NOVPUBGold light filled the gully, thrown off by the burning logs that were slowly reducing themselves to embers a good two hundred strides down its length. The flames threw the corpse of the drake into relief, silhouetting it in shadow.
Kaius searched for a target to practice his latest skill on, eyes piercing the gloom with ease. There was plenty of stone around, but even he wasn’t reckless enough to think hacking at boulders with an explosive skill was a good idea. Even if he was protected from the detonation, he doubted that extended to shrapnel.
He settled on a handspan-thick branch that had been thrown free from their deadfall trap. Rushing over, he groaned as the thin blue-white line of energy that surrounded his blade fizzled out a few seconds later.
No matter, it was a cheap skill, and he’d regenerated enough mana to use it a dozen times over if he wanted to.
He used the skill again, taking a high stance with his blade poised to chop. Arcane brilliance zapped along the edge of his blade—lighting his surroundings in a flat bluish hue. It crackled, fluctuating like a lyre’s string as the magic fought to keep itself contained.
Grinning madly, Kaius struck. It wasn’t an especially hard blow—if he went all out, mundane wood wouldn’t hold up, which would ruin the test. He still cut into the green hardwood with ease.
A shrill whine filled the air as dissolutive magic ate through the branch, growing in intensity over the space of two heartbeats as the thin wire of magic around his blade warbled and shuddered.
Then there was a crack, loud enough that Kaius jolted despite expecting it. Wood shattered, the branch splitting in two. Splinters and shards erupted from the site of his attack, his eyes instinctively closing.
The line of energy coating the edge of his blade had seemed to contract—condensing at the point of impact. Suddenly overloaded by the density of power, it exploded.
**Ding! Mystic’s Rend has reached level 2!**
With far less force than Kaius had been expecting.
He’d hoped for something earth shattering. A power worthy of a Heroic skill, vaporising the branch and liquifying the stone beneath. That hadn’t happened—sure, he’d split the branch cleanly. He could have done that without the skill, though.
He frowned, crouching down.
Only for his eyes to widen as he saw the result of his skill. Right under where the branch had lain, the stone was cratered. A hole, perhaps half a handspan deep, by two wide, had been gouged in the stone.
Kaius felt like slapping himself on the back of the head. The description had said it was a shaped explosion. Even if it was small at level one, the force had been directed outwards to a point—ruining the sturdy surface.
Suddenly glad he’d had the sense to not attack one of the many boulders, Kaius found himself reevaluating the skill. If it had done that to solid stone, at level one at that, what would it do inside of his enemies?
Not bad at all, especially for only sixty mana.
“Satisfied?” Ianmus called from where he and Porkchop were sitting.
“It’s not as flashy as I thought,” Kaius replied, rising from his crouch to walk back to their still-cooking meal. “But yes, very.”
“Great! That means it’s my turn!” Porkchop said as he sat back down.
Kaius only grinned as his brother’s eyes unfocused before he could reply.
A few minutes later, Porkchop shook his head, returning his focus to their surroundings.
“There’s some good stuff here!” he said, clearly excited.
“Oh? Do share.” Ianmus replied.
Porkchop jumped into his explanation.
The first of his options was The Warden’s Maw, a skill that would summon fangs of jade around his jaw, which would launch themselves deep into a target's flesh if Porkchop bit someone.
Kaius was immediately partial to the skill—even if he was a Bastion, Porkchop would need at least a couple of skills focused on directly damaging his opponents. Overspecialisation would leave him weak if he was ever caught in a proper fight without their help.
Holding his tongue, he still waited for the other options before saying his piece. Afterall, there was no reason to think it would be the only offensive skill.
The next option Porkchop had received was the Protector of the Glade. It was an interesting option—an ability that would make him far harder to move and far tougher, and would last as long as he stood in one spot.
Potent as it may have been, especially considering the synergy it had with a number of Porkchop’s general skills, Kaius was still uncertain it was the right choice. Not only was staying immobile a risky proposition in any circumstance, it would also deeply conflict with Porkchop’s role in their party.
Kaius was an agile fighter, and if Porkchop was supposed to soak up hits for him wherever possible, he needed to move. It was as simple as that. Let alone the fact that both of them had their work cut out for them keeping Ianmus safe—the man was so terrifyingly fragile.
Thankfully, Porkchop clearly felt the same, for he rejected the skill outright in the same breath that he explained it.
His brother’s final option was something called Concussive Parry. A skill that would imbue a parry with an explosive force that was explicitly focused on the weapon and limb carrying it. If it didn’t shatter the weapons that he parried directly, it was highly likely to disarm his opponents—if not literally dis-arm them.
There was something to be said for a defensive skill with offensive applications—Porkchop did it brilliantly with his Prismatic Shardwall, afterall—but Kaius still favoured the first skill.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What’re you thinking?” Kaius asked with bated breath.
“The Warden’s Maw, I need an offensive skill, and it sounds like it would be very easy to work into my normal style.” Porkchop replied, his voice clear and resolute.
Kaius held back from sighing in relief. He was worried that if Porkchop waited any longer to pick one, the system would start to offer them less and less. Unlikely, considering that the ability to leverage hostile force was a cornerstone of all combat classes, but a proposition that worried him nonetheless.
Ianmus nodded in agreement as well—none of the team seeing any reason to pick anything else.
With there being no alternative viewpoints to consider, Porkchop moved quickly. His eyes stared into the mid-space as he made his selection, before he jolted to his feet a few moments later.
Mana surged within his brother's core a moment later, and four conical spikes of jade popped into existence. They hovered right next to his brother's jaw, flanking the position of his incisors.
Kaius stared at the jade spikes with glee. Each one was three handspans long, and tapered slowly to a viciously sharp tip.
Shaking himself with excitement, Porkchop rushed over to the cold body of the drake and hurled himself into a lunging bite. As his teeth sunk into its flesh, the tips of the Warden’s Maw touched the drakes scales.
They launched forwards in the same instant, accelerating so explosively that they seemed to vanish before his very eyes. He just barely caught the spikes coming to a halt inside the drakes flesh, before the summoned jade faded away. The only remaining evidence of their existence, four finger-width holes left in its flesh.
A strong skill, one that would keep his brother safe—that was good.
He smiled as Porkchop huffed in joy, and raced back over to them.
“Did you see that? It punched right through its scales!” his brother replied, nearly bowling him over in his excitement.
Kaius laughed, boxing Porkchop’s ears.
“Careful, you fat oaf!”
Porkchop only snorted, shoving him with a paw. The casual move sent him thudding to the ground.
Ianmus cleared his throat, pulling their eyes towards him right as Porkchop was about to pounce.
“I do believe that it is my turn?” Ianmus said, cocking his brow at them.
“Ah, right. Sorry.” Kaius replied, pushing his hair out of his face with an apologetic smile.
“Yeah—go ahead. We’ll behave.” Porkchop added, backing up before taking a seat once more.
Ianmus only rolled his eyes—though he smiled too—before his attention turned to his system notification.
He shared his findings shortly after.
It was an interesting collection of skills that he’d been offered—two of the options were metamagic, an indication that the system was aware of his attempt to twist the class in the direction of freecasting.
Burning Light was the first offer. Every light based offensive spell he used—which was all of them, thanks to his Solar affinity—would linger. Wounds would fill with the scorching power of the sun, leaving behind an affliction that would continue to burn his enemies from the inside out.
It wasn’t a glamorous, or particularly honourable one, but Kaius knew it would be potent indeed. Most metamagic scaled at least partially to the spell they were linked to. If Ianmus used one of his overcharged beams, or the light plane he had used at the end of the boggart den, the affliction that it left behind would be the stuff of nightmares.
Even he wouldn’t feel comfortable dealing with such a contagion, not until his Rapid Adaptation was far higher level at least.
The next metamagic Ianmus was offered was almost the complete opposite. Chlorophyllic Rejuvenation. When applied to a healing spell, it would cause it to also restore half that amount of stamina, and vice versa.
Simple, but effective. Apparently it was rather costly though, and Kaius was unsure of its true value. There was something to be said for an efficient economy of time—he’d be pulling double duty for a single channeled spell—but he wasn’t sure if it was worth it compared to the other options. Afterall, Ianmus could already restore both with free-casting, it just took a lot of time and effort.
Ianmus’s final option was a sorcery. Ray of Tender Recovery. A healing spell, one that was at the rarity cap of what his class could provide. It was of only middling strength—restoring only five-hundred health—but it had a miniscule mana cost and a quick channel time. An emergency response that could easily save one of their lives.
In the end, he didn’t get to share his input. Ianmus made an executive decision to pick the healing spell.
“It’s simple really—even the most devout free-caster needs at least a few sorceries to rely on when time is of the essence. With this, I will have rounded out three spells that focus on the full core of Solar magic. Physical enhancements, ray attacks, and restoration magic. I already rejected a heal last level to further cement my path, but now is a good time to pick it. After this I can fully focus on abilities that will enhance my free casting” Ianmus explained when Kaius asked how he had made his choice.
“Besides, it’s a good healing spell. With how often the two of you seemingly try to compete on who can get stabbed the most, something fast and cheap will get plenty of use—I’m sure of it.” Ianmus said, giving them a knowing smile.
Now it was Kaius’s turn to roll his eyes. They weren’t that bad. Sure, they got injured more than most—but they had the skills to handle it, and it was to be expected that they’d get a little battered when they did things like fight drakes.
A moment later, Ianmus accepted the skill.
When he’d returned to the world of the living, he scooped his staff off the stone floor, a focused look on his face.
Solar mana flowed around him a moment later—coalescing in seconds. From the conglomeration of magical potential, a white scintillating beam shot forth to splash against Kaius’s chest. It felt…good. The magic seeped into him with the warmth of a gentle embrace, and the soft caress of a summer’s breeze.
“Huh.” he said, looking down at his chestplate—still slightly damp from the water he had used to wash off his earlier gore.
“What’d it feel like?” Porkchop asked with curiosity.
“Like getting a hug.” Kaius replied.
“That’s fairly normal for solar healing magic—it’s an affinity of dichotomies. Searing heat, and invigorating growth handed out in equal measure.” Ianmus explained.
Kaius nodded, only for the faint scent of smoke to enter his nose. His eye’s widened in a panic, head snapping to the pan where the slab of drake meat had started to scorch.
“Shit!”
He dived for the pan, the rush of fear joined by the chuckling amusement of his companions.
Savages, they had no respect for his artistry.
Turning the heat down with a flutter of mana, Kaius sighed in defeat as he flipped the steak to reveal a surface that had been seared far too black by half.
“Guess I'll have this one.” he groaned.
Resigned to his subpar starter—because of course he would cook another, he just didn’t want to waste food—Kaius settled in to watch the cooking food with closer attention.
They still had a fair few hours until Ro would arrive, so it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
He just hoped she wouldn’t be too harsh with her teasing for the state of the drake’s carcass.
