Rune Seeker

About thirteen hours after the conversation in the workshop, Hiral sat on the fast-moving Disc of Passage and put the finishing touches on the sword he’d been working on. With Runes of Increase directly inscribed on the hilt and connected—he hoped—to the weapon’s necrotic energy, it was just about…

“Done!” he said, finishing the last flair of the rune with his Mold Crystal ability.

As if that was a signal, the blade of the weapon suddenly glowed black, starting from the crosspiece and rushing up to the tip. Drops of the sinister light fell from the sword but vanished before they struck the stone, and then there was a pulse of energy that had everybody turning their heads in his direction.

“Did you just explode?” Seena asked nervously.

“No…” Hiral said, staring at the sword until a View window came up.

Reinforced Blightsteel Sabre – C-Rank

Once a rank-and-file weapon of little significance, this sabre has been reforged into a formidable tool of death and dismemberment.

Effects: Weapon inflicts additional necrotic damage.

Note: Necrotic damage slows natural and magic healing without applying a debuff.

Note (3): Necrotic damage has no effect on constructs, but does increased damage to the living.

Note (4): Amount of necrotic damage inflicted can be increased by feeding solar energy to the weapon. Amount of increased damage is relative to amount of solar energy used.

“Not bad for my first time,” Hiral said as Seena came over to him—cautiously. “I’m not going to explode. Really.”

“You’re sure?”

“Completely.”

“Okay. What’s it do?” she asked as the others came over too.

“It’s C-Rank now, instead of D, and can do additional necrotic damage by pushing solar energy into it. Nothing amazing, but I’ll take it.”

“Did you get an advanced class option?” Seeyela asked, and Hiral just shook his head. “Got another sword to work on the meantime?”

“Nah, the only other thing I’ve got is this…” Hiral pulled an arrow out of his Ring of Amin Thett.

Acquired when he’d used the ring to pull the speeding bolt away from impaling him through the head, it wasn’t even like he had an entire quiver of the things. Just the one. Circling his finger in little infinity signs, the arrow danced around in front of him while he thought about what he could do with it. Maybe enchant it with a Rune of Impact? Oh, or Separation? That could be a nasty surprise… if he had a bow…

Do I need one?

Stopping his finger, he pulled the new Reinforced Blightsteel Sabre into the Ring of Amin Thett at his back and stared at the arrow.

“Uh oh, he’s got that look,” Seena said. “What reckless plan do you have now?”

“Nothing reckless… or even a plan…” he said, but he stood up and took a few steps away from the others. A few more gestures with his hand had the arrow dancing in front of him. Up and over, around him in a tight loop as he spun, and then out and back.

“Some kind of Islander dance?” Yanily asked, looking at his spear like he kind of wanted to join.

“Not unless it’s one we were never taught,” Right said.

“I thought you knew everything he does?” Yanily asked.

“Exactly,” Left filled in.

Mostly blocking out the commentary, Hiral moved his hand faster, actually bringing his whole arm into the motions, and the arrow’s speed jumped dramatically.

Can I…?

Hiral spread his feet and cocked his arm back, the arrow racing to his side and then hovering in the air beside him, poised and ready.

“What are you…?” Seena started to ask, but Hiral twisted at the hips and snapped his arm forward like he was throwing a spear.

The arrow shot away like it’d been launched. Crack. It slammed into the wall curving ahead, the old arrow even punching its way several inches into the stone. Hiral only had a second for his wide eyes to stare at the still-quivering shaft of the projectile before the Disc of Passage was past.

Short seconds later, the arrow was left in the distance, and Hiral could only stare at his hand. Was that the real use of the enchantment on the gloves?

“That was impressive,” Yanily said. “How many more of those arrows do you have in the ring?”

“Uh… none,” Hiral said. “That was the only one I had.”

“And you threw it into a wall?” Yanily asked.

“Wasn’t exactly what I planned to do,” Hiral said.

“Sure looked like you planned it with the whole…” Yanily mimicked Hiral’s throwing motion.

“Give the guy a break,” Seena said, putting a hand on Yanily’s shoulder. His spear spun into his hand as if by magic, and he dropped into a fighting crouch. “Yan! That wasn’t the shoulder tap.”

Yanily turned slightly to look at her, though he didn’t drop his guard. “Are you sure? It sure felt like a shoulder tap.”

“I’m sure. I’m the one who did it. There’s nothing here for you to stab.”

“But I think there will be soon,” Left said. “The disc appears to be slowing.”

Hiral eyed the wall, and, yeah, just like his double said, their speed was definitely decreasing. “We must almost be there,” he said.

“Unless there’s another collapse and wild dungeon,” Seeyela said.

At her words, everybody paused and looked at each other.

“I… hadn’t even thought of that,” Seena said. “What are we going to do if we have to clear another one of those without Nivian or Wule? The Buried City we ran into on the way to the last zone was tough, even for all eight of us.”

“Wild dungeons are supposed to be rare,” Hiral said. “Besides, it’s not like we really had another choice about where we’re going. We had to come this way, whether it was now or later, to get to Fallen Reach.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Seena said.

“No, he’s Hiral,” Yanily said softly, and only the stopping Disc of Passage saved him from getting burned to a crisp by the look in Seena’s eyes.

“No collapse,” Seeyela said. “Just a narrow tunnel that curves ahead. Usual roots too.”

“Good,” Seena said. “If everything goes like it should, they will take us right to the ant dungeon.”

“Assuming there isn’t another dungeon closer,” Hiral said.

“It’s possible, but if Left’s map is correct, we’re practically already in ant territory. With that in mind, is everybody ready? Have food buffs? We probably won’t get much of a chance to take a break until we get to the dungeon entrance. The ants don’t chase people outside their territory, but they’re fiercely aggressive towards anybody who enters.”

“Low-D-Rank, though?” Hiral asked.

“The ones near the borders are, though I think there might be variants of some kind as we push deeper.”

“There are,” Seeyela said. “I’ve read about at least two. One shoots acid from its butt…”

“That can’t be pleasant,” Yanily said, visibly clenching.

“And the other has razor-sharp mandibles capable of chomping right through a limb,” she finished, ignoring the spearman as usual.

“The normal ants mainly use their mandibles as their only weapon, but their bites shouldn’t be much threat to us unless we get overwhelmed,” Seena explained to Hiral.

“Guess we’ll just have to watch each other’s backs,” Hiral said.

“Only if you don’t start shooting acid out of your butt too,” Yanily said. “Wait… Acid… out of your butt. Ass-id.”

“We can do the dungeon with three, can’t we?” Seena asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose while Li’l Ur floated up onto her shoulder and gently patted her head. With a nod of thanks to the lich, Seena’s face turned back to business mode. “Seriously, everybody ready?”

Before Hiral answered, he quickly pulled open his status window to give it a quick check.

Name: Hiral Dorin

Race: Builder

Class: Runic Artificer

Rank: High-D-Rank (Level 19)

Attributes

Strength (Str)—18 (3) = 21

Endurance (End)—18 (3+11) = 34

Dexterity (Dex)—20 (3+73+10) = 136

Intelligence (Int)—18 (3) = 21

Wisdom (Wis)—18 (3+34) = 60

Attunement (Atn)—20 (3+73) = 122

Solar Energy Processing

Absorption Rate: S-Rank

Capacity: S+-Rank

Output Rate: S-Rank

Abilities—Runes

Rune of Separation—Primary

Rune of Gravity—Secondary

Rune of Energy—Tertiary

Rune of Attraction (Forearm, Left)

Rune of Rejection (Forearm, Right)

Rune of Absorption (Bicep, Left)

Rune of Impact (Bicep, Right)

Rune of Decrease (Shoulder, Left)

Rune of Increase (Shoulder, Right)

Rune of Time Contraction (Chest, Left)

Rune of Time Dilation (Chest, Right)

Abilities—Active

Foundational Split, Terminal, Eloquent, Enraged, Intimidate, Distracting Shot, (Lost) Chord of the Primal Echo, (Lost) Shared Strength

Abilities—Passive

Infernal Conjuration, Gourmand, Racial Growth*, View (Enemy Health), Good Things Come in Threes, Walk on Water, One-Man Army+ (+25%), Internal Injuries (D-Rank), I Bow to No One (slight), Elemental Resistances (10%), Beauty Sleep, Inspirational Growth, Party Interface (Communication, Member Status, Shared Attributes), Killing Spree+, Life of the Party+, (Lost) Echo Aura, (Lost) Solar Drain, (Lost) Cycling+ Technique, (Lost) That all you got?, (Lost) Regeneration+, (Lost) Evolutionary Inspiration

Special

Seed of the Lost

Racial Growth—Progress

Troblins—Level 5—4/300—Current Bonus = 20%

Giant Horned Lizards—Level 3—13/50—Current Bonus = 10%

Barbed Swamp Snakes—Level 2—8/10—Current Bonus = 5%

Lizardmen—Level 4—58/150—Current Bonus = 15%

Hydras—Level 1—1/2—Current Bonus = 0%

(Undead) Skeleton—Level 6—647/750—Current Bonus = 25%

(Undead) Zombie—Level 6—746/750—Current Bonus = 25%

(Undead) Wight—Level 4—89/150—Current Bonus = 15%

(Undead) Vampire—6/50—Current Bonus = 10%

(Undead) Ghoul—Level 5—78/300—Current Bonus = 20%

(Undead) Heart of the Graveyard—Level 2—1/10—Current Bonus = 5%

(Undead) Mummy—3/10—Current Bonus = 5%

(Undead) Death Knight—Level 1—1/2—Current Bonus = 0%

(Undead) Lich—Level 2—5/10—Current Bonus = 5%

(Undead) Draugr—Level 3—9/50—Current Bonus = 10%

His attributes were in a great place, with his Dex starting to edge his Atn out a bit due to the Shared Attributes he got from Yanily. Still, his senses were able to keep up with his body for the time being, so he wasn’t complaining. With his thoughts on his attributes, his eyes lingered on the bonus to End, and what it meant: Nivian was still alive and part of the party, even if he’d stayed behind in the undead city.

Like Seena, Hiral hated having to split up, but there really wasn’t anything they could do about it for now. Nivian needed to stay back there to evolve, and hopefully beat the undead hunger of which Odi had spoken. There was no way his twin brother, Wule, was going to leave him there alone. As for the rest of them, well, they had a city to save.

And that’s what I need to focus on now.

With that, Hiral forced himself to continue past his attributes to the rest of his status window. He’d only gotten the two new runes, Time Contraction and Time Dilation, and they weren’t easy to use, but worth it when he needed to.

On the other hand, he’d gotten a whole slew of new abilities—mostly passive, but a few of them were very strong. The upgraded versions of Killing Spree+, Cycling+, Life of the Party+, and Regeneration+ were really the standouts, though his few new active abilities played a major role in his current fighting style. D-Rank had been very kind to him, and he wasn’t going to be anywhere even close to the same person returning to Fallen Reach as when he’d left.

Looking down at the Second-Skin of Ur’Thul he wore, it would be a wonder if anybody even recognized him.

Actually, maybe that’s for the best. Would they listen to the Everfail? No, I’m not that person anymore either. They’ll have to see it. And if they don’t, I’ll make them. They need to listen to us about the threat, and old opinions will only get in the way.

The new armor, along with the weapons he carried—his paired Runic Hand Cannons, TheEmperor’s Greatsword, and The Ring of Amin Thett—would all make him stand out. And that wasn’t even considering the Growers who’d be walking beside him…

At the thought, he subtly looked at his friends.

They will come up to Fallen Reach with me, won’t they?

“Hiral, you in there?” Seena asked, taking a sideways step so she was directly in front of him. “You okay?”

“Sorry, yeah,” he said. “Just thinking about things and checking my status window.”

Seena stared into his eyes as if she was searching for something—Or maybe she’s just reading the glowing script where my irises used to be—then nodded to herself. “Don’t spend too much time worrying about the lost arrow. We’ll get you a new one. Somewhere…” She winked. “You ready, then?”

“Ready,” Hiral answered, though his thoughts did go back to the distant arrow embedded in the wall at the mention of it. Could he do the same thing with something bigger than an arrow?

Only one way to find out: testing!

Slightly giddy at the thought of doing some experiments, Hiral put it aside for later as the group moved off the Disc of Passage and into the tunnel. Like Seeyela had said, the passage was narrow, barely wide enough for two to walk side-by-side. From the looks of the stone, it didn’t seem to be worked by human hands; it was too rounded, without the usual cut blocks.

“Do you think the ants made this tunnel?” Hiral asked quietly, his RHCs coming out in his hands.

“It’s possible, though why would they?” Seeyela asked, likewise drawing her Fangs of the Lady.

“Dr. Benza and his team used the naturally occurring roots to create the paths between dungeons,” Hiral said. “And we found one dungeon in the ruins of a Troblin castle, not to mention the ones in the Lizardman city. What did he call them?”

“Squalians,” Left supplied.

“Yeah, that was it. Anyway, if they were using those things, it’s not really a huge surprise if they used an old ant tunnel too.”

“And it’s not like we’ve actually seen an ant yet,” Yanily said, disappointment pretty clear in his voice. “How are we supposed to hit level twenty if the little guys don’t throw themselves at us in large numbers?”

“You don’t think the Enemy got them, do you?” Hiral asked.

“No, they’ve been here as long as I can remember,” Seena said. “And it sounds like the Enemy has been around even longer. If they were going to wipe them out, they would’ve done it years ago.”

“I’m going to go scout ahead,” Seeyela said. “Unless you have any objections?”

“Just be careful,” Seena said.

“And don’t drag any more Mid-Bosses back on us,” Hiral added with a wink he immediately regretted when Seeyela turned the eight red eyes of her helm on him. Fully covered in her Armor of the Ghost-Web Matriarch, and with her daggers dripping dangerous green venom, she cut an intimidating image.

“It was just one time,” she said, the blush clear in her words, and she vanished with a teleporting bamf.

“Living dangerously there,” Yanily said, punching Hiral in the shoulder.

“Yeah, remind me to think before I speak…” He looked at Yanily. “Actually, maybe you’re not the best person for that.”

“What are you talking about? I always think before I say anything.”

Seena just shook her head behind him.

“Why me?” she asked quietly, her pet lich once again trying to comfort her.