Runeblade

B2 Chapter 175: Camaraderie pt. 2

As a group they left the hard packed road that cut its way through the sun-drenched Hanset Woods. Cutting across the berm, they made their way through the trees. Stout and healthy things, a mixture of oaks, ash, and many others that spread a wide canopy.

Light underbrush crunched underfoot as Kaius took the lead, plunging deep enough that they could no longer be seen from the road. As he looked around his surroundings, Kaius couldn’t help but feel strangely out of place. For all this place was nominally similar to the Sea, it was too…loose. They were nearly a hundred strides into the tree line and he could still clearly see the road. Breaks in the canopy were common, and the underbrush had none of the hearty vitality of the brush that rose as tall as he was that he was used to.

Eventually finding a decent dip in the ground, Kaius waved Porkchop over and unfastened their Dimensional Tent. Setting the storage bag in a small hollow surrounded by bushes, he activated the artefact with his mana before promptly scrunching his eyes shut and shielding them with his arm for good measure.

No need to subject himself to interdimensional truths beyond mortal comprehension. Not today, and hopefully never again.

As the tent materialised with a subtle pop, Kaius heard Ianmus jump next to him.

“What the hells is tha—hang on, why are you covering your eyes?” Ianmus started, before addressing him with plain confusion.

Groaning in resignation, he opened his eyes once more.

“Ocular skill. First time he opened it he got a little spooked by what he saw.” Porkchop explained with a snicker.

Taking a last look at the thin leather tent, vaguely making out the impression of another bush nestled amongst its cousins, Kaius turned to Ianmus and sighed. “It’s dimensional, and has an illusion cloak. Some sort of janky spatial effect didn’t react well with me when I saw it, I recommend against looking if you ever are able to.”

“Now come on, we can talk inside.”

Porkchop led the way, diving into their space to nestle himself on the wide cushioned mattress covered in furs. Their mage, on the other hand, stared at the interior in shock as he numbly made his way in.

Stepping in after the man, Kaius let the flap fall closed and took a seat on the spacious floor. Ianmus was still standing in the centre of the space, turning slowly as he took in the interior with wide eyes.

“Why would you hide something so useful?” Ianmus asked absentmindedly. “I can think of a dozen times being able to hide in plain sight would have saved us plenty of trouble on our journey. Let alone the comfort.”

Kaius grunted, reaching over to Porkchop to retrieve their traveler's pan, the chunk of spider leg, and as many cooking supplies as he thought he would need.

Keeping the tent a secret had been a tactical choice, if Ianmus had ever proved himself untrustworthy, an unknown ability to hide in plain sight would have been invaluable.

He told the mage as much as he went about cracking open the spider leg on a flat chopping board. The meat inside was delicate. Almost reminiscent of the rare crawfish he and Father would catch in the streams that networked the Sea.

“It wasn’t meant as a slight,” he assured. “We just wanted a gold piece tucked in our boot for if everything went to shit. Bit pointless now you’re bound by a similar secret.”

Frowning down at him, Ianmus looked displeased at his reasoning. He could understand, it was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.

Eventually though, the mage sighed in acceptance and took his seat across from him.

They sat there in silence for a moment as he diced and spiced the spider meat. The questions would come soon, he was sure of it - but he didn’t want to press the issue.

If only he had some butter—if the spider was like crawfish it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, lard would have to do.

Ianmus sat with his elbows on his knees, head propped up by his hands as a scrunched expression of intense concentration stood frozen on his face. A moment later he sat up slowly and looked between them.

“I assume much of what you have told me was a falsity born out of necessity?” he asked.

Kaius bobbed his head, while Porkchop took the moment to respond.

“In a sense. Downplayed, details twisted and changed, and certain things omitted, but the broad strokes were there.”

Ianmus strummed his fingers against the canvas floor of the tent.

“This wasn’t your first Honour, was it?” he asked, watching them intently.

“My seventh, Porkchop’s sixth.” Kaius confirmed, looking up from his work to meet the half-elf’s eyes.

They widened in shock, a thin hiss escaping his clenched teeth. “So many? No wonder you are so strong. What’s the one Porkchop couldn’t get?”

Smirking slightly, Kaius raised his dominant hand, showing off the glyph that embossed his palm. “First one to discover glyph-binding. That’s not all, there’s bonuses too. Ones we’ve found are being the first in our ‘cohort’--whatever that means—as well as achieving one unclassed, and sometimes doing something solo. Though the last one gets murky; some honours are exclusively for doing certain feats solo.”

Rocking backwards at his reveal, Ianmus stared at him mutely for a drawn out moment.

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“Unclassed…?” he finally forced out, slowly looking between them. As soon as he finished the word he trailed off, falling silent as he gathered his thoughts.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Ianmus said slowly, chewing on his lip. “The phase shift.”

Kaius nodded slowly, methodically finishing his prep for their meal before he activated the Traveller’s Pan

“It was. Though it was unintentional; we were just trying to survive.” he replied, voice softening to a whisper as he thought back on the year of constantly living on the edge. The stress and tension that each day would be their last. It had honed him, and he had loved it, but there was still a weight to the experience.

A level of respect demanded that could not be denied.

“I…how?” Ianmus asked, curiosity and disbelief warring in his voice.

At the very least there was no anger in it. No hatred or accusation. That had been what worried Kaius the most.

“A year trapped in the second layer of the Depths. As unclassed no less.” Porkchop explained, shuffling closer on the fur layered mattress that enveloped him. As large as he had grown, there would be only just enough room for them to share the space. “One of the things Kaius forgot to mention is that there are also Minor and Major honours. We got a minor one for surviving a year in the Depths unclassed, and a Major for slaying a guardian. The latter was what kicked off the change, and gave us access to our classes.”

Ianmus whipped his head over to Porkchop, staring at him intently. “A whole year? How?”

He looked back to Kaius, then started looking between him and his brother rapidly.

“Your legacy.” he stated, settling on Porkchop once more. “You helped Kaius complete his own? I know completed legacies are common amongst the meles.”

“No,” Kaius said with a shake of his head. “I already had my own. But you are correct, they are how we survived, and eventually thrived. Once we found out about Honours, we pushed as hard as we could.”

Ianmus stared at him incredulously. “That…There have been no higher race dynasties with a complete legacy since the Eternal Empire. Not publicly at least.” his almond eyes searched Kaius’s face. “Who are you, Kaius? Why would you be so far from your people? Why are you not with them now? And why on all the gods hold dear would you attempt a Guardian?”

The deep weight of his grief revealed itself to Kaius once more, settling upon him like a leaden mantle. Weighing him down with the magnitude of his loss, and his responsibility to hold the perpetrators to account.

He breathed, feeling the emotion and letting it pass as his eyes drifted closed. When he opened them once more, he saw the contrition and concern in Ianmus’s face and smiled at him wearily.

“That...is a long story, but one I think we perhaps have time for.” he said slowly.

“It started when I was young, living in the Sea with my Father…”

….

Kaius told his tale, and he told it well, using his preoccupation with their lunch as an excuse to distract himself whenever it got too much. Porkchop would jump in then, filling in the gaps whenever he no longer had the stamina to continue.

They held nothing back, not at this point. His life in the forest, his lack of knowledge about his background. The flight from the tracker, and his meeting with Porkchop. Their battles and their plights, and the Honours they had earned on their journey.

He spoke of the weight of desperation during that year. His need to know of his father’s fate, and the dire tidings he returned to - learning that it was the Onyx Temple who were ultimately responsible.

Ianmus was a good listener. He had sat there enraptured in his tale, asking questions when appropriate, and giving the right amount of shocked gasps, cosmirations, and congratulations where needed. All in all, it made for a great bonding activity for their team. Far better than he had ever hoped it would go, at least.

They even shared their builds, and the existence of their additional racial traits and Heroic classes. That had fascinated Ianmus. He’d begged them to trawl through their old notifications, a boring and focus intensive experience, so that he could learn of their requirements. Something about building a ‘framework’ to understand class requirements better.

Ianmus too had shared his own. He did have a Rare class. Novitiate Solar Theurge, a class that encompassed both sorcery and free casting—and one that could easily bend in either direction further down the path.

He had his own legacy skills—five from the college, and two from his father. Most were merges of three to five, though one was seven. His other skills were nothing to sniff at either: three Unusual skills that he had acquired through dedicated shedding of blood and sweat. A good foundation—one they would be able to build upon handedly as they acquired more Honours in preparation for the second tier.

In all honesty, he was surprised Ianmus hadn’t gotten an Unusual class. If he had to guess, the sheltered nature of collegiate training had offset much of the effect his large number of legacy and high rarity skills would have had. Still, that was in some ways good news—with the feats they were acquiring, and the Honour he had gained, Kaius would be surprised if he didn’t completely skip a rarity and jump to at least Unique in the second tier.

Kaius finished his tale at the same time he finished cooking their lunch. Switching the pan off, a warm and spicy scent filled their tent. It smelt good, but odd. Remarkably similar to crawfish in the end, but without the tang of seafood that he was used to.

“And that’s it.” he said, pushing the pan away as he fetched some bowls.

“Amazing, and terrible for you to have experienced such.” Ianmus said with a shake of his head. Then his eyes blazed, impassioned and fierce. “The Onyx Temple are the worst of blackguards, and I would be more than happy to assist you in your blood debt.”

Kaius nodded his head in gratitude.

“I only request one thing.” Ianmus followed up.

“Oh?” Kaius asked, tilting his head at the man. He doubted he was trying to leverage something out of him, but he was curious about what he wanted.

“Take me with you to the end, and I will bleed as much as I have to to keep up. These Honours…Ekum, and the phases. It’s a mystery on a never before seen scale. So much could be found, and so much progress could be made. Let alone your magic, the scale and significance of it.” Ianmus said with fervour. “If I let this slip by I would never be able to sleep again.”

Kaius grinned, and his brother chuffed with joy.

“Of course.”

“We need you just as much; a god himself said so.” Porkchop quipped.

“Good…good—I am thankful.” Ianmus said with a bow of his head. “Now, bonded as a team in truth, I wish to ask for your thoughts on my next available skill. That fight pushed me to level forty-one.”

Kaius waved him off. “None of that. First, we eat. We can all delve into our statuses after lunch.”

Ladling the fried spider into bowls, he passed them out amongst his team, a budding warmth growing within him as he watched their latest member—both in deed and spirit—accept his cooking with a thankful smile. With no more secrets, and with Ianmus having taken the first step to supremacy, he hoped they would be able to keep their bond for years to come.