Runeblade

Another claw scythed through the flesh of Kaius's back as he stifled a cry. They were well into the second day now. Even with the wounds surface level and minor, and with the healing power of Lesser Regeneration, Porkchop's constant assault would burn through his health in less than half an hour. With the enforced breaks to let his Health refill, they were lucky if they managed to fit in six training sessions before they had to stop for the night.

He was sure he almost felt it then. A featherlight touch on his mind right before his friend's claws had punched into his skin.

Flesh rippled as the cuts on his back resealed, empowered Health allowing him to recover with unnatural haste. He didn't bother to tell Porkchop he was ready, it would defeat the purpose by letting him anticipate when the strike would come.

Porkchop was well and truly into the rhythm of the training now. Sometimes his friend's next strike would come moments after he had healed, others Porkchop would wait, letting him stew in anticipation for minutes before raking his claws over his back.

Blood dripped to the floor in a steady cadence, Kaius's breath coming heavy as the droplets splashed onto the sizable puddle on the floor. Another wet tear echoed through the hall as he was torn open once more. He grit his teeth, the ache in his jaw outshone by the bright agony of his back.

**Ding! Lesser Regeneration has reached level 7!**

Seconds later, Porkchop swung for him again. He felt it, a screaming warning in the back of his mind as he braced for the blow. Claws connecting, biting into his skin and ripping four parallel furrows through his flesh.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Danger Sense (Unusual)?**

Seeing the notification that sprung into his vision Kaius leapt forward with a scream of joy.

"Thank the fucking heavens! I got it!" He yelled, wincing as his sudden movement pulled at the still healing wounds on his back.

Porkchop rushed over to his side, stepping around the bloodstained stone where he had previously been standing.

"Finally! I was starting to feel a little sick at the end there." Porkchop said.

"Thank you," Kaius said as he threw his arms around his friend, pulling him into a hug. "I know that must have been difficult, but it truly was the best way."

"It better have been." Porkchop growled as he nuzzled him. "I hope it was a good skill."

"It is," Kaius grinned as he pulled back from the hug. "It's Unusual."

Porkchop shot him a surprised look at that. Which he thought was fair. It was possible to get offered unmerged and unevolved general skills of a higher rarity than that, but they were rewarded for truly legendary feats and trials. The sort of things that were far beyond the reach of the vast majority of weak unclassed. Unusual was just about as good as it got for most people, and even then it was an impressive achievement.

It also meant that the legacy skill he eventually merged it into was going to be Unique, quite the feat for a merger of only two skills.

"Lucky bastard. Is it really that good?" Porkchop asked.

Kaius nodded. "Yeah. From what Father said it will make it basically impossible to get ambushed by anything that isn't significantly stronger than me."

"Tooth and claw, I wish you had that a few days ago. Would have been nice to have against the assassin." Porkchop said, clearly not over his brush with death at the hands of the Champion.

"I know," Kaius sighed. "Though that's life. Anyways, let me check this out and then I'll go get cleaned and we can have lunch after. Are you up for some proper sparing after that? Dodge is only common so it shouldn't take long." He asked.

His friend's ears perked up. "Yes! Even if you are not fighting back, anything is better than just cutting you over and over again," he said, shaking his head. "That was a poor excuse for wrestling. We will leave for the next biome in the morning?" Porkchop asked, backing up to settle down and wait on the polished stone floor of the ballroom.

"That's what I was thinking. There was that big tunnel out of the cavern near the base of that ledge we came in from, but we can talk more about that tomorrow." Kaius said, before his eyes unfocused and he brought up the description of his new skill.

Danger Sense:

Level 1

Unusual

Danger is not an event - it is a process. It begins long before the first blow is struck, in the quiet shifts of fate only the most attuned can feel. To sense danger is to peer into the future, to grasp the threads of possibility and move before they tighten into a noose.

Minor precognition allows you to feel warnings of future danger an instant before it occurs. Certain effects impede this insight.

Each level moderately increases specificity of warnings.

Each level slightly improves the skills ability to pierce effects that shroud danger.

Each level infinitesimally lengthens the window of warning prior to the impending danger.

Kaius whistled as he read the skill. He had known what the skill did, but he hadn't expected it to be explicitly precognitive. Those sorts of skills were rare, and he knew without a doubt that the legacy skill he merged from it would be similar. As one grew through the ranks, battle grew so fast, so damaging, that relying on pure senses and reaction to deal with it grew almost impossible.

Almost everyone aimed to get at least one sensing or defensive skill that interacted with fate as they evolved their skills, acquiring one so early was a massive leg up.

If someone had to evolve their skill four or five times to gain that capability, how much more advanced would his own be when it grew to the same extent?

"That good?" Porkchop asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Precognitive." Kaius said.

Porkchop's eyes widened. "This early? I take it back, peeling you like an overripe fruit was worth it."

"Yup," Kaius said. "Another little secret Father had been keeping from me, I guess."

It was still frustrating, knowing there was so much his father hadn't passed on. Sure, the skills weren't too bad. He knew what they did in generalities, and they had spent a lot of time on making sure he could acquire them himself. It was the family history that frustrated him. There must have been some reason that he had been kept out of the loop, but now that he had been separated from Father the questions gnawed at him in a way they never had before.

As soon as he was out he would find out more. He had their name, there would be a record. Somewhere.

"Come on, let's go get cleaned up." Kaius said, shaking off his rumination. A good wash and some hot food and he would feel better, he knew it.

…

Kaius was right. The hot rainfall that the dwarves seemed to favour to bathe did much to wash away his tension and doubts. By the time he and Porkchop had finished their lunch, he felt back to his old self. Now that they had returned to the ball room, he was ready to press on and get his final skill.

"So you're just going to try to dodge?" Porkchop asked, watching him as he donned his armour.

"Yeah. It shouldn't take long. Even if I've turned it down before, and it has decent overlap with Adamant Body, it's only a common skill. Try to be straightforward with it. It's mostly important that I can see an attack coming and avoid it then see through a feint or whatever." Kaius explained.

Kaius kept his sword buckled to his waist, but didn't draw it. It might have been slightly easier to get the skill if he was unarmed and unarmoured, but he wasn't sure. Besides, there was something to be said about practising a skill in the same conditions you would use it.

Striding out to meet Porkchop in the centre of the hall, Kaius settled his mind and felt for the thrum of anticipation that preceded the rush he felt in every battle. The Bloodsong was an ephemeral energy, one that had become a constant companion in the depths. Pushing him to strive for his limits, honing his focus.

Across from him, he saw his friend do the same. His fur puffing up to make him seem even larger than he already was, failing to conceal the way his friends shoulders rippled and tensed. Porkchop's snout scrunched into a half snarl.

Kaius felt a chill down his spine. Friends they might have been, but there was something primally intimidating about squaring off against a greater meles.

"Ready?" Porkchop asked, the excitement in his voice totally at odds with his demeanour.

"Ready." Kaius grinned.

Porkchop exploded forwards, crossing strides of polished stone with one paw poised to smash him flat. Kaius focused, True Sight drinking in every movement. He felt a warning blare in his mind, a rapidly approaching doom crushing him from overhead.

Momentarily distracted by the feeling, Kaius barely managed to pivot on his front foot. Turning to the side to allow Porkchop's claws to sail past him. He backed up, creating distance as Porkchop leapt for him once more, a sideways chop of his claws aimed at his chest.

Again, Kaius felt encroaching doom.

**Ding! Danger Sense has reached level 2!**

That would take a while to get used to. He hadn't quite expected Danger Sense to be so obvious, especially for attacks he could already see coming. The sense was undefined, barely giving him a sense of direction. He guessed the skill would need to be a much higher level before it would tell him anything more defined than that.

He ducked, slipping under Porkchop's slash before he stepped forwards to stand by his friend's shoulder. A warning sounded in his mind. Porkchop whirled, snapping at him with his jaws.

Dancing back, Kaius shoved the foreign sensation of encroaching danger to the back of his mind. He would have to slowly get used to the skill. Currently it was more distracting than anything else.

Launching into a flurry of blows, Porkchop did his best to hem him in. His friend's pace picked up as he slid and leaned around his furious claws. He was only able to hold out for so long before they got too fast for him to fully evade. There was only so much he could do with dodging alone. So much of his fighting style surrounded using his blade as a means of active defence.

A claw smashed into his shoulder, bruising the flesh under the heavy plates, sending him stumbling back. Porkchop advanced, launching into a charge. Waiting until the last moment, Kaius pivoted to the side and allowed his friend to sail past him.

Danger loomed. Kaius reacted.

At the last moment Porkchop threw out a paw, trying to catch him. He was already gone, leaning back just enough to that hardened claws threw up a shower of sparks as they grated over the scales on his chest.

A ding sounded in his mind.

**Ding! General Skill Available! Would you like to learn: Dodge (Common)?**

Kaius grinned, distracted. A blare of warning in his mind caused him to flinch. Porkchop smashed him in the shoulder, sending him collapsing to the ground in a clatter of metal on stone.

Rolling over with a groan, Kaius shot his friend a wounded look. "Well, I was going to say 'I got it!' but this is on me for being distracted."

"Whoops..?" Porkchop said, staring down at him with amusement.

Kaius pushed himself up with a sigh. "Yeah, my bad. Didn't expect to get offered it so quickly."

"I'll say, I'm barely even warmed up!" Porkchop grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. There'll be plenty of things to fight when we leave the city." Kaius said, waving his friend off. "Now let me check this."

He turned his attention to the notification in his mind.

Dodge:

Level 1

Common

Flow and rhythm. It is present in all things, from art to warfare. Lead the dance and become untouchable.

Enhanced reflexes allow you to avoid oncoming blows with greater ease.

Each level slightly increases body control while dodging.

Each level minutely decreases reaction time to threats.

Snapping the description shut, Kaius turned to look at the light of the false sun that shone through the windows of the dance hall.

"Well, that took far less time than I was expecting." He said, looking back to Porkchop. "Do you want to leave now? We should be able to make it most of the way through the residential district if we keep to the routes we have already cleared."

"May as well." Porkchop agreed.

"Great!" Kaius said with a clap of his hands, pushing himself up off the floor. "Let's go get our things together then."

They left the hall, finally ready to make their leave from the city.