Runeblade

Kaius held firm under the assault of platinum shards of crystallised power, preparing himself to link to the final nexus he needed to create his next legacy skill. It would be agony, that he was certain of. Every legacy skill he forged added to the difficulty of merging the next, and with seven orbiting his soul the battle of wills had grown dire.

He exploded into motion. Wrapping his will around his soul he weaved together a tightrope of his central essence, flinging himself through the yawning void of his inner space to rocket towards the final skill.

Sensing his motion, the discordant screams of his legacy skills rose to new heights. Every tone of their assault seemed to penetrate him to his very core. Assaulting his mind, shredding his soul with the purest essence of discontent and violation. His breaths came heavy, physical body reeling as a deep ache settled into his bones.

The physical discomfort was the smallest of it, bare aftershocks compared to the titanic blows that rained down on his psyche. Kaius grit his teeth, pressing onwards as he stretched himself towards Efficient Healing.

He could not lose. Not unless he gave up. Control over the soulspace was a product of will, intent, and desire. Despite the pain, nausea, and overwhelming sensation, Kaius's intent was pure. He would forge this skill, and the one after, if it was the last thing he did. It was his birthright, his connection to his father, and his life's work. Nothing would stand in his way, let alone the embittered shards of his own incomplete legacy.

A gilded net wrapped around his final skill, the shard of power pulsing with light and intent as impressions of its essence were thrust upon him.

Efficient Healing was a close brother to Fast Healing. The erudite scholar to its brutish simplicity. It held life, continued existence, in the highest esteem. It too recognised the value, the power, of Health. Yet where its brother seeked to flood in abundance, it saw Health as something too precious to waste. Like all things of value it had to be protected, doled out with the highest care. What good was a flood of regeneration if it was spent so lavishly, so quickly? What then would protect life, when the next time of desperate need came?

Kaius gasped, coming back to himself. His mind felt slow, foggy due to the constant assault on his mind. Even with his focus sapped by his need to maintain his will Kaius could see how the skills fit together, how they could meld into a greater whole. He moved.

More golden threads shot from the pyre that his skills orbited, lashing across the void to sink into the skills he had connected with. One by one they linked the skills together, connecting the circuit. As the final gleaming wire snapped into place the skills rang like a bell, joining together in a unifying harmony that silenced the angry cries of his other skills.

The release from the pressure was so sudden that he almost slumped in relief. He didn't, spine staying firm as he encouraged his skills to slide together, watching as they slid inwards. Crystalline shards crashed into one another in a violent collision, shattering them utterly.

Atomised, the fractured power dissolved into a cloud of gaseous meaning.

The system took notice.

**Ding! Skill Merge Detected! Would you like to proceed?**

With relief, Kaius surrendered his control to the system, watching as the cloud crunched. It started to spin. Slow at first, but quickly accelerating to dizzying speeds as the system forced the remnants of his skills to coalesce. Tighter.

Tighter.

The gas contracted, growing denser by the second.

A tipping point was reached as a higher intent injected a nucleus of power and intent into the centre. Power crystalised in moments, a new shard of platinum rocking his soul with the pure notes of its birth cries.

**Ding! Skill Merged! Lesser Regeneration obtained!**

His latest skill drifted back, joining the chorus that drifted in a comfortable loop around his soul.

Kaius's eyes snapped open as he took a shuddering breath. He was drenched in sweat, every muscle in his body aching from the exertion of the merge. Despite his discomfort he couldn't help but smile.

He was so close. Only one more legacy skill and he would be done, able to move on to his first real choice for his build. He could almost taste it.

Without standing on ceremony, he pulled up the description for Lesser Regeneration.

Lesser Regeneration:

Level 1

Unusual

The ancients were true immortals, capable of regenerating from a single drop of blood. That is why they were immolated. Our hated enemy then gathered the ashes, forging their dead scraps with cold iron, twisting their memory into a mockery. You are lesser. Reduced. Even still, a simple stake through the heart is far from enough to return you to the Cold Dark. Just don't let them cut your head off.

Drastically enhances regenerative capability, increasing the efficiency and speed of Health related healing. Adaptation to trauma reduces bleeding and allows damaged bodily systems to continue to operate at reduced capacity for a short time.

Each level moderately increases the speed of Health related regeneration.

Each level moderately decreases bleeding.

Each level minutely reduces Health costs.

Each level infinitesimally increases capacity to persist with severely compromised bodily integrity.

Merged from: Fast Healing, Stone Blood, Efficient Healing

It was a good skill, one that would save his life many times over in the future. Father had already told him how its increase to his healing effectiveness would be a step up from its component skills. Letting once grievous injuries seal in moments. Yet it wasn't that that held his attention, instead it was the fact that the skill would let him press on through wounds.

Most delvers weren't killed with a single overwhelming strike. What got them was the slow accumulation of wounds. A grinding death that wore away at their combat effectiveness until they were no longer able to defend themselves.

Lesser Regeneration would work to prevent that, allowing severed muscles to constrict unhindered, broken bones to still support his weight, and more. Hells, if he had had this skill when the assassin Champion had slit his throat the situation would have been far less dire. It would have helped him continue to persist, even with his lifeblood spilling by the moment.

At higher levels, Father had explained that it would allow you to push through what would otherwise be almost certainly fatal injuries. A crushed heart would keep on working for long enough for Health to heal the wound. An undeniably powerful ability, one that would dramatically increase his combat effectiveness.

His father had even said that they had confirmed the existence of more powerful versions of the skill. Some in the family had managed to gain them through skill evolutions, empowering the ability to unprecedented capabilities such as the wholesale regeneration of lost limbs and other body parts. Kaius suspected that there must be some way to gain Regeneration or even Greater Regeneration as a legacy skill of five or more merges.

Father had said many had felt the same, but despite endless generations being on the hunt for such a merger, they had never found one.

Regardless, with Lesser Regeneration he would have to be far less concerned about his limited health pool. He would now be able to press on through injury, minimise his recovery time, and trust that he would not fall to a slow death by attrition.

Kaius pushed himself to his feet, grabbing the stone balcony railing to help himself up. His head still ached from the exertion from the merge, but a little discomfort was not something he had ever let stop him from working on what needed to be done.

The last legacy skill he needed was almost within reach, and he didn't want to attempt to gain the skills it required in combat. One of them at least. Danger Sense required a fair bit of contrived circumstance to get offered naturally, and it would be far easier to obtain with some external help.

Though, it did help that Porkchop had been practically bursting at the seams with excitement at the prospect of more sparring.

Smiling at the image of his friend's eagerness, Kaius walked back into the opulent bedroom that hosted the balcony. It was one of many. He suspected that the 'house', if it could even be called that, had enough space to host an entire village.

Thankfully, the overt wealth worked in their favour this time. There was a massive ballroom on the ground floor that had more than enough space for them to spar. Though, before they did that he would have to wake Porkchop from his nap.

Kaius set off, softly whistling to himself as he strolled through the halls of the estate, admiring the rich tapestries and art that adorned the walls.

They were in the final stretch now, he could feel it. A few more Champions, a few more Honours, and a few more skills, and they would be ready.

Ready to take on the Guardian, or die trying.

…

"Wait, repeat that. You want me to do what?" Porkchop said, staring at him in astonishment from across the expansive ballroom that they had selected for their spar.

It was a massive thing, easily a few hundred strides in length and half that in width. The floor was open, unadorned apart from some casual seating arrangements at the edges. A perfect space for them to stretch their legs while remaining sheltered from the goblin ridden city outside.

Porkchop had been grouchy when he had first woken him, though it had only lasted as long as it had taken his friend to realise he was ready to 'wrestle'. Though, now that he had actually told him what they needed to do Porkchop had lost most of that enthusiasm.

"I'm going to stand here facing away from you, and you are going to attack me." He said with a grin.

"Kaius.. You're not wearing your armour. I don't want to hurt you." Porkchop said slowly, like Kaius had missed something obvious.

"That's the point!" Kaius laughed. "I'm trying to get Danger Sense. The attack has to be something I'm unprepared for and has to be, well, dangerous. Don't worry about injury, I'll be fine. We'll take a break for me to recover in between."

Porkchop grumbled, clearly unhappy with the prospect of subjecting him to actual, serious, harm. Unfortunately, even if it was a grisly method, it was still far better than the alternatives.

"Are you sure this is the only way?" Porkchop asked.

Kaius nodded. "There are safer methods, but they don't really fit our timetable. Everything else is worse. It has to be a sneak attack, so trying to get it in live combat is insanely dangerous."

It was unfortunate he hadn't merged Lesser Regeneration before the assassins ambush, not just because he would have been at far less risk of death. If he had open skill slots the sudden attack would have been perfect for unlocking the skill.

"Okay. Fine. But help me take this ring off. I am NOT testing it on you." Porkchop huffed.

"Thanks. Seriously. If I'd still been by myself it could have taken weeks to engineer a scenario to get it safely." Kaius said as he walked up to help Porkchop remove his latest artefact. "Now keep your chin up. I've got Dodge next, so we can have a bit more of a normal spar after this."

Porkchop visibly perked up at his words.

Kaius stood up, pocketing Porkchop's ring as he walked back to his starting position and turned around to present his friend his back.

"Now, just stand behind me and go for it. Remember, I can't have any warning. It won't work if I know the attack is co-"

Kaius gasped as claws ripped down his back, shredding skin and cutting open muscle. His jaw clacked shut, nearly biting his tongue as he gritted his teeth against the pain. The agony was immediate, his nerves screaming as they were exposed to the air of the ball room.

Grunting, Kaius felt his Health engage. The wounds on his back rippled, writhing as his enhanced regeneration reknit tissues. He stayed silent through the burning agony, gritting his teeth. Porkchop was already uncomfortable enough with not giving him the opportunity to defend himself, he was not going to make it worse.

A few moments later he was healed, though he could feel the air flowing through the rents that Porkchop had torn in his jacket.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 2!**

"Nothing that time. Give me a second, I'll take this off." He said, starting to unbuckle his top.

He barely got a quarter of the way through before Porkchop's hardened claws bit deep into his back once more. He gasped in surprise as hot blood ran down his back, joining the growing stickiness that coated his skin.

"Bastard. Great job though. Still nothing." He said, gritting his teeth as his Health moved to seal up the injury.

Porkchop chittered in amusement. A single claw raked down his spine, flaying open his skin without warning.

"Fucking hells!"

"Maybe this isn't so bad." Porkchop laughed.