Runeblade-Chapter 256B2 : Confinement, pt. 3

Resting against the back wall of his cell, Kaius idly traced the shapes of clumped moss that had grown in the damp. He was thinking about their cell mate—Kenva. At first, they’d kept their distance, but the more time that passed, the more he was convinced that the woman could be a vital asset in their escape.

It was the little details. The way her eyes flicked to the far wall, as if she could see something through solid wood and stone. Her sudden reactions to unexpected noise—hand dropping to a non-existent knife.

After sharing a jail for nearly two weeks, Kaius was now certain that Kenva was a genuine prisoner. More than that, he grew more sure that she hadn’t been boasting about her feat of crossing the plains alone.

With everything he knew, it raised more questions. Either she was beyond skilled at avoiding trouble, or she was hiding secrets. What were the chances that someone with a fresh class would be able to walk so far without encountering a beast significantly higher level than them?

In his experience—very little.

A few days ago, when she’d been knocked out to be taken for questioning, he’d taken the opportunity to analyse her.

Level eighty-six. A level almost on par with Ianmus—something he’d only managed to attain in such a short time thanks to Kaius’s help.

And she’d been imprisoned for over a month when they arrived.

Thanks to her blood oath, Kenva was more than happy to boast about her legacy skills—if not the details, something he assumed she had learned after her boasting had landed her in this pit.

As much as that explained, it didn’t explain enough. Even if she likely had an Unusual class.

He had a suspicion—one he intended to confirm.

Regardless, the frequency of his and his team's interrogations had begun to slow. Their captors were growing less confident that they could extract the information they coveted through traditional means—he doubted they had more than a month before they gave up entirely.

When that happened, they’d call for a mindmage. Kaius didn’t intend to wait around for one to arrive.

With every interrogation, Rapid Adaptation grew. Already, he’d started to remember blurry memories of being dragged through corridors of stone. All he needed was a few more weeks to learn what he could, and then they would act.

Now, though, it was time to loop Kenva into their little plan.

Drawing his finger back from the clump of detritus he had been scratching at, Kaius rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

He fell deeply into his bond—Porkchop welcoming him in.

There were no questions, his brother already knew what he needed. They’d had plenty of time to experiment with the connection between their souls, and they had discovered that if Porkchop made one of the lesser connections he used for beast speak it was possible for him to piggyback off that connection.

Unfortunately, it was a demanding task that required significant focus from both him and his brother, so it wouldn’t be helpful in battle. Especially since they could only maintain one conversation at a time. It was, however, an easy way for them to discuss sensitive subjects in privacy.

“Kenva,” Kaius said, opening his eyes in time to see the woman start.

“What is it?” she mouthed the words, still unused to purely mental communication.

“I think it’s time we had a talk, now that I'm confident you’re who you say you are.”

Through the bars in his cell, Kaius could see her glaring.

“And what makes you think that I would share my secrets so easily?” she asked, a deep frown on her face.

Kaius grinned, ignoring the discomfort of his damp smock.

“Because I have a way to get us out of these cells.”

A loud snort of derision filled the hall. “Now I know you’re lying. There’s no way out—they accounted for everything.” Kenva replied, her words bitter. ꞦÅΝőʙÈŞ

Pushing himself to his feet, Kaius walked to the metal door that sealed his cell shut. He leaned into it, resting his arms through the gaps as if he was simply bored of sitting down. The tight gaps pushed his sleeves up, revealing the looping black lines of incomprehensible runes that covered the backs of both of his hands and wrists.

“You can’t account for something you don’t know exists.” he said confidently.

“See these?” Kaius shook his hands. “Glyphic magic. I’ve got a number of spells already charged with mana—the lockout inscriptions don’t work on it. With them, I can kill the guard and escape my cell, using his keys to free my team—and you, if you’ll help us.”

That caught the woman's attention. She leaned forward, eyes flicking between his eyes and the markings on his skin.

After satisfying her curiosity, she looked away—back at the featureless stone of her cell.

“Why include me? It’s a risk, isn’t it?” her words were uncertain, as if she was expecting a trick.

“You’re strong.I’d bet stronger than you should be—so much so that you were captured despite having an oath protecting your legacy. Level eighty-six, so quickly? On a solo journey across the Frontier? The only people I've known to grow like that are my team.” he said, his eyes boring into her with burning intensity.

Kenva froze, just barely for a moment, but Kaius caught it all the same.

Shoving down his urge to grin, he simply stayed silent, letting the woman respond on her own time—too much pressure might get her to shut down.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kenva finally said, relying on the age old defense of denial.

He rolled his eyes. “Please. You’ve clearly got a good legacy, and I doubt you would have survived the plains even with a Rare class—so I'm guessing you probably have an Unusual.”

Kenva froze again, her chest rising and falling at a fluttering beat. She was panicking. He had to calm her.

“Kenva!” he called, slapping the gate to his cell. The sudden noise caused her eyes to dart to his. “I already told you I have unknown magic—you have more on me than I have on you, so calm yourself.”

She paused, mulling his words over, before she nodded—a streak of red-brown hair falling into her face.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Like I was saying, even with those things, it doesn’t explain how you shot up so quickly. I think I know what did, though. Levelling like that requires risks that most would never take—that are almost sure to kill you.” he said, watching her carefully.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she gave him a single nod.

He smiled.

“While you were travelling—hunting beasts—I’m guessing you got unlucky. Nearly died, fighting something that by all rights should have killed you.”

Kenva’s eyes went wide, staring at him in shock.

He was right. Readjusting, Kaius leaned against the stone frame of the doorway, a knowing smile on his face.

“I’d say whatever you ran into was something far stronger than you should have been able to kill, but you did it anyway. Something like, I don’t know, fifty levels above you?” Kaius asked, probing for her reaction.

Kenva only narrowed her eyes, a suspicious frown forming.

Muffling a curse, Kaius’s mind raced. He’d been sure that she’d gotten Honours—it was the easiest explanation. But if not Ruthless Underdog, then what? His mind flicked to the Honour he’d received after killing the group of bone biters.

Needing to check its wording, the description materialised in front of his eyes.

Horde Breaker:

Honour

A champion slaying an army of its lessers is to be expected, but a pack of wolves running before the might of the skillful rabbit? That is truly remarkable.

Awarded to those in a team of four or less who slay a group of at least twenty foes that are at least 35 levels or more above their initial levels, before level 100. Provides a Minute increase to Resource efficiency when fighting groups of 20 or more enemies. +5 all stats. +3% all stats.

He decided to double down—it was a long shot, but if he was wrong he’d just have to come right out and ask.

“Maybe a pack of somethings then? Thirty-five higher than you?”

Kenva gasped, a sharp inhale that rang clear through the quiet dungeon.

Well now, of all Honours, that wasn’t one he’d expected her to have. Fighting a whole group of overleveled enemies alone? Even he would have struggled with that, and it sounded like Kenva had done it very early.

Satisfaction at being right flooded through him. She was perfect. Though he still wanted to know how the fuck she was alive.

Slowly, Kenva overcame her shock—staring at him with a burning curiosity.

“How do you know? How could you possibly know?” she asked, as curious as she was desperate.

Now he knew he had her. Kaius gave her a wink.

“I’ve got ten.” he replied.

“Ten? Ten Honours!?” Kenva said, rushing forward to grab the bars of her cell—disbelief plain on her face.

He smirked back. “Yep.”

“What? How!” she demanded.

“You first.” he said, shaking his head. “How the fuck did you survive that? I only just got that Honour, and that was with my full team.”

Kenva scratched her hair, looking away with an abashed expression. “It was a mistake, and more luck than anything else. I got a bit carried away with chasing bonus experience, and ran into a group of snails that liked to drop down from the trees and dissolve their prey with acid skills.”

“Snails?” he questioned in disbelief, too shocked to remember to speak through his bond.

“Snails.” Kenva confirmed, shooting him a look at the noise he made.

‘Sorry.’ he mouthed. “Still, how did you survive?”

Kenva went back to looking embarrassed. “They were slow, really slow, and I have good eyes, so I could spot where they were hiding. Took me a full day, and all of my arrows. I resorted to throwing rocks by the end.”

Shaking his head, Kaius suppressed a laugh. That was ridiculous. He loved it.

“Do you have any more?” he asked, curious if there were any that he would be able to obtain.

She paused, hesitating, before Kaius saw heresteel her expression.

“Two. One for killing two foes in a single attack, and another for killing something from over half a league away. Both thirty-five levels higher, under level one-hundred. The same beasts, actually—drained all of my stamina making the shot, but I had to try.” Kenva said.

For a moment, all Kaius could feel was a rush of despondency as he realised that the Honours were forever out of reach. It faded as he thought about it further.

Neither of them, he realised, were ones he and Porkchop were ever likely to get. Both of them were close ranged fighters, and there was no way he was accurate enough with Hateful Nail to hit something at that distance—even if he would be able to see his target with Truesight. The same went for the other, he didn’t even know how Kenva had managed that one.

“Seriously? Two beasts at once, from over half a league away? That’s ridiculous.”

He didn’t immediately discount it out of hand, he had his own ridiculous feats, but that was seriously impressive.

“I couldn’t help it! They were taking a nap with their heads perfectly lined up—I’d be a disgrace of an archer if I didn’t at least try.” Kenva replied, puffing her chest out with a wild smile on her face.

Kaius smiled as he saw her reaction. He knew that look. That feeling, the joy of having done the impossible. He’d seen it in his reflection, in the faces of his teammates. It seemed that kindred spirits truly could be found in the most unlikely of places.

“I still want to know how you made that shot; you said you're an archer?” he asked—if they were going to work together to escape, it was vital that they shared their capabilities.

Kenva nodded. “My best legacy skill is an ocular one, and my first class skill lets me channel as much stamina as I want to empower the speed and force of a shot—landing it at that distance was easily two parts luck, one part skill. What about you and your impossible magic—how’d you get so strong?”

Smiling as the conversation moved the way it hoped, Kaius gave her his story in brief. How one of his parents had been a runewright, and had helped him pioneer glyphbinding. He kept the details vague, but did share the details of him and his team’s fighting styles—and some of the Honours they had earned, though he kept his unclassed ones a secret for now.

Kenva, to her credit, accepted the need for some details to be held back—after all, she hadn’t shared the details of her own legacy. She did, however, have one solution.

“When we escape, we will take an oath on the Bloodstones, and we will talk at length. I may have learned the hard way why Northerners hide their strength, but it doesn’t mean I enjoy it.” she said, leaning back into the rough cobble behind her and nodding as if the matter was decided.

While he struggled to understand how they would possibly get access to one of those Hiwiann relics, he didn’t see any problem with that. In all honesty, he hoped that their cooperation might extend further than simply aiding each other in their break out.

An archer was exactly what they had been looking for to round out their team, and somehow he doubted that they were going to find someone better than a powerful scion who had managed to discover Honours on their own.

“So, you’re in, then?” he asked.

Kenva gave him another nod—this one backed by a hungry grin, one that promised retribution.

“I want to hear your plan, though. We won’t get far without our gear.”

Drumming his fingers against one of the bars of his cell door, Kaius thought about how to respond.

“I have a powerful resistance legacy skill—every time they take me to interrogation, their poison works less and less. I’m already close to fully waking as they drag me through the halls. I just need a few weeks to build a mental map.” he replied.

“And our gear?”

“I have a tracking rune, of a sort, on my sword—I can feel it, and I'm confident I'll be able to at least break whatever formations they have guarding their vault. Porkchop and Ianmus are dangerous enough we can do without until then.”

Their conversation continued, Kaius explaining his plan.