfully, it was at least distracting, pulling his mind back from the mess of mangled flesh and twisted nerve endings.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 12!**

Clarity returned to his mind as his healing pushed back his concussion. The fight! He snapped his head up to see Porkchop bloody, bruised, but not broken. His friend was giving the three armed giant absolute hell, shrugging off smashing fists that would have left him shattered and broken. That had broken him. He chuckled again, biting off the wince as his ribs grated with the movement.

Wait. Three arms? A jolt of energy shot through him as he realised that the giant had used its healing skill and failed to fully recover. It was on the ropes! He had to do something, now.

Four more casts of his Explosive Arcane Needle. It would have to be enough. He lifted his hand, only to bite off a scream as the shattered limb flopped. Right, that had been where the giant had hit him. Well, it wasn’t like him to let a little thing like multiple broken bones stop him.

Kaius took a sharp breath and braced himself for what he was about to do. He reached over, snatching his ruined arm by the wrist, gurgling through clenched teeth at the pressure he put on the fractures. Vision tunnelling as he yanked upwards, he aimed his hand towards the giant. Thankfully his hand was uninjured, so he could still point.

Golden light flared as he cast all four of his remaining spells, his index finger flicking between points on the giant’s body.

Kaius slumped back, more of his bones snapping back into place by the second as he watched his deadly payload fly.