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

The saurian’s tail still glowed bright after its skill, its mana-infused plumage gleaming like a gods’ blessed axe head. Pulverised bramble canes fell like rain, a mist of sap splattering against the beast’s side. The sticky liquid mingled with the rivulets of blood that poured from a thousand cuts in a constant stream.

Unfurled into a sawing net of bitter teeth, the last spirit wrapped the beast tight, desperately ripping through feather and scale both.

Mana wafted from the saurian’s tail, the glow slowly dimming. Kaius recognised the dull tan-pink of the affinity. Primal. It made sense. The quintessence of the affinity was brutal physicality and raw aggression, everything the saurian had in spades. It wasn’t often seen in the higher races; only in classes that favoured unarmed and unarmoured combat. It was common in beasts though — and every one that had it were brutal, dogged fighters.

“Oh, I can already tell this is going to be a tough bastard to put down,” Porkchop said, a deep rumble of excitement sounding in his chest.

That it would be. That tail ability was strong — he wasn’t sure how even Porkchop would fare if he got hit by it. But it had used a hell of a lot of mana. How much could the saurian use it? Once more? Twice? They wouldn’t know for certain until Kenva was close enough to see the flows of energy within the creature, but he doubted it would be more. They’d already guessed that the beast was primarily a physical fighter with deep reserves of stamina, and the fact it had the primal affinity only supported that.

The saurian’s long neck twisted, tearing at the writhing thorns embedded in its back. They whipped, slashing over the creature’s muzzle — but it wasn’t deterred. Bit by bit, it shredded the spirit.

At the same time, the last spirit cut deep into the saurian's flesh. It wasn’t long for the world, that much was clear. It still made its mark on its way out. Kaius could see dozens of ragged tears as long as a handspan, everyone pouring a river of blood that coated the grass. The wounds closed quickly, but every movement tore them back open.

Kaius lingered on the wounds. Its quick recovery suggested a high Vitality — which made sense, considering the Zone Effect. More than speeding up how quickly its health went to work, it would increase its resilience to things like blood loss — and cut the efficacy of afflictions in general. That meant peppering it with light wounds in the hopes of wearing it down wouldn’t be effective.

They had to go for heavy hits. Thankfully, it seemed like it wasn’t all that tough. Even without the use of Skills, the bramble-wolves had cut into the saurian just fine. Plus, based on the way it fought, and the System describing it as a skirmisher, Kaius got the feeling it was the kind of fighter that tried to avoid wounds rather than weather them.

All things they could use — but the saurian had almost won its fight. They had to get down there and attack before it could recover. The half-league run would give them plenty of time to plan the rest of their assault.

“Let’s get moving — I don't want to give that beast time to start drinking our reagent,” Kaius said, rising to his feet.

His team nodded, and they ran down the hill at a measured pace. Porkchop took the lead, summoning his heavy-plate mid bound. Jagged orichalchum snapped into existence, covering him in a shimmering slate grey.

Kaius ran at his flank, with their back line close behind.

“We’re going to need to be ready for other beasts to try and pull exactly what we’re about to do,” Porkchop growled. “The mana of that reagent is too pure — every beast for leagues is going to want a piece of it.”

Kaius pursed his lips, his breath coming measured and easy as they wove through towering trunks and leaped over patches of blightballs and other hazards.

“Then we secure the tree,” he said. “As close as we are to our next Skill, Gold beasts are a copper a dozen in Vainblood — but that sap is not. If the two of us can tie up the saurian, it’ll only take Kenva or Ianmus a second to fill up a bucket and store it in their rings.”

“Bad idea — magical creatures tend to go a little mad around reagents. Those spirits would have long since fled against a Gold, otherwise. If the saurian sees Ianmus or Kenva going for the sap, it’ll shoot straight for them — you saw that jump.”

A wall of briars shot out of the undergrowth a hundred strides ahead of them. Kaius grabbed a branch of a nearby tree, using it to swing hard to the right. THey circled the obstruction, continuing their mad dash to the clearing below.

“Then what do you suggest!” he said. “You said it yourself, if we leave the sap, we might have to deal with other beasts.”

“Holding the tree is a good idea!” Kenva yelled from just behind him. “We’ll just leave the sap alone until we’ve dealt with the saurian, or at least cut off its mobility. We can use its aggression and focus against it. If you and Porkchop stay closest to the tree, it’ll be less likely to target me and Ianmus.”

Kaius nodded — that worked for him. Plus, if they were there, he could always rush and steal the sap if they had to retreat.

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“What’s our focus? Legs or tail?” Kaius asked.

There were merits to both. On an open field, the saurians agility and speed would be absolutely lethal — they would have no cover, beyond the single Warhaven he had inscribed. On the other hand, the creature’s cleaving tail skill looked brutal. It came down to Porkchop, really; he was the one who would have to weather its attacks.

“Tail!” Porkchop called back. “That Skill was ridiculous — it looked like it could crack right through my plate. We’ll need to be careful of its cleavers too — this creature’s an armour-breaker.”

They kept planning. Kenva would focus on locking down its mobility with her Ensaring Seedburst. Even if the tail was their main target, that didn’t mean much if they never got a good shot at the damn thing with how agile it was. Ianmus’s job was a little easier — though the mage insisted he limit himself to two keyseals in case he needed to channel any healing spells. His offensive solar keyseal was a given — the damage he could output was considerable, and even with all its speed, the saurian would have a hard time dodging solar magic. His second keyseal was a harder pick.

Witching Hour had a number of mental affinity afflictions that the creature would have a hard time resisting if it had a low Willpower like they suspected. The dazing confusion of Sermonof Iniq could be absolutely crippling if they were correct. Same with the sleep effect of the tier-one spell Whispered Lullaby. On the other hand, his other lunar keyseal, The Night’s Watch, could be just as useful. Sanctified Lilyfield would help them slow the saurian down further, and the first-tier Silver Plating would be just another line of defence against its crushing attacks.

In the end, they decided to gamble and use his Witching Hour keyseal. Kenva had been the tiebreaker. She’d pointed out that the Sermon could save their asses if any other beasts attacked in the middle of their battle. With the spell being a wide-area and multi-target, its frenzied confusion could give them just the opportunity they needed to slip away.

They hit the bottom of the hill at a full sprint. Only a hundred longstrides away, Kaius could see the break in the treeline, golden light and blue sky shining through the gaps between the trunks. He ripped his blade from its sheath. Every pounding step sent another shock of heat through his veins.

There, he could see it. The saurian. Bloodied and torn, its shredded flesh writhed with the power of its health. It stood tall; proud to have defeated its challengers. With its head held high, it made a slow walk towards the twin chalice tree at the centre of the clearing. There was no haste in its gait — the thing thought itself champion.

Kaius grinned hungry and wide — he couldn’t wait to prove it wrong.

He slammed down the visor of his helm. Mana burned in his glyphs, ready to be called upon, his blade was sharp and eager to cut; he was ready. They burst into the clearing.

The saurian whipped its head towards them, shock visible in its gleaming black eyes. With only a few hundred strides between them, Kaius could only now truly appreciate its size. It towered over him.

Maw hanging open to reveal needle-like fangs, the creature roared. It was a crackling thing, basso and angry. The sound hit him like a physical wall, sinking deep into his very soul. Rapid Adaptation surged, smashing the foreign influence away before it could get its grip into him. Kaius heard his backline gasp — one of them stumbling.

**Ding! You have resisted an Affliction: Terror of the Cutter - Fear!**

Porkchop unleashed a roar of his own — the shared resistance from Unbroken Through Suffering must have allowed him to push through. His brother’s challenge rocked the saurian — their twin cries an ancient clarion call for the coming bloodshed.

Kaius looked over his shoulder. Ianmus was pale, but running hard — his high Willpower would have helped. Kenva was worse off, she leaned heavily on Ianmas, her face pallid and clammy. Her bowhand was shaking — but she still ran hard. She wouldn’t break. That’s all they needed.

Ahead, the saurian burst into motion. Sickle-shaped claws punched deep into the soil. It burst forwards, eyes only for the charging mountain of shaped orichalchum. Three steps later, it pounced — silhouetted against the shining sun.

They kept running. It came down. Porkchop charged.

Breaker of Men turned him into a living landslide, the very ground breaking beneath his weight. Jagged shards of orichalchum erupted around him, a cresting wave of ruin. At the peak of his Skill, Porkchop’s powerful legs coiled. Defying the sheer weight of his armour, he launched himself up, stride-long claws ready to tear into the saurian.

Kaius cast Stormlash.

Lightning cracked, smiting the beast out of the sky. Porkchop smashed into the saurian with a titanic crash. Its claws raked the armour of his chest, orichalchum splintering with a tortured crunch. Porkchop ripped open the still bleeding gashes in the beast’s sides.

When the pair hit the ground, Kaius was mere seconds behind — the visor of his helm hiding a wide grin as his sword burned bright and true.

He was looking forward to this.

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