Rune Seeker

The Enemy’s tentacles moved to try to intercept the roaring lance of flame—one of them even making it in time, only to get sheared straight through. As the severed tentacle flopped into the air as if in slow motion, the spear struck home at the base of the creature where all its tentacles seemed to meet.

Since the creature was invisible, it was impossible to see what was there—though if it was anything like a real squid, it was probably a mouth—and a mangled screech of pain cut through the air. With the spear spinning like a drill, Hiral half-expected to watch it slowly grind its way into the Boss.

That didn’t happen.

No, the lance of flame didn’t slow in the least, instead piercing directly into the main body of the Enemy. But, then it didn’t come out the other side. Tentacles curved around and reached, like the monster would try to pull the offending object right back out.

What…?

KAAA-BOOOOOM! The whole sky seemed to vanish within a blossoming second sun. The force of the eruption threw Hiral back, while the rain—and his domain—simply evaporated in the blink of an eye.

Hurtling back one hundred, two hundred feet in a second, Hiral threaded solar energy into his Rune of Rejection to soften his landing. Not a moment too soon, either, as he hit, bounced, and rolled across the pitted street. With a dozen new pains flaring across his body, he didn’t hesitate to use the active version of Regeneration+, and soothing energy worked on the worst of his injuries. Including his arm, which was thankfully still attached.

All in all, given the multitude of small—and large—hits he’d taken in that fight, he never would’ve made it through without the ability.

Above him, the flare of the newborn sun faded, and fresh rain hammered again down on the street. Without his connection to the domain he’d created, he lifted one hand above his eyes to shield them and scanned the sky for any remnant of the squid. Could it still be alive after that? Phase four…?

Surviving Researchers: 3/3

(Enemy… Defeated…!?: 1/1)

Magic Activated: 0/1

Hrm, guess that confirms it’s dead, though it doesn’t seem like the PIMP expected us to do that. Maybe we just needed to keep it busy long enough to let Dr. Benza get the islands up. Speaking of, I wonder if they’re almost done?

“Everybody okay?” Seena asked through the party chat. “Hiral? Sis? Talk to me.”

“Mostly fine,” Seeyela groaned. “Potion is taking the edge off, and that notification is great news.”

Oh. Potions… Good idea…

“Also still alive,” Hiral replied as he pulled his own potion out of his Interspatial Ring. The liquid ran cool over his tongue, and the effects immediately combined with his Regeneration+ ability to ease even the lesser pains. That’s the stuff.

“YESSS!” Seena suddenly shouted. “Take that, you creepy-armed invisible bastard! Take that…” she added a second time, more quietly.

Pushing himself to his feet, Hiral used the indicators in the Party Interface to find his way back over to Seena, Seeyela limping over at the same time. “We did it,” he said.

“We did,” Seena agreed. She was still lying on her back, the rain pelting her as she stared up, but she stood when the others got closer. A few steps, and they were all embraced in a tight hug, with even Left, Right, and Li’l Ur joining them. “Thank you all for not dying.”

“Except you, would-be apprentice,” Li’l Ur said. “You keep making me wait.” He then glanced at Seena and the way she leaned heavily on the others. “Well, perhaps I’ll let it go this time…”

“Appreciated,” Hiral said flatly. “Any idea what happens next? Better not be another secret Boss or something. The side effects of using Eloquent and Enraged are about to hit us really hard.”

“We’ll need to check on Dr. Benza and the others,” Seena said. “They have to be close to finishing.”

As if on cue, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble.

Shaking so much it knocked the party to their knees, new cracks split the pockmarked road and ran up the few walls still standing. The water on the ground vibrated in time with the earthquake, and then something high overhead SNAPPEDso loudly it drowned out even the near-constant thunder.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“What…?” Seeyela started to ask, but then movement out of the corner of his eye had Hiral turning.

A rockface, easily thousands of tons’ worth, fell off the side of the Grower island. Down, down, down it fell until it crashed heavily into the mountain slope below. The ground shook in time with the impact, while a great shockwave rushed outward, blasting back the rain. Another CRAAAACK sounded, and a second—even larger—section of the island began to fall. Miles across, it drop, drop, dropped… and then just stopped. Buoying in the air for one second, two, three, it finally hovered hundreds of feet above the ground.

Further down the island, another large section broke off to float below the larger mass. And then, with a great shudder, the central mass of the Grower island shifted like a drunk man trying to stand.

Beyond it, almost hidden by the torrential rain, the island that would become Fallen Reach lifted into the air, whole and unbroken. Vague shapes flitted through the air around it—more Enemies coming to prevent the completion of the project—but then something happened on the Grower island. Though it seemed to barely be floating, a searing bolt of light shot from the center of the island to strike the clouds.

As soon as the beam entered the dark storm clouds, a hole to the clear blue sky beyond formed and grew. Spanning hundreds of feet—then miles—in seconds, the circle pushed the clouds further and further back. The falling rain ceased a second later as the last of it reached the ground, and still the fleeing clouds didn’t stop.

Pained screeches echoed across the sky as the Enemieswere suddenly deprived of the life-giving rain they needed for a hundred miles in every direction. Maybe they fled, or maybe they died, but Hiral couldn’t see the fate of the invisible creatures. It’d only be fair if at least a few of them died for all the damage they did here today…

With the sky clear, the party watched as Fallen Reach climbed higher and higher. Light reflected off the crystals at the top of the Fallen’s towers before the island rose out of view. A large crystal sat at the bottom center of the island, runes glowing along every facet, but a thick mist began to grow around it.

Closer, the Grower island struggled to keep up. Pieces of it rose unevenly into the sky, some of them seemingly collapsing under their own weight to crash back to the ground. Dozens of pieces got left behind until less than half of the original island made it into the sky along with Fallen Reach. They trailed after as the islands continued to climb and move away from the party.

“They’re heading for the EnSath River,” Dr. Benza said, and the party turned to find him, Laseen, and Fenil heading in their direction. “We did it. Somehow.”

Dynamic Quest: Update

Surviving Researchers: 3/3

(Enemy… Defeated…?!: 1/1)

Magic Activated: 1/1

Hiral closed the notification window for another to predictably take its place.

Dynamic Quest Complete

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – Up, Up, and Away.

You have successfully defended the researchers and gotten the remaining islands (well, most of them) into the sky.

Bonus Objective Complete: All researchers survived.

Hidden Objective Complete: You’ve done the impossible (again) and killed an Enemy.

Bonus rewards will be granted for completing Bonus and Hidden Objectives.

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

“Barely,” Laseen said, drawing Hiral’s attention from the second window. “Out of four islands and millions of people, we didn’t even get two. How many people died…?”

“Less than if we’d failed,” Dr. Benza said. “It wasn’t the victory we’d hoped for, but it was a victory nonetheless. The Fallen, trapped in the towers, will provide the PIMP the power it needs to grow, and those survivors will become the hope of our people.”

“I guess.” Laseen nodded, like she was trying to convince herself it was true. “And we couldn’t have done it without you,” she said to Hiral and the others. “How did you manage to chase off the Enemy?”

“Chase off?” Seena asked, standing between Hiral and Seeyela. “We didn’t chase it off. We killed the bastard.”

“You… killed an Enemy?” Fenil asked. “How? We’ve never been able to…”

Hiral blinked as Fenil cut off mid-sentence, and then all three researchers were just… gone.

Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach: Complete

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – Bearing Witness.

You have witnessed (and participated in) a key point in history.

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

Time until Wild Dungeon – The Rise of Fallen Reach instance closure: 59:99

Hiral closed the window, expecting to go looking for the interface, but another window popped up immediately.

Congratulations. Bonus Achievement unlocked – Just Not in the Face.

You have completed an equal-Rank or above dungeon without a tank or healer.

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

Oh? Nice.

As soon as he closed that, another window sprang up.

Congratulations. Bonus Achievement unlocked – The Chosen Few.

You have completed an equal-Rank or above dungeon with four people or less in your party.

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

When Hiral closed this notification window, no others popped up to replace it, and he looked at the others. “You both get a couple of bonus achievements?”

“Yeah,” Seena said, but she looked anything but happy about them. They all would’ve preferred to have Nivian and Wule with them over a couple of extra achievements, rewards or not. “Let’s find this interface and get out of here.”