B3 Chapter 336: Late Night Talks

Night had long since fallen over their foothill camp, and the cold mountain air was crisp against Kaius’s skin. It sunk into his scalemail, penetrating deep into his body — though thankfully with his Vitality it was barely more than a slight discomfort.

He still pulled his heavy wool cloak tighter around him, enjoying its comforting weight as he peered out into the night. With Truesight his vision was unimpeded, his view of the obsidian obelisk clear as it had been during the day. Clearer, even, thanks to the dull orange glow let off by the runes that shifted across its surface.

This much closer, it was an imposing thing. A spire of magic and glass that dominated the field around it. It was out of place — arcane, in the truest sense of the word.

A rustle came from his left, right where their tent had disguised itself as a loose pile of rubble. He knew who it would be: his bond made it clear enough. Porkchop, shaking himself slightly as he entered the cold.

His brother padded over, sitting next to him.

“Are the others still asleep?” Kaius asked.

Porkchop was silent for a moment, looking out towards the obelisk — and the curled up lump sleeping at the edge of the runed glass foundation surrounding it.

“Yeah — I just thought I’d come check on you.”

“Getting sentimental on me?” He grinned, leaning over to give his companion a friendly shove on the shoulder. “I’m fine, just enjoying the quiet.”

Porkchop silently leaned in, dense fur enveloping Kaius’s side as warmth radiated through his cloak. Returning the gesture, Kaius rested his head on the side of Porkchop’s leg.

“How are you doing? I know this whole Vos thing has been frustrating. Even if you understand it, and accept it as a worthwhile price to pay for future strength, I can still feel that it bothers you.”

Kaius shrugged, shuffling to readjust his seat as his scale rustled against the large stone he was using as a backrest.

“It is what it is. I’ll admit it can be a little difficult when I get to watch the rest of you jump straight in though. Sure, it’s potent and powerful, but that almost makes it worse when I can’t even risk using it at all, let alone consistently.”

“You’ll get there, just bad timing is all.”

“I know — I just hope we won’t end up in a situation where we’re at a disadvantage because of my missing power.”

Shaking his head, Porkchop huffed slightly — a sign of mild amusement that Kaius had long since become familiar with.

“We’ll be fine. Even if the manticore is tough, we’ve gotten a pretty good picture of its capabilities by now — we can manage.

Kaius agreed on that front, at least. Oh, it would be a fight for the ages, but as potent as the manticore looked, they were tougher and had a full team.

He was still uncomfortable. No matter how prepared they were, things went wrong in a fight. Vos might be the only thing that could pull them out of a bind, but he had to weigh that up against the difficulty of using it, and the obscene cost of preparing Redoubt of the Speaker.

At this stage, another two dozen inscribed spells would be more valuable than a single use of a skill that would likely disable him at least partially with backlash.

Plus, like Porkchop had said, they had prepared. They’d watched the manticore for two days now, gathering every scrap that might help them prepare for the battle ahead. There’d been some concern that it would simply laze about and give them nothing, but luck had been on their side.

On four separate occasions, packs of ridgechargers and small groups of boulder-scales — the other major depthsborn they’d found in the biome — had attempted to cross the Guardian’s territory. Their intrusion had incited a brilliant fury, the manticore tearing them apart with its strong body and potent skills.

It was more than enough to give them an idea of how it fought.

It was a fire affinity beast for one. In every fight, a blazing line of fire would erupt down its spine as it used a variety of flaming enhancements to bolster its maul-like tail and claws. Hells, at one point they’d seen the beast breath a gout of white-hot fire to roast a ridgecharger where it stood!

Beyond those most obvious facets, it had become clear that it relied on physical strength and overwhelming aggression to win its fights — falling on its enemies in a torrent of raking claws and smashing bashes. It was single minded, utterly focused on whatever had the poor luck to be its current target as it tore through groups one by one.

In many ways, it was a perfect match-up. He, and by extension Porkchop, had fire resistance, and its temperament would be something they could use to their advantage. The main problem was how damn agile it was — no way they would be able to risk having their backline anywhere near as close to the action as they normally did.

He was definitely going to need to inscribe a hefty helping of Hateful Nail and Trusant’s Expedient Shunt. With its speed, he’d need some way to hinder its mobility and enhance his own if he wanted to play the harasser like he normally did.

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At the very least, the manticore’s regeneration only seemed to be average for a creature of its power — wearing it down should be a far sight easier than some of the more persistent creatures they had fought.