Runeblade-Chapter 224B2 : Payment, pt. 1

Watching the guild administrators across from him, Kaius tried to work off some of his tension by balling his hands on his trousers. They’d done it. Shared that they had Aspects.

It had been tough, but the right decision. Now he was just waiting in silence for the guildmaster to deliver his verdict.

Rieker was silent, staring at them with a stoney intensity as he digested his words. His expression was schooled, not giving them the slightest hint on whether he was thrilled, shocked, or furious that two of them had already unlocked Aspects.

After they’d had a small dressing down—where Rieker had made extra sure that they were aware of what they’d done wrong about the boggling hunt—the guildmaster had requested they start with their little secret. He’d thought that it would be best to do so if they thought it was likely to impact their plans moving forward.

That, at least, was undoubtable. Rieker was thorough, and Kaius would be surprised if learning of the achievements up for grabs wouldn’t radically alter his choices on their missions—let alone the fact that Porkchop wanted the man's direct help.

Inwardly, Kaius couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be able to crack his composure as the conversation continued. Aspects were one thing, but he hadn’t even gotten to Honours yet.

The silence continued for a moment, Rieker chewing through the news they had given.

“So, the two of you have unlocked your Aspects,” he said, nodding at Kaius and Iamus. “This is a grand development—a few others in the program have started to feel a resonance, but nothing concrete. If you’re able to share what you’ve learned, we might be able to accelerate things. I do wonder why you waited so long to share.”

Kaius cleared his throat—this was the moment. They had that information, but they needed to tell him about Honours.

“We can—but there’s something else tied to it. Another…way of gaining power that is applicable to everyone who has the strength and luck to grasp them. Unfortunately, some of them are limited, so at first it made more sense to monopolise the resource.”

Rieker narrowed his eyes, leaning in. The intensity of his focus was palpable, raising the hairs on the back of Kaius’s neck as he felt like he was a ten year old staring down a direbear. Ro wasn’t much better, her eye’s thinned to slits—he could only hope that their secrecy wouldn’t lead to her disapproval.

“And this mystery power, would it be the source of your unnatural strength?” Reiker asked.

He nodded, keeping his expression schooled.

“It is, they’re called Honour’s—”

Ro hissed, slamming her palm on Rieker’s desk with enough force that the wood screamed in protest. Kaius jumped at the sudden noise, the woman too fast for him to react to.

“Bullshit.”

“Sorry?” Kaius asked, not expecting the reaction. He’d expected incredulity, but for Ro to just disbelieve them upon even hearing the name of the system's rewards was outside of his expectations.

Ro held firm, glaring at him. “The oldest guild records mention Honours—the source of the Observed’s strength—so yeah, bullshit. The records of their strength are well known, you don’t even come close to matching up.”

“You already know of Honours?” Porkchop asked in surprise. “That should make things easier.”

“You persist with this farce?” Ro said, flicking her attention to his brother. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but—”

“Calm, Ro.” Rieker said, cutting her off with a raised hand. “We both know the old records are spotty, we only know the name, not what Honour’s are. Besides, those records are tightly held—how would they have learnt of it otherwise?”

The guild manager huffed, but held her tongue and slowly lowered herself back into her seat.

She still stared at them with narrowed eyes, but it was clear that they’d at least have the chance to explain themselves—thank the gods.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

As Ro settled back down, Rieker nodded, before turning his attention back to them.

“Saying you have Honours—that by that very nature, are Observed—is an extraordinary claim. As I mentioned, the records are spotty, but they’re clear they were the source of the Observed’s unnatural strength. A strength, mind you, that you do not have—nothing you’ve done comes close to those impossible feats.” Rieker said slowly, before he fell silent.

Ianmus cleared his throat, drawing the room towards him.

“That, at least, is easy to explain. There are clearly many Honours—Kaius and Porkchop helped me gain one, but have a lot more themselves. It’s also a scaling bonus.”

Rieker and Ro looked at Kaius, curiosity and surprise in their eyes.

“Is this true? You shared the strength with him?” Ro asked.

Kaius nodded. “It was the easiest way to ensure his loyalty, and make it so that our secrets were also his—it would have made long term cooperation impossible otherwise.”

“Hmm,” Rieker hummed, rubbing his chin. “You’ve got some sense, then—but please, don’t dangle the answer to the oldest mystery in the guild. What do they do? How do they work.”

Kaius took a breath, and started to explain. The Honour’s they had discovered, the different tiers to their strength, and the bonuses that could be acquired for achieving them alone, or being the first to do so. That, and the rest of the small secrets they had kept. The truth of their classes, and their experience in the Depths. The one thing he’d held back is their role in the phase shift, and their subsequent brush with the divine.

At first, Ro and Rieker had been clearly skeptical, with small frowns and furrowed brows. As Kaius continued to talk, that slowly changed.

By the end of it, the guild administrators were leaning in with their hands clenched tightly around their armrests—hanging off his every word.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Fascinating…this could change everything. Sure, it would be more effective the earlier you started, but even Ro and I could benefit from this. A fine gift you have brought me, boy—especially after the disappointment of missing out on Aspects.” Rieker replied.

“I’ll say—you’ve convinced me Greenhorn. I’m in your debt for this secret you have gifted us.” Ro said, following up from the guildmaster.

The guildmaster fell silent as his fingers drummed a staccato beat on his desk, providing a brisk tempo to his thoughts.

“I doubt you did this out of simple good will though—tell me, what do you hope to gain? And how does this relate to Aspects?”

Kaius nodded. “Simple—the Aspects come with an Honour for being in the first five to found one. Ianmus and I already have it, and Porkchop is right on the cusp. He was hoping that you’d be able to assist him—he’s certain that he needs to persevere in the face of physical adversity to get over the final hump.”

Turning to Porkchop, Rieker gave the meles a long and calculating look.

“Done, we’ll discuss how at the end of our meeting—if it’s urgent I can clear my schedule for the afternoon. However, I doubt that’s all of it.”

Porkchop chuffed, palpable satisfaction that the guildmaster had agreed to help so easily bleeding across their bond.

“It’s not. It was my idea to tell you—I've always thought that the two-legged focus on secrets was ridiculous. Half the reason the Dens are so powerful is we share our legacies—it makes it a lot easier to discover new merged skills. I thought we could do something similar, and piggy back off of the Aspect network that the guild is creating.”

Reiker cocked his head in surprise. “Oh? You wish to spread it widely? Are you not concerned that you will lose some of those bonuses you mentioned?”

Kaius felt the faintest hint of heat wash over his face. Having the guildmaster immediately pick at the core of his secrecy felt a little too revealing for comfort. Especially since he had now fully embraced Porkchop’s plan, the requirements for Honours would be priceless.

“It was, and is, a concern—but, if the guild is focusing resources on a promising group of people in the first tier, then enforcing a sharing of Honour requirements will benefit us more in the long run.” Kaius replied.

“Besides, I'm more than confident in our strength. I doubt there is anyone who could beat us to the punch.” he continued.

Ro nodded at his words. “Forward thinking. For once I approve, Kaius. This is significant, though we would be smart to delay its spread until you’ve reached a measure of strength to ensure your safety. This will bring attention, no matter how much we might try to hide your involvement. It is unavoidable.”

“I agree. This is big, but too big to enact immediately.” Rieker said. “However, Aspects are another matter. Are you able to share what you have learnt?”

Kaius reached into his pocket, searching for the folded page where he had meticulously inscribed the informational package that the system had shared with him, as well as some of his and Ianmus’s own insights into the process of igniting Mentis.

He placed it on the desk, sliding it over.

Rieker snatched it up, folding it open and holding it up so both he and Ro could read it quickly.

At first their expressions were focused, eyes flicking back and forth as they scanned the page. Then they quickly grew incredulous, shock spelled out in bold through wide eyes and open mouths.

“...This. Where did you get this.” Ro said, looking at them in open surprise. “The value in this is incalculable.”

“It was part of the bonus for being the first to found an Aspect.” Kaius said plainly, still feeling the sting over the likelihood that similar knowledge had been lost about Legacy skills.

Ro and Rieker seemed to catch on quickly, dissatisfaction marring their features as they looked between him and the page.

“You think there was one for Legacy skills.” Rieker’s words were not a question.

Kaius nodded stiffly, before Ianmus spoke up from his right.

“It would only make sense—the loss is…staggering if it is true, though.”

Rieker grunted, taking a last look at the page before he folded it up and placed it in his breast pocket.

“All of you have earned a great deal of good will with this—you can be sure that this will be spread widely. Though, much like the Honours, I’ll delay sharing it until you are strong enough to survive the acclaim and rewards that will come.” he said.

Kaius nodded, relieved that the guildmaster wasn’t going to rush the process.

“Setting up an information share on Honours won’t be too difficult, but Ro and I will have to start quickly. Thankfully, I’ve still got enough pull with a couple of higher ups that they’ll humour me in building out the infrastructure, as long as you don’t mind me telling them that I’ll be able to share something good in a year or two if they do.” Reiker continued.

Thinking it through, Kaius didn’t see the harm in that much at least. He could only imagine the kind of resources that would have to be mobilised to get such a program underway.

“Will it be shared with all?” Porkchop asked.

An important question, Kaius realised. He could definitely see the benefits of spreading it to every guild member—it would be a massive force multiplier for the growing chaos. On the other hand, that could be dangerous. If everyone pursued the sort of feats Honours required, many reckless delvers would die.

“Aspects, almost certainly—I doubt everyone will be able to ignite them, from the sounds of it it’s quite difficult and few have as much drive as you do. Honours, however, are dangerous. I’d be shocked if the higher ups didn’t make it conditional on guildmaster approval to share—especially for these unclassed Honours, they’d kill overconfident younglings by the thousands. I’m of the mind to keep them secret entirely, for more than one reason.”

Rieker’s words made Kaius confident that they had made the right decision. For him to realise immediately that in many ways Honours were a poison chalice was a credit to his intelligence.

On the other hand, he could easily see a couple of scenarios where a controlled delve might be beneficial. A team of four unclassed loaded to the gills with artefacts and consumables, spending their last year in the depths would have a good shot of acquiring a minor Honour, and perhaps a few Champion related ones—if they had the right Skills and skill, that is.

It was a dilemma though, some would invariably die—and while he didn’t regret his experiences in the slightest, it was a hard thing to stomach.

Rieker hummed, drawing Kaius back out of his thoughts.

“Those Unclassed Honours that you acquired. They point to something. Something large, obvious, and dire.”

Kaius’s stomach dropped.

Rieker gave him a hard look. “I will only say this. We will not discuss it. We will not reference it. I don’t want to know. As far as I'm concerned, the state of the world is due to divine intervention—not the actions of two ludicrously lucky children.”

Ro nodded, equally as severe. “In fact, half of these Honours will not leave this room. Rieker and I know how dangerous it would be for you if these got out—it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots when the pieces are all laid out. I can feel my oath tugging at the very mention of sharing them.”

Kaius sighed in relief, a palpable weight leaving his shoulders. Their role in the phase shift was their greatest risk, but they’d managed to navigate the high waters.

Rieker rapped his knuckles on the table, getting his attention.

“Now, with that out of the way, we can move to more enjoyable topics. Your reward for your missions.”

Kaius smiled, his heart racing at the thought that the next step towards upgrading his sword might just be within arms reach.

Rieker grinned back at him. “Oh yes, there’s plenty to be happy about. Officially, Ro never left Deadacre—so the reward for that whole boggart cull is yours, on top of the fee for the imbued stone seam.”

He reached down under his desk, pulling out a stack of three boxes. Two were made of simple pine, but one was a dark inscribed hardwood, held shut by a bronze latch.

A deep thunk echoed through the room as Rieker set them on the table.

“Who wants to go first?”