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

Earthshaking roars washed over Kaius as his brother ripped into their enemy. It was a howling violence that stoked the heat within him, tearing up dirt and filling the air with the scent of iron.

Punching his claws deep into the bladeraptor, Porkchop brought the beast down hard. Wet snaps sounded as the beast's ribs cracked. It just roared, powerful legs shattering Porkchop’s chestplate as the beast kicked out. Porkchop grunted, falling back as the claws started to dig into his chest.

Kaius circled, cutting closer as he gave his brother the time and space he needed to create an opening for the rest of them. Gripping his blade tightly, the comforting weight of it kept him grounded.

The bladeraptor was on its feet in an eyeblink, one cleaver-hand glowing violently as it slashed, warding Porkchop off. The concave section on its ribs reinflated with a quickfire series of pops.

Kaius watched the exchange with razor focus. Even pulling the beast to the ground, Porkchop had barely been able to keep the creature pinned. Its attacks were devastating, and the creature was fast. He could already tell it was going to be a nightmare to keep the creature locked down. But Porkchop had torn its flesh and broken its bones with ease. Its defenses were weak — even if it did heal quickly.

A soft curse from far behind him pulled Kaius’s attention towards Kenva and Ianmus’s heavy breaths. Each and every one was a sharp, grasping thing — like they were desperately hoarding the air lest it run out. That fear Skill had hit them hard.

“Talk to me. How are you doing?” Kaius said through their communication rings, his eyes still closely trained on the bladeraptor. Porkchop still had it locked in a brawl, his long claws raking the beast's sides as it snapped at his neck and hacked at his chest.

“My Willpower is fighting it off,” Ianmus replied, a raw edge to his voice present. “But I can’t fucking cast — my focus keeps slipping. I’ll need a few minutes.”

“And Kenva?”

“F…fine,” the ranger replied for herself. There was a feral, almost rabid note to the word. “Bloody hands won’t stop shaking. I’m still watching though — i’ll hit it hard as soon as I can keep a grip on my bloody arrows.”

“Don’t worry about us — we’re backing up so that we can rush for the sap if anything goes sideways,” Ianmus added.

Good. His friends were holding up; their steel was strong. You could never tell with fear skills. When they hit you, you couldn’t stop the primal panic, or the physicality of the reaction — but not everyone broke.

Satisfied his friends were as well as they could be, Kaius focused on Felmenia, his mobility glyph. With a flicker of Will, Slipstep burst through him. The world went hazy — the twinned helix of the tree to his right undulating in a non-existent breeze.

Kaius rushed towards the bladeraptor in the same instant Porkchop pushed the assault. Ephemeral Phalanx snapped into existence, a ghostly shieldline that charged with their spears leveled. The raptor hissed, power coiling in its legs. Before it could run, Nails erupted from Kaius’s hand. Twisted metal punched through scale, ripping through the meat of the creature's hip.

It screamed, staggering. Forced back by slamming shields, with spears punched into its chest, the raptor pushed forward, cleavers burning. Blood poured in a wave from its wounds, but strands of muscle and hide reknit in seconds. Even the burs of his Nails were slowly being forced from its flesh.

Stamina surged in a bright haze. With a single step, the raptor charged at Porkchop — still frenzied by his brother’s Dominance of Claw. The movement was so quick Kaius was almost convinced it teleported.

The world warped as he ran, bringing him to the creature’s side. It was already hacking at Porkchop with a storm of cleaving strikes. Jagged orichalcum covered Porkchop’s paw as he tried to smash it in the jaw with Jadecrash. The raptor danced away, three lightning fast slashes of its cleavers cracking through the rough covering to directly chip Porkchop’s armour.

Shards flew free, bouncing off of Kaius’s helm. Each one sounded like a ringing bell. Hells — he couldn’t let the beast savage Porkchop uncontested.

Another burning blade of bone came down. Kaius lunged, sweeping his blade from high to low. Stamina flooded the weapon as Mercurial Reversal turned his sword into a blur of smoke in motion. He met the beast’s weapon edge to edge. Bone chipped, and honed crystal held.

The bind was deep, the raptor’s cleaver all but glued to his sword — yet the strike was heavy. Kaius grunted, the muscles in his arms and back as taut as a bowstring. Mercurial Reversal sapped the creature of its power, but even that was just enough for him to hold his own. In a raw contest of strength, he would lose. It had the leverage, the height, and the physicality.

He had skill.

Twisting through his hips, Kaius guided the cleaver away.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Porkchop took advantage of the opening, ripping out a chunk of the beast’s shoulder. Blood dripped from the fangs of his demonic helm. He howled joyously.

Kaius levered against the beast's blade-hand, using its strength against it and broke their bind as the creature’s slash sailed harmlessly down.

An argent gleam of stolen energy shone at the tip of his blade. Flowing through his parry, Kaius rammed his blade home just into the creature's chest. It slid through hardened scale like butter. Blood sprayed from the wound, though less than he would have liked. It was a creature of Vainblood, and had its own methods of dealing with the Zone Effect.

Kaius hissed in delight at how easily he cut through the creature's defenses — though he knew the creature would heal from the wound, no matter how dire it was. Refusing to waste his narrow window, he shoved his mana into Mystic’s Rend. A thin wire of blue energy screamed into existence on his blade edge. Four quick booms ripped out chunks of the raptor’s chest as his skill detonated. Strips of flesh ran down Kaius’s cuirass, leaving bloody trails in their wake.

In that same instant, spikes of glittering grey appeared next to Porkchop jaw — the phantom teeth of his Warden’s Maw flanking the dripping fangs of his helm. He lunged forward again, sinking his fangs into the creature’s other shoulder — both physical and magical. He ripped his head back, taking more meat with him.

Lifting its scaled maw to the sky, the bladeraptor let loose a howl of fury and pain. There was no Skill behind it, but it still sank deep into Kaius’s marrow, leaving a tingle in its wake. He grinned, knowing in his soul that a vicious assault was coming.

The creature levelled its shining black eyes at Kaius. It had chosen him as the vulnerable threat — small and lacking in armour.

Mana surged through its tail, plumage burning a bright azure. It may as well have been a bloody headsman’s axe. That thing had cut through five Silvers like they had been simple wheat.

“Ah, crap,” Porkchop said. Mana glowed bright as he drew deep on his reserves. A towering pillar of wrought orichachum burst from the ground behind him, sending chunks of sod flying. Wrought in a deeply carved relief of prancing deer and intertwined vines, a hearty energy spilled from its core.

Kaius gasped as the power of his brother’s totem washed over him. Skin, muscle and bone hardened, and an ethereal raiment of woven canes appeared over the top of his armour.

Kaius knew it wouldn’t be enough, not against the bladeraptor’s tail-axe skill. The totem might make him tougher, and the woven cane tabard did reinforce his armour, but he’d seen the power of that Skill. It would cut him in half.

Moment of Flow surged through his body, hastening his speed. Kaius raced back. Thank god the added magical armour of Porkchop’s skill didn’t slow him down.

But the bladeraptor didn’t follow. Its eyes glinted — a savage satisfaction that he had taken the bait.

“Watch out!” Kaius called to Porkchop.

The bladeraptor slashed at Porkchop with one hand, a bone cleaver chipping the top of his helm. Dagger-sized claws punched deep into the earth, and it spun — tail cleaving through the air.

Lightning burned in Kaius’s hand, Stormlash blankening scales and burning its feathers — but the creature pushed through the agony undaunted, its Vitality too high for his stun to work for more than the briefest of moments.

Porkchop roared, summoning his Ethereal Phalanx in the path of the tail-axe. Simultaneously, he braced himself and fell into the embrace of The Stone that Weathered Time. Mana and stamina both surged through his body in an endless bonfire, fueling the gluttonous skill — a worthy cost for the defence it afforded.

Winds buffeted Kaius, howling through the grating of his helm. Spears snapped like kindling and shields fractured like porcelain. The bladeraptor’s burning feathers shattered Porkchop’s shieldwall utterly, barely slowed. Orichalcum soon followed, splinters flying from the thick layered plated on Porkchop’s side. His ribs caved in, the bladeraptor’s plumage buried two strides deep.

Porkchop flew to the side, blood fountaining from his wound as he let out a gurgling roar. The bladeraptor’s tail was stained a deep crimson, viscera dripping from its edge.

Kaius could see the hunger in its gaze. He had to strike now, before it could push the advantage. Porkchop was still staggering to his feet — the wound a grievous injury to heal. With how fast their opponent was, he couldn’t give it any room. That tail would need to go too — but forcing the beast back was more important.

Instinctively, Kaius wanted to use his sole cast of Warhaven to protect Porkchop — but he held himself back. The spell was too valuable, and might be vital in protecting his backline. Ianmus and Kenva were still rallying after the beast’s opening fear Skill, but eventually they would strike — and that would make them targets.

Reacting on a snap decision, Kaius reached for Starfall — laying the spell to just cover the bladeraptor in its area of effect. He knew it wasn’t the best use of the spell. For all its massive area damage, it took time for the meteors to summon, and the blade raptor was fast. Even if it missed, it didn’t matter. If the bladeraptor pressed its assault on Porkchop, it would have to weather his bombardment. He had two copies of the spell inscribed — it was worth it.

A yawning field of black ripped open, obscuring the bright blue sky above. Burning spheres screamed out of the void, glowing hot and molten as they left bright trails in their wake.

The bladeraptor looked up at the swelling burn of mana. It reacted instantly. The corded muscles in its legs coiled tight, stamina flaring. Locking on to him with hateful eyes, it leapt right at him.

Kaius lunged to the side, Slipstep carrying him away from the claws that were poised to rip through his chest.

The first meteor of starfall touched down with a concussive boom, rattling in Kaius’s chest as a jet of dirt shot skywards. The bladeraptor had made it out clean.

As the beast shot after his hasty dodge, and the cacophony of his spell continued unabated, Kaius heard the sound of distant roars echo through Vainblood.

The noise felt like a dagger against his throat.

It could have been simple shock at the sudden noise, but it could just as easily have been the sound of beasts rising to the challenge. What happened if they drew close, and sensed the reagent they were fighting over?

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!