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

Kaius drew his blade in a moment, smokey crystal edges catching the light. His eyes snapped to the source of the voice, seeing the lead caravan guard staring off to the right of the caravan.

What had caught the man’s attention was immediately evident. Some twisted entity, more gnarled ball of flailing roots than any creature of flesh and blood. It had to be a thousand strides off, yanking itself forwards with flailing spears of bramble.

While beasts and the lower races were by far the most common threat people would face, they were not the only ones.

The abominations and undead he had faced in the Depths were the perfect example of that. This one was not quite as malign as those twisted mockeries, but it was still dangerous. Most likely some kind of spirit, or elemental. Usually they were seen in areas of high mana density, and even then, only occasionally.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the phase shift had reached the point that such creatures would appear in settled lands with more frequency.

Mana surged to his side, plates of jade clacking against each other as Porkchop’s barding popped into existence. Behind them, Ianmus was already channeling a free-casted spell, raw manipulation spinning mana into a working with impressive dexterity.

“Remember, brother, no spells.” Porkchop warned as he let loose a roaring cry of challenge, two of the lizard-like creatures who pulled the nearby merchant’s carriage hissing nervously.

“I know,” Kaius replied, rushing forwards at his brother’s side to join the lead defenders. Each was at least level forty, and they watched them with interest as they rushed forwards. As guards, they most likely had Common classes, and there was an assumption of strength of those who possessed the madness to willingly throw themselves at the clutches of death as a chosen vocation.

The ball of flailing roots drew closer as they reached the front of the pack, eerily silent except for the thwack of spiked wood digging into the soil. Most of the guards had crossbows and bows, waiting to fire until it drew in range.

Kaius focused on the creature with True Sight.

Bramble Ball - Level 32:

Least Spirit, Skirmisher

Light melee, a good opponent for the two of them, and low level to boot. At least, once his and Porkchop’s true strength was taken into account.

Snapping his head over to the lead guard, he whistled to catch his attention. “How good’s your men’s aim? And anyone got any decent concussive or severing skills?”

The man gave him an appraising look, the barest hint of a frown crossing his face as Kaius felt a glimmer of a probe against his Mask.

“You sure yer up for it, lad?” the man quickly asked, returning to watching the approaching spirit.

Kaius grinned, a hot flush creeping up the back of his neck. “Oh yes, sure as a taxman skims.”

The caravan guard looked back to him, watching him for the barest moment before giving a nod. “Gial, Rosh, cover him. Delver, yer mage-man looks like he’s channelling enough mana to shit himself. You create the opening, he sears it dead, ye hear? Listen for me yell and get the fuck out of the way when you hear it.”

Kaius looked back to Ianmus walking towards them, an intense look of concentration on his face as more and more solar mana streamed towards him, bound to his will. Kaius whistled softly to himself. Whatever Ianmus was doing, it had to have punch.

Giving the lead caravan guard a nod, he slapped his brother on the shoulder before seizing a saddle loop in his hand and leaping onto Porkchop’s back.

“Go.”

Porkchop needed no other encouragement. Releasing a roar that kicked Kaius in the chest, his brother’s claws dug into the earth and muscles rippled as he accelerated in moments.

The sudden impulse rocked Kaius back, forcing him to crouch low and hold onto his leather loop for dear life. Exhilaration surged at the sudden acceleration, a joyful whoop sliding free from his mouth.

They charged across the open ground as he held his sword high. It was a perfect time for them to practice something they had been discussing. Against a foe well within their capabilities, with plenty of support, it was the best opportunity.

Mounted combat.

Utterly uncaring of their challenge, the bramble ball rolled on, thorny vines whipping with independent frenzy as they speared into the earth to drag it forwards. Only one indication told him it had recognised their threat, the monster adjusting its course to intercept them.

Sprays of dirt exploding with every bound, Porkchop’s explosive strength brought them to speeds that left the wind whistling in Kaius’s ears and his stomach lurching.

His blade held ready, Kaius held the spirit in his eye with a focused intensity that bordered on maddened fixation. He could already feel it, envisioning its strange wooden flesh parting before his blade, the sting of his blade’s grip bucking in his hand as he battled against the might of his blow.

“Bring us past it.” he said to his brother. A useless gesture, for one who knew his intentions utterly. More born of habit, than necessity.

Porkchop merely growled, accelerating.

Lashing vines whipped through the air towards them, Kaius ignored the threat and tapped into his Bladeright, stamina fueling his soul-bound blade as orange fire ignited the runes in its fuller from within.

He swung.

A Father’s Gift blurred through the air, its transparent edge fading like smoke on the wind. Finely knapped edges cut through wooden flesh like the vines had been made from silk, warding off the spirits attack with pure offence.

Undeterred by the severed vines that flew free, he bit deep into the meat of the bramble ball’s body. Sharpness enhanced to the extreme, there was little of the biting impact he expected.

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**Ding! Initiate’s Glyphic Bladerite has reached level 3!**

…

**Ding! Initiate’s Glyphic Bladerite has reached level 4!**

Then they were gone, Porkchop’s pace and speed bringing them past the spirit in half a moment.

Kaius whipped his head back, trying to see the damage he had left. Vines writhed, sprouting anew from within the creature’s depths to seal the ragged hole he had left in its body, sticky sap leaking free.

The two guards behind him loosed their projectiles. Clearly enhanced by skills, they screamed through the air with a shrill whistle. Each one punched into the spirit with the force of a hammer blow, gouts of woody plant matter exploding forth.

That, at least, seemed to send the bramble ball into a frenzy. Thorny vines whipped through the air like the lashing tendrils of some forgotten underwater horror in eerie silence.

Nor did it lose its focus on them. Snaking limbs punched deep into the earth, hauling it forwards with the low rumble of shredded earth. It tore up the ground beneath it, chunks of macerated grass and debris flying backwards.

Plunging his claws into the ground Porkchop hauled against the force of his own mass, forcing them into a tight turn. Kaius leaned in, crouched low to maintain his footing in the saddle as he worked in perfect concert with Porkchop’s movement.

**Ding! Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus has reached level 39!**

As soon as they got in range the bramble ball attacked. Empowering itself with some sort of skill, its vines lengthened to the extreme, slashing them with thrice the speed it had the first time.

Kaius ignored the lashing limbs. Wood or no, its thorns cut like iron, raking over his armour and Porkchop’s jade plate with a torturous squeal. He grit his teeth against the impact, the heavy weight of the blow resounding through his chest with a stinging fury.

Tapping into his Bladerite, his sword glowed with internal fire once more.

He slashed, leaning off the saddle, supported only by his offhand grip on a loop of leather and the strength of his legs. Another great rent opened in the flesh of the spirit.

Porkchop hurtled on, wheeling for another charge as two more arrows punched deep into the already closing wound.

Beginning to feel the rhythm of the battle, Kaius revelled in the heat that coursed through his blood. He felt…invincible, power beyond anything he had experienced in his hand. Every blow, every swing, was backed by thrice the power he had barely a year ago.

The bramble was helpless before them. Wily and aggressive, its snaking vines would have been incredibly dangerous up close, but it could do little against their strafing assault. For every pass they made it barely had half a second to thrash them with its vines.

Yet, at the speed of their charges, it had no hope of landing more than the faintest of glancing wounds.

Three more passes he used his Bladerite, and three more times he mete out punishment for the spirits’ audacity at attacking them. With every pass, the two guards who had been assigned to assist him worked with a well oiled synchronicity. They capitalised on the wounds he left, making them all the more potent with the concussive force of their shots.

**Ding! Initiate’s Glyphic Bladerite has reached level 5!**

For the fourth pass, he ignored his skill, wanting a comparison to see how effective it truly was. The difference was… hard to tell. The wounds he left in the spirit were just as dire, but, without his enchantments, empowered living wood was no longer so easy to cut through. His blade bucked, nearly wrenched from his hand before heightened reflexes kicked in and he was able to clutch his weapon with a startled burst of strength.

Despite the rhythmic thumping of Porkchop’s gait, and the heavy bellows of his breath, Kaius didn’t miss the small hoot that left his brother’s mouth, nor the flood of amusement that crossed their bond.

Of course, trust in Porkchop to find the time to focus on his fuck ups in the middle of a fight. Dismissing the flush of warmth on his cheeks as the invigoration that came with the Song, Kaius refocused on their opponent.

With a body as alien as its own, it was hard for him to tell how injured the bramble ball really was. Sure, it was absolutely covered in sticky sap, the glistening fluid lousy with the splintered remnants of its own severed limbs. On the other hand, it had not slowed, and it seemed no matter how many vines they cut there were more waiting to sprout.

“Another pass, it’s got to be at the end of its tether.” Kaius demanded, focused intensity colouring his words with the fervent need to see his opponent crushed utterly.

Porkchop growled in response, delighted agreement rushing across their bond soundlessly.

They raced in.

Ready and waiting for them, the bramble ball surged. Suddenly another three dozen thorned vines erupted from its chaotic body. It had to be a skill, stamina of some sort judging by the fact he saw no tell tale sign of mana

The air was flooded with a staccato boom of thunder, each and every vine cracking like a bullwhip as they launched towards Porkchop with synchronous violence.

His stomach lurched at the sight of the oncoming storm. Blade glowing with internal light, he slashed through two handfuls of vines, but there were more than twice that number waiting. Each one snaked around Porkchop, binding him tight as thorns dug deep into flesh and barding alike.

Howling in pain, Kaius felt his brother buck against the skill. To be restrained was to be cowed, and he had never seen Porkchop cowed.

Speed and mass in his favour, Porkchop doubled down. Kaius braced himself, feeling his brother’s intention as he tapped into his amulet. Suddenly their speed doubled as Porkchop adjusted, heading straight for the meat of the monster.

Evidently, it hadn’t anticipated that they would decide against another strafing run. It had braced to pull them back, not push them away, and now with multiple tons of muscle and bone descending on it there was no recourse left.

It tried to yank itself to the side. Kaius smiled as he saw that, with its commitment to its assault, it was left with too few tentacles to move with any haste.

Twisted plant-life pulped as Porkchop smashed the spirit with the unstoppable might of a runaway carriage. Sap sprayed through the air, splattering heavily on Kaius’s armour.

Then the bramble born went airborne, flying up and out as a dozen splintered and snapped vines writhed through the air with furious intensity.

“NOW!” the leader of the guards screamed.

Two arrows slammed into the arcing bramble ball. Whatever skills those guards had used, it was a different one from the previous. Both arrows detonated, vines exploding out of the knotted mass, carving a deep crater into its animated almost-flesh.

Whiteness dominated his vision. The air howled in desperation, sundered as a beam as wide as his fist crackled into existence with a primal scream. Kaius watched in shocked fascination, the might of Ianmus’s preparations making themselves known with the finality of a delivered promise of destruction.

The heat of it. Kaius could feel it from three dozen strides away, searing his hair and scorching an afterimage of divine desolation onto his eyes.

The bramble ball didn’t stand a chance. The spell hit it dead on and continued unhindered. Immolated from the inside out, Kaius could barely see it fall to the ground limp, so blinding was his ally’s attack.

**Ding! level 32 Bramble Ball - Lashing Shambler slain - Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength! Experience reduced due to significant group size.**

Whipping his head over to the caravan, Kaius was treated to the sight of a dozen guards cheering at their victory. At their front, two guards dripping with sweat, and one Ianmus - his face so pale that Kaius was surprised the man was even standing.

“Damn, elf-boy’s hits like an irontusk.” Porkchop said slowly.

“Even if he’s about as hasty as a particularly energised snail.” he continued, unable to help himself from slipping in a friendly jab.

It was all Kaius could do to nod in agreement, still shocked at the violence that had been hiding within their reedy academic.