Rune Seeker

Ilrolik sighed. “Is this really necessary?”

“Stop fighting it. This needs to be resolved.” The surprising words came from Grandmother of all people. “And I’m kind of curious to see what the boy can do.”

“You’ll have to settle for just me,” Right said without taking his eyes off Rikki.

“Pretty confident I won’t go through you, coward, then stomp the Everfail right after,” Rikki said.

“Reaaaaaally don’t know where you’re getting that confident stupidity,” Yanily said.

“Don’t you mean stupid confidence?” Burs asked the spearman.

“You’ve seen Hiral fight,” Yanily said. “And Right. I said it the correct way. Just watch.”

“Fine,” Ilrolik finally said, throwing up her hands. “Al, is this going to be a problem?”

“The other side already moves,” Al said. “I would encourage you to do the same.”

“You heard him,” Ilrolik said. “If you absolutely need to go through with this, get it over with.”

“Before that,” Hiral said, his hackles still up over somebody talking to his sister like Rikki had. Now wasn’t the time to be angry – he knew that – but that was the thing about emotions. They weren’t always convenient. So, threads of solar energy working into his runes, Hiral slowly lifted off the ground until he was floating twenty feet above the ground, out in front of the crowd. “I’m only going to say this once.” More runes powered his voice, reaching across the lines of people, Dreaming and Decrease smothering anything they thought to say.

Energy sparked off his double-helix, his pseudo-aspect stretching up his arms in veins of white light. He hadn’t unlocked all those Edicts yet, but his emotions were pushing the bounds in their place. Even the tips of his Coat of Amin Thett sparked with white energy in the air, and he released a leak of Intimidating Aura+. Not enough to flatten the lower-Rank people – though he could’ve done that – but just enough to add a literal weight to his words.

Ilrolik was probably right. All this wasn’t necessary. He could’ve – should’ve – tried to talk this out. Violence wasn’t needed.

Then again, maybe it was.

Another flex of power, and arcs of yellow energy leapt from his body through the air. Behind him, his scarves whipped like the tails of a predator staring down prey. Separation danced on his fingertips, hardening into claws that seemed to leave scars in reality as he moved his hands.

“Some of you know me,” Hiral said. “Some of you have heard of me. And, some of you may only think you know me, like Rikki. That’s fine. Think what you want about me. Say what you want about me. My sisters though?” Hiral released a little more of Intimidating Aura+, focusing it on the Makers mainly, while he pulled on the power of his runes. “They’re off limits.

“Right is going to make an example of Rikki,” he continued, using his runes to absolutely smother Rikki’s attempted shout at arguing the point. “Anybody else who wants to say something about Nat or Milly will be answering to me. I know how some of you treated them – how you thought it was okay to pick on a pair of kids – when I was the Everfail. I am not that person anymore.

“And if you need to learn that the hard way, make a line – I’ll happily show you.”

One more pulse of Intimidating Aura+, and even Loan and Ilrolik wilted a bit under the pressure. The undead in Nivian’s party looked at him with varying expressions. Bash stopped running and playing with his new hammer, looking up like he was wondering if there was something new to smash. As soon as he saw it was Hiral, he lowered his eyes quickly. Igwanda stood near Drahn, her bow braced against the ground like it was holding her up. And Politet, well, that bastard just glared at Hiral like he usually did. Though, this time, there was more hesitance in that glare, like he’d seen something unexpected. Unplanned for.

His statement made, Hiral pulled his power back under control and settled on the ground. Then he looked at Rikki.

“You’d better hope you don’t – through some miracle – get through Right.”

“Oh, he won’t,” Right said. The double’s eyes hadn’t left the Shaper for a second, but there was a small smile at the corner of his lips.

“That was needlessly dramatic,” Left said quietly beside Hiral. “We should’ve taken some bets first.”

“I thought it was great,” Seena said.

“Sometimes dramatic is needed,” Yanily said. “If they’re constantly wondering or questioning, it’s going to slow us down. Better to just get it out of the way.”

“Speaking of getting something out of the way,” Right said. “You ready?”

“I am going to crush you,” Rikki said, somehow still confident after Hiral’s display. Or, was he? His eyes flicked in Hiral’s direction several times, but it wasn’t like he could back down. They’d agreed to a duel, enforced by Shaper law. There weren’t Oath Stones down here, but there was pride on the line. That could be more binding than any magic.

“At least don’t do it in the middle of the crowd,” Ilrolik suggested. “Don’t need anybody else getting hurt.”

“Over there should be fine,” Seeyela said, pointing at part of the ravaged field where the party had fought the Wild-Bosses.”

“Can he do it?” Cal asked Seeyela quietly. “I’ve seen the Shapers fight. They’re strong.”

“So is Right,” Seeyela whispered back. “We’re in for a good show.”

As they chatted quietly, Right and Rikki moved over to the empty space where it was far less likely they’d hurt somebody.

“This isn’t the Amphitheatre of the Sun,” Hiral said. “Be ready to protect the lower-Ranks if we need to.”

“Got it,” Seena said, and their party spread out a little to intercept any errant attacks.

“Go ahead and use whatever tattoos you want,” Right said. “I’ll wait.”

“You think I need tattoos to deal with you?” Rikki asked right back, one fist slamming into his other palm. “I’ll crush you with my bare…”

Then the man cut off, Right appearing directly in front of him in the air, fist already mid-swing and in front of Rikki’s face. Like the double wasn’t bound by gravity, he met the other man’s eyes, as if he wanted him to clearly know what was about to happen. About the fact Right had given him a chance, and he’d wasted it.

In the next second, a vertical shockwave exploded outward from where Right… finger-flicked the Shaper’s forehead. The WHAP of the impact echoed outward as the Shaper bent over backwards so fast, his head almost hit the ground before his feet realized they should be leaving it. A second WHAP of his body hitting the earth, and everything was silent. Still.

The crowd looking on could only gasp in shock.

Rikki was built like Loan. Seven feet of solid muscle, tattoos and Meridian Lines glowing from long use. Power had practically warped the air around him.

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And Right had put him on his back – in an instant – with a damn finger-flick.

It took everything Hiral had not to outright guffaw at the scene. It was even hard for him to stay angry by how completely his double had floored the other Shaper. Literally.

“You… you…!” Rikki shouted, eyes blinking quickly like he was trying to clear his vision. “That was…”

“A warning,” Right interrupted, stepping back. “The only one you’ll get, and so you don’t try to later claim I only hit you with a cheap shot.”

“That was a cheap shot!” Rikki roared, now back on his feet.

“It was a finger-flick,” Right said. “Now, tattoos. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“You want to see…?” Rikki said, veins on his head bulging like he was reaaaaally getting angry now. Good. “Fine, I’ll show you! Make you regret it.”

“Yes, yes, but could you hurry it up?” Right asked. “We are on a timer.”

At a complete loss for words, Rikki reached from one tattoo to the next, Shaping as he went. Solar energy poured off the man as he chose his tattoos. First came Way of Earth – an interesting choice for a duel, but one that could have advantages given the terrain. After that, Stone Skin and Furious Strength. Simple tattoos, but hefty increases to Endand Str respectively. Pretty standard selections. Things got a little more interesting with the next two.

First was Heart Cleaver, a one-handed weapon designed to live up to its name. Looking like little more than a thick slab of metal with one sharpened edge and a handle, it had the potential to part flesh and bone with relative ease. Especially when wielded by a buffed-up Shaper. The second tattoo, Amputate increased the likelihood any of Rikki’s strikes would remove limbs if he struck one. It was a nasty tattoo that was rarely used in arena duels.

Interesting he would have that at all…

Finally, with all those tattoos out of the way, Rikki reached for one final inking on his chest. Body of the Sun, the same berserking tattoo Loan had used against the Wild-Boss. Just like Hiral’s teacher had, this Shaper nearly doubled in size as solar energy billowed out of his skin to form a second, massive body. Now towering more than twice Right’s height – his Heart Cleaver growing in size to match – Rikki glared down at the double.

“What do you think now?” Rikki shouted. “What do you feel? Regret? Fear?”

“Boredom,” Right said. “What are you even doing asking? Isn’t this supposed to be a fight?”

“Die!” Rikki said, Cleaver coming up and over to crash down on Right with enough force to shake the earth and throw dust and debris into the air.

Melodrama – and idiocy aside – there was no doubting the sheer power behind Rikki’s swing. Anything he hit with that would be hurt, or outright dead.

If he hit.

Which he hadn’t, Right standing casually just to the side of the Cleaver. Like it wasn’t a fight for his life, the double reached over and put his left gauntlet on the top of the weapon, holding it in place. From the look on Rikki’s face, the Cleaver wasn’t staying where it was because he wanted it to.

“He’s really making a show of it,” Left said, while his twin didn’t immediately counterattack.

“Was any of this even needed?” Ilrolik asked one more time.

“It was,” Hiral said. “My sisters didn’t deserve what people said or did to them. I wasn’t joking when I said it ends now.”

“And you’d risk the whole raid for it?”

Hiral looked the woman in the eye. “For Nat and Milly? You bet.”

“Besides,” Seena said, putting a hand on Hiral’s shoulder. “We both know Hiral isn’t actually risking anything. Just putting some bullies in their place.”

“Which reminds me,” Hiral said, turning his attention to Right. “Don’t kill him!”

“Can I break him a bit?” Right asked, his arm like steel holding the weapon in place. In front of him, Rikki seemed to have had enough at his Cleaver being held motionless, and reached over to wrap his other hand around the haft.

“Wule, Yully, Gran,” Hiral said. “Think you can fix a broken Shaper?”

“Uh…” Wule started.

“As long as he’s not in more than five pieces,” Gran said confidently.

“What happens if he’s in six?” Yully asked.

“Then I only put five back,” Gran said with a cackle.

“Break away,” Hiral told Right.

“You won’t…” Rikki started, only to cut off as he blinked to find Right gone.

Well, gone to him, the double having ducked in close. A pulse of solar energy, and Right came up and in with a powerful uppercut that slammed into Rikki’s gut. On planes of pink under his feet, Right continued the motion of his blow, lifting Rikki off the ground and bending the man around his fist. Worse than that – for the Shaper – his Body of the Sun didn’t seem able to protect him from the punch, the solar energy collapsing inward as Right’s gauntlet slammed into the flesh underneath.

Even Stone Skin wasn’t enough to harden Rikki’s flesh against the might of the Auroran Conqueror, the semi-solid-solar energy hitting the other man’s stomach and blasting the air from his lungs. Fingers went limp around the Cleaver, the weapon dangling from Rikki’s hand as he seemed to hang in the air for a second.

In the next instant, though, Right was up in front of him, hands grabbing the sides of the Body of the Sun’s head as he brought his knee up. The impact sent a shockwave rolling out, walls of Rejection warping but standing strong to protect the crowd, as the entire head of the tattoo’s power simply exploded.

With that weakness exploited, the rest of the Body of the Sun began to unravel from the shoulders down, while Right continued up from the force of his knee-strike. As soon as he cleared Rikki’s back – the man just starting to fall – more planes of pink appeared under Right’s feet before he jumped into a tight, flipping somersault. Using the momentum of the spin, he drove his heels into Rikki’s back, and rode the man to the ground.

Unlike the punch that’d lifted Rikki up, the fall back down was almost gentle. No shockwave. No crater. Just the man flopping to the ground face-first. He even started to push himself to his hands and knees as Right leapt straight up, off his back.

Then again, if he could’ve seen Right above him, he probably would’ve chosen to stay down. If he was smart.

Which… he wasn’t.

Regardless of the choice, he finally paused his push-up as shadows of red and purple washed the ground around him. Like the dancing flickers of a bonfire the size of a house, the colors leapt along the earth on all sides. Grew stronger. Brighter. More intense.

Above, Right’s fist glowed like two suns had each tried to make a home there – Infernal and Entropic flames swirling around the hand in a flaming sphere almost as big as he was. His whole arm had vanished within the churning power, but it clearly wasn’t hurting him, the fire even spreading down his Meridian Lines and across his own Coat of Amin Thett. The places Hiral had unlocked through connecting with the Edicts flared in intensity, like small volcanoes erupting from Right’s body.

Just paused there, Right once again defied gravity, his fist pulling back in readiness, while the air around him warped and bent. Then, all at once, the roaring suns competing for space in his hand seemed to find their balance, the massive ball of colored plasma contracting until Right snapped his fingers closed around it.

Now, no larger than a grape in the palm of Right’s hand, the seed of power shot beams of thick light out from the space between his fingers, though twin flames still coiled around his arm and body.

“What is…?” Rikki asked, and that was the cue for Right to come down.

Though he’d paused in the air – hanging only by the power of the twin fires – he shot down like he’d leapt off one of Hiral’s planes of Rejection, and buried his fist in Rikki’s back. This time – oh, this time – there was an impact of monumental proportions.

Whole raid zone shaking from the force of it, Rikki was slammed back down into – and really into – the earth, a sphere-shaped shockwave erupting. At the same time, an expanding crater washed outward in all directions, flames of purple and red eating at the stone while Right used Rikki’s body to shatter it.

Thanks to the natural durability of a Shaper – and the buffs he’d used – Rikki didn’t instantly get turned into a messy puddle of red tattoos, but he might’ve wished he had. Blood ejected from his mouth in a silent scream, while he arms and legs bent backward from his entry into the stone. Flames scoured across his back, the Infernal and Entropic energies wreaking havoc where they passed to char skin and tear at solar energy.

Even the tattoos inked on his skin seemed to shy away from those energies, and Right’s fist clearly left its imprint on Rikki’s back.

It took several long seconds for the shockwave to subside, any nearby grass and trees that had escaped the previous battle unscathed now sat flattened with their compatriots. As for Rikki? The man didn’t move. Not an inch.

“Fallen’s balls…” Ilrolik said, looking at the blast zone. Then to Hiral. “Are you really stronger than him?”

“Stronger?” Hiral asked back. “No. More powerful? Yes.”

Ilrolik shook her head as she understood his meaning.

Grandmother just laughed. “Is your playtime over then? Can we get back to the serious stuff?”

“Is he… alive?” Loan asked.

“He’s alive,” Right said. “Hurting, but alive. Healers should be able to patch him right back up. As long as he keeps his mouth shut this time.”

“You’re going to make me work now, aren’t you?” Wule asked.

“I was only going to stich him back together if his bits fell off,” Gran said with a shrug. “Looks like they’re all still connected.”

“I’ll help,” Yully said, giving Hiral and Left a wide berth as she and Wule went over to see to the downed Shaper.

Still, even with that fight over, it didn’t mean things were done, so Hiral floated up into the air again, Left at his side.

“Anybody else?” he asked.