Rune Seeker

The remnants of the multiple explosions faded as Hiral arrived, axes already swinging. His blades still barely more than scratched Velina, but each left a stacking Bleeding Wound on her. More, Hiral’s high Atn picked out the invisible blades from the Bloodletting Field stabbing into the already-open wounds he’d left. While the field’s blades normally wouldn’t be able to penetrate Velina’s tough skin, it seemed they were significantly more effective if the target was already injured.

Hiral hit her half a dozen times before she reacted enough through the influx of attacks from all sides to turn her fists in his direction. Even then, her strikes were unfocused, her mind likely reeling from the building pain of the Blood Volatility. Hiral knew all too well how much that damn debuff hurt, and his next critical hit just made things worse for the Shaper as he sidestepped a spectral punch.

You have afflicted your target with (Debuff) Searing Pain.

The corner of Hiral’s lip quirked upward, and he cut once more with his other axe before dropping into a roll past Velina. Searing Pain didn’t do any damage, but it would lower her stats for the next fifteen seconds, and the pain it caused was almost maddening.

The woman staggered from the debuff as Hiral passed, though she couldn’t go far with a sword pinning her foot to the ground. Her spectral fists temporarily paused as her eyes went to the hilt of the weapon holding her in place. In that pause, Hiral found his feet again and tore into her back with a vicious flurry. Dozens of red lines sprang up behind his blurred axes, Hack and Slash stacking and changing into Frenzy, then stacking again, while Velina barely responded.

Compared to the agonizing debuffs she had on her, his attacks probably didn’t even tickle.

Which just makes them all the deadlier.

Above Velina’s head, her health bar was noticeably dropping. Between Hiral’s constant attacks and the bleed effects from his axes, he was finally starting to build some momentum. And more attacks meant more crits.

Buffs sprang up or got refreshed until a dozen small timers flashed in the corner of his vision. Red outlined Velina’s body as Target took hold, and then sickly yellow stretched from a wound as one of Seeyela’s new debuffs—Creeping-Rot Venom—spread through her veins. Despite the name, the new venom didn’t inflict any damage, but it lowered all of Velina’s stats and amplified the sensation of pain.

Velina’s normal hands went to the side of her head as she leaned back and let out a throat-shredding howl of agony. All around her, the spectral hands went crazy. All semblance of control flew out the window, the fists lunging, sweeping, striking, and smashing seemingly at random.

Hiral threw out one more pair of strikes to get Frenzy back to three stacks—taking a hit that nearly broke his ribs in the process—then had to retreat from the furious attacks. He dodged, rolled, and leapt to avoid the rain of punches. The Chord combined with his high Atn to help guide him through the deluge until a discordant note practically shouted in his right ear.

Instinct and reflex took over, Hiral lunging to the side as Vule appeared right beside him. Even though Velina’s blows rained down on the newly appeared Shaper, Vule’s Grinder swept out. Unbelievably soft cloth and the flesh underneath tore off Hiral’s chest as the weapon’s aura finally caught up to him, but he pushed the pain down. Spectral fists still poured around him, and Velina’s health had dropped to 25%. She was almost within striking range. He just had to…

Velina’s shaking hand went to a tattoo on her arm—her healing tattoo—and she managed to focus enough to push solar energy towards it.

No!

Ever Changing+ almost up anyway, Hiral swapped to the Sho-Val to take advantage of the movement speed boost, then charged back in to stab out with all his strength. The spear’s blade struck right beside the tattoo the Shaper was attempting to activate, but barely pierced more than an inch. Worse, it didn’t do anything to disrupt her shaping.

How is she managing to focus through all the pain? Of course, Mental Fortress!

Not only was the buff protecting her from the effects of the Chord, but it was also enhancing her concentration. He’d wanted to delay using this trick up his sleeve, but it didn’t look like there was much of a choice before…

A Grinder came down like a headsman’s axe between Hiral and Velina. The tearing aura ripped apart the flesh on the back of Hiral’s hand as he barely managed to yank his spear back, and a burst of Rejection got him far enough away to avoid the follow-up swing. In that same instant, Velina managed to complete the process of shaping her tattoo, healing energy flooding out…

To do almost nothing. The woman’s health bar barely went up two percent, the necrotic energy from the sword in her foot flaring black in her veins. Unfortunately, by the way her eyes went straight to the Blightsteel Sabre, she realized the same thing. The raining fists all around her stilled while Vule put himself between her and Hiral, and Velina took her hand from her tattoo to reach for the sword.

Once the weapon was out, her B-Rank healing would likely be able to overpower the C-Rank necrotic energy. Hiral couldn’t let that happen.

With one hand still mangled from the glancing Grinder hit, Hiral twisted the shaft of the Sho-Val with his other hand. The spear split into two pieces, and Hiral barely managed to keep hold of the longer section in his almost useless right hand. In his left, though, he held a foot of shaft connected to two feet of blade, and the weapon took on a green tint as he focused on the Crescent Wind ability.

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Since he wouldn’t be able to go through Vule easily, Hiral dashed out to the side and whipped his weapon back and forth. One, two, five times, his arm blurred under 3 stacks of Frenzy and a whopping 75% attack-speed boost. Five crescents of sharp energy covered the distance before Vule had a chance to react. More thin cuts appeared on Velina’s skin from the attacks, but she shrugged them off and ripped the sword from her foot.

Tossing the weapon aside to clank on the stone floor, her hand went back to the tattoo on her arm.

Hiral continued to strafe around Velina—with Vule struggling to keep up—and kept his attacks coming. Blade after blade after blade of energy whipped Velina’s body from all sides, critical hits spawning buffs and debuffs one after the other. Hiral gained another instance of Swarm Healing to help mend the damage done by the Grinder. But, more importantly, Velina staggered to the side as a particularly nasty debuff took hold on her.

You have afflicted your target with (Debuff) Disoriented.

The vertigo from the debuff should make it easier to…

Velina shook her head, the stone crown from Mental Fortress flaring, then put her hand back to her tattoo.

Damnit! Of course Mental Fortress would lessen the effects of Disoriented.

Still, it had bought him another second, and he continued lashing attacks at Velina as he stayed ahead of Vule. Except… Vule wasn’t moving anymore. The big man had stopped to put his hand against a tattoo on his upper arm.

Hiral’s eyes went to the tattoo, but it didn’t matter. A blue dome of force appeared over the pair of them, going so far as to even block the blades from the Bloodletting Field.

The aptly named Dome of Force wasn’t a powerful shield, and could only be maintained while the Shaper concentrated on it, but it easily blocked the attacks Hiral threw its way.

Solar energy flared within the bubble of protection as Velina forced more energy than needed into her healing tattoo. Her health had dropped to 20% during the exchange, and she was looking to supercharge it for additional restoration.

And there wasn’t anything Hiral could do about it.

Up, up, up went the solar energy investment, the Shaper somehow managing to focus through the agonizing pain she had to be in from all the debuffs. Then, all at once, the energy drained straight into the tattoo.

Velina’s arm exploded.

Her tattoo backfired because of the Disoriented debuff!

The sudden eruption of solar energy sent the two Shapers in opposite directions. Vule’s concentration broke completely—the bubble along with it—and the man slid forward fifteen feet on his face.

Velina fared even worse. She pulled herself into a sitting position twenty feet away and looked down in shock. Her arm was gone from the elbow down, blood pouring from the garish wound like a waterfall. Her health still sat at 10% even after that, but the eager Bloodletting blades were already going to work on her. There was a very good chance the suite of debuffs on her would finish her off, but Hiral couldn’t take that chance.

With Vule still on the ground, Hiral released the Sho-Val and took hold of Stormstrike. A thread of solar energy activated Stormstep, transforming him into a bolt of lightning that closed the distance and slammed into Velina from the side. The two of them toppled to the ground as lightning arced along the bigger Shaper’s skin, and blood sprayed in an arc from the roll. Being the faster—and far less injured—of the two, Hiral was on his feet first. A quick back and forth of Stormstrike opened two more shallow wounds on Velina’s good arm as she also got to her feet. But, more importantly, the attacks kept her good hand away from him, and he lunged forward with his open palm.

Still, even with her natural arm out of the picture, she had eight more spectral limbs to contend with. Thanks to the effects of Mental Fortress, she seemed to have just enough focus to bring those limbs driving down toward him.

This better work!

Hiral’s hand hit her shoulder a second before the spectral limbs could reach him, and he activated his Rune of Absorption while the incoming attacks filled his vision.

Then promptly vanished.

You have been buffed by Hundred Handed.

Gain control of eight spectral arms to make attacks or conduct actions for 3 minutes.

Note: Damage of attacks based off Str or Dex (whichever is higher).

Note (2): Speed of limbs based off based off Str or Dex (whichever is higher).

Note (3): Precision and deftness of hands based off Wis or Atn (whichever is higher).

You have been buffed by Mental Fortress.

Gain significant resistance to mental attacks, pain, and distraction for 3 minutes.

A shiver ran down Hiral’s spine as the sensation of eight brand-new arms sprang from his back, and Velina’s eyes widened in front of him.

“How…?” she asked, blood practically coating her body.

Then she shook her head and scowled. Not even bothering to reach for a tattoo, her one intact arm came across in a hook powerful enough to take Hiral’s head clean off his shoulders.

If he’d stayed still.

A quick step back took him out of range—though he left a Lost Echo in his place—and then he commanded his new spectral hands to attack. Eight limbs struck Velina simultaneously, staggering her from side to side with each blow. Then the Echo exploded.

A hand burst out of the explosion as Velina’s bloodied form shot toward Hiral, fury written across her face. Despite her injuries—or maybe because of them—the woman wasn’t giving up. Over seven feet of furious Shaper charged after Hiral, fist swinging madly in an attempt to pulp him.

And for every step she took, eight spectral fists pounded her from all sides. More critical hits refreshed the buffs and debuffs on both of them. And as one very solid blow caught her across the chin and made her eyes cross, sickly green spread along her jaw and down her chin.

You have afflicted your target with (Debuff) Ghost-Web Venom.

Finally.

Velina staggered a step to the side, her hand going to her throat as the health bar above her head changed from red to green. She looked at Hiral, and then every muscle in her body contracted as the first tick of the venom ravaged her body. Already grievously wounded, she dropped to her knees and coughed up a spray of blood.

“You… You’re the… Everfail. You… can’t…”

Her health bar dropped to zero, and the woman simply toppled over.