Runeblade

Still cloaked in a cowl dyed the colours of the forest, Kaius’s class guide had led him away from the split boulders that had held his class skill options. It was time for him to learn his first hymn for his new Drakthar rune.

His excitement made him impatient, and it was an exercise in will to match his guide's comfortable pace through the forest.

Thankfully that faded somewhat as they walked, the warm breeze and sunlight working in concert with the soft noises of insects and chirping birds lulling him to a state of relaxation. Slowly, he started to enjoy their walk.

It would end soon, and he knew it would be a long time until he crossed through till the second tier and returned here once more. He may as well enjoy it, even if the real thing was waiting for him when Porkchop finished his own advancement.

By the time they reached their destination he was almost disappointed that their walk had been cut short, though that faded quickly as his excitement returned in full force when he saw where they had arrived.

The dense wall of trunks that surrounded them on all sides gradually began to thin. Through their reaches he could see they were arriving at another opening in the forest, though this one was heavily shaded.

It was easy to see why. A gargantuan elm dominated the centre of the clearing, its wide canopy and flat leaves shading all beneath it. Soaking up the sun with avarice, it allowed none of the life giving light to nourish any potential competitors.

Kaius gaped up at it in awe, pausing momentarily to drink in the sight. While he had seen some truly impressive specimens in the Sea, he had never seen one quite so majestic. It was enough to rival the tree that had housed the Grimclaw.

Yet even with its prodigious size, that only held his attention for a few moments. Taking in its trunk that was thick enough to encapsulate two of him lying end to end, he spotted something…out of place.

A door. Recessed into the thick and cracked bark of the elm. It was an elegantly carved, richly red mullions surrounding pale cream panels, with a trim of yet more red. A heavy brass handle was set into it, carved into the shape of creeping vines.

It was the kind of thing he would have expected to see in a rich noble estate in Deadacre, or one of the vaunted houses of learning that the wealthy and well connected sent their scions to.

It had absolutely no place being in a forest, but he supposed this wasn’t really the Sea. He hurried on, chasing after his guide who had not broken step and was heading straight for the out of place portal.

“A door?” He asked, breathing slightly heavy as he slowed to a fast walk beside the construct. “Doesn’t exactly fit the scenery.”

Kaius the Elder chucked, bringing one hand up to his scarred mouth. “No, it doesn’t. The advancement space is for the selection of your class, and your first skill of the tier. Not your spells, that has its own environment. There’s a little bit of leeway due to the innate connection, but it still means we need a little bit of change of location. Don’t worry, it’s quite seamless.”

Kaius hadn’t been, having full faith in the system's capabilities. People were transported by it every day when they delved the Depths, and he hadn’t heard one story of it causing any issues. Hells, even though he only had the vaguest memories of his own entrance, that only proved his point. If it were something major, he would have remembered.

Arriving at the door, his guide set one aged hand on the brass handle. Barely even breaking stride, the construct swung the door open and stepped through, pausing just through the precipice to hold the door for him and usher him through. “After you.”

Kaius bobbed his head in gratitude and stepped through the door, his eyes roving over the newly revealed space. It was… a study. Dwarven in construction, much like the study where he had first worked on his ruins in the city where his body still lay unconscious.

Stone and wooden construction was masterfully married in an exhibition of artisanal skill. A richly carved hearth covered the entirety of one wall, and an already roaring fire warmed the space immensely. The other three were dominated by floor to ceiling bookshelves, each one bursting at the seams with innumerable books of all shapes and sizes, one and all leatherbound and dyed in a myriad of colours.

It should have been dark, considering the lack of windows, but masterfully bracketed wardlights jutted free from the pillars of the book shelves, and another hung from a chandelier in the centre of the room, bathing the space with a soft yellowish glow.

Kaius grinned as he saw the desk. It was functionally identical to the one where he had first done his experimentation, except this time it had been scaled up slightly to properly fit one of his height. That was a nice touch, even in the villages he often found furniture a little too small for him, considering he was half a stride taller than what most would consider to be a tall man.

“Take a seat.” His guide said, closing the door behind them with a thunk. Kaius hurried over to the desk, pulling out the plush seat and reclining into it with a groan.

He leaned back, enjoying the way the masterful carpentry and upholstery cradled him, and looked to his guide for direction.

“This will be mostly similar each time you come in here. While I am here this time, you will have another construct to help you through future selections. They do not have the same complete connection with the overmind that I do, so they will have less to draw from. To you, the difference will be indistinguishable, and they will still be able to offer you the full range of assistance in choosing an adequate spell. The difference still needs to be mentioned though. By the high tiers, even if it is not an impediment, it is noticeable. A few rare individuals believed we had been hiding secrets maliciously when they noticed, so it is mentioned up front now.” his guide explained, walking through the room and trailing his finger along the spines of various books. Every now and then, he stopped, pondering on a book before making some decision to unknown metrics, continuing on or plucking it from the shelves.

“What do you mean, a difference? I assume by overmind you mean the system?” Kaius asked as his guide approached the desk and sat five books down on the polished wooden top.

“Just so. I have the leeway to answer many questions within boundaries, much like right now, in explaining how the constructs operate. At high tiers, there are many mysteries that become evident, ones that I am able to share once asked or it is deemed important. The construct used for spell selection does not have this leeway, and while it will be more than capable of having an idle chat, most of what it will be able to share will be directly or tangentially related to what you need to make your selection.” Kaius the Elder explained, picking up books and laying them in front of him.

“Now, spells are similar to classes in that you are not able to view every option potentially available like a class. The selection has been narrowed to those useful to you. Why don't you take a look?” His guide said, waving his hand over the titleless books.

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Kaius sat up, snapping forwards as his chair moved with him. With barely constrained avarice he snatched up the first title. As soon as he held the book in his hand a system description popped into view.

Hyperius’s Shard Swarm:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)

Affinity: Arcane

Glyph: Drakthar

50 Mana

Selection Available!

This Hymn summons 12 high velocity condensed shards of pure mana that invariably seek your target until they impact an obstacle or travel more than 50 long-strides. Unable to target beyond specific individuals. Possess Reasonable general armour piercing capabilities

Kaius devoured the description of the hymn, eyes wide in delight. Talk about a first pick, it was almost exactly like a better version of his own shards. That in and of itself was almost enough for him to pick it on the spot, but he was nowhere near that foolish.

Biting back his questions, he reached for the next book, and then the next, reading through the varied abilities he had been offered.

Embered Orb:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)

Affinity: Fire

Glyph: Drakthar

70 Mana

Selection Available!

This Hymn summons a dense orb of superheated embers that may be hurled at enemies. Detonates on impact. Scattered embers adhere to surfaces and continue to burn for some time.

…

Traxan’s Lance:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)

Affinity: Light

Glyph: Drakthar

100 Mana

Selection Available!

This Hymn summons a piercing beam of light that nigh instantaneously hits a target within 100 long-strides. Pinpoint accurate, and possesses Moderate magical armour piercing capabilities.

…

Stormlash:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)

Affinity: Lightning, Storm

Glyph: Drakthar

120 Mana

Selection Available!

This Hymn summons a crackling lash of lightning that may be used to strike at a target within 20 long strides, chaining to another two foes within 5 long-strides. The lash persists for 3 seconds and possesses Reasonable stunning abilities.

…

Chotnik’s Sickness:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Evocation)

Affinity: Poison, Toxin

Glyph: Drakthar

60 Mana

Selection Available!

This Hymn summons a diffuse cloud of virulent spores that causes others to suffer a damaging Infliction that causes Significant disorientation.

Finishing with the last spell, Kaius arrayed the books in front of him. Now that he had seen them all, he could see that the coloured covers must have at least moderately aligned with the affinity of each spell. Considering the dizzying array of shades that blanketed the titles still on the shelves, there were a lot of potential options.

A blue so pale it was almost white for crystal, a brilliant orange-red for fire, mottled shades of virulent green for poison and toxin, brilliant white for light, and a riotous storm of electric blue and steel blue for lightning and storm.

That wasn’t the only thing he had noticed. “No rarity?” Kaius asked, tilting his head quizzically at his guide.

The construct shook their head. “No, they are intrinsically linked to their parent skill. All are of that tier, though plenty of variation still exists within it.”

“So my choice is genuinely just down to the generality of its use case then. I can’t go too specialised for my first.” He mused, mostly to himself.

“If that is what you wish.” His guide responded.

Tapping his fingers on the desk, Kaius took the time to think for a moment. “Chotnik’s Sickness, when it says others does it literally mean anyone other than me who is within the cloud?”

His guide smiled. “It does, though it is worth mentioning that that can work in your favour if you encounter an entity that can shield themselves from targeted spells. The same can be said of Embered Orb, but I noticed you seem far less uncomfortable with that.”

Kaius considered both spells. Chotnik’s was right out. Considering he had a soul-bonded companion, going with a spell that would indiscriminately affect Porkchop was monumentally stupid. After a bit more thinking, he decided to discard Embered as well. He fully intended to be in the thick of things for the rest of his life, and a spell that exploded with burning shrapnel would only be useful in situations where neither he nor Porkchop could effectively engage.

That just left Shard Swarm, Lance, and Stormlash. All three were Incredibly appealing.

Swarm sounded helpful, as the lack of need to aim would allow him to fire and forget, and if each shard held even half of the potency of his own Arcane Shard spell they would be incredibly lethal. The fact he was unlikely to miss and they seemed to be good at dealing with armoured foes was another major benefit, let alone the fact that they were both already familiar and had a comparatively low cost compared to the other two.

For Lance it was the fact that it instantaneously struck his target that had caught his eye, as well as its accuracy. If the spell had punch, that meant that he would both have an option at range, and that any person he targeted would be unable to muster a defence against his hymn.

Stormlash… was just cool. Holding lightning in his hands and using that to scorch, electrocute, and immobilise his enemies? Who wouldn’t want that. Plus, more than anything else it fit his dream of using spellcraft and blades as a cohesive whole. He could easily imagine how he could use the spell to tear through unprepared enemies, delivering fatal strikes while they were stunned.

Now he just needed to make a decision. Kaius leaned back, kicking his legs up on the desk while he drummed his fingers against his wooden armrest in a staccato fashion. After a moment of pondering, he stopped his drumming. He’d made his choice.

“Do you need any help to decide?” His guide asked congenially.

“No,” Kaius said with a shake of his head. “I know what I'm going to pick.”

Scarred and venerable, his guide gave him a wide and proud smile that reached his gold flecked green eyes. “In that case, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Kaius. You’ll wake up as soon as you have picked your spell. Until next time!” The construct straightened, turning away from the desk before they looked back over their shoulder. “When you leave, do be a dear and let Porkchop know I am looking forward to meeting him? Due to your soulbond, he is not bound by your restriction with other people in their testing period.”

Kaius nodded. “Thank you, and I will.”

Giving him a nod, his guide took a step away from the desk and vanished, leaving Kaius alone in the office to make his choice.

As soon as his guide left, he focused on his choice.

Stormlash.

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