B3 Chapter 317: Sanctuary, pt. 5

Kaius stood in the centre of the safe room, his sheathed sword planted point first in the ground. Leaning forwards, he rested his weight on his cross guard, drenched in the soft glow of the grubs that lived off the roots in the ceiling above. A little bit of practice with their new skills sounded like a fine idea in his opinion.

While all skills came with the knowledge of how they worked, and most non-spell abilities were somewhat automatic, you still had to get a feel for the Skill. How your body moved, your weight transferred, and how it felt to use.

It was an implicit understanding that could save your life — give you the edge you needed if you wanted to be great. Thankfully, Kaius had a few advantages on that front. His high Intelligence meant that he could process his surroundings nearly twenty-one times faster than he had as an unclassed, and his Corporus Aspect — The Struggler’s Madness — would help him master his skills all the faster.

Considering his suspicions that the System might change how Skills worked — or at least developed — in the future? He had every reason to be invested in learning his skills early and thoroughly.

“How do you want to do this?” he asked, eying the room around them. It was small, maybe twenty strides across — not exactly the best training arena. “You got a charge skill right? I don’t think I would enjoy you pasting me across the wall.”

Porkchop snorted, shaking his head, “As funny as that would be, no. I can test Breaker of Men once we’ve fully recovered — the room we fought the worms in is already cleared and should be close enough to be safe. I figure I can help you try out that parry skill, and then you can help me test out The Stone that Weathered Time with your Hymnfocus. I figure we won’t need too much space for those ones.”

Kaius shrugged, before he stood up and drew his sword. He stored his scabbard in his storage ring and settled into an easy mid guard. “Works for me — I’m ready when you are.”

Nodding along, Porkchop summoned his Celodon Aegis. The second it appeared, he suddenly burst into motion without warning — a paw of sickle shaped jade claws raced towards Kaius’s chest.

Kaius cocked a brow at the attempt at surprise. So he wanted to play that way?

Judging the trajectory of the incoming blow in an instant, Kaius parried and activated Mercurial Reversal in a single moment of fluidity.

Deep in his centre, his skill thrummed, twisting the stamina as it flooded through his body and into his blade. He moved faster than he would normally, but it wasn’t much — the Skill was still only level one, and it benefited from only a single Affinity bonus from his class.

Sweeping his blade up, Kaius hooked Porkchop’s claws, twisting his wrists to guide them into moving down and away from his chest. The second he made contact he felt the stamina in his blade flare, sapping the blow of force.

It made their bind all the easier to control. Power moved through his blade, condensing at its point.

A twist of his wrists broke their bind, Porkchop’s claws sailing helplessly past him. He lunged, thrusting at the thickest part of his brother’s chestplate.

The screech of crystal on crystal filled the safe room.

“Shattered axles, that’s hideous!” Kenva called, covering her ears at the sound.

Kaius was more focused on the flakes of jade that fell to the floor, a pleased smile out on his face. Porkchop’s armour was immensely tough — considering his blade was still technically only Common, it was a fantastic result. If he’d been attacking with his full weight and strength, and the skill got a few more levels, he expected that he’d be able to do more than just chip the heavy-plate.

Although…Porkchop had been pulling his punches too. Kaius was under no illusions that his brother was actually that easy to parry. He was a bloody greater beast, and larger than a bear. The fact that a quirk of their builds meant Kaius had more Strength made little difference.

Maybe in a hundred levels Mercurial Reversal would sap enough force to make one of Porkchop’s full swings parryable, but not at level one.

He stepped back, resetting his stance, and gave Porkchop an easy smile. To their right, Kenva and Ianmus watched quietly.

“How’d it feel?”

“Good. Getting a handle on the parry timing with the extra speed the skill gives will take a little bit of work, but the power leech only made things easier, and the penetrating riposte didn’t make my counter any heavier or faster so I won’t have to adjust.”

“Again?”

The word came with a flood of images — a flashy spar to blow off some steam where Porkchop would try to tag him, and Kaius could only counter with his skill.

It was tempting, and it would help him pick up the use of the skill all the easier. Alas, it would drain them both quickly, and he wanted to make sure he could try out his other new skill. It did, after all, have a stamina cost.

He shook his head. “Lets try out the others first. You don’t mind if I use Stormlash? I’ve only got that and a single Zone of Discombobulation.”

“That works.” Porkchop shrugged. “Sacred jade is magic resistant anyway, so Celadon Aegis will protect me — not that you’d be able to seriously injure me with a single cast anyway, I have Spell Resistance. Just hit me on the shoulder and give me time to use my Skill.”

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Kaius shook his head at Porkchop’s complete disregard to injury. He was right, but still! It was the principle of the matter — if his new ability didn’t hold up to his attack, the shock would still hurt. Still, he wasn’t going to argue the point. If Porkchop wanted to get a little crispy, that was his prerogative.

Giving Porkchop a nod, he reached for Runeblade Hymnfocus.

Stamina flooded from his soul, latching onto the conduit that bound him to his blade. It reinforced the connection, widening it.

He knew what he had to do next.

Tapping into his Latent Glyph of Drakthar, Kaius reached for Stormlash. He knew the spell like the back of his hand — how it screamed as it erupted from his glyph, writhing as it reached for his targets. He knew the sensation of a spell inscription burning, contained power rupturing the bindings that held it — waste mana glowing as it showered from his glyph.

This time, it was different.