(Second Book Complete!) Runeblade: A Delving & Skill Merging LitRPG

Julian quaffed a tonic, the alcoholic burn of it’s solvent base lost in the wash on his many agonies. His entire body felt like one giant bruise, and he was pretty sure he’d cracked his forearm when he’d blocked that Gold’s axe — to say nothing of his stabwounds that were saturating his gambison.

**Ding! You have imbibed a Tonic (Rare, Tier II): Improved Fleshknit Tincture**

Alchemical fire hit his system like a hammerblow. Health roared within his body, spurred to mania by the tonic as a soul-deep itch crawled through his flesh. Unlike a true rejuvenation tonic, it would drain his reserves of health — but it was fast, and that’s all that mattered right now.

Ahead of him, Kaius sprinted through the trees like a demon. The delver was so fucking fast. He couldn’t put it down to the difference in their kit. Scalemail might have been more flexible than light plate, but they were both in the same weight class. No, Kaius was just stronger than him. And yet, the man was a hybrid class. Even if blending a skirmisher and mage was unheard of, it still meant his stats would be spread more thinly. Or, it should have. The man was still faster, an impossibility that churned in Julian’s gut.

Violet light erupted from Kaius’s feet. He flickered, fuzzing out of focus as every stride turned into a strange, lurching thing that carried him even faster.

Julian grit his teeth — he couldn’t just let himself be left behind. Not only was it an embarrassment, leaving himself isolated and alone on the battlefield was dangerous. He couldn’t call his charger. In the distance Adrian held his arbalest in an unsteady grip, his back a bleeding ruin of exposed bone. Even with the bleeding staunched, it would take time for the lord to heal — and one of his retainers treated the severed leg of the other only a few strides behind him.

A man roared behind Julian, the sound followed by a heavy thump. Moments later, the Gold barbarian flew past — fang marks on his chest slowly weeping. The wounds were visibly shrinking — the bastard had a healing skill. Porkchop raced after the man, his heavy plate clacking with every step. Crystal spikes erupted before the greater beast in a wave. A heavy paw smashed down. The Gold blocked. Porkchop crushed him all the same, leveraging his bulk and weight to drive the Gold down onto the spikes.

Screaming in defiance, the Gold rolled to the side and launched to his feet. Whirling his axe high, energy surged through the weapon — gold filigree winding up its haft to spread through the head. He cut.

Julian watched in shock as Porkchop let it land. Cleaving steel slammed into the greater beast’s chest. Chunks of black metal and blood erupted from the impact, and Porkchop stilled. For a terrible moment, the sight of the frozen greater beast filled Julian with dread — had he taken a mortal blow?

Rolling thunder erupted from the greater beast’s throat. The barbarian roared, ripping his axe free, cutting force building on the edge of his weapon. He slammed it home into Porkchop’s fractured chestplate, driving it down to the haft. Taking on a slight gurgle, the thunder deepened.

Laugher, Julian realised. The greater beast was laughing. He staggered to a halt, staring in shock.

“Are you having fun, little man?” Porkchop growled. Jagged, crystalline metal swallowed his paw. He swiped down. The barbarian blocked with the haft of their axe, testing strength with strength. One of his knees buckled. “Because I am.”

An arrow burst through the barbarian’s back as the Gold roared. Blood erupted from the his mouth as the shot detonated, coating their chest. Staggering from the surprise attack, he was caught flatfooted as Porkchop’s next crushing smash caught him in the belly. He went airborne — crashing into a tree somewhere behind Julian.

The greater beast bounded after him. Porkchop had ravaged a warband back at camp — but they had been poorly trained thugs. Even the Silvers would have had poor quality classes, what with the size of the groups they’d been fighting in. This was an elite Gold, tossed around like they were a child! Even with all of the natural advantages and powerful legacy a greater meles was supposed to have, it just shouldn’t be. It was against the natural order.

“Focus, lordling,” the monstrosity said, their voice more focused and directed than before. “Brokenlight still hungers. I can deal with this one with the help of my backline, but you need to gather your men and support Kaius from range. Use your mounts — if Brokenlight chases one of you, my brother will struggle to stop him.”

He’d stopped running. Why? Julian kicked off, heeding the greater beast’s warning. It had barely been seconds since he’d stopped, but that was plenty of time in battle. Ahead, Adrian and his uninjured retainer, Sir Violetguard, had hauled themselves back into the saddle. Their wounded companion was slumped across the back of Violetguard’s mount. That wasn’t good — the added bulk would slow the mount down. Violetguard would have to be extra careful to avoid Brokenlight’s eye.

Calling his own mount with a shrill whistle, Julian ran to meet them. Galloping hooves sounded in the dark a moment later. His mount was a creature of the wind, flowing between the trunks. Dematerialising his shield, Julian snagged the horn of his saddle. The sudden jolt pained his still-healing arm.

“Adrian!” he called out to his teammate, pulling up beside him. “Where’s Kel? We need to support the delver.”

“What of the other Gold and Edmund? And what of your men?”

“My men are dead, so is Edmund. Now let us leave.”

Adrian gave him a clipped nod. It tugged at his healing back, drawing a wince from the man. The wound was grievous, but at least there wasn’t visible bone anymore.

Before they could move, Adrian’s injured man shoved himself off the back of Violetguard’s mount. He hit the ground heavily, grunting in pain.

“What in the hells are you doing, Humboldt?” Adrian demanded.

“My job,” the man grunted. Pushing himself up, he slapped his severed thigh. “I’m dead fucking weight like this. Can’t shoot slumped over the saddle, and the added weight will slow Merrin down. He can’t keep you safe.”

Adrian ground his teeth, clearly unhappy with his answer. His man shuffled back to the nearest tree. Summoning his crossbow to hand, he leaned back against the trunk.

“I’ll watch our backs. Put a bolt in the back of the head of that Gold if he slips away from the greater beast.”

A good man, Julian thought as he gave the retainer a nod. Adrian had picked well.

“Fine,” Adrian said. “But take a fucking stealth tonic and stay silent — gods’ know what’s going to be attracted to all this noise.”

The man raised a shimmering bottle of grey liquid and winked. “Already on it, my lord.”

Adrian gave the man a final look and spurred his mount into motion. Close on his heels, Julian pulled up beside his teammate. They rose hard, chasing the muffled sounds of battle. It sounded different now — a constant ring of steel on steel. Kaius must have engaged, but it was hard to track their engagement in the gloom. The sound bounced strangely off the trunks.

Julian braced himself for the coming fight, and slotted another bolt of Knight’s Doom into his crossbow. Adrian did the same, grunting as he tugged on the string of his massive arbalest. He dreaded what they would find ahead. Porkchop might have held his own against the Gold barbarian, but Brokenlight was stronger and heavily armoured. Worse, Kaius had none of the size and strength of a greater beast. He was a man alone, facing off against someone with a level two thirds greater than his own.

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The distinctive snap of a crossbow sounded up ahead and to their right. “There!” Julian called, tugging gently on his reins.

In moments, two riders raced out of the distant dark — one of them resetting their crossbows. Julian’s heart thumped at the missing man. The gloom made it impossible to tell the features of the pair. Had Kel fallen? He might have suspected the bastard for treachery, but a fool he was — the man had been loyal.

The rider’s adjusted course. In moments, Julian recognised the enamelled ice-blue flower trim on the right rider. He slumped in his saddle — Kel was alive!

Turning wide, Kel linked up with their formation, riding at his right. As he should.

“Julian! Is the petulant rat slain?”

“He is! The other delvers are dealing with the barbarian. What happened to the surviving mage?”

“Dead! But not before he unseated Sir Rimekeep right next to Brokenlight.”

Julian grunted. This entire endeavour had been a shit show. Too many men had been lost.

“Then let us avenge him. We ride to support Kaius from range.”

Kel cackled. “We best hurry then!”

A cracking boom hit Julian in the chest. Flickering blue light erupted through the distant trees — a writhing snake of lightning that sundered the chest of a knight in black. In that moment of clarity, Julian focused on Brokenlight’s blade. It was a hole in the world, reflectionless and without depth, swallowing even the glow of Kaius’s spell.

“Void,” he whispered as the light vanished and the night swallowed the dueling pair. Of all their rotten luck. It was an affinity as rare as it was potent. They had to move fast.

The clash of blades grew louder. Two warriors danced at the edge of view, little more than shadow puppets of embodied violence. Revealed by stature and a blade that melted into the night, Kaius roared. Shattering flames of molten glass erupted from his blade, fueled by a searing pyre of mana. Julian stiffened. Gods, the expenditure — how did he fuel such a terrible skill?

Kaius hacked down. A sword of purest black caught the blow edge to edge. Julian’s stomach flipped, expecting that to be it. The Gold’s blade was coated in void. It would shear through the delver’s blade, and his chest in short order.

The swords stuck firm. He gasped.

Grunting in exertion, Brokenlight threw his weight into his parry. Kaius snapped his wrists, breaking the bind and sliding his blade towards his opponent's hilt. Arcane flames brushed Brokenlight’s forearm. He screamed. The Gold screamed. The flames vanished.

“Fire!” he yelled, taking snap aim. His men loosed in a volley, five bolts tearing through the air.

Brokenlight waved in their direction, ripping open a hole in the world. It swallowed their bolts without care. Julian swallowed thickly — what the hells were they supposed to do now?

Yet the moment of distraction cost the Gold. A spear of deepest indigo snapped into existence just beside Kaius. It shot forward, shattering the air. Winter came with it, the hoarfrost sprouting from the ground. Brokenlight jolted and slammed the point of his blade into the ground. A razor thin wall of black erupted in front of him — swallowing the tip of the spear. It winked out an instant later, and the severed haft of frigid ice smashed the Gold in the shoulder. He stumbled back.

Julian grit his teeth and led his men on a wide angle. Their volley had failed — but the distraction had created an opening. He could work with that.

“Stagger your shots!” Julian hissed, wrenching on the string of his crossbow.

Kaius was on the reeling Gold in moments, but not fast enough.

Faster than Julian could follow, the Gold stepped in and punched Kaius in his armoured jaw. A bolt of twisted metal erupted from the delver’s hand, ripping towards Brokenlight’s knee. Desolate emptiness snapped open in its path, swallowing the projectile. Undeterred, the delver snatched his blade in a half-sword grip. He drove it down like a shortspear, hellish redlight erupting within. It punched through the Gold’s dented breastplate — but not before Brokenlight thrust into Kaius’s. This time, void acted like it should, shearing clean through scale and flesh in equal measure. A black point sprouted from Kaius’s back.

Brokelight cut down and out. Blood fountained. The delver only snarled in vicious glee, their distended guts slowly writhing back into place. Seizing his blade with both hands, the delver cut down without pause. Fracturing light erupted once more. A barrier of void opened in front of the delver's attack. He simply, impossibly, cut through it — magic itself severed like common cloth.

Breastplate torn open, Brokenlight staggered back. Lightning followed.

Demon. He was a demon. There was no other explanation. No man should fight like that. Void couldn’t be cut. Wounds had meaning. Spells needed to be channeled. None of it made any fucking sense!

The crack of Adrian’s arbalest snapped him out of his stupor. Julian pulled his own trigger, another Knight’s Bane bolt hurtling into the night. Demon or not, the delver's spell had shown him one thing — Brokenlight’s shields lasted for a split second.

Void ripped open, swallowing Adrian’s shining shot. It winked away — and Julian’s bolt punched clean through the man’s pauldron. The gold roared, flying into a frenzied assault. Another of two of his men fired in quick succession — but Brokenlight was wise to their tricks. The man’s shield held for a moment longer, swallowing both bolts. Julian hissed in displeasure, continuing to circle the battle.

Kaius gave ground to Brokenlight’s blitz, step by calm step. Every slash should have cleaved clean through the delver’s body. Backed by Gold strength, they should have broken the delver’s guard. Yet Kaius fought with flowing grace. Blades sung through the night, and with every peal a spark shone brighter atop the delver’s crystal weapon. In the barest instants when Brokenlight broke their bind to transition from downwards cleave, to thrust, to upwards slash and back again, Kaius’s off hand flitted from his hilt to unleash twisted spikes of metal. Each one threw off Brokenlight’s rhythm, a steady drain as he was forced to summon barrier after barrier.

It was a style Julian had only caught glimpses of in his training bout with the man. The strange, ephemeral moments of pause and hesitation when they had crossed blades suddenly made sense. A dance of steel and spell.

The glimmering point atop the delver’s blade grew brighter and brighter, until it pulsed and flared with unpredictable intensity. Julian could hear it: a slowly growing hiss that sat beneath the grunts and clashing blows.

Kaius needed an opening. Julian would give it to him.

“Adrian! Your strongest force bolt, behind the Gold! The rest of you, aim for the man himself — volley fire!” he hissed quietly.

“It’ll hit the delver too,” Adrian warned.

“Do it!”

The man was a demon. He’d be fine.

Sliding a common bolt into place, Julian took aim. They all did. Kaius glanced in his direction, silent as a descending slash slipped through his guard and cleaved through the meat of his thigh.

“Kaius wants to know what you’re doing.”

Julian jolted in his saddle. Porkchop. Judging by his men reacting the same, they’d all heard it. He grit his teeth.

He thought back at the connection as hard as he could. “Adrian’s going to land an explosive force bolt behind Brokenlight, the rest of us are going to aim at him to throw him off!”

“No need to shout.” the greater beast paused for a moment. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Had the delvers been talking this entire time?! The distraction of mind to mind communication should have been lethal, even with Rings of Unseen Empathy!

Driving the thought away, Julian took aim at the side of Brokenlight’s head.

“Fire!”

Their bolts flew in a unified crack. Brokenlight growled, waving his hand to shield himself. Thunder hammered Julian again as Kaius whipped crackling lightning towards the Gold. Adrian's bolt hit the ground, blowing a geyser of dirt into the canopy. The sudden burst of force hurled the two men through the forest — and Brokenlight into the path of Kaius’s spell. It crawled across his armour, bringing a reverberant force that made the metal scream — a sound the gold echoed.

Motes of burning mana fell from the tumbling Delver’s feet. Force erupted at his back, bringing him to a lurching halt. Another second hurtled him towards Brokenlight.

His blade swept high, the point shining like a star — and sprouted fucking teeth. The hooked barbs let loose a slavering scream of hunger as they churned. It punched down through the back of Brokenlight’s helm, a roil of torn metal, blitzed brain and shattered bone.

The teeth vanished. The light faded. Kaius stood tall and yanked his blade free from the man’s head with casual disinterest. As if he had not just slain High Gold. The delver turned, brain dripping from the tip of his blade. He watched them, a silent golem of steel and songlust.

Julian tightened his grip on his crossbow.

Demon.