Runeblade

Kaius crept alongside the exterior of a regal building that backed up onto the wall that led to the final layer of the dwarven city, shadowing himself under a massive balcony of stone. It rose a dozen stories into the air to taper into a collection of spindly spires, with heavily barred windows dotting the walls.

The exterior of the building was absolutely covered in reliefs, all following the same theme. Coin. Valuable gems locked in a vault, artefacts held securely, and more.

After spotting it Kaius had immediately diverted their path to investigate. A heavily reinforced building, nestled safely in the city's seat of government? If that didn't scream bank, he didn't know what did.

They'd made pretty good time. While this upper district was absolutely crawling with goblins compared to the lower levels, they were far more dispersed. No more massive mobs of goblins, they only had to pick them off now and then to clear their pass.

Of course, they still had to be stealthy about it. Despite the strange lack of perception that depths-born had, Kaius had no doubt that if they simply strolled out in the open they would have a horde on their hands in no time. Thankfully, his new spell had proved to be more than capable of taking out goblins, at least, with a little careful aim.

More than once they'd been confronted with a goblin blocking their path, with no way to take it out before it could raise an alarm to its far off allies. After wrapping his glyph in cloth to conceal the burning light of his casting, he'd found an Arcane Dart to the back of the head did plenty well at removing those annoyances from their path.

Their careful pace had slowed them. It was a lot harder to completely avoid the goblins now, even if each encounter was a lot easier. They had made their way from the entrance, hoping from estate to official looking buildings, one after the other. While this district was much smaller than the one below, it was still a city.

As far as he could tell, this region of the city was a mix of noble estates, religious buildings, and the centre of government. There were no 'roads' per se, instead the entire ring was an open stone boardwalk, dotted with massive buildings seemingly at random.

They'd ended up camping out in more than one noble's estate to pass the night. If Porkchop had been ecstatic at the comfort of the manors below, he was utterly dumbfounded at the sheer luxury that nobles lived in. If Kaius was honest with himself, he was too. Of course, he'd heard the stories about foppish nobles and their vices, but it was one thing to hear about it and another entirely to be confronted with a bed the size of most inn rooms.

Still, their covert exploration of the noble district had had some benefits. He'd manage to squeeze out a couple of levels of Explorer's Toolkit, and all his reinscribing of his hymns had managed to cap Runic Lexicon.

Moving to one of the columns that supported the balcony above him, Kaius peered out to look around the front of the building. He sighed in relief. The only goblins he could spot were far off, meandering around far off estates.

"Let's go." He said, waving to Porkchop who was still lurking in the shadows of the balcony.

They rushed forwards, heading towards the bay doors that were recessed into the front of the building. Kaius kept himself hunched, lowering his profile as much as he could while he kept his eyes locked on the goblins he had spotted. Waiting for any sign that they had noticed them.

Nothing, they kept to their lazy patrol.

The entrance to the building was just as grand as anything else, thick doors of wood with richly shaped bronze rings were set into a frame of carved stone. Kaius rushed forwards, grabbing the cold bronze and shoving the door open. To his ease it swung inwards on well oiled hinges.

The interior was thick with dust, completely undisturbed. Having confirmed that the presence of enemies was unlikely, he rushed in without a closer look.

"Quick! Quick!" He said, waving Porkchop in before he closed the door.

Sighing in relief, Kaius turned back to the building's interior, taking the chance to look closer now that he wasn't worried about them being spotted.

They had entered into some sort of waiting room, a wide open area with numerous benches sitting on a polished floor. Ahead of them a long stone desk prevented further access to the open plan bank. He was sure it was a bank, what with the absolutely massive vault door that was set into the far wall of the building.

It must have been tunnelled into the stone foundations of the final district that rose far above them. At least that would explain why the bank had been built bordering right up against the interior wall of the ring.

The roof loomed far above. Despite the size of the building, there was only one floor. Instead massive stone struts crisscrossed the open air, supporting the massive structure. It was impressive, but it did little to hold his attention compared to the jewel that was a potentially full bank vault.

Kaius grinned as he looked at the steel door that was bigger than he was. Intricate gears covered its surface, connecting to a wheel on its front. Walking forwards, Kaius vaulted over the low desk that barred the way further in, richly carved desks and working areas littering the open room past the desk.

His head snapped back when he heard a crash breaking the silence from behind him, laughing as he watched Porkchop go down in a flail of limbs as he tumbled off the desk.

"What?" Porkchop said, extracting himself from the desk chair he had knocked to the ground. "The dust was slippery."

"Sure it was." Kaius said with a shake of his head. "Come on, let's go check out this vault."

As he drew closer he could see that it was even bigger than he expected, standing half his height again. Standing in front of it, he rapped his knuckle against the cold metal with a dull thunk. It was thick alright, not that he could have broken through even if dwarves had cheaped out on their metal work. Which they had not, the vault may as well have been forged from pure adamantium.

Gears dominated its surface in a complicated mechanism. All he could tell was that they linked the large crank at the doors centre with the thick bars that crossed its surface to sink deep into the steel reinforced walls.

Running his hands over the gears, he felt a slight texture to the metal. One he hadn't expected, dwarves were known for master-works, and this felt like the pebbling of something that had been cast in sand. He frowned, peering closer with True Sight before his eyes widened in shock. They were runes. Impossibly small. Small enough that they had blurred into nondescript bumps.

It was an unfamiliar script, but even if it had been Gretchen's Standard it would have taken him weeks to puzzle out their purpose. He grinned, insanity was what it was, though a beautiful one. He might have decided to take his runework in a drastically different direction, but it was still amazing seeing a work of such a magnitude.

"Well, let's hope it's unlocked. Because there is absolutely no way we are breaking through this." Kaius muttered.

Porkchop huffed, scratching at the floor in impatience. "Just try the damn thing."

Giving his friend a shrug, Kaius set his hand on the crank, eying the thin keyhole at its centre.

He heaved, trying to spin the wheel. For a moment he swelled with joy, his heart racing in shock as it smoothly rotated. Then a finger span later it stuck, hitting a stop with a thrumming thunk.

Kaius's shoulders drooped, sighing as he turned back to his friend.

"Well, it was a long shot anyw-"

**Ding! You challenged a Champion: Knife of the Tribe! **

Kaius froze.

"What the fu-!"

Something slammed into his head, yanking him backwards to send him falling to the stone floor. As he hit the ground in a clatter of metal, something razor sharp kissed his throat. Panic and agony rose as the blade tore through his jugular, coating something in a spray of his blood.

**Ding! You have been afflicted by Paralysis: Assassin's Blade**

He tried to flail, knock the small figure off him. He was locked fast, unable to move as it switched his grip, driving its knife into his chest. Over and over. His scale armour barely served to arrest the blade, the Champion's knife sinking a handspan in between his ribs.

His Health burned, but it wasn't fast enough. Life blood poured out from him, drenching his front as he choked on the fluid that pooled in the ragged remnants of his throat.

**Ding! Stone Blood has reached level 15!**

Porkchop howled in fury, bursting over to sink his jaws into whatever had savaged him. Dragging it away to ragdoll its diminutive form as he shook his head from side to side. Kaius barely heard it, too focused on the torrent of blood that erupted from his throat, choking him.

He needed a potion, but Rapid Adaptation was moving too slowly. He'd bleed out before he could get one. The creeping chill of the grave crept in, his extremities numbing as his Health surged in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 9!**

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 10!**

The only reason he wasn't dead yet was Stone Blood, the skill thickening his blood. Even then, it was barely enough to keep him conscious. The Champion had cut his jugular. Fuck.

**Ding! Fast Healing has reached level 20!**

**Ding! Stone Blood has reached level 16!**

He dived inwards, blocking out the sounds of Porkchop's wild fury. Even if he had skills now he could help them along. He sent his senses flooding through his body, taking in his condition in an instant. Relief flooded through him. His armour had stopped the assassin from reaching his heart. They were still grievous wounds, but the ragged hole in his neck nearly reached his spine.

**Ding! Stone Blood has reached level 17!**

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 11!**

The region was a brilliant red to his internal sight, so much of his health flooding the area. Something was wrong, it was healing too slowly. Even slower than before he had gotten his regenerative skills. It had to be another skill. One that Rapid Adaptation was reacting far too slowly to. Thankfully, the skill had still partially resisted the attack, he was still healing, albeit incredibly slowly.

He had to move fast.

Snatching up his health in his mental grip, Kaius directed the resource manually. His skills helped, flooding the area and making each point last for more, but it was still a general regeneration. Arteries first. That was what was most important.

**Ding! Stone Blood has reached level 19!**

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 12!**

Pushing his Health towards the ropey blood vessels that even now spilled his life force onto the stone below, Kaius nearly screamed as he felt a resistance from the injury. He pressed on, forcing his flesh to reknit. His growing migraine was forgotten, swept aside in his all consuming need to survive.

It wasn't enough, he needed more. He had plenty of health, but his flesh simply refused to make use of it, willingly hurrying his descent into the grave. Wild in panic, Kaius clawed at the health that pushed at the rest of the wound on his throat, yanking on his resource pool to drag the energy away from the wounds on his chest.

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 13!**

With a mental scream he shoved at the energy, willing it to focus solely on his torn blood vessels. Slowly, far too slowly, he felt the veins and arteries writhe. Reknitting as torn flesh sealed itself whole.

**Ding! Efficient Healing has reached level 14!**

He could feel it, even with the rapid ascent of his Stone Blood skill he was growing cold, weak. His mind clouded with fog, slowing down with every weakening beat of his heart.

No. He couldn't go out like this. He refused.