Runeblade

Chapter 31 : Pushing Deeper

Kaius poked his head out, watching the four undead carefully. Three were garbed in tabards and chain armour, half-helms capping their heads. On their chests was an emblem of a crow pecking at a corpse. They were almost identical to the two undead he had fought around a similar camp over a month ago.

Swords in hand, they strutted around the camp in a mockery of discipline. Their remaining companion was different, standing eerily still as it hovered at the edge of the burnt out firepit that was at the centre of their camp, staring at the charcoal and ash. Garbed in a tatty black robe, it held a staff in its hand that was capped with the mouldering skull of a bird.

A caster.

He had no way to be sure, but the threat it represented if it was one was too great to ignore. They had no way of knowing its capabilities, beyond that as a common depths-born it would have no access to class skills. That didn't stop it from channelling through raw manipulation or its staff if it was an implement.

There was little he could do to defend against a mage. No way to block a bolt of necrotic energy, or parry a cloud of flesh melting acid. Their best bet was to take it out quickly.

Turning to where Porkchop was hunkered down behind a large bush he jutted his chin at the robbed undead. Catching his eyes, he peeked out from around the bush to stare at the monster.

"Mage?" Porkchop said silently across their link, one of the benefits of mental communication. Kaius shrugged back.

"Mine. I've got magic resistance." His words were confident, unconcerned with the potential threat of the mage.

Eyebrows raising, Kaius started at Porkchop in surprise. Magic resistance was a rare power, especially since it had to be a merged skill from what Porkchop had told him. He burned to look at his companions' status, but it was the height of trust to share that with others. It would be rude to ask before it was offered.

"Ready?" His friend asked.

Nodding, Kaius slowly pulled his longsword free from his scabbard.

"One."

Porkchop tensed. Digging his claws into the ground.

"Two."

Kaius braced his foot against the tree. Ready to kick off.

"Three!"

Kaius sprinted out, raising his sword into an easy guard as he raced towards the closest of the foot soldiers. To his left, Porkchop roared. The sound echoed around the forest, leaving dead silence in its wake. His friend dug his claws in, launching himself towards the potential mage at a speed that Kaius found almost impossible to track.

The undead turned to face the coming threat.

Swords held high in their hands, the undead charged. Still standing by the fire, the robed one started to mouth a chant. A sickly green glow alighting the tip of its staff at its silent words.

A mage after all.

Kaius smashed into the first foot soldier, parrying its chop. Even at level one, Kaius could feel Adamant Body putting in the work. Giving him the power to finally contest the undead's strength.

To his left, his fluffy companion smashed into the undead who readied a spell, sending it to the ground. Hard. Its noxious magic discharged prematurely, showering Porkchop's shoulder in a haze of riotous green, sizzling against his fur.

Kaius looked to his friend in alarm even as he followed through with his parry, spinning into a riposte. His blade cut deep into the footsoldiers jaw. Not quite deep enough to kill.

"Porkchop!"

"I'm fine! Just kill the others!" he said with aggressive delight.

Kaius turned his attention back to his opponent, already trying to gut him with a heavy slash. Behind it, its companions drew closer. Ripping his sword free, Kaius met the blow blade to blade. He locked the undead's sword fast, grinning as he felt the lack of strain.

A push kick shoved it back. Diving forward into a thrust, Kaius stabbed the foot soldier through the gap in its open faced helm.

**Ding! level 16 Undead Armsman slain**

He took the opportunity to check on Porkchop, who had sunk his teeth into the mages chest, whipping it through the air as he savaged it. The mage ineffectively battered him over the head with its staff. Failing spectacularly as Porkchop sent it sailing to hit a tree with a crunch. Kaius watched as his companion bound after the mage, intent on finishing the job.

A swing of a sword ripped him back to his own engagement, the other two foot soldiers closing in on him. Catching the incoming blade with a blurring parry, a quick step back took him out of range. He slashed, cutting a line through the leftmost undead's tabard. Revealing the chain underneath.

It was enough to knock the undead back, giving him space. The rightmost footman lunged. Sword thrusting for his chest. Adamant Body or no, the skill was nowhere near high enough level for cloth and leather to protect from a sword thrust. It would be enough for active defence.

He parried.

**Ding! Adamant Body has reached level 2!**

He followed up with a boot to the undead's chest. Sending it stumbling back. Kaius wheeled on the footsoldier that was recovering from his attack, hammering on its guard. The undead just barely managed to raise its sword to block his overhead chop.

Kaius raised his blade once more. It came down, swinging past the undead's guard.

A feint. One he capitalised on quickly. Flowing into a thrust, he impaled the footsoldier on his blade point.

**Ding! level 17 Undead Armsman slain**

He heard a crunch behind him. Kaius jolted, whirling around. Sword at the ready. He found Porkchop standing over the crumpled body of the last footsoldier.

He was retching, rubbing one paw repeatedly into the dirt. Kaius ran over to him, concerned.

"Hey! You okay? Was it the mage?" He asked, hand on Porkchop's back.

"No!" he whined. "They taste horrible. No more biting!" Porkchop wailed.

Kaius went green. He hadn't considered that. He ran to fetch one of his water skins from his pack, helping to wash out his friend's mouth. He didn't dare to think about what kind of plagues and contagions the undead might hold in their flesh and blood.

"I think no more biting is a good idea, you big dumb idiot." Kaius said, watching as his friend resorted to chewing on leaves to rid himself of the taste in his mouth.

"Bleh. You want their armour?" Porkchop asked once he had thoroughly cleansed his palate.

Kaius inspected the bodies of the foot soldiers. They were withered, almost bone thin, and their chain sat tight against their frames. Curious, but something to consider later.

"I don't think it'll fit bud. Let's just keep moving." He replied, dismissing the option.

Kaius retrieved his pack, and the pair set off, pushing deeper towards the centre of the glade.

Kaius and Porkchop pushed deeper into the glade. As they moved the trees grew thicker and taller, slowly choking out their view of the cavern ceiling far above. The underbrush - the curling ferns, bushes, and lichens - grew progressively more difficult to traverse. At first it was just a problem of growth. Too many plants too close, slowing their journey. Eventually it got so bad that Kaius had to resort to using his longsword as a machete, bushwacking their way deeper.

That was just the start. The bushes, once springy things with flat leaves, grew knurled and twisted. Growing thick thorns that stabbed through dense fur and thick canvas alike. The ferns sharpened to a cutting edge, forcing Kaius to take care as he chopped his way through. Even the lichens started to shatter like glass.

Explorers' Toolkit could do little but ease the worst of the discomforts. Worse, as the woods grew sinister and twisted the ever present ethereal glow of the canopy above began to dim. Almost unnoticeable at first. The effect grew until the glade was drenched in an ominous half light. Not even the light from the moss covered ceiling far above was able to penetrate the gloom, the canopy too thick to let the balming presence of light pass through.

The wind stilled, the sudden absence of the sound of rustling leaves setting Kaius's teeth on edge. He stopped. Listening. Nothing, not even the far off hoot of some beast. The deep glade was utterly surrounded by dead silence.

"I don't like this."

Porkchop's words carried with them the distinct feeling of unease. He could see it in the tension of his shoulders. The way his ears constantly flicked, searching for the slightest sound. Porkchop's pupils had widened, dilated so that it was impossible to tell if it was a reaction to the light, or fear.

"I don't either." Kaius called back behind him, clearing a path with heavy swings of his sword. Enchanted steel cut through the underbrush with ease, the blade impossible to dull despite his constant abuse.

They pushed onwards, the glade growing darker and more sinister by the minute.

Soon the trees towered far above the duo, providing a dim gloom that Kaius struggled to see through. The floor of the glade started to change. Brambles and ferns started to hide headstones, and each step through crunchy lichen regularly revealed the cold stone of a grave cover.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Pruning (Common)?**

Kaius turned down the skill with a grumble, cutting through another bramble. He grabbed the twisted branches, hurling them to the side to open the way forward. As soon as it was open he stopped fast. In front of him lay an open path, scything through the dense knot of thorny plant life that now coated the glade floor.

He could barely make it out, the heavy shadow of the deep glade preventing him from seeing more than fifteen or so strides in front of him. Flagstones lined the gap in the brambles, a walkway rapidly splitting off in both directions.

"I found something, be careful." He said, creeping forward with his sword held at the ready.

Porkchop huffed from behind him, stepping in close to cover the rear.

"Don't smell anything. Can't see anything either."

"Stand up and check would you? Can barely see my hand in front of my face, it's so dark" Kaius asked. Porkchop had far better night vision than him, at least for now. Any hint of where the path led would help them immensely.

Porkchop huffed. Rearing on his back legs, he strained to look through the darkness, swinging his head left and right. Kaius saw his head snap to something, to their front and left before he dropped back to all fours.

"Saw something, a building," Porkchop explained. "I can't see the path there though, too many bushes. Want to let me go first? Don't need you to clear the way anymore."

Kaius nodded, stepping forwards onto the mossy flagstones to let his companion pass. Porkchop took point, leading them left down the trail they had found.

Grumbling at the lacking light, Kaius scanned the area around them. Watching for threats. So far there had been nothing, but now that they were heading for a structure they were bound to run into obstacles. He hoped he could unlock Low Light Vision before then.

There was only one problem. Putting in enough effort to get the System to offer you a skill without there being any threat or challenge was slow. That went double for skills that had no knowledge based requirements, and had no associated action. If he didn't have Porkchop whose eyes could easily pierce the darkness, he would have turned back far earlier.

If he didn't get the skill soon, he was bound to get it in their first fight. The sheer pressure of having to fight while seeing so little would ensure it. Though, he was glad it wasn't completely pitch black. He needed some light to get offered the right skill.

"Kaius. Up ahead." His companion said, slowing down his pace.

He snapped his attention to the front, peering through the murky shadow, trying to spot movement.

"Enemies?" Kaius asked.

"No," Porkchop said, flicking his ears. "The path, it splits."

Kaius urged them onwards. After a short distance he saw what he meant. The section of path they had followed diverged. It shot off to the left and right, while their path forwards continued for a bare dozen strides before suddenly terminating in a tangled wall of vines and needle-like thorns the length of his finger.

Explorer's Toolkit started to tingle.

Mouth pressing into a thin line, Kaius considered their options. He had suspicions.

"Lets go right. It's in the direction of the structure you saw."

Porkchop grunted, setting off. Kaius followed close behind.

Barely a minute later and they hit another split.

"Right."

A dead end.

"Fuck." Kaius's mind raced. He couldn't be sure. Not yet.

They back tracked, taking the other turn in the path. They hit more branching paths.

"Direction?" Porkchop asked.

Kaius shook his head. "Keep following this one."

They hit another wall of the bramble. Explorer's Toolkit was all but screaming to him. He was right.

It was a maze.

Kaius tapped Porkchop on the hip, gesturing for the meles to stop when he looked back. He shared the news, getting a low growl of frustration in response.

"We could cut through? It's only bushes." Porkchop said, staring at the thick hedges that lined the path.

Kaius frowned, torn. His skill was far too active for this to be simple scenery. It was keeping him oriented, aware of the direction they were aiming for, even after constant turns. Yet it seemed like it was more than that. A constant low level warning.

He should at least try.

"Stay here."

He walked a little down the path, making sure he stayed close enough that Porkchop was still in his vision. Turning to one of the bramble walls, he drew his sword back, slashing at the tangled thorns. His sword cut through the first branch.

The hedge flailed. Thorn ridden vines unravelled, thrashing through the air like tentacles. Lashing in the direction of the biting steel.

With a curse Kaius leapt back, eyes wide as he watched the living whips tear across where he had been standing. Some vines crept out, crawling along the path as they searched for the interlocutor. Kaius backed up, avoiding the questing limbs.

After a few moments the writhing brambles slowed, retracting back into the hedge. Kaius stared at the spot, brow furrowed.

"No way we are cutting through." He whispered.

They were trapped in the maze.