Rune Seeker

All at once, the forest around him vanished, only to be replaced with the familiar fortress and sounds of battle.

Abilities roared. Solar energy flared. Monsters howled and people screamed. Above him, a massive tree had grown from the cliff face overlooking the keep and casting the area in shadow. From each branch, leaves of gold and green gleamed as they caught the sunlight, while a line of Connection ran from each to one of the combatants below.

Grandmother’s power protecting people.

Even with that, though, Hiral could see allies fall to the Chimeric claws of the beast wave assaulting the keep. Seena’s Glass Cannons had already been destroyed, and the construct-guardians – though still alive – couldn’t be everywhere at once. It was total chaos, and Hiral threaded energy into his time runes. The extra seconds they’d provide would give him a chance to assess the situation – though his first impression would describe it in one simple word.

Bad.

Quick glances around showed enemies of Ranks from E- to B-, spread out in the entire area the fortress was meant to cover. The rushing horde seemed made up of what looked like Chimeric versions of things Hiral had met previously – Troblins, Squalians, and Duggers, along with animals warped like the hyenas had been, such as the wolves before. They were everywhere.

Maybe they’d attacked the settlement the same way the wolves had – by rushing up the slope – but without a wall there to hold them, they’d run rampant all the way back to the buildings. From the blood and torn tents, it had been a vicious flurry of violence. One that would’ve left a lot more bodies if Grandmother’s power wasn’t protecting them.

Those lines of gold and green had left glowing cocoons on the ground where Hiral could only assume the wounded – and hopefully not dead lay – while also shielding those still fighting. And there were a lot of people fighting. More than Hiral would’ve expected. He even spotted the healer from Burs’s group.

Some of the teams that’d been sent out must’ve returned!

But… it still wasn’t enough. Just looking at the frozen battle, it was obvious. There were too many non-combatants for the number of monsters attacking. The defenders were getting overwhelmed. Worse, it would happen long before Seena and the rest of Hiral’s raid party arrived to help.

Hiral needed to do something to turn things around himself. Somehow.

As Wule would say, wonderful.

First, though, he needed to find the biggest threat. It didn’t take him long.

White skin, four arms, and a pair of horns on its head, the creature would’ve been at least a dozen feet tall if it stood upright. Instead, it hunched forward with an elongated torso, its four, wiry arms used to move it along with its shorter rear legs. Its waist was barely thicker than the spine within it, and its ribs showed through the thin, paper-like skin.

Frail-looking as it was, though, its power belied its appearance. It had lashed out, one arm swatting aside Burs like the man was little more than a fly. Though frozen in time, the man was flying through the crowd, bowling them over or aside, while the creature had lunged forward, another hand wrapping around the neck of an older woman standing in front of a group of wounded.

Hiral barely registered Grandmother getting caught by the Chimeric General – his eyes instead falling on two of the injured behind the woman.

Nat and Milly. Blood ran from wounds down each of their faces. Milly’s left arm hung like it wasn’t working properly, and one of Nat’s eyes had swollen shut. Between them, Elezad lay unconscious on the ground.

At seeing them like that, well, Hiral kind of lost it.

Time snapped back into motion as solar energy erupted from him like a bomb, throwing aside the low-Rank monsters nearby.

Foundational Split cancelled and reactivated, his doubles emerging at his sides, equal parts fury and focus. That wouldn’t be enough on its own, though, so Hiral reached deep into the well of his solar energy. Into the way it moved through his channels like it had a mind of its own.

Then he took it, and he slammed it through those channels with purpose. The Edicts he commanded flared to life in his vision, and he grabbed those too. Bent them to his will as the Second-Skin of Amin Thett burst into white energy along the connected runes.

More. He needed more. And the Edicts would help him get it.

Taking their power, he filled them with his will. His intent. Like he’d done against The Archwizard. Then he grabbed all that power, and he smashed it against the nodes blocking him from the other Edicts. He’d once told himself it would be a very bad idea to try to force more of those nodes open. That he should let it happen naturally.

Naturally wasn’t fast enough when his family was in danger. He needed power, and he needed it now.

Some of that same soreness – not fully healed – came rising to the surface in his channels, despite the buttery-smooth solar energy rushing through him. He ignored the pain. What was that pain compared to what he’d feel if something happened to his sisters?

Focused on Cycling in the seconds between seconds, Hiral battered the nodes blocking him from the other Edicts over and over again with his solar energy. Wearing away at whatever metaphysical substance stood between him and them, he threw his entire intent at them. His image. His will.

He wasn’t trying to change gravity this time. He wasn’t trying to affect his whole party. No, this time, his entire focus was on his image of himself. Of how he would change his personal reality for a short time.

Of how he would unlock the things holding him back.

Concentrating solely on that, he felt his energy slip past the first node. It hadn’t broken down like he thought he’d need. No, the modified solar energy – still dosed with Politet’s drug – had wound its way through the barrier. He didn’t need to force his way past the nodes. He could use what Politet’s drug – and Gran’s An Unfinished Weave – had temporarily done to him instead!

With that, Hiral drew back on the massive waves of solar energy crashing through his channels, and instead split them into tiny streams. Streams small enough to work their way around the nodes. The understanding of how to do it, plus his intent of what he wanted – no, needed – done, and the power of the Edicts ensconced him and his doubles in a cocoon of their own.

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Invisible to anybody but them, the Edicts circled the trio, pulsing with power, and tilted reality just a touch to the side. Rebuilt it. Made it Hiral’s version of reality.

And in that version, like a snap of his fingers, all of Hiral’s runes ignited. All of them connected with their Edicts.

Still, it wasn’t quite enough. This wasn’t all Hiral could be, was it? His eyes went to who his opponent would be, View giving him a name.

(Wild-Boss) Ex-General – Chimeric Kindred – Unknown-Rank

It was a Wild-Boss. Possibly a raid-level one at that. Which meant at least A-Rank. Hiral needed more.

Furious energy still storming around and within him, Hiral turned his attention to his PIM. To what his will was already enforcing on his reality. Unlocking. Well, there was one lock definitely holding him back – his Rank.

Not even taking the time to wonder if he could, Hiral grabbed the curtain separating him from A-Rank, and he yanked it aside. The folds in reality where the PIMP hid shuddered in resistance, but it couldn’t compete against the power of the unleashed Edicts. It bent to his will, flooding his body with the A-Rank secrets.

As soon as they touched him, Hiral knew they were temporary. Short-lived. That this was a one-time thing brought on by the coincidental circumstances stemming from Politet’s poison and Gran’s two-percent ability.

That was fine. Hiral wouldn’t need this for long.

His body and senses came alive at reaching A-Rank – even if for a moment – while his solar energy moved a step closer to what he’d witnessed through The Archwizard’s final portal. Closer to the heart of a sun.

Still… was there more? He could practically see it in those folds where the PIMP hid – the wall now keeping him from S-Rank. Should be tear it aside as well? His instincts told him quite clearly what that answer to that was. No.

There would already be consequences to what he’d done, and going further could mean something he’d never come back from. Not whole, at least.

So Hiral let the wall stand – he could come back if he needed it – and instead turned his attention elsewhere. Almost immediately, there within his own PIM, he found an alternative. One that almost made him laugh out loud.

The damn thing that had practically started all the pain he’d been feeling was sitting there like half-an-echo, still connected to him. A lingering part of Yanily’s Turn Back the Clock. As if part of the skill had imprinted itself on Hiral’s PIM when he’d linked them up.

And now he had a choice. He could use the skill – what was left of it – to reset all his own cooldowns now, though it would completely scrub the ability from his PIM once and for all. Or, he could leave it where it was. Take the time to rebuild it in his own PIM later. Make it a permanent part of his skillset.

One look at his bleeding sisters made the decision in an instant, and Hiral filled the ability with his solar energy. Powerful abilities came off – then went right back on – cooldown as he used them one after another.

Double Trouble+ and Domain of the Sun+ turned the entire fortress area into a powerful amphitheatre buffing everybody inside, thanks to Siege Breaker. Or, actually, Siege Breaker+ – it had upgraded from Evolutionary Inspiration after all! Specifically, the second part of it.

When defending: Buffs or abilities that would normally only apply to party members now apply to anybody within a range determined by Rank. Additionally, buff potency is increased by 1% per 4 additional people outside of user’s party affected, including the user.

Note: Bonus potency caps at 100%

Everybody within the area was now getting empowered by his domain. Doubly empowered. No, triple if he took Double Trouble+ into account – it looked like the bonus was additive instead of multiplicative. Oh well, it was still amazing with almost four-hundred people within Domain of the Sun+.

And, it wasn’t like Hiral stopped there, moving on to Resonance of Heroes before blessing Right and Left with Vanguard’s Sword and Vanguard’s Shield respectively. Hiral had often used the abilities on other party members, but, really, they felt more right on his doubles. Like they were made for them.

With those buffs done, Hiral activated Delicate Balance all the way to thirty percent – his health dropping before ticking back up thanks to Runic Regeneration – for a sixty-percent damage bonus. That just left one more thing, and Hiral slammed more energy into Double Trouble+ again, this time pairing it with Eloquently Enraged+.

A second bomb of solar energy erupted off Hiral and his doubles, this time shredding nearby monsters that hadn’t made it far enough away. Allies, on the other hand, found themselves healed. Their solar energy restored, as if Hiral’s A Violent End had triggered.

Now… now it was enough.

Across their bodies, the Second-Skins of Amin Thett burst from black to white, completely engulfing them in regalia of pure energy. It frayed at the edges, lifting into the air like burning embers of scorching white, only to be replaced by their churning solar energy. Black runes slithered into place on Hiral, stark against the background, but somehow more solid than they’d ever felt. More alive. In places, they bled out, like miniscule veins stretching for each other – though they remained overshadowed by the blinding white to anybody else.

There was meaning in those new links, but they were something that would have to wait for later.

On Right, Meridian Lines – all of them – flared to life in glorious red and purple streaking across his white Second-Skin. Power – like a physical weight – surrounded him, and his Auroran Conquerors glowed like twin suns on his fists.

For Left, it was his tattoos, and the double wasted no time, his hands whipping across his body to shape one tattoo after another. The Pack emerged at his side. Fiery blue Wings of Anella sprung from his shoulders. Two Heralds appeared at his back and then did something strange. Instead of standing side by side, their powers overlapping, the four-armed Heralds of War and Peace instead turned back-to-back, then flowed together. Merged into one.

Waves of power – protection and fury – washed out across the battlefield, bathing the embattled Growers, Makers, and Bonders in Peace and War.

But, much like Hiral, Left had one more trick of up his sleeve, and he thrust his left hand out in front of him as his right went to his back. Even Hiral’s non-existent hair stood on end at the power Left shaped. Electricity seemed to charge the air – because it was.

With a BOOM of thunder that shook the valley, Left finally shaped the Spear of Clouds.

As one, the battle seemed to stop, every eye turning to the double and the weapon sparking in his hand. The air around him shivered, peeling back as he lowered the point of the spear towards a long line of Chimeras just coming over the ridge and into the camp.

A flash – like lightning – and the dozen monsters were simply gone. Only smoking craters remained where they’d been standing.

“What’s left of the army is yours,” Hiral said, eyes locked on the Ex-General turning his way.

“What’s left?” Right asked.

Hiral unleashed Intimidating Aura+. A weight like the moon falling on the camp crushed anything Ranked E- through C-, literally flattening them where they stood. Before they exploded. Because of course they would.

Even the B-Ranks staggered under the onslaught, but they were powerful enough to withstand the worst of it. Still, there were a lot of them.

“What’s left,” Hiral reiterated. “The general is mine.”