Runeblade

Chapter 40 : Learning More

Kaius trudged through a cave of shattered rock and spearing roots, Porkchop following close behind. It was dark, far darker than the grove had been. The cave moss that had provided them comforting light had grown sparse as they pushed deeper into the tunnels, leaving just enough light for him to use Low Light Vision to see by.

They'd left the grove weeks ago, pushing deep into the many twisting tunnels that had splintered off from the oversized cavern. The mineshaft that had caught Kaius's attention turned out to be a dead end. All they'd found had been undead miners, rockfall traps, and a small pouch of depths-coin sitting on a plinth at the end. The gold coin had been nice, but it had been annoying to have to turn back so quickly.

In their downtime, he'd spent some time trying to recreate the inadvertent bomb that had blown up their house. Unfortunately, much to his dismay, all he managed to do was create formations that burned themselves out. It seemed whatever had happened, it had been due to some distortion of his runes thanks to working with charcoal and wood. He'd been expecting that; even with the higher than expected mana density, it should have simply burnt itself out.

In the end, his inability to recreate it was no great loss. He was leary of relying too heavily on environmental traps and fighting like a runewright. It could overly influence his class options, and prevent him from gaining recognition from the system for more direct forms of confrontation.

Every now and again would be okay, but it wouldn't be too long until he could work on his spell casting formation, he could be patient.

The other tunnels they now explored were far more convoluted. They sprawled through the earth, intersecting and winding through each other in a confusing mess. Roots clawed free from rock walls, the monochromatic sight of his Low Light Vision making them seem closer to the petrified tentacles of some slumbering horror.

Two or three times an hour, the light would return when a tunnel opened up into a small cavern. Graves dotted the spaces, overgrown with lichens and dense brush. They absolutely crawled with depths-born, always a coinflip if they would be nearly overrun by beasts or undead. Unlike the cavern that held the groves, these spaces in the earth were much smaller. Small enough that engaging one of the dungeon spawn was enough to pull the rest down on their heads.

The beast caverns at least made for good campsites. Without the putrid smell of undead, and with the beasts providing a convenient food source, they were almost comfortable.

His armour had already shown its worth, deflecting claw and blade alike with ease. It dramatically increased the risks he could take in combat, now he only had to worry about the slow attrition of his Health as it expended to heal cracked bone and bruised flesh. Not that he was reckless.

Well. Not anymore.

A careless brush with a shadewolf had left his arm shattered, his armour doing little to protect him from the raw power of its jaws.

When they'd first entered the tunnels Kaius had been worried about straying too far from the glade, concerned about their supplies of water. Thankfully the caverns contained a source often enough that they hadn't had to attempt a retreat for supplies. Whatever intelligence controlled the Great Depths, it seemed to disdain deaths as mundane as thirst and starvation.

In the tunnels themselves traps had become ubiquitous. Blanketing carpets of poisonous puffballs, ambush predators, rockfall traps and more were scattered through the gloomy corridors. Most were natural hazards, but not all. They promised death to the unwary, slowing their exploration to a crawl.

At the very least it had been fantastic for Kaius's skill growth. Low Light Vision had capped itself a few hours ago, his range of vision increasing to a full fifty paces or more - not that he got the most use out of it in the tight confines. He had similarly managed to finish Inspect during one of their cavern skirmishes, now able to reliably identify all of the depths-born they came across. Appraise, Adamant Body, and Explorer's Toolkit had all seen their own growth, with the first skill comfortably butting up against the cap.

Kaius pulled up his Status to check the changes.

Status:

Name: Kaius

Dynasty: Unterstern

Age: 18

Class Selection: 1 Year, 37 weeks, 3 days

Race: Human (Dynastic) - +1 free stats per level

Layer Reached: 2

Resources:

Health - 300/300 (2/min)

Stamina - 200/200 (2/min)

Mana - 140/140 (2/min)

Stats:

Endurance - 30

Vitality - 20

Strength - 20

Dexterity - 20

Intelligence - 12 > 14

Willpower: - 20

Stat Points: 0

Class Skills (0/10):

N/a

General Skills (10/10):

Rapid Adaptation (Heroic) - 15 > 17

Warforged (Unique) - 20

Explorers Toolkit (Unusual) - 6 > 10

Adamant Body (Unique) - 1 > 8

Low Light Vision (Uncommon) - 0 > 20

Mental Visualisation (Uncommon) - 0 > 18

Inspect (Rare) - 0 > 20

Appraise (Rare) - 0 > 19

Sense Illusion (Rare) - 0 > 20

Sense Mana (Rare) - 0 > 20

Bound Artefacts:

A Fathers Gift - Common Growth Longsword

Awakening Conditions-

Gain a class (0/1)

Acquire suitable materials (0/3)

Forge a link (0/1)

Explorer's Toolkit yanked on his attention, drawing his gaze away from the system screen to focus him on the tunnel wall. Something hung there. A wire, thin enough he would have missed it if he hadn't already known to look.

"Wait." Kais said. "Trap."

Porkchop halted behind him.

Advancing slowly, Kaius kept a firm hand on the hilt of his sword. It wouldn't be the first time a 'trap' had turned out to be an ambush predator lying in wait. Scanning the cavern wall that had filled him with unease, Kaius spotted a series of carved square holes recessed into the wall. Positioned at hip height with a small, barely visible, thread cutting across the length of the cavern.

He drew his sword, cutting through the tripwire in one clean stroke. Sharpened metal capped spikes shot out of the holes with a thunk, speeding past his chest. They clattered against the far wall, enough force behind them to kick up dust as they pulverised stone. The wooden hafts of the spears shattered as the mechanism of the trap continued to try to force them outwards.

Behind him Porkchop yelped.

Kaius eyed the trap with a cocked brow. That one was nasty. It was possible they might have failed to pierce his armour, but that was not at all a given considering they had crushed stone. Even then, if he had gotten sandwiched between them and the tunnel wall, he would have shattered a hip at best.

He appraised the trap. The sooner he could merge Identify the better.

Spear Trap:

Depths-wrought Trap

A trap utilising kinetic enchantments to launch steel tipped spears at terrifying speeds. Single use.

"We're good." Kaius said. He moved to the spears, ramming them with his shoulder to break through their cracked hafts. Porkchop moved up behind him, keeping close.

They fell back into a tense silence, prowling forward through the dark. Kaius thought of his status as Observed. He'd needed to know more. At first he had been worried about talking to Porkchop about it. The myths surrounding those that held the systems interest were shadowy. Some lauding them as hero's, others the worst of villains. After hearing Porkchop talk about the burrow settlements that the greater meles resided in, he knew they had their own culture. Crimes against nature were punishable by death, even by accident.

Some of those crimes were arcane to him. Unintended maiming in a spar was fine, but a mistake on the hunt leading to the death of your fellow packmates meant your life was forfeit. They were brutal laws. Cruel, if looked at from the lens of man. Yet Porkchop accepted them without question. It had worried him that being Observed might be some sort of taboo. Like sharing the requirements of a legacy skill without the express permission of one of the Matriarchs.

Yet the more time they spent together, the more Porkchop started to question the rules of his burrow. Kaius had spoken of his own life, of growing and training under the guidance of his father. He'd mentioned the many, many, times he had disobeyed his father. How ignoring his fathers warnings had so often led him to getting injured. How he had grown from that, quickly learning the wisdom in Hasturs years of experience.

Porkchop had been appalled. Apparently, ignoring a burrow elder was a quick way to lose his head. Though secretly Kaius did think his friend had been a little bit of a hypocrite. After all, at the first opportunity he had gotten Porkchop had crossed the mountain range that separated the deep Sea. Something he had been explicitly warned off.

That had been the start of his friend questioning the value of tradition. Oh, often Porkchop still saw the wisdom in it, as did he, but now Kaius could see him questioning. Evaluating if the purpose behind the rule actually served him.

It made Kaius feel like he could finally ask his friend about being Observed. He had to know, and the Matriarchs seemed to share all sorts of knowledge with their burrows that wider society would consider a closely guarded secret.

It still made him nervous.

Chewing on his lip, Kaius fought to suppress the bubbling anxiety that lay heavily in the pit of his stomach.

"Hey, Porkchop," Kaius said, shoving his uncertainty deep.

"Yeah?" His friend called from behind him.

"Did the Matriarchs ever tell you any stories about those Observed by the system?"

"Oooh," Porkchop hummed. "Those are my favourite."

Kaius resisted slumping his shoulders in relief. Barely.

"Oh?" He asked, keeping his tone curious. "Did they say anything about what it means? How it happens?"

"Mmm, a little." Porkchop said. "They are old stories. Though Grandfather was supposed to have been one."

"Grandfather?!" Kaius blurted in surprise. His friend snorted at him.

"Not like that," Porkchop chortled. " I told you that it's hard for beasts to change what they are, but not impossible. Some rage against fate, throw themselves at death. If they live, some gain enough achievements to Evolve to a higher form. Grandfather was a lesser meles. Terrorised the forest for years, then became the first greater meles."

Kaius nodded at his friend's explanation. It was similar to how classes worked. Sure, you got a class evolution in every tier, but if you wanted to climb rarities - increasing the power of your class qualitatively- it took work. You had to push yourself, the demands on your feats and achievements growing with every rank. It didn't explain everything though.

"Wait, so all greater meles are descended from him? How does that work."

"Not everyone," Porkchop explained. "He forged a great host of burrows. With him at the head, it was much less difficult for others to follow his path."

"But you were saying he was an Observed?" Kaius asked.

"Mm." Porkchop huffed from behind him. "Yes. Great achievement. To earn the notice of the system. Made the path a lot easier, lots of rewards."

Kaius's heart thumped. Rewards. He had been unsure if there would be any concrete benefits. He had to know more. It was now or never.

"What if…" Kaius said, his voice shaky. "What if I was. Observed, I mean."

Kaius stopped hearing Porkchops steady footsteps behind him. Turning around he found his friend had stopped dead.

"What?"

"Well." Kaius scratched his head. "Before you fell into the depths and I found you, I stumbled across a natural treasure and-"

"What?!" Porkchop's mental voice rose, causing Kaius to wince as his head throbbed.

"-and I ate it. The system said that consuming one made me worthy of observation?" Kaius's voice trailed off as his friend stared at him mutely.

Porkchop suddenly lurched forwards. Kaius let out an oof as his friend's heavy head drove into his stomach.

"Idiot! Should have told me. We have to push harder!"

"What? What do you mean? Aren't we pushing ourselves plenty hard already?"

"Nothing but old stories," Porkchop grumbled. "But being Observed only happens if you do something you shouldn't be able to. Hard or unlikely, doesn't matter. Do more, the system rewards you. Don't know much more, the stories are always vague."

Porkchop pushed past him, trotting off into the dark of the cavern.

"Come! More Champions are our best bet!"

Kaius smiled as he raced to catch up to his friend. Excitement or no, he couldn't let Porkchop take the lead. No point letting him break a leg on a missed trap. He thanked the gods that being an Observed had gone down well. Any fear he felt of his friend treating him any differently had vanished in the sheer excitement Porkchop showed for him.

He couldn't help but feel the same. Learning that the system's attention might come with rewards? It filled him with a fire. Every scrap of growth they could eek out before facing the Guardian was vital. They were meant to be faced with full teams of experienced Delvers. Ones who could cover each other's backs, and weaknesses. Killing one as a freshly classed man and matured beast was a tall order.

An idea began to percolate in Kaius's mind. A reckless one. The height of stupidity if he was honest with himself. Yet the allure it held was undeniable. What if once he had all of his legacy skills, once he had grown his hoard of Champion defended artefacts, he was strong? If they did manage to earn whatever rewards the system deigned to give them, would it be enough? What if they could escape before he got his class?

What would that do for the strength of his class? What sort of reward would the system give him for doing the impossible?