Runeblade-Chapter 192B2 : Lessons

**Ding! Pillar of Self Discovered, Mentis Ignited. Would you like to initiate Aspect Formation?**

The system dinged in his mind, waiting for his command. With the instinctual knowledge that came with all of the systems communication, he knew he could wait.

Suppressing the urge to sigh in relief, Kaius dismissed the notification. It sat at the corner of his mind, weighing on his attention.

To his chagrin, he found it did nothing for the riotous want of the pillar in his soul. Its need to be complete. A soft warbling keen resonated within him, slowly growing in intensity.

After the sheer onslaught that was the process of merging his legacy skills, it was easy to ignore. Yet, Kaius knew that would change. It would grow until he was forced to complete the aspect.

Whether that would take a minute, an hour, or a day, he had no idea.

Ianmus and Porkchop still watched him closely, their faces mirroring concern and confusion.

Just as he was about to explain, just as joy and excitement started to bubble within him, the door to the hall opened with a clang.

They all nearly jumped a long-stride in the air as Rieker strode back in, the man watching them with a cocked brow.

“Hells, I know I literally wiped the floor with you, but you shouldn't be that jumpy.” the guildmaster muttered, quickly approaching as he balanced carrying three small cuts and a shallow bowl.

They smiled, though Kaius caught his brother watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“What was that, Kaius? I felt…something.” Porkchop asked through their bond, returning his eyes to their ‘host’.

“Later.”

Rieker looked almost bashful as he sat down in front of them—something Kaius had never expected to associate with a man of such presence. Still, it was what it was, and the guildmaster gave them a small smile as he pushed over a small cup to each of them.

Porkchop sneezed at his first sniff, looking back to Rieker curiously. At his brother’s reaction, Kaius peered into the porcelain vessel, finding some sort of liquor inside.

It was thick, and a few moments later he got a heavy punch of herbs and spirits.

“What’s this?” Kaius asked, picking up the drink to swirl it.

“Dwarven balsam…” Ianmus answered first, staring at the drink in wonder. “It’s almost impossible to get outside of their stoneholds…”

Rieker only smirked. “Not if you know the right people. Got another crate just a few weeks ago. That’s neither here nor there, though. Drink…Slowly!” Rieker cautioned as Porkchop went to down the lot at once.

Smiling at his brother’s antics, Kaius took a sip. It burned, hot and sweet, with a heavy vegetal note that lingered on the tongue. Odd, almost medicinal, but surprisingly delicious.

Ianmus also seemed to enjoy it, a small smile crossing his previously wooden face as he leaned back on his chair. Porkchop…wasn’t so convinced. His face was stiff as the liquor burned, though he stared at Kaius furiously not to give away he didn’t appreciate what he could tell was a precious gift.

Kaius bit his lip, though he noted that the corner of Rieker’s mouth had twitched at Porkchop’s reaction.

Finally, the guildmaster sighed.

“I hope you all learned a valuable lesson today. You are strong, but you are strong for your level.” Rieker said, breaking the silence. As one, they lowered their cups, giving the man their attention.

“I destroyed you today, and the differences in tiers only get more tyrannical as you grow. Worse, I am of only middling strength for human lands. Powerful for a backwater like this, but I am not one of the true elites of the central territories.” he continued.

Kaius’s eyes widened. That seemed…hard to believe. He knew the man had to be high in the second tier, and with a good class to boot from what Rieker had implied. Sure, there were supposed to be some rare few in the third tier, but the guildmaster couldn’t be too far behind them, could he?

Rieker met his eyes, giving him a firm nod. “I’m serious. And that’s not even counting the terrors in the high mana societies. Against the elves, dwarves, and further off folks? I am nothing. You? You are less than nothing. The potential is there, but that doesn’t matter if you die trying to reach it.”

The guildmaster's eyes bore into their own, his gaze flicking from person to person. “I hope you internalise the lesson I taught you today.

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Kaius froze for a moment, before he gave a firm nod. “I—we—have. I was reckless, and because of that we are in danger.”

He received a firm nod in return, though Rieker looked equally relieved and guilty at his admission.

“I’m sorry about the hand, but I had to make sure you learnt your lesson. A couple of days with it recovering will hopefully drill into you what can be lost when you are careless.” Rieker said to Kaius, before he addressed them as a group.

“Now! Onto the things I have learned. Beyond just raw stats, you all have great skills. That includes you Ianmus.”

The mage smiled at the guildmaster’s words, though the conversation quickly moved on.

“However—you have far too much room to improve, especially because of how quickly you are going to level in the coming months. It will be tough to get your skills to keep pace.”

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Rieker turned towards Porkchop, starting with him first. “You, young meles, have the workings of a fighting style—a true and defined one, with your natural might and heavy armour—but it is painfully clear you are both not used to fighting with intention, and you have zero basis for understanding how to fight with armour.”

“I suppose that’s fair—I don’t really know anyone else amongst my people who use it. Plenty just alter their fur, but it feels different.” Porkchop replied.

“It is,” Rieker agreed. “But it also has the potential to be far stronger, even if it is more difficult. You’re also too aggressive. Forcing enemies to come to you, and in doing so giving your roaming fighter more openings, and reducing the burden on Ianmus, is your aim. Taking hits well, and learning to force opponents to move to where you want them should be your goal.”

Porkchop took on the guildmaster’s criticisms stoically, and to Kaius’s surprise, he couldn’t feel even a hint of indignation through their bond.

Next Rieker turned to their half-elf mage. “You, Ianmus, are far too still and reactionary. You need to be moving. This is not a collegiate mage duel, this is battle. I know you can cast and move, I saw you do it there at the end. If you’re not always keeping Porkchop between you and the enemy, you are out of position. That, and you’re wasting mana.”

Ianmus nearly jumped out of his seat at the man's final words. “What?! I would never!”

The guildmaster held up his hand, calling for his silence. Ianmus lowered himself back down, frustrated confusion plain on his face.

“You are. Most of your potshots are basically pinpricks, especially because of how high above your level you are punching. Am I right in assuming you wish to move to pure free-casting magic?” Rieker asked.

Ianmus nodded, platinum locks sweeping over his face.

“Then you need to start channeling your sorcery, before empowering it and holding it ready with free cast mana manipulation. It will be a total bitch to do, but it will mean you can wait for the right weak point and target it fully. It will also increase your chances of evolving the skill towards being a meta-magic or focus.”

“More importantly,” Rieker continued. “You should be focusing on healing far more often. Keeping Porkchop and Kaius hale and hearty will almost always be a better use of mana than a light beam that blinds their opponents for a second. Unless there is a decisive moment to turn the tide—heal.”

Ianmus mulled over Rieker’s words, wincing as he heard his mistakes, before he finally nodded.

Then it was Kaius’s turn. Rieker watched him closely, pausing as if he needed time to think on how to phrase his words correctly.

“Kaius…you are a tricky one. Much of my wisdom is hard to apply with the strange hybrid path you have developed. Yet, what I can say is that you are suffering from a lack of decisive focus.” Rieker started, fixing him in place with a look that carried the weight of years upon its brow.

“You are at once too aggressive, and too reactive. You draw fire, when you should wait for an opening. You rush to Porkchop’s defence, when you should trust in his survival. Both of which make it harder for him to do his duty and hold attention.

The guildmaster paused for a moment. “It is getting you injured when you do not need to be, putting further strain on your healer's focus and resources. You need to be mobile.” Rieker tapped the table, emphasising his point with a calloused finger. “You should be ready to fall back and support any one of your team at the slightest moment, and be capitalising on every opportunity to hammer anyone who shows you their flank to attack Porkchop.”

Kaius grunted, but he did have to agree. Even if accepting his failures tasted like ash. While he had been doing most of what the guildmaster had said, he would admit that he was unused to Porkchop’s rapidly growing perseverance. His brother had his chest cracked open like an egg, and had still been more than able to keep going until he was forcibly paralysed.

While he was no wet blanket, Porkchop had the Endurance and Vitality to spare, let alone a doubled health pool and a healing skill that was even more potent than his own. Still, it was hard to suppress the instincts that had kept both of them alive down in the dark tunnels of the Depths.

Rieker flicked his eyes between both him and Porkchop. “Also, the fact that the two of you haven’t been training your healing skills is a travesty. It’s blindingly obvious they are low level—the fact that the two of you haven’t started sparing disrobed is a travesty.”

Kaius cocked an eyebrow at the man—struggling to marry the stonerought seriousness of the guild masters tone with the fact he had just told him to fight naked.

“Why on earth would they fight naked?” Ianmus asked, frowning with a confusion that made him look far less of the intellect he was.

Rieker rolled his eyes. “The whole point is to spill blood and heal—no point wasting good clothes.”

“Plus…nothing better for a warrior's spirit than the fear of a stray blade to the tackle.” the guildmaster grinned, steeley eyes twinkling with mirth.

The Wardog’s joke hit Kaius like a brick, focused as he was on Rieker acting seriously in his capacity as guildmaster.

It broke the tension, a deep laugh welling up from his belly, shaking loose the pricking claws of his regret and self-directed frustration.

Humour aside, he could see the value of it—at least fighting in his small clothes—he had been rather lacklustre in his efforts to train a skill that was nominally easy, if unpleasant, to grow. Same with Rapid Adaptation—if they were going to do this right, he should be trying to gather as many resistances as he could before he needed them.

The guildmaster had offered to train him, so hopefully he would have some ideas.

Rieker shook his head, still smiling. “Now, I have a plan. It is simple in essence—I will find you suitable jobs. Tough ones that will challenge you, but hopefully not increase your levels so quickly that we are unable to mask your strength.”

Kaius nodded along, his team doing the same.

“To that end, each of your ‘main’ jobs will be far from the city, and we’ll give you several easier ones on the trip there. With the rising levels, you should be able to blame your growth on an average difficulty increase across all of them. You’ll seem strong and capable, but not so much as to be dangerous.” Rieker continued. “When you’re not on a job, you’ll be here. Training your asses off—with me and potentially a few chosen instructors who will be sworn in if they are needed—so that your skills aren't left behind.”

Kaius grinned. Now that was what he was talking about. While the idea of external instructors worried him, if they were tied to the guild and bound by the very same oath as the guildmaster, he couldn’t see it causing an issue.

Then Rieker stopped, watching them all closely. It was a heavy moment, his grave eyes making it feel like Kaius was standing before a precipice.

“However, to do any of that, I need to know what I'm working with. Your stat growth, the shape of your class and skills—and preferably their rarity—as well as the direction you are aiming to build towards. No information on legacies, or anything of that sort of nature, but I do need information.”

Kaius’s mouth went bone dry. A leap of faith—one that could lead to salvation. Yet no jump into the unknown was without misgivings, and the information Rieker requested was amongst those only shared with those closest to you. Bond by oath or not, it was hard to ignore a lifelong culture of secrecy.

“So, who wants to go first!” Rieker clapped, the sharp crack nearly jolting Kaius’s bones from his skin.