Rune Seeker

“WITNESS MY POWER!” Li’l Ur screamed, a cacophonous serenade of explosions sounding through the chamber as he spun to face the party, fire blooming to silhouette him from behind.

KA-BOOM… KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM, KA-BOOM! the cave-shaking detonations came faster and faster, the tiny lich cackling maniacally at the carnage.

“Your power?” Seena asked evenly, her words somehow cutting through the booms like a scythe through wheat.

“Uh… well, since you’re my mistress, this power is, through association, my power…” Li’l Ur said, floating in front of the party leader’s face while more ants burst into spheres of fire within the large chamber.

“Want to try that again?” she asked, slipping a finger as big as the lich’s head under its chin and lifting it until Li’l Ur was looking her in the eye.

“Ahem, yes… I think I may’ve misspoken,” he said sheepishly. “May I?”

“Please,” she said, taking her finger away, and the lich floated several inches away from her to once again face the large chamber down the wide ramp. Easily a few hundred feet from side to side, dozens of ant tunnels opened into the space, and the place had been packed practically shoulder-to-shoulder with EliteSoldier Ants.

Too bad for the ants.

“WITNESS MY MISTRESS’S POWER!” Li’l Ur said, throwing his arms out to his sides as another chorus of explosions rocked the dungeon. Seena joined him in maniacal laughter.

“Do you have any… fours?” Yanily asked Hiral where they sat well back from the ongoing mass-murder of ants, pointing at the cards in Hiral’s hand.

“No, and if I did, why would I tell you?” Hiral asked, looking at his cards, then back at Yanily. “Is this really a game?”

“You’re supposed to say Go…” Yanily started, but Hiral dropped the cards facedown and stood.

A few steps took him over to stand beside Seena—who blushed fiercely as she cut off her laughter.

“Sorry, got a little too into it,” she said, the fiery ants now working their way up the connecting tunnels, and more explosions sounding almost immediately.

“Don’t blame you,” Hiral said, checking his experience notifications flying past. Even at Low-D-Rank, these Elite ants were adding up quickly. “Did you know it would be this perfect?”

“Had no idea,” Seena said, a huge grin on her face. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better, though.”

And the party leader wasn’t lying. Upon entering The Endless Tunnels, the group had found this large room with hundreds of the EliteSoldier Ants milling about at the bottom of a ten-foot-wide ramp. Hanging back so as not to get the monsters’ attention, Hiral had suggested a plan he’d been thinking about since they’d encountered the first group of ants outside the dungeon.

Seena’s firepower and From the Ashes+ were devastating against groups like this, except she was limited by the amount of solar energy she had. Sure, she could drink some of their Potions of Liquid Sunshine, but those were a finite resource. Saving a few could pay off in the long run. If she had some other way to replenish her energy, she’d be practically unstoppable in a situation like the one now laid out before them.

Which was exactly why Hiral had used his (Lost) Shared Strength.

(Lost) Shared Strength: You may temporarily transfer the use of one active or passive ability to another party member.

And, of course, he’d loaned her a copy of Killing Spree+.

Killing Spree+: Each enemy defeated within 60 seconds of the previously defeated enemy grants the following stacking bonuses:

+15% experience gained, +3% to all attributes (duration: 60 seconds or until a new stack of Killing Spree+ is obtained), +3% solar energy instantly regained, instant minor health recovery, and chance on kill to trigger Class Ability – A Violent End

A Violent End: While under the effects of Killing Spree+, killing blows have a chance (based on current stacks of Killing Spree+) to cause the target to explode.

Sure, the ability was only hers for four minutes at a time, but it didn’t have a cooldown—OP, according to Yanily—and the benefits it gave her were tremendous. She reached maximum stacks within seconds of tossing her first fireballs, which also meant she was regenerating solar energy at an absurd rate. 3% per kill when she was killing dozens every few seconds, and suddenly she didn’t have any solar energy worries.

Then there was the A Violent End part of the ability, which apparently stacked with her own From the Ashes+. The additional explosions were suddenly of the fire element because Seena was triggering them. From there, it only got worse for the ants.

It turned out Seeyela had also gained an ability in the undead city she hadn’t used much, which she also loaned to Seena with Shared Strength.

The Weakest Link: Enemies at 10% (or less) health create a gravitational field, pulling additional nearby enemies to their position.

Turns out dead and exploding counts as less than ten percent health, so even the ants trying to escape the fiery carnage were just getting sucked right back in. On top of that, Yanily had shared Predator’s Eyes with Seena.

Predator’s Eyes: Gain +2% hit chance and critical hit chance, and +5% critical hit damage for each debuff on your target.

Once again, exploding seemed to count as a debuff—or maybe it was being on fire—as did the effect of The Weakest Link. And, just for good measure, Left had whipped out the Banner of Courage at its C-Rank power, thanks to the set bonus of the Second-Skin of Ur’Thul.

You have been buffed by Banner of Courage.

Critical Strike Rate increased by 12% for 180 seconds.

Critical Strike Damage increased by 40% for 180 seconds.

Moderate Healing Over Time for 180 seconds.

Moderate Shielding granted for 180 seconds.

Immune to Fear and Fear-like effects for 180 seconds.

Solar Absorption Rate increased by 1 Rank for 180 seconds.

“I still can’t believe exploding counts as a critical hit,” Hiral said, another chain-reaction of detonating ants lighting up the chamber in a shower of flame, chitinous body parts, and smoking limbs.

“Really?” Seena said. “What else would it be?”

Hiral opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. “That’s… a good point. Do you need any help?”

Li’l Ur continued cackling on Seena’s shoulder while she turned her head very slowly to look at Hiral, then raised an eyebrow.

“No, didn’t think so,” he said with a chuckle.

“You’re welcome to take some shots with your little cannon, if you’d like,” she said.

“It’s not little,” he said. Then another sphere of flames climbed all the way to the ceiling, and he shrugged. “And you’re enjoying this far too much.”

“Oh, I so am,” she admitted. “Your Killing Spree+ is possibly the best thing ever. How can I get this?”

“Spontaneous ability evolution? You Growers seem to get those all the time.”

“It’s not all the time,” Seena said. “But I’d take it.”

“Ask the PIMP gods,” Yanily called over from where he and Seeyela continued to play cards while Seena systematically decimated the ant population.

“Please?” Seena said, putting her hands together and looking towards the ceiling. Then she seemed to consider something and looked towards the floor instead. “Pretty please?” she asked again, chuckling and pointing down. “Since the PIMP is underground.”

“I got that,” Hiral said, watching as more Soldier Ants continued to pour into the chamber. “Is it just me, or does this seem endless?”

“I think it is,” Seena said. “My guess? This room was supposed to act like a… a damage check? You know, party has to kill enough ants fast enough to push through, or they won’t be up to taking on stuff deeper in the dungeon. I bet if we got far enough past this room, the ants wouldn’t follow. You noticed they sort of just wait around until we start killing them?”

Hiral nodded. “I think you’ve got the damage part covered. At this rate, we’ll hit twenty in a few minutes.”

“How about the others?” Seena asked.

“They don’t have Killing Spree+, so they’ll take longer without the crazy experience boost,” Hiral said.

“OP!” Yanily said.

“For once, I agree with him,” Seeyela said. “Do you have any sevens?” she asked the spearman, and he grimaced before Hiral turned back to the dying ants.

“So… you’ve got this pretty under control?” he asked Seena.

“Yes,” she said, looking suspiciously in his direction. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing reckless, I promise,” Hiral said. “Just wanted to test something I noticed back in the Asylum. Do you mind?”

“Do you have to go down there?” she asked, pointing just in time for another dozen ants to explode in unison.

“Are you crazy? No way. Then again, A Violent End would just heal me… I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” he quickly amended at the new scowl on Seena’s face.

“So, what are you testing?” she asked after making very sure he’d seen her glare at him.

“Well…” Hiral said, feeding a thread of solar energy into the Ring of Amin Thett. The ring had been fully charged a dozen times over, and he could’ve easily unleashed the Annihilation of Amin Thett to ravage the ants. That wasn’t what he had on his mind at the moment, though, and he pulled Death Knell out through the use of the Arsenal of Amin Thett.

“You need a light?” Seena asked.

“The sword does more than give off light,” Hiral said, bringing up the weapon’s notification window and sharing it so Seena could see it as well.

(Lost) Death Knell – A-Rank

Effects: Grants user access to Ability – Cutting Field and Ability – Sever Life

Ability – Cutting Field: Drive the sword into the ground to summon a weak barrier and a field of small, invisible blades. Blades will bounce within the barrier and inflict damage based on user’s Atn.

Note: Blades will do increased damage if Death Knell is left in the ground for the duration.

Note (2): Barrier can be passed through by those of equal or higher Rank than the user.

Ability – Sever Life: Coat the edge of Death Knell in supernatural sharpness. Sever Life inflicts additional high damage to the living, moderate damage to the undead, and no additional damage to objects or animated constructs.

Note: Additional damage is based on user’s End.

“And you’re not planning on running down there?” she asked, that glare right back on her face again.

“No, really, I’m not,” Hiral said, sweeping his left hand out, and the sword quickly followed to hover fifteen feet in front of him. “I’m just wondering what I can do like this.” He twisted his hand, and the sword rotated in the air as if he was actually holding onto it.

“You’re not thinking…?” she started.

“I am,” he said, stepping forward and sweeping his hand across and back again. Like he was holding the sword with a very long, invisible arm, Death Knell raked across the backs of several ants in a line once, twice, three times. “So far, so good. Now, can I…?” he muttered more to himself than Seena. Then he pushed solar energy into the blade and activated Sever Life.

Flaring blue, the sword’s edge cut through Soldier Ant armor like it wasn’t even there, carving the monsters up with each jerk of his hand.

“Hrm… this doesn’t feel quite right,” he said, something scratching at the back of his mind while he conducted the weapon in front of him.

Conducted.

No… it couldn’t be?

Movement at his side, and Seena walked further along the edge overlooking the chamber while the antsplosions continued. “I know that look,” she said when she finally stopped thirty feet away. “It’s usually followed by you blowing up.”

Hiral nodded at the comment, but he didn’t offer his usual retort; he had more important things on his mind. The first was a simple test. He jerked the sword into the air, then drove it point-down in front of one of the nearest tunnels where ants were exiting. A small push of solar energy activated Cutting Field, the faint blue column of light connecting the floor to the ceiling.

The next ant that came out immediately found itself being assaulted by dozens of tiny, invisible blades, its carapace getting scarred over as it spun around looking for its assailant. The damage wasn’t severe, the thing’s health bar barely crawling down, but it would add up over time…

Then one of Seena’s ant-thralls walked up to it and antsploded.

Well, not too bad for test number one.