Rune Seeker

Wule moved around the party, patching up any injuries that lingered after the battle, while Hiral pulled Left and Right back into himself to restore their solar energy.

“What’s next, boss?” Yanily asked from where he sat to recover, and all heads turned to Seena.

Even Vix, who was on watch near the bridge, looked over at the question.

“Smokehouse,” Seena said without hesitation. “I think we should save the keep for last.”

“You don’t think more Troblins will come out of there when we hit the smokehouse?” Nivian asked. “Hiral definitely had the terrain advantage here—good job on that, by the way—but it would’ve been way tougher without that.”

“Actually hoping we can draw a few more out on the way over to the smokehouse,” she said. “Will make it easier when it’s time to go into the keep. Did any of you notice the tag on the smoke monsters in your experience notifications?”

“(Mid-Boss) Infernal Smoke 1?” Hiral asked, checking his notifications. “What’s a Mid-Boss?”

“Guessing a difficulty tier above Elite,” Seena said. “Those things were tough. And since it’s labeled mid, I’m guessing there is some kind of End-Boss-type enemy here.”

“And you think it’s in the keep,” Nivian said, nodding. “Okay, smokehouse it is.”

“Great,” Yanily said, clapping his hands together and standing. “I still need most of the level to hit twenty, so let’s get to it.”

“Slow down there,” Seena interrupted. “How’s everybody doing on solar energy?”

“Eighty percent here,” Wule said. “It’s sunny, but I’m absorbing energy slower than I expected.”

“Seventy-five for me,” Nivian said. “The Swarm Tactics I used at that first ramp is pretty costly.”

“Almost full,” Yanily said, and Vix chimed in with a “Me too.”

“Hiral? You’ve been using those runes of yours constantly,” Seena noted.

“Oh, I’m back to full,” Hiral said, and activated Foundational Split.

“S-Rank absorption right there,” Wule said with a shake of his head and a chuckle.

“I’m almost back to eighty myself. Vix, you spot the best path to take?” Seena asked, turning her attention to the man by the edge of the platform.

“Pretty straightforward,” Vix replied. “Down this bridge, along the keep’s balcony, then two more bridges and we’re there.”

“How many places for secret doors?” Nivian asked.

“About a million on the keep balcony, then we can expect them at each of the bridge crossroads,” Vix said.

“Do you really think Troblins have buildings like this?” Wule asked quietly.

“Maybe Dr. Benza will tell us when we clear this place,” Hiral said.

“Either way, it’s a question for later. Wule, give us Nature’s Blade again,” Seena said, and she recast Lashing Vines to replace the ability that had faded while they recovered.

“You got it,” Wule said, and the familiar pulse of energy strengthened Hiral’s limbs. “Bulwark should last until we clear the dungeon, one way or another.”

“Then we’re ready,” Seena said. “Nivian, take the lead again. Hiral, can I ask you and Right to cover the back in case we have more doors opening behind us?”

“For sure,” Hiral said, and the group moved back down the bridge to the balcony running along the outside of the keep.

“So far, so good,” Nivian said as they cleared the rope bridge, their feet back on solid ground, and then moved along the wide balcony.

The solid-looking wall on their right towered at least fifteen feet up before wooden crenellations protruded from there, indicating a third level, while a low parapet overlooked the lower levels on their left.

“Don’t see any secret doors,” Yanily said from his usual position on the right of the triangle formation.

“If you could see them, they wouldn’t be secret,” Vix said.

“Good point,” Yanily agreed.

“Just be on your guard,” Nivian said. “You never know when…”

A secret door twenty feet ahead of them slid open, and a group of five Troblins burst out—two with large wooden shields in the front, two more with crossbows behind, and then a Shaman with the familiar wolf’s-head cap.

“See!” Nivian said as the shield-bearing Troblins thumped their spiked shields to the ground, though it looked like they had small wheels on the bottom.

“What are they doing with those?” Vix asked, but it was the crossbow-Troblins behind that acted first, ducking out to the side of the shield wall to pull their triggers.

Nivian’s form blurred as he darted left and right in quick succession—thunk thunk—to catch the two bolts before they struck Wule and Seena. The shield-bearing Troblins began to rush forward, the small wheels rolling along the wooden floor.

“Less talking, more killing,” Seena shouted, solar energy building in her staff. “Yanily, the Shaman is yours.”

“Sure, and how do I get to him with those two in the way?” he asked.

“Leave it to me,” Seena said, her solar energy pulsing and small Snaring Roots growing out of the wooden floor to tangle in the wheels of the shields.

Almost comically, the bottoms of the shields abruptly stopped while the tops kept going. The momentum of the Troblins carried them up and over to flip past their shields and hit the ground with a painful thump. Behind them, the crossbow-Troblins looked surprised at their sudden exposure, but one of them had already reloaded its weapon, and lifted it to fire.

Not so fast!

Hiral focused on the crossbow and activated his Rune of Attraction. The weapon snapped out of the Troblin’s hands and soared straight toward Hiral. With his now 30 Dex and Atn, snagging the weapon out of the air was almost too easy, and he spun as he caught it to steal its inertia, then leveled it and pulled the trigger.

The Troblin, who was still staring at its empty hands in shock, took the bolt square in the chest and fell back with a yelp of pain. The other, just now getting its bolt loaded, looked over at its fallen ally, then back toward the Grower party—just in time for Vix to clock it in the chin with a rising knee.

Going to the ground on top of the Troblin, Vix laid into the creature with a barrage of spiked punches—the poor monster underneath him was ill-equipped to deal with such close-quarters combat—while Yanily dashed by.

“Left, Right, get those shield guys,” Hiral said, but his doubles were already on it, clashing with the closest Troblins as they began to rise.

Even without their shields, these Troblins had much thicker bark-skin than the others, and they each managed to get to their feet despite the blows raining down on them.

That was as far as they got, though. Nivian shield-bashed one straight in the face, and Seena impaled the other on a Spearing Root. The mop-up only took a few more seconds after that, and then the whole party turned its attention to the final remaining Shaman.

“What took you guys so long?” Yanily asked, leaning casually on his spear skewering the twitching Shaman to the floor, his Lashing Vinesstill randomly whipping the creature.

“Form back up,” Seena ordered. “Who knows when more will pop out of a secret door.”

Yanily ripped his spear free in a spray of blood, then jogged back over to join the party’s formation as it continued to move along the balcony.

“Just the one ambush?” Wule asked as they reached the base of the next bridge without any other trouble appearing from within the wall on their side.

“I’m sure we’ll find more trouble as soon as we get up there,” Yanily pointed out.

“Probably before,” Seena said. “Hiral, you want to go first again?”

“Yes. Right, let’s go,” Hiral said, sliding around the others and then sprinting up the rope bridge, the sway doing nothing to slow him down.

As soon as they reached the top of the bridge—little more than a three-foot-wide platform ringing the large tree and connected bridges—Troblins swarmed around from both sides.

“Troblins,” Hiral shouted in warning to the group behind him, simultaneously pointing to the right for his double to intercept the Troblins in that direction.

Knowing he had to slow them before they reached the bridge supports, Hiral darted straight for the axe-wielding Troblin directly in front of him. Faster than it could have expected, he got within its guard, catching the haft of the weapon it awkwardly swung at him in his left hand, then brought the palm of his right hand down and under the Troblin’s chest.

Solar energy flooded through the Rune of Rejection on his arm, and the resulting wave burst from his hand and tossed the Troblin up and off the side of the balcony. Ripping the axe free from the monster as it flew away, Hiral brought the weapon across as he stepped in, slamming it into the shoulder of the next Troblin in line. Green blood gushed down the creature’s arm, and it staggered to the side to collide with the ally beside it, but there were still three more behind that pair.

Six, just on this side!

Using the momentary confusion of the ones stumbling in the front, Hiral took a step in and delivered a straight kick. While his Lashing Vines slapped at the Troblins next to him, his foot connected with a heavily armored Troblin’s chest, but did little more than make the thing take a single step back. On his right, the Troblin with the axe buried in its shoulder was already ignoring the vines and finding its balance—with the help of its “ally” shoving it away—and Hiral had no choice but to retreat or get surrounded.

Reaching out with his left hand as he backpedalled, he activated his Rune of Attraction at the Troblin in the very back, then spun and ducked low, getting his shoulder under the stumbling creature beside him. Weight settling on his back, Hiral straightened and continued his turn, flipping the Troblin up, over, and right off the balcony, while the one he’d pulled on jerked into the two in front of it, throwing them all off balance.

That just left the one beside him, which ignored the pair of lashes it received from Hiral’s vines, then lunged at him, swinging its axe with its hand right next to the head of the weapon. The grip made the weapon usable in such close quarters, at the cost of stealing most of its power. Still, the edge of the blade sliced open Hiral’s upper arm as he brought it in to block, and Hiral quick-stepped away just in time to avoid an immediate backswing, though it left him with his heels to the edge.

Seeing an opening, bands of green energy wrapped around the Troblin’s arms as it took its axe in both hands and raised the weapon to attack. It took a step toward Hiral, at which point Yanily rushed in from its left, his spear lashing across the Troblin’s entire exposed side. Leg, chest, and shoulder were ruined in short order, and the creature stumbled at the same time Nivian’s whip snapped past.

Like it was a living thing, the whip tore back and forth in the air, slashing into one, two, then all three Troblins and drawing their attention from Hiral to the tank. Nivian wasted no time, withdrawing his weapon and moving forward to kick the fallen Troblin from the ground. He lifted it from the balcony and launched it at the closest standing monster.

Completely ignoring the fact it was one of its friends, the lead Troblin slammed into the flying body with its axe, driving it straight down to the wooden balcony as green bands of energy wrapped its arms. The body bounced, then cracked as the furious Troblin stomped down on top of it and stepped over, intent on reaching Nivian. Hiral yanked the fresh corpse with his Rune of Attraction.

Sweeping the feet out from under the advancing Troblin, the corpse shot toward Hiral, only to rebound right back as he activated his Rune of Rejection. The Troblin-projectile zipped over the lead monster as it fell to collide with the two behind it, the whole group toppling to the ground in a heap.

A raspy growl escaped the Troblin’s lipless mouth as it pushed itself to its feet, eyes still focused on Nivian, only for its head to snap forward when Vix came in from behind. With Right beside him, the pair tore into the backs of the three Troblins, and Yanily danced in from the front.

“And that’s that,” Yanily said a short moment later, the last of the Troblin corpses toppling over the side of the balcony.

“How’d you take care of that side so fast?” Hiral asked as Right came over to join him.

“Was only two over there,” Right said, leaning in to inspect Hiral’s injured arm. “You okay?”

“Nothing I can’t fix. Hold still,” Wule said, and refreshing energy washed through Hiral’s body, the wound closing and sealing in a blink.

You have been healed by Nature’s Regrowth

Minor wounds and damage repaired.

“Thanks,” Hiral said. “Any idea where all those Troblins came from?”

“I think there’s a secret door on the back of this tree trunk,” Vix said while he ran his hand along the bark of the wide tree. “Can’t find it for the life of me, though.”

“One more bridge, then we’re at the smokehouse,” Nivian said. “We ready to move?”

“Hey,” Seena said to Hiral as she joined him, though she was looking at the top of the next bridge, “how’d you do that?”

“Do what?” Hiral asked.

“The way you fought them. It’s like you knew what they were going to do. You didn’t even draw your sword.”

“Ah. I think it’s the boosted attunement,” Hiral said. “I could just sort of feel where they all were. That, combined with my higher dexterity, let me react to the things I saw out of the corner of my eyes, or maybe heard? I honestly don’t know; that went way better than it had any right to.”

“So, you’re saying I need to put points in my attunement if I want to take full advantage of building my dexterity?” Vix asked, slapping the tree and finally giving up on finding the secret door.

“Seems like a lot of synergy there,” Hiral replied with a shrug.

“When we get out of this dungeon, we’re all going to have a chat about how we can work better together as a party,” Seena said.

Hiral blinked and looked at her. That was the second time she’d said something like that. Does she really mean it? “I… I’m really part of the party?” he asked, something clenching in his chest at the question. He’d always been on the outside—always the Everfail—up in Fallen Reach.

Seena raised an eyebrow at Hiral, then glanced at the other Growers. “Well, yeah, of course you are. What did you think?”

“That we were just keeping you around to get into the dungeons?” Yanily asked, and Nivian punched him in the shoulder.

“You didn’t have to say it,” Nivian said.

“Let me make it clear,” Seena said, glaring at Yanily. “You’re a member of the party. It’s that simple. We can talk more about the why when we get out of here, but it’s not because you can get us into dungeons. Okay?”

Hiral just nodded, words somehow difficult at that moment.

They actually… valued… his contribution?

Wow.

“Enough huggy-feely stuff,” Vix said. “Buffs are still good. Smokehouse?”

“You good to go first again?” Seena asked Hiral.

“For sure,” he said. “Right, you get the bigger group of Troblins next time.”

“Meh,” Right said, but it was the double leading the charge up the next rope bridge.

Like they’d seen from the entrance, the large smokehouse dominated the level, its three chimneys spouting gray smoke and the smell of barbeque wafting through the air. No windows decorated the building’s walls, and the only obvious way in was a single heavy door.

“You feel that heat?” Right asked, the rest of the group filing onto the platform behind them.

“If it’s that hot out here, I can only imagine what it’s like inside,” Hiral said.

“Says the guy who doesn’t even have a shirt on,” Yanily said.

“It’s where we have to go,” Seena said. “Nivian, open that door, and let’s go see what these Troblins are having for lunch.”

“Somehow I don’t think we really want to know…” Yanily muttered.