Rune Seeker

Solar smoke peeled off Hiral’s right side as he activated Foundational Split and ignited his pseudo-aspect immediately after. Then he was moving, sensory domain ballooning out to stretch ahead to figure out just what the hell was going on. Buildings blurred to his right as he tore around the dome on his left, senses stretching, stretching, stretching ahead. Where were… there!

A crater. Right in front of Seena. While she… sat there, a hint of solar energy in front of her that faded even as Hiral finally rounded the last of the curve.

Closer, Yanily stood atop the shattered body of one of the cannon constructs, but the spearman barely reacted as Hiral sped past. Behind Yan, the others stood around Seena, a potion in Seeyela’s hand.

With his eyes only on the party leader, Hiral dropped to his knees and slid on thin planes of Rejection to stop right in front of Seena. “What happened?” he asked, eyes darting to the empty potion bottle in her hands. That was the solar energy I sensed.

In the party window, her heath had already risen, but right in front of him, her armor had wisps of energy-like smoke wafting off it. Several of the metallic green and red feathers were completely missing, while others sat bent at odd angles.

Starting at his sudden appearance, Seena’s already wide eyes grew a fraction more, then quickly narrowed and looked to the side. “I…” she began.

“Got cocky and reckless,” Seeyela scolded. Then she thwapped her younger sister of the back of the head with a sound that echoed off the stone wall next to them.

“Ow!” Seena said. “Be gentle. I just got exploded on!”

Seeyela turned from Seena to look behind Hiral, Right catching up at that moment. “And it could’ve been so much worse. Thank you, Right, for what you did.”

“What did he do?” Hiral asked. “What did you do?” he said to Seena.

“I…” Seena said, then flinched when Seeyela’s hand lifted from her shoulder again. With no second thwap immediately forthcoming, Seena continued quietly. “I got reckless. We put down the first three constructs so quickly, I rushed ahead to deal with the fourth one.”

“And?” Hiral asked, while very specifically omitting he’d done exactly the same thing. Then he realized what had happened to him, and what could’ve happened if he didn’t have his runes. “Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh’,” Seena said. “The fourth one was already charging up its shot when I came around to find it. Before I had a chance to blow it up… well, it tried to blow me up.”

“Came pretty damn close to,” Yanily said, walking back over from the shattered fourth cannon.

“It would’ve succeeded,” Seeyela chimed in, “if Right didn’t come out of nowhere to do his thing.”

“His thing?” Hiral asked. “Wait… he punched it?”

“Upon reflection, it wasn’t my best plan,” Right admitted. “You must be rubbing off on me.”

“I am you,” Hiral pointed out. “Or, you’re me… whatever. It doesn’t matter. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Right said like it wasn’t something he needed to be thanked for. He would’ve done the same thing for any of them. “Just sorry I didn’t get there sooner. You okay, Seena?”

“Yeah,” Seena said. “You… took the worst of it. Are you okay?”

Right stood at Hiral’s side and held up his arms like he was checking himself over. “All in one piece. No problem.” Then he winked at her.

Seeyela groaned. “He’s somehow even less charming than you, Hiral. But, I’ll give him a pass – this time – for what he did.”

“You say that like I’m not charming at all,” Hiral muttered, but Seena reached out and put a hand on his knee.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re pretty damn charming,” Seena consoled him.

Hiral took her hand in both of his. “You sure you’re okay? When I saw your health in the party interface, I…”

“I’m fine,” she replied, holding up the empty potion bottle in her other hand. The one her sister promptly replaced with a full one, then mimed taking a drink. “Yes, mom,” Seena said dryly to her sister, taking a swig from the potion. “See, fixing me right up.”

“Let me help,” Hiral said, extending a field of Restoration around her. A second later, a golden dome began to emerge from Left’s Banner of Courage, but stopped at barely ten feet – just enough to encompass the party – instead of growing to the usual fifty feet.

“How?” Seeyela asked.

“The tattoo is A-Rank, thanks to the Second-Skin,” Left said. “I can control the size now. Also…” With his free hand, Left reached down to his right thigh, where the Waters of Frey glowed black within white light. As soon as he pulled his hand away, the solar energy snapped into what looked like a stream of black water circling his hand.

Not quite the same as when he used it on Fallen Reach.

Still, the liquid snaked out from Left’s hand to wash gently across Seena.

“Good timing for that to unlock with the pseudo-aspect?” Hiral said. “That’s fantastic.”

“The black is a little creepy,” Yanily muttered.

“Yes, but only while the pseudo-aspect is active,” Left said, with only a small nod of acknowledgment to Yan’s comment. “The tattoo vanished again when Right did.”

Part of Hiral’s brain stowed that information away for later – was the pseudo-aspect another means to get his doubles access to their full powers? – but his attention was firmly on Seena, and her injuries visibly healing right in front of him. The small burns of her face faded quickly, the blood from a cut across her forehead drying up and dissipating before the cut itself vanished. Even her armor seemed to be benefitting from the Banner or the Waters.

No, that wasn’t it. It was the Restoration. Hiral’s self-created domain was helping the armor repair itself. Good to know. Another piece of information filed away for later.

“See, as good as new,” Seena said, though her health had really only climbed up to three-quarters in the party interface.

“We’re not in any rush to move just yet,” Seeyela said, a hand on her little sister’s shoulder preventing Seena from getting up. Another drinking motion quickly followed. “Drahn, Right, would you two mind keeping an eye out? Just because we haven’t seen many enemies before now doesn’t mean they won’t all start suddenly coming.”

“I’m fine, really.” Seena said.

“Just sit and heal up,” Hiral said, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

At the gesture, she finally seemed to accept she wasn’t going anywhere until either her health topped out, or something else dramatic happened.

“Fiiiine,” Seena said, taking another swig from the potion. “What were those things, anyway?”

“Glass Cannons,” Yanily said. “Elite B-Rank, but soft. Er, well, as soft as glass can be, I guess? Fragile? Breaky?”

“Wait, they were actually called Glass Cannons?” Hiral asked.

“That’s what View said,” Yanily replied. “All offense, no defense. Huh.” Then he crooked his spear in his elbow and pulled a notepad out of his Interspatial Ring and started writing something down.

“What are you doing, Yan?” Seena asked the shocking question on everybody’s mind.

“Gotta add that term – glass cannon – to the guide,” Yanily said before the notebook vanished again. “I’m sure there’ll be builds like that. And this is a good lesson about being careful about it.”

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That forward-thinking made everybody sort of pause, and then just shrug. Yet another side of Yanily. He really was more than he let on at first glance.

“The cannons did go down fast, but if we didn’t know they were coming from Hiral’s warning?” Seeyela said. “That could’ve been bad. Imagine eight of those coming at us from all sides, guns blasting. Especially that last one.”

“Speaking of,” Yanily interrupted. “You did take care of the other four, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, all smashed,” Hiral told the spearman.

“It’s not fair you got four of them all to yourself,” Yanily said. “I need to hurry up and get my Aspect.”

“How’s that coming?”

“Need more fights to help feel it out.”

“This is a dungeon, I’m sure you’ll get plenty of those.”

“Not if we keep sitting around here,” Seena piped up. “I’m almost back to perfect. Close enough to peek inside this place.” She thumbed at the dome to her side.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Hiral told Seeyela.

“I don’t need…” Seena started.

“That actually worries me more,” Seeyela said at the same time.

The two sisters stopped, looked at each other, then chuckled. With that, Seeyela took her hand off Seena’s shoulder, and Hiral helped the party leader to her feet.

“Left, you’re the level-headed one,” Seeyela said. “Watch over both of them?”

“You obviously think too much of me,” Left said with a shrug. “But I’ll try.”

“Best I can ask for.”

“Now that you’ve arranged our babysitter, shall we?” Seena deadpanned.

“You’re the party leader, you tell me,” Seeyela said.

Seena glared at her sister – just for a second – then nodded. “Okay, we’re going back to the door and heading in. Keep your eyes open for any more cannons. Or, anything worse.”

“Gotta be a Mid-Boss at some point,” Yanily said, a grin on his face. “Maybe I’ll share it with you,” he elbowed Hiral in the side.

“Appreciated,” Hiral said, grabbing his RHCs out of the air where they floated. That done – and a quick shoulder tap – and he jogged back around to the front of the dome. Drahn and Right fell in with the others quickly enough, and Hiral moved up to the door with his double at his side.

“Let’s try that again,” he said to Right.

“I got your back,” the double said.

“I know you do. And, thanks again for what you did for Seena.”

“Always.”

That done, Hiral sheathed one of his weapons, then put his hand against the door. While it was an obvious entry point to the building, it wasn’t like it had a doorknob. Would just have to push on the…

As soon as his fingers touched the stone, solar energy flared along the double helix on his arm, followed immediately by a creak from the door. Another second, and the whole door simply disappeared like it’d never been there.

Though, thanks to Hiral’s senses and Cycling+, the mystery didn’t elude him long – the door had been teleported up into the wall above. Just like the floors on Fallen Reach. This really could be the Builders’ island.

“Just like on Fallen Reach,” Seeyela echoed his thoughts, her own sense of gravity magic likely giving her the same information he’d gotten.

“Let’s see what else inside is similar,” Seena said, and a tap landed on Hiral’s shoulder.

Without another word, he slipped through the opening, down a short, five-foot tunnel, and into a larger room, RHC at the ready. Right was immediately beside him, while Yanily popped out on his other side, spear ready.

“Left’s keeping an eye on the back,” the spearman said quickly, eyes scanning for threats.

There weren’t any. At least, not any jumping out trying to cut, stab, or shoot them.

No, the only things in the large room were numerous crystal… boxes along the walls, pipes and tubing running from them and into the domed walls. The walls that looked very familiar.

“It’s like an Asylum,” Seena said, eyes on the faceted crystal coating the wall behind the strange crystal boxes.

“A warehouse?” Seeyela asked. “An Asylum for stuff?”

“Could it be the vault?” Yanily asked, his eyes practically sparkling.

Er, wait, they were actually sparkling. Or, sparking was more accurate – tiny bolts of lightning circling his irises.

Definitely on the ‘ask him later’ list.

“It’s not the same as an Asylum,” Left said, bringing up the rear with Drahn beside him. “Door closed behind us, by the way. We couldn’t open it.”

“We’re stuck in here?” Seena asked, flame flaring above her hand to form a whirling fireball. “A trap?”

Nothing in Hiral’s sensory domain made his hair stand on end, and there was no movement beyond the party’s. There wasn’t even solar energy circulating, as far as he could tell.

“I don’t think so,” he finally said. “There’s nothing in her with us, unless the boxes are going to transform.”

“Transformers?” Yanily asked.

Hiral just shrugged.

“Let’s look around, people,” Seena said. “Shout out if you find anything that stands out. Keep your guards up.”

“And don’t do anything reckless,” Left said, looking between Seena and Hiral. Then he gave a thumbs up to Seeyela.

Somehow, all eight of Seeyela’s helmet-eyes seemed to roll at that, but the party split up to look around.

The room itself took up almost the entirety of the domed building, with only the five-foot thickness of the walls accounting for the rest, by Hiral’s estimation. And, while Seena was correct in that the ceiling clearly reminded him of an Asylum, Left was also correct. The shape was the same, but he could tell the crystal itself was made from a different material. Something my Artificer class is telling me? Maybe the old class – though he still had access to the abilities from it – would help him figure out what the boxes were.

Those things – and they ranged in size and shape – practically filled the majority of the room. They weren’t stacked like in a warehouse, and instead stood orderly against the circular wall, though they only extended about half the height towards the curving ceiling. And, yes, now that he was looking, they were all connected to the crystal wall – or each other – by at least one of those pipes or tubes.

Maybe not boxes, but storage containers? Storing something that needed constant upkeep or support? Without any solar energy – and he couldn’t sense a single whit of it – what would they even be able to maintain though?

“Hey, found something,” Yanily said. “Maybe. Or it could just be decoration.”

“What you got?” Seena asked while the rest of the party – Hiral included – converged on the spearman.

“Could be a coat hook, now that I look at it closer,” Yanily said, and Hiral spotted the man leaning towards a pair of slight protrusions. Each couldn’t be longer than four or five inches, but like Yanily suggested, the bottom one had a sort of knob or something on it. Actually, so did the top one, but it pointed down, while the bottom one pointed up. Curious. As Hiral got closer, he noticed those knobs weren’t solid, each with a T-shape carved out of the fronts.

Almost like something needed to be slotted into…

His eyes widened as he reached into his Interspatial Ring and pulled out the Solar Core they’d found on the golem near the entrance of the dungeon. A quick inspection, and yes, it had matching ends that looked like they’d fit far too perfectly into the knobs.

“I think…” Hiral said, holding the Solar Core closer to the two protrusions but not quite inserting it. Yeah, the size was perfect. “I think we can use the core to power… something.”

“And not only there,” Left said. “There are more of those setups. I count five more just like it, and two that seem larger. Much larger.”

“Two, huh?” Seena said, looking right at Yanily.

“Mid-Bosses,” the spearman said.

“What do you think, should I plug this in there?” Hiral asked the others.

“You’re the expert on this kind of thing,” Seena replied. “What do you think?”

“If it really needs five more of these, and then two cores from Mid-Bosses too, I doubt one is enough to be dangerous,” Hiral reasoned. “And it might be enough to at least tell us if it’s worth the trouble.”

“Mid-Bosses means loot and achievements,” Yanily pointed out. “It’d be worth it anyway.”

“Yeah, but there is obviously more to this dungeon than just things to fight,” Hiral said. “And this room is probably it. Whatever this room actually is.”

“Slot it in and let’s see, then,” Seeyela said. “If anything gets angry about it, we’ll negotiate.” And, by the way she was holding her daggers, it would be a hostile negotiation.

Hiral looked at Seena for her decision.

“Do it,” the party leader said.

With a nod, Hiral slid the Solar Core into place, each end clicking slightly when he got it into the right place. Almost immediately, solar energy flared to his senses, then flowed out from the core into the box it was now connected to. The amount of energy wasn’t much, barely more than a steady stream, but it moved fast, and another of the large boxes – this one directly opposite where they’d come in – suddenly lit up.

Not the entire thing, but a large rectangular section on the front of it flashed briefly, words appearing and vanished even faster than Hiral could read. Finally, after several seconds of the words zipping past, it stopped, leaving one sentence in place.

Role Affinity Classification: Identity and Location Scanner currently offline due to insufficient power.

“Kind of expected Dr. Benza to pop out,” Yanily said. “Not this... whatever it is.”

“Hiral?” Seena asked, but his eyes were locked on the words.

Role Affinity Classification, those were the same first three words from the R.A.C.E acronym they were supposed to have in their PIMs. And while their E stood for Engine, apparently a way to determine what kind of classes they could get – or something, it was never made very clear – this was obviously something different.

Identity and location. It… couldn’t be.

“I think…” he said, licking his lips before he continued. “I think this… this racial scanner can tell us where people with PIMs are. Tell us if there are any other survivors on the surface.”