Rune Seeker

In a lot of ways, the challenges in front of Nivian’s and Ilrolik’s parties were almost the perfect counters to their strengths.

The swarm of bird-like, metal flyers weren’t individually strong or powerful – each getting killed by little more than a stern look from one of the party – but they were numerous. So much so, that killing one or a hundred hardly made a difference. There were just always more. And Nivian’s party didn’t have a great way at dealing with that.

The newest member – Dole – seemed to be doing the best at it, with his magical chains likewise swarming through the air. Since the bird-things weren’t terribly durable, even the chains meant to restrain-more-than-damage were enough to kill the targets, but the numbers were still to the enemies’ advantage. The rest of the party, more focused on single-target damage, was barely putting a dent in their opposition even as minor damage built up on them from the constant, stinging attacks from the birds.

If things didn’t change there, they would be overwhelmed eventually.

On the other side, Ilrolik’s group didn’t actually have anything to fight. The massive Shapers, towering juggernauts who could stand toe-to-toe with nearly any opponent and expect to win, just made for bigger targets. Traps by the dozen littered that side of the field, from metal plates that triggered chains of explosions, to pits filled with spikes, jets of flames, and even zones of debilitating debuffs and illusions.

Sera seemed to be doing the best of the bunch, using her buffs to offset some of the danger of the traps – until one of those explosions went right off in the center of the group. Health bars dropped in the raid interface as nobody managed to get away unscathed, though they started climbing again immediately as Yully got to work.

Much like the birds, the traps didn’t individually seem capable of one-shotting any of the party members, but there were just so many, and it didn’t seem like standing still bought them any time. The traps were able to move and – worse – rearm.

If Ilrolik’s group didn’t evolve their tactics, winning the race would really be the least of their worries.

As for Hiral’s group, despite the four meteors of volatile energy exploding against the tower’s walls, there didn’t seem to be any significant damage done, and no more of those shots came his way. They’re learning quickly.

Still, considering the party was sieging the tower, they had a nice little bonus thanks to one of their recently upgraded skills.

Siege Breaker+

Gain bonuses when attacking or defending a fortified position.

When attacking: Inflict 20% additional damage to buildings, constructs, and inanimate object, and leave a lingering debuff that degrades structural integrity and the defenses of their defenders.

Additionally, defenders suffer a penalty based on Rank difference when trying to resist any of your debuffs.

Note: Rank-difference penalty as follow: No difference – 10%. 1 Rank – 25%. 2 Ranks – 45%. 3 Ranks – 70%. 4 or more Ranks – 100%.

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%

Note (2): Current buff range is 625 feet.

Before Hiral had a chance to spot any of that lingering damage mentioned, more flashes from the top of the tower got his attention, even as movement spurred along surrounding wall.

“More inc…” he started, but didn’t even get to finish his sentence as a spear of hard light streaked past him to smash into the ground. Lacking some of the outright chaotic and destructive potential of the catapult-like shots, this one more than made up for it in speed and piercing power. As soon as the blasts hit the earth, the hardened light the spear seemed to be made of, erupted, cascading onward to shred anything in its path, tearing a line fifteen-feet long through the dirt.

Luckily, the party had managed to dive aside and avoid the worst of it, but the next volley was already on the way. And it wasn’t the only thing.

That movement Hiral had spotted on the wall turned out to be lines of faintly-green-glowing soldiers, each with a bow raised in the direction of the party. As they were nearly two miles away, Hiral inwardly scoffed at them being any threat compared to the siege cannons hurling those spears at them.

“Spectres,” Li’l Ur said suddenly. “Interesting choice for defenders, but it explains the energy signature I’m sensing. Do not to get hit, Mistress…”

“Trying!” Seena shouted, diving out of the way of yet another spear of light that crashed into the ground where she’d just been standing. Even with the loose tree-cover they had around them, none of them trusted a simple tree-trunk to block one of these devastating shots.

Even as she said that, the sky above Hiral tinted green, and he looked up to find a veritable wave of arrows coming down in their direction.

Two miles. Two damn miles, and they reached us?

“Arrows are mine,” Yanily shouted into the party chat.

“Ours!” Seeyela corrected.

Then, at the same time, Yanily shot into the sky, arcs of lightning trailing behind him like he’d zipped along a guide rail, while Seeyela vanished in a Bamf of purple and red flame. Both of them appearing further above Hiral, planes of pink butterflies under their feet, they stood looking at the crashing tidal wave of arrows coming in their direction. From the sheer number of them, there had to be some magic hijinks going on, because there weren’t nearly that many Spectres.

“I’ll get the left side,” Yanily said. Nearby, Seeyela nodded, and solar energy rippled off the pair of them.

From the spearman, one, two, three terrible bolts of lightning leapt from his spear as he lunged forward. Clawing and snapping at the air, the very draconic-looking lightning tore its way at the coming arrows, and as soon as it met the first one, branched off in a hundred different direction.

In a flash – literally – the Chain Lightning created a net of electricity, flash-frying every arrow it touched. Just like that, half the sky was empty again. As for the other half of the sky, well, those arrows continued to fall… directly into gaping portals that opened in front of them. Sheets of black unfurled in numbers and size Hiral had never seen Seeyela pull off before, and when they vanished, the arrows were gone with them.

Insatiable indeed…

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All the while, more of the lances of light had continued, though they didn’t seem to have the same accuracy – somehow – of the catapult shots. Instead, they relied on speed, destructive ability, and fire rate. Lines of torn earth and shattered trees showed where they’d hit dozens of times, but none of them had managed to hit any of the party members.

In fact, as more of the spears fell, each of the party members found their own way to deal with the attacks.

Right, of course, simply punched the spear coming straight for him. The hard-light of the attack met the semi-solid, solar Auroran Conquerors, and the winner was never in doubt, with the force erupting from the blow blasting the spear’s fallout backward.

Romin and Wallop – apparently impressed by Right’s display – combined into their Onslaught form. Now almost twice as big, armored like a walking fortress, and with something to prove, Romin threw his own punch to meet the spear.

He… actually missed… with his fist hitting nothing but empty air, while the spear slammed into the center of his chest. Shattering against his armored chest, the full power of the artillery-lance… didn’t do much to him. A single percent of his health dropped in the party interface, and his steps barely slowed.

Compared to the overwhelming power of TheArchwizard they’d fought, Romin’s Onslaught class was more than up to taking on something his Rank.

Just goes to show how overpowered that old goat was.

Left, unlike his double, took a more refined approach to the spears – he avoided them. With his Atn still being second only to Hiral’s amongst the group, he clearly saw the attacks coming, the lines they would follow, and the area where they destructive fallout would swallow. Then he made sure he simply wasn’t there. The Wings of Anella sprouting from his shoulders and the Touch of the Primal coating his body in a sheath of energy gave him all the physical speed he needed. Meanwhile, beside him, he’d even summoned The Pack to give the spears more targets. The agile hounds didn’t have any more problems than Left avoiding the spears.

And, just in case, the Herald of Peace floated behind Left, the robed man sitting serenely with his four hands pressed together in front of him. The Aura and Circleof Peace would dull any attacks that did manage to hit one of the party members.

Gran, almost surprisingly, didn’t have any more trouble than Left. Any time a spear got near her, the old woman’s body would suddenly blur to the side, like a series of frozen images in a line, for her to appear several paces ahead and to the side, well out of the way of the danger. Over and over, she sped ahead on the battlefield, cackling all the way.

With her role as the party’s healer, it was easy to forget she was a powerful – and very dangerous – vampire as well.

Last, but most certainly not least, was Seena. Spears of her own flames launched ahead of her to intercept the hard-light lances coming straight for her. Where the two collided, spheres of fire – twenty feet in diameter – erupted, completely consuming the dangerous energy of the artillery. One after the other, she snapped an arm forward, tossing a spear to block the attacks coming her way. With each one, she refined the amount of power she was using. Corrected her aim. Perfected her timing.

Hiral couldn’t help but smile at his party leader, friend, girlfriend using the opportunity to test her own limits and hone her skills. No wonder we get along so well.

On her shoulder, Li’l Ur glowed with blue energy, scripts like liquid flowing from his hands, down Seena’s shoulders, and across her body. Wrapping her almost like a second PIM, the power clearly reinforced her magics, adding sparks of blue within the swirling red of her own fire.

But, even in the seconds Hiral observed the rest of his party – mainly through his sensory domain – flashes from the top of the tower showed he wasn’t excused from dealing with the artillery. A long spear of the hard light streaked straight for him, and while he could simply sidestep it – Slow… – he instead took a page from Seena’s book and decided to test something.

Reaching into his Arsenal of Amin Thett, Hiral pulled out four of his Mobile Artillery Spheres. While they were the same sphere the Artists and Academics used – and the ones he’d borrowed after the battle with Vorinal – he didn’t have the option of inking them. Instead, they just had three simple functions.

The first, of course, was their ability to fly and follow his commands, thanks to the power of the Arsenal. The second ability was offensive, with concentrated beams of energy. As the Spheres were only C-Rank, those beams had already proven to be unfortunately weak compared to their B-Rank opponents.

Maybe I can find a way to upgrade these in a different way than the other Makers are…

A thought for later, and Hiral instead focused on the third ability of the Spheres, and the reason he’d brought them out in the first place.

Barriers of force appeared in front of each of the Spheres as Hiral maneuvered them in front of him, forming a wall between himself and the incoming attack. Again, much like the beams, the barrier would only be C-Rank as well. Clearly not powerful enough to stand up to the attack coming his way.

Assuming he didn’t do anything to improve it.

Runes of Rejection, Dreaming, and Increase swirled around him, then reinforced the shield. A good start, but he wasn’t finished there. Next came his Runes of Energy, Impact, and Decrease. Much like he done against that face-making construct in the Lost Refuge of the Lost, he altered the shield to also directly counter the incoming force.

The only question was how well it would work.

Just in case, Hiral took a small step to the side, a heartbeat before the hard-light spear slammed into the barrier.

With a sound like shattering glass, the spear exploded into shards of energy, filling the air and cascading safely past Hiral. His barrier hadn’t even shuddered. More spears came, and he didn’t even bother moving from where he floated, hand extended in front of himself.

WHAM, WHAM, WHAM – the spears hit, broke under their own force, and lit up the sky like sparkling diamonds of energy.

An energy that called out to Hiral. No, not to him… to his Rune of Energy. Free floating like it was, lost, directionless, it was like the energy sought a home. A purpose.

On instinct, Hiral threaded solar power into his Runes of Energy and Attraction, then focused on the central point of his Ring of Amin Thett. Like a whirlpool, it further broke down the ambient shards, transforming them into streams of energy that flowed into the rune seared in the space within the ring.

Just like when he got kill-energy to power up his Annihilation of Amin Thett, the script on the outside of the ring began to fill – quickly.

Four more spears shattered against his barrier, their broken components getting sucked into the ring, and then it was full.

Hiral could only smile as he transformed the Ring of Amin Thett into its Crown of Amin Thett form, bringing the two crystal horns to rest comfortably across his skull. Extending slightly in front of his face, the horns almost acted like a focus, painting whatever lay between them as a target to his eyes.

“Hey, Hiral,” Seena said into the party chat as she continued to play with the streaking artillery coming her way. Above them both, another wave of arrows crashed against the defense Seeyela and Yanily mounted. And, it wasn’t Hiral’s imagination, but Yanily was laughing as he released another sky-filling Chain Lightning+. “Go take care of those archers, would you? We’ll follow.”

“Spectres are nearly immune to physical damage,” Li’l Ur quickly added into the chat. “I created them to act as assassins unhindered by small things like walls, armor, or even armies.”

“Energy works?” Hiral asked.

“The right kind, yes,” Li’l Ur said. “I trust that you – as my would-be apprentice – can figure that out.”

“Oh, I’ve got an idea on the top of my head,” Hiral said.

Seena actually groaned. “Seriously? Just go kill the Spectres. Use your bad jokes on them instead of us.”

“You know you love them,” Hiral said.

“No comment.”

Joking aside, Hiral’s eyes lingered on Seena a moment longer – thankful yet again he’d managed to save her from the Unnamed – then turned to the distant Spectres. Around a mile-and-a-half distant, they drew back on their bows with impunity, thinking they could bombard the party with little threat to themselves.

Runic power pulsed outward from Hiral, another spear shattering harmlessly on his shield, and his pseudo-aspect flared. The Coat of Amin Thett snapped in a windless sky, while the Edicts called to him.

Another pulse of power, and Hiral was simply gone, Rejection rocketing him forward like one of the meteors that’d be thrown at the party. In the next instant, he appeared above the outer wall of the fort, energy spiraling between the horns of the Crown of Amin Thett.

Little threat? Time to show them just how wrong they are.