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.

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.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

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!**

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