He paused. How the hell could he explain something that was literally indescribable? Something so vast that his mind cowered from it in instinctual self-preservation?
“I…don’t know — it’s almost like Aspects, but more. Objective and holistic, instead of personal — broader, more complete, more real. I barely brushed it, and nearly lost my mind. I think I did, but the system brought me back. I can barely remember any of it.”
Kenva gave him a searching look, “That bad?”
He gave her a slow, unsteady nod, “I don’t know how else I can describe it without sounding like a raving lunatic.”
Taking a steady breath, he shoved the lingering memories to the back of his mind — any more ruminating would be liable to just cause a repeat of what happened earlier. If it was so volatile even speaking the word could harm him, he had to be careful.
“But you’re okay now — you’re fine?”
“I am. At the very least, I know why the entire skill is centred around protecting me from the backlash. I’m not sure how much live practice I’ll be able to get with it down here, it seems unnecessarily risky.”
Porkchop let out a trilling hum of relief, leaning forward to drop his chin on Kaius’s head. Kaius leaned into the comforting weight of the gesture, letting his eyes drift closed.
“It must have been scary,” Porkchop sent privately.
“It was,” Kaius admitted. “I didn’t know if I would make it back.”
“You did, and you always will. We’ll figure it out,” Porkchop replied, before he switched to transmitting his words to the rest of their group. “Now that the excitement is over — what’s our plan now? We’ve still got enough time to rush towards the end of the tier, but are we staying in this biome?”
Kaius shook his head — even if it was a valid option, he wanted to keep moving towards Deadacre. With their growing strength, unless they were unlucky enough to run into a particularly incompatible biome, they could train just as well anywhere.
“We head to the next zone, hunting as we cross the remaining rivers. I’m not opposed to fighting another Champion at this point, but only if its on our path — I don’t want to go on a wild chase that keeps us in this biome for another month. Once we’re capped, we can start our descent — the personalised loot will be just the sort of edge we need while we work on our skills.”
He paused, looking to Ianmus — the mage had only just recovered, and he still looked pallid and sweaty.
“Are you feeling up for it? We’ve been here for a couple of days, but another few wouldn’t hurt.”
The mage looked at him like he’d grown a second head.
“You’re asking me that?” he spluttered. Kaius tilted his head in confusion. Ianmus sighed. “It’s fine — I'm fine. Another few hours would be nice, mostly so I can get a little more familiar with the change in my mana.”
“Great! In that case, I’ll make lunch while we wait.”
Happily distracting himself from the lurking monstrosity in the back of his mind, Kaius started rifling through his ring, pulling out their pan and a hapdash of ingredients. Starting his prep, he pulled up his status — suppressing a flinch as he glossed over his latest skill.
Status:
Name: Kaius
Dynasty: Unterstern
Age: 19
Race: Human (Dynastic, Greater Beastblooded) - +1 Con, Str, Wil, and free stats per level
Layer Reached: 25
Class: Runeblade Initiate - +3 Int, +2 Con, +2 Str, +2 Dex, +1 Vit, +1 Wil per level
Level: 185
Resources:
Health - 9100/9100 (55.2/min)
Stamina - 8970/8970 (64.1/min)
Mana - 10650/10650 (70/min)
Free Mana - 1000/1000
Reserved Mana - 9650
Stats:
Constitution - 910 (585 + 75 + 38%)
Vitality - 552 (325 + 75 + 38%)
Strength - 897 (575 + 75 + 38%)
Dexterity - 641 (390 + 75 + 38%)
Intelligence - 1065 (640 + 90 + 46%)
Willpower: - 700 (390 + 90 + 46%)
Stat Points: 0
Aspects:
Pillar Corporus: The Struggler’s Madness
Reinforcement: Titan’s MarrowSeed: Forged in Endless StrifePillar Mentis: The Veteran’s Edge
Reinforcement: Glass MindSeed: Campaigner’s ReasonPillar Animus: N/A
Class Skills (10/10):
Latent Glyph of Drakthar (Heroic) - 155 > 174
Initiate’s Glyphic Bladerite (Unique) - 139 > 169
Latent Glyph of Aelina (Heroic) - 136 > 159
Mystic’s Rend (Heroic) - 128 > 147