Rune Seeker

Just looking at how little damage they’d done, Hiral held off on his next shots, instead watching the others. Another forking bolt of lightning arced across the monster’s plating, followed by a trio of quick Cinder+ and a fireball.

No damage. None.

Seeyela seemed to notice the same thing he did as her voice came over the party chat. “How come you’re able to hurt it, Hiral? They rest of us might as well be throwing insults at it for all the good we’re doing.”

“Insults might actually work better,” Yanily said. “Hey! Your mother was a pair of ugly, heavy boots, owned by somebody who had no fashion sense!”

Hiral just ignored Yanily’s inspired insult – as did the Runeoceros, unfortunately – and instead replied to Seeyela. “I think it’s because Piercing Shot+ ignores defense. Though, apparently not very much defense.”

“Or that thing just has that much health,” Seena chimed in while tossing another pair of fireballs that did little more than light up the tunnel. “It is a Wild-Boss after all, so we have to assume it’ll have Boss-likeabilities.”

“As well as health,” Hiral mumbled. “That makes sense. You guys might actually be doing damage, then. Just not enough to move the bar.”

“Maybe emotional damage,” Yanily said. “Cause my spear isn’t doing shit.” As if to prove his point, the man quick-stepped in with his Reed-Spear Style, a barrage of whipping thrusts driving into the beast’s armored side.

Not a single one even dented the plating.

And, maybe Yanily’s earlier insult had gotten the Wild-Boss’s attention, as the horned head whipped around in the spearman’s direction. The horn – as tall as Yanily was – glowed with Runes of Impact around it, while a Rune of Rejection boosted its speed from the other side. All in all, the thing moved far faster than a beast with its bulk had any right to, and the attack came in the blink of an eye.

Yanily, though, was no novice to battle, and his crystal Splinter of the Stormcame up across his body to block the blow while the soles of his boots flashed to life. Getting hit head-on like that by the Runeoceros would be like trying to stop an entire mountain, and Yanily seemed to realize that, his own Runes of Rejection activating on his boots to throw him backwards. Still, even with his quick reaction and countermeasure, he wasn’t quite fast enough.

The collision sounded with an echoing crack that hurled him clear across the wide tunnel, directly for an abrupt stop against the stone of the far wall.

“Yan!” Seena shouted, and even Hiral braced for the impact.

Except, one never came.

A curtain of black unfurled between the rocketing spearman and the wall just inches before he would’ve slammed into it, and Yanily vanished within.

Where…?

Thunder boomed down the tunnel, bouncing off the walls, at the same time a flash drew Hiral’s attention above. There, a horizontal portal, with Yanily dropping out of it. Still moving at the same speed he had when he’d gone into Seeyela’s first portal, the spearman had somehow managed to twist in the air. A torrent of lightning coated the weapon gripped in both hands, point down, as he plummeted straight for the unsuspecting Wild-Boss’s back.

While it wasn’t quite a Skyfall+, the strike still blasted arm-thick lashes of lightning out to all sides, tearing at the wall and floor to leave gouges in the stone. Even more importantly, the Runeoceros’s health bar dropped!

Only a percent, but it moved.

And, apparently, Yanily wasn’t done.

As soon as his feet were set on the monster’s back, the spear twirled around in his hands, and the man’s entire body transformed into a column of lightning that shot for the roof. Within a heartbeat, it hit the ceiling and ricocheted right back down.

This time, the true Skyfall+ painted the world white and drowned it in thunder. There was nothing but the BOOM as Hiral felt like he floated in empty space, only the bare sensation of his feet on the ground keeping him anchored.

Then the blast-wave hit, and even that was gone. He really was floating. No, flying.

Tethers from his Rune of Gravity whipped out along the Connections he’d forged with the rest of his party, alongside Attraction and Rejection to make sure nobody hit a wall, even though he couldn’t see them. His feet touched down a second later, still sliding backwards along the dusty stone floor, but his body’s instincts took over.

A lean and a shift of his weight, and suddenly he was back in control. Just in time for the world to fade into view around them. The metal door was just inches behind him, with most of his party on either side. Only Yanily wasn’t there, and it was pretty clear why.

Spear still held in both hands, Yanily stood atop the Reinforced Runeoceros’s back, lightning crackling across both of them. The ground beneath them had caved at his landing, hiding the great beast’s legs from Hiral’s vantage point, while the monster itself turned its head to look at what had hit it.

For a second, Hiral couldn’t do anything but blink. Yanily had hit it with a full-power Skyfall+. Dead on. And the thing took it like it was nothing. The spearman had one-shot Mid-Bosses with the attack, and this stupid Rune-o had only taken a few percent damage.

What the hell is this thing made of?

“We aren’t taking this seriously enough,” Seena said at the same time Yanily hopped backwards into a portal. A second portal deposited him with the others, and the party leader continued. “Just because we’re not in a dungeon doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. We got overconfident.”

“Uh, I just hit it with my strongest attack because I didn’t think anything else would work,” Yanily pointed out.

“It wasn’t your strongest,” Seena said.

“Eloquently Enraged+?” Hiral said, understanding.

“That’s an option,” Seena said. “It puts us on a timer, though, and three minutes isn’t a long time against something like this.”

As she spoke, the Rune-o – as Hiral had started calling it in his head because its name was too long – worked on hauling its mass out of the crater. The stone was apparently slick from the dust, and just smooth enough the beast couldn’t get a grip on it. The Wild-Boss would get a few steps up, but then its weight would slide it back a step. Apparently, using Rejection to get out didn’t occur to it, and Hiral wasn’t in any rush to suggest it.

“Before we pull that out,” Seena continued, eyes locked on the Wild-Boss. “We’ve got a few other buffs we can try as we work as a team. Drahn’s poison should be going to work, so let’s see if we can whittle away some more of its health before we burst it down with our big buffs.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“What’s Elegantly Enraged?” Drahn quietly asked Yanily.

“Eloquently,” Yanily corrected. “Easy mistake. A self-buff we got, but it has a nasty downside when the three-minute duration ends.”

“And why do you guys add ‘plus’ to stuff after?”

“We can talk about all that later!” Seena interrupted.

“It’s in the guide,” Yanily said out of the side of his mouth.

“Plan, Boss?” Hiral asked.

“Banner, auras, and anything else that’ll buff the party without the downsides, to start,” Seena said. “Then we work together to put this thing in the ground.”

As she said those words, the Rune-o finally climbed out of the literal hole it’d been in, and gave a great huff of frustration.

“Back in the ground,” Seena said with a roll of her eyes. “Other than Eloquently Enraged+, don’t hold back. Go.”

At the command, something in Hiral stirred. That chance to go all out. To push himself. To really see what he was capable of now. Even without the big self-buff, he had a lot to throw at the Wild-Boss in front of him, and his hands tightened around his RHCs in anticipation.

“You two ready?” he asked his doubles quietly, and they both nodded. A quick motion from Left’s hand, and he shaped the Banner of Courage, enveloping the party in a golden dome.

At the same time, a red outline sprung to life around the Wild-Boss as Hiral got a quick notification.

You have been buffed by: Target

Object of the Target Debuff cannot hide from your eyes for 10 minutes.

You inflict 15% more damage to object of the Target Debuff for 10 minutes.

And that was only the first of the windows, as the party members each activated their self- and -group-buffs, one after another.

You have been buffed by (Lesser) Aura of the Void-Venom Empress.

All attacks made by those benefitting from the Aura inflict additional Void damage, gain an additional +5% chance to critically hit, do +15% additional critical hit damage, and can score critical hits on entities or objects normally immune to critical damage.

Note: Void damage ignores resistances and some defenses, while leaving behind a destructive energy.

Ignoring resistances and some defenses was exactly the kind of thing they needed right now.

You have been buffed by (Lesser) Aura of The Mother of Flame.

All those benefitting from the Aura gain moderate regeneration, minor damage reduction, and attacks inflict additional Fire damage.

As the two auras washed over Hiral, flickers of black and red surrounded his body and weapons, almost merging with each other to create a reddish-black flame atop his clothes.

Seena didn’t bother with Lashing Vines+ – the minor limbs would never get through the Rune-o’s armor – but her flaming sheath sprung to life across her body. Flames encased her, claws of solid fire growing from her already bulky gauntlets, while her head became the image of a bird of prey. Even the mantle of falling flames at her back shifted, parting down the middle like it was made of two, hanging wings. Opposite the shoulder where Li’l Ur glowed with blue energy, a condensed ball of fire formed – her Burning Artillery – and five totems grew from the ground in front of her. Vines wrapping the wooden poles and skull at the top, flames danced with the open jaw, waiting for Seena’s command to begin spitting their endless streams of firebolts. On either side of her, a pair of floating tomes opened to reveal their pages.

She was ready.

Then a third aura reached Hiral, and he couldn’t stop the surprise when he read the notification window.

You have been buffed by (Lesser) Aura of Heaven’s Punishment.

All those benefitting from the Aura gain moderately improved speed and reflexes, minor stacking damage bonuses for consecutive hits, and attacks inflict additional Lightning damage.

Note: Damage increases by 0.5% per consecutive successful hit within 3 seconds of the previous hit.

Note (2): Damage bonus caps at 10%.

When did he get an aura? Oh, he had it the whole time and was waiting to surprise us…

The smirk on the spearman’s face clearly explained the subterfuge.

Meanwhile, wings of dark clouds and electricity had spread from his back, while lightning criss-crossed his body and coated the spear spinning in his hands. Blood-red light spilled from his eyes – That’d be the buff, Predator’s Eyes – and it seemed like his feet were barely touching the ground. Then again, with his sponsor being the Storm Dragon, the sky was his domain.

Even if they were stuck in a tunnel.

Seeyela, on Hiral’s other side, didn’t have anything nearly as flashy going on as the other two. With her bone-white carapace armor, and the eight, red eyes fixated on her target, she was the picture of focus. The only real indication anything was different than usual were the different colors rotating across her daggers. The usual green of her Ghost-Web Venom, mixed with the purplish-black of her Gravity Venom, and the utter black from the Void-VenomEmpress aura. Every one of her strikes would have three chances to deliver deadly debuffs.

Finally, Drahn, the poor guy, just had some flowers sprouting up around him. The tracker’s eyes turned to Hiral, and there was a hint of superiority there – even flowers were more than what Hiral had shown.

Hiral winked at him and activated his Arsenal of Amin Thett. Energy glowed from the center of the ring floating at his back, then weapon after weapon began emerging. First came Fate Spinner, his newest crystal greataxe that seemed to have an entire universe captured within its double-headed form. Next were the four, crystal Mobile Artillery Spheres. They didn’t have the same impressive image as the axe, but they moved with a sinuous grace until they hovered behind his Ring of Amin Thett.

He wasn’t nearly finished, though, his swords coming next. Death Knell, Stormstrike, the Flame-Bladed Rapier of Eldritch Horror, and finally Blight’s Mercy. Different energies coated the blades that moved around to hover in the air beside him, but more weapons still came from within the ring. Next was the Runic Blunderbuss – though he’d need to do something to improve the weapon somehow soon – and then the Bestial Axes. Those paired axes of some kind of primal bone needed no improvements, they already were – as their name described – beastly.

After that came the elegant Sho-Val of the Valley, the two-bladed spear whistling as it cut through the air to take its place with the other weapons in a semi-circle behind him. The Emperor’s Greatsword he left on his back for now – and until he got himself a few stacks of Ever Changing+. Instead, he had one more trick up his sleeve, and went to activate a powerful buff. Except, he stopped, considering one other option.

Could that work? Time to test!

Mentally rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Hiral activated Double Trouble+ and then immediately threaded solar energy into his Domain of the Sun+. All throughout the cavernous tunnel, glowing, stadium seating rose from the floor, overlaying the walls, while phantasmal spectators materialized and began cheering. Their wordless shouts filled Hiral – and the other party members – with vigor and energy, and the notification window that popped up spread a grin across Hiral’s face.

Class Ability (Active): Domain of the Sun+

Domain of the Sun+: Set the stage to claim the advantage.

Grants the following bonuses to user and members of user’s party while within the bounds of the domain:

Cooldowns and damage taken reduced by 24%

Attributes, movement speed, energy efficiency, and damage increased by 24%

Critical hit chance increased by 12%

Critical hit damage increased by 36%

Note: Diameter of domain is 300 feet from central point at time of creation.

Note (2): Domain does not move once created.

Note (3): Domain restricts entry and exit of anybody other than the creator and their party, though sufficient strength can bypass this.

Note (4): Domain can take on aspects of other lasting area-of-effect abilities with a fixed range and duration.

Note (5): Duration—2 minutes per Rank

Note (6): Cooldown—60 minutes

Note (7): Bonuses for user are doubled when dueling an opponent one on one.

Double Trouble+ really had increased all of the buff’s powerful effects by one-hundred percent. Though, even as he realized that, another notification window popped up.

Domain of the Sun+ has taken on the properties of Banner of Courage.

Note: Bonuses from Banner of Courage will remain for the duration of Domain of the Sun+.

Hiral just whistled as the banner in Left’s hand vanished in a gust of solar sparkles – though the bonuses remained – and several exact replicas of it appeared amongst the cheering crowd.

And that wasn’t the end of it, notification after notification popped up announcing the aura’s had all been absorbed by the domain ability as well. Like the banners, random audience members throughout the illusory crowd became engulfed in flame, lightning, and void energy.

Good to know…

With all the buffs in place – even though it’d only taken seconds – the party collectively took a step forward. Directly ahead of them, the Wild-Boss had likewise finished its preparations, runes glowing along its horns, and a damn-angry look on its face.

It was time for round two.