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

Smoke curled out of the shattered carcass of the Pegleg, lit up by the golden glow of Ianmus’s spell. four of its eight legs were ripped from its body, and a jagged line had been carved right through its mid section. The landyacht had been cut open level with the internal hold, right around knee level. Unless Kanmost had somehow jumped, or been laying flat on the floor, he must have been hit.

Gods, Kaius hoped the man was still alive. Kaius eyed Ianmus’s burning spell, Dolmor’s Triage. It was the Archivist’s only chance. He’d felt its power for himself. If the man had survived, it would patch him up.

Rotten roots, it better have — the cost had to be worth it. Ianmus’s keyseals took time to build up the mana required for a second tier spell. Triage was life-saving magic — and now they would need to fight a bloody wyrm without it.

Kaius tore himself away from the sight of the ruined landyacht. As much as it burned, he could do nothing for the man trapped within. If he even lived.

Sprinting back towards the wyrm, Kaius brandished his sword as his blood roared with savage determination. Never had his heart sung so loud in battle, his very Aspects spurred to heights by the Fear that yet lingered in the air.

Blood poured from the maw of Katarex, a shattered ruin more dire than any wound they had left on the beast. How the fates must have laughed, that the dragon’s worst wound was at the hands of their own Breath.

Nails punched from his hand, sinking deep into the wound he had opened earlier on the creature’s flank. He wasn’t the only one who had taken advantage of the gap in the dragon’s armour. Arrow after arrow slammed into the gap. Kaius had no idea if they were wounding anything vital, but with each blow they wormed deeper into the dragon’s body. He hoped beyond hopes that they were — they wouldn’t win this fight by simply trying to bleed Katarex of health.

His brother hammered the dragon’s front. With their maw ruined, Katarex could no longer crack his brother’s armour so easily. Rising high, the dragon whipped towards Porkchop with repeated fury, driving their horns deep. Every gushing hole tore at Kaius’s heart, but he had to trust his brother would hold.

Kaius drew deep on his slim reserve of free mana, laying into the dragon with Dissolution Edge. He had to crack open another wound. Every hole they could keep open and bleeding would weaken the creature further — even if just by physically cutting through its muscles.

Iron scales rebuffed his strike, his roaring Skill only scouring the wyrm’s hide. Undeterred, Kaius slashed again and again, switching to Hellblade Investiture when his mana grew low. Fury bellowed from Katarex, mana joining it in equal measure. Katarex spoke no taunt, nor grandiose boast, focused as they were in their anger.

Turning the wyrm’s own Breath against them must have been as much of a wound to the arrogant creature’s pride as anything else.

Yet that was no balm to Kaius, for it only meant it was treating them seriously.

Katarex writhed in a constant storm, driving Kaius back with a snapping crack of their oar-like tail. The flattened appendage scooped the water, hurling a magic-empowered deluge towards him. He noticed the skill a moment too slow.

Bones crunched in his chest as the wave hit him with the power of a siege engine. Kaius roared in pain. A Shunt interrupted his tumble, hurtling him towards the creature’s rear. They had to split the wyrm’s focus!

From above, he saw the nobles keeping up their assault. Blood painted the creature scales red on its opposite flank, blackened ribs visible within the gaping crater in its flesh. Another bolt slammed home, erupting into a spray of noxious green fluid. Flesh bubbled, sloughing free.

Kaius had to give Julian credit — he was more than happy to spend his money like water when it counted.

Touching down as his final rib snapped into place, Kaius cleaved into Katarex — desperate to rip open their hide.

“Kaius! They’re casting!” Porkchop roared.

Kaius whipped towards his brother’s battle. Porkchop was a wreck. Cracks stretched through his heavy plate, and one massive pauldron had been torn free entirely. Kaius knew he could refresh the armour with a bare few seconds, but he’d never had the chance. Blood soaked Porkchop utterly. It dripped into the water, wafting like smoke through the gleaming liquid.

What he saw of the wyrm was far more concerning. Their ruby eyes were focused, and their crown of horns shone with aquamarine intensity. A deluge of mana, kept chained within the curled spikes. Four dozen streamers rose from their tips, weaving into a construct of staggering complexity. The speed with which they worked was terrifying, beyond what even Ianmus would be able to manage with all of his advantages.

The wyrm was casting. His blade hacked at its flesh; Porkchop snarled and clawed at Katarex’s belly; shining solar magic fury burned through fat and muscle, and projectile after projectile ripped into their side — and they were casting.

He broke through their hide. The wyrm snarled, whipping their tail with a great heaving crack, the spell forged above their head not wavering for a moment. As the blow shattered his arm, Kaius was filled with grim realisation. He was not unique in this world. Others revelled in their equal love of might and magic.

What terrible fate that his reflection had to be a fucking dragon.

Kaius called on his own command of the arcane. The shifting miasma of a Zone of Discombobulation snapped around the wyrm. They stilled, shaking their head slightly. Kaius redoubled his assault. He had saved himself for this moment, and he refused to be a miser any longer.

Crackling arcs erupted from his hand as Drakthar burned with violent light. Kaius roared, hurling his whip of chained lightning towards the wyrm’s head. Scales blackened; Katarex screamed. Eirnith shone on Kaius’s temples as he reached for the wyrm’s mind, Compelling them to focus on the spasms and pain that wracked them.

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The mana construct wavered.

Kaius roared, striking them with a second Stormlash, then a third, and a fourth! His allies pressed just as hard. A shining arrow ripped across the cavern, shuddering with explosive energy. Sinking deep into the ruined mess of the wyrm’s muzzle, the arrow exploded, showering the ground with bloodied teeth. Katarex screamed, writhing into a frenzy that sent Skill-empowered waves ripping across the cavern. The wyrm’s spell shuddered. Bolts slammed into the open wound in their side. The sun was born again, shining brighter than the wellspring itself. It hit Katarex in the side, swallowing the creature in cleansing fire.

The spell collapsed.

There was no moment of relief. Power surged high through the monstrosity — another welling of violence gathering in their throat.

“Dragon’s Breath!” Kaius roared a warning, unsure of who the creature might target.

Maddened in their fury, Katarex chose them all.

Thick as his arm, a jet of water sharper than any blade shot from the wyrm’s maw. Porkchop lurched, roaring in pain as the pressurised beam kissed his side and tore through his armour like it was made of paper. Katarex snapped their head around, raking the chamber. Kaius’s heart pounded in his chest. Heeding the screams of Moment of Flow and Sergeant’s Insight he launched upwards with a Shunt, the beam ripping a bare handspan beneath his feet.

The assault continued on, tearing into the stone wall of the cavern. Massive boulders fell, crashing to the ground below. The nobles were next. Their chargers burst upwards, buoyed by the winds. Yet the Wyrm halted and ripped back towards them. A retainer exploded into a burst of gore, mount and all. Julian’s mount screamed, one of its back legs vanishing. The man threw himself free — just barely saving his own leg. Ianmus, at least, was okay — his mount had sailed high over the beam.

The Breath died.

“Kenva?!” he roared a desperate question. He didn’t dare to take his eyes off their enemy, not even for a moment.

“I’m okay!”

Relief surged within him. Kaius raced back in, they couldn’t give the wyrm a bare moment to recover.

The Fear had lessened. Its remnants were still enough to spur his Aspects to cycle at a furious pace, but it was not enough to weigh on him like it had been. Was it the psuedo-Authority? Their Breath had been bursting with the stuff — perhaps they could only draw on the resource so much.

They had to capitalise on the opportunity. Already mana rose from the wyrm’s horns, weaving a second spell with supernatural speed. Yet for all of their lethality, they had wounded the beast. Katarex’s jaw was a bloody ruin, and they had gouged out great divots from the wyrm’s sides. Even Porkchop had torn through the thinner scales on their belly, ripping chunks free with his massive claws.

Yet not once did he think the battle had turned in their favour.

Grievous wounds or no, the Drake was utterly unphased. Kaius remembered their battle with the drake. That creature had been monstrous — it had survived it’s brain being scrambled. That was a mere pale reflection of the creature in front of him, and half Katarex’s level besides. How much punishment would Katarex be able to take before they could put the wyrm down?

Kaius hurled another volley of Stormlash and CompelObsession, desperate to break Katarex’s focus. They couldn’t let them cast — the bastard was trouble enough without their strongest weapon.

Burning through his spells with furious abandon, weighty dread hung heavy in Kaius’s belly. For all they hammered the creature, the dense weaves only continued. Bit by bit, they formed a dense knot of radiating geometry.

They couldn’t stop the wyrm, no matter how much he smote the wyrm, or how deep Porkchop tore into the blackened wound left by Ianmus’s Halo.

Inevitably, they cast.

“Now you die!” Katarax raged as mana erupted from their crown.

The energy sank deep into the waters that surrounded the cave. In an instant the thin puddle vanished, all water drawn towards nine towering tendrils that sprouted from the creatures back. They writhed like living whips, drowning the cavern in a basso roar as a constant current surged through their lengths.

Kaius grit his teeth and raced in despite the danger, Bound Maelstrom howling around him. The spell would shield him. They had to push.

Two tendrils punched towards them. Slipstep blurred around him, narrowly saving his advance as a tendril phased through his hip. They raced back. Kaius went high with a Shunt, hurling a salvo of Nails at the ruined wreck of the wyrm’s maw. If he was lucky, the bastard might choke.

Touching down, he caught sight of Porkchop roaring as another four tendrils lanced him again and again, each one ripping deep into his brother’s back. Porkchop pushed through the wounds, driving an Ethereal Phalanx to charge at the dragon. Yet Kaius knew each one drew deeply from his brother’s reserves. Even the shining drops of gold that washed over his back, courtesy of Ianmus’s continuous use of Revitalising Droplet, would not be enough to fully stem the tide.

Danger screamed to Kaius’s left. He shot down, a tendril curving over his head.

It whipped back — and punched through his chest.

Kaius gasped, choking as his lungs filled with blood. Shards of bone ripped through his flesh as the tentacle hurled him aside. More broke as he hit the ground. Yet there was no time for his agony. Another lanced down towards him, two more close on its tail. Kaius’s eyes widened, hurling himself away with a Shunt.

He skipped along the ground, trailing a bloody smear. Too slow. A tendril slapped his leg, snapping it in half. Kaius roared, creating more distance. He just needed a little time!

Flying out of range, he tumbled through the air, the entire cavern whirling before his eyes. He saw the Wellspring, in all its glowing glory. The wyrm raged at its banks, bloodied and triumphant as Porkchop desperately held the line. He saw Julian’s crippled mount, screaming on the ground, abandoned where it had fallen. The nobles themselves were half way around the cavern, Ianmus still riding strong at the rear of their formation. He saw Kenva, her face white and worried as she channeled her all into yet another Howl of the North Wind.

He saw Kanmost, dragging himself out of the ruins of the Pegleg, his legs little more than freshly healed nubs.

Kaius landed with a stagger, his wounds burning as blood pooled around his feet. They couldn’t go on like this.