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

Kaius quaked where he sat, his skin growing increasingly clammy. The strain on his mind from holding four skills, from linking them with the light of his soul, was immense. It weighed heavily upon him.

He had to fight to keep his awareness from drifting to the blaring light of his legacy skills. They beckoned to him, inviting him in to survey their potent depths. It was a trap. They wouldn’t synchronise, weren’t right for what he was trying to create.

That didn’t stop them from calling him.

With every skill he merged, the problem would grow worse. It didn’t matter that he would be merging fewer skills as he worked his way through the list. The collection of completed skills that orbited his centre would grow and grow, until the focus needed to merge his last would be almost too much to bear.

That was a problem for his future. Now, he had a skill to finish.

Straining, he stretched out his soul to the next skill. The thread of soul stuff quaked. Threatening to dissipate as its increasing length caused it to grow thin and unstable.

The link snapped into place, conduit thickening with a flash of light and a thrum of power. Light Armour Mastery sang to him. Showing him sights of all it was capable of. Speed and agility. Dancing around blows that were too hard, too strong to resist. Everything stripped down. Honed to a point, unnecessary weight discarded. What could not be avoided only needed to be slowed to avoid death. Speed was defence, turning mortal wounds into glancing blows. Barely felt strikes that did little but mar boiled leather. A skill for those quick of blade and light of feet.

Kaius tasted iron in his mouth.

Just a couple more.

Another tendril stretched from the conflagration at his centre. It was a wispy thing, liable to unspool at any moment. Straining towards the next skill, struggling against the growing demands of the shining trio that watched on in fury. Every finger-length was hard fought. A rumble grew in Kaius’s ears, his back aching against the illusory weight that pressed down on his brow.

Snap.

The tendril shot back into his soul, the force of the collision buffeting his centre. The fire flared, his remaining links to his skills shaking. Threatening to come apart at the seams. If he didn’t do something they would break. He would lose the merge and be hit by a backlash, unable to try again for weeks.

Unacceptable.

He bore down on his soul, pressuring it with the full weight of his mind. Something cracked. Pain was forgotten. His only thought was to stabilise the connections that he had forged in a tenuous balance. A stream of gaseous red flew free of the cloud of his health. Rushing past the boundaries of his centre to restore him.

Slowly. Ever so slowly, the ripples eased. He could try again.

This time he took his time. Reeling on the thread with excessive care. Accepting exhaustion as an easy price for his growth.

The thread grew thinner and thinner. Barely spiders silk catching the light. It touched the skill. Power thrummed across the link, thickening it. Stabilising.

Medium Armour Mastery felt similar to its predecessor, yet with marked differences. It acknowledged the necessity of agility. No armour was inviolable. There were always blows that anyone with sense sought to avoid. Yet to sacrifice protection on the altar of speed? Foolish. Defence was an art of balance. Wasting energy on avoiding a blow better dealt with with a thin layer of chain was as bad as layering on so much metal to leave one immobile. It was always about balance.

Something was running from his eyes. Stinging them in his sockets. A thin stream of red fog still left his centre, revitalising his body. Unimportant. There was just one more.

Kaius tore at his soul, gripping a flickering wire of amber with all of his mental might. It burned, searing his mind. He tugged it. Forced it outwards. Ignoring the yearning call of the trio of skills that ached for his attention. He could do this. The last one.

The orb loomed, drawing close. Just a little bit more. It hovered there, a calm ball of hardened steel. Indomitable. The thread was thin now. Cutting him deep as he tried to unravel it further. Threatening to snap.

He reached it.

Light thrummed through his self spun web. Connections thicken, growing strong and stout. The pathway he had just forged whispered to him, implacable.

It was a heavy thing. Steel and iron, layered thick. An impenetrable bulwark that stood fast, defending all with ease. It wasn’t a fast thing. It didn’t need to be. What use was avoiding a blow, when it stood no chance to harm. To be able to wade through an innumerable horde with full surety of safety was true defence. A carapace of steel. A true ward against death. Heavy Armour Mastery.

The skills stabilised.

Kaius slumped. Barely avoiding collapse at the sudden reduction of mental strain. His head rang like a bell, and he could still feel blood weeping from his eyes. He didn’t have the time to check himself over. Just one last step.

He felt the resonation of his skills, the way they thrummed with unrealised potential. He stretched another stream of soul-fire, this time starting from Block. One by one, he connected his skills in a chain of power. Completing a loop.

Each nexus that he linked caused a pulse of inner light to emit from the previous skills in the chain.

Snapping the last link into place, Kaius felt his inner world sing.

Inexorably, the skills slid together as they pulsed. They strained against their bonds, eager to join in a union. They represented safety. Control and surety in his own body. An inviolable testament in the face of would-be harm.

**Ding! Skill Merge Detected! Would you like to proceed?**

The skills touched. Scattering into ash and dust.

Attractive force yanked the shreds of meaning left behind by the dissolution of his skills. Weaving the threads into a new form. Spinning them. Growing denser.

A moment later it was done.

**Ding! Skill Merged! Adamant Body obtained!**

Kaius collapsed bonelessly to the floor, his chest heaving. He opened his eyes, finding himself having to blink rapidly through a stinging blur. He wiped at them, hands coming away red with blood.

“Hells.”

He looked down, finding a fist sized stain on his tunic where the blood had fallen free. He grunted. Pushing himself to his heat, Kaius walked over to where his pack was stashed. He washed his face with a rag and a little water from his skin.

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He still felt slow, thoughts coming at a bare trickle.

It did nothing to prevent his budding elation. Another skill down. Another step closer to his class, and his attempt at an exit. With Adamant Body in his back pocket he finally felt comfortable to really push himself. To stop dipping his toes into the Depths, and start wading in to plunder its wealth with both hands.

The skill was still capped at twenty, but the first level was always the most impactful. Already he could feel his body growing tougher, hardening under the effect of the new-born nexus of power that orbited his soul.

He would be coming for the Champions. The two he had bested so far had rewarded him with invaluable treasures. Every one represented safety, a growth of his capabilities - something so valuable considering the punishing limits of an unclassed.

He walked over to a loose chunk of masonry, taking a seat. It was time to see what he had earned.

With a thought he brought up his latest skill.

Adamant Body:

Level 1

Unique

Forged in the fire of broken bone and rent flesh. A body honed to its limit, directed to the primal need to survive. A carapace unbending, folded steel and toughened leather. All burdens forgotten. True power is the surety that not even a falling star can impede your path forwards.

Skill that increases effectiveness of all defensive movements, bodily resistance to injury, and defensive properties of armour and other implements of protection. Weight and movement restrictions of worn armour are reduced. Does not affect magical sources of defence.

Each level reasonably increases speed, power, and control of defensive movements.

Each level moderately increases integrity of worn defensive armaments.

Each level slightly increases manoeuvrability of worn defensive armaments

Each level slightly increases the effects of Endurance on bodily integrity.

Merged from: Block, Parry, Footwork, Toughened Physique, Light Armour Mastery, Medium Armour Mastery, Heavy Armour Mastery

It was perfect. Exactly what he needed it to be. Something that would help to ensure his safety as he pushed himself to the edge from here on out.

With Adamant Body he had completed the first phase of his skill mergers. Alongside Rapid Adaptation, Warforged, and Explorers Toolkit they were a strong foundation for his physical capabilities, massively enhancing his strength in a direct confrontation with foes. They would provide him with a launching point to exploit the Depths for all it was worth. Between them, and Porkchop’s prodigious strength, Kaius began to feel like he might actually make it out alive.

More importantly, it also meant he was moving into the next stage of his build. He was almost ready to learn magic. His next skill would be an ocular one, laying the foundations for his experimentation by revealing the world of mana to him - and so much more. After that, runes and manipulation. Each one would bring him a step closer to his goal. Binding runic incantations to his very flesh.

He itched to leap to his feet. To grab Porkchop and push deeper into the glade. He’d spent far too long here. Once he had explored its centre it would be time to move on.

First though, it was time to survey his status.

Status:

Name: Kaius

Dynasty: Unterstern

Age: 18

Class Selection: 1 Year, 42 weeks, 5 days

Race: Human (Dynastic) - +1 free stats per level

Layer Reached: 2

Resources:

Health - 291/300 (2/min)

Stamina - 184/200 (2/min)

Mana - 120/120 (2/min)

Stats:

Endurance - 30

Vitality - 20

Strength - 20

Dexterity - 20

Intelligence - 12

Willpower: - 20

Stat Points: 0

Class Skills (0/10):

N/a

General Skills (4/10):

Rapid Adaptation (Heroic) - 14 > 15

Warforged (Unique) - 19 > 20

Explorers Toolkit (Unusual) - 4 > 6

Adamant Body (Unique) - 0 > 1

Kaius smiled as he saw the change to his status. The simple pleasure of seeing Common and Uncommon skills subsumed by something far greater than the sum of its parts. Having so much of his recent skills be reliant on combat was hard. You had to risk mortal injury collecting barely helpful building blocks, before spending weeks training them to the cap.

He would have far more freedom with collecting the skills needed for his next fusion. Though, for the next one he would need to find somewhere dark. Almost too dark to see by. Unfortunately, the dim flickering blue of the cavern was still far too bright. It might have been a half light, but you could still see with perfect clarity, albeit at a reduced distance.

A sound scratched at the door, causing Kaius to jolt. Porkchop, done with his playing. Kaius hurried over to the door, undoing the latch. With his intelligence he sometimes forgot that his companion didn’t have thumbs. Whoops.

As soon as it swung open, Porkchop shoved his head through, butting up against Kaius’s chest.

“Done sulking yet?”

“What?!” Kaius spluttered. “I wasn’t sulking!”

“Yes you were.” Porkchop said with amusement. “It’s okay. Sulking is completely normal when you lose to a better wrestler.”

Kaius stared at the meles with an open jaw, astounded at the audacity of the greater beast. The cheek of it! Though he accepted it for the olive branch it was. He wrapped his arms around Porkchop’s thick neck, grabbing him in a rough headlock and dragging him inside.

“C’mere. I’ll show you the better wrestler.” He said, ineffectively trying to shove his friend back.

Porkchop chortled, hitting him with a light shoulder barge that nearly sent him flying over the edge of the thankfully dead hearth.

“Told you. Better wrestler.” Porkchop said with smug finality.

Kaius sighed, accepting his defeat.

Padding over, Porkchop nosed at his hand, encouraging Kaius to scratch his ears.

“You ready to explore? I’m getting bored.”

Kaius grinned. Porkchop had a burning curiosity that matched his own. Despite his enthusiasm for their sparring, the greater beast had been growing restless. Unsatisfied with their only forays to the stream to gather water.

“Yeah I am,” Kaius responded. ”After we check out the centre, I want to investigate some of the tunnels. Some of them looked like they might get dark enough for the first of my next skills.”

“Let’s go then!” Porkchop said, bounding out the door.

Kaius chuckled, taking a moment to grab his pack and buckle his sword to his waist before following.

Kaius pushed past a fern, feeling the way Explorers Toolkit adjusted his form. The undergrowth seemed to shift around him, plants subtly twisting to hide his form. Aiding his passage. The movement was subtle, almost undetectable. To an outside observer it would seem to be a thing of chance. He knew better. His skill had a soft touch, but it was constant.

Padding along to his left, Porkchop was just as graceful as he moved through the trees. Not a single scrap of lichen crushed underfoot. At first it had surprised Kaius, after all he was as large as a bear and twice as mean. It made sense once he thought about it, his friend was a creature of the deep Sea. It was obvious he would be at home in the glade.

“Stop.” The message passed through their connection.

“What?” Kaius called back, his voice low.

“Smell them. Rot and death.” Porkchop replied. When he’d first arrived in the glade he had been scared of the undead, now Kaius could only sense a dark anticipation through their link. It seemed like all their sparring hadn’t been good for only his skills.

“Numbers?” he asked.

“Not many. That way.” Porkchop gestured up ahead with his nose.

Kaius nodded. He crept forwards. Moving from tree to tree in eerie silence, lichen softening underfoot to muffle his steps. Always careful to use the cover to obscure his figure.

He saw them.

Another burnt out fire pit. Four this time. Three in chain and steel, another in strange dark robes. It would be his first battle alongside Porkchop.

He couldn’t wait.