Bacon Macleod

Audience interaction moment

I like Honours, Honours are fun. However, Honours are also right bastards in that I have the cultural weight of a million different title systems in my head constantly trying to steer me towards (you did X new thing first!) and (you killed something really big, well done!)

In universe, Honours are supposed to be rewards for someone doing something statistically anomalous for their stage of development on a multiversal scale (not like, universal level feats, but like world or country le...

B2 Chapter 197: Training, Finale

Kaius held his sword in a mid-guard, a neutral stance that allowed an easy flow into a variety of attacks and alternate guards. The lights of the training hall were as harsh as they always had been, but after nearly four weeks of spending almost every waking hour down here he was well used to it.

Sort of. It was still glaring if he got careless and looked directly towards them—Truesight might have kept his vision clear, but it didn’t make the experien...

B2 Chapter 196: Training, pt. 1

Kaius leapt to the side, feeling the tepid air of the training hall caress his skin as he desperately sped away from Porkchop’s claws.

It was their first day sparring, and Rieker had him strip down to his small clothes to fight his brother. No skills, no spells. Just raw ability as they tried to tear each other to shreds.

Neither of them were shy about it—Porkchop had immediately set upon him in a furious tumble of teeth and claws. With his left hand redu...

B2 Chapter 195: Information

Kaius stared at the description of The Veteran’s Blade—his Mentis Aspect—in shock.

It was huge—and far more involved than any skill or honour description he had seen. Suddenly, he was extremely glad that he still had an informational package to read, because he had very little context of what any of it meant.

He could, at least, assume that his new second stream of thought was due to the Glass Mind that had com...

B2 Chapter 194: Revelations, pt. 1

Reclining deep into the overstuffed armchair next to the fireplace in his room, Kaius did his best to tune out the desperate keening of his ignited aspect.

After their discussion with Rieker had finished, the man had escorted them out of his training hall and quarters. At first Kaius had been worried that they would need the guildmaster’s timetable to be completely free every time they were to train, but he’d let them know there were other ways there—Ro would show them ...

B2 Chapter 193: Partial Truths

The cushioned back of Kaius’s chair felt extra plush as Rieker stared at him and his brother with a slack jaw, clearly struggling to reassemble his worldview and failing.

“Seventeen attribute points?! That is quite literally unbelievable—how?” Rieker stammered out, forcing Kaius to bite his tongue lest his amusement cross over into abject rudeness.

It had been a long conversation—one that had lasted for over an h...

B2 Chapter 192: Lessons

*Ding! Pillar of Self Discovered, Mentis Ignited. Would you like to initiate Aspect Formation?*

The system dinged in his mind, waiting for his command. With the instinctual knowledge that came with all of the systems communication, he knew he could wait.

Suppressing the urge to sigh in relief, Kaius dismissed the notification. It sat at the corner of his mind, weighing on his attention.

To his chagrin, he found it di...

B2 Chapter 191: Ignition

The ghosts of Kaius’s fingers spasmed. 

Grunting at the discomfort, he scratched at the stump of his limb. It was a smooth nubbin, muscles and skin slowly distending as his flesh morphed and grew. Disgusting, in all honesty. Though, no matter how much his skin crawled at the sight of his morphing flesh, he knew it would bring back his hand—and his missing fingers with it.

What disturbed him more was the unblemished skin that came with the regrowth. H...

B2 Chapter 190: Stupid Prizes, Finale

Kaius watched in shock as the guildmaster stabbed his brother between the shoulderblades, the dagger severing Porkchop’s spine.

Porkchop went limp, legs splaying out. With his chest still shattered from the guildmaster’s casual swing, he did little more let out a soft wheeze of foaming blood.

“Remember this moment of weakness. Remember that intentionality is your greatest weapon, and your stoutest shield. Not fury and system granted skill.” Rieker ste...

B2 Chapter 189: Stupid Prizes, pt. 1

Kaius stood in the training hall. It reeked with the scent of iron, the cold corpse of the infernus hound still laying where it had been slain.

His team was with him, Porkchop standing by his side with his armour already summoned, while Ianmus loomed behind them—his staff gripped firmly.

Across the hall was Rieker. He looked…casual. At complete ease in a way that was radically divergent from the tense anticipation that made Kaius flex his grip on his swor...

B2 Chapter 188: Looking Forward

Kaius sat around a table laden with the most delicious food he had tasted in his life. His armour was damp, soaking the cotton and leathers of his traveling clothes beneath. Thankfully, it was also blessedly clean.

Picking up the dainty silver fork in front of him, Kaius cut through the hunk of roast duck in front of him. It was…divine. He had no other words for it—perfectly cooked and spiced, juicy, with crispy skin.

It was far and away the most r...

B2 Chapter 187: Predictions

Kaius came to with a groan, shaking his head to clear out the fugue that clouded his mind.

The process of learning Slip Step had been almost identical to that of Stormlash. The system’s agent had appeared, greeting him briefly before leaving him to his work until he needed someone to talk through a particularly troublesome issue with his learning.

After that, the system had impressed a knowledge of his new spell-hymn upon him. If it had just been that, it ...

B2 Chapter 186: The Second Spell

Kaius shook his head at Porkchop’s antics, though he couldn’t help but agree that his latest glyph—Aelina—was rather graceful in its design.

As soon as the system retreated and left him with a new mark on his flesh, and knowledge in his mind, he felt the familiar ding of a system notification.

No doubt it was his waiting spell-hymns. From what his class guide had said, it would involve some level of hands-on guidance from a system ...

B2 Chapter 185: The Third Skill

Kaius looked at Porkchop with desperate eyes, trying and failing to suppress his eager desire to rip open his notifications and dive into his next skill selection.

It was only fair to ask—after he had picked first last time, and as a coherent team it would be important to get their input on the skills he was offered, even if he had the final say.

Porkchop held his gaze for a moment, stern and unyielding. Slumping his shoulders with a sigh, Kaius relented. I...

B2 Chapter 184: Mistakes, finale.

Kaius drank in the battlefield, every fibre of his being in tune with the moment.

The infernus hound was battered, its coat reduced to a raw patchy mass of oozing flesh and blackened skin thanks to his spells—it’s clear resistance to fire no help against the power of Storm. Rents had been torn open in its hide from blade and claw alike, revealing glistening strands of muscle that bulged and tensed with every move.

Yet its health was burning—the cuts slo...

Chapter 183: Mistakes, pt. 5

As Kaius watched the gate to the cage slam open, and the infernus hound step free of its prison, he felt a familiar tingle start in his fingers. His breath quickened, vitalising his body with the sweet air of the training hall as he prepared himself to do battle.

His blade was in hand a moment later. There had been no conscious decision, he just had a need for it, and his body moved.

The infernus hound padded out onto the stone, moving cautiously. As if unsur...

B2 Chapter 182: Mistakes, pt. 4

Having told them of his plans for them, Rieker placed his Bloodstone shard on the centre of the table with almost reverent care.

“Now, to get the formalities out of the way, I’ll go first.” he said, grabbing his knife off the desk.

It was short, less than a handspan in length, but to Kaius it had all the tells of a masterwork. Fine hammer patterns flanking the spine of the blade, with a dense scrawl of script on the flat of the knife. Rieker was swift, ...

B2 Chapter 181: Mistakes, pt. 3

Sitting across from the guildmaster of Deadacre, Kaius felt the weight of the man's gaze. It settled on his shoulders like lead—peeled him apart like a butchered rabbit.

Rieker’s curiosity was…palpable.

“What would you like to know?” Kaius said cautiously, taking the lead.

Rieker drummed his fingers on the top of his desk, each impact cracking loudly through the room. 

“Not the how, before you get too worried...

B2 Chapter 180: Mistakes, pt. 2

Returning to the Dusty Stables was like returning home. 

Hensh had welcomed them with open arms, celebrating their victorious return with a pair of ales on the house. It was more than welcome, after a couple weeks of constant overland travel, the gesture was enough to solidify the choice to stay at this inn.

The few other delvers in the common room nodded their heads, raising their drinks in toast before returning to their own conversations. Few in numbe...

B2 Chapter 179: Mistakes, pt. 1

Kaius stood in front of the heavy oak door to the Guild with a heavy seed of dread burning away in his stomach.

He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Judging by the slight pallor on Ianmus’s face, and the way the Porkchop’s ears kept flicking nervously every few seconds, neither were his companions.

They’d arrived back in Deadacre after another few days of travel. Thanks to the flat plains between there and Hols...

B2 Chapter 178: Pride

The smudge on the horizon that was Holsborough revealed itself to be a small town, stoutly defended with a thick wall of trunks and earthworks. 

As they approached, Kaius was the first to see that their entrance to the city had been shut, a full squad of guards watching the gate. Much like the defenders of Deadacre, they were garbed mostly in chain and leathers, with the stout hafts of their polearms standing tall above them. Astute and vigilant, the guards spotted them ...

B2 Chapter 177: Journey to Holsborough

Leaving the wreckage and ruin that was the spider's nest behind, Kaius and his party made their way down the road to Holsborough, slowly trekking towards the edge of the Hanset Woods. Two days of travel, hunkering down in their dimensional tent in the evenings, with at least another one until they hit the edge of the swathe of lightly packed trees. Then it would be a day of crossing the plains.

Intshire was closer by at least half, but the township lay further away from Deada...

B2 Chapter 176: Camaraderie, Finale.

Sitting within the tent, Kaius enjoyed the lard fried spider. 

Tender and juicy, it practically melted in his mouth, and carried the mild herbs and spices he had used beautifully. All in all, definitely as delicious as he had hoped it would be.

What’s more, with every bite he felt a gentle and warm energy coursing free from the meal, seeping from his stomach to swaddle him like a warm blanket. He didn’t see any major effects in his status, or anythin...

B2 Chapter 175: Camaraderie pt. 2

As a group they left the hard packed road that cut its way through the sun-drenched Hanset Woods. Cutting across the berm, they made their way through the trees. Stout and healthy things, a mixture of oaks, ash, and many others that spread a wide canopy. 

Light underbrush crunched underfoot as Kaius took the lead, plunging deep enough that they could no longer be seen from the road. As he looked around his surroundings, Kaius couldn’t help but feel strangely out of pla...

B2 Chapter 174: Camaraderie pt. 1

Power rushed through every facet of his body; the sudden jump in levels bringing with it a heady rush that rolled over him in a wave. Pausing for a moment, he let himself feel the changes, adjusting to the palpable increase in strength. 

There was none of the pain, discomfort, or disorientation that he had felt as an unclassed. Supported by the structure of his class, the transition was seamless as his soul adjusted naturally.

He shook the fugue off, and...

B2 Chapter 173: The First Job, Finale

The assassin spider watched them from a wary distance, lurching back and forth on its five remaining legs. Ichor coated it utterly, newly fused chitin and scorched ash showing the remnants of their assault. Stubbed limbs wiggled with a furor, the beast still instinctively trying to use them in unison with its remaining limbs.

Glistening compound eyes stared at them with malevolence. Watching.

Waiting.

The moment stretched as they evaluated ea...

B2 Chapter 172: The First Job pt. 3

Driven by its rudimentary instincts, the massive assassin spider dropped its illusion and pounced forward. It hit the road at a dead sprint, seven remaining legs moving with mechanical precision as it tried to remove the threat that had injured it so. 

With the spider revealed, Porkchop stared at the approaching beast with disgust.

“Mother of Matriarchs, it’s fucking hideous!” he growled, claws digging deep into the earth as he readied himself to meet its ...

B2 Chapter 171: The First Job pt 2.

Flicking his eyes back to the hulking brute of an arachnid that lay nestled in the crown of an oak, Kaius pondered their assault. The garish white and yellow of its carapace took on a new meaning now that he had seen its description. Danger.

A welcome one, that could springboard their growth if they approached this battle right, but one that would also take care in how they handled the fight. This would be as fierce as fighting the Champions had been, he could feel it. That same prickli...

Considering something

Many moons ago (aprox 4 or so years) I wrote a

B2 Chapter 170: The First Job pt. 1

A/N: Updating the name of the previous sequence to 'Commute' for tonal consistency

In the day and a half since his minor revelation on his Mentis aspect, Kaius was completely unsuccessful in exploring the strange reaction further. In the handful of times he’d meditated, he’d only managed to get a similar reaction once more, the others leading to nothing but frustration. Though even that was fading as he resigned himself to the discovery of h...