Rune Seeker

The party walked past the charred tree stump – and the two golem corpses, which Hiral scooped back into his Interspatial Ring – to the door at the far end of the room. Unlike after battling the Guardian, this door wasn’t secret. It was just locked. Good thing Hiral had a key – and a touch of Separation transformed the door into dozens of tiny cubes which clattered to the floor.

“That’s so useful,” Yanily said. “Can you do it to a Boss?”

“Much harder against things that actively don’t want to be separated,” Hiral said. “Which is, honestly, most things. More effective to use the rune to increase slicing power.”

“You really need to get a Rune of Stabbing,” Seeyela said as the party checked the room for threats, then moved in. Much like the last research area they’d found, this one had a central containment unit with multiple devices arrayed around it. However, instead of a pair of semi-solid-solar gauntlets, this one held something that almost looked like a crystal centipede with three segments and eight legs. So, maybe more a spider than a centipede…

“Left, you think you can figure out what this one is too?” Seena asked, pointing from the floating device to the screens around the room.

“I can certainly attempt to,” Left said, moving to a similar screen to what he’d used in the last room. A shake of his head after scrolling through some of the text, then he moved to a second. A third. It wasn’t until he stopped at the fourth machine that he stayed there for more than a few seconds. “Ah, here we go.”

“What’ve we got?” Yanily asked, walking a complete circle around the central pillar.

“Another A-Rank device,” Left said, reading and scrolling at the same time. “This one does not seem to be as… unstable as the first.”

“Why is it in here, then?” Seena asked.

“The device is called – another dramatic name, of course – the Trace Reserve and Application Package,” Left said, and Hiral spelled out the words in his head.

“The TRAP?” Hiral said. “They called it a trap?”

“An apt name, apparently,” Left said, still scrolling. “The TRAP creates – as its name suggests – traps. They had it here because it requires a typed-energy infusion to operate. Basically, from what I’m reading, if somebody were to put fire-typed solar energy into the device, it would create a temporary, fire-attuned trap. Anybody unfortunate enough to step on this trap would be in for a fiery surprise.”

Seena whistled. “Sounds good so far. Does it only do fire?”

“That’s what they were experimenting with here,” Left said. “Or, more likely, preparing to experiment with. It seems like this was only placed here slightly before Fallen Reach was attacked. The notes suggest they were planning to use the apertures – the thin areas between realms used as kill-switches for the plants – to infuse the device.”

“Can a person use this?” Hiral asked. “Or do they need all this equipment?”

“A person can use this,” Left said. “However, apparently it is very rare for somebody to have more than one, typed energy. The conclusion to this paper suggests that the ideal user would have at least two types, possibly three. As for the actual traps, the device can create up to three at a time, though it takes approximately three-minutes for it to regenerate the components necessary to create more traps after that.”

“Basically it has a three-minute cooldown for each of the three traps it can make,” Yanily said. “But, multiple typed energy…”

All heads in the room turned to Seeyela.

“How many do you have now?” Hiral asked her.

“Just the two,” Seeyela said. “Gravity and venom.”

“Anybody else have two?” Seena asked, and the rest of the party shook their heads. “Probably makes the most sense for you anyway. Depending on how the traps work, with your portals and the armor making you harder to spot, it seems like a good fit.”

“It does,” Hiral agreed, then looked at Left. “Sorry, no new toys for you yet.”

“I’ll try not to cry myself to sleep tonight,” the double said with a perfectly straight face.

“Anybody have any objections?” Seeyela asked.

“None here,” Yanily said. “Let’s get that out of there.”

“I suspect there is at least one Solar Core in the panel beneath the pillar,” Left said. “Like in the last location. Let me retrieve that.”

“This one is less likely to explode, isn’t it?” Drahn asked while inching towards the door.

“Yes,” Left said without looking up, and opened a small door at the base of the pillar. “There are two cores here. That’s what we need for the quest, I believe, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Hiral said, going over to crouch beside Left. As soon as the double removed the cores and passed them to Hiral, a 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: 5/5

Major Solar Cores Obtained: 1/2

“Everybody get the quest update?” Hiral asked – while dropping the cores into his Interspatial Ring – and the others in the room nodded. “That just leaves one more major core.”

“The Boss must have it,” Yanily said, and nobody disagreed.

“I’ll be honest,” Hiral said. “I half expected a Boss to show up when we installed all the cores. Guess not. Seeyela, any idea where one might be?”

The woman shook her head. “If this really is the wreckage of the Builder island, we’ve got thirty miles of possible ground to search. Probably less, since most of it’s buried and we’re in a dungeon, but it could be a lot of places.”

“Maybe there’s a clue back in that central room,” Hiral said. “Something we missed, or another screen could activate when we start installing Solar Cores.”

“It’s as good an idea as any,” Seena said. “We’re down to under an hour left in here, so we should get a move on once Seeyela has her new equipment…”

“How do I put it on…?” Seeyela asked, holding the long, crystal contraption in one hand. “I thought maybe it was a belt, but that doesn’t seem to be correct.”

“According to the notes,” Left said. “It’s like a backpack. It will adhere automatically if you place it over your spine. Would you like some help?”

“Please,” Seeyela said, handing over the TRAP and turning around.

“You’re pretty trusting turning your back on something literally called a trap,” Yanily said.

Before Seeyela even had a chance to react to that, Left placed the device against her back – Little Shadow’s Cloak conveniently moving out of the way – and the leg-like appendages, each about three inches long, stretched out. With a series of clicks, they lay themselves flat against Seeyela’s Armor of the Ghost-Web Matriarch, and a strobing pulse of energy began to run up and down the length of the device. Green – up and down – then black – up and down – then purple – up and down. Faster and faster the pulses came and went, building like they were heading towards a climax.

“Uh, is that normal?” Yanily asked, stepping back. “The PIMPdoes have a habit of making things explode.”

“Explode?” Seeyela asked, spinning like she was trying to get a look at the device running along her spine. “Why are you talking about exploding? I don’t explode.”

“Yet,” Yanily said, taking another step back.

“Left?” Seena asked with a hitch in her voice.

“This is normal,” the double said. “The TRAP is attuning itself to her energy types.”

“Looks more like it’s attuning itself to exploding,” Yanily said.

“Stop saying exploding!” Seeyela said.

“Why are there three colors then?” Seena asked. “Seeyela only has two types of energy.”

Hiral snapped his fingers as he looked at Right. “We forgot one. Infernal must be a type as well. It’s the same shade of purple as the infernal flames.”

“You’re right. It does look the same,” Seena said.

“So, I’m not going to explode?” Seeyela asked.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Fifty-fifty,” Left said in his usual flat voice.

“Fif…?” Seeyela started, before the strobing light reached its peak, and the woman just froze.

“Sis?” Seena asked, that hint of worry back in her voice.

“Oh,” Seeyela said.

“Oh?” Yanily asked.

“I just got the notification window for the TRAP,” Seeyela explained. “Left was right. Er, correct. I can create… explosives… basically. Either delayed or proximity, with damage based on one of my three types. Coincidentally, I can have up to a maximum of three deployed at any one time, but after creating one, there’s a three-minute cooldown on creating another.”

“That’s not too bad,” Hiral said.

“And of course it explodes,” Yanily pointed out.

“Want to test out the damage on it, Yan?” Seeyela asked, reaching around to slip a palm-sized disc off the device. Glowing with a sickening green light, it didn’t take much effort to guess which kind of energy she’d imbued it with.

“We can test it on the Boss,” Seena pointed out, back to rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Despite the small chuckles from around the room, that was the end of the discussion, and the party marched back out of the building. From there, despite the thinned apertures – as Left had called them – things were significantly less trying-to-kill-them, and the party made their way back up to the tunnel leading away from the research building. A few short minutes later, they exited that and spread out to watch for what they all knew had to be coming soon – the Boss.

“Still quiet out here,” Yanily said, looking up and down the empty streets. “Is this really the first dungeon without trash monsters?”

“Trash… monsters…?” Hiral asked.

“Read. The. Guide,” Yanily said, and Hiral just rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” Hiral grumbled, then stopped as something reached his ears. Before Yanily – or anybody else – could open their mouths, he held up a hand to keep them silent. Had he really…? There it was again. Something he never expected in the empty city. “I hear music.”

“Music?” Drahn asked, but the party simultaneously took up positions as if expecting an ambush, and cocked their heads to the side to listen.

“Definitely music,” Hiral said, a few more faint notes of it bouncing off the still, building walls.

“Primal Chord?” Seena offered. They all heard their own Chord, but he shook his head.

“No,” Hiral said. “I think it’s coming from that direction.” He pointed down the street to the right – a ninety-degree angle from where they’d go to get back to the central building. “It’s either not close, or inside somewhere, but… yeah. That way.”

“Should we check it out?” Yanily asked, then shook his head. “What am I saying? It’s probably a clue for the Boss. Of course we should check it out!”

“I’m agreeing with Yan on this one,” Seena said. “Hiral, lead the way.” With that – and the shoulder tap – Hiral started down the street at a jog. Now that he knew the sound he was looking for, the gentle footfalls of the others behind him didn’t distract him from staying on course. Not that it was difficult – he just kept going in a straight line as the music got louder and louder.

“I hear it too,” Drahn said after only two blocks. “How did you even notice that? What’s your attunement?”

“Compare stats later,” Seena said. “What kind of music is it? Singing?”

“No, more like…” Hiral started, then on a whim, threaded solar energy into his Runes of Increase and Dreaming. All at once, an ethereal melody rose in the street. It didn’t get loud, but it became clearer. More apparent.

“That’s an orchestra,” Seeyela said. “Did you do that, Hiral?”

“New rune,” he said simply.

“That’s… it’s beautiful,” Seeyela went on.

And, now that Hiral could hear more than just certain notes, Seeyela wasn’t wrong. The score was haunting, with parts of it playing low and longing, then building towards a crescendo, only to ease off as if it wasn’t ready yet. Around and around the music went, never quite reaching that climax, but building closer to it each time, with the lulls in between hanging with loss.

That was all within three blocks of jogging, and by the time Hiral didn’t need to use his runes anymore to allow the others to hear it, everybody marveled at the tune.

Until Yanily reminded them of something.

“An orchestra means more than one person,” the spearman pointed out. “NPCs, maybe?”

“That would mean they’d have to be survivors,” Seeyela countered. “After everything we’ve seen, I find that hard to believe.”

“Either way,” Hiral said, spotting something different near the end of the street. “I think we’ll have our answer soon. The music is coming from that structure there, ahead and on the left.”

“It’s pretty small,” Seena said, spotting what he’d pointed out. She had a point, too, with the ‘building’ being less than a story. Unless it was another kind of spatial area, it didn’t make sense for an entire orchestra to be within.

Less than a minute later, they had their answer.

“Stairs?” Yanily asked, the party standing at the top of a thirty-foot-wide stairwell. Complete with two sets of banisters equidistant in the middle, along with red carpet along the steps, this clearly wasn’t a run-of-the-mill staircase.

“It says something over here,” Drahn said. The tracker pointed at a plaque to the right. “Symphony Playhouse.”

“There’s a theatre down there?” Seena asked. “Underground?”

“Sure seems that way,” Hiral said, the music still flowing up the steps uninterrupted. “We going down?”

“You bet we are,” Seena said, giving Hiral another tap on the shoulder.

Taking the first step, Hiral pushed his sensory domain ahead, marvelling at the scope of things. Down and down the stairs went – I hope whoever went to the symphony was in good shape – and he couldn’t sense an end to them. On either wall – every twenty feet or so – stood empty alcoves, as if waiting for statues of theatre-greats to fill them. There were even places to hang art, though there wasn’t any he could see.

The stairwell, like every other building they’d found so far, was finished, but it wasn’t complete. Despite the music curling up from the depths of the theatre, the building still felt lifeless.

At least it didn’t look like there was an ambush waiting for them in the stairwell.

“This isn’t a short flight of stairs,” Hiral said, leading the others down the steps.

“Don’t fall,” Yanily suggested. “You’d never stop rolling or bouncing.”

“At least that would be faster than walking,” Seeyela said.

“I could…” Hiral started, only to get a chorus of ‘NO!’ back from the others.

“Pretty sure we promised never to do that again,” Seena said, looking a little green at just the thought of it.

“No,” Hiral quickly said. “Not that. It was fast, but I think I have some better tools now.”

“You can get us to the bottom without making us vomit?” Yanily asked, and Drahn’s head turned sharply at the spearman.

“The Dracolich?” he whispered.

“I can,” Hiral said to Yanily. “Probably,” he added very quietly.

Then, before anybody could really object, he reached out and grabbed the others with his scarves. As soon as he had them, threads of Gravity, Decrease, Attraction,and Rejection lifted them off the stairs. Carefully centering and anchoring them from all sides, Hiral nodded to himself at how easy it was with the aid of the Edicts.

Even if the others had asked him to slow down his exploration of what the runes could do… would he have been able to stop? Really stop? Good thing he didn’t have to find out.

“You just going to grope us or…?” Seeyela asked.

Hiral didn’t even grace the woman with a sigh, and instead gently pushed himself – and the others – forward. After five feet, and everything going smoothly as they descended, Hiral upped the power. From the speed of a steady walk to sprinting, the party shot down the long stairwell. An additional wall of Rejection kept the wind out of their faces, but what would’ve taken long minutes to descend ended in less than twenty seconds.

Reaching the bottom, feet still hovering above the ground, Hiral and the others exited the wide stairwell to enter a majestic foyer. His leg-thick scarves of energy – the ones not holding his party members – stretched out to the sides, almost like spider’s legs, and he set everybody down. Using Attraction and Rejection in the tunnel had been pretty easy to move them in a straight line, but in the large room, it left them open if an attack came.

“Holy…” Seena said, eyes wide at what lay ahead of them. The ceiling of the place had to be more than a hundred feet above, held up by decorative pillars and covered with elaborate paintings. Numerous carvings ringed that domed ceiling, each looking up at the display. The theatre wasn’t just a place for art – it was art itself.

Closer to them – on the floor – there seemed to be some kind of long counter on the left, set up like stalls at a market. Food and drink for the show? The right side had what looked like a series of small rooms, complete with elegant – though small – tables and chairs. Directly ahead, three sets of closed, ornate double doors sat between a pair of curving staircases up to a second level, where more of the ornate doors sat.

And it was from beyond those doors where the music came.

“Is this… Boss music?” Yanily asked.

“This place is too pretty to fight in,” Seena said. “But, I guess it’s not really real… unless it’s like the Fall of Fallen Reach? Ugh, these dungeons are just confusing. Let’s just go find out who’s making the music.”

A tap on Hiral’s shoulder and he headed for the central door. Nobody really wanted to deal with more stairs, and they crossed the room quickly – though none of them could stop their eyes from wandering. Everywhere they looked, there was just more detail. It was almost like everything on the surface-level had been made purposefully boring so this place could stand out more.

“Does Fallen Reach have something like this?” Seeyela asked him as he reached the door.

“Not that I know of,” he said, but that was the end of the conversation. A gentle tug of Attraction opened both doors, music spilling out of them like a physical wave, and they got their first look at the refined theatre beyond. Rows of satiny seating lined both sides of the aisle all the way down to the majestic stage at the far end. Curtains of the same color as the seats hung parted to the side, with another at the top.

None of that was what really grabbed their attention though. No, it was the orchestra continuing to play on the stage, instruments moving in perfect time and rhythm. Instruments held by crystal hands. Dozens of golems – different than any they’d seen before, more sleek and person-like – played instruments with an almost clinical perfection. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say they all moved at the exact same time.

How are they even playing wind instruments? Hiral’s mind idly wondered before his eyes finally settled on the one thing that stood out from the rest.

There in the center of the stage, sitting where a conductor would normally stand, was the only flesh-and-blood person besides the party. A woman with the double-helix pattern wrapping her limbs – barely glowing against her skin – under tentacles that pulsed with power.

They’d finally found another Builder. Except she was also an Infested.

Dynamic Quest

Within the ruins of a fallen island, you’ve found a survivor.

That may not be a good thing.