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

The battle between beast and spirits raged a half-league away. With his vantage point up on the hill, Kaius had a perfect view of the whole clearing. The monsters continued to fight in the clearing, but for now there was no clear victor — and it looked like it would be a while before the battle was decided.

“Let’s settle in,” Kaius said. “Keep an eye out for how they fight, and any Skills we might have difficulty with. We’ll take on the victor before they can recover.”

It was rare they got such a golden opportunity to scout out a threat before they engaged. It was one thing to learn a creature's level, and get a feel for the affinities it used — and entirely another to see it actually using its abilities in mortal combat.

Kaius sat down, relishing in the thick carpet of grass that cushioned him. It crunched slightly under his weight as the soft soil gave way. There was no leeching cold seeping through his armour, no pervasive damp hanging heavy on his skin. The air still felt like he was chewing on a raw steak — the experience made all the more confusing by the bright spark of life mana that streaked through the blood and primal affinities — but hey, he’d take what he could get.

Ignoring the scrambling battle for a moment, Kaius focused on the twin-helix tree and the rich sap that pooled at its base. Porkchop had been dead on the money — the constant siren call of the alchemical mana had pulled in contenders. Whatever it was, it had to be valuable — the mana density alone was proof of that, and he had his suspicions that it might be quite the ingredient for any healing tonics that a high-level Alchemist wanted to brew.

He focused on the shimmering pool, bringing up its description.

Twin Chalice Sap:

Unusual - Tier II

Affinity - Life, Growth

A weeping nectar builds within, running forth to herald a new spring.

Hoarding life energy, the twin chalice tree will occasionally vent its excess bounty when the right conditions are met — an enticing prize for all.

Reagent

Kaius let out a low whistle, drawing a look from Ianmus as the mage sat down next to him.

“Spotted something?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “The sap’s a tier-two Unusual reagent. Life and growth affinities.”

Ianmus blinked, looking at the distant tree in surprise. “That is…valuable. That’s the sort of thing that might be used as an ingredient in Unique, or maybe even Heroic, tonics. We might struggle to find a buyer.”

Kaius nodded. The kind of Alchemists who could brew something like that were few and far between. He didn’t know how they would even begin to get in contact with an artisan of that caliber. The Guild could probably help, but there was no guarantee there would be any in or near to Baanswell. They could probably sell it to the guild directly — but the price wouldn’t be as good as someone who could immediately put it to use.

Did it even matter? Kaius eyed the sap — there had to be a bucket of the stuff. How much would an alchemist need to brew a tonic. A cup? Less? Hells, for all he knew, they might only need a thimbleful. Even if they got half the value it was worth, that was still a lot of money.

“What? No we wont,” Kenva said without looking away from the ongoing battle, snorting slightly. “People will be scrambling to take it off our hands — either the Guild, or more likely dear old Flowers da.”

“The duke? Why?” Porkchop questioned.

“Regional powers have deep pockets, and strong classers. Having a strategic reserve of powerful restoratives and other consumables is vital — it’s part of how their scions can get so much stronger than the average delver. Cost isn’t so much an issue as availability is. The kind of tonics they want rarely appear on the open market, and the competition is steep when they do appear.”

“How would the sap help with that?” Kaius asked. “Wouldn’t it be just as hard to contract an alchemist as buying the raw potions.”

“Yes and no,” Kenva replied. “High level artisans are busy — their wait lists can stretch years or decades. Because of that, lots of Dynasties form long standing relationships with crafters — a few weeks or months of their time once a decade or so for an exorbitant deposit, regardless of what material the Dynasty can actually provide when the time comes. There’s a lot of money to be made trading in reagents; a few Clans specialise in it. We’ll probably get a couple thousand platinum for the amount that's there.”

“Oh,” Kaius said in realisation. That made plenty of sense — with guaranteed access to an alchemist, a noble family would only have to sit on the reagent until their next slot with an artisan who could make use of the sap. The Duke of Flowers would probably see that sap as a hundred potential tonics-in-waiting — and maybe even a hundred lives directly saved.

Kaius suddenly grinned, thinking of something

“What’s got your ears perking up?” Porkchop asked.

“Julian is going to be so mad when he follows us through here and realises we’re just going to sell the stuff back to him.”

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Ianmus let out a low chuckle.

Kaius could already see the noble’s scowl as he stared at the sap-streaked depression in the twin chalice tree — the way his eyes would go wide when he realised the prize he had missed by mere hours. Served the man right for not being reasonable from the outset. They probably would have split it with him if this had been a joint rescue mission from the get go.

Down below, the battle started to heat up — the bird-thing letting out a loud shriek that pulled Kaius away from his thoughts of gleaming silvery coins and anguished nobles.

In the clearing, the cleaver-handed beast hacked at another wolf made of woven canes. Hooked thorns scraped against the forearm of the bird. They left red streaks. Kaius blinked — that had wounded the bird? It was barely an attack. Looking closer, he realised the thorns of the spirit’s brambles were dripping a red fluid. It was far too thin to be blood — maybe some sort of nectar or sap.

Kaius analysed the beast.

**Butcher-hand Saurian - Level 371 Ferocious Bladeraptor**

Beast; Skirmisher

“Not a bird then,” Kaius muttered.

“Nope,” Kenva said. “I’ve seen a few other saurians — there were a few native to the steppe, even before the phase-change. Most are more reptilian, though I've seen a few with feathers.”

Regardless of what it was, the saurian was powerful. Solidly in the realm of High Gold, he would have been more than a little wary about engaging with it in any other circumstance. As it was now, by the time they struck, it would be fatigued and hopefully wounded from its battle with the spirits.

If it was the victor.

Kaius analysed the pack of spirits.

**Sharpthorn Sprite - Level 291 Packmimic**

Spirit; Skirmisher

…

**Sharpthorn Sprite - Level 284 Packmimic**

Spirit; Skirmisher

A lot weaker… but they had numbers on their side, and spirits could be notoriously annoying to put down.

One spirit led the saurian on a chase, leading it away from the rest of its pack. A moment later, the braided vines and briars that made up its body flowed unnaturally as it spun on its pursuer. Its mouth opened so wide a wolf of flesh and blood would have dislocated their jaw, thorny teeth on full display. Reacting immediately, the bird-thing kicked. Brutally powerful, the blow sent the spirit tumbling across the open clearing. Landing hard, the spirit’s hooked body tore at the soft ground, sending clumps of sod flying.

Kaius watched the exchange with intense focus. The four other spirits had clustered together, braided vines contracting like thick muscle as they charged at the flank of the bird. It simply ran. Thick, sickle-shaped claws punched deep into the earth, and the saurian flashed away. After breaking away, it dug its claws in and spun — kicking up a spray of dirt. Powerful legs coiled tight, and it leapt a clean eighty strides to land heavily on a spirits back. Its reptilian muzzle tore through the back of the creature’s neck, snapping shut with an audible clack.

Another Skill? It was hard to tell — there was no mana, but neither had their been with that glowing slash it had used earlier.

“We’ll need to be wary of that jump,” Porkchop grumbled. “If it uses it to get past the two of us, it’ll have a clean shot at Kenva and Ianmus.”

Kaius nodded. With how bloody quick the thing was, they wouldn’t have much time to catch it if it got past them.

“The problem is how we stop it,” he replied.

Shunt would let him intercept the creature — but he wasn’t sure how wise that was. Mid-air, he wouldn’t be able to rely on his swordwork, and he didn’t have anywhere near enough mass to muscle it down alone. He eyed its claws and the bone cleavers it had for hands warily. His armour might turn aside the claws — but those blades? They looked almost designed to hack through bone and dense armour.

“Porkchop’s taunt Skill should work well,” Kenva replied. “It’s used a couple of stamina abilities, so I don’t think it has much in the way of mental Stats. With low Will, the taunt should work extra well.”

Low mental stats Kaius could believe. Plus, the beast hadn’t quite seemed to put it together that the spirits weren’t getting all that injured by its constant assault. Sure, reforming their bodies bled the spirits of mana — but wounds hampered them far less than fleshy creatures. They would have a core somewhere. Injuring that would be far harder for the spirits to recover from — but he didn’t know if the beast would find it without tearing each of the spirits to shreds.

The bird shrieked in fury as the neck of the bramble wolf reformed. Its claws shone a bright white, slicing the spirit clean in half. The wave of energy continued, cleaving a trench in the soil for a good ten strides beyond where the saurian had struck. The bramble wolf unravelled — the saurian had destroyed its core.

There had been no mana — that was a stamina ability through and through. Likely a second tier one based on the way it had utterly eviscerated the spirit.

“Think you can handle that?” Kaius asked, turning to Porkchop. — he certainly wouldn’t be getting in the way of that skill.

“I think so — it got weaker after cutting through the spirit, so I should be fine. I can use my Ethereal Phalanx to blunt it.”

The rest of the pack of spirits arrived, striking straight for the saurian’s flank. One pounced high, mana flaring bright in its chest. The creature unravelled — turning into a writhing net of cutting vines. Thorns wrapped the saurian's chest, smashing its bladed arms tight to its sides. Thorns slithered, sawing at the beast's flesh. Blood burst, staining the creature’s feathers a bright red.

In that same instant, the other spirits swelled, mana flooding their bodies. The thorn-teeth in their mouth dripped a steady stream of sap, filling the saurian's wounds as they latched onto its legs.

The saurian screamed, stumbling.

Was that it? If the spirits took it to the ground, he couldn’t see how it could escape.

Right before it fell, the wide, blue plumage on its tail started to glow a brilliant azure — mana. The saurian lunged forwards, breaking away from the three spirits that had latched onto its lower limbs. Its powerful legs snapped the vines twisted around them, each stride tearing out great strips of flesh as hooked thorns raked.

It spun, an afterimage trailing behind its snapping tail like a ghost. The saurian’s tail cleaved through the spirits, a concussive boom rocking through the clearing. Shredded vines exploded outwards as a shower of dirt obscured the battle for a bare moment.

When it cleared, the spirits were nothing but mulch.

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