Rune Seeker

Hiral pulled the now-familiar Solar Refinement Solution out of the chest and immediately popped the cork. “Yan, you’re going to lose your buff for a couple of minutes,” he said.

“Axes this time?” Seena asked from next to him, while she splashed her own vial across her chest. “What? You expect me to take my armor off to upgrade it?”

Hiral’s thoughts paused at the mental image. “I mean… I guess I might’ve been hoping…”

“No!” Seeyela said loud enough Hiral jumped and had to clamp his thumb over the top of the vial to make sure none spilled. “We’re on a schedule. No flirting.”

“I wasn’t…” Hiral started, until he saw the look on Seeyela’s face. “Right. Item upgrading. Getting to it.”

“Don’t let her bully you,” Seena said, elbowing him gently in the side. “Though it is kind of cute when you’re being submissive like that.”

“Uh oh,” Right said from where he stood beside Yanily. “There goes the whip fant…”

“AHEM,” Hiral coughed as loudly as he could, then hauled the Bestial Axes out of his Arsenal of Amin Thett before anybody could question the troublesome double’s comment. Without even waiting for View to activate, he made a big show of sprinkling the vial’s contents on the pair of bone axes hovering in front of him. Luckily for him, the motion – and the position of the axes – kept most people from seeing the blush that had to be running up his cheeks.

Well, everybody other than Seena, from the grin on her face beside him. When she leaned in so close he could feel her breath on his ear, he nearly froze up again.

“You’ll have to tell me what he was talking about later,” she whispered, just for him.

Mechanically, his hands kept applying the solution to the axes, while his mind raced. “I… I, um…” he stammered.

Seena chuckled, the small puffs of air from it tickling his ear, then she stepped away, another mischievous grin on her face.

“I’m going to have to stab both of you, aren’t I?” Seeyela asked. “Maybe Left and Right for good measure.”

“Ah, don’t be such a prude,” Yanily said, though Right subtlety moved to put the spearman between himself and Seeyela.

The woman glared at him for a moment, then finally threw up her hands. “Fine. Whatever. Can we finish and go murder a C-Rank dungeon?”

“Everybody done?” Seena asked, though her eyes finished on Hiral.

“Almost,” he said sheepishly, the vial in his hand empty. “Just need to double check what changed.” A second of staring at the axes activated View – the wall of text that was their description only getting longer.

(Lost) Bestial Axes – A-Rank

Effects: When used as a pair, grants user access to Ability (Passive) – Bleeding Wounds, Ability (Passive) – Hack and Slash, and Ability (Passive) – Blood Lust

Ability (Passive) – Bleeding Wounds: Injuries inflicted by the Bestial Axes refuse to close up, and cause extra bleeding damage over time based on user’s Str and Dex.

Note: Bleeding Wounds will even affect things without blood, causing whatever keeps them alive to leak from the injuries.

Note (2): Bleeding Wounds duration based on user’s Dex.

Note (3): Bleeding Wounds does increased damage on a critical hit.

Ability (Passive) – Hack and Slash: One hit quickly leads to another, increasing attack speed by 5% per successive hit.

Note: A miss, parry, or block will result in loss of all Hack and Slash stacks.

Note (2): Failure to continue attacking for more than 2 seconds will result in loss of all Hack and Slash stacks.

Note (3): Changing to another weapon will result in the loss of all Hack and Slash Stacks.

Note (4): Hack and Slash can stack up to a maximum of 10 times.

Note (5): On reaching 10 stacks of Hack and Slash, all stacks are consumed to give one stack of Ability (Passive) – Frenzy.

Ability (Passive) – Frenzy: Increases attack speed by 25% for 30 seconds.

Note: Frenzy bonuses are additive with Hack and Slash bonuses.

Note (2): Frenzy can reach a maximum of 6 stacks.

Note (3): Frenzy stacks are not lost when switching weapons.

Ability (Passive) – Blood Lust: Increases damage done by 20% of total attack speed bonuses.

Note: Attack speed bonuses can come from any source, but at least one source must be from Hack and Slash or Frenzy.

Note (2): Damage bonus applies as long as stacks of Hack and Slash or Frenzy remain, even if switching weapons.

Hiral nodded to himself as he read the changes over a second time. Blood Lust was the new ability, and it would now add straight damage on top of attack speed, based on that attack speed. So, for example – if he was reading this correctly – having eight stacks of Hack and Slash would give a forty percent attack speed boost and an eight percent damage boost.

It wasn’t huge, but with how quickly Yanily attacked already, a couple stacks of Frenzy wasn’t unreasonable at all. Could add up pretty fast. If he somehow got up to the maximum six stacks of Frenzy, that’d be… insane.

“Good upgrade?” Seena asked, then held up a hand. “Don’t offer, I already used View, but I forgot how much reading was involved with those axes.”

“Good upgrade,” Hiral confirmed while he pulled the axes back into the Arsenal. “They have a damage bonus based on the attack speed bonus.”

“Oh really?” Yanily asked. “Give it here. I’m ready!”

Hiral chuckled at the spearman, but activated the Emperor’s Decree. A cloud of solar energy condensed in front of Yanily, shaping itself into the image of the Bristle Pack-Rat King from the Rise of Fallen Reach dungeon where he’d gotten the weapons. A quick stare-down – like the apparition was weighing Yanily’s worth – and then it stepped forward into the man. The solar smoke burst across Yanily’s body, then seeped into his skin as the buff took hold.

Eyes glazing over for just a second, Yanily began nodding. “Oh yeah. This is great. Thanks Hiral!”

“Glad you like it,” Hiral said, then turned to Seeyela. “Next one is going to the Sho-Val, so your buff will get upgraded too.”

“Trying bribes now?” Seeyela asked.

“No,” Hiral said, shaking his head. “Just trying to keep the people important to me safe.”

Hiral’s frank answer blunted whatever joke Seeyela had been readying on her lips, and she looked at him for a long few seconds before finally sighing in defeat. “How can I tease you when you go and say something like that?”

“Are you sure it was just teasing?” Seena asked, arms crossed as she looked at her older sister.

To answer, Seeyela walked over to Seena, hooked her arm, then walked over to Hiral. And, while Hiral mentally prepared escape measures, the older sister simply stood the pair of them beside each other. That done, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around them, and pulled them into a tight hug.

“If you haven’t figured it out already,” Seeyela started. “I love you both, despite some things I may’ve said recently while I was… upset. As far as I’m concerned, Hiral, you’re already family. Even if things don’t work out with Seena and you two just end up being friends again, you’ll always have a place with us.”

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“I…” Hiral started, the heat from his cheeks rushing to the center of his chest. “Thank you, Seeyela.”

“Of course,” the woman said, giving one more squeeze before letting the two go. “That goes for the other troublemakers too,” she added, thumbing towards Left and Right.

“Yes, yes, that’s all very touchy-feely,” Gran said.

“Better than stabby-stabby,” Right said, still keeping Yanily between him and Seeyela, just in case.

“No, she’s right,” Seena said. “I want to already be outside when Nivian’s group exits.”

“Bit of friendly competition?” Yanily asked.

“It’s not competition when I know we’re going to win,” Seena said with a smirk, then swiped her hand above the dungeon interface again. “Exit dungeon,” she said, the portal spiraling open in front of her. Then, less than five minutes after they’d entered, the party exited to the wide eyes of four, full Bonder parties.

“No way,” one of them said. “Already?”

“Check for yourself,” Romin replied, pointing at the interface. “We’re going up to get ready for the C-Rank dungeon.” As soon as he finished speaking, the Bonder – Wallop at his side – headed straight for the staircase up to the next level.

“How long are we going to wait for Nivian’s group before we go in?” Hiral asked. “It would be good for them to hear Romin’s explanation for this dungeon, but I don’t know how quickly they’ll be able to clear that last one. Gran, you fought with them, what do you think?”

“Depends what craziness Politet cooked up,” Gran said. “Literally. He has more than enough poisons to take care of some D-Rank prisoners, but they’d be a danger to the other living in the party. He’d either have to tailor the mix somehow, or risk Nivian pounding his skull out his arse.”

“What about Bash and Igwanda,” Seeyela asked.

“Great against Bosses or powerful single targets,” Gran said. “As a group, we struggled more with large groups of weak enemies. Not that we couldn’t kill them, it just took longer. If anything, I was the best equipped to deal with crowds.”

By the time Gran finished, the party reached the third floor to find – unsurprisingly – two more Bonder parties. A repeat of below – with Romin explaining what was going on – and the other four groups coming up below to talk in shock about the clear times, and Seena’s party stood around the dungeon interface.

“What does Finotol do?” Hiral asked Romin. “She’s a damage dealer, isn’t she? Will she help them with clearing the dungeon faster?”

Romin shook his head. “Unfortunately, Finotol’s companion is a Shade Panther. Like Gran described Bash and Igwanda, it – and Finotol as well – specializes in high-damage, single-target attacks. Some of her abilities have a small blast radius, but it won’t be enough to clear the ship like Yanily did. The D-Rank prisoners don’t take more than one hit to kill, but the sheer number of them slow things down.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find out how they did any minute now,” Hiral said. “Even without being a perfect counter for the dungeon – like Yan was – they seemed plenty strong enough to deal with it all quickly. While we wait, though, Li’l Ur, you called those Twins Kindred or something. Is that a race, like Troblins? Or, something else?”

“Both,” Li’l Ur said. “Like the Troblins, they are a race created by one of the Progenitors a very long time ago. Unlike the Troblins, though, they weren’t created on this world.”

“You mentioned before the Troblins had their own Progenitors,” Hiral mused. “What do you mean by saying they weren’t created on this world. There are other ones? With people on them?”

Li’l Ur pointed towards the ceiling. “As many as there are stars in the sky.” Then he rolled his blue-flame eyes. “That’s not technically correct, but it’s more poetic, and it gives you the idea.”

“Are the Progenitors from one of those other worlds?” Yanily asked.

“More like from many of them,” Li’l Ur said. “Other realms entirely.”

“Then, why were – are – so many of them here?” Seeyela asked.

“Oh, that’s because…” Li’l Ur started. “Because…?” he tried again, eyes squinting like there was something on the tip of his tongue he couldn’t quite get out. “I just… had it. It was… important. What… what was it?”

“That’s okay, Ur,” Seena said quickly, patting the lich on the head. “Can you tell us about who created the Kindred? You said it was somebody else.”

“The Kindred?” Li’l Ur asked, his temporary lucidity spread thin. “They were made by Amin Thett, in his image, but he didn’t bring any of them here.”

“Amin Thett – the Emperor – had four arms, wings, and horns?” Hiral asked. That wasn’t how he’d pictured the man in his head. Not at all.

“Of course,” Li’l Ur said. “Though his horns were crystal, the feathers of his wings like shooting stars across the night sky, and his eyes the vastness of infinity.”

“But, four arms?” Yanily went back to that point, like that was somehow more important than the other things.

“Yes, four arms,” Li’l Ur said. “Now that I think about it, the crystal golem corpse we found in the Builder dungeon also seemed to be built loosely in his image. Without the wings, of course. Perhaps something to do with the runes? Amin Thett was the greatest runic user ever – even among the Progenitors – so perhaps a link to him naturally formed. Interesting…”

“Wait a second,” Seeyela interrupted. “Didn’t Dr. Benza say something about Amin Thett and the Emperor being our Progenitor? How come we don’t have four arms if that’s the case?”

“Ah, Amin Thett was a bit unique,” Li’l Ur said. “In many ways, actually. In this case, it’s because he could be considered a Progenitor for many races, including yours.”

“Oh?” Yanily said. “He was like that. Friends with all the ladies.”

Somebody groaned – maybe it was Hiral, or maybe it was everybody – but Li’l Ur just shook his head. “Your entire race wasn’t born through your imperfect and somewhat messy reproductive ritual.”

“Don’t you have an ex-wife?” Yanily quickly interrupted. “You’re telling me you two didn’t cuddle up and make some… uh… eggs? Do lizards have eggs?”

“While there may have been some cuddling – before she stabbed me in the back and shoved me in an urn – it certainly did not result in eggs. We added that feature to the Squalians since they wouldn’t have our laboratories.”

“Back on point, folks,” Seena said with a small clap of her hands for emphasis. “You’re saying Amin Thett had a hand in… making us?”

“Four hands.” Li’l Ur nodded. “You were a joint project, which is why you’re on this world. An experiment. Unlike, say, the Kindred, you were created to be born with very low base attributes, and take a long time to mature. Individually, you would be very weak, but in exchange for that, you have nearly unlimited potential.

“If you survive long enough. None of you have. Could be a design flaw.”

“Were you involved in making us?” Hiral asked the little lich.

“Of course,” Li’l Ur said proudly. “I was Amin Thett’s right hand. Er. Fifth hand? Third right hand? Regardless, I assisted him. Much of that research acted as a baseline for my eventual success creating the undead. It’s why the first undead – other than Progenitors – were human.”

At that comment, every head turned to Gran.

“I’m not that old, ya dimwits,” the vampire said with a shake of her hooded head.

“So we’re the result of multiple Progenitors?” Hiral said. “Were there more than just you two?”

“Of course,” Li’l Ur said. “Even the Mother of Flame and the Void-Venom Empress contributed. Probably why it was so easy for them to sponsor each of you. Heaven’s Punishment as well, though he’s just a battle-maniac. I think he only helped because he was hoping for a good fight down the road.

“There were many others as well. Too many to list. Yours is truly a unique species.”

“Why here?” Seena asked. “On this world, I mean.”

“Because… because…” Li’l Ur trailed off, something about the question running him straight into that mental block he’d had earlier. Figuring out how to navigate the holes in his memory was as much of a challenge as ever, despite him becoming more and more whole with every one of Seena’s evolutions. Things had definitely gotten better – more permanent – for him when he’d changed from a pet to an ability she could resummon, but it wasn’t perfect.

“I’m sorry, Mistress,” the lich said. “There is a reason, but I can’t remember. Maybe if I…” he trailed off, starting to pace back and forth on her shoulder.

Hiral’s mind whirled at all the news while the lich mumbled to himself. Somehow, he’d always pictured the Emperor like him – a person. To find out Amin Thett was actually something entirely different was taking his head some time to wrap itself around. But, why? It wasn’t like it really changed anything. Then again, it did make him wonder why his Coat of Amin Thett didn’t have four sleeves…

At that, Hiral couldn’t help but chuckle. Revelations about the origin of his entire species, multiple, populated worlds – and realms – along with Progenitors from those places, and his biggest question at the moment was a design choice of his jacket? No, it didn’t really matter at all that Amin Thett was different than him. He’d just have to change his mental image to fit better.

“Are the Kindred powerful?” Hiral asked. “Can they use runes?”

The little lich shook his head, his mind snapping back into place at the new question. “The Kindred can’t use runes at all. Not a single one. That doesn’t mean they aren’t powerful, though. They have numerous natural advantages – and magics – that make them one of the most powerful races in existence – not including the Progenitors. The true Kindred, at least.

“Now that I think about it, those Twins may’ve been Pilgrims instead of Kindred. The veining through their skin was a common sign…” the lich trailed off, hand to his boney chin.

“There’s a difference?” Hiral asked.

“Pilgrims were a sub-species of Kindred – if you could call them that – that left Amin Thett’s service in search of something else. What that something else was, they never spoke of it outside the company of other Pilgrims,” Li’l Ur said.

“And that’s why you call them Pilgrims?” Gran asked.

“Why they call themselves that,” Li’l Ur said, then stopped, looking more closely at the vampire. “But the way you said that, it sounds like you have another name for them.”

“Yeah,” Gran said. “Demons. Might nasty bastards, too, but maybe that’s just my own personal term for them.”

“Demons?” Seena asked. “You’ve run into them before?”

Gran nodded her head. “Only the once. Had no interest in a second date.”

“When did you…?” Hiral started, only for a slight commotion over by the stairs to interrupt him as Nivian and his party reached the third level.

“We can talk about it later,” Seena said, cutting the conversation off as Wule predictably came over with his head already shaking.

“A minute?” the healer asked.

Yanily tsk’d. “Not quite. I was just a little too slow.”

Wule glared at the spearman. “You soloed it too?”

“Yeah. That’s what I said was going to do…”

“How did you guys do?” Seena asked Nivian before his dramatic twin went on another rant. “Manage to get under the five-minute mark?”

“Barely,” Nivian said. “The prisoners weren’t much of a challenge, aside from their numbers. It took time to cut through them, even with Politet’s poisons.”

“You told me I had to consider the Breathers,” the alchemist complained. “If I’d gone in there alone, I could’ve wiped out all those prisoners like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

“And how would you have dealt with the Boss?” Wule asked. “Your acids didn’t do much to its scales, and no way it was coming down close enough to breath in anything toxic without hurting its body.”

“I would’ve figured something out,” Politet defended.

“Enough,” Nivian said. “We got under five minutes, that’s all that matters. Have you discussed the next dungeon yet?” The question was directed at Seena.

“Not yet. We were waiting for you,” Seena said, then turned to Romin. “Floor’s all yours. What are we up against?”