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

Ice-cold clarity soaked Kaius to the bone, the turbulent waters of the Wellspring washing over him. It was a softly glowing churn of froth and ancient magic, racing out of the forgotten oceans that lay deep beneath the world.

His eyes snapped open, piercing the gloom as he stared deep into the depths of the borehole. It was endless, so deep that not even Truesight could see till its end — yet he knew it must. Katarex’s origin. Who knew what else waited far below?

Tearing himself away, he surfaced with a gasp, overcome by the rushing magic. It lacked the vicious bite of his early dip in dragon blood, yet it was no less frenetic. Shifting, unidentifiable affinities surged through him. It was almost alive, strands of power that existed in constant motion, shifting through geometries too complex for him to grasp. Every bit of it was fascinating, holding his attention in an iron grip.

All at once, it consumed him. The world around him slowed as the twinkling lights on the cavern ceiling deepened. Kaius could feel every hair rising on his skin, the interplay of cold currents sapping at his heat, and every individual whorl of turbulence that broke against him. Magic shot through his veins, flooding his soul. It was clarity like nothing he’d felt before, an ocean of insight that bore him on implacable currents.

Its presence only highlighted his own power. Mana raged within the markings that lined his flesh, contained in the barely-stable lines of his glyph. The second it passed through his attention, spell-hymns slammed into the forefront of his mind. Each was an intricate work of art, at once similar, yet utterly removed from the spells of his separate glyphs. Turning their three-dimensional weaves over in his mind, Kaius saw similarities he’d once been blind to. A single curving line spiralled through the body of both Hateful Nail and Expedient Shunt, linking two arrays at opposite ends of the work. Both Zone of Discombobulation and Warhaven had the same tiny cluster of runes repeated through their central most structures a dozen times over.

Again and again, he found new details and small consistencies he had missed. The complexity of them was fascinating — yet even they paled in the face of his grandest magics.

In a single instant, the tightly carved shapes of his spell-hymns vanished — replaced by a great rune, endless and evershifting. Kaius gasped, blinded despite his eyes being wide open. There was no sudden rush of crushing pressure and brain-melting agony, for in that single instant a surge of frigid power rushed in from every angle, an unshakable buttress for his soul and mind.

He saw so much more than he ever had before. VOS had always been bottomless and inscrutable, yet no matter how much Kaius had known he was scratching the surface, it had been impossible to dive deeper. Now, he saw how truly narrow his slice of the great rune was. It would be a small step for him to push the empowerment beyond his simple spells. It was clear to him now; simple resonance due to the derivative nature of his glyphs made them easy to use with VOS, but with just the right mindset he could do so much more!

Fortifying ancient magic collapsed, shattering under the weight of a higher order concept. Kaius recoiled, jerking hard enough that he shoved his head back under the water. Gods, he’d been so close!

Yet now he was aware of the ache within him. It went deeper than just the backlash of losing himself in VOS. He was well used to that, especially since he had not directly used the great rune. No, it was the Wellspring itself— it was taxing. Something ineffable was being rung out, and with a wave of foreign-borne insight he knew that his time was limited. The Wellspring would only bless him for so long, and it would years before it would offer its touch again.

He couldn’t waste the opportunity. The whispers of insight he had gained into his glyphs and VOS were precious, but there was something far more important looming. Refinement. His Aspects still howled within him, essence drifting from his soul after the ardour of the last day. Already they were close — he would break through, but how much further could he push it? They didn’t have the time to spend toiling away at Refinement for the next decade, so he had to wring every drop out of this opportunity.

At the simple thought of it, the tendrils of Old Magic stirred within him, empowering his soul and wrapping his pillars in an icy grip. The motes of essence welling up from the fires of his soul brightened.

Gritting his teeth, Kaius fought against the current, thrashing back towards his friends and companions. The Wellspring was potent, but its blessing flowed like formless water, following the path of least resistance. Will and an iron hand would be needed to guide it. Everything seemed so slow — time losing meaning as his mind surged a league a minute.

“It’s insight-based, but slippery as hell,” Kaius grunted, barely seeing the intent stares of his companions looking down at him. “Focus before you jump in, and do not let yourself get distracted.”

Throwing his arms over the lip of the sinkhole, Kaius let himself be carried away as the upward current kept him aloft. Cycling, he had to focus on cycling. Everything else was secondary, talent and discipline would be enough to see him through.

Distant splashes sounded as a soft wave rolled over his back. He only half-heard it, just like he half-saw the spreading inkstain of blood as the Wellspring washed him clean of Draconic blood.

There was only the raging fires of his soul, and the drifting embers of essence that flowed from pillar to pillar.

Pressure strained within the Alabaster towers, their brittle purity barely able to withstand the volume of energy he had already forced them to absorb. Another rotation, and a wave of shuddering cracks rocked his foundation. He could feel the explosive potential within. Every mote of essence splashed against the edge of his pillars, struggling to soak through.

It should have been a struggle. Without the Wellspring, Kaius would have had to fight with every scrap of Will and Authority he had to force his Aspects over the threshold. Bolstered by Old Magic, it simply…happened.

**Ding! Sufficient Essence Saturation of Aspects Achieved! Begin Refinement?**

Under the pitiless will of the System, essence erupted from his pillars in a wave of remaking fury. Kaius gasped, staring at his reflection in the glimmering waters that covered the floor of the cavern. It was a cleansing fire, racing through his soul, marrow and mind in an endless deluge. Ripping pain came as he was fortified and purified from his centre out.

Now he saw the blood. It oozed from his pores in a red wave, carried away by the blessed cold that surrounded him.

Kaius simply grit his teeth and bore with it. He had grown stronger since his last brush with Refinement, and he refused to be cowed. Authority and Old Magic supported him in equal measure, anchoring him deep in the moment.

Transformative power soaked into the fabric of his being in his second baptism of the day, before an ancient Will seized it in its grip, pulling it back towards the shattered remnants of his pillars. The System reforged them whole cloth, weaving them anew with the power he had so desperately gathered. There was a final crunch of pressure, and his Triumvirate stood tall once more. Gone was the blinding white alabaster, replaced by a glossy shimmer that reflected the light of his soul in a thousand shifting colours.

**Ding! Refinement Completed! Iridescent Foundation achieved!**

New capability roared to life. The cloak of his Authority rippled around him, solidifying like iron, and he felt the surging heat within him with greater clarity than ever before. Within his soul, essence still welled up in a constant stream, faster and heartier than ever before. Yet, despite that, he felt it flow to his will easier than it ever had before.

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Those changes paled in comparison to the latent potential he felt within his pillars. By breaking through to the second stage of refinement, Kaius instinctively felt he had reached some critical threshold. They felt…solid — as if finally ready to bear the weight they had been born for. The information package they had received on Refinement had mentioned this: Iridescent was the earliest possible stage that could still support the next step.

Even with their new solidity, weakness still lurked. Kaius could feel it. His Aspects were an inseparable part of him, he knew them like his own hand. The shine of his pillars was one of nacre, not of polished steel.

He still had far more work to do before he could be satisfied.

A surge of activity burst through the link in his soul. Kaius whipped his head to the side, catching the moment as Porkchop stiffened and oozed from his fur. Slumped over the edge of the Wellspring, Kaius could see the potency that roared through Porkchop’s body. He too had reached the stage of Iridescence.

Stifling his joy, Kaius focused on his own trial. The Wellspring still raged within him, spurring on his will and stoking his newly reinforced pillars to new heights of flame. His cycling had never stopped, surging faster and more violently with greater volumes of essence and the pressure of his empowered Authority.

Time lost meaning once more, and Kaius lost himself in the constant flow of power.

Quickly, he realised there was a problem. His essence raged, howling in a typhoon as it whipped between his pillars. It moved faster than he could force his pillars to absorb it. Worse, his newly strengthened Aspects required even more Will to soak in the energy in the first place. The current of essence broke upon his pillars like a wave on a cliff, sending chaotic eddies of violent energy lashing through his soulspace.

Empowered by the Wellspring, he knew that if he let it run wild the consequences would be catastrophic.

Gritting his teeth, Kaius tried to crush his Authority tighter, hoping that simple pressure would be enough to stabilise the force like it had in the past. Motes of Essence shot wildly through the path of his cycling, agitated by his attempt.

Yet in that moment of chaos an idle realisation flowed through him, carried by Wellspring water.

The rage of his essence as it whipped between his pillars…it reminded him of mana. Very specifically, the way mana bucked against his grip when he pulled it from his channels into his flesh. It flowed easily through a cleanly contained conduit, but it needed a firm hand to guide it.

Kaius had far too little control and far too much tearing at his attention to force the essence to behave — but what if he used his Authority to make a conduit?

Seized by inspiration, he crushed inwards with his Will. Once more, the essence went wild — but he only pushed further. Within his soul, his claim was absolute, and his newly empowered Authority snapped into place. Squeezed tight, his essence had nowhere to run but through his cycle. It accelerated like a high pressure hose, punching straight through the resistance of his pillars to be absorbed.

Taking a shaky breath, Kaius barely had the wherewithal to push a raw impression of what he had done through his bond with Porkchop, pressing his brother to pass the insight along to the rest of their team.

He returned to his work, losing himself in the process.

With the new structure he had forged, his Aspects flared ever higher with the weight of the last few months of experiences. Essence churned in time with every impression. It was so much more than the recent battles. Coming to Baanswell had shown him just how complex and multifaceted the world could truly be outside of the Frontier.

It would have been so easy for him and Julian to have become mortal enemies. The Fates themselves had conspired against them from the very start. Raw emotions had roared high, inflamed by secrets and a missing Archivist. Just how badly would it have gone, if he’d struck with fury in that pass, just a handful of weeks ago? Not just then, either. There had been a thousand potential moments, where the slightest change in circumstance could have hurled him into direct confrontation with a ducal house. He was strong, but what was one man against the might of nations?

Hunting down Kanmost, chasing the notebook thieves with as much care as he could manage, even the awkwardness he had felt interacting with Lyren. Those moments had made it all too clear that there were things that raw power alone could not solve. Oh, it helped — without his strength, he never would have made it to Baanswell in the first place, let alone had the qualifications to meet with a duke’s son, or a wickedly competent librarian used to high-society. He still needed more.

More memories flitted through his mind, the power of the Wellspring building to a fever pitch as his essence accelerated. His brush with the Adamant spirit, and his battle with Katarex were a cutting dagger that stabbed at dangerous lies. Even when it was needed, his strength was not absolute. The peak was still far off, and even where he was now, with all of his advantages, the world hid greater monstrosities.

Power, wisdom, and control were all necessary in equal measure; the basis of an endless Path far vaster that he could imagine.

Each of the insights resonated with a part of his Triumvirate as they quaked and howled, drowning in the flow of his essence.

He broke through again.

**Ding! Sufficient Essence Saturation of Aspects Achieved! Begin Refinement?**

Kaius suffered, a wracking scream drawn from his lips as molten potential flooded his body. Iron erupted on his tongue, splashing to the waters below.

Waves of change and immolation washed through his body, leaving him forever altered. It might have brought strength, but there was no mercy in the steel grasp of the System’s will.

Yet with time, the risen tide ebbed and the shattered, shining dust of his pillars was pressed into a new form. Dense and pure, they rose with crystal clarity, warping the light of his soul as it passed through their bottomless depths.

**Ding! Refinement Completed! Purified Foundation achieved!**

Kaius fell limp, uncaring as his head cracked against the hardened stone floor. Cold water lapped at his face. Every facet of his being felt like a rung out rag, fraying at the seams. Refining twice in a single setting had stressed him beyond belief, and twisted every scrap of insight he had gathered out of him.

Gasping, he lay still for a single moment, before he clawed his way out of the Wellspring. Its chill waters were no balm to his discomfort. Instead, it burned, his very soul rejecting its touch. Gods, he could barely think — it was like a glowing hot spike was being driven into the middle of his forehead.

After three dozen strides, the searing touch of the Wellspring’s magic faded completely from the shining waters. Rolling onto his back, Kaius allowed himself some time to simply breathe.

New strength coiled as he clenched his fists. It was slight beyond measure, but far deeper than the simple empowerment of his bond Skill or his draconic baptism. Only his rebirth upon reaching Silver was comparable, a remoulding that brought him just a hair closer to a higher state of existence.

Flexing his iron Authority, Kaius grinned. He couldn’t wait to try it out with his changed blade, but for now, he wanted to check on his friends.

Pushing up, Kaius focused on the Wellspring. His team and his other allies were scattered around its rim, lost in their enlightenment as they bobbed in the current. Ianmus was currently bleeding out of his eyeballs, which were physically glowing with essence. He must have been in the midst of his own Refinement. Porkchop felt close, and he assumed Kenva wouldn’t be that far behind either. The nobles were no less focused. He could even sense faint pulses of nascent Authority wafting out from Kel and Julian — they must have been on the verge of finishing their embodiment. Hells, even Kanmost was staring up at the ceiling with sightless eyes, a manic grin on his face.

It seemed that he wouldn’t have to wait all that much longer.

Rising to his feet, Kaius summoned a towel and started to dry off. As he did, he pulled up his waiting notifications. A quick glance showed they were nigh-identical to the one he had received for his Alabaster refinement, so he focused his attention on the second.

Purified Foundation:

Aspect Refinement - Third Stage

To reach the third stage of Refinement is to prove you refuse weakness. Shaped of gleaming clarity, it is now that your foundation becomes a thing of grit and iron, ready and waiting to bear its destined burden. Beware, middling achievement will not see you through the Path. To halt here is to prove you lack ambition, dare you press on?

As a stage of Refinement, the Purified Foundation continues the process of transformation that is mandatory to progress further on the path. Your existence has been remoulded, granting fractional benefits to baseline capabilities. Far more importantly, you have been inundated with essence, strengthening your connection to the energy, and the Aspects that generate it.

Infinitesimal improvement to baseline capabilities.

Minute Essence Resistance gained.

Minute improvement to Essence control and awareness.

Slight improvement to Essence generation.

Slight empowerment of Aspect abilities.

Slight improvement to Authority and Authority control.