B3 Chapter 306: Kolnir

Runeblade

The undergrowth of the jungle may as well have been a forest in its own right. Grasses and brush stretched high overhead in a patchy carpet that blocked his view. Massive ferns reached tall, reminiscent of the oaks he was more used to, and above even them trees larger than any redwood blanketed the ground in shade.

Thankfully, the undergrowth grew more thin close to the trunks of the giant trees. Leaning up against a root that wound across the ground like a caravan-train, Kaius waited with a hand on the hilt of his blade.

As much as they needed to cross this biome, there was no way they were doing that without running into a fight — likely against more than just stray, singular, depthsborn. They had yet to see any, but the evidence was all around them — a cacophony of hooting calls that echoed through the jungle.

They needed levels, but doing so safely was paramount. Once they’d gotten another skill or two under their belt, and some more stats with them, then they could push for the river crossings — and be a little more confident in handling groups of depthsborn.

Ideally, they would be able to lure or ambush singular opponents. Kenva, with her stealth Skills and vertical mobility, was working on that right now.

He still didn’t like it. It was hard not to think of her and Ianmus as fragile. Regardless of how they weighed up against the average delver their age, it was a simple fact that they were up against creatures that were far faster and stronger than them. Who knew if her skills would be enough to hide? A single blow might be enough to take her out.

That hadn’t stopped her from insisting that she take on the duty — that she was the only one who would be able to avoid bringing down a whole pack of deadly monsters on their heads.

It being true didn’t make it any easier to accept.

He’d done his best to minimise their risks, though. They were still only in the very outskirts of the jungle — only an hour’s walk from the cavern edge. It was by no means an exact science, but usually the outskirts of a biome tended to be a little more forgiving and sparsely populated than the centre.

The roots that they were waiting in were also defensible — a network of caged tunnels and nooks that limited angles of approach as well as any keep wall. He’d already set up a War Haven at the back of their current bunker, and insisted that Kenva wait until he had regenerated his mana and inscribed another cast of the spell.

With Ianmus safely nestled inside, and Porkchop armoured up and guarding the other entrance to their killing field at the tip of the other root-wall, they were ready for Kenva to come running with a beast on her tail.

Watching his surroundings intently, Kaius saw the undergrowth shift in the breeze — one section a little too much. Truesight peeled away at the Skill in play, revealing Kenva creeping silently back towards them.

With her every step, shadows warped to break up her outline, and the plants around her swayed naturally to obscure her even as they eased her passage through the fronds of grass and dense bushes.

The Mother’s Shadow — her most recent skill. He could feel it at work, trying to make his eyes slide away from her and make her boring, disinteresting, and normal. It didn’t work on him — Truesight impervious to the obfuscation.

She closed the distance quickly, her face taut with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

“Find something?” Kaius guessed, waving at Porkchop to join them as they converged at the War Haven nestled at the base of the tree trunk that towered over them like a Mystral magespire.

Kenva nodded. “Yeah, a handful of beasts — about five of them — they’re foraging about fifteen minutes away.”

A group? Just their luck. Even if they were weaker than the Elite ruinbringers, five was still likely to be far more than they could handle.

“Do we move? Surely there has to be something solitary in a place like this.” Ianmus suggested, leaning up on his staff.

“Probably, but don’t forget that the Depths mirrors reality — anything capable of acting independently in a jungle like this will be far more imposing than a pack creature, regardless of levels.”

Kenva waved them off, “It’ll be fine — I’m confident I can lure a single one with a few well placed arrows. They spread themselves out pretty far, even if they wanted to it would take them a good ten minutes to group up. They keep in contact with calls — we’ve been hearing them all day.”

Right as she finished speaking, a far off growling hoot echoed through the trees from far off the way Kenva had come. She gestured in the noise's general direction.

“That’s one of them.”

Ianmus frowned. “If they communicate, what’s to stop the others following as soon as you engage.”

Kenva smiled at the mage.

“I thought that, but I watched them for some time — this jungle is not quite…harmonious. One of the beasts stumbled into a lizard-monster that was guarding its burrow, they fought to the death — and not once did it call for any allies. Got a good look at how they fight too.” ṙ𝖆𐌽𝙤ᛒËṡ

That was something, but it wasn’t exactly a guarantee. Still, they were on the twenty-fifth layer of the depths — nothing they did would be free of risk. They needed levels, and he needed to trust his scout. If she was confident, so was he.

“Alright, tell us more.”

“They’re big bastards — the system called them kolnir, with berserker tags. Seven strides hunched over, with hands down past their knees. More muscular than an ox, and just as strong too. They’ve got short legs and can’t run all that good, but they’ve got a weird loping gate where they swing on their arms — and they’re mighty good climbers.”

“Almost sounds like those Shamblers we fought in our first delve.” Porkchop nudged his shoulder.

They did — albeit easily thrice the size. He could only hope they were a little less…tough to put down, compared to those creatures.

“How’s their healing?” Kaius asked — berserker style classes and monsters tended to be tough and heal well.

Kenva winced. “Good — they have a tendency to just ignore wounds to get close enough to their targets to grapple and strike them. Pretty bloody scary when they do. They’ve got an iron grip, and are utterly relentless. The one I watched didn’t even care that the lizard had ripped open its stomach. Only thing I ever saw it try to protect was its head.”

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Kaius slumped up against the root-wall next to him, scratching his chin. An enemy that ignored wounds was a mixed blessing. On one hand, they were dangerous, and the beasts sounded like they were more than tough enough to dish out some serious hurt. On the other, they would be able to kill a berserking creature far faster than one that fought defensively.

“What about special abilities?” Ianmus asked, “I know depthsborn don’t exactly have class Skills in the same way that we do, but I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened with those bloody scorpions.” He patted his stomach with a wan smile.

“Healing, as mentioned, but I really can’t stress enough how strong they are. The one I was watching could jump an easy twenty strides in the air, and threw a lizard the size of a horse around like it was made of paper. It could also do these bursts of speed, but it looked exhausting — I only saw it do it once.”

Kaius looked towards his brother, frowning. Porkchop was strong, and tougher than anything — but a grappling creature, with hands and long arms, and that strong? It wasn’t exactly his best match up.

Porkchop rolled his eyes, “I’ll be fine — even if it's tough, you can still lock up its joints with your Nails. It won’t have the armour that the ruinbringers did.”

He gave a tentative nod. Their ultimate goal remained unchanged since it had been tested in the desert. Lock down mobility, and eschew risky shots to kill the beast outright — with how tough second tier monsters had proven to be, there was no guarantee of a shot to the head working.

Unfortunately, that goal was complicated by his reticence to use Stormlash — the spell was loud, and released a bright flash of light. Every time he used it he would risk bringing more depthsborn down on their heads. Even his Expedient Shunt was not quite so violent, and Ianmus’s magic was controlled enough that the light of his spells were only plainly obvious with mana sight — when he used empowered light, at least.

“Well, a final check then — if we need to flee, we retreat to the root warren out the back of the War Haven.”

From there, they would be able to exit on the far side of the tree directly into an incredibly dense thicket which would both obscure their passage, and hamper any pursuers. Porkchop had already widened the passages within so that he would only have to crawl to enter. Not a perfect plan, but better than any other options they had available.

With their preparations complete, Ianmus quickly cast a Hypercharged Sundrenched Strength, the warmth of the spell settling deep into Kaius’s bones. The energy was heady, Ianmus’s metamagic having progressed to the point where the potency it added left him feeling like he’d had more than a few too many hot cups of joppa.

“I’ll grab the one that fought the lizard — it got plenty hurt fighting it, so its Health will hopefully be significantly drained.”

Moments later, Kenva slipped back into the underbrush. It didn’t take long for Kaius to hear a bestial scream in the distance.

Tensing at the noise, he drew his blade and slammed home the visor on his helm. He and Porkchop were in position. A killing field that was hemmed in by roots on both sides. Ianmus was already channeling behind them, solar magic building into a devastating beam.

He heard a yelp of pain, followed by another furious call — closer this time.

It felt like barely a second had passed before Kenva burst through the undergrowth, sailing through the air in a Vinestride propelled leap.

At the peak of her arc, she twisted, drew, and loosed an arrow. It slammed home into something unseen, another furious howl echoing out.

Kaius braced as the ranger fled past them with a focused look on her face.

Fifty strides ahead of him, where the ten stride tall brush started, Kaius saw movement — grasses and bush quaking as they were forced aside.

The beast burst free. It looked like an overly muscled giant had it’s arms stretched, hunched over as grey hands grabbed the ground to haul it forwards. Its flattened face was twisted by a snarl, finger-length fangs bared and on full display.

Kaius analysed the threat.

Kolnir - Level 242:

Depthsborn, Beast, Berserker

Reacting to the threat, Porkchop’s mana surged. A totem of jade rose from the earth in the centre of the field, bolstering energy flooding out as Kaius felt his flesh grow wooden and tough, and his regeneration spike.

It locked on to him — the closest target.

Kaius braced — blue waste mana drifting from Aelina as he cast Slip Step — but held his position.

A basey growl cut through the clearing, Porkchop yanking at the beast’s attention with his Bulwark’s Challenge.

It snarled at his brother, but kept on charging at him all the same. Two Hateful Nail’s snapped out, cracking through the air. The beast lunged to the side, the spells only clipping the outer edge of its arm. Blood spilled, but Kaius saw the wounds reknit in seconds. He winced.

The kolnir didn’t manage to dodge his backline’s follow up shots. Right after it’s sudden lurch, it slowed — chest heaving.

Kenva’s enlarged Lance of Fury sunk deep into its abdomen, causing the beast to stumble as the mundane projectile at its core shattered — filling its flesh with shards.

A tightly wound beam of light followed close behind. Controlled by Ianmus’s recent Light Weaving meta-magic, Kaius was able to follow its movement.

Again the kolnir lunged to the side explosively. Ianmus’s spell curved, burning deep into its shoulder.

Seeing the beast distracted, Kaius unleashed another Nail. He grinned as it punched into the wound Ianmus’s spell had left. Steel brambles exploded outwards as the kolnir screamed, its joint locking up.

Its beady black eyes burned hatefully, looking back on him. Kaius’s arm was steady and he readied for contact. So far, everything had gone exactly to plan.

The beast lept — arm raised and its fist clenched. He threw himself to the side, the world warping to carry him far out of harm's way.

Pulling deep on their bond, Porkchop reacted in the same moment. Intercedethe Weak, burst through his brother — filling him with unnatural speed as he slammed straight into the kolnir. With an arm wrapped in jade, his brother smashed aside the kolnir’s descending hammer-fist. Their collision boomed like thunder, leaving his brother growling with the strain of his contest with the kolnir’s might.

The jagged coating on Porkchop’s arm thrummed with energy. Rolling with the force of his parry, he smashed his paw into the side of the beast.

More arrows and lances of light peppered the kolnir as Porkchop raked it again and again, its grey fur quickly dyed red from a dozen quickly-sealing wounds.

Kaius blurred in, sinking another Nail into the back of the same shoulder he’d already injured, before raking a Rend empowered cut across the back of its legs.

The wounds they layered on only seemed to fucking tickle it.

Quick as he could blink, a fist smashed into the side of Porkchop’s head. He stumbled.

Reaching up to its shoulder, the kolnir wrapped its meaty fingers around the jagged mess of wires that erupted from its body.

It yanked, flesh and gore trapped in tangled wire as it pulled the nail free.

Kaius’s eyes widened in horror — it hadn’t even flinched! He lunged, blade glowing with the fire of his Bladerite, and grunted when its tip glanced off a wide rib.

The kolnir ignored him, another wild haymaker catching Porkchop in the jaw. Kaius blanched as he heard a sickening crack and his brother’s mouth hung limp.

His brother — his titanic, nigh invulnerable brother — had his jaw broken just like that.