Rune Seeker

With the achievement notification popping up in front of the party, everybody took a step back and let out a breath. In a way, the golem wasn’t the most difficult Mid-Boss they’d battled, but it had pushed them to work better together.

And it had pushed Hiral to reassess how it was using his abilities. His runes, specifically.

The buffs he’d given the party…

“Good job, people,” Seena said, interrupting Hiral’s thoughts. “Hiral, you especially. How’d you figure out you could do… what did you do, anyway?”

“Luck?” Hiral said with a shrug. “Like you all saw, the Mid-Boss was using runes like mine. Runes I had…” Hiral trailed off and looked towards the top of the golem where the unknown rune sat etched into the crystal. “Most of them were runes I had. Anyway, I found out I could counter the effects with my own runes by using Decrease.”

“And the buffs you gave us?” Yanily asked. “I didn’t get a notification, but I know you did something. Probably something overpowered. Then again, since it made me overpowered, I’m okay with that.”

Everybody kind of looked at the spearman still standing astride the broken golem, and six eyebrows around the room raised in unison.

“I’m thinking Hiral isn’t the only OP one here,” Seena said, pointing between Yanily and the Mid-Boss.

“It blocked the first one,” Yanily said, a frown on his face. “Had to make sure it didn’t do that a second time.”

“And that’s my next topic,” Seena said, clapping her hands together gently. “That timing, people, was amazing. We’ve really gotten our synergy down. Even Drahn – who only joined recently – was fantastic. Seriously, applause all around.”

“Does that mean we can…?” Yanily started.

“No,” Seena said immediately. “No skipping training. We’ll have new abilities after this dungeon – probably – so we’ll need to incorporate those too. Besides, don’t think I didn’t see you sneaking those pastries in while we were walking. You and Right both.”

Hiral’s head snapped towards his double, who at least had the decency to look anywhere but at Hiral. “I better not gain weight because you’re addicted to pastries,” Hiral grumbled at Right.

“I exercise plenty,” Right mumbled right back, and Hiral just shook his head.

“Pastries aside,” Hiral said. “Let me get that Solar Core out of…” he trailed off as he got closer to the golem, his sensory domain noticing something about the room his eyes hadn’t. “I think there’s a secret door over there.” He pointed towards the wall opposite where they’d come in.

“Reaaaaaally?” Seena said.

“Don’t get too excited,” Seeyela said. “Last secret door I remember had Troblins behind it. Lots of Troblins.”

“The achievement notification – and the Mid-Boss’s name – did call it a guardian,” Drahn said. “A guardian of what?”

“That’s a good point,” Seeyela agreed. “Coming in here, I figured the Mid-Boss would be some kind of failed – and dangerous – experiment. But, if it was actually guarding that experiment…”

“Loot!” Yanily said, ripping his spear free from the golem and hopping to the floor. “More Lost gear, you think?”

“Could be,” Seena said. “Hiral, can you show us where the door is after you get the core out?”

“I think I can do you one better.” Hiral focused on his sensory domain, then added his Rune of Energy to the mix. A little concentration – and some assistance from the Edict of Energy – and he outlined the door with a bright glow. “How’s that?”

“I don’t see a doorknob,” Yanily said. “Can you use your key?”

“My… key?”

“Your cube rune.”

“It’s not a cube…” Hiral said catching on to what the spearman meant, but cut himself off before he finished. “If you can’t open it, I will after I get the Solar Core out.”

“Good practice for the rest of us,” Seena said, throwing her arm over Yanily’s shoulder and leading him towards the door. “Oh, and Hiral, I saw you eying that new rune. Warn us if you’re going to explode, yeah?”

“Solar Core first,” Hiral promised, and Seena gave him a thumbs up.

Hiral chuckled, then turned his attention to the broken golem. It was an impressive construct, though it couldn’t have been higher than B-Rank. Still, having a few of these things around on Fallen Reach – or even in the front lines against the Enemy – couldn’t hurt. Did Dr. Benza’s people use something like this in the war? They said they could make up to A-Rank… but the way this used runes. I bet there weren’t many. Seena could’ve been wrong – maybe the Guardianwas both a guard and an experiment.

“Think you can build one of these?” Left asked, thinking more about the future than the past.

“From scratch?” Hiral said. “No way.”

“Take it to examine later?” Right suggested. “It should fit in your ring.”

Hiral rubbed his chin in thought, then nodded. “That’s a great idea. A good enough one I’ll overlook your pastry fetish.”

“You’re one to talk, Mr. Whip.”

“Shhh,” Hiral said, scowling up at his double. “Let’s… just call it even.”

“Your surrender is accepted,” Right said smugly, crossing his arms. “So, Solar Core. Can you get it out?”

“Yes,” Hiral said while his eyes traced the solar pathways within the golem. Compared to what he felt in people, the channels were overly large. Makes sense considering how much solar energy I felt it moving around. “There you are,” he added when he found the core’s location – directly behind where the symbolic face had been.

Fingers reaching out to touch the crystal, Hiral continued probing with his senses while he activated Mold Crystal. There was a resistance to his manipulation, almost like a lingering will fighting against his own, but, luckily, he didn’t need to force anything. Another thought with the ability triggered what could only be called a ‘lock’ within the golem’s chest, and a small door popped open the next second.

Hiral peered inside as he opened the door all the way, a familiar – albeit much larger – Solar Core sitting snuggly in a complicated chamber. “These are almost like the roots under the Fallens’ towers up in Fallen Reach,” he said. “They don’t connect directly to the core – other than these two points here and here – but I bet they help speed up energy processing by picking up ambient energy where they touch.” He tapped the ends of the crystal roots that rested up against the core, and got a minor shock of energy for his trouble.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Any risk pulling it out?” Left asked.

“Don’t think so,” Hiral said, inspecting where the core actually connected. It looked like a simple enough mechanism, and he reached in and twisted. A pair of small clicks, and he lifted the Solar Core out of the golem’s body. Of course, as soon as it was in his hand, a helpful notification window popped up.

Dynamic Quest: Update

Find a use for the Solar Core: 1/1

You have found a use for the Solar Core, but more power is still needed to fully activate the RACIAL Scanner.

Additional Minor Solar Cores Obtained: 0/5

Major Solar Cores Obtained: 1/2

“Got it out?” Seena’s voice came across the party chat.

“You bet,” he replied, storing the core in his Interspatial Ring, then looked towards the party. At least, towards where they would’ve been if they hadn’t made it through the secret door – which they had. “I see you got into the next room. What’s in there?”

“Honestly, you may need to tell us,” Seena said. “I think this is more your area than ours.”

“I could stab them?” Yanily offered.

“Me too,” Seeyela added. “Want us to?”

“Please don’t,” Seena said, and Hiral could hear her rubbing the bridge of her nose.

That only left Yanily and Seeyela chuckling through the party chat while Hiral eyed the golem’s body. “Let me… just look at this rune before I come join you.”

“Explosions incoming,” Yanily said.

“Just don’t take too long,” Seena said.

“I won’t,” Hiral replied, shifting around to get a better look at the rune near the top of the golem. There, at eye level, it was a lot easier to make out. Except… it was complicated. More so than any other rune he had.

And something about it didn’t make sense.

It was definitely one of the advanced runes – like his Runes of Energy, Gravity, Connection, and of course Separation. He could tell that, but he couldn’t for the life of him even guess at what it was. Normally when he looked at the runes, he could follow the lines making it up to get an idea of it’s meaning. Kind of like reading a sentence but only knowing some of the words, or at least being able to make an educated guess.

For this rune, though, every time he followed one of the lines – the equivalent of a lesser rune within the larger whole – he reached what could only be called a dead end. Every single one ended abruptly without giving him a hint at what it was.

“What in the Fallens’ names…?” he cursed reflexively.

“Problems?” Right asked, crouching down next to him.

“This rune doesn’t make sense,” Hiral said, physically tracing one of the lines in the hopes it would help him. Nope, like when he did it with his eyes, it just… ended. But, as Hiral traced another… and then another… he started to see a pattern. “They all cut off on the same side, right here.”

“It’s not a complete rune,” Left reasoned, and Hiral nodded his agreement.

“It’s half a rune,” Hiral finished the thought. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Just whole runes and pairs. How did this even work for the Mid-Boss? Unless… could it be?”

“Could it be… what?” Right asked.

Before answering, Hiral activated his Runes of Energy and Connection, then spread them through his domain. Thin threads of silky energy immediately formed, but Hiral filtered out all except the one he was looking for – the one going from the half-rune in front of them and out the door they’d come in.

“Fascinating,” he breathed. “I think they somehow connected this half-rune to the other half in another place.”

“You can do that?” Left asked.

“Apparently!”

“Probably means the other half is on the second Mid-Boss,” Right pointed out.

“Only one way to find out, really,” Hiral said.

“I have a question,” Left said, then chuckled. “Though I think I know the answer.”

“What’s the question?”

“By the logic you’re presenting, this second Mid-Boss will have another runic power related to this golem,” he said, then waited for Hiral to nod agreement before continuing. “Also, if the runes require the connection to work, it would also suggest destroying this rune would weaken the other Mid-Boss to make it an easier battle.”

“Ohhhh,” Hiral said, taking a step back from the golem. “That… is quite possibly true.”

“What are you going to do?” Right asked. “Destroy it?”

“If I do, this is too complicated for me to remember,” Hiral admitted, looking at the chaotic pattern of lines that made up the half-rune. “Left, could you reproduce it?”

Left considered before he answered. “Maybe eighty-percent accuracy, if I’m being realistic. There is something about the lines that makes it difficult to remember them.”

“Do you even need to remember it exactly?” Right asked. “Whenever you explode, it’s when you figure out what the runes mean. The PIMP does the rest by writing them on your skin.”

“But I’ve always had the correct rune in front of me,” Hiral said. “I… I think I need it to get the rune from the PIMP. Like it doesn’t even know how to write the rune until I have both the form and meaning. Leaving this one intact is risky though, and not just for me.”

“Just take the golem with you,” Seena interrupted over the party chat. “Yes, I’ve been listening the whole time – you’re terrible at closing chat channels. If things turn that bad against the second Mid-Boss, you can drag the body out and ruin the rune.”

“It takes three seconds or so to pull something out,” Hiral reminded her. “A lot can happen in that time.”

“It can,” she agreed. “I also think we can handle the other Mid-Boss even with whatever rune power it has.”

“I don’t want to put you at risk for my own selfishness,” he countered.

“It’s a chance for you to get stronger, right?” Seena asked, then continued before he could say anything. “Take it. We all just said we’re going after the Enemy. Now isn’t the time to turn aside anything that’ll give us an advantage.”

“It could…”

“Hiral, stop,” Seena said. “In the fight against the Guardian, we trusted you to have our backs. Trusted you’d be strong enough to do what you said you were going to. Now it’s your turn to trust me. Trust us. We’re strong too. We can take the Mid-Boss, whatever it is.”

“I… okay,” he finally said. “If you’re sure.”

“She’s sure,” Yanily interrupted. “Just loot-scoop it up and get in here. Really, I want to know what these are – even though I don’t think they’re for me.”

“I thought you were trying to stab something in there?” Hiral asked.

“Just to get a rise out of Seena.”

“You should’ve seen her face.” Seeyela chuckled like the evil, older sister she was.

“Now you’ve really got me curious,” Hiral said, then clarified. “About whatever is in that room, not what Seena looks like when she’s considering burning you both to dust.”

“Nah,” Yanily said. “She wouldn’t do… oh. OH. Okay, yeah, that’s that face. Could you, maybe, hurry a bit, Hiral?”

“Be there in a few seconds,” Hiral said, then concentrated on putting the golem’s corpse into his ring. He’d never tried to put something that big into the space, so he expected it to…

Pop… and the golem vanished. A quick check confirmed it was sitting inside his Interspatial Ring without a problem.

“You get it?” the double asked.

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “Much less trouble than I expected.”

“Good,” Left said. “You can take it out when we defeat the other Mid-Boss, then try to rebuild it later. We may need it.”

Hiral glanced at his double’s cryptic words. “This has something to do with the raid zone you found?”

Left nodded. “Like I said, we’ll explain more once we’ve reunited with Nivian, but the messaging was somewhat ominous.”

“He’s not exaggerating,” Right said.

“All the more reason we shouldn’t stand around, I guess,” Hiral said. “Let’s go see what the others found, then move on to the next Mid-Boss.”