B3 Chapter 303: Further Reaches, pt. 1

Runeblade

Kaius sat on the floor, allowing the frenetic rush of running for his life to leave him. Grumbling uncomfortably as holes his brother had left in his shoulder knitted themselves closed, he took his first good look at the stone bunker that had saved them from the ruinbringers outside.

Easily three times the width of the portal room, it stretched a good forty strides from wall to wall. Small braziers of flame were scattered amongst pillars of tan stone, their flickering shadows making the carved images on the walls almost dance with a hypnotic vigour.

To his left, the floor rose into a platform. Light spilled from its centre, drawing his eyes to a staircase down. Empty of depthsborn, he assumed, considering Porkchop had said the room was safe, and the silence that was only broken by his team's heavy breathing and the muffled thumps of the scorpions outside.

It had to be empty, right? His senses had grown sharper by the day, bolstered by both his prodigious mental stats and Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus. He was sure he would have heard something rustling down there if there was anything moving — and Porkchop would have smelled them if they were lying in wait.

Slumping back against the wall, Kaius winced as the movement jostled his shoulder. The lance of pain brought him back to the current moment. Running across the desert had taken a lot out of him — they’d need to recover before they pushed on.

Though hopefully it wouldn’t take too long.

Kaius pulled up his Resources, checking the damage.

Resources:

Health - 6304/6700 (41/min)

Stamina - 5768/6560 (47.8/min)

Mana - 368/7890 (52.8/min)

Free Mana - 368/368

Reserved Mana - 0

Active Enhancement: Totem of the Glade, Sundrenched Strength

He groaned at the drop in his Stamina. While he still had plenty, it was still a significant expenditure for what amounted to five minutes of operating at his absolute peak. Even with his growing pool, fueling his enhanced body took far more energy than it had during his first jaunt in the depths. His pool did

 still grow faster than his energy requirements, but he was not so lucky that he could have sprinted for days on end without rest.

An hour or so of his peak abilities, that was it. Then the burn in his muscles and the fire in his lungs would become more than discomfort and mortal exertion sapped at his strength. He’d last longer than most with his empowered and changed body, but not forever.

Something they would have to work around in a place like the Depths.

At the very least, he’d gotten away with far less of a price than running into four ruinbringers should have cost them. He was proud of his team for how they had performed — and how both Ianmus and Kenva had covered for their advance once they had made it to the tower.

It was impressive that they had managed to beat them there in the first place, what with him and his brother’s stat growth, though perhaps not incredibly surprising since they both had movement skills. A trade off, significant speed for a massively increased resource drain compared to simple running. Over longer distances — hours and days — he and Porkchop would still far outstrip them.

He still wanted one — though sustained mobility skills weren’t anywhere near a certainty for frontline classers like Porkchop and him. At the very least, if Aelina offered one, he would take it — his current spells were far more suited to sudden repositioning and aggressive advances.

Regardless of how they had performed, they’d been caught flat footed — been proven weak. Once again, their weakness was in their capacity to fight against groups of enemies. A problem, considering any creatures that were not as singularly tough as the ruinbringers were likely to be numerous.

He knew from his first jaunt in the depths that finding individual or small groups of depthsborn was common, but they would have to approach each biome cautiously — focusing on careful scouting to avoid any threats they couldn’t handle, and picking off those that they could.

They’d gotten particularly unlucky in that their first encounter had been against creatures that were not just tough, but Elite ambushers capable of hiding from Kenva’s and his Skills. Hopefully they would have a far easier time of it in the future — though he wasn’t going to let that make him incautious.

Plus, he hadn’t forgotten the danger of traps. In many ways, the ruinbringers themselves had been a hidden danger, but other biomes were likely to have mechanical and magical ones as well. He and Kenva would have their work cut out for them keeping the team safe — especially since Explorer’s Toolkit was by no means a focused scouting skill.

Despite that, he couldn’t help but feel a jittery energy in his limbs at the thrill of it all. It was exciting! The danger, the rush of growth, and the gains that came from being pushed to your limits. Exactly the kind of thing he hungered for, no matter how dangerous it might be.

He knew he wasn’t alone in his thoughts. You’d think, considering how close they’d come to being scorpion food, that at least one of them would be somber — that the air of the room would be grave and serious.

Instead, when he looked at his team, all he saw were the smiles of satisfied warriors taking a well earned rest.

Some might confuse it for a flippant disregard of their safety, but he knew better. They were all treating this with the gravity it deserved — they just felt the hunger. A need to grow, and see just how far they could push.

Before the phase change, feeling the bloodsong in the way they did meant you were destined to reach the second tier — maybe even further — or die trying. Now, everyone would have to adopt at least a fraction of their drive, lest the growing danger overwhelm them.

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It was simple — people were levelling slower than the danger was rising, and the avoidance of risk was leading to weaker class evolutions that put people further and further behind the curve.

The changes that had come had been a blessing for people like his team and him, and he suspected — knew — that it would be a grind stone that would sharpen more than just them.

A new generation was rising, propelled by the growing turmoil.

Kaius couldn’t wait to see who else rose to the occasion.

With growth in mind, Kaius pulled up his waiting notifications and checked on the improvement of his skills.

**Ding! Class Skill Notifications Consolidated!**

**Latent Glyph of Drakthar has reached level 146 > 147!**

…

**Latent Glyph of Aelina has reached level 127 > 128!**

…

**Latent Glyph of Vyrthane has reached level 10 > 12!**

…

**Latent Glyph of Eirnith has reached level 5 > 8!**

**General Skill Notifications Consolidated!**

**Explorer’s Toolkit has reached level 116!**

…

**Resonance Amplification has reached level 107!**

…

**Uncanny Dodge has reached level 140 > 143!**

A light warmth of satisfaction suffused him. He was making good progress, even with the pace of his skill levelling slowing down as more and more grew into the later reaches of the first tier.

Even if he was likely to cap his class before they were finished, he wouldn’t be consigned to the fate of sitting there for years slowly working on rounding out the tier.

A considerable benefit, considering every week wasted was another that the beasts in the world above grew stronger with the rise in ambient mana.

That, and he suspected that there might be Honours on the line. His team had already explained the Wall — and that most people took over a decade to cap their first tier class — what if they managed it in under a year? It was exactly the sort of feat that the system had rewarded in the past.

Hells, with their breakneck pace, the System might only need them to do it in two for a reward!

It would be a push, though — Porkchop’s birthday was roughly a month away, only a few days before his. Another Honour for their twentieth years, the day they would have originally unlocked their classes, would make a fine gift.

Realisation struck him. He jolted upright, ignoring the ache as the last remnants of his shoulder wound twinged.

The sudden motion drew questioning looks from his team.

Kaius grinned.

“How would everyone feel about a little self imposed deadline?”

Ianmus chuckled, his eyes closing as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him. “I would like to say I'm surprised, but that would be a lie. What’s gotten in your head this time?”

There was no frustration or disagreement in the mage’s words — just wry humour masking a deep excitement and curiosity. He could see it in Kenva too. While it was not quite inviolate, he could tell that the aen was starting to trust that he did not take risks for no reason — only if the reward was truly worth it and he believed they were capable.

“An Honour — with a potential bonus, or a second one entirely for Porkchop and myself.”

That got their attention. His team straightened, all eyes locking on his own — Porkchop in particular cocked his head to the side, his focused attention palpable through their bond. He saw no need to keep them waiting.

“I was thinking, our levelling speed is already rather ludicrous, and — without our trip down here — it would have most likely taken us more than a year of hard work to cap out the first tier. Wouldn’t finishing it so quickly be exactly the sort of thing the System would pay attention to?”

They brightened at his words, an array of expressions crossing his team's faces as they seemed to race through the implications.

Shifting on the stone, Porkchop flicked his ears contemplatively. “It may not even be based on the length of time, but your age — that wouldn’t surprise me. It would mean the younger you earn one, the more time you have to work on the next — lines up with how Ruthless Underdog works.”

His brother had a compelling point with that, as that did lend itself to the sort of compounding gains they’d seen already. Still, that didn’t really solve the main unknown.

“What do you think the threshold will be? Twenty-one? That would exclude you two, wouldn’t it?” Kaius nodded towards Ianmus and Kenva.

Though, now that he thought about it, he didn’t know when Ianmus’s birthday was. He’d never out and out asked, but they’d spent more than enough time together for the topic to come up naturally. Though, given that they’d spent nearly eleven months together, there was a good chance the day had come and gone.

The mage gave him an awkward smile, his back stiffening slightly. “Only recently — my birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I know I never brought it up, but I'd keep the story for another time, if that’s alright with you.”

A little odd, but back in Threefields Hurrin had been similarly cagey around his own — everyone had a story to tell, and no doubt Ianmus would share when he was ready.

“I’m not going to lose fur over it.” Porkchop gave the mage a bob of his head, while the rest of them smiled. Ianmus visibly relaxed.

“Thanks.”

“Still, so recently? That’s an unlucky coincidence. I thought your level had been so low because you’d been finishing off the year at your mage college.” Kaius replied, suppressing his desire to frown at the thought of his friend spending his birthday in an underground cell. No one should have to experience that.

Ianmus shrugged. “It is what it is — in Mystral, you graduate from your spire when you gain your class. I spent a week preparing for my journey and then started walking towards Deadacre. You know the rest.” He turned towards Kenva at his left, “What of you?”

“Nearly half a year ago.” Kenva replied, stretching out her legs and brushing off some of the remnant sand from her trousers, “My first few months were with my uncles caravan — wasn’t exactly many opportunities to level as a combat classer. Regardless, I doubt the limit will be twenty-one. It’s far too harsh for a first honour, even with a team of people at mine and Ianmus’s level who went all-in from level one, it would be almost impossible. I think twenty-two is more likely.”

She had a point. Excluding honours further along a chain, most of them that he’d seen required skill, persistence, and ability to acquire — but not so much as to be nigh-impossible to achieve for a team of driven delvers with good class rarities.

“Twenty-two does sound a bit more reasonable.” Porkchop shifted his attention back to him, “But what of this second Honour? Or bonus?”

He grinned. “Well, if this Honour does exist, it stands to reason there would be an extra reward for achieving the same feat before you’re even supposed to have your class.”

His team paused, seemingly processing his words.

Ianmus spoke up first. “That…does seem rather likely, yes.”

To his left, Kenva nodded. “I’m in, as long as we’re not taking on more risks than we can handle to do so.”

Kaius' smile widened — he didn’t even need to wait for his brother’s answer. Not with the way Porkchop was grinding his claws against the tan stone floor.

“Fantastic. Then let's rest up and we can continue once I've reinscribed.”