Runeblade

Chapter 21 : On the Nature of Curiosity and Death

Kaius slowly approached the cave entrance, relying on Explorers Toolkit to aid his furtive movements as shadows subtly bent to hide his form. He had his sword drawn and ready, expecting something to jump out at him at any moment.

He watched the boulders that crowded its entrance. Piled in a rough, haphazard manner, they presented plenty of nooks and crannies for any number of beasts to hide and make their dens in. Thankfully they seemed uninhabited, and provided a perfect spot for him to hide his pack as he pushed on with his reckless exploration.

Kaius sniffed deeply as another gust emanated from the cave. It still carried with it the indescribable scent of magic, a wave bolstering growth washing over him.

More than anything it was suffused with a sense of power. It set his heart racing, a frantic pulse that sent shooting currents of anticipation right to his finger tips. He adjusted his grip on his sword.

His only other example of such blatant bait had ended up with him facing down a Champion. Conventionally, he knew a pattern of one was not enough to go on. The deep tension he felt down to his bones protested otherwise.

"Whatever I find in here, I'm not getting it without a fight." He thought.

As he approached the rear of the tunnel, it started to curve gently away from him. With his back to the soft radiance of the glade outside, a resplendent yellow glow washed over the far reaches of the cave.

With each creeping step into the cavern, the scent of magic grew stronger, stoking the rising urge that emanated from his skill. The passage opened up before him, his eyes widening as he dropped deeper into his crouch and slunk closer to the cave wall.

Peering around the edge, Kaius looked into a sizable cavern. Compared to the truly immense one that held the glade 'outside', this one was admittedly tiny. Maybe one or two hundred strides in diameter, made up of craggly and jagged rock. Unlike most of the other tunnels and caves he had seen, this one was not lit up by the moss he had grown so used to.

Instead, towering out of a small pool at the centre of the room, there was a towering oak glowing with an internal golden light. Breath held in wonder, Kaius's eyes traced up its stoat trunk where shifting geometrics danced. At its crown, flat and broad leaves soaked the surrounding stone in a warm radiance.

From a single branch, a gleaming fruit sat heavy, weighing the limb down until it was deeply bowed. Its glistening skin seemed to shimmer, colours shifting as it swirled between the brightest vermillion and the most resplendent yellow.

As soon as he laid his eyes on the treasure his heart rate quickened, mouth drying as his focus sharpened. It was only the quiet insistence of Explorers Toolkit that stopped him from rushing out to snatch the fruit. Barely a moment later frigid fingers of ice shot up his nerves as he heard a slow, rumbling exhalation from inside the cavern.

Revealing itself with the noise, Kaius's gaze instantly trained on the occupant of the chamber. There, half hidden behind the bulk of the oak's trunk, was a truly momentous bear. It was nestled on its stomach, resting by the small pond that held the tree. Every few seconds he watched its chest rise and fall, the hard stone catching and amplifying the sound of its breaths.

Easily outweighing even the largest of mortal bears that he had seen, the creature was clearly a beast. For one, its large size was bolstered by an excessive degree of muscularity. One poorly hidden by its dense grey and gold-tipped fur.

Kaius stopped fast, staring at the creature with an equal mixture of awe and trepidation.

"That is a BIG boy.." He thought, palms growing slightly slick.

Asleep or no, Kaius knew fighting a mundane bear with a longsword would be a struggle, let alone what was likely to be a system enhanced Champion. Even with the element of surprise in his favour, it would be a hard battle.

For a moment he considered backing out, leaving the cave to return when he was better prepared. It would be the smart thing to do. The safe thing. He had more than enough challenge to satiate his growth in the glade proper. With a few more skills under his belt, and higher levels, he could return and slay the tree's defender with far less risk to his person.

His eyes drifted back to the shining fruit. He didn't want to take the safe route. In all likelihood the fruit was simply some sort of alchemical reagent. There was, however, a slim chance it could be a natural treasure. They were vanishingly rare, more something whispered about over a flagon of ale as someone regalled stories about a friend of a friend of a friend, who had once shared a meal with someone who had caught a mere glimpse of the things.

They were a unique reward of the Depths, and could be found nowhere else. Objects of empowerment that worked directly through the system, divvying out boosts to skills, improved constitutions, and stat points galore.

If it was a natural treasure, something he was inclined to believe by the way Explorers Toolkit screamed at him to retrieve the fruit, it would be invaluable to him. At only the second layer, it would be a slight boost. At least it would if he was a normal delver.

He was an unclassed, one stuck in a hostile environment. A couple of stat points could let him increase his health by a significant fraction of his total.

"And for my class…" He thought, staringing longingly at the swirling fruit.

He couldn't even imagine what such a boost would do for his selection. He'd asked after them before. When he himself first heard of them whispered over a drink at the Stout Oak, on a trip to collect some extra supplies before winter. Father had thumped his way down the stairs, finished with storing their supplies for their journey back.

When he sat down at the table Kaius had asked him about the treasures, asked why they weren't funnelled to scions before they gained their class. Afterall Hastur had never stopped going on about how it was a pivotal moment in life, how the next generation always represented the foundation of a dynasty.

Father had simply snorted at him, speaking into his mug as he told him that it simply wasn't possible. Certain benefits were denied to unclassed who had not secured them for themselves. When he had tried to press further his father had reminded him of their conversation after the last time he had gone poking into things he had no business with.

That had been enough to warn him off

Regardless, the system's restriction on supplying them to unclassed was moot if he secured it for himself.

Mind set on his course of action, Kaius forced himself to breathe evenly. A clench of his fists steadied the slight tremble that had settled into his arms.

He could do this.

It was a worthy risk.

Kaius crept into the cavern, each step taken with agonising slowness as he forced himself to roll his weight across the ball of his foot and onto his heel. The silent intensity of the cavern ate at him, only broken by the occasional sighing breath of the sleeping champion.

Every time he heard the beast breathe his heart leapt into his chest, instincts screaming at him to burst into action. Sure that each sound was confirmation that the beast was going to awaken, to rise from its position and roar in fury of his challenge to its domain.

He forced himself to keep his breathing quiet, worried that the slightest excess noise would shatter the delicate balance of his approach. Forcing his muscles to obey, he took another step closer.

Slowly, stride by stride, he circled around the cavern. The constant soft pulse of luminance from the oak to his left dragged at his attention, almost begging him to look away from his target. He ignored it, his focus locked in. The pressure of his slow approach inuring him from the slightest distraction.

He slackened his grip on his sword, too tight and it would impact his sword play.

As he closed in on the rear of the beast he had to readjust his measure of its size. He knew bears. They crowded the streams that came off the mountains every spring. This…thing was far too large to be included in their number.

It was too late to back out now.

Despite his anxiety, the bear remained slumbering as he approached. Finally his glacial pace brought him behind the creature. It took all of his willpower to avoid driving his sword point first into the spine of the beast.

It would be a grievous blow, and would no doubt do much to disable the beast. However, it was no undead. Even a mortal blow could be healed with the powers of Health, something the creature no doubt had in abundance.

"I need to go for a killing stroke." He thought. "Something that will disable it, even if it survives."

Health could let you survive many things, but it wouldn't make you move if your spinal cord was severed.

His blade trembling slightly in anticipation, Kaius crept up the bear's side to approach where its head rested on two plate-sized paws. He got into position, lining up next to the beast's thick neck. Sword held at the ready, he slowly rose it to full extension over his head.

The bear snorted. Shifting slightly.

Kaius panicked. Muscles in his arms and back contracted, aching at the sudden intensity of tension. Enchanted steel came down with a blur of flashing silver. The edge of his blade cut through the thickened hide with ease, deep red blood spraying as he cut through the chunky muscle that supported its massive head. The blade hit the spine of the beast and….. Stopped fast.

The bear's eyes snapped open, howling in fury and pain at the violent interruption to its slumber. Blood poured from the rent on its neck as muscles rippled beneath its fur, hauling its bulk upwards.

**Ding! You have challenged a Champion: Sunborn Cave Bear **

Kaius stared in horror at the failed strike, yanking on his sword to free it as he backed away from the rising creature. Lifeblood that poured from the rent in the Champions neck slowed, flesh rippling as its Health was consumed at a prodigious rate to heal the wound.

"Should have stabbed it in the bloody back!" He thought as the creature wheeled towards him clumsily, still disoriented from its abrupt and violent awakening.

Explorers Toolkit pounced on the weakness, highlighting its cloudy eyes and disoriented manner with razor sharp precision. He dived back into the fray, refusing to let such a vital moment pass uncapitalised.

The bear batted towards him, a twisting side step letting him dance past the powerful blow. The rising dread of anticipation was gone. All that was left was the rush of battle that heated the blood. He brought his blade up in a rising strike, cutting a deep furrow across the Champion's ribs.

Razor sharp steel skittered across the surface of empowered bone, preventing access to the vulnerable organs in its chest. He followed through with the strike, pivoting into a heavy cut that severed more of the thick muscle that lined the creature's spine.

The bear howled in fury, incensed by his repeated strikes, rapidly coming to full wakefulness in the face of an intense assault.

It spun towards him, snaking one massive limb out to smash him flat. Kaius was forced to jump back, skilful footwork forgotten in the face of overwhelming speed and power. The bear reared back, rising to its full height. Kaius punished the opening, a deep stab to its midsection only serving to infuriate the Champion further.

Dropping towards him, it slammed its front feet down in an attempt to squash him flat. Kaius sidestepped, savaging its features and ruining one eye with a draw cut. Reacting to the pain of his strike instantly, a deep, bassy, growl echoed from deep in the Champions chest. The grey and gold bear lunged towards him.

Its shoulder hit him like a falling log. His guard collapsed against his chest, the pommel of his sword rapping painfully against his sternum, chain and leather unable to fully blunt the brute force of the impact. Kaius stumbled back, unable to fight the primal strength of the bear. Only saved from greater injury by the creature's lack of leverage.

Kaius felt a small trickle of health flood towards his chest, tending to the fresh contusion. Steadying his feet beneath him, his eyes flicked to the bear's injuries. He couldn't find them, the only evidence of their existence an assortment of deep red stains that marred its otherwise flawless coat.

He had to keep the pressure on. Prevent the creature from getting its bearings.

With a growl of his own, Kaius launched back into the fray. His first attempt at a stab was batted away, nearly sending his blade flinging free of his grip. Moving with the momentum, he stepped into the collision, whirling his blade over head to hew into the bear's shoulder.

Kaius was forced back by a snap of the beast's oversized jaws. As the beast lunged out to bite him, he felt his gaze drawn to the side of its face. There, where he had cut it earlier. While the wound had healed, a mess of blood and stuck fur covered its eye, marring its senses.

**Ding! Explorers Toolkit has reached level 4!**

A pivoting side step took him around the head, bringing him into its blindspot. He thrust, burying two strides of steel deep into the cavity between its neck and its shoulder. Without bone to guard its internals, Kaius's sword sank halfway to the hilt.

**Ding! Footwork has reached level 4!**

A gargle left the bear's throat, blood foaming from its mouth. Kaius pulled back, trying to put distance between himself and the already moving Champion.

As he retreated the bear lashed out for him once more. Unable to escape in time, the bear's claws skittered across the chain covering his torso, nearly sending him flying as its claws caught in the ringed joints of the armour. Righting his footing Kaius stepped back into the fray, punishing attack with a retaliatory cut.

Frustration mounted within him.

"It just keeps fucking healing!" He yelled in his mind. He'd laid half a dozen nearly mortal wounds into the beast, yet its seemingly inexhaustible Health had regenerated it from every strike he had landed. The beast wasn't even slowed, just growing more and more enraged with each added wound.

Gritting his teeth Kaius sidestepped another snap of its jaws to pressure it with a low flowing cut to its underside.

Mid-swing the Champion smashed aside his attack with one paw. The claws on its other began to glow. Icy dread shot through Kaius's spine. He tried to pull back, to retreat in the face of the obvious skill. He was too slow.

So fast he only perceived it as a blur, the creature's paw came sailing towards him. Glowing with amber light, the claws a trail of glistening embers in the air. The blow smashed into his side harder than a battering ram.

Something crunched.

Kaius's feet left the ground as the Champion's paw scooped him up and sent him sailing across the cavern.