Rune Seeker

Hiral stepped through the portal with Romin and Wallop right behind him, and the blue gateway spiraled closed.

“Everything okay?” Seena asked.

“Fine,” Hiral said, looking at the notification window that had sprung up when they’d entered.

Tempestuous Jailbreak – Dungeon

D-Rank

Top Clear Times

Zevidiah : 37:14

Finotol : 41:41

Burs : 49:01

Yes / No

Hrm. Like Romin was saying, this one looks a bit more challenging, from the times.

One look at Yanily, though, lightning already coursing across his body, the Cloak of the Tempest on his back spreading into the shape of wings, and it was the prisoners Hiral suddenly felt bad for.

“Ready,” the spearman said. Solar energy pulsed with every breath he took, then seemed to hang in the charged air. Small sparks crackled around them, while the sisters’ hair began to rise around their heads.

“We… should probably stand back,” Seena said, and everybody moved to sides of the small ready area while the party leader tapped the air. As soon as her hand hit the Yes button, the white walls of the ready room vanished. Ahead of – and all around – the party, hundreds of prison-cells materialized. Metals bars in the thousands ran from thick-timbered ceiling to floor, lit only by the occasional lantern, casting shadows through a space that extended far beyond what Hiral expected a ship to be. The whole thing had to be thousands of feet long, and maybe a third as wide. But, it wasn’t the sight that really got his attention in that instant of the dungeon forming.

No, it was the smell – strong enough to almost knock Hiral back a step – that slammed into him. A putrid combination of sweat, shit, and hopelessness, it had a thickness to it that felt like fingers reaching into his nose and throat. On top of the gag-inducing odor, the next second had what had to be the front end of the ship rising suddenly into the air, tilting the whole floor under their feet.

Foundational Split burst out of Hiral’s sides as his boots began to slip – Left and Right forming next to him – then the Rune of Attraction locked everybody down.

Up, up, up the world tilted until everybody seemed to be leaning forty-five degrees forward. Then the front dropped so quickly, Hiral and the others almost had the floor slam into their backs. A massive shudder rocked the ship, pushing everybody but Yanily to their knees to keep their balance.

In the center of the group, the spearman stood completely untroubled, like the ship wasn’t trying to buck them completely off. Lightning arced off him to the nearby bars, spreading a white light through the prison area, illuminating the prisoners throwing open their cells. As one, hundreds of heads turned in the party’s direction – the floor evening out beneath everybody – then the rush came.

A wall of angry, bitter bodies, races of all kinds from Troblins to Squalians and humans. Another, larger group mixed with the rest. With thick, knobby skin, these things almost looked like walking trees, but they had far too much muscle to be plants.

No, those had to be the Duggers he’d only ever heard about. Unlike the Troblins, these creatures had fat lips with tusks jutting up from their bottom jaws. Heavy folds of skin hooded the top of their eyes, while quill-like protrusions coated their heads in place of hair above bat-like ears. In a way, the things looked like an odd combination of Quillbacks, Troblins, and the Spined Great Tusks.

For a brief second, Hiral wondered if he’d need to do something – even with a two-Rank difference, this many bodies could overwhelm them – until Yanily stepped forward. Or, maybe lunged was a better descriptor, his spear thrusting out while the lightning vanished from his body and the air around the party. Only for it to reappear in a thunderous roar like a beast finally unchained.

Leg-thick ropes of lightning snarled ahead, scoring long burns across the floor and ceiling until they slammed into the lead runners. Striking them so fast they didn’t even have time to react – or get thrown away – before they were suddenly ash, the lightning lived up to its name, chaining outward. And, even as those lead bolts of Chain Lightning+ spread in all directions, two more follow-up bolts launched from Yanily’s spear, courtesy of his cloak and the Wristbands of the Recurring Tempest. Each with a chance to repeat abilities he’d used – apparently both had triggered.

The devastation was instant and decisive, a wave of ash blasting away from the party as body after body simply poofed in a rushing line towards the far end of the room. Bones lit up for a split second within the flesh before both disintegrated, washing those standing behind them in fine grey powder before they themselves evaporated. Where Hiral thought the arcing lightning would eventually run out of power, he found his eyes widening as it just kept going. Within three blinks, the room was almost entirely empty of bodies – all the way to the far wall and a lonely set of stairs leading up – with only three prisoners left standing. And those, barely at all.

View popped up a moment later to identify the three Mid-Bosses. Warlord Dugger Dugg, Split-Twin Ror, and Split-Twin Mir. Just looking at the three staggering out of their cells, bodies smoking and charred in places, it was easy to tell they weren’t long for this world.

While similar to the other Duggers, Warlord Dugg was a hulking specimen. More spines – like the ones on his head – trailed across his shoulders and down his muscular arms. Fists like warhammers hung at his sides, until he casually reached out and ripped one of the prison cell doors off its hinges to use as a weapon. Part of Hiral’s mind wondered why he didn’t just do that to escape in the first place, but his attention quickly got pulled to the Twins.

Like Romin had mentioned, there was definitely… something else going on there. Almost like one person had been split right down the middle and separated in two, their ‘outer’ sides were normal. Just people, like a Grower or Maker on the outside – without any tattoos or anything. However, it was their ‘inner’ sides that got Hiral’s mind spinning.

A pair of gaunt arms grew from the shoulder and just below – similar to the crystal golems the Builders made – but each ended in a hand with clawed fingers. A blade of bone seemed to protrude from the backs of those elbows, while another, shorter one, rose from the shoulders. Even that side of the torso, now that Hiral was looking, seemed starved, with the ribs outlined through the alabaster-colored flesh, red veins visible through the thin skin. From the back, around the shoulder blade, a pitch-black wing extended, though the feathers looked more like long, narrow scales. On the bottom, the leg was of similar make, relatively human-shaped until it got to the foot, where more claws adorned the toes, and a spike of bone extended from the heel.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

All of that – different as it was – didn’t prepare Hiral for the head. A single horn jutted from the temple at eye-level straight ahead, shaped almost like a bolt of lightning. Beside it, the eye would’ve seemed entirely black, except Hiral’s high Atn picked out what looked like a universe within it – eerily similar to Fate Spinner. The lipless mouth extended almost all the way back to the slightly pointed ear, sharp teeth fitting together so perfectly, Hiral wouldn’t have even realized it wasn’t flesh if the mouth wasn’t open. Glistening hair hung from its head, and – honestly – if it wasn’t for the damage Yanily’s attack had done, the facial features could’ve almost been said to be… beautiful. Perfectly proportioned, it was…

“Kindred?” Li’l Ur said. “That’s unexpected.”

“What’s a…?” Seena started, before light seemed to flee the room. No, flee wasn’t the right word. Consumed. Light. Color. All of it pulled towards a single point as the world turned monochrome.

A point directly in front of Yanily’s mouth as the man leaned forward.

Energy spiraled into a growing sphere, the air around it warping as it grew and then condensed in power. One second – no, less – was all it took before the ball of energy tore apart, and his Dragon Breath was unleashed.

Growing from the size of a fist to a beam more than a foot wide, the blast overtook the three Mid-Bosses – who were conveniently lined up in front of the spearman – and punched straight through them before they could take another step. Charred lines along the ceiling and floor, just from the proximity to the beam, ran the length of the room.

For a split second, Hiral could see straight through the perfectly symmetrical holes in each of the Mid-Bosses’ chests – and the one through the staircase and outer hull of the ship – before the bodies fell over. Just like that, the entire room was empty except for the party.

“Damn, Yan,” Seeyela said, though she didn’t get to say anymore before Yanily shot ahead with his movement ability.

“We’re not getting left behind,” Hiral said, igniting his pseudo-aspect and grabbing the others in his scarves without a word. Then he was moving too, the ruins of the prison blurring past as he caught up to Yanily and followed the other man up the stairs. Rain lashed against him halfway up, though a field of Rejection pushed it back a heartbeat later, and he crested the top step.

To find a massive serpent’s head staring down at them. Spikes as long as a horse-drawn wagon – complete with four horses to pull it – extended back from the side of the beast’s head, leathery flesh between them vibrating in threat. Fangs as big as some buildings extended from its upper jaw, while the serpentine eyes narrowed. Scales like shields glistened in the rain, while two fins almost like wings ran down the length of the massive body that vanished over the side of the ship and into the thrashing sea.

Well, maybe vanished wasn’t quiteright. Hiral could feel more of the body behind him through his sensory domain, wrapped around and around and around the hull of the ship. Squeezing. It was a wonder the whole deck hadn’t already collapsed, though anything that had been in that area was now simply gone.

That would have to be the part of the Boss they’d have to target to bring that head down within range to hit.

The head that… was still staring at them. In fact, the whole sea serpent seemed to have completely frozen in place.

Eyes narrowing, Hiral let View activate.

(Boss) Unilaxtiz – Ward of the Storm – Unknown Rank

Even as the name appeared above the Boss’s head, the monster’s eyes closed, and its massive form lowered. But it wasn’t attacking. Lower and lower the head went, until the chin gently touched the deck fifty feet in front of the party. Only there – though it still towered over the group – did it open its eyes, to look intently at one person.

Yanily.

The spearman stood in front of the rest of the party, lightning sparking along his body while the bottom of his spear rested on the deck beside him. And though he didn’t have his weapon at the ready, an aura of unflinching dominance poured off him.

Ward of the Storm…?

The sea-serpent wasn’t attacking… because it was bowing. To Yanily.

“Go on then,” Yanily said, lifting up his free hand to make a shooing gesture.

Relief seemed to pass across the Boss’s body in a wave, and Hiral felt the previous death grip of the serpent’s long body on the ship loosen ever-so-carefully. Hundreds of feet of body – thousands – unfurled from around the hull until only the head remained, the rest hidden beneath the waves that calmed within the next blink of an eye. Overhead, thick storm clouds that’d been spewing rain simply broke apart and fled in all directions, the sun appearing to shine down like it’d been there the whole time.

With the sea calm all around them, the Boss finally lifted its head from the ship’s deck, gave one last bobbing bow, then gently slipped beneath the surface of the water.

“Uh…” Seena started. “Is that… did we win?”

As if in answer to her question, a notification window sprung up in front of Hiral’s face.

Dungeon – Tempestuous Jailbreak: Complete

New Record

Time: 0:01:01

Through force – and apparently mercy – you’ve “quelled” a dangerous riot and prevented a violent horde from descending on a peaceful land.

Time until Dungeon – Tempestuous Jailbreak instance closure: 59:99

“Damn,” Yanily said, turning with a smile to the rest of the party. “Bet I could get it under a minute next time.”

As Yanily said that, Hiral looked off the side of the ship. Where was a peaceful land? With the storm gone and the sea calm, it actually didn’t take him long to figure it out – a coast of sandy beaches well within swimming distance. Even if the ship had been crushed, any who escaped its grasp could’ve made it to shore. And beyond the beaches? Plains of flowing green grass, extending far in the distance until they reached the foot of a towering mountain.

One with a crescent shaped peak…

“Before we even talk about next time,” Seeyela started, drawing Hiral’s attention back to the group. “What did you do, Yan? Did you just chase the Boss away with a staring contest?”

“Oh, Laxi? Nah,” Yanily said, somehow referring to the massive sea serpent by a nickname. “He worked for Heaven’s Punishment, so he recognized me, I guess? Apologized a whole bunch for attacking a ship I was on – even though it’s trespassing – then begged for me to spare him. Said something about having a wife and kids at home, you know, usual sob story.”

“I don’t think anything about this is usual,” Hiral said. “And, even though this is a dungeon, that worked?”

“I guess?” Yanily said with a shrug. “I don’t make the rules.”

“You know,” Seena said. “I still have more questions – like what the Kindred thing you talked about is, Ur – but that’s the interface over there. Let’s get our rewards and move on to the C-Rank dungeon while you explain that,” she finished while talking to the little lich.

“Of course, Mistress,” Li’l Ur said, and the group walked over to the interface.

As soon as they reached it, Seena paused as if something had occurred to her. “Hey, did anybody get an achievement for speed running our third dungeon?”

Hiral did a quick check to see if he’d missed a notification. Nothing. “Not me,” he said.

“Nothing here,” Seeyela agreed, and the others quickly confirmed the same.

“Ah well,” Seena said. “There goes that theory. Too bad.”

That hope quashed, the party leader swiped her hand above the crystal, and the whole dungeon began to darken, though Hiral’s eyes went back to the mountain in the distance.

That really looks like the same one, except from a different angle…

Then it was gone, swallowed by the absolute night sweeping across the land. In its place, far above, the night sky filled with stars. Pinpricks of light appearing one by one, then ten by ten. Soon, hundreds, thousands, millions of them filled the sea of black above, and reflected off the actual sea below. Just when Hiral thought that would be it – and the chests would appear – the stars above began to streak across the sky. No, it wasn’t the stars moving, it was them. Like the world they were on was suddenly spinning in place. Individual stars became searing lines, merging together as the world spun and spun.

The sea of black with white specks quickly reversed into a sea of white, only the faintest hint of the darkness lingering in the corner. Then, all at once it stopped, leaving the ship floating in light, though nothing was visible beyond it.

“That was new,” Yanily said quietly.

“Same as usual,” Romin said, voice normal, though the rest of the party stared in wonder at the different dungeon conclusion. “Chests have arrived.”

Hiral let his eyes linger in the direction of the mountain for a few more seconds before he pulled them away to eye the five chests – again – on the deck. Like the Quaint Farm dungeon, the chests here looked almost identical. Has to be more of those vials, just like we were hoping.

“All right folks, let’s get these done and move on to the C-Rank dungeon,” Seena said. “Don’t think we need a rest after this one, though, Left, if you would?”

“Got it,” Left said, once again bringing out the Banner of Courage to help Yanily regain his solar energy.

With the dome of gold light mixing with the dungeon’s light, Hiral walked over and opened his chest.

Time for another upgrade.