Rune Seeker

Hiral gave Gran one last look – the vampire seemed to have knowledge of the strangest things – then turned his attention to Romin.

“The C-Rank dungeon – the Plateau of Three Valleys – takes place on the top of a mountain,” Romin said. “Like the other dungeons, there is a safe area down a set of narrow steps, but other than the one room, it doesn’t lead anywhere. Besides that, the entire dungeon takes place on the plateau that is around one-hundred-and-fifty feet from edge to edge.”

“We don’t need to go anywhere?” Seena asked.

“No,” Romin said. “In this case, all the monsters come to us. It is a wave-type dungeon, with progressively more difficult monsters coming with each new wave.”

“Sounds like the Necropolis of Ur’Thul,” Nivian said.

“Without the Shambling Graveyards growing out at the edges,” Hiral reminded him.

“It probably had some extra difficulty because it was a lost dungeon,” Seena said. “How many waves is this one?”

“Twelve, total,” Romin said. “Three waves of smaller monsters, then a Mid-Boss or Boss. They always come in the same order, so it’s easy enough to plan for and deal with.”

“That’s good,” Seeyela said. “What kind of monsters?”

“The first are hornet-like monsters, though much larger. The Mid-Bossis as big as any of us – well, not Wallop – and has a stinger that’ll tear through most armor and flesh like wet paper.”

“How’s Wallop’s new armor going to stand up to it if he’s tanking?” Hiral asked. “Or Nivian’s?”

“Considering both are B-Rank and with their evolutions, it should only be a minor threat,” Romin said. “The Mid-Boss doesn’t use any sort of venom with its sting – it’s purely physical. After the hornets, we move on to waves of birds of prey. Again, they grow in size and power with each wave, until the next Mid-Boss, which is a…”

“Please let it be a Roc,” Yanily said.

Romin paused at the statement, then nodded woodenly. “It is indeed a Roc,” Romin said. “Complete with a forty-foot wingspan. You have faced one in a dungeon before?”

“Oh? Only forty feet?” Yanily said, clearly disappointed. “Small one.”

“We’ve run into a few,” Seena said, waving her hand like it was hardly important. “Any tricks to it?”

“Beyond its physicality, just one,” the Bonder said after gathering himself again. “The Mid-Boss has a small chance of resurrecting itself for another fight. The chance itself seems quite low, somewhere between two and five percent, but most parties need to be prepared for it.”

“We aren’t most parties,” Seeyela said.

“We aren’t,” Romin agreed. “Though, while I admit you have vastly overpowered the previous dungeons, this one is still High-C-Rank, and has proven a challenge for some of our B-Rank parties. We shouldn’t take it lightly.”

“Noted and agreed,” Seena said, taking a second to share a look with her older sister.

To her credit, Seeyela nodded like she understood, and some of the cockiness from her body language vanished.

“The final waves?” Seena prompted.

At the question, Romin looked at Seena. Or, more specifically, at Li’l Ur.

“View calls them Imps,” Romin finally said. “Though the Boss seems to be what you called a Pilgrim. Its name in the dungeon is Arcrax of the Fourth Crusade, but its form was similar enough to the Twins we always believed they were related somehow.”

“Imps are a kind of lesser Kindred,” Li’l Ur said. “It would make sense to find them together.”

“What do they do?” Seena asked, though her question was mainly aimed at Romin.

“They are each about the size of a child, though with wings, four arms, and a tail,” Romin explained. “Like everything else in the dungeon, they fly. While they aren’t physically powerful, they do wield fire magic that can prove to be very dangerous to…” he trailed off as Yanily, Seeyela, Hiral, and especially Seena started chuckling.

“They use fire?” Seena asked. “Are they resistant to it?”

“I’m… not sure,” Romin admitted. “Not many Bonders use the element. It’s very rare among us, and I can only think of a handful of Growers who use it among us. None of them are C-Rank or above.”

“Li’l Ur?” the party leader asked the lich on her shoulder.

“They naturally possess a moderate resistance to the element,” Li’l Ur said. “Nothing we can’t overcome together. Before us, they will be ash on the wind, blowing ahead of our inevitable conquest. Their remains will signal your coming, striking fear into your enemies.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Still not quite moving on to conquest yet, Ur,” Seena said.

“I’ll be ready when you are,” Li’l Ur said, and Seena could only shake her head at the lich.

“In short,” Seena said and looked at Romin. “They won’t be an issue. I’ll handle them. What about the Boss, also fire?”

“Arcrax has multiple ways to attack,” Romin said. “Some of them are fire-related, but his biggest threat is his speed. He is very hard to pin down and strike, while he uses deadly hit-and-run tactics.”

“If it’s speed,” Hiral said. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Sounds like we’ve got this all laid out then,” Seena said.

“Actually,” Hiral said, his hand going up to stop Seena from moving on. “Romin, are there any delays between waves or anything? What signals moving from one to the next?”

“Once the last monster from a previous wave dies, the next starts immediately,” Romin said. “Or, if a wave takes more than twelve minutes to clear, the next starts. Parties that kill the monsters too slowly can quickly become overwhelmed by this mechanic. Many groups will stall killing the last monster to give the party a chance to recover before moving on to the next full group of more-powerful monsters.”

“So, if we kill a wave quickly, the next one will spawn right away?” Hiral clarified.

“Correct.”

“Perfect,” he said, already smiling at the carnage to come.

“Hiral?” Seena asked, but it was Seeyela who snapped her fingers like she understood. “Sis?”

“Domains,” Hiral and Seeyela said at the same time.

“Oh, daaaaamn,” Seena said, and now she was smiling too. “Do you think three minutes is enough to clear twelve waves?”

“Eight minutes,” Hiral corrected. “I’ll use Double Trouble on Domain of the Sun. When it absorbs your domains, they’ll all last until it expires.”

“Arena of fun and death won’t be so fun for the monsters,” Yanily said.

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “And considering what your domain,” he said to Seena, “and Yanily’s domains do, we might not even need to lift a finger until the Mid-Bosses or Boss spawn.”

“Part of me is curious,” Wule said. “The other – bigger – part of me knows I’d be jealous. Can we just go in?”

“You’re more impatient than Bash,” Nivian chided his bother.

“Doesn’t change things. Let’s go?”

“Before that,” Seena said, more seriously. “Romin has a point. This is High-C-Rank, so be careful in there. We’re joking about it, but from the sounds of things, we’re almost a perfect counter for what’s coming. And, we didn’t get anything for speed running three dungeons. So don’t take any risks. Just make it through.”

“Of course,” Nivian said. “Just because we were a bit slower than you, don’t make the mistake of thinking we aren’t strong.”

“Oh, I know you are,” Seena said, stepping over to punch Nivian gently in the shoulder.

“She gave you the shoulder-tap,” Wule said. “Let’s go.”

“Why are you even in such a rush?” Nivian asked his twin.

“Honestly? Because I just got to the climax in my book, and it doesn’t sound like I’ll have a chance to read in here,” Wule said. “Sooner we clear it, sooner I can get back to finding out how El is going to get out of the mess she’s in this time. Cause, I don’t think her brother is coming to save her.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have given you the full hour to look around that library,” Nivian said.

“Done is done,” Wule said, smiling. “Sooo…”

“Smash?” Bash asked, standing between the two twins and looking up expectantly at them.

“Fiiiiine,” Nivian said. “Let’s go.”

Like a kid who’d just been told they were about to get a new toy, the buff Troblin practically skipped over to the interface and swiped his hand over the crystal. As soon as the blue portal fully spun over, he dashed through. Wule wasn’t far behind.

“See you on the other side,” Nivian said.

“We’ll be waiting,” Seena said with a wink. “Going to take a bit of a break before the B-Rank dungeon either way.”

“Sounds good,” Nivian said while the rest of his party streamed through the open portal. “I’ll make stew.”

“Was counting on it,” Seena replied.

Nivian looked at Seena and her party, nodded once, then turned and strode into the portal. As soon as he passed through, the gateway vanished.

“Our turn,” Seena said. “Oh, Romin, after we leave the waiting room, how long until the first wave starts?”

“Ten seconds at most,” Romin said.

“Perfect. Hiral, get your arena of fun and death set up right away, we’ll join ours up with yours right after.”

“Got it,” Hiral said, finally starting to get a little excited. Sure, it only a C-Rank dungeon, but they were planning on hitting it with everything they had. It was time to start seeing what his new advanced class could do.

While he’d been lost in thought, Seena had already gone over to the dungeon interface, and the portal stood open.

“In we go,” the party leader said, then led the way herself.

Not wanting to wait, Hiral followed her in right away, the rest of the party hot on his heels, and activated Foundational Split and his pseudo-aspect.

As soon as the last member stepped into the sterile, white room, the portal behind them closed, and a notification window appeared in front of Hiral.

Plateau of Three Valleys – Dungeon

C-Rank

Top Clear Times

Finotol : 1:01:58

Burs : 1:12:24

Zevidiah : 1:23:30

Attempt Dungeon?

Yes / No

From the looks of things, Romin’s party had the top clear time – about five minutes per wave. And, here they were, looking to clear the entire dungeon in the same amount of time it took the Bonders’ top party to clear one wave.

Maybe they were being a little overconfident in things?

Then again, with their advanced classes and lost gear, they should be stronger. Though, now that Hiral thought about it… if the PIMP had the Bonders with dungeon access this whole time, why hadn’t it invested its energy in them like it had in Seena’s party?

There was only one real answer – the runes.

It was because Hiral was a Builder, and had access to the runic magic. That had to be it. The implications of it, though, were something he’d need to discuss with Left and Right later. Right now, he looked up just in time to see Seena tap the Yes button hanging in the air. As soon as she did, the white walls vanished from sight, leaving the party standing in the middle of a wide plateau. Clouds drifted by noticeably closer than usual – they had to be pretty high up – with nothing but empty sky visible in every direction.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. While Hiral couldn’t see the ground anywhere from where he stood in the middle of the plateau, he did see a single mountain in the distance. One with a crescent-shaped peak…

“Hiral?” Seena asked him. “Arena of fun and death.”

“Right,” Hiral said, pulling his attention back to the matter at hand – the dungeon. It was time to see how they really compared against another B-Rank group.