Runeblade

Kaius stood rooted to the spot, looming over the shattered remnants of the cat-like abomination he had just slain. He couldn't take his eyes off the system notification that he had just received. Another Honour.

"Did you get that too?" Porkchop asked, his voice quiet as it crossed their link.

"...Yeah." Kaius replied, breaking the silence in the room.

Then it all hit at once. Excitement raced through him, shooting like lightning through his spine as he let out a loud laugh. He sheathed his sword, spinning around and tackling Porkchop, who chittered in joy and wriggled out of his grip to pin him to the ground.

"We did it!" Kaius said, panting as he gave up on trying to push Porkchop off his ribs. Thank the gods they had finished healing, or he would be hurting.

"We did!" Porkchop replied. "But I thought it would be ten? That was only nine right?"

Kaius laughed again, unable and unwilling to suppress his sheer joy. "We just guessed! But get off now, you're so fat I can barely breathe."

Porkchop snorted, but shuffled off of him.

Kaius pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm gonna check it." He said, before pulling up the description of his latest gain, as Porkchop did the same.

Birds of a Blood-Soaked Feather:

Honour

Some souls blaze with a light that refuses to dim, yet most are consumed by their own fury. Those who endure rise from the ashes, tempered by trials few could withstand. Once in a lifetime such kindred spirits unite and ignite an unstoppable inferno. Rip and tear, together.

Awarded to those in a group of four or less who slay nine Champions unaided before class selection. Provides a Minute increase to Depths rewards. +5 all stats.

Bonus: For being the first in your cohort to achieve this honour reward bonus is increased to Slight, and stat bonus is increased to +8 all stats.

Kaius grinned when he saw the stat bonus. Another eight to all stats was fantastic. He could already feel the boost coursing through him. Making him tougher, faster, and think quicker. Beyond just the boost to his baseline capabilities, the increase to his Intelligence especially meant that he would be able to squeeze in another two or three charges of his Explosive Arcane Needle. A fine thing indeed, now that they were on a collision course with a Guardian.

Though he did wonder if the boost from the Honours differed in some way to the boost he had gotten from the natural treasure.

When he had put all those free points into his Endurance, it had felt like he had been dipped in acid as every structure of his body was reforged. The bonuses from his Honours had been different. More..external, some guiding force bolstering and strengthening him. Not that he was complaining, or even really knew if one was better than the other. Though he did wonder how the stat increases he would eventually get from his class would go.

Then there was the bonus to loot. In his opinion, not quite as good as the skill levelling bonus he had gotten for killing champions solo, but definitely a nice find. He hoped that it made the drops they received a little more valuable, or rarer, rather than just increasing them in quantity. Porkchop, he knew, would be unbelievably happy with it though. In fact, any second now-

"LOOT!" Porkchop yelled in excitement.

Kaius laughed.

"Thought you might like that. Think it'll work on what we're about to get, since we'd already killed the Champion?" He asked.

Porkchop looked at him, shocked, before his head whipped over to the iron chute set into the far corner of the roof, waiting expectantly.

Kaius shook his head at his friend's antics. With how much the bastard liked loot, he was in for a shock the first time he saw a delver's market. Thank the gods that greater meles weren't all that known outside of the small communities that lived on the Arboreal Sea's rim. He'd get fleeced by the first merchant to realise he could talk. Even as it was, Kaius was going to have to keep a tight grip on their purse strings when they left.

As they waited for their reward to drop through the chute, Kaius's thoughts returned to the Honours they had rediscovered in their time in the Depths, and the myths he had heard about those observed by the system.

He doubted they knew all there was to know about the rewards. In the stories, the Observed were powerful. Far more powerful than you would expect for a few dozen bonus stats, not when that was only a handful or two of levels worth. He supposed that it could be explained if the Honours had allowed their holders to get more power classes than otherwise possible, but that felt a little…Simplistic.

No, he had no doubt that there was some other benefit. One that was withheld from them while they lacked a class, like so much of the system's functionality.

Without a doubt it would be powerful, he couldn't wait to find out what it was.

There was a clank as the iron hatch of the chute swung open. Porkchop was already on his feet and moving before whatever they had earned started to rattle its way down the opening in the ceiling. A few moments later what looked to be a flap of leather fell free of the hatch, hitting the ground with a clatter. It was quickly followed by the distinctive jingle of a coin pouch, landing next to it with a thud.

Kaius looked on in curiosity. Some kind of belt, maybe?

Porkchop leaned over, investigating the artefact. A moment later he groaned. "Another dud."

"Oh?" Kaius asked, cocking his brow as he got to his feet and walked over.

It wasn't a belt, but a bandolier, with a thickened section of strapping designed to comfortably and securely rest over one shoulder even over armour. On its front was a wide section of leather with three sheathed knives. They looked hiltless, with a flattened, larger-than-normal tang. Throwing knives, he realised with a smile.

He reached down, scooping up the bandolier. "Not a dud, though it's not the best fit either."

Porkchop looked at him in curiosity. "Why would you use knives when you have a sword?" He asked.

"Throwing knives.I'm pretty good with them, thanks to Warforged. They're a bit redundant with my spells, but I'll take any tool we can use against the Guardian." Kaius explained. "Though I'd probably sell them after that. Depending on the enchantments they could sell for quite a bit to the right person. Give me a moment and I'll check them."

He focused on the artefact, bringing up its description.

Blink Knife Bandolier:

Common - Tier I

Blink and you'll miss it. Your death, that is.

Made from alchemically treated steel, a shard of chusite crystal is embedded in the body of each blade and paired to a twin recessed in its sheath. This allows these armour penetrating knives to return to their sheath shortly after impact.

Depths-wrought Artefact.

Throwing Knives

Returning I, Hardened Edge I, Self Repair I

Kaius let out a slow whistle as he saw what enchantments the knives had. Returning was good, and meant that when they eventually sold the artefact they would most likely make a pretty penny. It was one of those effects that was doable for artisans to make themselves, but not really simple or economical to add to anything other than gear of a high rarity or tier.

It was also just plain useful. For anyone who even occasionally made use of thrown weapons, having to retrieve them led to a natural attrition as they were lost in the chaos of battle. Especially in the depths. Which meant for those delvers who had neither the funds nor the means to purchase an Unusual hand crafted item, which was most of them, they'd hopefully be willing to buy his new knives at a steep markup.

"What's it do?" Porkchop asked.

"Watch." Kaius replied. He pulled one of the knives from the bandolier, flipping it up and snatching it mid air to grab its tang in a pinched grip. Then with a snapping flick he hurled the knife towards the corpse of the champion. It sailed cleanly through the air with nary a wobble to sink deep into the dead Champion's flesh.

Porkchop followed his movements, staring at the blade that was embedded in the dead Man Eater's flank.

"And?" he asked.

Kaius simply nodded towards the knife. Porkchop sighed, but kept looking. A moment later there was a slight pop, and the knife was gone. Porkchop jumped, looking at him in confusion.

"Returning, see?" He said, waving the once more full bandolier.

"Huh, neat."

"Yeah," Kaius chuckled. "It's nice to have, for now. Not like a knife will be able to do much to an ogre, even if it will give me a ranged option when I'm out of spells. I'm mostly looking forward to getting some poor rogue to pay out the nose for them."

Slinging the bandolier over his shoulder, Kaius grimaced as he felt his blood sodden clothes squelch under his armour. Worse, only half of it was his, and the abomination fluids that had soaked him to the bone absolutely reeked.

Their back to back Champion fights might have been a godsend for his skill development and lead to the acquisition of more Honours, but it had also left the pair of them more sullied and grimey than he ever had been before.

Though that did remind him. He'd managed to cap both Dodge and Danger Sense over the course of his last two fights. Despite his experience, he still couldn't believe how good a life and death fight was for growth. With this last merge, he would have finished his entire legacy more than a year ahead of schedule. Sure, he still had to finish capping all the skills, but that would come quickly once he focused more on them individually.

Plus, he would finally get to find out what his friend would propose for his last skill, he couldn't wait. It would have to be something juicy if he was being so cagey about it.

"Back to the rest stop?" Kaius asked, jutting his chin towards the door at the far end of the hall where they had stashed their packs. "I need to get clean. And merge my last skill." He finished with a grin.

Porkchop's head snapped towards him. "You finished them?!" He asked excitedly.

"I did." Kaius replied, still smiling.

They let themselves out of the glass walled enclosure, closing the thick steel door of the airlock behind them. Kaius took one last look at the Guardian at the end of the hall. It was an option, but one that was far less predictable than something straight forward like an ogre. He turned away, exiting the hall and fetching his pack.

"Hey, since we still have so much time left, do you think we would be able to get any more Honours for killing Champions?" Porkchop asked as they walked through the various laboratories and experimentation rooms of the biome. Thankfully, they were back tracking, so other than the distasteful sight of dismantled corpses that littered the rooms, they didn't have to worry about fighting any more depths-born.

"I don't think so." Kaius said. "I'm no scholar, so I don't know for sure, but three alone and nine as a group feels like a pattern. The next one, if there even are higher tiers, might be nine alone and twenty-seven as a group." He continued, opening one of the doors that he had scratched a cross into the back of. "It took us damn near a year to find twelve between us, at best we would need to find another twelve, which even if we managed it would be cutting it tight. Besides, I don't know about you, but I miss the sun and the trees. I'm ready to get out of here and start looking for Father."

"You're right." Porkchop sighed. "It just sucks to leave it as a mystery."

Kaius shrugged. That was life, he wouldn't let it eat away at him. Even after they classed up he knew there had to be more Honours. They'd find them.

"Just because we're leaving doesn't mean we will stop pushing. Even after we find out what happened with those bandits, there will be opportunities for us to grow strong."

"It would be nice to crack some skulls for what they did to us." Porkchop said darkly.

"Yes, it would, wouldn't it?" Kaius agreed, his voice hard.

They kept moving, retracing their steps to one of the small places of respite that were scattered through the depths.