(Second Book Complete!) Runeblade: A Delving & Skill Merging LitRPG

B5 Chapter 554: Common Thievery, pt. 2

Lurking in the darkness of the alleyway, Kaius felt a slight tug on the back of his mind as Porkchop focused. Moments later, Kaius felt the tell-tale mental presence of the rest of his team as Porkchop linked them telepathically.

It was a focus-intensive skill, unsuited for battle or any other situation where they needed their vanguard active and mobile. It was, however, perfect for right now, when they were spread too distantly for their communication artefacts, but still needed to ensure their distraction went off in sync.

“I still think this is an utterly ridiculous ploy,” Kenva said.

She wasn’t wrong, but he could see the method in the madness once Ianmus had explained his idea. Still, it hadn’t taken them long to find a stray cat that fit their needs — that was surprising.

Their planned distraction verged on stupid, but that was only if it didn’t work. Ianmus had insisted that cats were fascinated with spots of light, and even strays had a tendency to hunt and chase. He’d said he’d spent hours teasing the rat-catchers of Mystral, alongside almost every other student at his academy.

At the very least, if this didn’t give them the window they needed, a common cat was unlikely to alert the guards that there was something amiss. At least, that was the hope.

“You’re sure it will be able to see the light?” Kaius asked. He wasn’t so worried about the cat following it, not when he had inscribed so many casts of Compel Obsession, but it was imperative that the cat and only the cat could see the point of light.

Porkchop had said it was exceedingly common for feline beasts to naturally have a broader spectrum of vision, and most developed general Skills that developed that capability further, but the domestic strays around the city were barely beasts. Despite it being over a year since the phase shift, he could count on one hand the number he’d seen with a level higher than twenty.

“We tested damn near every cat Porkchop could sniff out — a solid quarter of them could see the light, this one just had the strongest prey drive,” Ianmus assured.

“Damn thing is a demon,” Porkchop added. “It’ll chase, trust us.”

Kaius breathed out steadily at that. His part was relatively simple, but no less important — keep the guards attention on the cat, and the cat’s on the dot. A dot he would only be able to detect as the faintest of shimmers in his mana sight. As annoying as it was, they couldn’t just smash their way through the guard’s defences — the men were ultimately just doing a job. That meant guile, something he didn’t traditionally consider a strength of theirs.

He’d almost entirely eschewed his combat magic, other than a small collection of Nails and Stormlash for an emergency. They were too lethal, and far too distinctive. Instead, most of his mana had gone towards Fractured Warp, Compel Obsession and Zone of Discombobulation, as well as his usual repertoire of mobility and defensive spells.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to use anything but the first spell. The guards might have been classers specced towards investigation and detection, but they were weak. Iron at most, with low-rarity Classes and underdeveloped Skills. At least compared to him and his team.

With her Stealth skill, Kenva might as well be a ghost to them, and there was no chance that they would have the Willpower to even notice his Compel Obsession, let alone resist it.

His nerves were ridiculous; they could do this. He just didn’t like the fact that so little of their plan’s success hinged on his direct input. Much better to face down a rampaging monstrosity with a sword in his hand than to lurk in a dark alleyway like some common thief.

Kenva frowned at him from across the street, shadows and hanging creepers doing nothing to obscure her from his Truesight.

“You okay?”

“Just a little restless,” he assured her, before he did a final scan of his targets. The guards on the roof and in front of the gate were easy. With a clean sightline, all it would take was a thought and they would fall under his spell.

The cat would be trickier. Shifting a little closer to the mouth of the alley, Kaius peered down the street, though he stayed cautious of the light streaming in from the wardlights that lined the street.

He focused on another alley, just over a block away. Behind the vines rustling in the crisp night breeze, Ianmus lurked, the dozing form of a common tabby held gently in his arms.

The mage nodded at him, reaching out through the connection that Porkchop had forged between them.

“I’m still aiming for the guard out front? You’ll need to be quick once I dismiss Whispered Lullaby — it’ll likely be confused.”

“Do it as soon as the breeze picks back up,” Kaius replied, focused.

The waiting game started. As inconvenient as it was, he couldn’t control the weather, and windy as it might have been, they needed it to be windy enough for leaf litter to be kicked up — it was too important for Kenva’s cover.

Every moment stretched long, his tongue growing dry as he tumbled over just how many ways this could go wrong. What if one of the guards had some sort of skill that would alert them to the compulsion?

He took a deep breath, banishing the thought. They wouldn’t. Even if they did, what sort of common city guard would have the kind of skill needed to best a Heroic spell cast by him?

As Ianmus set the cat down by the mouth of the alley way, Kaius saw the faintest shimmer of mana. A mirage-like dot, barely visible beyond a glow that even the dimmest wardlight would have outshone. It was smaller than a damn pea, but he could still see it — which meant he could make the cat focus on it.

**Ding! Truesight has reached level 252!**

Kaius quickly dismissed the notification, though he did allow himself a moment's distraction to take his mind off the wait.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Howling wind ripped through the street, rustling the trees and ripping away stray leaves. Kaius watched the gate guards shiver, gripping themselves tighter in a futile attempt to ward off the chill.

“Now!” he urged.

Before he could draw another breath, the cat twitched, and pushed itself to its feet with a slight stumble. Before it could get its bearings and notice the gigantic predator that lurked a short distance into the alley behind it, Kaius pressed his hood tight around his temples and cast.

The cat froze, utterly consumed by the barely visible shimmer that danced on the cobblestones in front of it. A hungry black consumed its eyes completely as the cat puffed up to twice its normal size.

It pounced, slamming its clawed paws towards its prey — only to yowl in confusion as the light shimmered atop its paws.

One of the gate guards frowned, looking down the street. Perfect.

For a moment, the cat simply swiped at the dot in confusion, then Ianmus made it lurch to the side. It froze, only to lunge after it.

What was Ianmus doing? Who knew how long their window would last — Kenva needed to move before the leaves settled.

“What's the hold up?!” Kaius hissed as Ianmus made the light jerk once more, baiting the cat to chase after it.

“Just getting it worked up — one moment.”

Waiting until the cat pounced on its prize once more, Ianmus paused for a moment before he sent the light zipping across the alleyway. The cat went ballistic, surging after the tantalising prey that so easily escaped its grasp. In a single bounding leap, it launched to the alley wall — then leapt off without touching the ground, racing towards the street as Ianmus sent the light hurtling away.

It screamed again. This time, all four of the guards looked down the street, their hands drifting to their truncheons.

Ianmus played it perfectly, his brow furrowed in focus as he made the light lurch erratically from side to side, staying just out of the cat's reach as he forced the creature to zigzag from shadow to shadow on its approach.

“What the hell is that?” one of the gate guards muttered, drawing their bludgeon as they stared at the far off streak.

“This is so bloody stupid,” Porkchop murmured silently from where he watched on.

“Oi! What’s goin’ on down there?” one of the rooftop guards yelled, gripping their bow as they leaned over the edge.

“Don’t know! Think it's just a cat fight.”

The cat screamed even louder, frustration and furor boiling over as Ianmus pulled it halfway up the trunk, before he flicked the dot back down to the street and towards the guards.

The noise made them flinch — a movement that almost made Kaius cast. Not yet; he had to wait for the perfect moment where he could amplify their panic and confusion.

“It’s coming towards us, Rodge! What if it's rabid?” the gate guard said — the same one who’d complained about being cold.

“Him,” Kaius urged.

Ianmus didn’t respond, but the shimmering dot did settle on the guard's thigh. The cat gave chase.

“Oh, shut it,” the other guard hissed back. “It’s just running scared. Besides, they don’t get no rabies anymore. Got stats and stuff.”

“That supposed to make me feel better? What if it’s got a taste for blood?” the first guard whined, shying back.

A howling ball of claws and fur shot towards them.

“Just let the damn thing pass!” Rodge said, scowling as the men on the roof chuckled at the scene.

The first guard seemed all too happy to comply as the cat raced into the light, jumping back as it sprinted along the base of the fence line.

He didn’t expect the thing to pounce. Outstretched claws glinted with the telltale light of a Skill as they punched through the man's thick canvas trousers.

A blood-curdling shriek echoed down the street.

“It’s got me! It’s got me, Rodge. Get it off!”

“What in the bloody hells!” his companion yelled, jumping back.

Ianmus flicked the light to the man’s belly, and the cat scaled him like a veritable titan-slayer, utterly focused on its prey. Dropping his truncheon, the gate guard grabbed for the cat — only to yelp in pain as Ianmus made the creature scrambled around to its back.

The guard reached for it helplessly, a steady stream of confused and pained curses slipping from his lips.

It was the perfect moment Kaius could have hoped for. He cast, targeting the four guards to focus on the display — though given Ianmus’s show he wasn’t even really sure he needed to. Half hysterical laughs slipped from the guards on the roof, and the unmolested gate guard lunged towards the cat that was currently tearing up his friend's back.

Infuriated at the interruption to its hunt, the beast hissed — and sunk its fangs into the man's hand.

He yelped, drawing back. “Oh, fuck. It got me Damos! What if it's rabid!”

Damos seemed far too busy with his hurried attempts to claw off his jacket to help. “You said it didn’t have no rabies!”

“Look at it man, it ain’t natural! Might have magic rabies!” Rodge replied, taking a half step back.

“Then get the fucker off me!”

Right at that moment, the second floor window slammed open, and three guards leaned out.

“Oi, what’s happening out there?!”

Kaius lurched in realisation — they’d only ever seen three guards take their breaks at the window. If they were watching, then there was a good chance that the room with the fireplace was clear.

“Demos’s got a new mate!” one of the rooftop guards howled, tears streaming down his mind.

“Fuck off!” Demos screamed back, hurling his jacket to the side. Ianmus shifted the light to the back of his thigh, and the cat followed in hot pursuit, clawing bloody tracks in the man’s pale tunic.

Reaching for his glyph, Kaius hit the latest audience members with their own casts of Compel Obsession.

“Now, Kenva!” he hissed, watching as the guards in the window stared at their colleague getting mauled for a moment, before they too started laughing.

“Gods scorn, Demos — what’d you do? Wipe your ass with cod?”

“Someone get this fucker off me!”

All of a sudden, Kenva melded into the darkness as she slipped into the embrace of The Mother’s Shadow — then she dissolved into a gust of leaves. Flowing between the hanging creepers that shrouded her alley, she joined the swirling winds — dancing with the leaf litter that swept down the street.

The unnaturally clustered leaves flew up and over the edge of the roof, sliding behind the guards who were laughing maniacly at the havoc the cat had wrought on their friend.

She slipped into the chimney a moment later. Kaius held his breath, watching as Ianmus egged the cat on for a few more moments and drew a few final yelps and laughs from the guards.

“I’m in.”

Breathing out with relief, Kaius released his spells. It barely took a moment for the tabby to withdraw its fangs from the guard’s buttocks.

“Go with the gods,” he muttered to himself as it sprinted off into the night.