Runeblade

B2 Chapter 250: Bonefields, pt. 4

Kaius raced through the air, riding a wave of force as he held A Father’s Gift at the ready—aiming to impale the first bone biter he could. Howling laughter bubbled up from his chest, the simple exhilaration of flying across the plateau spiking his heart rate and amplifying the hunger he felt for the blood that was about to be spilled.

Life truly was about the simple things.

Twice, a pair of solar rays shot over his head—momentarily blinding two of the front runners. The crack shot that he was, Ianmus cared little for the pack’s erratic sprint, and hit the biters' recessed eyes with ease.

Whining in pain, the sudden loss of their senses caused them to stumble, breaking the momentum of their charge as the greater pack was forced to race around their crippled vanguard.

One bone biter lunged for him, its strange skull-like jaws widening in a double row of teeth, one of which sat external to its true maw.

Bringing his blade up into a defensive stance, Kaius tapped into the connection he still held to his Expedient Shunt. A secondary detonation erupted directly into the face of the biter, his forward momentum bleeding off.

Dazed by the explosion that had seared its face and forced it backwards, the biter scrambled to the side, clumsy in its confusion.

Kaius lunged inwards, the tip of his Bladerite infused sword sliding perfectly into the gap of unarmoured flesh on its throat. He ripped his blade to the side, tearing open its flesh as hot red blood poured onto the dusty stone below.

More beams glittered over Kaius’s head. They lanced into the pack—keeping the beasts disoriented and on edge.

Clacking its jaws in rage at the pain of the wound, the biter ignored the gaping hole in its neck and corrected its course to rush him with a blur of swiping claws—each one rippling with the force of an unknown skill.

The tell-tale blue motes of Aelina rushed from his feet as Kaius cast Slip Step. World warping around him as he pushed mana through his blade, a thin wire of unstable arcane energy forming around the edge of his sword.

As he moved, his brother joined the battle. A shardwall slammed into the body of the charging pack—forcing them back and breaking the momentum of their assault further. With the compulsion of his Bulwark’s Challenge forcing most of the biters to focus on his armoured form, they were too closely packed to evade. Especially since the wall was now nearly twice as wide as it was to begin with.

The sound of bone carapace shattering filled the air, natural armour splintering as biters half blinded by Ianmus’s continuous assault all but sprinted head first into the collision.

It was music to Kaius’s ears. He grinned, keeping his focus on his current opponent. At the end of his lunge, distance resumed its normal hold over him. Crouching slightly, he leaned forwards to slip under his target’s snapping jaws.

He rose, leading with his blade.

Uncompromising in its assault, small bone shards split off from the biter’s carapace, pelting Kaius in a hail of fine needles. He barely saw a flicker in the beast’s mana before the attack, and with its wide spread, he had almost no way to dodge.

Heart pounding in his chest, a lucky flicker into the dimension that Slip Step attached him to saved him from the worst of it. Stepping back into the material world, the final dozen needles clacked against his armour.

Fast, and sharp, more than one found its way between his scales—pin pricks of heat that grew slick in moments as his blood pooled from the injuries.

Grunting stoically, Kaius weathered the wounds—his Health already burning to push the foreign objects free as blood stained the gleaming steel of his armour. His rising slash landed—right on the writhing wound he had left in its throat.

The wire of energy surrounding his sword collapsed to a single point, whining ominously.

Then it detonated.

Caustic arcane ripped through the tattered remnants of the biter’s neck. _{𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎}

Flesh tore, and bone shattered.

The biter fell limp, just barely hanging on to life as its head was held on with a thin strip of flesh and cracked spine.

In the cold focus that the Bloodsong and his Glass Mind impressed on him, Kaius watched the flopping beast with impassionate eyes. It was out of the fight—would die soon—every beat of its heart spilling more vital fluid onto the plateau.

Kaius switched his focus—his brother’s Challenge was wearing off, and the pack’s attention was steadily drifting away from the towering figure in green crystal armour.

Uncanny Dodge flared a warning in his mind, preceding another biter lunging towards him with its mouth agape.

He moved.

Even with Slip Step, and the burst of speed from his general skill, it wasn’t enough. The beast activated a skill of its own—advancing with a sudden alacrity. Jaws closed over the thick plated metal of his pauldrons, clamping down like a vice.

The metal squealed, but held. Unfortunately, with the high degree of flexibility of his scale armour, it was also forced into his flesh. Only having a moment to curse his luck, Kaius felt a crack shudder through his chest as something in the joint gave way. Chill sweat beaded on his face as agony coursed through his nerves like lightning.

Growling in frustration, he dropped his good arm from his blade—slapping the occupied biter over its eye.

Hateful Nail.

A spike of twisted steel burst the delicate organ—blood and jelly expelled over him as the nail continued through the bone beneath.

Then it bloomed, and the creature's brain oozed from its ruined sockets as his spell grew into a twisted gnarl of hooked and spiked metal.

The beast dropped, its lifeless jaws slipping free of his shoulder.

**Ding! level 110 Bone Biter - Shatterjaw slain - Experience Gained! Increased Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 75!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

…

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 78!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

Snatching his blade from his wounded hand, Kaius allowed his left arm to fall limp by his side as his Health went to work resetting his shattered shoulder. He turned about face, the floating point of his sword held between him and the pack—a duelist’s stance.

Taking a slow breath to steady his heart rate, he ignored the twinge in his shoulder. Even injured, he knew they could do this.

The power of his level ups roared through him—every facet of his being expanded all at once, reinforced by the dead biter’s energy. His pools expanded—the influx of usable power a more than welcome addition to his arsenal.

Kaius grinned, with the added mana he wouldn’t have to down one of his mana potions to make use of his Mystic’s Rend.

He wasn’t the only one happy with the sudden jump in levels. Porkchop let out a deafening roar, redoubling his hold on the pack's focus. His brother dived in—massive jade jaws appearing as a shadow to his own as he tore his way into the bone-plated creatures.

With Porkchop’s heavy-plate, they struggled to retaliate—the bone biter’s own strikes skittering off the armour.

Feeling a pop as his shoulder slid back into place, Kaius hurled a Stormlash into the pack. Blue-white light paired with a deafening crack as he stunned three beasts that had started to make their way to him—the threat he presented too immediate to be completely ignored.

Capitalising on the opening, he rushed towards the biter whose throat he’d ripped out—the beast’s chest fluttering as it clung to the final vestiges of its life—space warping with his every step.

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A radiant beam splashed against his chest, warming him from the inside out. The remaining pulped flesh of his shoulder reknit itself at a rapid pace, while the restorative power of the sun slightly replenished his missing health.

**Ding! You have been Healed - Ray of Tender Recovery**

“Thanks!” he called, before he was forced to abort his advance as the targets of his spell recovered and charged towards him with a snarl on their bone-covered lips. He knew he’d done them damage—the tell tale blood on their fangs revealing the extent of the injuries storm and vibration had done to their internals.

Porkchop threw his weight into the pack—forcing them back with a barrage of smashing claws and jade-sheathed bites.

The three beasts who had focused on Kaius snapped their gaze over to his brother, but upon seeing the weight of bodies that occupied him, they continued their advance.

With the strength of his injured arm renewed, Kaius put up an adamant defence. His blade blurred as he smacked aside raking claw after raking claw, leaning on his bodily control and mastery of the sword to redirect the beasts’ strength, using their momentum against them.

Mana flared deep within the left most biter, its raised paw infused with an overwhelming sense of weight. An unknown variable, he lurched back.

Only for the pink skin of the middle biter to start to steam between its armour—the creature’s speed redoubling.

Before he could react to the flared warning of Uncanny Dodge, a raking claw tore across his chest.

His scale breastplate saved him from the worst of the wound—but he still felt his ribs crack, and the bright fire of the biter tearing open weeping lines in his flesh as its claws tore through his armour. Knocked back and off balance, with three biters bearing down on him, he knew he needed to move.

To disengage.

An Expedient Shunt blasted him back and up, his feet leaving the ground. As violent as the skill was—at least to others—the blast singed the delicate eyes and ears of the biters, forcing them back as they yelped in surprise.

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 79!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

…

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 82!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

**Ding! Class skill available for selection!**

Another burst of energy coursed through him. Eyes flicking over to where Porkchop was fighting, he saw the shattered body of a biter lying broken beneath his brother’s feet.

A hungry grin spread across Kaius’s face. Best he see if he could keep that momentum going.

Another wave of force erupted above and to the side of him, his trajectory violently altered as he shot towards the dying biter he had left bleeding on the ground.

He hit the beast sword-point first, his knees cracking painfully as he crouched to bleed off the force of his landing. Crystal and steel punched straight through the biters skull—piercing its brain.

**Ding! level 116 Bone Biter - Hunter of the Long Dead slain - Experience Gained! Increased Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 83!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

…

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 85!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

Spinning back to the other three biters, he waved his hand—peeling thunder filling the air as he slashed at the group with another writhing band of lightning. Howling at his assault, smoking char coated the creatures’ carapaces as leaking fissures appeared in their flesh—resonant force tearing them apart from within.

In that moment of stillness, Ianmus acted.

Two rays of burning starlight burst the eyes of the beast closest to Kaius, the spell boring its way through the thin bone to ravage the fatty matter within.

Kaius felt Explorer’s Toolkit chime in his mind—an opening that he could not resist. Racing forwards, he used his last spatially contracted step to appear right next to his enemy.

Stamina flooded from his soul, the crystal fuller of his blade alighting in ghostly fire that burned from within.

Empowered by his Bladerite, he thrust his blade deep into the beast's open mouth. Crunching through the back of his throat, the point of his sword halted against its bone carapace.

It stiffened, before going limp as he severed its spine—but it didn’t die. The tough bastard.

Grunting in dissatisfaction, Kaius ripped his sword free, hurriedly spinning to block an overhead slam from the remaining biter—no longer stunned by his spell.

The paw hit his blade like a hammer blow. Shuddering force rocked his body, and as much as he raged against the enhanced attack, Kaius was forced to one knee—the edge of his blade cracking like a spider’s web.

Reacting on instinct, he spun his blade, pulling the beast's paw to the right as he rolled left.

Thunder boomed once more, magical lightning binding the beast totally. A secondary arc branched off—wrapping the biter he had stabbed in the eye in its embrace.

His primary target seized—chest heaving as it bent over and let loose a rancid mix of half digested meat and its own blood.

The other biter died—too injured to survive the lightning and vibrations wracking its body.

**Ding! level 118 Bone Biter - Tracker for the Hungry slain - Experience Gained! Increased Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 86!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

…

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 87!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

The sea of bodies around him heaved, Porkchop calling out once more. The constant bay of the biters rose to a fever-pitch, his brother’s renewed skill seizing their fury with avarice.

In that moment of stillness, Kaius quickly dumped his accumulated free points into Vitality, as he had done with every level since he had placed fifty into Intelligence.

Porkchop was an anchor in the storm, the waves crashing over him—leaving him unmolested in his vestment of sacred jade. Not to say he was uninjured. Grievous wounds aplenty covered his unarmoured rear, but they writhed with uncanny speed—taking a life of their own as his regenerative skill sealed them at a pace that left Kaius feeling more than a little jealous.

With his latest artefact—the massive floating greatshield—he was even more of an unassailable fortress than before.

The shield darted around his right side—warding off a whole avenue of attack to narrow the directions that Porkchop had to pay attention to.

Every so often, another one of Ianmus’s healing rays would splash over Porkchop—healing his wounds all the quicker, and aiding him in keeping his health topped up.

Racing forwards, Kaius finished off the last biter who had separated from the pack with two slashes backed by Mystic’s Rend.

**Ding! level 116 Bone Biter - Maw of the Mountain slain - Experience Gained! Increased Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 88!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

Revelling in his power increasing once again, he advanced to dance through the edges of the distracted crowd. He fell deeply into the rhythm of battle, relying on his Glass Mind to focus on the complexity of the heaving wave of bodies. Each of his general skills contributed—keeping his movements sure and safe as he slipped through gaps and weaved around the angered retaliation he incited with his blade, slipping his sword into every undefended vulnerability he could.

More than once, he was attacked from behind, only for the screaming warning and burst of speed from Uncanny Dodge to help him lurch away. Danger was everywhere—seen in the movements and tells of more than a dozen beasts. So was opportunity—thanks to his Skills and mundane experience, he saw openings galore as the creature's feral strength broke impotently on his brother’s superior endurance and physicality.

Four more biters died under he and Porkchop’s combined efforts—three of them thanks to Ianmus blinding the beasts.

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 89!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

…

**Ding! Runeblade Initiate has reached class level 90!**

**+3 End, Str, & Int, +2 Dex, Wil, +1 Vit, Free - from Class & Racial Traits!**

When Porkchop sent the crush flying back with a Prismatic Shardwall, Kaius saw his moment.

Two Hateful Nail’s flew from his outstretched hand, the spikes of iron buzzing from the potency imbued by Resonance Amplification.

One punched straight through the shattered bone breastplate of a biter who had just discovered the power of his brother’s Warden’s Maw—killing the creature in seconds as the sudden growth of hooks and wires shredded its heart and lungs. The other Nail crippled a biter—the beast screaming in agony as his spell shattered its shoulder and locked the limb in place with cruel barbs.

Then a furious howl echoed from the back of the mob—washing over Kaius in a statement of the supremacy of a pack at hunt. He could smell it, the magic of the skill. The way it ignored him, and inflamed their enemies’ passions.

Everything changed after that.

To the last, every biter grew just that much faster, and to the last, Porkchop’s hold over the pack shattered.

Immediately burning another charge of Slip Step, Kaius raced forwards. Right as he was about to ram a biter through the eye, two more suddenly lunged towards him—pincering him with their dripping jaws held wide.

A portent of doom screamed a warning, and Kaius planted his front foot with all of his might, the soft stone of the Bonefields cracking beneath his heel.

The first ambusher was too slow, his space warping steps narrowly carrying him out of the range of its desperate follow up swipe of his claws. Unfortunately, the other biter reacted just as fast—bounding into another leap to correct for his dodge.

Its fangs burned with a ghostly fire—sickly oranges shining bright in Kaius’s eyes. Then they closed over his shoulder.

The heavy plates of his pauldrons did little to stop the skill empowered bite. A weak gasp slipped from Kaius’s lips, his vision closing in as thumb length fangs crushed through the metal to tear at his flesh—utterly shattering his shoulder, upper arm, and several of his ribs.

**Ding! You have been afflicted by The Bite That Fells - Bone**

The chill of fear shot up his spine.

He was stuck fast—no way out, with the biter’s fangs buried a palm-width into his chest.