Rune Seeker

Just a few minutes later, the small group stood clustered around a large track in the dirt path, the five Nomads looking distinctly concerned.

“Yanily, this feels like something I should learn about,” Hiral said. “What made this track?”

“Well…” Yanily started, scratching at his chin while looking down at the mark in the ground. It was easily two feet long but relatively narrow, with what looked like two clawed toes at the front, and one at the heel. Strangest, though, was how… straight it all appeared. Everything about it was angular and symmetrical, kind of like if somebody was wearing a giant metal boot. “We don’t exactly know,” Yanily finally finished.

“If you don’t know, why do you all look so upset to find it here?” Hiral asked, looking where a second print led into the woods perpendicular to the path. Unless the thing—whatever it was—was really small with big feet, it did an unnaturally good job of moving through the trees. There was barely any sign at all that something had passed.

“We’ve never seen what makes the track,” Seena took over. “But we’ve all seen the track itself, and been taught to avoid it.”

“How does that even work?” Hiral asked.

“We’ve been dungeon-diving for generations, since our ancestors found the dungeons and figured out what your people would trade for the quills. Over the years, they learned things about the surface, and these things were passed on to us in lessons from generation to generation. Somewhere way back, somebody found these tracks and something very bad happened. Bad enough we were all taught to get straight back up to the islands if we ever found a fresh one.”

“Is this one fresh?”

Vix crouched down and poked at the dirt in the deep part of the track, then a little at the sides. “I’m no Julka—I wish he was here—but I’d say this is fresh. Rain would’ve washed the track out if it happened before the clouds passed. So, at the most, it’s about thirty hours old. At the worst, five minutes?”

“You can’t be a little more accurate than that?” Nivian asked, positioning himself between the group and the treeline where the tracks led.

There was a small almost-pulse of energy, and then thick, thorn-covered vines grew out of the palms of his hands. On his left arm, the vine curled around in a circular pattern to form into a large shield on his arm, while the one from his right hand lengthened into what could only be a spined whip.

And that’s why he didn’t bring a weapon with him. Must be an ability of some kind. I wonder how… No…stop. No time for testing or measurements.

“No,” Vix said in response to Nivian’s question. “I hit things, and I’m guessing here based on the things Julka always says.”

“What’s the call, Seena?” Wule asked.

“Nothing’s changed. The plan was always to get back up to the islands as quick as we could. This is just more incentive. For now, we continue to the dungeon, find my sister’s group, and then keep going.”

“What if…?” Yanily started.

“It didn’t,” Seena said, cutting him off.

“Yeah, probably, but what…?”

“It didn’t. They didn’t run into this thing. My sister probably found the tracks like we did, then hurried to the dungeon. We’ll either find her party there or on the path to the jump point.” Her words completely shut down any further argument.

Hiral watched the group, Seena especially, as the discussion happened. She spoke firmly, and even though he didn’t know her well, he had a lot of experience covering up his feelings. Seena was doing the same thing. That twitch of her eye. The way her lips tightened, and how her knuckles whitened around the staff. She was putting on a strong front, but there were cracks in it.

“Then we should get to the dungeon to find them, just in case these tracks got made after they passed,” Hiral said.

The four men all looked at him, then to Seena, who finally nodded.

More quick bursts of energy pulsed out from the two damage dealers, with Yanily’s spear taking on a green hue, while Vix’s image seemed to blur at the edges.

Their abilities are very fast to activate. I wonder if they’re as strong as a Shaper’s?

“Hiral is right,” Seena said. “Let’s get moving again, and pick up the pace, Nivian. This isn’t a stroll with your grandmother.”

“You’ve met Nivian’s grammy, haven’t you, Seena? She’d leave us in the dust,” Yanily said, but Nivian was already moving to the front of the group and jogging down the path.

“I’ll leave you in the dust too, if you don’t stop yammering,” Nivian called back, and the other Nomads quickly fell in line, with Hiral once again in the back.

He took one last look at the track—it really was strange. What could’ve made it?

“Hiral, don’t fall behind,” Seena called, and he looked up to see her waving him along.

“Right, coming.” He jogged after the group, quickly catching up to Seena without much effort. Even with classes and Seena’s instructions, Nivian was keeping it at a reasonable pace.

“You must’ve spent your points pretty evenly,” Seena said as they jogged, though her eyes were constantly on the trees on their left. “Picked up the wingsuit just by watching us, and you don’t seem to be having any problem physically keeping up. I heard most Islanders spent their points on strengthand End.”

“The Shapers do,” Hiral said. “The big guys with all the tattoos. Using your dungeon terminology, I’d say all of them would be tanks. Or damage dealers, I guess? Their training usually involves taking turns dishing out as much damage as possible with another Shaper. They literally take turns. Toss a chip to decide who goes first. First one to fall loses.”

“They hit each other until one of them falls down?” Seena asked. “No actual fighting? Or tactics? Abilities? Why would they even…?”

“There are whole tournaments based around the matches. Most of the city turns up to watch the B-Rankers go at it. Even if they don’t, they can probably hear the impacts coming from the Amphitheatre of the Sun.”

“Even though it sounds a bit…mundane that they just stand there and hit each other, it sure would be something else to see a pair of B-Rankers go at it.”

“It’s not always just pairs. They’ve been doing this new thing recently where they have a circle, and each Shaper hits the person on their right. When somebody hits the ground, the circle shrinks and continues until just one is left standing.”

“I bet there are all kinds of back-room dealings to get the best spot in the circle, right? To be by the weakest people,” Seena said as the group crested a small hill, and then started down at an angle toward the base of what looked like another cliff facing away from them.

“Just the opposite, in a way,” Hiral said, doing his best to get a lay of the land. The dungeon had to be close. “It’s actually seen as cowardly, which is related to why they just take the hits instead of actually fighting. The best spots are to the right of the strongest people, so they can prove how tough they are.”

“Why do I feel like your Shapers get brain damage a lot?” Seena said with a shake of her head.

Hiral chuckled. “Maybe more than they’d like to admit. But don’t say that too loudly; they all have really good hearing.”

“All this talk about what Shapers can do, but you haven’t actually mentioned what your class is.”

“Neither have you,” Hiral pointed out. “Unless support is a class?”

“It’s not,” Seena said, but then looked to her left as the group rounded a curve in the path. “It’s just how the dungeon generally refers to my class.”

“Was it the dungeon interface that said you’re support?” Hiral asked.

“No, like I said before, we haven’t been able to figure out how to make the interfaces work. The classifications are another thing passed down generation to generation. We have this… I guess it’s a list… of our classes, and where they fit into the dungeon categories. Tanks, healers, damage dealers, support, and scouts. We build our parties around a balance of these.”

“Because you were taught that was the best way to build a party?” Hiral asked, and Seena nodded.

“Every party has to have at least one tank and one healer, but after that, it’s up to the people themselves. We went pretty diverse, and I think we’ve been successful because of it. My sister’s party, though…” She winced slightly at the mention of her sister. “Her group is a tank, a healer, and four damage dealers. That’s what works for them, but I think we’ve progressed faster than them because we’re more balanced.”

“Do your lists talk about any of the Islander classes, or just the… uh …the Growers?” Hiral asked, deciding to call them by their proper name instead of Fallen Reach’s name of Nomads.

“Just us Growers, but, look, maybe we should pick this up later. Something’s up,” Seena said as they came upon the rest of the party looking distinctly on edge. “Another one of those tracks?”

“No, something else,” Nivian said. “Animals have gone quiet.”

Animals?

Hiral listened, but he didn’t hear anything… which would make sense, based on what Nivian had just said. But, had there been animal noises before? Yeah, yeah, maybe there were. So, why did they go quiet?

“Anybody got anything?” she asked as the other Growers spread out slightly along the path.

“Looks like another track over here, but not the same as the last one we saw,” Nivian said.

He still had his shield on his arm, and his whip coiled in his other hand. Like a Shaper’s tattoo, it must only cost solar energy to manifest the item. Does it also have special abilities like the tattoos do that cost further solar energy?

“Anything you recognize?” Seena asked, and Nivian crouched down to get a closer look, then groaned.

“Troblins,” he said, getting to his feet and backing toward the group.

“Troblins?” Hiral asked.

“Humanoids, little taller than waist height,” Seena explained. “Bark-like skin. Not terribly smart, but they use weapons and hunt in packs. Individually around level twelve in E-Rank. Never seen one in D-Rank, so that’s pretty reliable. Depending on the pack size, they can be a challenge, even for our party.”

“They have this Pile On tactic they use,” Yanily added. “Maybe even an ability. Somehow, they all pick one target and then do everything they can to mob them.”

“If they go after Nivian, it’s easy for us. We just pick them off from behind,” Seena said. “But, if they go after somebody else, it’s a lot more difficult.”

“And my usual abilities to get an opponent to focus on me can’t override the Pile On mentality,” Nivian said.

“They are also really nasty,” Vix said. “Evil little monsters that’ve been known to try and eat people they Pile On. You get a chance to kill one of these things, you do it.”

“You should be staying out of the fight,” Seena reminded him. “But, if it comes to it, Vix is right. Don’t hesitate with these things. Can you do that? Can you kill something?”

Hiral’s hand went to one of the swords over his shoulder, and he forced himself to nod. “I’ll do what I have to.”

He may not have passed the Shapers’ test, but he’d been training for more than ten years to be able to end fights decisively. Unlike the Amphitheatre fights he’d explained to Seena, Loan had trained him to take advantage of his mobility and skill. When he finally passed the Shaper test, he would prove to the others how wrong they’d been to doubt him.

This was just another kind of training. And it’s kind of exciting.

“Buffs?” Wule asked, ignoring the small exchange between Hiral and Seena.

“Give us Nature’s Bulwark,” Seena said before looking at Hiral. “All of us.”

Wule seemed like he’d question it for a moment, but then nodded and held his hand out in front of himself, palm up. With another pulse of energy—activating an ability—his palm opened up for a small green plant stem to grow out of it. The plant grew and twisted around itself until it was about six inches long, then a silver flower with petals like small shields budded and opened at the end of it. The second the petals fully spread, there was another, stronger pulse of energy. Hiral got a blue notification before the plant immediately withered and turned to dust.

You have been buffed by Nature’s Bulwark.

Reduces damage taken by 10% for 180 minutes.

“Wow,” Hiral said, feeling something like his skin hardening from the ability. It didn’t seem to slow him down or restrict his movements, which meant he could still stay mobile. But, on the off chance something hit him, a straight-up reduction of damage by 10% was pretty great.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Yanily asked, waggling his eyebrows. “Wule’s got a couple of strong buffs on top of his heals.”

“Buffs increase your attributes or abilities,” Seena explained. “Debuffs do the opposite.”

“It is impressive,” Hiral said, and gave a nod of thanks to Seena for the quick explanation of the terms. “There are tattoos the Shapers use that are stronger, but they’re personal only. You did the whole group with that one ability?” he asked Wule.

Wule gave Seena a quick look, and she nodded at him. “My abilities are called spells, but yes. I can do up to twelve people with my buffs and one of my heals. The other heals are single-target, though—they only affect one person at a time.”

“And they are close range,” Seena added. “So make sure you get close to Wule if you get hurt.”

“Or be like me, and don’t get hurt,” Vix said, still kind of blurry around the edges.

“A stiff breeze would knock you out,” Yanily said.

“If it could hit me,” Vix responded.

“Enough,” Seena quickly interrupted. “Standard formation. If we run into the Troblins before we reach the safety of the dungeon, let Nivian get their attention so they use Pile On on him. Then hit them hard and fast.”

“Oh yeah, level nineteen, here I come,” Yanily said, and tossed Hiral a wink. “Don’t worry, you’ll get experience from this since you’re with us.”

Dismissing the buff notification still hovering in front of him with a thought—though it still left a small blue shield icon in the corner of his vision—Hiral reached over his shoulders and drew his twin swords.

The two weapons weren’t much compared to the powers of the Shapers’ tattoos, but they’d have to do, and he fell into place behind the others as they continued down the path.

“How big are these Troblin packs usually?” Hiral asked from behind Seena.

She and Wule were spread slightly behind Nivian, with Vix and Yanily hanging on the sides a bit further back, almost like an arrowhead formation.

“If we’re lucky, no more of them than us,” Seena said.

“And if we’re unlucky, five-to-one odds,” Yanily said.

Five to one, and level twelve? Compared to Hiral’s level zero? It would be much better if it was a small pack. Much, much better.

“Dungeon isn’t far,” Nivian said. “Maybe we missed them.”

“Maybe,” Hiral answered as he scanned the bushes on his right. He paused on a pair of vibrant green, practically glowing orbs. Orbs that blinked. Orbs that were joined by a dozen more pairs almost exactly like them. “Or maybe not.”