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

The lithe beasts packed on a mass that seemed almost counter to their streamlined physiques. Lacking even a scrap of fat, each one had thighs that bulged with muscle, despite their spindly lower limbs. If not for the strength and aggression of their movements, he would have almost thought them emaciated, with their gaunt bellies and jutting ribs.

In reality, they were simply built for speed — no doubt just as capable over jumbled piles of rocks as they were on an open plain. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter; Porkchop had picked right. Hemmed in by tall cliffs, the pack had barely any room to manoeuvre. The beasts could charge them head on, or they could flee, but little else.

Already reaching for Drakthar, Kaius analysed the lead beast, and nudged Ianmus through their communication rings. If the creatures were as fast as they looked, the mage’s Sanctified Lilyfield would be vital for capturing the creatures inside the radius of Starfall.

A notification flickered into view.

**Primal Nazamir - Level 273 Inescapable Maw**

Beast; Skirmisher; Packlord

Kaius sneered at the nazamir — so much for a good fight. The creatures lacked the mundane size to challenge them on physicality alone, and lacked the mind and will of a thinking opponent.

This would be light work. He could already hear the shrill scream as Kenva charged her Howl of the North Wind.

“Now,” he commanded.

Lunar mana burst atop the deck of the Pegleg, surging through Ianmus’s Keyseal of the Night’s Watch. A meadow of purest silver swallowed the beasts whole, ghostly lilies sprouting like spring weeds. Like questing tendrils, they bowed in an invisible wind, embracing the pack of nazamir jealously.

Before the creatures could react to the sudden spell, Kaius cast his own. Mana surged through the glyph on his hand with caustic ferocity, shining through his gauntlets with a baleful orange light.

The void tore open, a ragged portal of night that swallowed the pass from cliff to cliff. The stars within it burned, rocketing down with a shrill whistle that rocked Kaius in the chest.

The nazamir hissed, jolting at the sudden assault. Stamina surged through them to the last, their lithe forms exploding into motion. They shot forward at a supernatural pace — only to be forced to fight through Ianmus’s spell. Lillies snatched at their limbs, not so much binding them as the magic forcibly leached their movements of power.

Kaius knew for a fact they wouldn’t be fast enough.

He and Porkchop still had to move now, no matter the danger of being caught in the blast. Starfall was a lethal spell, but it was unfocused — there was no guarantee of it killing their enemies out right.

“We charge,” Kaius said, sprinting in. His brother let loose another roar, charging right for the meat of the pack — uncaring of the devastation that was wrought such a short distance away.

The burning orbs pummelled the pack. With every impact, stone and dirt exploded upwards in great plumes, gouging holes in the floor of the pass. The nazamir did their best to evade, skills racing through their bodies. Glossy scales pulsed with mana, turning a dense, matte grey — rebuffing the hail of shrapnel that pelted them from every angle. Another skill filled them with sudden bursts of speed — letting the beast’s surge away from each falling missile.

It wasn’t enough. One creature desperately juked to the side as a star careened towards it. Burning fury roared right by its feet. The explosion tossed the creature to the side, throwing it prone as scales blackened and shattered, red blood gouting from the sudden wound.

A hunger surged through Kaius at its weakness — they had to take it out now, before it could recover.

He didn’t even need to ask. Kenva roared behind him, a concussive thunk slamming into his back as she loosed her shot. Ripping through the gathered beasts, the winds of her Skill sent the rest of the pack reeling. Her shot landed home — slamming into the skull of the downed nezamir.

**Ding! You have slain Primal Nezamir - Level 269 Inescapable Maw! Increased Experience for slaying a creature of significantly higher Level!**

Kaius felt the soul-deep chime of his Class levelling. He ignored it, gripping his blade tighter as his feet pounded on the flagstones. His spell was abating — but it wasn’t done yet.

Still staggering from the violent passage of Kenva’s passing arrow, another nezamir took a star directly to the spine. It gouged out its flesh in a brutal geyser of gore, slamming it to the ground with contemptuous ease. Kaius saw it lying limp — a hole gaping in its back — before another detonation hurled it across the field.

He wrote the creature off. Even if another star didn’t kill it, that sort of wound would take far too long to heal for the creature to matter in the rest of their battle.

As the final remnants of their opening salvo abated, the other three were tossed around like children, every detonation cracking bone and ripping open their flesh. They were battered, but alive — and dangerous.

Most importantly, they were still stuck squarely in Ianmus’s Lilyfield. These beasts were built for speed. If they could tie the creatures up in a close up brawl before they could recover, the win was as good as theirs.

“Think you can keep two of them pinned?” He asked his brother as he eyed the largest nezamir. It was hissing, thin lips retracted to reveal a maw of multi-rowed needle teeth.

“With ease,”

That was all Kaius needed to hear. He took to the skies, a shunt blasting him upwards.

…

“They’re engaging,” their scout grunted, blinking away his disorientation as he retreated from the view of the hawk he had bound. “The greater beast baited them out with a challenge.”

Julian grinned — perfect. A pack of Silver beasts was no small threat, even for a team like that. The ridge would shield their approach — and cut off any easy means of escape. With twelve men, they could hem the team in with ease.

Driving his heels into the flanks of his mount, he cracked his reins — urging it to a full gallop.

“We ride hard for the ridge line!” he yelled over the howling wind as his men hurried after him. “Archers go high, the rest of us cut them off from behind. No sightlines until my signal — I don’t want them to have a single chance of spotting us!”

…

Sailing thirty strides into the air, Kaius got a better picture of their battlefield as Porkchop yanked on the remaining beast’s attention with another roaring Dominance of Claw.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The road lay shattered and broken, blackened from the sustained volley of explosions that had pummeled it. Blood and gore streaked through the rubble. Tossed to the side, the injured nezamir clawed helplessly at the ground in an attempt to drag itself away from the battle.

The others were swift. Without the chaos of starfall, they surged through the Lilly Field. Without it, Kaius had no doubt the creatures would run rings around them. With it, they would still be difficult to catch. A good thing they were gunning straight for the titanic boulder of armoured fur that was charging at them.

“Don’t hold anything back — burn through everything!” Kaius urged. “Ianmus — keep a Preeminent Halo ready!Use it to finish off anything me and Porkchop can cripple!”

The creatures were fragile — better they spent resources like water to finish them quickly than let the creatures rally. If they managed to flee, even a single Silver beast would be enough to keep the pass closed to travellers — and they couldn’t stick around to dig them out of whatever hole they called home.

His ascent slowed right as Porkchop lunged, barreling right into the remaining creatures. Rather than maul the beasts, Porkchop wrapped his paws around the thinner torso’s of two of them — dragging them to the ground.

One remained — diving straight for his undefended side. His target — another Shunt blasted him down. Kaius reached for a spell, flooding his blade with the ripping fury of HatefulNail — he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work on Hymnfocus. A whir erupted from his blade as teeth erupted from its edge.

Kenva beat him to the punch. Before the remaining free nezzamir could reach Porkchop, an arrow ripped into its flank — brimming with the unstable potency of Bare thy Heart. Her Skill exploded, exposing the pale pink of its femur as the creature was hurled to the side.

Kaius descended like a heavenly avenger, ready to plunge his blade home into the prone beast's skull.

Mana burst through its body a moment later, one slitted eye widening as it noticed him. It was on its feet in an instant. Kaius hit the ground, stone cracking underfoot as his bones rattled. The creature charged.

Kaius unleashed a trio of closely stacked Hateful Nails — for all of their speed and agility, the creatures were fragile. The spell was perfect for crushing that advantage.

As his spells ripped through the air with a crack, the nezamir leapt high — over the barrage. Then it accelerated again, on Kaius in an instant.

Needle fangs closed over his leg, punching through scalemail. His leg stayed strong, stable despite the sudden yank and bloom of pain. His blade came down. Whirring teeth on its edge sprayed him with meat and bone, a gore-spewing ravine opening in the creature's back.

Growling in pain, the nezamir dissengaged, a blip of mana taking it away from him faster than he could blink. Mid step, it juked to the side, slipping around a blast of solar magic. The creature looked from him, to Ianmus, to where two of its packmates were struggling to escape Porkchop’s grip.

It was going to run.

He refused to let that happen. A Shunt took him in range. Brilliant blue exploded from his hand, thunder echoing off the cliffs that surrounded them. Stormlash sunk its teeth into the nezamir’s throat, drawing a strangled gasp.

Just beyond it, he could see Porkchop tangling with the remaining two. His armour was holding — needle teeth slipping over its edges — but keeping the creatures pinned was stopping his brother from bringing his own natural weapons to bear. One roared in Porkchop’s ear. A sonic attack — vibrations punching through his brother’s armour. Porkchop lurched, a splash of blood oozing from the seams in his helm.

Kaius scowled — he had to finish this quickly. He Lashed his opponent again. And again. One after the other, writhing snakes of lightning filled the pass with their crackling light. He advanced, the constant barrage tearing up the beast from within — and slowing it as it was wracked with convulsions.

“Go help Porkchop — I’ll finish that one,” Ianmus sent through their rings, a burning orb of starlight sailing straight for the struggling beast. Moments later, lunar power washed over the field. As it spilled over him, Kaius could just hear distant whispers. They were droning and hypnotic — half heard secrets that were directed at their enemies. The Sermon of Iniq.

Kaius rushed to his brother's side — a flash of light behind him preceding another chime of notifications as the creature died.

The remaining two nezamir squirmed in Porkchop’s grip — fighting like demons despite the Sermon. Though, one did rip a chunk out of its packmate's leg when it got too close. It wasn’t the only torn flesh — Porkchop himself had ripped into anything he could get his jaws on, his powerful fangs tearing through their scales. Kenva had done damage too — arrows sprouted from the nezamir like spines, buried up to their fletching.

Seeing his approach, Porkchop flung one of the bodies towards him — the beast flailing as it tumbled through the air. With only a single beast to focus on, Porkchop pressed the remaining beast to the ground and reared up. Roaring with fury, he smashed down — a club of crystalline orichalchum surrounding his paw. The creature’s skull crunched. His jaws closed around his throat — the demonic visage of his helm consuming the creature's flesh in an image of visceral rage.

Focused on his own beast, Kaius couldn’t resist such an opening. While it tumbled through the air, he burned through Nail after Nail — a constant salvo. Twisted metal spikes punched into the lithe body of the creature. It was massive — towering over him. But that just gave him more to wound. Wires unfurled, watering the ground with its red blood as they tore open wells in its flesh.

When it hit the ground, he flooded his blade with Hellblade Investiture. Baleful light spilled out from within, the churning teeth of his Hymnfocus whirring all the faster.

Kaius drove his sword through the beast's eye, punching through the thin bone at the base of its socket. It stiffened a moment later.

**Ding! You have slain Primal Nezamir - Level 270 Inescapable Maw! Increased Experience for slaying a creature of significantly higher Level!**

Ripping his blade free, he snapped to the nezamir that had been crippled by his Starfall — just in time to watch Kenva take off its head with a charged Howlof the North Wind.

His heart pounding as his chest rose and fell, Kaius felt the roaring song slowly start to abate. He flicked his blade, clearing the chips of bone and pulped brain that clung to its surface.

“Well, it was a nice warm-up, I suppose,” he sighed.

“At least we know we can still hold our own in a straight up fight,” Porkchop said, blood dripping from his muzzle as he banished his armour and rose up from the savaged carcass beneath him.

That was a sentiment he could agree with. It had been far too long since they’d gotten to have a nice, simple brawl — one they’d come into fully prepped and ready. Even in the siege of Deadacre, he’d often been low on spells, or forced to fight without the support of his team.

“Gods, I missed the rush of levelling,” Kenva said, hopping down from the back of the Pegleg that was standing at the mouth of the pass.

“It is rather addictive, isn’t it?” Ianmus agreed, joining her. “Baanswell is nice and all, but it’s good to be back out in the field.”

Kaius grinned at the mage. He hadn’t thought it was possible — they’d finally corrupted the Mystral boy to the vagabond lifestyle.

With the danger passed, he pulled up the notifications waiting for him, eager to see his gains. He doubted that a single pack of Silvers would be enough to take him to his next skill, but every step counted.

**Ding! Runeblade Hellion has grown from level 249 > 254!**

**+6 Int; +5 Con, Str & Will; +2 Vit & Dex; +3 Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

Five levels from five beasts? That wasn’t bad! At this rate, he’d reach his next skill shortly after they entered Vainblood.

A spike of danger tore at his attention — an attack coming from the tops of the cliffs.

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