Seeing that the system had offered him the skill he wanted, Kaius smiled. It was the last he needed for Runic Lexicon.

    Now he just needed to practise. That would come later, first he had to check his latest skill.

    Rune Mastery - Simenoan:

    Level 1

    Rare

    Bind chaos, weave stability into the unpredictable. Find calm in disorder and force the mutable to be concrete.

    This skill improves the users ability to create Simenoan stabilising arrays, and increases the stability of the arrays themselves.

    Each level slightly increases speed and accuracy when inscribing Simenoan runes.

    Each level slightly increases stability of Simenoan runes.

    Each level slightly increases memory and learning capacity of Simenoan runes.

    Kaius nodded as he read the description. Nothing about it was a surprise, afterall, it had the same effects as his previous four Rune Mastery skills.

    "I''m guessing by your vacant stare that you got the skill?" Porkchop asked, having readjusted by the hearth to look at him.

    Dismissing his notification, Kaius focused on his friend. "Yeah, all done for now. Just need to get them to the cap."

    "So we can take a break and go exploring? As much as I love hanging around on beds and eating cooked food, it''s getting a little stale." Porkchop said, lounging by the fire.

    "Sorry." Kaius apologised. He knew his friend must be bored. Hells, Kaius would be too if he had no skills to work on. Unfortunately, he needed to get this done. "Can you handle a few more days? I want to churn through the early levels as fast as I can. After that I was thinking I could work on setting up alarm wards and the like around the neighbourhood. Explore and scavenge some of the other manors while we do it?"

    Porkchop groaned, slumping dramatically to the floor. "Fiiiiine. But you can wait a few hours, I''m hungry. If I have to sit around doing nothing while you scribble on paper, you can cook for me while you do."

    Kaius smiled. "I suppose I could use a break." He said, stretching before rising from his chair. "C''mon. I wanna show you what a roast is."

    Pretending to be calm about the prospect of an exciting new dish, Porkchop continued to lay on the floor. For all of three seconds that is. Then he tore off, claws clattering against the polished stone floor as he sprinted for the kitchen.

    "Race you!"

    ....

    Kaius crouched by the wall of the alley, feeling his mana slowly drain away as he connected another swooping line to a dense nexus of Yosh''s runes that served to interface his central Ykkardian sigil with the rest of the detection formation.

    It was slow work, but satisfying. He and Porkchop had been at it for just over three weeks now, and his constant work had pushed his skills nicely. Each and every single one was closing in on level fifteen. The impact of the skills was noticeable now. Runes and formation plans practically leapt into his mind, and he could scribe them out what felt like twice as fast with half the errors.

    Finishing the detection formation Kaius stood back, surveying his work. Two dense knots of runes had been scribed at chest height on both of the alley walls. A braided line connected the two, crossing the alley proper.

    **Ding! Rune Mastery - Ykkardian has reached level 15!**

    **Ding! Rune Mastery - Vhaxanish has reached level 11!**

    The nightmarish mishmash of scripts on the other hand...

    It had, however, been fantastic practice. Not just for his skills, but simply getting the feel for how each of the scripts worked in tandem. Runic Lexicon would improve that, and the fact that he had his spell casting formation preplanned would also be a boon. It still helped to grow his confidence. Jumping straight into what was perhaps the most important formation of his life, and one that could seriously injure him if he made a mistake, would have been entirely foolhardy.

    Taking a steady breath to hone his focus, Kaius connected the final few lines of the formation. He stepped back, watching it like a hawk as he held his breath. He couldn''t see any imperfections, and considering the growth True Sight has seen due to his scrutiny of his recent works, that was saying something.

    The rune sucked in mana from the atmosphere, slowly suffusing the ward. A thin glowing gas syphoning into the collection arrays he had set high up in the frames. It had taken a lot of planning, and a few shattered walls, before he had managed to get a handle on how to modulate its intake in the increased density of mana inside of the Depths.

    Thankfully, he''d had the foresight to practise warding in the alleys first, so their base camp was untouched.

    The mana clicked into place, formation activating. A thin shimmer covered the window, True Sight revealing the protective barrier.

    Notifications streamed into Kaius''s mind.

    **Ding! Intelligence has reached level 17!**

    **Ding! True Sight has reached level 8!**

    **Ding! Rune Mastery - Vhaxanish level 20!**

    **Ding! Rune Mastery - Yosh''s Supplementary level 20!**

    **Ding! Rune Mastery - Simenoan has reached level 20!**

    He''d done it. Finished off the skills, all in record time. He was ready to merge. These last three had been stubborn. Ykkardian had been the quickest. He managed to cap the skill before he even started to ward the manor. High Lothian wasn''t far behind, with the complexity of the noise spells he had been including in the alarm wards in the alleys.

    Still, it was finally over. Excitement shot through him, a wide grin splitting his face as he absorbed his success at taking another step closer to his class. His escape.

    Turning with a whoop, Kaius leapt towards where Porkchop was waiting, throwing his arms around his friend and wrestling him to the ground. Growling in faux outrage, Porkchop retaliated, tossing him around with his superior strength, pinning him.

    "I submit!" Kaius yelled playfully as he laughed.

    "It''s done then?" Porkchop asked, looking down at him as he took his paw off his chest.

    "It''s done! I''m ready!"

    "Thank the gods! Let''s celebrate!"

    "Oh?" Kaius asked, giving his friend a questioning look as he pushed himself up off the ground. "What did you have in mind?"

    "Stew! With potatoes!" Porkchop said, to Kaius''s complete and utter lack of surprise.

    "And I suppose that you will be making it for me? Since we are celebrating my achievement?" Kaius grinned.

    Porkchop went quiet. "Look. I have claws. We both know you are making the stew. Just let me have this."

    Kaius laughed, taking the lead to head towards the kitchen. "Alright. I''m ready for a break anyway. Inscribing that ward made it feel like my brain was melting."

    He did need a break. The constant stress on his mana pool from channelling the resource through his stylus was exhausting. Taxing on the mind in a way that only sleep seemed to fix. Trying to merge the skills now would be idiotic.

    Tomorrow though? He''d be doing it first thing, no matter how much Porkchop begged for breakfast.