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

The cushioned back of Kaius’s chair felt extra plush as Rieker stared at him and his brother with a slack jaw, clearly struggling to reassemble his worldview and failing.

“Seventeen attribute points?! That is quite literally unbelievable—how?” Rieker stammered out, forcing Kaius to bite his tongue lest his amusement cross over into abject rudeness.

It had been a long conversation—one that had lasted for over an hour at least.

The first thing Rieker had wanted to know had been about his glyph-binding, and the strange magics that let him hide his channeling while casting spells. It was a fun little misconception to burst, the guildmaster staring at him with wide eyes when he shared that there was in fact no channeling.

He’d all but demanded to know more after that, and Kaius was more than happy to oblige. After all, it was nice to have the significance of his discovery verified. One day he would share it with the world, when his position was secured, but until then the satisfaction of people’s reactions was mostly withheld from him.

If the guildmaster had been surprised to find that the skill lacked channeling, he’d been even more shocked to learn it was technically a variant of runecraft—and was centred on pre-preparing spells with runic incantations bound into his flesh.

Rieker had immediately seen the value in the style of magic—even if it wasn’t his area of expertise, Kaius himself had exemplified its potential to support close quarters combat.

Though, it had been funny watching the exact moment when the guildmaster had realised he would never be able to breathe a word of the momentous discovery to anyone else for the rest of his life. His hard features had twisted, turning an impressive shade of purplish red as he stared at Kaius with wild desperation.

It was only when Kaius had shared that he intended to share his discoveries—once he was strong enough for it to no longer be a risk to him—that the guild master had let out a sigh of relief. It was, in Rieker’s opinion, a skill set that would be utterly invaluable to most delving teams—something that would keep them alive as the world grew more and more dangerous, and would allow them to specifically prepare for known threats.

Kaius agreed with the man. He’d never intended to keep the entire art to himself—seeing it flourish and spread would be a grand achievement that would bring its own kind of immortality. That, and he intended to do something similar himself when he had enough spells. If Vesryn runes were researched on a wide scale, it was undoubtable that spells would be discovered, and he saw no reason he could not use them for himself.

Still, if glyph-binding had shocked Rieker, the knowledge of his and Porkchop’s build damn near killed him.

Rieker still stared at them, as if he physically was unable to process their stat growth. “Seventeen? You’re sure.” he asked.

As if somehow Kaius wouldn’t know his own status.

“Very. I know you said you didn’t need to know this, but Porkchop and myself have Unique classes, more than one additional racial trait, and a skill that directly enhances our physicality.” Kaius confirmed.

It was a lie, of course, but even with an oath the complete truth was dangerous. He was nowhere near ready to reveal the truth of Honours and a Heroic class would raise far too many questions. He would have said his class was Unusual, but it would be unbelievable with his stat growth.

His explanation didn’t help the guildmaster at all. Kaius wasn’t even sure if the man was breathing, his chest as still as a rock.

Eventually Rieker closed his eyes and breathed out slow.

“Hells, kid. That’s enough to make a man question his own abilities. How are the two of you so tightly bound in levels and growth though? I assumed that Porkchop shared some skills with you. After all, the cooperation of the greater meles’ dens is their most famous attribute. I also assume that whatever he passed on was enough to complete a legacy— I refuse to believe you could be this strong without one—but I don’t understand this.”

That was another little misunderstanding that Kaius would let lie. If the man wanted to offer up a reasonable explanation for him having a completed legacy all on his own, Kaius would let him have it.

Him having his own completed legacy would raise far too many questions—potentially even more than if he let slip about the existence of Honours.

“That is true, but you have made an error. When we told Ro that I was Kaius’s bonded companion, we weren’t lying.” Porkchop interjected.

Rieker’s eyes snapped back and forth between him and Porkchop. “You’re kidding.” he said flatly.

“No,” Kaius shook his head. “We both got trapped in the depths over a year before our class selection. We grew…close. It was our bond skill that gave us the biggest edge, and still does. A lucky encounter with a natural treasure got us our first racial trait, but our bond skill gave us another, larger one.”

“A natural treasure too? Next you’re going to tell me the sky rained gold and the Glowing One turned up to shit on your doorstep at the moment of your birth.” Rieker scoffed, before he shook his head.

“Who the fuck are you, boy? Bonding a greater beast? A Unique class? Multiple racial traits? Surviving the Depths? You’d think you walked straight out of a legend!”

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“If only he knew how ridiculous it truly was.” Porkchop silently pushed through their bond, forcing Kaius to bite back a smile.

It was no surprise that Rieker was struggling to digest their abilities; it had to be world shaking to learn that such a thing was possible. Still, Porkchop was right, if even the doctored half-truths they had come up with garnered this level of reaction, then they had made the right call deciding to play it safe.

Any more and the guildmaster might have just straight up disbelieved them. That, and while he wouldn’t have been able to share, there would have been nothing stopping Rieker rushing off in an attempt to secure his own Honours, potentially robbing them of First bonuses.

Chewing his lip, the guildmaster finally spoke once more. “I have many things I want to ask, but I wont. It would both be improper, and potentially dangerous for either me, or you. Instead, I will only ask what I must.”

Kaius returned Rieker’s firm look, giving him a stiff nod. He could still feel the pulsing yearn of his Aspect waiting for his attention. It was easy enough to hold back for now, but the sooner this conversation was over with, the better.

“Thank you,” Rieker replied, looking genuinely relieved that he agreed to the questioning. “First, I must know—Is there anyone looking for you? With this sort of talent, it would be easy to requisition a portal to hide you away somewhere secure, but if not then Deadacre is a good place to slide under the noses of the powerful.

Ianmus and Porkchop both looked to him quickly, almost urging him onwards. Through his bond with his brother, he could tell what they most likely thought. A perfect chance to secure some assistance against the Temple.

Kaius paused, choosing his words carefully. “Yes, and no.”

Tilting his head questioningly, Rieker watched him closely.

“My dynasty was wiped out, forcing me and my father into hiding, though I know nothing of any details beyond that. An agent of the Onyx Temple—a roguish man with dark hair and a ropey scar across his face—tracked us down with a troupe of bandits. My father ended up dead, and I ended up in the Depths.” Kaius clenched his fist, impotent frustration speeding his heart and sapping the strength from his muscles. “As far as I know, they think me dead, and I’m unsure if the man with the scar would recognise me—he only saw my face for a brief few moments.”

Pausing at the words, the guildmaster rubbed his chin.

“Onyx Temple eh. If he was a skilled hunter-killer, he likely would recognise you, but the reach of the Temple is wide, and there are many operatives. I think staying put would be the best option. Deadacre has a minute presence at best, and I doubt anyone sent to hunt the two of you would stick around for long.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad he wouldn’t have to upend his life to rush into hidden training. While he may trust the guild, he didn’t want his entire life dictated by them for the short term—even if he would do it if necessary.

“Yes, if anything, moving you could draw more eyes. Deadacre is best—in the end this is just a more concrete example of the very thing we are trying to avoid. Just…if you want revenge, hold off on pursuing it until I am done with you. Promise me that, and I’ll put feelers out through my contracts for a tracker with a facial scar—deal?” Rieker asked, looking at him with genuine concern.

Kaius stared at him in shock. He hadn’t thought that the guildmaster would go so far as to personally assist them in finding their quarry. At best, he thought the man might give them a lead or two to somewhere where they could make contact with the organisation and start their own search.

“Deal.” he replied, nodding hurriedly.

The guildmaster gave him a short grin, before he sighed and rested his elbows on the table as he rubbed his brow. In that moment more than any other, Kaius saw the weight of the man’s years. The burden of command, and the price of power cutting furrows deep into his skin.

The man held it well, but he held it all the same.

“Your…strengths. Your growth. It will make this both easier and harder.” Rieker eventually muttered.

“Why? I’ve battled with these two for weeks, I struggle to see how their power won’t let them rise with titanic swiftness.” Ianmus asked, breaking the silence of the guildmaster’s thoughts.

“That’s just the problem. They will—you won’t.” Rieker replied, fixing their mage with what would have been a glare on anyone else—for the guildmaster it was almost friendly. “Every level, every battle, they will outstrip you more and more—until at least the second tier, where you will be able to close the gap somewhat with a class evolution. Unless you’re hiding some way to scale your growth up your ass, I don’t see how you can viably keep up.”

Kaius met Porkchop’s eyes, an unspoken question flooding across his bond. A want for reassurance.

He didn’t want to reveal Honours, but it sounded like Rieker was leaning towards cutting Ianmus out. That wouldn’t do—not after the bonds they had forged in battle, and especially not after sharing their secrets with the man.

Porkchop gave him a slight nod, green-flecked-gold eyes resolute.

“We are.” Kaius said to the guild master. “I won’t share its details. It’s unpredictable, hard to acquire, and dangerous, but it will provide all of us strength. I doubt Ianmus will ever fully catch up, but he will most likely get a good class evolution, and will close some of the distance between us.”

Rieker groaned, brown hair streaked with white wisdom draped off his face as he stared at the ceiling.

“More impossibilities. Just great.”

Sitting back up, Rieker shook his head at them slowly, though Kaius still caught the slight grin on his face.

“Regardless, that solves one problem—slightly—but there is still the issue that we will need to be careful about ramping up the difficulty of your missions. The rising level of beasts will make things somewhat easier, but it will still take time to locate appropriate challenges—especially since I want you to gain no more than a single class skill per mission. Any more than that and you risk not having enough time to integrate it into your kit.”

Kaius nodded, and he could see his party’s faces mirroring his own agreement with looks of focused intensity. Even if it took the guildmaster time to find them missions, if they were gaining roughly twenty levels per task, that was still explosive growth.

“And of our skill levels?” Kaius asked.

Rieker smiled wider than he had since their bout. A ruthless grin that showed far too many teeth.

“Training. Ruthless training—with heavy sparing, direction from myself and anyone appropriate I can pull away. I have a few people in mind, but they will take time to bring in. I’ll need to use the guild’s gate. Expect them to arrive some time after your next mission.”

“It’ll be hard, painful, and tough. But I’ll make you strong, boys, you can count on that.” Rieker continued, nodding to himself. “We’ll start tomorrow, bright and early. Ro will meet you at the counter at the second bell. Until then, I expect you to go back to your inn and celebrate—Ro has already deposited your pay to your account.”

Kaius raised an eyebrow at that. “Tomorrow?” he said, raising his stump that still pulsed with a burning itch. “Won’t this be a bit of an issue.”

“Didn’t know you needed a hand to train healing and resistances.” Rieker replied, his eyes wild with a familiar mania. A love of strength in all its forms—and a total disregard for discomfort and pain.

Kaius bared his teeth right back, his heart thumping as tingling anticipation shot down his neck.

The man was right—he didn’t.