Rune Seeker

“Your domain is supposed to do that, right Hiral?” Seena asked him over the party chat, but he didn’t have a chance to respond, the Rune-o stomping forward.

Each step of its thick legs shook the ground like a miniature earthquake, but it didn’t opt to launch itself at them this time. Apparently, it had learned from smashing its face into the wall over and over without crushing them.

Still, even without the rampaging charge, it moved surprisingly fast. Small bursts of Rejection came in time with every step, while Runes of Impact briefly flicked along the soles of its feet, sending out actual shockwaves with each pace.

“Don’t let it hit you… much,” Seena conceded, then began her fiery barrage. Cinder+ scarred flames across the Rune-o’s face at the same time the Burning Artillery over her shoulder and the totems at her feet began spitting firebolts.

No time to sit and watch the show, and Hiral leveled his RHCs and pulled the triggers. Both bolts struck the incoming monster square in the face. And, apparently both were crits, a pair of ghostly Troblins appearing midair to smack their clubs against the Wild-Boss’s forehead. The sudden surprise – more than the actual damage – made the monster hesitate, though the apparitions vanished immediately after. Still, it gave Hiral more than enough time to pull his triggers a second time, refresh Piercing Shot, and fire again.

With all the bonuses he had at the moment, all four hits had to be more crits, but only one of them spawned an echo. This time, a ghostly wight appeared beside Hiral, bow already drawn, and released an arrow that slammed into the same place his bolts had.

It can cause ranged attacks too, huh?

The rhetorical question got put on hold as the Rune-o got close enough Hiral needed to give it his full attention. Bursts of Rejection under his feet bolted him to the side, while Left and Right darted straight ahead with Yanily. Seeyela vanished in a predictable bamf, and Seena continued peppering the Wild-Boss with fire alongside Drahn.

Stepping, firing, and refreshing Piercing Shot as he went, Hiral continued to barely chip away at the Rune-o’s health – though he was doing more damage than he had been before. The buffs were making a difference, but the thing in front of them simply had extreme defense and health. Two more steps – and searing bolts of Impact – and it was time to get his first stack of Ever Changing+.

A smooth, practiced motion holstered the RHCs on his thighs as he listened for the music of the Chord of the Primal Echo. The tone was faint – not nearly enough to control the movements of the powerful Wild-Boss – but it did give him a hint where he was going next. Instead of reaching for any of the weapons floating in a semi-circle behind him, he ignited Runes of Impact on his knuckles, then infused them with Breaking and Increase.

A quick look at what he was about to get himself into showed small shockwaves radiating out from every step the monster took – rippling across the ground at least five feet from each impact. He’d have to avoid those, or risk losing his balance as the stone shifted. Then of course there was the wildly swinging horn doing its best to gore Left and Right. The two doubles were managing to stay ahead of the attacks, but they were getting uncomfortably close thanks to the Rune-o’s use of Rejectionto speed its swings. Finally, every time the Wild-Boss whipped around to strike with its horn, its whole body pivoted. A body-block from something that heavy would hurt.

Then don’t get hit…

With his threat assessment complete in under a second, Hiral launched himself forward on another burst of Rejection, climbing into the air as he went. Two more steps, he was ten feet up, then shot ahead, arm cocked back. Pivoting as he flew – and taking a page from the Rune-o’s book to fire a blast of Rejection from his elbow to power his swing – he slammed his fist into the monster’s side. Impact and Breaking erupted in a vertical shockwave at the same time Right hit the monster from the other side.

Sandwiched between the two blows, the Wild-Boss didn’t take any significant damage, but its forward movement was arrested. Lightning flashed from near the monster’s head – that had to be Yanily – though the Chord was already pulling on Hiral to move. More Rejection under his feet, and he darted vertically left and right like he was rebounding off angled footholds to move straight up. Fists swinging as he went, he landed three jabs and a straight, before a stronger burst than all those before kicked him up even higher.

Fingers spreading, Hiral tucked at his waist, put his palms towards the Rune-o’s back and used a brief thread of Attraction to pivot himself upside down like he grabbed a bar on the way up. From there, Increase, Separation, and Expansion raced to his feet at the same time he reversed the Attraction from his hands to Rejection. Feet-first, he shot another half-dozen feet into the air, then somersaulted right there, one leg extending in a powerful, circular axe kick.

As he moved, the combination of runes on his foot whipped out in a crescent of brutal Separation, its shape visible to the naked eye – combined with a last-second activation of an ability he should’ve thought of sooner: Shatter Armor.

Class Ability (Active): Shatter Armor

Shatter Armor: At the expense of reduced damage, your attacks reduce the defenses of your opponent.

Note: Armor is reduced by up to 15% per application, stacking up to a maximum of 3 times.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Note (2): More effective against enemies with solid armor or defenses.

Note (3): Cooldown—1 minute

Without any Impact mixed in, there was no titanic collision from the blow, though even the Wild-Boss’s plate armor didn’t come away unscathed. Maybe an inch-deep, a line appeared straight across the Runeoceros’s back – as well as the stone floor beside it – along with tiny fractures radiating outward, and the beast’s head turned just enough it could spot Hiral with one of its wild eyes.

Already practically hanging in the air, Hiral let the momentum of his rotation bring his torso all the way back around, then thrust out with his left hand. Open palm and full of the power of multiple runes, the image of his spread hand pushed through the air to slam into the Rune-o’s side. Jerking backwards in the air from the recoil of the impact – though it didn’t even budge the Wild-Boss – Hiral got a buff notification at the same time the Primal Chord struck its next note.

You have been buffed by Hundred Handed.

Gain control of eight spectral arms to make attacks or conduct actions for 30 seconds.

Note: Damage of attacks based off Str or Dex (whichever is higher).

Note (2): Speed of limbs based off based off Str or Dex (whichever is higher).

Note (3): Precision and deftness of hands based off Wis or Atn (whichever is higher).

As a temporary buff from his Second Movement, the eight ghostly arms springing from his back wouldn’t last long.

Good thing he didn’t need them to.

At the same time his real arms reached out to call for his next weapon, the lower four spectral arms shot ahead to grab onto the Rune-o’s side, halting Hiral’s backward momentum. In the next second, a crystal haft filled with a contained universe met his hands, and he cocked the weapon back over his head. Even with Fate Spinner poised and ready, the Primal Chord wasn’t finished, so Hiral reached up with the other four spectral hands and grabbed on to the weapon with them as well.

Finally, the notes rang true.

Hauling himself forward through his grip from Hundred Handed, Hiral coated his axe’s edge in Separation as he swung. All six of the arms holding Fate Spinner flexed in unison – stars within shooting across the contained sky – and he plummeted down towards the back of the Runeoceros. A last-second pull – just a hair’s-breadth alteration – from his PIM, and the axe slammed into the groove he’d earlier carved with his crescent-kick of Separation.

Thanks to assistance of the PIM, his critical hit thunked hard into the split, parting the armor to reach the flesh underneath. A good four inches of blade buried itself past the thick, outer plating, and the Rune-o let out its first roar of pain as Hiral swung his feet in to hang from the beast’s side. Then, instead of ripping the axe out to swing again, he drew back the two, spectral upper-hands on the right side, and punched the flat of the rear-blade, wrenching the break in the armor apart even further.

That’s it. That’s the play.

Releasing his hold on the weapon, Hiral burst Rejection from his feet, launching him away from the pivoting Wild-Boss with an acrobatic backflip. As soon as he landed, out came his RHC’s, and he peppered the monster with shots while he continued to back away.

“I’ve got a plan,” he said into the party chat.

“Tell us what you need,” Seena replied, having no problem sharing command of the party.

“Left and Right, keep the Runeoceros’s attention on its left flank. Whatever you can do to keep it looking that way,” Hiral said, his shooting immediately ceasing as he spoke. “Yanily, you’re with them. Don’t worry about doing damage – yet – just focus on stacking up that Vulnerability debuff as high as it’ll go.”

“Got it,” Yanily said.

“Seeyela, I’m sensing some weird solar energy when you’re hitting. That new Gravity Venom of yours, do you need to actually injure your target?”

“No,” Seeyela said. “Hitting armor works too, but it’s a lesser effect. Takes way more hits to stack up.”

“That’s okay. Just focus on that. The slower it moves, the better. You’ll get your chance for some big damage soon enough. Right now, though, we want it using its Runes of Rejection to keep its speed up. The more solar energy it uses, the more Drahn’s poison will wreck its solar energy channels.”

“Understood.”

“Great, Seena, I need you to do three things. The first is something you haven’t done in a while – Snaring Roots. Get those legs tied up as much as you can. This thing is strong, so it’ll break them, but just reapply. Next,keep Cinder+ stacked up on it – you’ll want the damage bonus – and finally, make sure you’ve got one of your fiery drills ready to go. Focus on penetrating power more than anything else, if you can.”

“How long do I have?” Seena asked.

“Let’s say twenty seconds, assuming Yan can get Vulnerability up high enough.”

“You can count on me,” the spearman said, already wading in with his Reed Spear Style making his weapon a literal blur. Since he wasn’t aiming to do damage – just hit – he didn’t have to worry so much about picking his target, and was opting for pure speed.

“I’ll be ready,” Seena said.

“And I shall assist,” Li’l Ur added, already glowing blue as he prepared buffs for his Mistress.

“I know you will,” Hiral replied, sheathing his RHCs and reaching out his hands for his next weapons. While they came, he had one more set of instructions. “Drahn, is your Pollen Poison maxed out?”

“I’ve saturated this thing as much as I can,” the tracker said. “Any more isn’t going to make a difference.”

“No problem. You showed us an ability like Seena’s Snaring Roots – to slow the monster down – but it did something to make the ground softer. Will that work here?”

“It should,” Drahn said.

“Do that, as well as your Seed Turrets. Put them with Left and Right. Anything to keep the monster’s attention over there.”

“They have a minor Infuriate effect, though I don’t know if this thing will resist it.”

“Doesn’t matter, everything helps, and they’re already doing pretty well. One last thing, I don’t think anybody other than me has used their Shatter Armor cooldown yet. Save it for your big hits,” Hiral finished, while the Rune-o turned to try and gore one of the doubles. With Seeyela on its back, slashing away with her daggers to increase the monster’s weight, along with the small roots growing at its feet, it wasn’t quite as nimble as it had been before.

Hiral shook his head, as even he couldn’t believe he was calling the behemoth in front of him nimble.

“What about you?” Seena asked.

“I’m going to see about prying this thing open a bit,” he answered, Stormstrike and Blight’s Mercy finding his hands.