Runeblade

Thinking through his spell selection some more, Kaius decided that Bound Maelstrom would be the most helpful to him.

Even with Rapid Adaptation, magic was dangerous. It went beyond the devastation that mages like Ianmus could wreak — the vast majority of Guardians' and Champions' most dangerous abilities fell under the umbrella. It was also something he had no current way to block. Sure, he could dodge — but it was inevitable that he would run into a situation where that wouldn't be enough. He needed some form of defence against non-physical attacks.

Besides that, his resistance skill was mostly concerned with afflictions. Sure, it granted him some measure of defence to the direct damaging impacts of various affinities, but it wasn't nearly as strong.

The ability to divert physical ranged attacks was no small thing either. It would make him far less vulnerable to sharpshooters specialised in picking off high-value targets — of which he would almost certainly be, with his flashy glyphbinding.

Plus, being surrounded by a whirlwind just sounded fun — if he was lucky, it might even help to obscure his exact location or movements within it!

Sundering Light was a good spell, but it was a single cast, rather than a prolonged effect — it wouldn't help him against large groups of enemies, which was a notable point of weakness for his build. That, and it wouldn't do much good against incorporeal attacks — hells, for all he knew it could be forced to expend itself on a single arrow and leave him open to follow up attacks.

He directed his focus to his choice. Bound Maelstrom.

…

Kaius sat up, shaking off his disorientation as a new swirl of Vesryn runes hung in his mind.

One spell down, but it wasn't something that would help him with his current roadblock. Eirnith still might.

He gave the floating platforms a look of distaste — it had become crystal clear that this trial had no interest in playing fair.

It was difficult to make sense of. What even was the purpose of this course? He couldn't see the connection. He sighed, still unable to find an answer despite having thought about it while his mana had regenerated.

Regardless, as much as he'd hoped to have a solution from Vyrthane, there hadn't been one. He might want to dive in — push straight past this challenge and make more progress — but he knew it would be folly.

If the trials only got more dangerous from here, he would need every advantage he could get if he wanted to get out of this alive.

He had to get a spell for Eirnith. Ideally, a spell that could cut down on the time he took to simple process change. It would be invaluable not just for his current obstacle, or even the trial as a whole, but his whole climb on the Path.

Though, he couldn't lie to himself — it would be nice to be able to think about how quickly those platforms started to fall without breaking into a cold sweat.

Thankfully, the training shouldn't be quite as painful as it had been for Warhaven.

Zone of Discombobulation was a far cheaper spell. He'd be able to cast it more, and spend more of his time inscribing than sitting around waiting. If he was lucky, it would be quicker to level because of that — even if he would likely have to cast far more spells.

Without minds to effect, or a way to shape the spell's output, he would need to get creative with it. The most immediate thing he could think of was something that would aid all of his spellcasting: focusing on reducing the time between intention, aiming, and casting as much as he could.

His casting speed was already miniscule in comparison to other mages — not needing to rely on channeling was a significant boon on that front — but any improvements he could make would have an outsized effect considering the frenetic pace of his usual battles. Even if they would only be fractional.

Closing his eyes, Kaius dove into his mental space and split his mana into half a dozen threads — taking as much time as he needed to balance his split focus as he inscribed rune after rune on the glyphs imprinted on his temples.

It was nightmarishly difficult — six was definitely his limit until he increased his mental stats further. Still, he was getting better. Even with the added complexity, he wasn't all that slower than when he'd first started his practice with a measly two streams of energy.

Spell by spell, the inscriptions flew by — until he finally had a full accompaniment of Zone of Discombobulation. A full forty-one, thanks to having twelve and a half thousand mana in his pool.

**Ding! Tonal Weaving has reached Level 177 > 179**

**Ding! Resonance Amplification has reached Level 182 > 183**

Kaius opened his eyes and smiled — happy with the continuing improvements to two of his last general Skills to sit below the cap.

He cast, a shimmering field hanging over the chasm as he did his best to pay attention to the delay between intention and action. It was there.

Slight, barely perceptible, but there. Some of that would be the inherent problem with awareness of his own mental processing, but it was still barely present.

He could improve it — even make a game of it.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Smiling to himself, Kaius pulled out yet more of his food supplies — this time a sack of dried beans.

He flicked one to a floating platform, and waited — without trying to see which platform the bean was teleported to.

A heartbeat later a platform further across the chasm rocketed downwards. Kaius focused — trying to cast a Zone in the same instant. It shimmered into existence before the platform had descended any more than a dozen longstrides.

It wasn't good enough — not for him. With his mental stats — hells, with his Corporus — he should be faster than that.

Grinning to himself, Kaius flicked another bean to a different platform — this time, the one that the very first platform had teleported the apple to. Afterall, there wasn't any reason not to map out the network while he practiced.

Focused, and mildly amused by his latest game, Kaius honed his focus as the hall filled with the sound of rushing air — and the faint glow of motes of mana that emitted from his temple with every spell.

….

**Ding! Latent Glyph of Eirnith has reached level 101!**

**Ding! Spell-hymn available for selection - Latent Glyph of Eirnith!**

Kaius sighed in relief, glad that his training was finally over.

Sleeping on the trail had gotten old after the first time — he was well sick of it after doing it twice. Even with the cloaks he'd used as bedding and blankets, a mattress of stone was an unforgiving thing. Exacerbated by the fact that his advance had been halted so long, the ache of another poor night's rest had left him irritable.

Still, he was done — one way or the other, he would be moving on soon.

Kaius pulled up his options.

Devil-seeking Eye:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Psionic, Mental)

Affinity: Mind, Revelation

Glyph: Eirnith

100 Mana

Selection Available!

This hymn summons a floating eye that can be directed by intent, and is only visible to those with mana sight. Swift and agile, it provides remote viewing to the caster, and can perceive unshielded violent intent directed towards the caster and those they designate.

…

Compel Obsession:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Psionic)

Affinity: Mind

Glyph: Eirnith

350 Mana

Selection Available!

This hymn alters a target's cognition, compelling their attention towards a person, object, or location that the caster has willed. This effect slowly degrades over time, and can be hastened with Willpower or dismissed by the caster.

…

Forced Introspection:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Psionic)

Affinity: Mind

Glyph: Eirnith

400 Mana

Selection Available!

This hymn blinds and deafens a target. This effect slowly degrades over time, and can be hastened with Willpower or dismissed by the caster.

…

Onnhren's Minor Haunting Shades:

Runic Hymn - Tier I (Psionic)

Affinity: Mind, Madness

Glyph: Eirnith

400 Mana

Selection Available!

This hymn inflicts a target with fleeting glimpses of shadowy figures, and the haunting sound of laughter while heightening emotions of paranoia and fear. This effect slowly degrades over time, and can be hastened with Willpower or dismissed by the caster.

Kaius grumbled to himself — it seemed he'd come up short twice in a row. He'd hoped to get something to boost his reaction times, but it seemed that after turning down a similar spell his previous selection, he wasn't lucky enough to get offered another one this time.

Still…what he had been offered posed an interesting question.

Most of them could only be seen as direct offensive mental magic.

Previously, the thought of taking such spells had made his skin crawl. His first selection had been so soon after they had escaped their confinement. After they had escaped the looming threat of a mind mage cracking open their thoughts like an egg and riffling through the mess left behind.

Time and battle had tempered that unease, and he'd had plenty of space to think about his team's earlier words.

It was, ultimately, just another weapon — and one that could undoubtedly save his life, and those he cared about. Frankly, with his current strength, he was already enough of a threat that very very few people would be able to stop him from committing an atrocity. Hells, even the people who were stronger wouldn't even be fast enough to stop him in the act.

Climbing the path that he was, he had come to realise that eventually the only thing that would stand between him and tyranny was his own code. Was being able to mindwipe a city really any worse than being able to glass it? He supposed it was in a sense — but the point remained, any power could be used for great evil. The point was that he wouldn't crack open a man's mind like an egg, any more than he would torture one.

That said, he still had standards. Onnhren's Minor Haunting Shades was right out — it was a downright cruel spell, no two ways about it.

Even the thought of using it on a thinking person made his skin crawl — especially because it looked like it would last a long while if he used it against someone sufficiently weaker than him.

He also had little interest in Devil-seeking Eye. He already had a scout, and a decent ocular skill himself. Being able to detect violent intentions was interesting, but ultimately wasn't as much use for him as it would be for others — he already had a danger sense ability.

The final two, though?

Compel obsession was flexible — a fine thing for a spell to be. Even with only a couple of minutes to ponder, he could see several uses for it. He could make his feints more effective, bolster Porkchop's Bulwark's Challenge, or distract an opponent mid-fight. Hells, even out of combat it would come in handy.

If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that it was likely that he would eventually be embroiled in some form of politics. Attention would be unavoidable now, both because it was unfair to expect Porkchop to continue to mask his true nature, and because Eirntith was basically tattooed on his bloody forehead. There would be questions.

With how young he was, it was unlikely that people would default to treating him with the respect a high-tier was normally offered — having something that would compel people to listen to him could prevent plenty of otherwise messy situations.

His final choice, Forced Introspection, was far more straightforward. He doubted many creatures or warriors would be much of a threat if they were blind and deaf. Sure, it was expensive, but even if it only lasted for a second, it was the mother of all openings in battle.

Kaius scratched his chin, thinking it through.