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

Animus. The aspect of the soul. It had eluded him for so long — a mystery that had remained just out of reach.

He’d felt a few reverberations from that truth, but there’d been nothing conclusive — nothing strong enough that he could begin to narrow down what it related to. He’d gotten a slight indication that it was broadly related to his other Aspects.

That didn’t surprise him — not with the deep interconnection he could now feel between Mentis and Corporus.

And here he was, neck deep in a Crucible with an Ascendant offering to explain more to him, right as he was about to enter a trial that would see him to ignition.

Kaius grinned up at the floating form of Xenanra. “I’m ready.”

She nodded, her dress trailing over the glass as she hovered through the air to float in front of him.

“The trial itself, as I’ve mentioned before, will be different since you have yet to ignite the Aspect. It won’t be a radical change, since it is largely an expansion of goals. The same circumstances that aid you in fully embodying your Aspects are the same as those that help you to ignite it in the first place.”

Kaius nodded. That wasn’t out of the realm of what he had expected. Really, both of his trials had been similar to the initial conditions through which he had ignited his Aspect, except expanded and intensified to an incredible degree. He could see it taking longer — since he would need to feel out his resonance, but hopefully it wouldn’t be any more challenging.

“Will it change the victory or forfeiting conditions?” he asked.

While he’d sooner find himself dead than waste an opportunity like this, it did seem a prudent question to ask.

“Slightly,” Xenanra replied. “You can leave the trial once you have achieved ignition, at no penalty, but that would be a waste for someone of your strength. Embodiment is the true prize of the Crucible.”

He’d wondered about that. Embodiment had proven illusive and incredibly arduous to achieve. Without the extreme stressors he’d been placed under, just how long would it take to achieve naturally?

Was it necessary to move on to the next step of the Path? He certainly hoped it wasn’t — so many otherwise promising talents would inadvertently hobble their potential simply due to not knowing it even existed. It was one thing if a team who was too weak to attempt to gain entrance to a Crucible to intentionally skip it, or make the decision to delay their rise to the second tier — but to be blocked unwittingly?

It seemed…wasteful. He frowned.

“Embodiment — it wasn’t mentioned in either the information packet I earned from an Honour, nor was it in the phase change notification. Is it mandatory to reach the next step of the Path?” Kaius asked.

“No,” Xenanra replied. “Even in fully integrated societies where attempts to walk the path are not so uncommon, I would say that most don’t embody their aspects — at least not now. It is something of a badge of ability and potential. For one, few have it in them to prepare so thoroughly — even when they don’t have the time constraints you hold yourself to. For two, few can. The process is arduous, and one that requires more will and insight than it does strength.”

“But you really don’t need it?” Kaius pressed. “I’m willing — I just worry for those who might not have the strength to reach a place such as this.”

His concern for the growth of wider society seemed to please Xenanra. Her expression warmed, and she shook her head encouragingly.

“No — technically, the only requirement to refine is that at least one aspect is ignited in the first tier, and all aspects are before you commence. Of those that embody, most stumble across it while undergoing refinement. The problems come later. Each step coincides with a tier — and completing that step comes with benefits if you do so before your next class evolution. If you don’t ignite all of your aspects in the first tier, refinement will be a struggle. Even if you simply fail to embody, there are issues. Refinement might come just as easily — if slower until you finish that process. However, the step after that will be slightly harder, and it becomes harder to complete to the highest degree, which will roll into your next step, and so on.”

Xenanra paused for a moment — adjusting, though she leaned on nothing but thin air.

“Eventually, the problems will grow so great that you will hit an impassable wall that other, more thorough walkers of the Path stroll straight through. It is a creeping detriment — while you don’t need to be perfect to Ascend, you need to be far better than most can ever dream of achieving. All that aside, there are additional benefits to embodiment, but those are the focus of your final trial. If you make it there, that is.”

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He didn’t get it — she’d mentioned that most people didn’t even attempt embodiment. If all it took was more time, why wouldn’t they? Even if it the greatest draw backs came later, they did come.

“Why would people not at least try? It seems…short sighted. Defeatist.”

“Most people are, Kaius. More than that, embodiment is incredibly difficult to achieve in the first tier without strength — many could try for their whole lives and not reach it, if they even ignite their Aspects in the first place. The immediate benefits are slight, and the long term costs only matter for those who intend to progress the Path to its terminus. Struggling with embodiment is seen as somewhat of a sign that someone is not cut out for ascension in the first place — they spend their time on other things, and make do with walking as far as they can before they fall off. Obviously, if you can do it, it is worth it — it does aid in aspect refinement, and has a number of other effects that accrue as you rise through the tiers.”

He sighed in relief — that took some of the worry out of it. An optional benefit, for those that were putting their all into a bid for ascension. At least it meant that others would still be able to progress if they moved forward without knowing of the option to go the extra league for long term benefits.

If he got his way, that wouldn’t happen. As soon as he returned to Deadacre, he’d share this finding with the guild. Even if it ended up that they weren’t the first to complete their Aspects, him and his team would be amongst the front runners. With them strong enough to survive the attention, it would become common knowledge — alongside what they’d learnt about ignition. Honours too — though likely that would be limited to those who were strong enough to obtain them, and could be trusted to share if they learned of new ones.

As they sat there, watching over the distant lake, Xenanra explained further about what he could expect — Animus, and the secrets of the triumvirate as a whole.

If Corporus was what you did, and the way you moved through the world, Mentis was the how — how you approached your surroundings. The final member of the triumvirate was the core. Animus was who you were, your motivations that lay underneath everything. Your wants, your needs — what you strived for, hungered at a primal level.

Something he was eager to see for himself. That feeling only grew as the ascendant explained that its authority would ground his very soul in a surety of self — that the complete Triumvirate would make him more of his spiritual weight.

It made his heart pound in his chest — though, he was still murky on what that actually meant.

“So — just to be clear — it’s not an empowerment?”

“No. It is simple awareness, not a strengthening or additional activation. You become in tune with the processes that are already in motion. That is why you can progress without it, but that awareness still eases future steps. It allows you a level of intention that others would lack.”

Kaius accepted her words, and they drifted back into silence. He felt prepared for his next trial now, but not quite ready.

It was nice to simply rest for a while — enjoy some pleasant scenery while he digested the wealth of knowledge that he had been offered, and processed his experiences in the last trial.

Xenanra, for all of her transcendent might, seemed more than happy to do the same. She watched the sun reflect off the distant waters of the lake, smiling slightly.

It was…almost easy to forget what she was, in moments like this. Not her station, or her ability, but her power.

Kaius realised with a start that for the entirety of his current meeting with the ascendant, he hadn’t felt the crushing suffocation that seemed to roll off her in waves. Not even once. Nor was there any glow of mana that perfused her as she floated as she pleased. It made her seem so normal. Like a person, rather than a deity.

“Why do you do it? Guide people who may as well be ants?”

“Because I can, and that is the greatest gift that power will ever grant you,” she replied without moving. “I grew strong without guidance, and there is much toil and trouble I could have avoided if I knew what I now share. Besides, are you not the same? If you had the strength, would you not shatter the chains of secrecy that hobble your world — knowing that all it would cost you is a few words and a fragment of your attention?”

He supposed he would — already was, in many senses. Still, to reach the point where such destiny changing actions were inconsequential… He longed for it. Hungered for the freedom it would bring.

That was something the ascendant had his full agreement on: the ability to control his fate, and better others simply because he willed it — that was the true prize of power. He would have it for himself.

But first, he had to finish his Aspects. There was no doubt in his mind that he would do so to the fullest extent possible. As he would with every other step he reached. There would be no half measures for him — he would not waste every scrap of effort and drop of blood he had spent to reach this point.

Xenanra turned her head to look at him and smiled.

“It helps that acting as a guide means I get to meet all sorts of interesting youths who haven’t been ground down by the burdens of eternity. You are ready.”

It wasn’t a question. She waved her hand, gesturing into the thick carpet of flowers that lay behind him.

Kaius turned and found a familiar arch — filled with a flat wall of black. He rose to his feet and approached.

“Kaius?”

He looked back.

“Do have fun.”

A wide grin split his face, fueling the rising heat in his veins. He stepped into the black — towards his next trial.