B2 Chapter 232: Communique

Leaning back into the plush padding of their chosen booth at the Stables, Kaius let out a soft goan as he drank deeply from his tankard.

The malty beer did much to soothe his bone deep exhaustion, but it wasn’t a cure all.

Every fibre of his body felt wrung out—beaten, shredded, and abused. His mana circuits ached, something he hadn’t even realised was possible. Turns out, if you spend a few weeks doing little else than casting, drinking mana potions, and inscribing spells, you’d figure out right quick exactly what mana burn felt like.

Despite their theories that he was immune, it just seemed like he was rather resistant to its acute effects—he suffered them just fine with chronic exhaustion.

The rest of his team wasn’t much better. Ianmus was nurturing a drink much like himself, as he stared out their little window with a vacant eyed look. Normally quick as a tack, the man had grown ever more quiet in the last week—too exhausted from their training to use his mind for anything other than shallow conversation.

Porkchop, on the other hand, was destroying a plate of roast meats with gusto, though Kaius had noticed that his bond-brother had been exceptionally reticent to move unless absolutely required.

Still, it had been well worth it.

They’d made significant gains across the board. Most of his growth had been seen in his two glyphs, both responding incredibly well to his dogged attempts at influencing his spells with his will.

Initiate’s Bladerite hadn’t quite languished untouched, but in comparison he’d only made a token effort at its use. Still, even that was enough to increase its level substantially.

Much of his general skills had been left untouched, but a few had also been stressed quite handedly. The toxins he’d imbibed had done their work to raise the level of his resistance skill, and both Tonal Weaving and Resonance Amplification had done wonders with all of the casting and reinscribing that he had been doing.

Though, he had a growing hope that the damaging resonance that the latter imbued his Drakthar spells with would develop to boost his other spells as well. He’d felt it at the edges whenever he cast Slip Step—a tenuous link between the two. Out of reach for now, but one he hoped was a portent of things to come.

Deciding to review his gains more fully, Kaius pulled up his full status.

Status:

Name: Kaius

Dynasty: Unterstern

Age: 19

Race: Human (Dynastic, Greater Beastblooded) – +1 End Str, Wil, and free stats per level

Layer Reached: 2

Class: Runeblade Initiate – +3 Int, +2 End, +2 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Vit, +1 Wil per level

Level: 59

Resources:

Health – 3400/3400 (18.7/min)

Stamina – 3270/3270 (25.1/min)

Mana – 4350/4350 (28.6/min)

Free Mana – 3350/3350

Reserved Mana – 1000

Stats:

Endurance – 207 + 57 + 29% (340)

Vitality – 88 + 57 + 29% (187)

Strength – 197 + 57 + 29% (327)

Dexterity – 138 + 57 + 29% (251)

Intelligence – 247 + 72 + 37% (435)

Willpower: – 138 + 72 + 37% (286)

Stat Points: 0

Aspects:

Pillar Corporus: N/A

Pillar Mentis: The Veteran’s Edge

• Reinforcement: Glass Mind

• Seed: Campaigner’s Reason

Pillar Animus: N/A

Class Skills (3/10):

Latent Glyph of Drakthar (Heroic) – 43 > 78

Initiate’s Glyphic Bladerite (Unique) – 26 > 44

Latent Glyph of Aelina (Heroic) – 15 > 63

General Skills (10/10):

Rapid Adaptation (Heroic) – 69 > 86

Liturgical Bladeform: Primus Ordo (Heroic) – 47 > 65

Explorer’s Toolkit (Unusual) – 39 > 53

Tempered by Dissonance (Heroic) – 45 > 55

True Sight (Unique) – 39 > 54

Tonal Weaving (Unique) – 49 > 64

Resonance Amplification (Unique) – 38 > 63

Lesser Regeneration (Unusual) – 60 > 67

Uncanny Dodge (Unique) – 37 > 57

Brotherhood of Ichor and Animus (Heroic) – 48 > 75

Hymnbook:

Glyph of Drakthar –

Stormlash (Tier I – 120 mana)

Glyph of Aelina –

Yellia’s Slip Step (Tier I – 80 mana)

Honours:

Born for Slaughter (Bonus)

Sublime Prodigy – Glyph Binding (Bonus)

Birds of a Blood Soaked Feather (Bonus)

Persistent Survivor (Minor) (Bonus)

Kingslayer (Major) (Bonus)

Ruthless Underdog (Bonus)

Ruthless Underdog II

Trailblazer II (Bonus)

Bound Artefacts: