Runeblade

"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.

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.

Kaius blinked, dismissing the notification.

"Well? What was it for?!" Porkchop asked, going as far as to prod him with his paw when he took too long to respond.

"For being the first person in our 'cohort' to discover the Third Pillar of Magi." Kaius answered, turning to Porkchop. "Apparently this-" He raised his arm, showing off the swirling runes and geometrics of his casting formation. "- Is as valid a casting style as channelling or manipulation."

Porkchop visibly drooped, though Kaius could tell his friend was just being theatrical. "So no chance of me getting it. Drat. Though that's the second time that an Honour has mentioned a 'cohort'. Do you have any idea what it means?"

"No." Kaius shook his head. "Though if I had to guess it would be referring to our world. Maybe the heavens and the hells are tracked differently from us?" It was the only thing that made sense to him. Everyone knew that the other realms existed, summoning rituals had proven that much at least. What exactly they were, no one could really tell much more. It was said that it was where a man's soul went when they died, but without any way to actually prove it, it was nothing more than conjecture. No one who had ever tried to cross that veil had returned, at least from what Father had told him.

"Well, at least the system is gracious enough to not compare you to spirits, I doubt any man or beast would be able to get Honours if that was the yardstick we were measured against." Porkchop mused. "What does it actually do?"

Kaius shot his friend a grin. "Plus fifteen to Intelligence and Willpower with a Reasonable boost to the power of all glyph binding skills."

"Okay, that's it. We are going to fight some Champions RIGHT NOW. These boosts are ridiculous. I want some for myself. You can't have all the fun." Porkchop insisted, clearly growing frustrated at their stagnant pace.

"We will! Don't worry. I still have to inscribe my actual spells first though." Kaius put his hand up as Porkchop let out a long whine at the prospect of more waiting. "I will of course be doing that right now. The hymns won't be anywhere near as difficult as the formation. The framework will keep them stable and provide the mana, so I will just have to inscribe them. Then we can leave, okay?"

Porkchop groaned, but nodded and retreated to the day bed. With a huff, he flopped down bonelessly. Wooden framing of the bench groaning under his weight. "As long as it doesn't take a week?" Porkchop pleaded.

"A day tops. I promise." Kaius said, only getting a short huff from his friend in response.

He sat back down. He himself was fizzing at the idea of getting his spells inscribed, barely able to wait until he would be able to put his casting into practice. He already knew what his first spell would be. It was one that he had workshopped with his father. While High Lothian was flexible enough to cover just about any spell effect he could imagine, Kaius had to factor in his limited mana pool. Though, after his two honours he had more than double to play with than expected. Beyond that, there was also a concern of the kind of influence he wanted to have on his class.

He planned on being a spellsword, mixing what he now knew to be glyph binding with sword arts. To that end it was vital that he made use of combat focused spells.

The arcane bolt spell he developed with his father would be perfect. It should reserve somewhere between seventy-five and one hundred and fifty mana, though he wouldn't know for sure until he had inscribed it for the first time. That meant somewhere between three and six casts before he would have to refresh his inscriptions.

Like the name suggested, it was a bolt of concentrated unaspected mana. Something that would bring him some much needed ranged flexibility, and would be able to punch through mundane armour with relative ease.

First, before he got started inscribing his spell, Kaius pulled up the last of the notifications that were blaring in the back of his mind. He had a suspicion of what it might be. Had hope of what it might be. Even if he couldn't make use of it just right yet, it would confirm all he had been working towards.

Focusing on it with intention, the notification flashed into existence, hovering in his mind's eye.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Glyph Binding Mastery (Unusual)?**

Kaius beamed as he saw the skill that had been offered. It was a shame that he couldn't take the skill, even if it did represent his greatest success. His legacy skills were too important, the benefits they brought too valuable. Besides, it wouldn't be gone forever. Even if he dismissed the skill now, he could earn it again. At greatly increased difficulty, sure, but he could do it with enough practice. Besides, his last skill slot after he had completed and capped his legacy skills would get a free evolution. He could take it then, if nothing else came up that suited him better.

After he rejected the offered skill he looked down to his arm, marvelling at the sharp lines of his glyph. He liked that word. It definitely rolled off the tongue better than 'runic spellcasting formation', that was for damned sure.

Whatever he called it, it looked strange on his skin. So stark, so black. So radiant in his mana sight, tightly bound power roiling along its curves, surging through runes and geometry. It was just new, he reassured himself. He would get used to it, until one day it would simply be him. Though, even with how much it jumped to his eye, he had to admit it had a certain exotic charm.

Never thought he would be the one to get a bloody tattoo, yet here he was.

He just wished his father was here to see it.

"I hope I get to show you this one day, Father." He sighed. It would be a wonderful way to start a reunion. To regale him with stories of the Depths, much like his father had told him of his own adventures. To introduce Porkchop. To show him that their plan had been a raging success. To share the secrets of Honours. He had so much to tell him.

He knew that at this point it was unlikely.

"If I cannot, and you are watching down on me, I hope you can see this. See that we succeeded. See how grateful I am." Kaius thought, sending a prayer to all the great spirits and gods to watch over Father. To guard his life, and if not that, to ensure his peace in death.

Drying his eyes on his sleeve, Kaius took a deep breath and shoved his longing to the back of his mind.

He had work to do. First, his spells, then more Champions.