Rune Seeker

Hiral jogged down the hallway and around a corner, listening intently as the thuds of the Shambling Graveyard’s steps turned in the other direction. Right had done it, leading the monster off on a merry chase away from Hiral. Hopefully he’d be able to stay ahead of it for a few blocks with his naturally high stats, after which Hiral would cancel the summons and call him back.

At that point, well, there were always the buffet-like hordes to keep the giant busy.

That must be how the giants get stronger. Absorbing the smaller undead they come across. It’s also probably why the giant’s patrol route looked so empty—it ate anything that got in its way. Hrm. Maybe we can use that. The roots leading to the tunnel seemed to follow the giant’s route. Risky, but…

Hiral put his back to a wall and wiped some of the blood from the head wound out of his face. A look up and down the hall showed it clear in both directions—for now—but the sooner he met back up with the others, the better.

“How’s everybody doing over there?” Hiral asked into the party chat.

“We’ve lost the horde, for the moment,” Seena responded. “Glad to hear your voice.”

“You are still alive, aren’t you, Hiral?” Yanily asked.

“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?” Hiral asked back.

“Who’s to say undead-Hiral doesn’t have access to our party? You could be a plant. A spy. Tell me something only the real Hiral would know.”

“Everybody knows that,” Seeyela said. “It doesn’t prove anything.”

“Enough,” Seena said, but Hiral could hear a small smile in her voice. The thrill of surviving was a razor’s edge. “Where are you, Hiral?”

“Honestly, no idea,” Hiral said. “Was too busy just trying to get away to look for landmarks. Those giants are much faster than they look. But, I think I know how we can use them to our advantage.”

“Are we going to ride them?” Yanily asked.

“No, Yanily, we’re not going to ride them,” Seena said flatly, then paused. “Hiral… you’re not going to suggest we ride them… right?”

“No, not at all, but that reminds me. Let me just call Right back before the giant catches him.” A quick unsummon and resummon brought the double back to lean against the wall beside him.

“Thanks,” Right said, letting out a breath. “That thing wasn’t giving up.”

“Seriously, eh? And thanks to you, too, for getting it off my back.” Then Hiral returned to the party chat. “Okay, Right’s with me. Here’s what I’m thinking. The giants—the Shambling Graveyards—seem like they got as big as they did by eating other undead. I watched the one chasing me scoop them up in handfuls to eat. I figure their patrol routes are probably clear of undead because of this.”

“So, to avoid the hordes,” Seena interjected, “you want us to put ourselves in front of the cannibalistic giants?”

“Or…” Yanily said. “We could ride one.”

“We’re not riding a giant,” Seena said. “No! We’re not. Don’t give me that look, Wule. I thought you were the reasonable one.”

“It’s not every day you get a chance to…” Wule mumbled into the chat.

“I’m not saying we should walk in the middle of the street in front of the giant,” Hiral interrupted. “We can move through the buildings right beside it, though. I doubt there will be any undead in there. If nothing else, it’s the more direct path to the dungeon.”

“It’s risky,” Seena said. “Then again, so is running into another horde. What does everybody think?”

“Going back to the tunnel is out of the question?” Wule asked.

“It is,” Hiral said. “The wights—they kind of look like skinny zombies—are intelligent, I think. They seem to lead the hordes, and there were way too many undead around the tunnel entrance for us to get back in. They’re also a lot more dangerous in a fight. Kind of like the Troblin Shamans were.”

“First targets if we see them?” Seena asked.

“Yeah,” Hiral said, though his thoughts went back to that something else he’d seen in the pedway before using the Annihilation of Amin Thett. A thought brought up his notification and experience window—he’d gained a level through all that, bringing him to 5—but that wasn’t what he was after at the moment. Scrolling through his experience notifications, he finally found something different. “Looks like there’s a fifth type of undead we need to watch out for. I killed something in the pedway called a Vampire Monk, High-D-Rank.”

“High-D-Rank?” Seena repeated. “You’re sure?”

“That’s what my notification says. If you check, you should have it as well, since we’re in a party.”

“Well, damn,” Seena said a few seconds later. “For a D-Rank zone, this place is tough. A-Rank patrolling giants…”

“Elite A-Rank giants,” Hiral corrected.

“… and now High-D-Rank monsters running with the hordes too. I’m not too surprised about their being High-D—not really—but I expected them to be closer to the third dungeon. Ah, whatever, we’ll find a way to deal with it. Hiral, can you make it back to us? We’re catching a quick breather while we can.”

“Party window shows me which direction you all are in, so, yeah, I should be able to find you,” Hiral said. “You good to stay put for a few minutes?”

“Yeah, we need to…” Seena paused. “What’s with the face, Wule?”

“Anybody else’s solar energy recharging really slowly?” Wule asked.

“You too?” Nivian asked. “I thought I’d just gotten used to being spoiled by Left’s banner. It’s barely trickling in.”

“Same here,” Seeyela said, a slight hitch in her voice. “And I used a lot in that last fight.”

“So did I,” Seena said. “Something isn’t right.”

Hiral opened his own status window and looked at his solar energy. After the mad dash from the giant and splitting off Right with enough energy to lure the monster away, he was sitting at barely fifteen percent. After what felt like thirty long seconds, it finally ticked up to sixteen. It took another minute after that to hit seventeen, the whole party staying silent throughout.

“I don’t even think mine’s moving,” Yanily said. “It’s broken. It’s gotta be.”

“No, it’s taking me about a minute per percent to recharge,” Hiral said. “That’s less than a quarter of usual.”

“And that’s at S-Rank,” Seena said. “Some of us are going to need five minutes or more to recharge a percent. That’s not good with an undead horde looking for us. What’s causing it?”

Hiral’s eyes immediately went to the glowing roots along the walls. He’d assumed the only real difference between them and the last zone was the color—just a species thing. But, looking closer, the plants weren’t just thinner, but also shriveled. It wasn’t a case of them being different; they were dying.

He touched his finger against one near the back of his head, and the plant literally crumpled to dust under just slight pressure.

Correction: the plants weren’t dying—they were already dead.

“It’s the roots,” Hiral and Seena said into the party chat at the same time.

“Go ahead, Hiral,” Seena said.

“Sounds like you’ve figured it out too. The root system seems to be dead. Their energy is… I don’t even know. A leftover from when they were alive? Or maybe even dead, they carry a small fraction of energy. Either way, we’re not going to get a lot from them.”

“We’re going to ration our energy as we move from here on out,” Seena said. “At least until we get to the dungeon. Hopefully we’ll be able to recharge like normal in there.”

“What about Left’s banner?” Yanily asked.

“No,” Seena said immediately. “The giant gold dome will tell the whole city where we are.”

“You really need a smaller bubble, Left,” Yanily said.

“Hiral, you think you can get to us without bringing any company?” Seena asked. “We’re not in any shape to deal with another group like we just did.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Hiral said. “I didn’t see many undead on the roofs, other than the occasional wight. If I can avoid them, it shouldn’t be bad. I’m going to gather some solar energy before I head out, though. Give me… fifteen minutes?”

“We’re up that first building after the pedway,” Seena said. “Sixth… sorry, seventh floor. Thanks, Left. Back in the corner. Looks like it was a forge at one point or another, but it has big doors, so it made sense.”

“A forge on the seventh floor?” Hiral said.

“Don’t ask me. I didn’t design the city. Look, just get back safely when you can, okay?”

“Got it, boss,” Hiral said. “I’ll see you all soon.” With that, he cut off the party chat and looked over at Right. “You got the gist of it?”

“Yeah,” Right said, looking from Hiral’s scalp to his bleeding shoulder. “How bad?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Hiral said, carefully prodding the wound on his head. He winced a little at the contact, the cut stinging more than he expected.

“Wound looks… black,” Right said. “You sure it’s not bad?”

Hiral checked his status window, but there wasn’t a debuff notification.

“Arrows must have necrotic damage, like the sword,” Hiral said, peeling aside his shirt to get a look at his shoulder. Like Right had said, the flesh around the cut was blackened and tender, but at least it didn’t seem to be spreading. “I need a healing rune… or something…”

“That’d be handy,” Right said. “Maybe ask Dr. Benza real nice after we clear the next dungeon?”

“I’ll have to flatter him first,” Hiral said with a chuckle. “Seena wasn’t really saying, but how did they look before I pulled you back?”

“Drained,” Right said. “She didn’t say it, but we barely got away. Even after the fighting stopped, she kept us moving, then up a few floors when we were sure we weren’t being followed anymore. Slower solar energy regeneration isn’t going to help any, either.”

“Do you know what their ranks are in capacity and absorption? Normally I’m at about six percent per minute, but E-Rank is normally only two percent per minute. Less if they have a higher capacity than absorption rate.”

“Nivian will be the fastest; he’s C-Rank in both. All of the others are a Rank behind in their absorption to their capacity.”

“How do you know this, and I don’t?” Hiral asked with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

“While you were fiddling with your crystals, I was training with the others. Got a good handle on what they’re capable of.”

“Wait, you’re guessing at their capacity and absorption Ranks?” Hiral asked.

“Yup. If I were Left, I’d say I’m pretty confident in my observations. Actually, I’m saying that anyway.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Hiral said. “Seriously, though, we need a better way to collect solar energy. With how reliant we are on it, this passive absorption just doesn’t cut it down here. I thought the plants would take care of the issue, but this city shows us what our biggest weakness is.”

“There must be other abilities like Left’s Banner of Courage,” Right said.

“Hopefully without the giant gold dome that accompanies it,” Hiral said.

“It does kind of stand out.”

“How many times has it almost gotten us killed?”

“At least twice.”

“That guy… I tell you…”

“Can’t imagine where he gets it.”

“Ouch.”

“Am I wrong?”

Hiral just glared at his double. “Is it bullying if I’m doing it to myself?”

“Self-improvement.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“I’m pretty sure it is. Are you full yet? We should get back to the others.”

“It’s been two minutes,” Hiral said. “Barely. I’m still running on fumes here.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m going to go take a look around. Make sure nothing is sneaking up on us. You just focus on sucking up all the energy you can.” Right pushed himself up to his feet.

“Be careful,” Hiral said.

“I won’t go far. Ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes,” Hiral agreed. “Then we’ll go find the others.”