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

The sound of crashing water echoed out across the cavern, petering off slowly as the residual noises slowly faded. Faint, but unmistakable, Kaius heard a squeak of panic, almost drowned out by the noise of water crashing against stone. His head snapped towards the source of the sound.

It had come from up the slope, directly from the cave which led to the entrance portal that had teleported him into the depths. Whatever had triggered it definitely hadn’t been a person. Maybe some startled deer had gotten itself caught in the river’s currents, a lucky undertow from the waterfall pulling it into contact with the entrance.

Deer meant venison. His stomach gurgled at the idea of something different to his poor attempt at boar jerky. He started salivating, imagining the gamey taste that he was so fond of. In the forest above it was a major staple, but even with its abundance he had never grown tired of it.

He redoubled his pace, turning to scramble in the direction of the cave. The scree gave way under his overeager movement, sending him a half-step back for every stride he climbed. He growled in frustration. This close to a change in the menu, he wasn’t going to let a bloody scree hill beat him.

Reaching the top, Kaius bent over and panted. His pace had been exhausting, the gravel fighting him every step of the way. Catching his breath, he mopped at his sweat streaked brow.

Another panicked squeak drifted from the cave.

Kaius’s eyes narrowed. It didn’t sound like a deer, not now that he was closer. He drew his sword, blade twinkling in the soft light, and stepped into the cave.

He moved slowly, ears straining to catch any further hints of what might have found itself trapped in the entrance chamber. While he lived far from the frontier, the Arboreal Sea was enormous. The region that he and his father had staked a claim on was still thoroughly considered the outskirts, a region of lower mana and comparatively few truly magical creatures.

Chances were it was something mundane. Perhaps a young bear. He couldn’t think of any beasts that lived in the outskirts that would squeak.

Roots erupted from the cave’s edge, curling around him like the fingerbones of some covetous giant as he pushed deeper.

There it was again! Definitely not a bear. At least, it wasn’t a noise that he had ever heard come from one. Too loud, too forceful for something small, and with a strange timbre that gave it an almost gravelly texture.

Kaius passed where he had fought the swarm of spiders, gingerly stepping around the dried pools of ichor. Eyes staying dutifully ahead, avoiding looking at their cooking pot sized bodies, legs curled in close to their thorax. He wouldn’t say he was afraid of the creatures, but they definitely unnerved him. Bugs were not supposed to be hairy.

Still, the sight of his battle meant he was close. Slowing his pace, Kaius started to roll the weight on his feet. Softening his steps to suppress any noise of his approach.

He could hear it. Claws scrabbled at stone, raking across the surface again and again as the dull scratching sound rolled through the cave. It’s breathing, deep and heavy, hastened to the edge of a pant in the ways he had only heard from a snared meal.

The entrance room came into view, an opening in the cave up to his right. He crept forwards, keeping his breathing low and even so as not to give away his position, despite his growing curiosity and excitement.

Approaching with care, Kaius pressed himself close to the edge of the wall where it turned inwards into the portal room. He held his sword to his side in a sort of half fool’s-guard, out of sight but ready to be used in a moment’s notice.

The sounds of panicked movement continued unabated.

Craning his neck, Kaius poked his head around the cave wall. The portal room looked much like he had left it. A deluge had flowed through, stray water captured with the unwilling subject of the magical transportation. It had flooded the room with a thin film of water, pushing old fish carcases to the edge of the room.

The object of his curiosity stood at the rear of the room. Wet and bedraggled, it faced away from him, rearing up on its hind legs to claw at jagged stone as its tapered snout reached for the now deactivated circle of runes a full body length above it on the ceiling.

Shaped closest to a common badger, a little meles, it was stout of leg and long of tail. Standing on its hind legs as it was, it was easily as tall as him. A thick and dark red coat covered its hide, tapered in a gradient that deepend to a red so deep it looked black. Its brush with the falls far above had left the hair plastered to its body, revealing the rippling musculature that was normally hidden within.

Kaius knew that if it faced him, he would see that the almost-black at the edges of its coat would cover its chest and front legs, tapering up its throat to split into a set of stripes that traces the contours of its powerful jaws and dense brow.

Jaw dropping open with sheer disbelief, his fingers slackened on his blade. Almost letting the weapon clatter noisily against the ground below.

It was a fucking greater meles!

Staring at the impossibility, Kaius tried to wrap his head around how a King of the Forest had ended up in the Outskirts. Had somehow fallen into a river? Had gotten itself trapped in the same section of the Depths as him.

It was small too, far smaller than he had expected from the stories. Obviously he had never seen one in person, they were supposed to be the single most magically potent creature of the Sea. Intelligent, powerful, and with a placid demeanour that hid a fury that could level cities. They never left the core regions of the forest, at least that is what Hastur had told him.

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Was it a child?

The greater meles, apparently accepting that it wouldn’t be able to climb the sheer rock wall, let out a huff and dropped to all fours. Shaking its head, it started to turn.

Kaius’s eyebrows shot upwards, the movement jolting him out of his shock as a spike of dread that shot down his spine. Yanking his head back from the corner he leaned back into the wall. Chest rising, he took deep breaths, his eyes staring at nothing while his thoughts raced.

Killing it would be wrong, if he was even confident that he could. They were almost sacred. They were, quite literally, to some of the elven conclaves that made their homes in the deep reaches of the Sea. He forced his breathing to slow, lest the noise give him away.

Greater meles weren’t supposed to be blood thirsty. It wasn’t a dumb animal, no greater beast was, even the young ones. He could just try to talk to it..?

He focused on his breathing, heart slowly slowing to make the pace of the slow rise and fall of his chest. Talking to it was probably the best idea. If it was simply a lost young one, he doubted it would be able to make it free of the Depths by itself.

There were rumours of greater meles rewarding travellers that had aided them in some way. Stories of strange blessings and valuable reagents handed out in abundance. Mostly stories he had heard from ageing hunters in the rare times he and his father had shared their fire. If those stories held a nugget of truth, and he managed to return the young one to its den…

Making up his mind, Kaius nodded to himself. He would do it.

With a smooth motion he sheathed his sword. As softly as he could to avoid startling the creature. Kaius could still hear it breathing. Heavy pants that cut themselves short. Realising that he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid startling the daylights out of the creature he stifled a wince.

“Here goes nothing,” He thought.

Taking a final deep breath to steady his nerves, Kaius spoke out calm and steady.

“Ho, greater meles, I mean you no harm.” The words bounced around the cave. He received no response, no longer hearing the deep breaths of the greater beast. The silence hung painfully, his unease growing with every additional moment.

Head bowed as he scrunched his eyes, Kaius hoped and waited for some sort of reaction. His head came back up. He had to show himself, make sure it knew he wasn’t a waiting threat.

Gnawing at his lip, Kaius forced himself to step forward, turning to face the portal room. Arms reached out slightly to his side, palms spread to show empty arms. He stopped at the threshold. Across the cavern the badger-like creature had backed up against the stone wall.

Baring its teeth, the meles held up its considerable bulk on stout legs. Its position was held with ease, staying far more stable than a rearing bear. Its bulky arms were held at the ready, tipped with thick black claws designed to tear through earth and stone.

Just like he had expected, its front was coated in an almost black red, excluding the few sections of deep orange-red that peaked through the lines on its face. Its legs were trembling, and its nostrils flared with disconcerting speed at each panicked breath.

Kaius went to take another step. The meles barked, a concussive blast hitting him in an instant to ring his ears. He stopped, foot hovering over the stone.

“Easy.. I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve been trapped here for weeks.” His tone stayed even and calm, seeking to placate the creature’s fear with a soft smile.

The meles hackles rose, a deep rumble starting in its chest. Something smacked into his mind, forcing aside innate defences, bringing with it a confusing jumble of images.

He saw himself standing there, back lit by a sinister blue halo of pulsing light. His posture was all wrong. Hands outstretched, poised to grapple and tear. Teeth bared in an open threat. He loomed in the entrance way, speaking a predator’s lies that were only half understood as he tried to worm his way in for the kill.

Shocked, Kaius snapped his mouth shut, pulling his arms down into his sides. He took a step back.

“Woah. I’ll stay over here. I’m serious, I grew up in the forest. I would never hurt one of your kind.”

Dark amber eyes drilled into him, the meles responding to his statement with a snap. Another deluge of strange sensory information washed over him, to coloured by scent and sound to be parsed easily. An impression, clear and strong, ran over his strange connection with the meles.

“Lies!” It seemed to say.

Eyebrows furrowed, confused at the accusation.

“Why would I lie?” Kaius said evenly, focusing on keeping his posture as still and neutral as he was able.

Images flicked across in a rapid fire blast. Distant mountains. A warning to never cross their peaks, of poor hunting grounds and unsavoury persons. A burning curiosity silenced with a heavy paw. Setting off alone, a meles grown, to explore the strange place. A cacophony of scents, thin air almost absent of the ever present thrum of roiling mana.

Of seeing figures, garbed in woven plant material and the skins of their kills, so similar to the elves he had seen a time or two. The hot bite of flying twigs. Burning cuts and leaking wounds. He saw himself corralled. Hunted for the first time in his life. Fleeing as fast as his paws could carry him. Throwing himself into the depths of the river, struggling to keep his head above the raging rapids that ripped him away from the shore.

His gaze focused on the figures that skidded to a stop at the water’s edge, focusing on them with a dizzying clarity. The leading man was a lanky figure. Holding a naked sabre in one hand, he was garbed in leather amour, high quality but poorly maintained. A crooked nose, jagged from an old impact that had left a thick scar stretching from bridge to orbit.

Kaius recoiled from the connection, his mind reeling back into the immediacy of the present. Fury roiled inside him as he recognised the face. It was the leader of the bandits. He’d never forget that scar. It took a special type of injury for Health to be unable to fully recover a wound. There were also less of them. Barely even a handful, compared to the numbers that had ambushed him and Father. His father had done some damage.

But if they were still on the plateau…

Kaius clenched his fist, futile frustration surging through him. A low growl from the meles snapped him back to the present. Taking a deep breath, he loosened his hand. Letting it fall to his side.

“No. I am not with them. Nor are they representative of my kind. I lived on that plateau for years, and know far better than to hunt a greater meles,” Kaius huffed, his shoulders slumping before looking back up to look back into amber eyes.

“No, those men hunted me too. I was driven over the falls. Chased off lest I let them kill me. My father stayed behind… I’m not sure if he made it.” His eyes drifted downwards, burning as he thought of the potential fate of his father.

The hackles of the meles fell, its growl petering out. It was still tense. Still ready and willing to barrel towards him at the slightest provocation, but it had paused at his words. It’s mental connection reached back out, tentative as it brushed his mind.

“Tell me.”