Rune Seeker

Keeping the Emperor’s Greatsword light in weight, Hiral rushed the Infested while it was busy fending off attacks from Left and Right. Arcs of lightning trailed the enemy’s sword as it parried the Dagger of Sath, then transitioned smoothly over to turn aside Right’s punch. Without missing a beat, the sword came back and put itself in line with Hiral’s overhead slash before the Infested quick-stepped back.

Not giving it a chance to set itself up, Hiral charged in, blade whirling around him far faster than a six-foot-long, monstrous sword had any right to be. Though each blow was met with a parry and counter, he kept up the barrage, pushing his own body faster and faster.

Horizonal slash from the side, parried. Hiral leapt up and over a low-sweep counter, swinging his blade around impossibly fast for the Infested’s head. Though the creature ducked under it, Hiral twisted as soon as his feet got back on the ground, whipping his sword around to cleave through the ground as he brought it into a powerful uppercut. Another parry from the Infested deflected his attack out wide, at which point his foe lunged at him in a lightning-quick counter.

A sway to the side evaded the thrust, while a roll of his shoulders and a bend at his waist got him under the snappy follow-up slash. Twisting his wrist brought the Emperor’s Greatsword back into play, and the contested space between the two opponents became a blur of slashing lines of light and crackling lightning.

Parry, parry, counter. Hiral’s sword cut nothing but air, and the Infested quick-stepped back and pointed its sword right at Hiral. Something about the pose was different than before, making the hair on the back of Hiral’s neck stand on end.

No, it’s not the stance doing that—it’s an electric charge!

Hiral brought the greatsword up in front of him, twisting the handle so the foot-wide flat of the blade formed a shield just as a bolt of lightning shot from the Infested’s sword. Crack! The blast hit Hiral’s weapon, pushing him back from the force of it and sending twitching arcs of power up through his arms.

Tricky, he thought as Left and Right pincered the Infested between them, lines of trailing purple smoke following in their paths as they danced around their enemy. Not wanting to give it time to extricate itself from the doubles again—or notice the slowing effects of the smoke—Hiral burst forward with the help of his Rune of Rejection under his feet.

A heartbeat before he arrived, the familiar tentacles running along the Infested’s arms, torso, legs, and side of its head flared with power. The pulse itself didn’t seem to have any immediate effect—no wave of force rolled outward or anything—but the Infested’s sword was suddenly everywhere. Moving faster than even Hiral’s high Atn could keep up with, the lightning-shaped blade turned aside all attacks against it, almost like it was a solid wall of crystal.

Pushing his sword to keep up even as Right took a slash along both his thighs and Left lost a hand, Hiral activated Eloquent and Enraged.

Self-Buff: Eloquent has activated.

All mental attributes increased by 50% for 180 seconds.

Self-Buff: Enraged has activated.

All physical attributes increased by 50% for 180 seconds.

In the literal blink of Hiral’s eye, the Infested’s sword went from an unseeable blur to just stupidly fast, and Hiral pushed forward again.

Scars tore open the street around him as he swept his blade around in powerful arcs, the energy blade cutting through stone like butter and offering no resistance. Again and again, the Infested managed to turn aside Hiral’s attacks, but it was getting pushed back, its all-too-human face tensing under the sudden pressure despite using its buff ability.

Its ankles twisted, shifting the position of its feet—just like it had before it’d used that lighting strike earlier—and Hiral increased the weight of the Emperor’s Greatsword mid-swing. Blasting the Infested’s sword out wide from the sudden added force behind his slash, Hiral reached out with his left hand and quickly activated his Rune of Attraction.

Already committed to quick-stepping back, the unexpected pull forward threw off the Infested’s balance, and its upper body stayed where it was while its legs moved, leaving it precariously open. Setting up the chance had cost Hiral his positioning, though. His sword was out wide with his opponent’s, his other hand already extended.

In the brief pause of flashing swords, Hiral met the Infested’s eyes—orbs glowing with pinpricks of light for pupils—and sensed a mix of frustration and hate in them. That a simple human had fought it to a practical standstill, and even pushed it back, was tantamount to abject failure. The only consolation it had was that Hiral couldn’t capitalize on the momentary advantage.

And so, in that same pause, Hiral smiled.

Unlike the Infested, he wasn’t fighting alone.

Right’s fist shattered the heartbeat of peace, slamming into the side of the Infested’s face like a sledgehammer. The monster’s jaw shattered in almost slow-motion as Hiral’s enhanced senses played out the impact in front of him, and then the sheer force of the punch twisted the Infested’s head and launched the whole monster sideways.

Left, meanwhile, twisted economically to the side to avoid the flying Infested, though his Dagger of Sath snapped out to catch the enemy as it flew by. After the briefest contact, blood sprayed in a shower and a severed arm soared into the air. Then the Infested collided with the stone wall of a nearby building.

Rock cracked from the impact, small chips of it falling to the ground, and blood gooped out from the stump just below the monster’s left shoulder. A health bar finally appeared above its head.

Still over seventy-five percent, even after losing an arm. Then again, that was our first real hit on it.

Sword still in hand, the Infested pushed itself to its feet as if its jaw wasn’t hanging lopsided and it wasn’t missing an arm. Like Picoli, small injuries weren’t going to stop it. Unlike with Picoli, Hiral wasn’t running away.

The Emperor’s Greatsword swung in at the Infested after a Rejection-powered lunge, enhanced by both Eloquent and Enraged, and though the Infested got its own sword up to parry, the multiplied weight of the greatsword crushed it back against the wall. Further cracks spread along the stone from where it was pressed, and the Infested’s lips curled back in an animalistic snarl. Small chunks fell from its health bar, the red chipping away, and Hiral pushed harder, reinforcing his forward momentum with twin cones of Rejection blasting behind him.

Back, back, back he pushed the Infested’s sword, until its own jagged, lightning-bolt blade dug into its chest. Goopy, almost mud-like blood leaked out along the wound, but then more solar energy flared along the tentacles. Lighting up even the leaking blood, power surged through the Infested’s body, and it slowly pushed back against Hiral’s greatsword.

“No, you don’t,” Hiral growled, tethering the sword’s gravity to the Infested itself and pouring solar energy into his weapon to multiply its weight time and again.

Somehow, that still wasn’t enough, as the Infested was pushing back against all the combined might with just one arm. One inch, two, three, four… The Infested continued to repel Hiral’s pressure, and Hiral’s eyes went to his quickly plummeting solar energy. Holding the monster in one place was draining his energy at an astronomical rate, but if he let it go at this point, how would they ever deal with its increased stats?

The answer came in the form of a window-sized black portal opening just above the Infested’s head.

“Hi,” Seeyela said, her top half stretching out of the portal-window. The Infested glanced up in time to see two fang-like daggers flash down and into its shoulders.

“Raaaaah!” it roared up at Seeyela, but the brief distraction weakened its push against Hiral, who redoubled his efforts to hold it in place.

Its sword once again forced against its chest, the Infested couldn’t do anything as Seeyela mercilessly needled her weapons over and over into the monster’s neck, shoulders, and—eventually—face.

The red health bar above its head dropped with every strike, then suddenly changed from red to a sickly green, falling like it’d sprung a leak.

“My time is up,” Seeyela said to Hiral, ducking back through the portal a split second before it snapped shut with a pop.

“Graaaah,” the Infested continued to snarl at Hiral, its head whipping side to side like it was trying to shake the pain off. Its blood leaked out a glowing green, obviously affected by the Ghost-Web Venom, and the health bar above dropped below twenty-five percent.

“Left,” Hiral called to his double, but suddenly the Infested’s arm went slack. Hiral pushed his blade—and the Infested’s—deep into the monster’s flesh.

What? his mind asked at the same time the tentacles ripped free from where they were wrapped and got sucked back inside the body, vanishing within the blink of an eye.

Hiral sensed movement down by the still monster’s gut, like something was crawling around inside. Then it pushed out, stretching against the flesh. Pulling. Forcing. Reaching…

Towards Hiral’s stomach.

Oh shi…

Left’s Dagger of Sath plunged into the tumorous mass on the Infested’s stomach, the flowing stream in the air racing in right behind it, and then stone cracked as the force exploded out the other side.

The whole body twitched as light flared within. Hiral felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, yanking him away so strongly he left the Emperor’s Greatsword behind. He hit the ground at the same time something leapt on top of him, and then BOOOOOM!

Solar energy and heat washed over him and the things on top of him, the light blinding him even though he had his eyes closed. It was over in a second. Hiral blinked against the spots in his vision and gently shook his head, sensations and pain crawling up his legs like they’d been burned.

“Ouch,” he hissed.

“You… should… see… the other… guy,” Right wheezed, and Hiral’s sight cleared enough to see both his doubles pushing up off him, literal smoke wafting from their backs, the outsides of their arms little more than a burned crisp.

“Oh, no… I’ll…” he started, but Left shook his head with a sound like crackling paper, the burned skin on the back of his neck actually flaking off.

“Wait until… we’re… not… touching,” the double said, and both of them finally managed to fully extricate themselves before toppling to the sides.

As soon as they were free of Hiral, he mercifully undid his summons, dissolving their bodies into glowing smoke. Even though he’d lost the solar energy invested in them—and he barely had any of his own—he activated Foundational Split, and Left and Right peeled off from his sides to end up sitting beside him.

“You guys saved me again,” Hiral said, doing a quick lookover to make sure his doubles were once again uninjured.

“He exploded way worse than you usually do,” Right said, looking at the crater where the Infested had been. The whole side of the building was missing, and there was a solid chunk gone from the road too.

“I can see that,” Hiral muttered, running a hand over his face. “And Left, whatever was in it…”

“Wanted to be in you,” Left finished. “I don’t know how that would’ve worked in a dungeon, but I felt it wasn’t best to find out.”

“Agreed,” Hiral said, stretching out his senses for his connection to the Emperor’s Greatsword.

He found it embedded in the wall of a building across the street. Relief washed over him upon noting that the explosion hadn’t damaged the weapon, and he pushed himself to his feet, the burned skin of his legs radiating pain. Hopefully Wule can do something about that. Making sure nobody was between him and the blade, he pulled on it with his Rune of Attraction, then caught the hilt as it unerringly soared into his hand.

“We should’ve traded up sooner,” Seena said as she came over, the rest of the party and the researchers behind her.

“No, that was great,” Hiral said, though he couldn’t help but grimace a bit at the pain in his legs. “Gave me time to get Killing Spree stacked up nicely.”

“Did he even hit the Infested?” Right asked Left. “Pretty sure you, me, and Seeyela did all the damage.”

“I do remember something like that,” Left said.

“Hey, I set you all up to do that damage,” Hiral said, glaring at his doubles.

“Speaking of damage, maybe you should sit back down?” Wule suggested, pointing at Hiral’s legs.

“Hurts too much to move them, actually. Do you think you could…?”

“Sure, hold on a little longer,” Wule said, solar energy pulsing in the healer as a small flower grew out of the palm of his hand. As soon as the flower bloomed, it crumbled into dust, but refreshing warmth flowed through Hiral, taking the edge off the pain and easing the stiffness of his legs.

“Thanks,” he said, practically sighing in relief.

“Besides, it doesn’t matter who did the damage,” Nivian said. “We won, didn’t we?”

His question prompted a notification window in response.

Dynamic Quest Complete

You’ve successfully escorted all three researchers to safety and defeated the leader of the attack on the city.

Congratulations: Achievement unlocked – Know Your Enemy

You encountered and defeated an Infested—something few can say.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

“Looks like that’s it,” Seena said. “Well done, everybody.”

“That Infested wasn’t so bad,” Hiral said.

“Because we softened it up for you,” Yanily said.

“Heh, thanks, Yanily,” Hiral said. “Seriously, though, it didn’t seem as strong as Picoli. Hey, Dr. Benza, did you say the Refined are more dangerous than the Ferals?” he asked, half-turning towards the researchers.

Except they weren’t there.

And neither were all the dead spider and monkey bodies from the battle.

“Huh?” Hiral said, turning in place while he looked for the missing researchers. He stopped when he saw the dungeon interface in the crater left by the exploding Infested.

“They’re gone?” Seeyela asked.

“So are all the bodies down the street,” Wule said. “And, maybe it’s the distance, but I don’t hear any of the monkeys anymore. Also, Hiral, stop moving!”

“Ah, sorry,” Hiral said. “I think we cleared…”

Of course he was interrupted by another notification window.

Wild Dungeon – The Buried City: Complete

New Record

Time: 1:42:17

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – On the Trail of the Lost

You have saved who you could in a dying city and learned secrets lost in time.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Time until Wild Dungeon – The Buried City instance closure: 59:43

“Loot time!” Yanily said excitedly.

“Then what?” Nivian asked, quickly sobering up the small grins that had started forming at the mention of loot.

“Then we find out if this will actually take us past the collapsed tunnel,” Seena said.

“Can we stay in here the full hour?” Hiral asked.

“I’d like some time to make sure everybody is in top shape… Hiral, for the last time, stop moving,” Wule scolded. “Then I need to recharge my solar energy.”

“And I’d like to get Left and Right to take a look around,” Hiral said. “They can scout without having to worry about coming back to us, and who knows what we might learn from this city?” He looked to his doubles. “Uh, assuming you guys are up to it.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Left said. “We’ll go as soon as you get your achievements.”

“In case you, you know, explode or something,” Right said with a grin.