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

Kaius spun his old friend through the air, smiling in joy as he set her down on her feet. She didn’t let go.

Illendra clutched him like her grip was the only thing keeping him present. She buried her face into his armoured chest, uncaring about the jagged edges that must have dug their way into her skin.

“Where have you been, Kaius? I thought I lost you.” Illendra asked, her voice small and quivering.

A sad smile crossed his face, and he leaned down to embrace her fully, burying his face in her hair. She smelled of warm bread and spices. “It’s a long story, and a fraught one. I lived though, and I am here, my friend.”

After taking a few more moments to enjoy their reunion, he pulled back. He knew no one in the village would judge them guilty of impropriety, they had been friends as long as he could remember, and no one would hold a since-past childhood crush against him. Not with how tight knit the communities were on the frontier. Still, they would have time for a proper catch up in the coming days. He had introductions to make.

“I’ve got someone I would like you to meet.” Kaius said, giving her a last squeeze before he turned to the side to give Illendra a full view of Porkchop, who was looking on with naked curiosity. He kept his arm around her shoulder.

Porkchop leaned in, crouching down to avoid looming over Illendra. Considering that she was just over a full stride shorter than he was, his bond-brother ended up nearly lying on his belly to see her eye to eye.

“Hello,” Porkchop greeted her warmly. “Kaius told me a lot about you. He said you make really good stew.”

Illendra froze, staring at Porkchop in shock. “Kaius...” she stammered. “I dinnae know if I’m losing my marbles, but did a Forest King just ask me about my stew?”

He chuckled. “He did, he’s grown very fond of my own and I wasn’t about to hide where I learnt it from. His name’s Porkchop.”

Illendra whipped her head back towards him, her eyes narrowing. Kaius paled.

“Now Kaius, I know you dinnae name a Forest King something that daft.” she said, stepping towards him with her hands on her hips.

Kaius chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Well… I mostly suggested it as a joke, Porkchop was the one who decided to keep it.”

Uncanny Dodge flickered as her hand raced out with deceptive swiftness, he ignored the warning as she slapped him upside the head. “Idjit! Swear on the gods, you learnt no respect in that forest. Don’t go trying to foist off the blame onto the bloody greater meles!”

Kaius simply smiled awkwardly as Illendra turned back to Porkchop and bowed in a single fluid motion. “It’s nice to meet ye, Porkchop. I hope this idjit hasn’t been giving you much trouble.”

Chuckling throatily, Porkchop bobbed his head at her in turn. “I can see why you like this one, she’s feisty.” he said to Kaius privately, before he addressed them both. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Kaius is my bond-brother, so don’t be too harsh on him.”

Illendra turned back to him with a cocked brow. “I know not even you would do something like subjugate a Forest King, so I am going to hold my tongue for now.”

“He didn’t.” Porkchop confirmed.

“It’s a part of that long story I mentioned.” Kaius said with a sad smile.

Illendra’s face softened. “I think we’re both going to have hard stories to tell, the kind that are best left for a round table and a few beers. Do you want the elders to hear? They’ll throw a tissy, but I think I can get them to leave off.”

Kaius shook his head. “No, they should be here for it. I have questions that I hope they can answer, and I trust them to not pry too deeply into my secrets.”

“Then we best go meet them, shouldn’t we?” Porkchop interjected.

Illendra jumped a little, clearly still unused to having a greater beast talk. Kaius clapped her on the shoulder reassuringly. “Come on, it’s been too long.”

Starting their approach, Kaius got a good look at the inside of Three Fields for the first time in over a year. Home to nearly five-hundred souls, it was perhaps better described as a small town. A rough cobble boulevard led deep into the village, though roughly constructed barricades were arrayed behind the gate in varying stages of completion.

A defence against inevitable breaches, he assumed. At least they were taking it seriously.

Beyond those, a motley collection of buildings. Almost universally they were sturdy things constructed of old-growth wood, a staple building material so close to the Sea. There was some stone, accessible thanks to the quarries set into some nearby hills, but it was mostly reserved for common buildings and where it was needed most. The hall, inn, and smithy, as well as for foundations.

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As they crossed the distance to the village gate, Kaius flicked between the elders of the village, taking in their mixed reactions to his return.

Holt was missing, the head of the constabulary. That jumped out to him immediately, though with the increased threat to the village with the beast awakening, it was highly likely that the gruff man had gone to coordinate with the other settlements along the Sea’s rim.

Increased mana density and an overabundance of beasts were no laughing matters. They were low level for now, but in the coming months and years it would take hard men and strong classers to keep the people safe. That was exactly the sort of man Holt was.

Jekkar had joined the elders. During his reunion with Illendra, and was looking as unreadable as normal, save for a strange mix of barely noticeable apprehension and relief at his return.

Hurrin, Illendra’s father, watched him closely. His sheer unbridled joy at his return was palpable in the small half-smile that was mostly hidden by his sandy beard, and the slight creasing at the corners of his eyes. He could see respect there too, as his eyes roved over his artefacts.

Yanmi. First among equals. The mayor’s flinty gaze bore into his own, evaluating him. She was wily, hard, and fair. More than once as a child she’d nearly had his hide, but he knew she was something of Father’s confidant. He’d seen them talking more than enough for that to be the case. Still, he could see her mind running. Calculating. If Cham had seen him use his glyph, then Yanmi knew too, and would already be working through a dozen assumptions and deductions from that scrap of information.

Eillish, still wearing her thick leather apron that had been scorched by a thousand forged nails, axe-heads, and occasionally swords. She stared in his direction like a hawk, but not at him. Even more than Hurrin, she drank in his gear with appreciation. Kaius grinned at that. Of all the village elders, Eilish cared the least for the daily going-ons of the village. Thankfully, she had a brilliant mind for logistics, for without them there would be no materials for her workshop, or her fellow artisans.

She was a consummate crafter, and between her and her leather-working husband they produced some of the finest artisan-wrought artefacts in the region. Kaius knew he needed to have a chat with her; replacing Porkchop’s barding with an under-armour set designed to work with his bloodline skill was directly in their wheelhouse. He could always get it enchanted in Deadacre when they had the time and funds.

Saldar was the last, his spindly form - though still shorter than him - loomed behind his contemporaries as he watched Kaius with a slight, but sharp, frown. Saldar was no fan of his. Ever since he’d ruined half a field of new growth by wacking at the sprouts with sticks, dreaming of swords and beasts, the crotchety old farmer had branded him as a troublemaker to be treated with suspicion. In his defence, he had been a boy raised at the edge of town, and later in the woods. He’d been a bit of an inconsiderate moron until Saldar had sorted him out.

Even with Saldar’s low opinion of him, Kaius knew he could trust the old man when push came to shove. Out on the frontier, you were either community members, distant neighbours, or distrusted outsiders. The other villages treated him neighbourly, like any other resident of a different community that lived on the Sea’s fringe. Three Fields though, they’d claimed him, even if he’d never got to visit quite as much as he would have liked. After all, he’d lived here as a young boy, before he was old enough to live on the move.

Above all else, Saldar was a stickler for propriety, and he would be caught dead before he shared secrets with a neighbour, let alone an outsider.

Kaius halted at the threshold to the village, Porkchop slowing with him. Illendra gave him a last squeeze on the arm before she ran over to her father, stepping behind him to give him the deference he was due in the current moment.

The elders stepped forwards, Yanmi taking the lead.

She met his eyes, giving him a nod and a small smile before she turned to Porkchop and bowed. “It is an honour, Forest King, to have you at our village. We are at your disposal.” she said, keeping her head low while she waited for his response.

Porkchop paused for a moment. “Kaius, this is getting weird. Why do they keep bowing. They’re acting like elves.”

Kaius suppressed a laugh, before he subvocalised his response. It wasn’t needed for Porkchop to understand him, but even with all the time he had to get used to their bond, he was still just getting used to beast-speak.

“Just say thank you and be polite, maybe make it known we have some sort of connection. Everyone near the Sea basically thinks of the meles as local spirits. Once we get further away people will just think you another beast, though I’m not sure if that will be better.” Kaius suggested.

Yanmi stayed prostrated, waiting patiently.

Porkchop bobbed his head, slipping into as close to an officious tone that Kaius had ever heard from him. “Please, I am unused to ceremony. I am here because my sworn brother had need to return after our long…journey. For both answers and familiar faces.”

Ever the diplomat, Yanmi took the answer in stride, even if half of her colleagues snapped their gaze between him and Porkchop at his brother’s mention of fraternal bonds.

“As you say, Forest King.” Yanmi responded, before she straightened and focused on Kaius. “We have much to discuss, it seems. We have grim tidings, and by the sounds of your miraculous seizing of a class, your garb, and your companion, you have much the tale to tell as well.”

“I do, though there would be many holes to preserve that which I would keep to myself.” Kaius said, confirming Yanmi’s assumption.

“Then we best get to the Stout Oak. It’ll be empty by the time we arrive. Only one question remains, Kaius. You have been missing long, and the nature of our tale begs us to request one decision from you.” Yanimi was serious. Official in her bearing and words. Kaius had seen it before. In quick glimpses and overheard tales. Grim tidings indeed.

The sprout of dread set root, worming its way around his bones.

“I would hear it.” he ground out, even as Porkchop pressed into his back with one leg, providing his support.

Yanmi nodded. “Would you have us speak first, or is your tale so burning you must share it above all else?”

The weight of the moment hung heavy, time seeming to pause with the looming weight and finality of a swaying hangman’s noose.

Kaius swallowed, his throat tacky and dry. “I would speak first.” he whispered. Anything to keep the doom at bay for a moment longer. That, and what he had to share could be time sensitive for the village to survive the coming calamity

The short and imperious woman stepped forwards, laying a gentle hand on his arm and smiling at him like he was one of her own. “Then let us be off, Kaius. I’m sure you’ve had a long journey, and ale is what is needed for this kind of talk. Come.”

Yanmi turned, and as a group they entered Three Fields - picturesque and blanketed in the shining midsummer sun.. His first visit in nigh on a year and a half.

He only wished it didn’t feel like a funeral procession.