Chapter 71: Honour in Discovery

“Kaius~” Something whispered in his mind in a singsong voice. Quickly followed by something wet and cold prodding his cheek. Kaius murmured, slapping away the intrusion.

“Kaius!” The voice screamed.

“I’m awake!” He yelled, jolting nearly a full stride into the air as Porkchop startled him awake.

“Sleep well? I thought I’d let you rest seeing as you had all your limbs. It would have been nice if you’d warned me that you would vacuum up all the atmospheric mana though. I could feel it from the bedroom.” Porkchop said, watching him closely from the side of the desk.

Kaius stared at his friend, bleary eyed, still too groggy to process the words correctly. He was.. In the office? What did Porkchop mean about the mana. He rubbed his eyes, vaguely noticing the dense web of runes that curled around the back of his hand and climbed up half way up his forearm. He stopped, staring at the formation.

Everything came rushing back. The hours of work, the mana vacuum, the piercing pain in his soul. Kaius stood up, launching his chair to the ground with a clatter in his haste. He’d done it! Finished the formation. Twisting his hand back and forth he marvelled at the clean lines. They were impossibly clear, standing out in stark relief against his pale skin. It was almost like a tattoo, but the contrast was too sharp. The black too deep, too saturated.

“Thought you might react like that.” Porkchop said, chittering slightly with an animalistic laugh. “So, did you get anything? Any relevant skills or anything?” His friend asked.

Kaius whipped his head back to his friend.

Of course! The notifications. “Uhh, something I think. I haven’t checked yet. Give me a second.”

Now that he had fully risen from the fog of sleep, Kaius could feel the notifications clawing at the back of his mind. He pulled them up.

**Congratulations! You have discovered the Third Pillar of Magi – Glyph Binding**

**Ding! Significant Feat of Strength performed under Observation. You have been awarded an Honour: Sublime Prodigy – Glyph Binding**

Kaius’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the notification, completely forgetting the other notifications that tried to vie for his attention. This was…unexpected. He’d expected the system to reward him for his feat, at the very least offering him a high rarity skill. An Honour was something he hadn’t dared to consider.

And the Third Pillar? What did that mean? Were they always meant to find it, had the system just been waiting? Kaius’s head spun at the implications. No one ever claimed to truly know the system, not in its entirety, but he’d thought they’d known it pretty well. That there were no big surprises left.

Glyph binding… He liked the sound of that.

It was a shock. To learn that his new formation was apparently as integral to mage craft as channelling and shaping. Kaius thought he was working with jank. A way for him to squeeze out a little magical potential in a way that complemented his sword work. To learn that it was a full fledged path? That it made him an arcanist in his own right? That changed everything. At the very least, the chances of getting a class that properly made use of his invention just shot through the roof.

He leaned forwards, planting his hands on the tacky surface of the stained desk as he supported the weight of his upper body.

“Hells, Kaius, at least tell me what it was. You can’t leave me hanging after I’ve been sitting around waiting for the better part of a month for you to finish.” Porkchop asked curiously.

“I..” He didn’t even know where to start. “I got an Honour.” Kaius trailed off, the last few words coming out as a bare whisper.

Porkchop’s ears perked up, his senses more than fine enough to pick up his mumbled words. “You WHAT. What does it do? What’s it for? Is it copyable? Tell me exactly!”

“Slow down.” He said holding up a hand. “I’ve barely woken up, give me a second for my head to catch up and I’ll check it.” Kaius responded.

Seeing as Porkchop was physically vibrating, Kaius decided to put his friend out of his misery and pulled up the description of his latest award. Besides, he wanted to know for himself. If it was anything like the last one it would be a significant boost. As he pulled it up, one of the system pings that dragged at his attention vanished.

Sublime Prodigy – Glyph Binding:

Honour

The Third Pillar, the tower of reason and logic. The realm of those who planned, who fought with fury and structure. There are those who deride its limitations. The sting of capacity, the pain of binding. Glyph Binders know that with enough knowledge and preparation, any challenge can be overcome. That when one can wield the mystic arts at the speed of thought, few challenges survive long enough for one to end up burnt and spell-less.

Awarded to the discoverer of the art of runic casting in a given cohort. Provides a Moderate increase to the efficacy of all Glyph Binding skills. +10 Intelligence and Willpower.

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Bonus: For being unclassed while achieving this Honour the efficacy bonus to Glyph Binding skills is increased to Reasonable, and the stat bonus is increased to +15 Intelligence and Willpower.