B2 Chapter 146: An Explanation


    Ianmus sat on a rounded stone, his hands propped on his knees as he watched the delver-scion work. Kaius, he had said his name was. After the human and his beastly companion had finished the flock, he’d offered a chance to talk.


    It was hard not to feel like their short walk through the afternoon sun had been a walk to the gallows. After all, he knew too much.


    No matter what Kaius had said, his strange magics and his relationship with the meles - Porkchop, as ridiculous and nigh-heretical as the name was - was a secret that needed to be kept hidden. Even with all of the delver’s power, he was still low level. Impossibly low level, for the strength he had leveraged. Another secret, though one that he could only feel out the faintest edges of.


    Yet, he still lived. He hadn’t been cut down where he stood, no matter how prudent a course of action it would have been.


    So he sat, and watched as the man took his hunting knife to the carcass of the terror bird, dismantling it with practiced ease. Oh, he still struggled with some bits. It was clear that he had never butchered such a beast before, what with the way he struggled with their tough connective tissue and odd musculature. Still, every roadblock the man hit, he worked his way through it in moments.@@@@


    Whatever he was, Kaius was no foppish noble’s son. That was abundantly clear. The blind disinterest in the trail-dust that coated him head to toe, his rugged and raw appearance, and his blatant disinterest in mortal concerns such as pain.


    He’d seen that hit Kaius had taken on the shoulder, no mere level sixteen should have weathered that bonecrushing slam, armour or no. Even if he did have the strength to persevere without shattered bones, the man had smiled at the wound. Like it tickled.


    The sheer affinity to violence chilled Ianmus, filling his veins like an icy mountain stream. So at odds with the calm and friendly demeanour he now showed. Bloodsong, no doubt, and strongly felt. Despite everything, he could feel his latent curiosity piquing.


    He’d been privy to the studies, on how it was some confluence of mana effecting a latent trait in the blood. It heightened aggression, the senses, increased risk-taking, and sent the mind alight with visceral joy. He himself felt it - far more than the average scholar - but far less than some, and far less than the man crouched across from him.


    It had been an interesting study, though one confounded by privacy concerns. How the strength of Bloodsong correlated to the strength and development of one''s level and classes. No conclusion had been found on whether it was just the Song driving people to lives where they burned bright or burnt out, or if there was some direct relationship.


    If the latter was true, at least it would give him some sane reason for the man''s power.


    Level fourteen. Madness.


    Watching Kaius set aside another stack of meat, the man pulled a pan from his saddlebags as well as a pouch of what he assumed to be seasonings, still utterly focused on his task. His companion shifted to give him better access to their belongings on his haunch. Either they were so perfectly in tune that such an action was automatic, or they spoke through beast-speak. He didn’t know which was more imposing, because even the latter meant that they were close enough for Kaius to have learnt the famously mind-bending ‘language’.


    The pan was another indicator of wealth and status, along with the blatant artefacts that draped him and his companion.


    That, or they had been on an extended journey into the Depths. And were only level fourteen. Madness.


    How was he not dead? It wasn’t like he could run or fight, not with their supremacy.


    Not that he would dare to share the secrets of a greater meles. His father might have been a scoundrel and a wastrel, a coward of a man who had left him and his mother to rot when he was a boy, but he had passed on a partial legacy and opened his path to the academies. He knew the histories, had been taught the Quiet Ways. He was proud of his heritage, if not his lineage.


    No, he would be sharing no secrets of the meles. Though, to see one of their insular folk garbed in armour and letting a human ride him was a shock he doubted he would forget.


    Questions upon questions, ones he wouldn’t be getting an answer to.


    Ianmus watched Kaius shift out of his crouch, sitting heavily on the grass with a generously seasoned slab of meat in one hand. As Kaius grabbed the pan, he watched a faint trickle of mana leave the man, activating the artefact. Moments later the steak was dropped in, sizzling loudly.


    “So, I know you saw my magic. I have no doubt that as a mage you spotted something a little odd with it, didn’t you?” Kaius asked, looking up from the slowly cooking meal as he fixed Ianmus with a half smile.


    Ianmus paused, returning the young delver’s smile with a weak one of his own. He’d hoped that Kaius wouldn’t have noticed his awareness, but of course he had. He still couldn’t make heads or tails of it.


    It wasn’t a simple metamagic, not even one of inordinate power. There were skills that could reduce channeling and focus requirements, but nothing he could think of that would reduce it to imperceptible levels. Beyond that, he would still have seen some trace of the man directing his mana. There hadn’t been any. One moment, nothing. The next, a flash of arcane brilliance and Kaius had been holding a writhing bolt of storm mana. It flew in the face of everything he had learned.


    He gave Kaius a still nod.


    “Good man, being honest. Look, that is another thing that will get out eventually, but I would have kept under wraps for now. However, since you have already seen it, I would make use of a skill. I’d appreciate it if you kept what you saw to yourself.” Kaius said with a look, one mirrored by his beastly companion.


    What exactly was he playing at? Revealing more secrets. “Of course.” Ianmus replied, keeping his face as even as he was able to.


    “They overwhelmed us, and I was forced to flee. Nearly got me, forcing me to take a Depths portal. Thank the gods that it was only the first layer. I hunkered down, staying near the entrance while I subsisted on beast meat and water from a nearby stream.” Kaius continued, leaning over to flip their meal once more, revealing the browned surface of one side of the hunk of meat.


    Ianmus hissed. “The Depths? How did you survive?”


    “Extremely carefully, and with help.” Kaius replied. “Porkchop here,” he clapped his bond-brother on the shoulder. “Fell afoul of the same swarm, and by sheer dumb luck took the same portal that I did. Both of us were close to class selection, and capable. Managed to work our way through the biome, locating a few Champions that we skirted around, and found the Guardian. Thankfully, our selections were only a few weeks apart. Once we had our class and bloodline, we cut down some Champions to gain a few levels, then took on the Guardian.”


    Ianmus’s brow furrowed. “And you stayed together after?”


    Porkchop leaned in. “Tell me, elfling, what do you know of the stories of your people?” he asked, causing the magi to whip his head to his bond-brother in shock.


    “I...I know them all, was raised to the Quiet Ways.” he stammered, clearly not expecting to be addressed.


    Kaius raised his eyebrows at that. ‘Quiet Ways’. He’d have to ask Porkchop about them later, some sort of elvish tradition, no doubt.


    Porkchop grinned, revealing his teeth. Ianmus paled.


    “Then you will know of the Trial of Unity. The story of Grandfather and Orrin.” Porkchop said.


    Somehow, Ianmus paled even further, looking more like a day old corpse than a man. His eyes flicked between Porkchop and Kaius, over and over.


    “Impossible...” he whispered.


    “We grew close in those dark depths, elfling. Tell me, is it so strange for bonded companions to travel together? For my brother to show me the lands I wondered on for so long?” Porkchop spoke imperiously, with far more force than Kaius had heard him use before. It seemed, whatever the histories his people had with the elves, there was a clear hierarchy that Porkchop knew well.


    Ianmus froze. A moment later he clenched his fist and slammed it into his heart, before he bowed - as much as he could from his seated position at least. “I will uphold the rite of Silence.” the half-elf said sincerely, his tone solemn.


    Well, it seemed that Porkchop had been right, the mage had been easy to sway. The blatant veneration on his face was clear. No matter the struggles he had faced as a half cast, his elven parentage still ran strong.


    The mage straightened, looking at him with new found respect. Kaius grinned, now was the time to cinch it.


    Unbuckling his vambrace, he let the heavy scale armour fall to the grass with a clank. Baring his arm, he twisted it, to show off the jagged runes that wrapped around his lower forearm and fingers as arcing lines of script splayed out from his central glyph. He watched Ianmus hone in on his hand, staring at his formation with curiosity.


    “This is what''s behind the oddity of my magic. A third Way.” he said.


    The mage''s eyes snapped to his own. “Truly?”


    Kaius nodded. “The life''s work of my mother, put into practice. She passed just over a year ago, hence the trip to extended family. I plan on keeping it to myself, for now. No point putting myself at risk. Yet it will also be impossible to keep secret for any impressive length of time. You spotted the oddity of my casting immediately. My hope is that I can secure enough power and backing for myself and Porkchop before those secrets escape.”


    Ianmus leaned in. “And what of when it does? You must have some sort of hybrid class, correct? No foundational knowledge skills?”


    “Aaaaand you have him.” Porkchop snorted.


    He grinned, showing the half-elf his teeth. “Well, then I''ll need the assistance of someone I trust to help me develop it into a full Art.”


    Ianmus froze, want and desire plain on his face. “Well...as an academy trained magi, I would be happy to assist when the time is right. It would only be fair to give something back to my saviour, afterall.”


    Kaius laughed, clapping his hands in delight. No doubt the half-elf knew it was a bid for his silence, but it had worked all the same - and he did have need of an academic.


    “Good! Then let us eat. We still have enough daylight to get a few leagues closer to Deadacre. Hopefully there will be another good fight before we get there.” he said, deactivating his artefact pan and fetching a knife to cut slices from the now finished slab of meat that sat at its centre.