Rune Seeker

“So, Unnamed and Unmade is one we all got,” Seena said. “An actual ability evolution, which is pretty fantastic. I changed my Cinder+ into Growing Cinder+. Now when I cast it, instead of one ability usage with each swing of my hand, it gives me up to five. One for each finger and thumb. This not only does a bit more damage – each individual one is weaker than the old ability by itself – but it stacks up the fire resistance debuff much faster. Also stacks higher. And, most interesting, it reduces the cooldown on all my root-related abilities each time I use it. Not by a lot, but with how much I use it, it’ll add up. Quick.”

“Nice,” Hiral said. That would let Seena move from her quick, setup attack to her bigger damage abilities almost immediately. And weave in things like her Spearing Roots for a surprise.

“I’m happy with it,” Seena said. “Sis, what did you upgrade?”

“You and I already talked about it,” Seeyela said. “But, for the rest of you, I upgraded to Scything Bamf+. Now, when I Bamf onto or past targets, they’ll take some slicing damage. No venoms or anything like that, which is too bad, but this upgrade also lowered the cost even further on top of adding the damage. Not entirely sure just how much damage it will do, either, but we’ll see once we get to the dungeon.”

“Perfect,” Seena said. “Gran, how about you?”

“Easy choice for me,” Gran said. “I upgraded Sitch to Cross-Stitch. It’s the ability I use to do damage and heal, most of the time. The biggest change is that I can pick three targets instead of two. Two to damage and one to heal, or two to heal and one to damage. If it’s the latter, it only heals about three-quarters as much per target, but I think it’s worth it. Also, it now leaves lingering damage over time and heal over time effects after I use it.”

“Damaging the monsters and healing us, right?” Yanily asked, and Gran just cackled in response.

“Yes, Yan,” Seena said with a smile of her own. “It’s one of the reasons she’s more confident in us using Delicate Balance. Anyway, what did you upgrade? Skyfall?”

“Damn straight I did,” Yanily said. “It’s now Thundering Skyfall+, and adds concussive damage to the piercing and lightning. And, this is the best part, it leaves a short-lived buff on me – just fifteen seconds – that boosts my damage and damage reduction.”

“I think so. Haven’t had the chance to try it out,” Yanily said with a shrug.

“That just leaves you, Hiral,” Seena said. “You mentioned you upgraded your regeneration?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “And I think it’ll just be easier if I share the ability window.”

(Lost) Runic Regeneration+: Passively regenerate 4% health per 10 seconds as long as you have solar energy to power the ability.

While under the effects of passive Runic Regeneration+, deal bonus damage and reduce incoming damage proportional to the amount of health missing from maximum.

Note: Passive healing can be supercharged for a burst of active health restoration (Cooldown: 3 minutes).

Note (2): After using active health restoration, passive Regeneration is reduced to 8% per minute until cooldown expires.

Note (3): Bonus damage increases relative to health lost and Rank.

Note (4): Damage reduction increases relative to health lost and Rank, with additional reduction when below 25% total health.

“The ability didn’t gain much additional healing – from three percent to four percent – and the cooldown on the active portion of it dropped from four to three minutes. The big change – other than the name – is this damage reduction. From the way it reads, the lower on health I am, the more damage the ability will reduce, with that increasing even further when I’m below a quarter.”

“Where you won’t stay very long with how crazy that healing is,” Seeyela said. “You can go from dead to full in just over four minutes.”

“I’d rather not to get to the dead part,” Hiral said.

“I would,” Li’l Ur said.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t have That’s All You Got? to bail you out anymore,” Seeyela said, nodding and then looking at her sister.

Since Hiral had given that ability – the one that’d saved his life twice on Fallen Reach – to Seena so he could save her life, he no longer had it to fall back on. Still, seeing Seena standing close to him – feeling her arm in his – he would make that trade any time. What was an ability worth compared to her life?

Practically nothing.

Seena squeezed his arm during the conversation – she’d thanked him enough she didn’t need to say anything else.

“Aside from those abilities,” Seena said. “I think we all also got the C-C-C-Combo achievement, which should’ve given us all Follow-Up Blow.” With that, Seena shared the ability window to make sure everybody had the same thing.

Follow-Up Blow: When attacking at the same time or shortly after a party-member, add a portion of their damage-type to your own attack as additional damage.

Note: Bonus damage is based on the amount of damage done in the previous three seconds by each party member.

Note (2): Bonus damage is further multiplied if attacks sequentially come within 1 second of each other, and is amplified if originating from different sources.

Note (3): Damage type of bonus damage is based on the element / type of damage done by the party members.

“Look familiar to everybody?” Seena asked, and everybody other than Romin nodded. “Practically speaking, I don’t think we should try to change up how we’re fighting for this ability. We don’t know how much of a bonus it is, and I think we’ll naturally trigger it in small amounts almost constantly.”

Hiral agreed with a nod. Trying to focus on the ability would throw off their flow in a fight. Better to use this as a happy bonus they could benefit from occasionally.

“Great, the only other one we all got…” Seena started.

“Totally cheated,” Yanily interrupted. “Only oneMid-Boss achievement? PIMP is getting tight-fisted.”

“Maybe,” Seena continued with a shrug. “The other one we all got for clearing the dungeon – which has interesting requirements – is Siege Breaker.” Like before, she shared the ability window to make sure they all had the same thing.

Siege Breaker: Gain bonuses when attacking or defending a fortified position.

When attacking: Inflict 20% additional damage to buildings, constructs, and inanimate objects, and leave a lingering debuff that degrades structural integrity.

When defending: Buffs or abilities that would normally only apply to party members now apply to anybody within a range determined by Rank.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Note: Current buff range is 625 feet.

“This one really makes me wonder,” Hiral said, and the others turned to him. “The PIMP – as much as this annoys me sometimes – has a tendency to set us up with abilities it thinks we’ll need in the future. Or, maybe it tries to put us in a position to think that. Either way, this ability…”

“The raid zone,” Seena said from beside him. “I was thinking the same thing, since we’re pretty sure it’ll be contested with the Fallen being there, and we’ll have a lot of other people there with us.”

“Not to mention the buildings we got as a dungeon reward,” Left said.

“You got buildings as a dungeon reward?” Wule asked. “You know what? Never mind. Of course you did.” He looked at his twin. “We got a book. Not even one we could read.”

“Left has it now,” Nivian reminded him.

“I haven’t made much progress,” the double said.

“That’s okay,” Seena said before Wule could comment. “You’ll have some time after we run some dungeons. We’re not finished here though. Hiral, since you always seem to end up with extra achievements, would you mind sharing your status window with everybody? Might just be faster.”

Hiral did a quick look at who was present. Besides his own party, it was only the twins – with the rest of their group currently off doing their own thing. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the undead. Well, okay, it was exactly that. Bash – the buff little Troblin that he was – probably wouldn’t care enough to read anything in Hiral’s status window. Igwanda – the Blight Ranger – only really seemed to care about things related to archery, so maybe she would be okay. Politet, though? The alchemist had proven to have a bit of a distaste for Breathers – as he called them – and Hiral didn’t feel like it was his imagination the undead was giving him weird looks when he thought Hiral wasn’t looking.

“Sure,” he finally said, opening his window for all present to see. “Not sharing Racial Growth, as usual. We’d be here all day looking at that.”

Name: Hiral Dorin

Race: Builder

Class: (Lost) Vanguard of the Runic Cycle

Rank: Mid-B-Rank (Level 10)

Attributes

Strength (Str)—18 (25+24) = 84

Endurance (End)—18 (25+24) = 84

Dexterity (Dex)—20 (25+329+18) = 596

Intelligence (Int)—18 (25+24+11) = 99

Wisdom (Wis)—18 (25+24+11) = 99

Attunement (Atn)—20 (25+329) = 568

Solar Energy Processing

Absorption Rate: S-Rank

Capacity: S+-Rank

Output Rate: S-Rank

Abilities—Runes

Rune of Separation—Primary

Rune of Gravity—Secondary

Rune of Energy—Tertiary

Rune of Connection (Neck)

Rune of Attraction (Forearm, Left)

Rune of Rejection (Forearm, Right)

Rune of Absorption (Bicep, Left)

Rune of Impact (Bicep, Right)

Rune of Decrease (Shoulder, Left)

Rune of Increase (Shoulder, Right)

Rune of Time Contraction (Chest, Left)

Rune of Time Dilation (Chest, Right)

Rune of Compression (Abdomen, Left)

Rune of Expansion (Abdomen, Right)

Rune of Unsealing (Thigh, Left)

Rune of Sealing (Thigh, Right)

Rune of Breaking (Calf, Left)

Rune of Restoration (Calf, Right)

Rune of Dreaming (Head)

Rune of Exchange (Palms)

Abilities—Edicts

Edict of Gravity

Edict of Energy

Edict of Connection

Edict of Attraction

Edict of Decrease

Edict of Increase

Edict of Sealing

Abilities—Active

Foundational Split, Terminal, Mold Crystal+, Eloquently Enraged+, Intimidating Aura, Distracting Shot, (Lost) Chord of the Primal Echo – Third Movement, Shatter Armor, Double Trouble+, Domain of the Sun+, Power Attack+, Dual Power Attack+, Piercing Shot+, Resonance of Heroes, Vanguard’s Sword, Vanguard’s Shield, Emperor’s Decree, Delicate Balance, Empower

Abilities—Passive

Infernal Conjuration, Gourmand, Racial Growth*, View (Enemy Health), Good Things Come in Threes, Walk on Water, (Lost) One-Man Army+ (+35%), Internal Injuries+ (B-Rank), I Bow to No One (moderate), Elemental Resistances (10%), Beauty Sleep, Inspirational Growth, Party Interface (Communication, Member Status, Shared Attributes, Call of the Wild, Shared Storage, Aim High, Allied Killing Spree), (Lost) Heart of the Party+ (25%), (Lost) Vengeful Echo Aura, (Lost) Solar Drain, (Lost) Cycling+ Technique, (Lost) Runic Regeneration+, (Lost) Evolutionary Inspiration, In the Hands of the Duelist, Ever Evolving, Cleaving Strikes, Unseen Strikes, Vengeance+, Solar Supply, Runic Mastery+ (25%), Bully, Babysitter, Momentum, Right Back at You, It’s What’s Inside That Counts, Enduring Mind+, PIM Upgrade, Vanguard’s Presence, Follow-Up Blow, Siege Breaker

“You know what,” Seena said with a chuckle. “That was the wrong choice. I forgot about much of a mess your status window is. Just tell us what’s different.”

Hiral could only roll his eyes and feign being exasperated – Seena wasn’t wrong. His status window was long.

“Compared to what you’ve seen before,” he said instead of vocally agreeing. “Empower is the biggest difference. I got it from the Form, Blazing Sword achievement I got against the Chimeratron,” he continued, referring to the Mid-Boss from the last dungeon. “Now, the Greatsword of Amin Thett can absorb and use damage types any of my party members can. Kind of like Follow-Up Blow, but I’m not limited to something that came before. Here, it’s easier to show you.”

As he said that, he drew the sword with the hand that wasn’t entwined in Seena’s arm, then ignited it’s fallen-star form. “This is the normal blade…”

“How is that normal?” Romin asked, and when Hiral looked over at the man, there was no sarcasm on his face. Huh, genuine question.

“S-Rank item,” Hiral explained. “I’ll explain it to you after. For now, though, this is the new part.” With a thought, Hiral pulled on the sense of fire he felt from Seena, Empowering his weapon. All along the edge of the weapon, flames immediately erupted, leaving him with a burning, falling star in his hand.

“I can only do one at a time,” he said, changing it from fire to lightning. The flames vanished, only for electricity to crackle across the sword. Another thought cancelled the sparking energy, to instead extend veins of dark green within the blade. One more thought extinguished the entire greatsword, and he slung it across his back once again.

“That should be good if we come across any enemies like that Fiendish Tree that’s more vulnerable to a specific energy,” Seena said. “No other changes?”

“Runic Mastery got upgraded. Nothing major, just upped the efficiency. That was from my Putting the Pieces Together achievement, which I got when I figured out my Rune of Exchange. I also got an upgrade to Enduring Mind from the I Won’t Lose You! achievement.”

“Where’d you get that?” Seena asked.

Hiral looked Seena in the eye for just a second before she seemed to get it. “Oh. For saving me?”

“Technically for manipulating your PIM, I think, but yeah,” Hiral said, squeezing her arm.

“Well, we both obviously know which was the most important part of that.”

“We do.”

“Ahem,” Seeyela interrupted. “As cute as you two are, I’m starting to change my mind about the not stabbing him part. Any other changes in your status window?”

“Just one,” Hiral said, quickly moving on. “I got an achievement for editing my own advanced class – To Boldly Go…”

“Of course you did,” Seeyela said, and Wule nodded at her emphatically where he sat beside Nivian. “What did you get?”

“An upgrade to Internal Injuries. This is a nice one. Now, it has a chance to temporarily disrupt abilities when I hit a target,” Hiral said.

“Disrupt?”

“Needs some testing, obviously, but I think it means I can make them unusable for a short time. No idea how high the chances are, or if it can be resisted, but it could come in handy. It might also only work on things that have PIMs, though after seeing how the Unnamed was on the inside, I’m starting to wonder how unique the PIM actually is.”

“What do you mean?” Seena asked from beside him.

“There was something Dr. Benza said back during one of the tutorials,” Hiral started. “I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was something about the PIM both modifying and reporting our status. Like, our base attributes, for example. They aren’t modified by the PIM in any way, but they’re still given a numerical value.

“It makes me think that all magic – and stats – might be quantifiable, and thus influenceable by the PIM. It’s also why I think the undead,” Hiral looked at Nivian and Wule, “are now part of the PIM system.”

“That… kind of makes sense,” Seena said. “There definitely wasn’t an undead island before. Ur, you made the undead; did you put a PIM in them?”

Li’l Ur shook his little-lich head from where he floated over Seena’s shoulder. “No. I created the undead race long, long before the PIM or PIMP were even conceived. Though, it sounds as if Dr. Benza and his people used my Urn as a reference point, which may be where the connection came from.”

“It also counted the Infested,” Yanily pointed out. “Though, I guess the PIM is also based off of them as well.”

“There was one more color we saw on the map too,” Hiral mentioned. “The purple like our infernal flames. That might give us more information. Either way, it’s not like it matters too much right now. All of that was to say my new Internal Injuries+ might work on more than just things with PIMs.”

“As long as it works on Infested,” Seeyela said, “it’ll be worth having.”

“Very true,” Hiral agreed. “I have a feeling this raid zone is going to throw a lot of different things at us.”

“It will,” Seena said. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves again. Dungeon first, raid second. We can’t go in there yet anyway, so let’s use the time we have to prepare. On that note, Hiral, anything else you want to share about upgrades?”

“Nope, that’s it,” he said.

“Good, then let’s move on to the others, then head out for the dungeon.”