B3 CHAPTER 317: SANCTUARY, PT. 5

Kaius stood in the centre of the safe room, his sheathed sword planted point first in the ground. Leaning forwards, he rested his weight on his cross guard, drenched in the soft glow of the grubs that lived off the roots in the ceiling above. A little bit of practice with their new skills sounded like a fine idea in his opinion.

While all skills came with the knowledge of how they worked, and most non-spell abilities were somewhat automatic, you still had to get a feel for the Skill. How your body moved, your weight transferred, and how it felt to use.

It was an implicit understanding that could save your life — give you the edge you needed if you wanted to be great. Thankfully, Kaius had a few advantages on that front. His high Intelligence meant that he could process his surroundings nearly twenty-one times faster than he had as an unclassed, and his Corporus Aspect — The Struggler’s Madness — would help him master his skills all the faster.

Considering his suspicions that the System might change how Skills worked — or at least developed — in the future? He had every reason to be invested in learning his skills early and thoroughly.

“How do you want to do this?” he asked, eying the room around them. It was small, maybe twenty strides across — not exactly the best training arena. “You got a charge skill right? I don’t think I would enjoy you pasting me across the wall.”

Porkchop snorted, shaking his head, “As funny as that would be, no. I can test Breaker of Men once we’ve fully recovered — the room we fought the worms in is already cleared and should be close enough to be safe. I figure I can help you try out that parry skill, and then you can help me test out The Stone that Weathered Time with your Hymnfocus. I figure we won’t need too much space for those ones.”

Kaius shrugged, before he stood up and drew his sword. He stored his scabbard in his storage ring and settled into an easy mid guard. “Works for me — I’m ready when you are.”

Nodding along, Porkchop summoned his Celodon Aegis. The second it appeared, he suddenly burst into motion without warning — a paw of sickle shaped jade claws raced towards Kaius’s chest.

Kaius cocked a brow at the attempt at surprise. So he wanted to play that way?

Judging the trajectory of the incoming blow in an instant, Kaius parried and activated Mercurial Reversal in a single moment of fluidity.

Deep in his centre, his skill thrummed, twisting the stamina as it flooded through his body and into his blade. He moved faster than he would normally, but it wasn’t much — the Skill was still only level one, and it benefited from only a single Affinity bonus from his class.

Sweeping his blade up, Kaius hooked Porkchop’s claws, twisting his wrists to guide them into moving down and away from his chest. The second he made contact he felt the stamina in his blade flare, sapping the blow of force.

It made their bind all the easier to control. Power moved through his blade, condensing at its point.

A twist of his wrists broke their bind, Porkchop’s claws sailing helplessly past him. He lunged, thrusting at the thickest part of his brother’s chestplate.

The screech of crystal on crystal filled the safe room.

“Shattered axles, that’s hideous!” Kenva called, covering her ears at the sound.

Kaius was more focused on the flakes of jade that fell to the floor, a pleased smile out on his face. Porkchop’s armour was immensely tough — considering his blade was still technically only Common

, it was a fantastic result. If he’d been attacking with his full weight and strength, and the skill got a few more levels, he expected that he’d be able to do more than just chip the heavy-plate.

Although…Porkchop had been pulling his punches too. Kaius was under no illusions that his brother was actually that easy to parry. He was a bloody greater beast, and larger than a bear. The fact that a quirk of their builds meant Kaius had more Strength made little difference.

Maybe in a hundred levels Mercurial Reversal would sap enough force to make one of Porkchop’s full swings parryable, but not at level one.

He stepped back, resetting his stance, and gave Porkchop an easy smile. To their right, Kenva and Ianmus watched quietly.

“How’d it feel?”

“Good. Getting a handle on the parry timing with the extra speed the skill gives will take a little bit of work, but the power leech only made things easier, and the penetrating riposte didn’t make my counter any heavier or faster so I won’t have to adjust.”

“Again?”

The word came with a flood of images — a flashy spar to blow off some steam where Porkchop would try to tag him, and Kaius could only counter with his skill.

It was tempting, and it would help him pick up the use of the skill all the easier. Alas, it would drain them both quickly, and he wanted to make sure he could try out his other new skill. It did, after all, have a stamina cost.

He shook his head. “Lets try out the others first. You don’t mind if I use Stormlash? I’ve only got that and a single Zone of Discombobulation.”

“That works.” Porkchop shrugged. “Sacred jade is magic resistant anyway, so Celadon Aegis will protect me — not that you’d be able to seriously injure me with a single cast anyway, I have Spell Resistance. Just hit me on the shoulder and give me time to use my Skill.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Kaius shook his head at Porkchop’s complete disregard to injury. He was right, but still! It was the principle of the matter — if his new ability didn’t hold up to his attack, the shock would still hurt. Still, he wasn’t going to argue the point. If Porkchop wanted to get a little crispy, that was his prerogative.

Giving Porkchop a nod, he reached for Runeblade Hymnfocus.

Stamina flooded from his soul, latching onto the conduit that bound him to his blade. It reinforced the connection, widening it.

He knew what he had to do next.

Tapping into his Latent Glyph of Drakthar, Kaius reached for Stormlash. He knew the spell like the back of his hand — how it screamed as it erupted from his glyph, writhing as it reached for his targets. He knew the sensation of a spell inscription burning, contained power rupturing the bindings that held it — waste mana glowing as it showered from his glyph.

This time, it was different.

Kaius activated the inscription, and bore down with his Will. His skill helped, guiding him in pulling his blade-bond close. His glyph helped too, responding to his intent.

That didn’t make the process easy. Lightning mana bucked in his grip, wanting to tear and crackle and race like the nature of its runes demanded.

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he frowned, forcing the raging mana into his blade. Stormlash resisted the whole while — right up until it made contact. The second it did, it was like it had touched a steel rod buried into the earth.

His spell raced in. A Father’s Gift pulsed with blue magical light. Electrical arcs sprouted from his blade like living hairs, dozens of cracks filling the room as they danced across its crystalline edge.

It was potent. Powerful. A testament to everything he had ever hoped to gain from his class. Even at level one, he could feel the potency — the full weight of a Stormlash, contained in the crystal and steel of his blade, and amplified further with that concentration of its might.

Kaius raised his blade high in the air and laughed, joy filling him. Magic! Sword! This was officially the best day of his life.

“Yeah, yeah — your sword is glowing. Now are you gonna hit me or am I going to have to wait another minute.”

Porkchop might have been endlessly trying to tease him, but Kaius still felt a similar glimmar of excitement crossing their bond.

Kaius rolled his eyes — and lunged.

Whirling his blade overhead, Kaius turned into a downwards chop at Porkchop’s left pauldron. The streamers of electricity that trailed behind his blade were, he decided, very cool.

The second he attacked, Porkchop hunkered down, bracing into the blow.

Kaius knew the second his brother’s skill activated. Porkchop flashed grey, and his very presence seemed to weigh on the room. An immutable barrier, unbroken by all that fell against it.

The edge of Kaius’s blade touched Porkchop’s armour. Every shred of mana from the spell he had imbued jumped to the point of impact, lighting up the safe room with a flash of light.

Kaius turned through the cut. The arc of lightning stayed anchored, a tether between his target and retreating sword. It pulsed for a full second, discharging electrical fury and the vibration of his Resonance Amplification.

Nothing happened.

The spell crackled, winking out a second before Porkchop’s skill wore off.

Staring at the spot he had struck, Kaius desperately searched for any evidence of his assault. There wasn’t any. No scorch marks, no scoring on Porkchop’s armour — nothing.

Porkchop turned his head, looking at his shoulder curiously. He grinned, a full body chortle following a moment later.

“Hah! That was pathetic! Seriously, not even a scratch?! Did you have your arms surgically replaced by noodles when I wasn’t looking?” Porkchop dismissed his armour and gave him a teasing grin.

“What!” Kaius spluttered, leveling his blade at Porkchop. “That’s utter bullshit and you know it — god’s scorn, what kind of Skill does that. This is blatant System favouritism, and you know it!”

“The words of a jealous, jealous man. For shame, Kaius. To think after all this time you would succumb to your own sense of inferiority. There is nothing to be ashamed of, I am a greater beast, and you are but a man.”

“Oh, fuck right off!”

Kaius threw his blade to the side and launched himself forward as fast as he could. Uncanny Dodge flared a warning when one of Porkchop’s paws moved to slap him down faster than he could blink.

A sudden drop brought him under the blow, and he went low — diving directly under his brother. He spun, wrapping his arms around Porkchop’s midsection, and crouched with his shoulder braced.

Porkchop looked down between his legs, cocking his head at Kaius. “I really want to know what you hoped to accomplish here.”

Saying nothing, Kaius only gave his brother a taunting smile, and heaved.

It felt like trying to lift a mountain one handed. He did it anyway. His back was straight and his core was braced. His legs burned like fire and his teeth crushed together.

But handspan by handspan, he rose.

“Hey! Hey!! Put me down!” Porkchop screeched, legs flailing. “Since when have you been able to do this?! Put me down!”

He ignored the pleas, dropping into a crouch before popping up again to jiggle Porkchop with as little dignity as he could manage.

“By the Matriarchs, I will have vengeance!”

Kaius only laughed, too busy holding Porkchop aloft six and a half strides in the air. “Hah! Who's jealous now, bastard!”

“They really do this all the time, don’t they? Just go right back to being silly after a life or death battle?” Kenva muttered at the side of the room, her voice resigned.

“Oh yes, constantly. It’s quite entertaining — like having a free bard-show at camp.”