Rune Seeker

As Hiral calmly walked down the ramp, dozens of large ant-heads snapped in his direction. Mandibles clicked fiercely in anticipation of crushing his soft body, and hundreds of legs simultaneously took a step in his direction.

Then he unleashed Intimidating Aura+ at its full radius. It’s full power. The air around him seemed to stutter, while every single ant hit the ground like a giant hand had smashed them down. All at once, nothing moved except for Hiral, and he could feel Gravity applying its effect on top of the mental assault of his aura.

Not bad. Some of them seem to be unconscious even…

His thoughts cut off as first one crack sounded from a distant corner of the large room, only to be followed by a second on the other side. A third, fourth, fifth, sixth came in rapid succession, and then it was like a drum roll of snapping sounds. What was…?

Another crack from nearby – a split down the middle of the ant’s carapace. As Hiral took a step closer, more and more fissures parted the armor-like body of the ant, and then all at once, smoosh. Ant bits and goop burst out of the sides as the creature’s carapace shattered under the pressure. A blinking in the corner of Hiral’s vision, and he got his first stack 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

All around the room, the same scene repeated, ants bursting in yucky messes…

That began to explode.

Eruptions tore through the closely huddled – and completely immobilized – ant hordes, ripping the monsters apart wholesale. That had to be the secondary effect from his quickly stacking ability.

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.

(Explosions!)

Explosions caused by A Violent End have different effects based on who they strike.

Note: Enemies struck by explosions caused by A Violent End take damage based on the exploding target’s health immediately prior to exploding.

Note (2): Allies struck by explosions caused by A Violent End regain health based on the exploding target’s health immediately prior to exploding.

(Explosions! Explosions! Explosions!)

And, really, it was living up to its final note. The whole room went up in a chain reaction that spread up the side tunnels and shook the dungeon. It didn’t get any better for the ants at that point, either, new monsters spawning in instantly crumpling under the pressure of Hiral’s merciless aura. He had the entire room suppressed – and all he was doing was standing there.

“You stealing my thing?” Seena asked him over the party chat, though he could hear the grin in her voice.

“Never dream of it,” he answered. “No way this will work quite as well on something B-Rank, but it should at least slow opponents down. Do you feel anything up there?”

“Should we?” she asked. “Are we out of range?”

“You should be within the radius,” Hiral said, looking up at where the others stood.

“Nothing,” Seena said.

“Perfect. Then this is purely a win-win ability.”

“Do you need to see things to affect them?” Yanily asked.

“No, but they need to be able to see – or at least sense – me, I think,” Hiral said, going over the instinctive feel of the ability. “I also don’t know if this still counts as a fear-like effect – the kind of thing the Dracolich used on us in the Palace of Creeping Death – or if its something else now. More testing is needed.”

Even as he said those words, though, he leapt back up to the party with a pulse of Rejection, and suppressed his aura. “That testing can be later,” he continued. “I think I remember some of you saying something about stabbing?”

“Oh, finally,” Yanily said. “Well, Boss, can we?”

Seena looked longingly at the grouped-up mass of enemies practically begging her to start blowing them up, then let out a slow breath. “Go on, kids. Have fun.” She added a little shooing motion with her hand.

Yanily and Seeyela vanished – one with a bamf and the other with a whoosh – only to slam into the unfortunate horde below. Skyfall+ cratered a dozen monster as the spearman plummeted from above and hit the ground, but they weren’t the only ones that died. Chain Lightning+ – three of them – zapped out to sizzle chitin and fry ants before they could even take a step in his direction.

On the other side of the room, Seeyela’s first target liquified under the effect of her Ghost-Web Venom. Nearby, two Gravity Wells formed, triple-hydra-heads snaking out to breath fire, lightning, and a combination of the two at anything pulled close enough. The unfortunate monsters that didn’t get killed by a hydra vanished within the black orb of gravity, only a grotesque crunching signaling their fate.

The carnage really didn’t end there, either, with the two party members sweeping through the room and unleashing ability after ability. Sure, the D-Rank monsters didn’t pose any real threat to them, but it was the first time they’d had a chance to let loose in a while.

“They’re getting a good workout,” Right said.

“Infinitely spawning monsters has advantages,” Left agreed.

“Why aren’t you two down there?” Hiral asked.

Right and Left shared a look with each other, before a grin spread on Right’s face. “Can we?”

“Seena?” Hiral asked.

“Go wild,” the party leader said.

“Look out below!” Right shouted as he launched himself into the air with a powerful leap, purple flames bursting to life on his right fist. That same infernal, purple light flared across his Meridian lines on his Coat of Ur’Thul to leave a streak of color in the air following his motion. Then he hit the ground, and it was like Yanily’s Skyfall+ all over again. Except, this time, with a wave of purple flame incinerating everything within twenty feet. From there, the double tore into the monsters with feet and fists, his blows reaping monster lives with every swing.

For Left’s part, he took a more refined approach to wholesale monster slaughter. The Pack howled as he summoned them, then gave them all Path of Butterflies. If the massive conjured hounds of infernal flame – with spikes extending from their joints and spines, along with jaws that could crush steel – minded cute butterflies under their feet, they didn’t show it. Instead, they stalked behind their pack leader – Left – into the air. As the group stood imperiously above the melee below, Left shaped one tattoo after another, and then they dropped down.

Maybe the giant wolves ripping through the ants couldn’t really be called refined…

“What are you waiting for?” Seena asked, pulling Hiral out of his assessment of his doubles – They really have gotten stronger too. Except, she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were on Drahn.

“Me?” the tracker asked while ants died by the dozen just down the ramp in front of them.

“Between Hiral and this… madness,” Seena waved a hand at the chaos in front of them. “You should have a pretty good idea what we can do. Even if these are only D-Rank. We need to see what you can do as well.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Drahn opened his mouth as if he was going to object, but seemed to think better of it, and instead just nodded. “Preferably, from back here.”

“That’s fine. Show us your stuff.”

Another nod, and Drahn drew the bow from his back. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about the weapon, but it still only came up as question marks when Hiral tried to use View on it.

Guess he still doesn’t trust me enough.

The quiver on his back had a similar feel, though as soon as Hiral took a closer look at it, there was a resonance with his runes. Gravity and Connection, specifically. The same as the portals they took to get into the dungeons – or the ones Seeyela used to teleport them around. And their Interspatial Rings. The quiver has some kind of storage or transportation magic? Hiral’s question got answered the next second as Drahn pulled one of the twelve arrows from the quiver… which somehow left twelve arrows behind.

Yup, definite portal shenanigans going on there.

“As you can guess, I’m a ranged damage dealer,” Drahn explained, while he drew the arrow back on his bow. “I have my knives if I have to get in close… but compared to your sister, I wouldn’t pat my own back. Also, the longer the fight, the more impact I have. Short fights against D-Rank enemies are not a great place to – as you put it – show you my stuff.”

“Damage over time abilities?” Hiral asked. “Like Seeyela’s Ghost-Web Venom?”

Again, Drahn seemed to consider before answering, likely weighing how much to share with an Islander. “Yes,” he finally said. “Longer duration and buildup, however. I excel in taking down durable, high-health targets that normally rely on thick or nearly impenetrable armor.”

“You can ignore armor?” Seena asked, then looked at Hiral.

“In a fashion. It’s better just to show you.” With that, Drahn took aim at a group of ants tucked away in a corner. One not currently getting murdered by the kill-crazy party members having the time of their lives. A bare movement of his fingers, and the arrow was away, another already methodically coming out to replace it.

And, as much as Hiral wanted to watch the magic of the quiver at work, it was the arrow his senses were drawn to like a lightning rod. A pulse of solar energy within the arrow changed something about it, the structure of it breaking down from a solid shaft to what felt like thousands – maybe millions – of small somethings. He didn’t have to wait more than a heartbeat to find out what that meant, as the arrow crashed into the side of an ant’s carapace.

However, instead of the projectile punching through the armor and shooting out the other side, it exploded into a cloud of fine powder that surrounded the ant. No, not just surrounded – coated. The particles seemed to stick to everything they touched, leaving a faintly greenish coating. For its part, the ant looked a little surprised – as much as an ant could – at the puff that struck it. Other than that, though, it didn’t seem injured in the least.

The arrow hadn’t hurt it at all.

Despite that, Drahn already had four more arrows in the air, the bolts striking the rest of the ant’s group one after the other. The man had said he was using damage over time abilities, so it would make sense if there wasn’t an immediate effect. So, what could it be doing?

Just looking at the ants wasn’t giving him any answers, but something else was itching at the back of his head. On a whim, he used Cycling to observe what was happening. And that was when he saw it – all the solar energy the ant was naturally pulling in was… wrong. Instead of the golden glow he’d come to associate with normal solar energy, what the ant was absorbing was tinted green. The same color as the powder on its carapace. From there, even though the energy was moving through its channels naturally, it was breaking them down at the same time.

The effect wasn’t quick, per se, but it lingered. And lingered. And lingered.

“You’re poisoning the solar energy they bring in through any part of their body covered with the powder,” Hiral said. “That’s amazing. And a little terrifying. How long does it last? How often do you need to reapply it? How quickly does it act? Is it affected by the target’s solar energy absorption rate? Can you shoot me with one of those arrows?”

Drahn had already stopped after peppering the group of ants with his arrows, but still had a look of surprise on his face. “I didn’t expect you to figure it out so fast.”

“We have an ability that lets us see solar energy movement,” Seena explained. “And, before you ask, yes, he was serious about you hitting him with that debuff. After you tell me how long it lasts and how permanent the damage is.”

“If I don’t reapply the powder, the effect lasts about three minutes, slowly destroying solar energy channels as it progresses, as well as damaging the associated internal organs. As far as I know, the damage is very permanent.”

“High-Speed Regeneration+ will take care of it,” Hiral said.

“I’d rather not risk it,” Seena replied. “And I can’t believe you would either. With your absorption rate, three minutes would be a long time.”

“You… have a good point,” Hiral said. He was pretty confident in his healing ability, but then again, permanent damage to his solar energy channels was a scary, scary thought.

“Good, and don’t you dare accidently get hit by one of his arrows.”

“Thought never even crossed my mind,” he lied.

And she knew it.

“Anyway. What else have you got up your sleeve, Drahn?” Seena asked. “That can’t be the only thing. Let’s see it so we can clear out this dungeon. Once that’s done, we have an Asylum to get to.”

“Well, I…” Drahn started, only to get cut off by a surprised yelp through the party chat.

“What the hell was that?” Yanily shouted.

“Yan?” Seena asked, as everybody turned in the spearman’s direction. Only ants – in various states of dismemberment – and Left seemed to be close to him. Nothing to explain the surprised shout, or the look of bewilderment on his face.

“There was…” Yanily pointed at one of the ant corpses. “One of those horny lizards just came out of nowhere to bite the ant. Chomped its head clean off.”

“Horned lizard,” Left clarified. “Not horny – at least I hope not. As in the Giant Horned Lizards we fought back in the first zone.”

“What would one of those be doing here…?” Seena trailed off at the same time Left swept past another ant with his Dagger of Sath. The liquid weapon cleanly severed the three legs on that side, but it wasn’t the beautiful accuracy of the attack that got her attention.

No, it was the pair of Troblins that seemed to materialize behind Left. Nobody even had a chance to warn the double before the two small – glowing – monsters leapt forward, knobby clubs swinging. Wham, wham, the two weapons struck, utterly crushing the carapace-covered head of the same ant Left had just struck. Nothing was left of the front third of the ant except the pair of mandibles that went flying off in random directions.

As soon as the blows landed, the pair of shining Troblins vanished like they’d never existed.

“First, horny lizards…” Yanily said.

“Horned,” Left corrected, again.

“… and now Troblins,” the spearman continued like Left hadn’t said anything. “What the hell is going on?”

“That would be the surprise I was telling you about,” Hiral chimed in. “The Third Movement of my Primal Chord.”

“It summons Troblins?” Seena asked.

“As long as it doesn’t make them paint,” Seeyela said, and her voice shuddered even through the party chat.

“Well, thankfully, no, it doesn’t do that,” Hiral said, forcefully repressing the image of the Troblin painting they’d found. The horror of it. “While the Second Movement lets me echo buffs or debuffs I’ve experienced, the Third Movement creates echoes of lesser monsters I’ve fought. Kind of like my Echo Aura, except without the explosions. For once.”

“For once,” Seena agreed. “What do mean by lesser monsters?”

“That’s actually what it says in the skill description,” Hiral said. “I’m taking it to mean monsters that weren’t Mid-Bosses or Bosses. Maybe not even Elites, but that would rule out anything from a dungeon. We’ll have to see through more usage.”

“You can summon Troblins whenever you want?” Yanily was back to mass-murdering ants like they’d cheated him at cards.

“No, only a chance for it to happen on a critical hit,” Hiral said. “Seems like a lower chance than the buffs and debuffs too. Again, more testing is needed.”

“You and your testing,” Seena said. “Good thing we’ve got a whole dungeon in front of us. You two have five more minutes down there to have fun while Drahn shows me the rest of his tricks. Then we’re clearing this place out.”

“You got it, Boss,” Yanily said.

“But moooom,” Seeyela jokingly whined.

“Shush. Less complaining, more stabbing,” Seena said.

Seeyela just laughed into the party chat, all the while being an absolute terror to the ants who couldn’t stop spawning. If they knew what they were in for when they appeared, Hiral was pretty sure they would’ve completely noped out, but the dungeon didn’t seem to give them that option.

They just kept coming, and the party just kept killing them.

“So, Drahn, continue,” Seena said like the second great Antpocalypse wasn’t taking place right in front of her. Then again, since she’d been the sole cause of the first one, it made sense it didn’t phase her.

“Of course,” Drahn said, and moved on to his next ability. “I’ve got a few things left to show you.”