Rune Seeker

Seena waved her hand above the interface crystal, and the whole dungeon went predictably dark. The first lights came from within the mausoleums, blue and cold, and Hiral’s hands instinctively went for the RHCs on his thighs. More and more of the lights spread further and further back through the rows of crypts, until the glow seemed to fill the courtyard.

And, despite the similarity in the color, nothing came storming out of the light to try and eat their brains. Instead, Hiral spotted chests sitting at six of the open doorways.

“Is that a trap?” Yanily said. “Ah, what does it matter? We all know I’m falling for it.” The spearman shrugged and jogged over to one of the chests.

Nobody else moved, though they all watched to see if anything was going to jump him. When he finally got to the chest and checked the colored crystal, he turned back to the party.

“What’s everybody waiting for?” Yanily pointed at the somewhat ornate chest in front of him. “This one is mine, by the way. All fancy and looking like it’s holding something special. What’ve you got for me, my pretty?”

“Looks safe,” Wule said. “Shall we?”

“Go for it,” Seena said. Then she looked up at Li’l Ur. “Any idea which one is mine?”

“That one,” the lich said as it pointed, shaking its head like it couldn’t believe it had answered so quickly. “Consider that knowledge a gift.”

“Thanks, Li’l Ur, you’re the best,” Seena cooed, giving the lich a pat on its tiny head. For its part, the lich looked torn between being offended and wanting more praise.

Hiral could only shake his head as he went looking for his own chest. Considering two—no, three—of the others had found theirs, he didn’t have a lot of searching to do. Like Yanily’s, his chest was definitely on the fancier side—also pretty big at about two feet square—and he looked at Left and Right before he crouched down.

“It’s going to be something good,” Right said.

“You did solo another Mid-Boss, after all,” Left said. “Bonus points for that, I think.”

“Minus points for being dumb in the Blood Aura, though,” Right added.

“I wanted the debuff,” Hiral grumbled, but his double wasn’t wrong.

His hesitation had almost killed him. Passing the debuff off to the Boss had been a huge gamble. It was practically a miracle it hadn’t been immune to its own power. Or that the debuff worked on something that probably didn’t even have blood in the first place. Luckily for Hiral, as soon as the debuff had landed, that was pretty much it for the fight—since the Boss apparently couldn’t cancel its own aura.

That debuff better be worth it. And, I should make sure I thank Nivian again for pulling me out of there.

“Stop thinking so much about it,” Right said. “It was dumb. You learned from it. End of story.”

“Not quite the end,” Seena said over the party chat from the next mausoleum. “We’re still going to talk about what you did.”

“This seems like a nice place to get buried, don’t you think?” Right asked Left, and Hiral just scowled at them.

“Let’s focus on the chest,” Hiral said, hooking his fingers under the lid and lifting it open.

“Not quite what I expected,” Left said, and Hiral nodded without saying anything.

Black fabric lay folded on one side of the chest, while the other side held black leather boots and a pair of matching leather gloves. The whole outfit looked very familiar, and Hiral glanced at the lich on Seena’s shoulder.

“Now you can be adorable too,” Right said quietly, just for their ears.

“Totally the look I was going for,” Hiral replied flatly, lifting the long coat out of the chest. Just like what the Remnant of Ur’Thul had worn, this long coat would fit tight around the chest and arms, and probably go down to about mid-calf. There were splits down the front and back from the waist, so it wouldn’t interfere with movement at all, and it was a black so deep Hiral could only think of the end of all things.

The Lost Second-Skin of Ur’Thul – Set – S-Rank

The Lost Coat of Ur’Thul – Increases defense and resistance to the elements, especially cold, poison, and blood.

The Lost Boots of Ur’Thul – Increases movement speed.

The Lost Pants of Ur’Thul – Reduces fatigue and improves balance.

The Lost Gloves of Ur’Thul – Wearer cannot be forcefully disarmed, and improves control of abilities that manipulate separate entities.

Note: When worn as a complete set (4 pieces), the Lost Second-Skin of Ur’Thul increases the power of any abilities inscribed upon it.

Note (2): Damage done to the Second-Skin is automatically repaired over time unless one of the pieces is completely destroyed.

“You guys catch all that?” Hiral asked, rereading the notification window.

“Who knew blood was an element?” Left said.

“At least if Hiral jumps into any more Blood Auras, he’ll be better off,” Right said, but he seemed to be paying more attention to the notification window. “That set bonus is really interesting, though. How do you think you inscribe abilities on it?”

“Maybe need an Artist?” Left asked.

“Why don’t you start by trying it on?” Right suggested, pointing into the mausoleum. “I know you’re shy.”

Hiral glanced back at Seena and Seeyela, then nodded and took the new outfit into the crypt to get changed—after double-checking to make sure there weren’t any ghouls in there. Taking off his crystal armor, Hiral stopped to look at the thigh and back plates. Will I still be able to wear those? I need them to carry my RHCs and the Emperor’s Greatsword.

With only one way to find out, he quickly stripped down and then redressed. There wasn’t a shirt as part of the set, so he kept what he was wearing, then started with the pants and boots. Unsurprisingly, they fit perfectly—and were possibly the most comfortable things he’d ever worn. That lich had an impressive tailor. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to know what the clothes were actually made of.

A quick image of the flesh-bound tome flitted through his mind before he shook the picture off.

Next on went the coat—again, a perfect fit—and Hiral couldn’t stop himself from running his fingers across the pitch-black fabric. Okay, some small part of him really did want to know what it was made of—and where he could get more. Another shake of his head, and he reached into the chest to pull out the last piece of the set: the gloves.

Before he put them on, he experimentally moved around a bit. Though the outfit felt snug on him, it didn’t impede his movement at all, and he even quickly darted back and forth before running up to the wall and kicking off it into a flip. Maybe he didn’t need to go that far—it almost felt like showing off—but somehow the long coat managed to completely stay out of the way. Almost like it was magic.

Hiral chuckled, then pulled up the hood he’d found on the back of the coat. It’d be handy to keep the rain from running down his back. Finally, he slipped the tight gloves on and tucked them under his sleeves. As soon as the last piece of the set was on his body, there was a tingle across his flesh, like small jolts of static electricity, and white lines emerged from the black.

Jaw dropping, Hiral watched as his double-helix pattern and his runes emerged in lines of bleached-bone white. Even without pushing any energy into them, he could feel them on the coat as if… it were a second skin.

“Oh, wow,” Hiral said in an awed whisper. While he’d been impressed by the versatility of his RHCs, and the sheer power of the Emperor’s Greatsword and Ring of Amin Thett, these items were an almost perfect fit for him. “Wait one second…” he muttered.

When they’d fought the Boss, there’d been three copies. It… it couldn’t be that perfect, could it?

Only one way to find out.

Hiral cancelled his summons with a thought and watched as the double helix and runes vanished, only to be replaced immediately by his tattoos and Meridian Lines. He still couldn’t use them, even though he tried, so he quickly activated Foundational Split.

As usual, the solar energy peeled off his body like a glowing cloud, but when his doubles formed on both sides of him, they emerged dressed in black.

On each, one half remained pure black, while the other half showed their tattoos and Meridian Lines in the same pure white lines. Perfect representations, like Hiral’s father himself had tattooed the work on the coat. All three of them couldn’t do anything but stare in wonder.

“What about your weapons?” Left asked.

“Good question,” Hiral said, tentatively picking up the crystal thigh-plate and putting it in place.

The crystal completely vanished, leaving only the RHC stuck in place on his leg. A couple of quick tests showed he could remove and put back the weapon as usual, and he slipped on the rest of the armor. Like the thigh-plate, the crystal seemed to get absorbed into the coat, but it left his greatsword hanging attached to his back.

“Yanily is going to be so jealous,” Right said.

“I’m jealous and I’m wearing it!” Hiral said.

“Hey, Hiral, everything okay?” Seena asked over the party chat. “Left and Right vanished. Did you explode while nobody was looking?”

“Just getting changed,” Hiral said.

“Oh? Get some new threads?” Wule asked.

“You could say that,” Hiral said.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, get out here,” Yanily said. “Uh, assuming you’ve got pants on. Do you have pants on?”

“I have pants on,” Hiral said, walking out of the mausoleum with Left and Right at his sides.

“Damn,” Seena said when she saw him.

“Mmm, only fitting for my apprentice,” Li’l Ur said with a sagely nod. Then he snapped his head down to look at himself. A sigh of relief, like he was surprised to see he was still dressed, and he went back to appraising Hiral. “It’s a pity you’re still alive.”

“I’m kind of happy to be,” Hiral deadpanned.

“Are those your runes?” Seeyela asked, coming over to look closer at Hiral.

“They are,” Hiral said. “Left, we didn’t test, but can you shape through the coat?”

In answer, Left put the fingers of his right hand against the Dagger of Sath on his left wrist, then gently pulled them away. Thick solar energy followed his fingers in a line, then quickly popped into place in the form of the magical, liquid dagger.

“Even easier,” Left said. “And I believe I’m shaping at a rank higher than I was before. The dagger is C-Rank.”

“Whaaaat?” Yanily asked. “More and more overpowered!”

“Says the guy who just got that,” Seena said, and pointed at Yanily.

The tone in her voice finally broke Hiral out of the awe of his own reward, and he turned his eyes to Yanily—and what looked like a storm cloud draped from his back. “What is that?”

“Cloak of the Tempest,” Yanily said with pride.

“It repeats any storm or elemental attacks or abilities he uses,” Wule explained. “Basically doubles his attacks for anything to do with his advanced class.”

“Twin Chain Lightning+,” Yanily said with a fist pump. “Second version isn’t quite as powerful as the first, but still.”

“Nice,” Hiral said. That would really ramp up his damage output. “Does it work with your Chord of the Primal Storm?”

“It so does. I’m going to be a menace. Just try and keep things off me, Nivian.” Yanily flexed and looked at the tank.

“Nah, not going to try,” Nivian said. “You can tank everything from now on.”

The tank had some kind of heavy, black-metal vambrace on his right arm. From the shoulder-plate to the thick gauntlet, it only covered one arm, but it radiated an aura of power.

“Converts my endurance to strength for any attacks I make with this arm,” Nivian quickly explained. “Also lets me just straight-up punch things.” With that, thorns grew out of the fist like spiked knuckles. “Doesn’t have the range or versatility of the whip, but I can see uses for it.”

Hiral nodded. So far, all three items seemed very well-suited for each of them.

“How about you, Seeyela?” Hiral asked, the woman’s ungloved fingers running up and down his arm.

“This fabric is so soft,” she muttered, only to shake her head and look at Hiral. “Sorry, that must be awkward.”

“I did the same thing,” he admitted. “What did you get?”

“A cloak, like Yan,” Seeyela said, turning slightly to the side so Hiral could see the blood-red cloak hanging from her back. No, it wasn’t just blood red; it was actual blood. “Little Shadow’s Cloak. Not sure what shadows have to do with it, but I can control it like another arm.” As if in demonstration, the cloak actually lifted up and shaped itself into a hand to give Hiral a thumbs-up.

“That’s both creepy and impressive at the same time,” Hiral said.

“They’re all S-Rank, too,” Nivian said. “Same with Seena and Wule. We made out like bandits.”

“Oh?” Hiral asked, looking at the tank’s twin.

“Oh, yeah,” Wule said, holding up a sphere in his left hand that looked eerily similar to the rod in his other hand. “Sphere of Winter’s Touch.”

“You going to be a damage dealer again?” Hiral asked.

“I could be. It actually buffs my rod, but probably not. It’s got way more healing potential. Like Yan’s lightning ability, it lets me chain my heals. Reduced effect for every target after the first, but it’s impressive.”

“Does it work on your group heals?” Hiral asked.

“You bet it does,” Wule said. “Next time you jump into a killer blood field, I’ve got your back.”

“Not planning to do that again,” Hiral said.

“Suuure,” Wule said, and Hiral turned to Seena.

“And you?” he asked her.

“Saved the best for last, huh?” she asked, and Hiral noticed she had some kind of C-shaped metal bar floating around her shoulders. Brass, maybe? Then it burst into flame, and a curtain of fire hung behind her, with Li’l Ur floating at her shoulder and crossing his arms like he’d done something impressive. Actually, the little guy with the flaming background did strike quite the pose…

“What’s it do besides look ridiculously badass?” Hiral asked.

“Mantle of the Phoenix,” Seena said, reaching out and stroking the flames that almost looked like feathers. “Ups all of my fire-based abilities by a Rank,” she added with a wink.

“You’re going to burn the undead city to the ground, aren’t you?” Hiral asked, and Seena nodded a little too eagerly.

“All in all, a great haul,” Seeyela said. “Oh, we have one more chest, don’t we?”

They looked around until they found the seventh chest at the opposite end of the courtyard.

“Left, Right, one of you want to do the honors?” Seena asked. “And, I meant to ask, did you each get the same outfit as Hiral?”

“Kind of,” Left said. “We got it when he activated Foundational Split. So, there’s no problem if we vanish temporarily.”

“And it’s soooo soft,” Right added, the whole group walking over to the final chest.

Left opened it without much fanfare, but he whistled after looking inside for a moment. When everybody gave him a questioning glance, he lifted out a pair of hand-sized discs.

(Lost) Crystal Skates – Upgradable Rank

When imbued with solar energy, the skates allow the wearer to hover above the ground.

Note: Hover height and speed are based on Rank of user.

“Hover? Skate?” Wule said. “Can those make us… fly?”

“Probably not at D-Rank, but maybe later,” Hiral said. “Though, we don’t have any tattoos like this, so I have no idea, really.”

“Let’s try them out!” Yanily said, running over and taking a set from Left.

The skates had a calf component, kind of like Hiral’s thigh-plates, where the skates would rest when not in use, and everybody quickly put their sets on. As an added benefit, Hiral’s new outfit carried copies over to Left and Right when he split.

The next ten minutes were spent crashing into things and falling on faces as the party learned how to use the skates.