Rune Seeker

Like a signal had been given, the domains absorbed into Hiral’s Domain of the Sun+ erupted in violence, showering the three Uniclops in fire and lightning. Flashes of yellow and red scarred the air while the crowd cheering, their wordless chants echoing off the walls between booms and ka-thooms of energy. Despite the fury of it all, none of the members from the three parties came anywhere close to being struck, with the elements snaking around them to strike the Wild-Bosses.

And strike they did. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt followed the flaming vines. Having had some kind of upgrade, the vines now not only tried to pound their targets into charred mush, but instead also grasped and wrapped around limbs. One each held the Uniclops’s legs while their elemental brethren went wild.

Except, it hardly seemed to do anything.

The powerful legs of the barbarian and knight tore the flaming roots right out of the ground, not even slowing, while the staff-wielder straight ahead didn’t seem at all bothered. Instead, a powerful wave of solar energy washed off him as a smile creased his face, and more thick roots emerged from his back. Not just his back, either. Each of the three Uniclops had grown what looked like small trees from their backs.

On the staff-wielder, a low, bushy tree held leaves of red and yellow. The knight’s tree was some kind of evergreen, with its needles forming an almost impenetrable barrier of color to hide the trunk. Finally, on the back of the barbarian stood a tree that reminded Hiral somewhat of the Grandfather, with long, weeping branches of hanging leaves.

All three of the new additions glowed with powerful solar energy, but there was no clue as to what they actually did.

Then maybe the best answer is to not give them a chance to do anything at all.

With the thought, Hiral launched himself towards the staff-wielder on a burst of Rejection at the same time Wallop used one of his Charge abilities to race ahead. A bamf signalled Seeyela wasn’t going to left behind, while a roar announced Yanily had taken on the form of his Aspect, and purple flames blazed lines tracing Right’s steps.

The five speedy party members struck simultaneously, triggering abilities like Follow-up Blow one after the other. Lightning, infernal and entropic flames, and daggers stained in deadly green venom found their motionless target. A squeeze of the trigger in Hiral’s left hand spat a bolt of Impact that struck the center of the giant’s chest an instant before he twisted around to bring the Greatsword of Amin Thett arcing in, flames licking along the edge.

Shockwaves radiated outward from the simultaneous impacts, flattening the grass all around the Uniclops, and Hiral fully expected his powerful sword to bite deep into the monster’s side. What he didn’t expect, was for the Uniclops to completely rebuff them without even lifting a finger. Which is exactly what happened.

Spear, sword, daggers, and fists struck hard and true – then bounced off like they’d hit something far harder than Tomorrow’s brass. Even Wallop – literal tons of angry momentum empowered by Runes of Impact – rebounded off the Uniclops like he was a small dog running into a stone wall. In the Party Interface, the Rune-o’s health even dropped from the awkward collision, and he went staggering backwards on hopping steps from the sudden reversal in motion.

One, two, three steps Wallop trundled before he caught himself, an angry snuff showing how he clearly felt about the results of his Charge. Not that his horn was his only weapon anymore, Tomorrow’s Mini-guns spinning to life on his shoulders. A second was all they took to wind up before they began spitting a nearly endless stream of hard energy at the Wild-Boss.

For Hiral’s part, he flipped mid-air – planes of Rejection appearing under his feet – as he sheathed his weapons and instantly formed claws of Separation on his fingers. Slash, slash he whipped his hands out even as his own backward momentum kept him moving, glowing blades lashing out toward his opponent at the same pace Wallop’s shots did.

Like the thing even cared.

Blades that’d carved B-Rank Chimerasinto little pieces and at least scarred the metal of Tomorrow’s constructs did absolutely nothing to the Wild-Boss in front of him. Less than nothing, as it turned its attention to Seeyela appearing on its shoulder.

Like the woman had planned her arrival the entire time – despite bouncing off before just like Hiral and the others had – her daggers were already swinging as her feet touched down. Glowing coronas of venom surrounded each of her Fangs aimed for the thing’s face. One for the single eye now located between where a human’s eyes would be, and the other aimed to drag along the side of its mouth. At the same time, the scorpion tail on her back arced down to drive the stinger into the giant’s upper back. One way or another, she was stabbing the Boss.

Wasn’t she?

Still in the air, Hiral focused his attention on the driving weapons, only to see the deadly tips strike something just before they would’ve met the monster’s skin. From there, the result was entirely predictable, with her daggers – and tail – bouncing harmlessly off instead of delivering their terrible payload. The Uniclops had some kind of invisible shield around it.

“How come I can’t hurt this thing?” Yanily asked, his Reed Spear Style practically a blur as he stabbed at one of the thing’s knees.

“Seena, how about your fire?” Hiral asked at the same time a pair of fireballs consumed the Wild-Boss’s upper body in flames.

“Not even a scratch,” Seena said. “Or a burn. Whatever! And my Lingering Flames don’t seem to be catching.”

“It doesn’t burn?”

“It doesn’t burn!” Seena seethed, hurling more fire at the giant. “I don’t like things that don’t burn.”

And, apparently the Wild-Boss had had enough of playing the role of target dummy for them, the flames around it shattering as the staff at its back flared to life. Hidden behind the tree that’s sprouted directly from the giant, Hiral had almost forgotten about the weapon.

That was a mistake.

The glowing obsidian spike between the four horns surged with energy, orange glyphs blazing, before two streamers of rope-like power emerged. Weaving between the branches of the tree on the giant’s back, the two ropes of energy met the Uniclops’s shoulders, then wound their way down its arms. As they passed the elbows, up came its hands, and there was a rumble from the ground directly beneath the party.

“Scatter,” Seena said, surprisingly calmly as dozens of roots burst free from the ground. Almost like her own Spearing Roots ability – except far more random with their emergence – the spikes shot in dozens of different directions, and grew to more than twenty feet long in an instant. Luckily for the party, they’d all felt it coming, dodging out of the way as the solar energy gathered near their feet.

Well, all except Seena. She hadn’t moved a muscle. Not a single inch. And, still, none of the roots struck her. In fact, none of them even came close, like they had purposely ignored her. Each of them glowed with the same-colored energy winding its way around the Uniclops’s hands, but a wave of Seena’s arm, and that energy vanished.

Vanished, to be replaced by flames.

Every root within twenty feet of Seena immediately fell under her control, and a second sweep of her arm sent all of them charging towards the Wild-Boss like a runaway bull. Right beside a runaway Rune-o.

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Wallop apparently wasn’t satisfied with the last collision, more solar energy than ever powering his charge and his runes. Rejection flooded out behind him, while Impact circulated over and over around his horn.

Together, the Runeocerousand Seena’s roots struck with enough force to shake the ground, finally forcing the Uniclops back a step. Just one, though, and it didn’t come without a cost, Wallop’s health once again dropping in the Party Interface.

“Hiral?” Seena asked, seeing he’d been standing almost completely still as the others had attacked.

“I’m working on it,” he said. Whatever ability the Wild-Boss had was simply too powerful. Unbeatable, really. Even with how hard they’d hit it – and the fact Wallop and Seena had made it move – they still hadn’t done any damage. Zero. None. Its health bar was full. There had to be a trick to it all.

But, what is that trick?

The tree on its back?

“Seena, can you burn the tree?” he asked the party leader, while Right, Seeyela, and Yanily focused on keeping the giant’s attention – and the focus of his stabbing roots.

“One scorched shrubbery coming up” she said, immediately using her movement ability to transform into a four-winged bird and shoot past the monster. No sooner had she appeared, than a pair of flaming drills left her hands to drive into the giant’s back, right there the tree grew from it.

The attack had about as much effect as any of the others did. In other words, none.

“One… slightly warm shrubbery…?” she half-asked-half-complained, more fire already swirling in her hands.

“Keep trying,” Hiral said. A quick check showed Left and Gran supporting the party where spikes managed to catch them or sneak past their defenses, but he couldn’t see anything from this staff-wielder that would…

Wait a second. Maybe it’s not the trees that are the trick. Or, at least, not entirely. All three of the Uniclops used to be one creature. Are they still connected?

Even as he asked the question, Hiral activated his Rune of Connection, and sure enough, thick ropes of energy looped between all three of the Wild-Bosses. And not just between them, but also from the trees at their backs. Interestingly enough, each of the trees had two meaty ropes connecting them to the otherUniclops. Like the tree provided a buff to the others, but not to the monster it actually grew from.

Was one of those trees increasing the Uniclops’s defense? No, just looking at the staff-wielder battling the party, it had taken literally zero damage. Its health bar hadn’t moved a fraction of an inch. Whatever the buff was doing, it was making the thing completely invulnerable. That just seemed like cheating.

Which probably meant there was some kind of limit to it. One Hiral needed to figure out, and quickly.

Roots coursing with energy speared out of the ground at the party nearly constantly, and a quick check of the Party Interface showed they were damaging solar energy along with health. Dangerous.

“Left, we need Path of…” Seena started, only for a swarm of pink butterflies to swoop under the party members’ feet. The double had seen the same thing she did – if they could get off the ground and out of the range of the roots, they’d be at the advantage. And with the Uniclops being forty feet tall, there was plenty of it to attack up in the air.

As soon as the party – Wallop included – had the buff under their feet, they charged up into the air to attack the Wild-Boss from all angles. They still didn’t do any damage, and looked like little more than wasps swarming, but a glare of frustration crossed their enemy’s face for the first time. The roots still climbed into the air to chase them, but the group had more time to dodge. And, unlike when the roots stayed close to the ground, they seemed to destabilize, turning to dust in a few seconds.

That was definitely giving the party an advantage, just not one they were able to capitalize on. No, whatever the trick was, they weren’t going to be able to brute force it, so Hiral went back to the Connections. To the other trees and Wild-Bosses.

Bosses, plural.

Darting up into the air himself to casually dodge the roots – they were really too slow for him to worry about, not to mention the advantage of his sensory domain – Hiral focused on the other two battles. This was a raid zone. They were a raid group. Three parties. There had to be a reason for that. Right now, each of the groups was treating themselves like an isolated battle. Each battle was an island unconnected to the others.

The Wild-Bosses weren’t like that though. Clearly there was something going on there. So, what was happening in those other fights?

Nivian’s group didn’t look to be doing much better than Seena’s, though the Death Knight himself was doing a formidable job tanking that massive hammer. Bigger than he was, it still stopped cold when it slammed into his shield. Skeletal arms wrought of blue flames – the same color as in Nivian’s eyes – burst out of the ground to support him every time he needed to parry the hammer. A lot like the roots he used to use to brace himself. It must be how the ability evolved with his advanced class.

Hiral shook his head – analyzing Nivian’s advanced class wasn’t what he needed to do right now!

Turning his focus away from the tank – and to the Boss where it needed to be – the first thing Hiral noticed was that its health bar wasn’t full! It was close, sitting at around ninety-eight percent, but unlike the staff-wielder, the hammer-clops had taken some damage. How?

Even in the few seconds Hiral watched, Bash and Politet both unleased powerful abilities, shockwaves and clouds of terrifying green gas washing across the Boss. Neither of them did anything. Neither did the savage raking Finotol’s companion did to its leg, or the massive explosion triggered by the Bonder’s rather mundane looking sling. Her weapon of choice was decidedly unimpressive in appearance, but the effects of her powered-up shots were an entirely different matter.

Still, it didn’t… didn’t…

Hiral stared hard at the health bar. Was it his imagination, or had some of the damage gotten through? Why? What was different?

Another second and two of Wule’s-now-four lanterns spat beams of energy at the Boss. Similar to a Maker’s mediums, the floating lanterns possessed a ranged attack, though they were slower and more costly, and definitely hit harder. And, again, the Boss’s health bar moved.

Then, moved again as lightning rained down on it from Hiral and Yanily’s combined domain. It wasn’t a big move, but it was something.

Because they’re ranged attacks?

It was a possibility, but that hadn’t worked on the staff-clops. There was more to it, so he turned his attention to Ilrolik’s group and how they were dealing with the axe-clops.

Almost immediately, Hiral wanted to groan. Unlike with Nivian, Ilrolik was clearly having trouble keeping the Boss’s attention on her. She’d use a tattoo – Focused Rage – which was built to attract attention, like a lesser Infuriate, and more importantly prevent a target from using its solar energy for a few seconds. It could be a powerful ability, but the axe-clops didn’t seem to be relying on any abilities. It was just trying to hit things with its devastatingly large axe.

Added on top of that, Loan was actually doing damage – a lot of it – which was attracting the Boss’s attention right to him as soon as Focused Rage wore off. That would’ve stopped Ilrolik from doing anything other than using the tattoo again, except it had a short cooldown before it built up the energy needed to be used. A cooldown longer than the effect lasted, meaning Loan was taking hits too.

Yully was left scrambling to heal both of them, while Drahn and Devison had to keep changing positions to avoid the sweeping axe. This left them without large windows of opportunity to lay on their own damage. Sera – his mother, though he had to force himself to look her way – was doing an infuriatingly good job at her role. Her buffs snapped out to support her party, she positioned herself well so she wasn’t constantly running around like the others, and she found time to use her Mediums to attack. Even though they weren’t doing any damage, she was playing her part.

Hiral forced himself not to grind his teeth. Somehow, it would’ve been easier if she was terrible at her job. Then again, when had she ever been terrible at anything?

Other than being his mother.

Another suppressed groan, and he turned his attention again to the fight. Loan was able to hurt the axe-clops. It wasn’t a lot of damage – the thing must’ve had a huge health pool to be able to stand up to the mountain-shattering blows – but it was some damage. Sera’s Mediums, though, didn’t do anything?

Drahn’s attacks also seemed ineffective, and now that Hiral was watching the man specifically, he wasn’t using his Pollen Poison. No, he was almost exclusively using his Exploding Arrow ability. From what Hiral knew, that was a lot more costly than his debilitating poison, and Hiral couldn’t sense the pollen ravaging the axe-clops’s solar channels. The poison hadn’t worked? And only part of the Explosive Arrow damage got through.

“Seena,” Hiral said into the party chat. “Cinder Nivian’s Boss. Tell me if you do damage and if your Lingering Flames sticks. Seeyela, need you to stab Ilrolik’s Uniclops a few times. Your daggers will hurt it I think, but let me know about your venoms.”

“Got it,” the two sisters said at the same time, red and purple flames the signals for them following his instructions.

“You got this figured out finally?” Right asked over the party chat.

“Maybe,” Hiral said, watching all three Bosses through his sensory domain.

“Cinder hurt it!” Seena said, clearly excited at finally doing some damage. “Can’t light it on fire though. Lingering Flames won’t trigger, so matter how many crits I get.”

“Thanks. Seeyela?” Hiral asked, spotting the woman Bamf’ing around the axe-clops.

“Feels good to stab something and see it hurt,” Seeyela said. “You were right, though. Venoms aren’t doing squat. Neither is the damage from my improved Bamf. I take it back, I’m getting pissed off again. What’s the trick? Can we do this?”

“We can,” Hiral said, reaching out with threads of Connection to Ilrolik and Nivian. Without the party chat, this would have to do. “But I’ll need you all to do exactly what I tell you.”