Runeblade

Kaius held his mana in a tight grip, weaving a thread into the final sequence of runes he needed to complete his final inscription of Hateful Nail. It snapped into place, the tightly spiraled weave crystallising and isolating the mana he'd used in its construction.

It had been the last spell he'd needed — his pool almost completely reserved, spread between his Drakthar, Aelina, and Eirnith spells. He still had a little bit free — a bare five-hundred in comparison to the over ten-thousand he'd spent on spells. Mystic's Rend was far too useful to ignore, even if he could down a mana tonic or two once he'd cast a few spells.

Opening his eyes, Kaius found his team ready and waiting — clustered behind a mound of tussock at the peak of a slight rise on the alpine plateau. All three of them had focused expressions on their faces, determination shining bright as they readied themselves for the battle to come, double and triple checking their equipment.

Kaius smiled at the simple comradery of shared purpose.

He stretched, pushing himself up into a low crouch as he looked around. As expected, there was still a faint shimmer in the air around them, fully encapsulating the rock strewn mound they had chosen as cover. Their target wasn't too far beyond it — only a few hundred longstrides down the low rise and across the plateau.

It wasn't their only redoubt. Leaving their camp before daybreak, they'd taken their time on the approach, stopping every so often to deploy a Warhaven. With the spell lasting a full twelve hours, there was no reason not to have fall back points — even if they hopefully wouldn't need them. Still, the time he'd had to spend recovering his mana to reinscribe the spell each time had been well worth the added peace of mind.

Now the sun shone high overhead, burning away the few lingering clouds to leave them with only the crisp alpine chill.

Seeing him moving, Kenva looked over as she ran a cloth over her bow — giving it a last minute oil it definitely didn't need.

"Are you sure you don't want the two of us any closer?" she said, giving him a cautious look.

Kaius shook his head. It had been a constant point of discussion, but there was no way she and Ianmus could come closer than they already were. With the Crucible Guardian's speed, and attacks that covered wide areas, there would be far too much risk of them getting injured.

"If we set up any closer, there will be too much of a chance of the manticore catching our scent if the wind changes. With how fast it is, much better we give it as much reason as possible to focus on me and Porkchop before you open with a lance. Besides, the two of you are more than capable of hitting your shots from a few hundred longstrides away."

"True," Ianmus responded, leaning up against their cover. "But it still feels weird. We might be safer, but we'll be less effective — I can't exactly comfortably refresh your Sundrenched Strength from that distance."

"We'll be fine!" Porkchop insisted with casual joviality — as if they were preparing to go deer hunting, instead of fight a monster of partially unknown strength. "You'll still be able to heal us, and hit the enemy, which is really the main thing."

Kaius nodded to his brother's words. They really would be okay — it wasn't like they would be completely without buffs. Now was the perfect time to use a couple of the more useful tonics they'd found in Old Yon's stash.

"Let's do this. We'll be in that Crucible before the day is out, I can promise you that."

He caught Porkchop's eye and nodded to the four potions he'd laid out in front of him. Two pairs in square bottles — one a thick oily liquid the colour of soot, and another a shimmering silver. Quickened Reflexes and Persistent Pursuit. Both were tier one Rares — the former self explanatory, while the later was a small boost to their movement speed that would last for a few hours. Even if they were relatively weak compared to their overall capabilities, every bit of advantage counted.

Porkchop snatched his first tonic up, the bottle floating away in a ghostly hand Kaius could only see with his mana sight.

Kaius followed his brother's lead, uncorking the first tonic and upending it down his throat. It was sour — tasted of snap decisions made in the heat of the moment, and smelled like the racing potential of a storm.

**Ding! You have imbibed a Tonic (Rare, Tier I): Quickened Reflexes**

The second vial quickly followed the first. It slammed into his stomach like a crossbow bolt — alchemical power flooding his veins as the essence of a hunter pursuing its prey for leagues filled his sinuses with the acrid burn of exertion and sweat.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

**Ding! You have imbibed a Tonic (Rare, Tier I): Persistent Pursuit**

Breathing out, long and slow, Kaius gave himself a moment to adjust to the sudden enhancements that hit his system. It was only a few heartbeats — he met Ianmus's eyes, giving the mage a nod.

Crouching low, Ianmus wove a spell — controlling his weave to hide the mana's glow behind their barrier of rock and tussock. Sundrenched Strength rushed out a moment later. It was a potent spell now — high stats and Skill levels making Kaius feel like pure liquid fire had been injected into his veins, stoking a furnace in his heart.

"Be careful, please," Kenva said, concern cutting through her battle focus.

There was nothing else to say, so he gave her a nod and departed with Porkchop at his side. Every step they took heightened the rising song within him, a grin tugging at his cheeks.

Slipping through their Warhaven, they rounded the tussock. Standing high and proud, the obelisk dominated their surroundings — like black ink had been frozen mid pour, a puddle that drowned the plateau in its ambience.

The Guardian waited at the edge of the runed black glass, facing away from them. It stood out plainly, even with its sand-coloured hair trying to blend into the surrounding alpine grasses. Even if it was nearly two-hundred and fifty longstrides away, Truesight made it as clear as if it lay a handspan in front of him.

It looked even more unnatural than it had from their base camp. Fur textures mashed blindly together where lion met wolf; the few visible curves of its twisted goblinoid face were gaunt and hyper-exaggerated; the reptilian tail topped by a spiked maul of bone was the most out of place of all — a perfectly flat line separating it from the wolven hips it connected to.

Kaius adjusted his grip on his blade. They crept closer.

The wind was in their favour, blowing straight towards them and hiding their scent. It had been the largest part of why they'd waited so long to engage. There'd been some debate if it would be better for them to rotate around it and approach from a different angle, but a half dozen memories of beasts attempting to charge their backline had disabused him of that plan. This way they could body block it if it somehow noticed them.

"Ready to get beaten within an inch of our lives?" Kaius half-joked across his link with Porkchop. The Bloodsong was well and truly screaming to him now — his heart racing as his face flushed with anticipation.

He wasn't alone, Porkchop's own song resonating in harmony — urging them both higher, begging aggression and release.

"By the Matriarchs, yes."

As much as Kaius yearned to dive into a full sprint, he held himself steady — freeing one hand to cast. It was right there — only fifty longstrides in front of them. He could bloody see its chest rising in time with its breaths.

It would have been a waste. They'd waited far too long for the right moment to spring their trap prematurely — the signal would come soon enough.

It was still agonising. Every muscle in his body was so packed full of energy he was worried they might burst if he couldn't run. Instead he braced, getting into position to charge.

One moment, he was hanging on his every heartbeat. Next, a screaming lance of solar fury appeared over his head — the very air howling as Ianmus's metamagic-backed spell tore it asunder.

Even adjusted to invisible-light, it shone as bright as a corona, plasmatic arcs crawling across the lance like living worms.

It tore into the base of the manticore's skull — boring through its fur to scorch its flesh. For a moment, Kaius held out hope.

The Guardian leapt to its feet, screaming like a man possessed as it bared a mouth of fangs. Fire roared to life down its spine — orange and red tongues of flame creating a flowing crest of power.

Kaius started to kick off.

Ianmus's beam had done less than he'd hoped, but more than he'd dreaded. The blasted manticore was literally on fire — it was always likely it would be somewhat resistant to closely aligned affinities like solar.

A streak of blue shot over his head.

He felt energy surge through his brother, gathering in his chest as he started to inhale.

Kenva's attack slammed home, right into the weeping wound on the manticore's skull. A quadruple threat of Skills — Horizon's Arrow; Lance of Fury, and Winter's Mark, all backed by an arrow Gift of the Hungry Forest had sung from the heartwood of a Godsmaw tree.

The arrow shattered, every sliver cracking bone and shredding flesh.

His foot hit the ground, muscles firing as he cast Slip Step — the world slipping as he covered a full forty strides in a single bound.

Blood pumped from the crater in the back of the manticore's head, flesh bubbling as its Health burned. A grievous wound. Memories witnessed and sorted by his Glass Mind told him one thing — it wasn't anything close to disabled.

Still howling with the warped tones of a tortured man, the manticore spun — nimbly pivoting on a single limb to dodge Kenva's follow up shot.

It noticed them immediately — beady eyes set deep in a humanoid face deepening to a hungry red. It tensed.

**Ding! You have challenged a Crucible Guardian: Abrissian Manticore!**

**Ding! Good Luck.**

Only a few heartbeats after the opening solar lance that had signaled their attack, Porkchop roared.

The sound hung in the air, reverberating with the stabbing power of a taunt — Bulwark's Challenge. It ripped at the Guardian's attention, forcing it to focus on the mountain of meat and crystal that now charged directly for it. Porkchop made his first step, the ground rippling under his foot.

The real battle had begun.