Rune Seeker

Energy poured forth from Yanily’s point-blank breath-attack, completely engulfing the Chimeratron’s head before erupting. In the blink of an eye, the scene went from Yanily standing atop his enemy, to a dome of expanding energy. Both fighters vanished within the glow, but Hiral didn’t bother moving to escape the oncoming blast.

Through his sensory domain, he could feel the energy wasn’t harmful to him. He could also feel that wasn’t the end of the fight – the Chimera’s body was already fighting to repair the damage.

“It’s not over!” Hiral shouted into the party chat. “It’s trying to heal itself.”

“Not like we’re going to let it,” Seena said. “Drahn, Pollen Poison any open wounds as soon as you see them. Sis, hit the shoulder where Hiral took its arm if its not recovered.”

“Got it,” the two said at the same time the energy dome vanished.

Still perched on the thing’s torso, Yanily stood staring down at the carved-out hole in the Mid-Boss’s chest where its head had been. Instead, tendrils of thick blood writhed and wrapped around each other like they were trying to reform the missing piece.

How is it still alive after losing its head?

There was no immediate answer to the question as the Ruby Lioness swept up and across to try and bat Yanily off its chest. Tried, but it wasn’t as fast as Hiral’s scarf, and he yanked the spearman back to safety.

“Nice hit, Yan,” Hiral told the spearman and he landed.

“You tagged me in,” Yanily said, like that explained everything. “And I got an achievement for it. Shock and Awe. Love the name.”

“Well don’t sit around bragging about it,” Seena’s voice said over party chat. “This thing is getting back up.”

Even as she said the words, the one-armed, no-headed monstrosity pulled its two halves together and sat up, only for Pollen Poison arrows to hit it one after the other. On its right side, Seeyela appeared with a bamf to needle her daggers into the open wound in its shoulder trying to heal itself.

“Gran, your threads, can you do something about that other arm?” Seena asked.

“Oh, making an old lady do all the hard work?” the hooded woman asked. Then she started cackling, floating higher in the air, and a practical storm of needles shot from the sleeves of her dress. Each one trailing a crimson thread, the needles punched right through the flesh of the Ruby Lioness and the Ebony Lion one after the other. Then, with a sudden, outward jerk of her hands, she pulled the threads taut, the red arm snapping in, bound to the chest. “Won’t hold long.”

“Shouldn’t need long,” Seena said, bow gone, but another pair of her whirling batons in place. Whatever plasma attack she’d used apparently wasn’t something she could call on at the drop of a hat. “Yan? Hiral? You done just standing there?” Acting on her own words, the party leader dashed in to bury her twinned weapons in the small of the seated monster’s back. Still, even with it sitting down, it towered over her, and the wounds she inflicted were already starting to heal.

“Race you,” Yanily said, stormy wings emerging from his back. Then he was gone, blasting forward to whirl his spear in a flashing dance that tore strips off the Chimeratron’s chest. And, while Hiral had reflexively taken a step to meet the spearman’s challenge, he’d held back.

Even with the damage the others were piling on, the Mid-Boss was barely dropping below sixty percent before it immediately healed right back up. And this was after it had lost a head and an arm!

A head and… a…?

Hiral nearly face-palmed. Could it be that simple? Was that the trick?

Probably.

“New plan, if you’re open to it?” Hiral said, reaching out his hand and calling for the Greatsword of Amin Thett. At the touch of his solar energy, the blade’s weight dropped back down to almost nothing, and another flex of the power brought the weapon hurtling back to his grasp.

“Definitely,” Seena said. “I’m getting kind of annoyed this thing won’t really burn even with Detonate going off like mad.”

“I think the trick is the five heads…”

“It only has three,” Yanily interrupted. “Oooooooh.”

“Yes, exactly,” Hiral said. “Yan, the Ruby Lioness is yours. Make it gone.”

“I can do that,” the spearman said, shifting his target.

“Seena, you’ve got Citrine, and I’ll take Cobalt,” Hiral explained, the party leader already transforming into the flaming bird of her movement skill to reposition. “Drahn, Gran, and Seeyela, keep doing what you’re doing. The damage-over-time effects are preventing it from healing enough to be more than a target dummy.”

“One with seemingly infinite health,” Seeyela complained. “Though, it’s giving me a chance to practice some things…” Even as she said that, one of her TRAPs went off on the monster’s side, and a pair of gateways opened to spew jets of acidic venom across the shoulder wound.

“We going all at once?” Seena asked, set up off to the side of the Citrine Lioness leg. “Yan?”

“Give me six seconds,” Yanily said, spear spinning around and around him. Thunder and lightning trailed the movements, building in intensity with every pass.

“I’ll be ready,” Seena said, both hands above her head as another sun began forming. On her shoulder, Li’l Ur likewise held his hands up, blue energy flowing from him, down to his Mistress, then up her arms to enhance the terrifying power building.

Part of Hiral wondered if he even needed to help – though he did add a touch of Dreaming to the building sun – before he focused on his own sword. Better to be safe than sorry. Drawing back the weapon, he pushed solar energy into it, while something else tickled at his senses. No, not all his senses, just one. Taste. Immediately activating his time runes, Hiral focused on the air passing his lips. Was his body finally telling him what energy type it preferred? Even as he asked the question, he realized that wasn’t it at all. He tasted the energy in the air, sure, but it didn’t excite him. His body didn’t crave it, and he certainly didn’t feel that same sense of refinement the others described.

Then, why was he sensing it now? And, those flavors, what were they…? Hiral’s eyes landed on the building sun, the crackling lightning, and the hose of terrible venom spewing on the Mid-Boss. He was tasting their power as they inundated his sensory domain with it. That wasn’t all, either. Through the Connections he’d formed with them, he could feel some of their power coming back to him!

While he’d been using his runes to increase their attributes, he’d assumed it was a one-way path. He’d been wrong. The effect wasn’t nearly as pronounced as what he did for them, but that didn’t stop him from smiling.

With reality pressing against the back of his skull to let time flow normally again, Hiral activated his runes of Attraction, Absorption, Increase, Sealing, and Compression. Then, he funneled – and empowered – all that energy coming from his friends.

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Straight into the Greatsword of Amin Thett.

Similar to what he’d done the one time with his doubles against theReinforced Runeoceros, his weapon took on aspects of his allies’ powers. Flames burned along the edge of the sword. Lightning crackled around it in arcs. Veins of devastating venom crawled up the blade.

Then, with time demanding he let it move again, Hiral released his runes and launched forward. The greatsword flared with trailing power at the same time Yanily and Seena launched their own attacks.

Up and over, Hiral brought his attack down while further increasing the sword’s weight.

WHAAAM, and the three attacks struck simultaneously, their individual devastation simply erasing what was in front of them, and then washing forward to meet the other two. Between the three, the Chimeratron ceased to exist, and then the blasts cancelled each other out.

As quickly as the attacks came, they vanished with little more than a soft pop.

Hiral was about to open his mouth in wonder at the combo-attack, but a notification window beat him to the punch.

Dynamic Quest Complete

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – C-C-C-Combo!

Through unparalleled teamwork, you’ve defeated an escaped weapon never meant to see the outside of the lab. (Obviously, it did.)

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Hiral took a quick note of the flavor text – more evidence about their theory of what lay inside the raid zone? A question he’d answer later. They still needed to get to the wall. With that in mind, he closed the notification window, only for another unexpected one to pop up.

Dynamic Quest Complete

Congratulations. Achievement unlocked – Form, Blazing Sword!

While you haven’t unlocked another of the powerful seals restricting the legendary weapon, you have used its mutable form along with your own ingenuity to create something new.

Please access a Dungeon Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

Ooooooh? While that sounded incredibly interesting – and something he definitely wanted to test – he closed the window. And, of course another one popped up.

Though this one wasn’t anything to smile above.

Dynamic Quest – Beast Wave: Update

Chimeric Interlopers slain: 316/316

The walls have been breached!

A catastrophic mistake by the defenders has led to an entire flank being exposed. Chimeras surge towards the opening, sensing the weakness.

If the remaining champions are overwhelmed, monsters will flood into the city, laying waste to it and its citizens.

Though limited aid has arrived and prevented a complete route, more enemies appear by the minute. Among them stalk something best not spoken of.

Key Defenders Remaining: 498/590

Predator Defeated Chased Off: 1/1

Evolved Predator Defeated: 1/1

Unnamed Defeated: 0/1

Approximate time until the Hanging Gardens is lost: 26 minutes.

Already down to under five-hundred defenders? Even with Right and Left getting there – by the way that note read.

“If something is called Unnamed, is it really unnamed?” Yanily asked.

“Something to worry about later,” Seena said. “We’re moving.”

“Looks like the Ebony Lion collapsed the tunnel over there,” Hiral said, even as the group moved in that direction. As they went, he added more Restoration and Energy to his scarves, replacing the attribute bonus he was giving them for the moment. Without the Banner of Courage, they could use the boost in solar energy regeneration, even with the increases they’d gotten from the Fiendish Tree’s fruit.

“Is there another way?” Seena asked, looking at the fallen stone pillars. “Sis, think you can get us through?”

“Maybe,” Seeyela said slowly. “But I’ll need a few minutes before or after to recover solar energy. The ability evolution I got is not cheap. More expensive the further I need to go, too.”

“Mistress, if I may,” Li’l Ur asked.

“Got an idea, Ur?” Seena said to the lich on her shoulder.

“With our recent practice combining our abilities, I believe I can enhance your movement skill – Phoenix Rush – to get us through,” Li’l Ur explained.

“Uh…” Seena started, looking from the lick to the rubble and back again. “Won’t that just bash my face up against it? That’s more Seeyela’s thing than mine…”

“One time!” Seeyela said. “And nobody was supposed to have seen it.”

“We all did,” Yanily said. “Cept for maybe Drahn and Gran. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you two all about it later.”

“Yan…” Seeyela started, but cut off as Li’l Ur continued.

“With my buff to the ability, it shall burn through this pathetic rubble as easily as your armies will march across the world in your name!” the lich said.

“Don’t have any armies,” Seena replied absently while she stared at the rubble, obviously weighing her chances of making it through with minimal embarrassment. “Okay, we’ll give it a try. Everybody huddle up.”

“Can you take us all?” Hiral asked. He’d seen her pick up people with the ability before, but never the full party.

“At B-Rank it should be fine,” Seena said. “Besides, if one of us is going to faceplant, we all are.”

“Rah rah,” Yanily said. “Team spirit.”

Despite the spearman’s snark, the whole group gathered quickly around Seena, more than one set of eyes going to the timer – and defender count – consistently dropping.

With another look from the rubble to the little lich, Seena began gathering solar energy for her ability. In time with his Mistress, Li’l Ur followed suit, lifting his arms for glowing, blue glyphs to twist down and around her body.

“Everybody ready?” Seena asked.

“Do it,” Seeyela said.

And Seena did. Flames billowed off her to envelope the party, the world around Hiral turning orange and blurry, while his own body felt formless. This wasn’t like when he used the Rune of Gravity – which reduced his weight – but instead more like the boundaries of his body had vanished, becoming one with the fire. Before he had time to really dwell on that, though, they were moving. Fast.

Without having to turn a head it didn’t feel like he had, Hiral simultaneously saw the rubble they were racing towards and the blue glyphs twisting around the flaming bird’s form. I hope it’s enough…

The entire party – transformed into a fiery bird with a fifteen-foot wingspan – crashed into the collapsed tunnel as Hiral reflexively winced. Not that he need have bothered, with the stone and plant-matter melting in front of them. Five feet, ten, fifteen and they burst through the other side, traveling another hundred feet before the conjuration vanished. Six pairs of feet dropped to the ground, not an ounce of momentum left in them, and Seena let out a breath.

“Looks like that’s as far as I can get the whole group,” the party leader said. “Thanks for the help, Ur.”

“Of course, Mistress,” the lich said.

“Doesn’t look like our mounts will fit in this tunnel,” Seena went on, eying the familiar terrain. “We’ll have to run.”

“I can take us,” Hiral said. “I don’t think it’s too much further.”

“You can feel Right and Left?”

“The Connections I made to them, yeah,” Hiral said. “That work for everybody?”

“Do it,” Seena said. “And don’t go slow.”

“Oh, I wasn’t planning to,” Hiral said, his scarves already reaching out to wrap around the other five. As soon as he had them ‘in hand’, he threaded energy into his runes and Edicts. “Ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” Seena said simply.

Another pulse of solar energy, and Hiral launched down the tunnel, the five party members trailing behind him as the number of defenders continued to fall. Stone pillars blurred past him on either side, the lights from the glowing roots stretching into chaotic lines in the corners of his eyes. Faster and faster he pushed himself as he grew more comfortable pulling the others with him, adding Attraction and Rejection not just to his own movements, but also to the power pulling them along. Despite the increased speed, the ‘ride’ got smoother with every sprinting step.

The only downside to the method of travel was how it invalidated his sensory domain. By the time he processed what it ‘felt’ he was already at where the edge of it had been, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he suddenly found himself exiting the tunnel.

And spotted the cliff dropping off directly ahead of him.

Streams of Attraction and Rejection went hard into reverse, arresting his momentum, and Hiral’s feet skidded to a stop right at the edge. He didn’t really bother looking down though, not with what was laid out before.

In a kind of valley-like area with more of the common stone arches above them – thousands of glowing plants hanging like a net of light – the space ahead of them had to be almost a mile of clear space. At the far end, a thick wall stood made of dark stone, the glow of a large city shining beyond. Abilities flashed from the top, a familiar golden dome of light moving along to support the defenders near a breach almost twenty-feet wide.

And in front of that wall, stretching hundreds of feet across the valley floor? A seething mass of Chimeras.