Rune Seeker

As much he wanted to stay in the sky with Seena in his arms, there was only so much they could responsibly put off what they had to do. Testing the flight – and his control of his runes – had kind of, mostly, sort of been necessary, but now it was done. So, when they landed back in the keep several minutes later, he only got a few eyerolls for going off on the random adventure.

“Keep that up and Vili is going to get jealous,” Seena said as she stood on her tiptoes with her arms over his shoulders.

“We can just send Drake to go play with her,” Hiral said, his own hands on the small of her back.

“They do love hide-and-seek,” Seena said.

“Which I do not understand, since Drake always loses. He’s just to big to hide!”

“Meh, as long as they have fun,” Seena said, then gave him a gentle kiss. “Which I just did, but…” She squeezed him once more before stepping back. “That project of yours. Let’s get it finished. Thirty minutes you said?”

“Definitely less,” Hiral said. “I wasn’t taking into account how much easier everything would be at A-Rank. The way my energy moves. The finer control. Our bodies got stronger from the evolution for sure, but something about this Rank-up feels…”

“Deeper,” Seena said, finishing his thought for him. “Like it’s finally starting to come together. My thoughts. My magic.”

“You are truly coming into your power, Mistress,” Li’l Ur said.

“Speaking of power, Hiral, did you look at your stats? If you haven’t, you probably should.”

Hiral was more than a little curious, so he snuck a quick look at the first part of his status window – it wasn’t like his list of abilities or anything would be much different. As soon as it came up, his jaw actually dropped.

Name: Hiral Dorin

Race: Builder

Class: (Lost) Vanguard of the Runic Cycle

Rank: Low-A-Rank (Level 3)

Attributes

Strength (Str)—18 (25+441) = 701

Endurance (End)—18 (25+441) = 701

Dexterity (Dex)—20 (25+869+111) = 1735

Intelligence (Int)—18 (25+441+125) = 895

Wisdom (Wis)—18 (25+441+96) = 850

Attunement (Atn)—20 (25+869) = 1540

Solar Energy Processing

Absorption Rate: SS+-Rank

Capacity: SSS+-Rank

Output Rate: SSS+-Rank

Was… was that right? Not only had he already gotten to level three – All that experience in escrow? – but his stats were… absurd. Sure, looking at the numbers explained how he felt, but it was still so unbelievable compared to where he’d started. Though, something about looking at them now did hammer something home. These numbers he was seeing, they were also kind of a limit to his body. He wasn’t always exerting over seven-hundred Str, but he could at any moment. The same went for his Dex, or he’d be moving so fast people wouldn’t even see him.

Then there were his solar attributes. They had all gone up a Rank. Because of what I did to myself during the evolution? Hell yeah.

“It’s not just your attributes you’re feeling, Mistress,” Li’l Ur said, pulling Hiral out of his own status window.

As the lich spoke, Hiral reached out with his senses, feeling for the concept around the woman beside him. Having first run into it with Nivian’s “I protect”, he’d gotten a lot of practice sensing it since then. And, around Seena and Li’l Ur – together – there was a new firmness, like an aura.

“You figured out your concept, didn’t you?” he said.

“I… think I’m close,” she said. “Real close. Something almost clicked with the inspiration Li’l Ur and I got…”

“Hold on,” Hiral interrupted. “Ur got an inspiration too?”

The little lich on her shoulder put his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and nodded. “I did! More proof you should be my apprentice – once you die.”

“An ability got a separate inspiration?” Hiral said, still unable to believe what he was hearing.

“About that,” Seena said. “Turns out we weren’t exactly right about him being an ability now. Or, maybe we aren’t right about it anymore. I think that’s part of Ur’s inspiration. He’s not an ability, at least not exactly. Remember when Odi told us Ur’Thul the Undying would resurrect himself as long as the Urn existed?”

“Yes,” Hiral said. “Something about it being the true source of his power?”

“Exactly. Turns out my PIM is Li’l Ur’s new Urn,” Seena said. “It’s listed on my status window as an ability, but I think that’s only because it doesn’t have a better way to label it.”

“Huh,” Hiral said, then shook his head. “Does it change anything?”

“Nothing,” Li’l Ur said. “I am still devoted to my Mistress and any conquering – this world or another – she wishes to do.”

“What about if I just want to settle down quietly and have a dog?” Seena asked the lich.

“Would the canine companion need to conquer anything?” Li’l Ur asked with an entirely straight face.

“You want a dog?” Hiral asked at the same time.

“Are you allergic?” Seena asked back.

“Not at all. Always wanted a dog. Got a Dracolich instead.”

“It’s hard to have a lap-Dracolich,” Seena countered.

“Not for lack of Drake trying,” Hiral hissed. “It’s like he doesn’t realize how big he is. Or how his tail swings behind him.”

“Does Fallen Reach have kennels? Maybe we can go look…” Seena started.

“Ahem,” came over the party chat. Yanily. “This is your… what… hourly? Reminder you always seem to be talking on open channels, even when you’re right in front of each other.”

“Oops.” Hiral shared a chuckle with Seena.

“Are you working on that project you mentioned while you’re talking?” Seeyela cut in. “I’m sure you must be. No way you’d be wasting time just flirting with each other.”

The chuckling very quickly stopped, and Hiral did a quick look to make sure he didn’t spot the older sister around them. It was clear, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t pop up at any time.

“Totally working on it,” Seena answered, then threw several meaningful looks at his hand. Or, more specifically, at his Interspatial Ring.

Catching on – and since they were somewhat out of the way of the general bustle of the camp – Hiral reached into the ring and began pulling out the project he’d been working on. It still took about three seconds before the large construct appeared in front of them.

With crab-like legs, a body like an upside-down pear, four arms of varying shapes, and a strange faceplate – like a status window – that showed X_X on it, Guardian P3W P3W had been one of the Mid-Bosses from the Lost Refuge of the Lost. Now, with a little tinkering, it would become a protector of the fortress. Hopefully an A-Rank protector, after a few modifications.

“You really think it’ll work?” Seena asked him, looking down at the body of the construct he’d mostly repaired. There had been a fair amount of damage to it from their battle in the dungeon, but it hadn’t been anything he couldn’t fix. Mold Crystal continued to be a useful skill, even if it wasn’t often used.

“I do,” Hiral said. “I’ve got a new core built from the currency we were getting from the dungeons. The same stuff I used to repair the towers up on Fallen Reach. It’s got excellent – what did Gauto call it? – conductivity for the energy. The trick was how to turn it into a source for power, and not just a place for it to travel through.

“Thanks to my Rank evolution – as well as a few theories I had in B-Rank – I think I’ve solved it.”

“You can make it create energy? Unlimited energy?”

“Maybe not unlimited,” Hiral stressed the last word there. “There will definitely be a cap on how much it can produce at a time – part of the reason I’m only hoping I can get it to A-Rank, instead of guaranteeing it – but it should be able to keep going until it breaks down or is destroyed. I guess too much energy too constantly could speed that up…”

“And you can control it?” Seena said. “Last time this thing was awake, it was pretty keen on seeing us dead. If it’s A-Rank…”

“I can definitely control it,” Hiral said. “Or, more accurately, set it up like your Brass Cannons and Tomorrow’s Sentinels work. Seeing how the energy moves through them made a big difference in my understanding. With my Rune of Connection – among other things – I can basically create guidelines for this thing to operate under. And align it to our faction.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Don’t want it to get confused when Infested showed up and have it think they’re not enemies.”

“Huh, smart,” Seena said, tilting her head back and thinking. “Do I need to do that too with the Brass Cannons?”

“No,” Hiral said. “They already have it in place, because of your affiliation with the faction. Sentinelshave it too. That’s part of how I figured this out.”

“Does that mean my next summons from Machinis Liber will also have it?”

“Yeah, it should. Did you get one?” Hiral asked the question at the same time he got to work on the Guardian. Seeyela would… not be happy if they were chatting again without working.

In answer to Hiral’s question, Seena lifted a hand, and one of the books at her side rose of its sheath and opened in front of her. Floating there, the book with a metallic sheen flipped through its pages without even a touch from her, until it stopped about a quarter of the way in.

“From the way this reads…” Seena spoke slowly, her finger tracing along the page as she went.

In Hiral’s sensory domain, the language on the page wasn’t something he could read at all – despite being able to feel the detail of the raised letters on the metal page – and was more image than words.

“Yup, I should be able to summon something new. Ouch, cooldown is lot longer, but it will be B-Rank.”

“What is it?” Hiral asked.

“It’s a… oh wow… it’s huge if I’m reading this right,” Seena said. “It’s called a Cargopede, and it looks like it’s a mount – for a fully party!”

“Six people can ride it?”

“Not ride,” Seena said. “Fit inside. It’s an armored transport that can even go underground. Assuming the ground isn’t higher than B-Rank.”

“The ground has Ranks…?” Hiral asked, then immediately waved his hand like the question wasn’t really important. Probably something to do with the different Ranked zones they found themselves in. If the earth, stone, and plants there didn’t absorb some of the same ambient energy that allowed creatures to become higher Ranks, they would likely fall apart at the lightest touch. “What’s the cooldown?”

“Twenty hours,” Seena said with a grimace. “There go my dreams of outfitting all our groups with rides that’ll let them move around safely. Underground. Can you imagine?”

“I can’t, at all,” Hiral said. “Makes me wonder if there is something right beneath our feet we’re missing.”

“Or in places like the Sea of White,” Seena said. “When I was a little girl, I used to daydream about what was beneath those waves every time we passed over.”

“How about we go find out after we deal with the squids?” Hiral offered.

“You asking me out on a date, Mr. Raid Leader?”

“Well, Miss Party Leader, I just might…”

“Ahem!” a certain spearman’s voice said into the party chat.

“We’re working!” Hiral said.

“And flirting on open channels, again,” Seeyela said. “We literally just told you to stop doing this a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, let them go on,” Gran said. “Maybe it’ll teach Wule how to talk to women.”

“I know how to talk to women just fine,” Wule shot back. Apparently, Hiral and Seena weren’t just talking over their party chat, but over the entire raid chat.

“Slapping them on the ass after buffing them isn’t talking to them,” Gran said with a cackle.

“Wule?” Nivian asked.

“It was a heal,” Wule clarified quickly. “And it was supposed to be a pat on the back, but she stood up mid-swing!”

“At which point you turned beet-red and ran away,” Gran said. “Even though she was very much giving you the come-on-do-it-again look.” The old vampire even added a breathless tone to her last words for emphasis.

“I was not,” Sera said into the chat, and Hiral’s jaw nearly fell off his face. “I was merely curious if this was a new style of Grower healing. There were no additional buffs bestowed by the action, in case anybody was wondering.”

“Kill me now,” Wule wheezed.

“Does Dad know?” It was the only thing Hiral could ask, his mind kind of blanking out.

“He learned of it when we were discussing group composition and roles,” Sera said. “I stated the need for contact after healing seemed like a weakness.”

“What… did he say?” Wule asked quietly.

“Not much. He moved right on to asking about Yully, and whether or not she could regrow limbs other than feet.”

“Thanks to somebody,” Yully hissed. “My ability evolutions have all revolved around feet. Like it’s some kind of fetish! At this point, if I regrew a hand, it would probably end up being a foot.”

“You don’t need your hands to heal,” Nivian said.

“But I need them for everything else!” Wule countered. “Eating. Drinking. Reading. Getting dressed…”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be going around touching older, married women in their no-no places?” Gran cackled again.

“Quiet you old bat!’ Wule said. “You’re just trying to get me in trouble.”

“Is it working?”

“Yes,” four voices said in chorus.

“I don’t see what the big problem is,” Sera said. “It wasn’t hard enough to be either painful or arousing. Elezad has a much better technique that…”

“Stooooooop!” Hiral practically shouted into the chat. This had gone wildly out of control, and was not a conversation he wanted to hear about his father and Sera.

“Thank you,” Wule said.

“Definitely didn’t do this for you,” Hiral deadpanned. “But you’re welcome. And maybe bring my Dad something nice. He likes art. You do not want him as your enemy.”

“Noted,” the healer said, clearly exhausted despite his A-Rank body.

“Back to the Cargopede,” Hiral said, completely turning off the party chat and talking directly to the woman in front of him while he continued to work on the Guardian. “B-Rank, huh?”

“Sounds like I’ll be able to summon new constructs for each Rank,” Seena said. “I honestly thought it would be a bit… oh…” she trailed off as she turned the page. Then again. “Oh, I see how it is.”

“What did you find?”

“There are other summons by Rank. Even the lower Ranks,” Seena said. “But these ones don’t unlock automatically. I need to channel solar energy from things we kill into the pages. The way it reads, the designs aren’t finalized, so pushing solar energy in over time will help them complete. After that’s done, I’ll be able to call on them like the Brass Cannons and Cargopede.”

“Too bad you won’t be able to summon one of those before we go,” Hiral said. “Though, I guess one wouldn’t be enough to…”

“I can summon one,” Seena said. “It started off-cooldown!”

“Nice, but…!” Hiral said quickly. “Maybe not right here. If it’s big enough to carry an entire party, it’s not going to be small.”

“Definitely outside the wall before we leave,” Seena said. “You know, I was thinking about leaving it here as part of the defenses, but it’s only got limited weapons. It’s durable, from what I’m reading, but only has one attack method – some kind of corrosive breath attack. With a cooldown. Do you think Ilrolik’s party could use it? Then we could all take our mounts, and… ah never mind. Romin and Finotol don’t have one.

“You’ll have to keep carrying us until we find something for them.”

“One of these trials has to have something,” Hiral said. “Along with that teleport network. That would’ve been really useful for what’s coming. Great way to reinforce others if things turn bad.”

“Maybe your dad and the Trust will keep people running trials to try and find it.”

“The B-Rank groups – and us – are going to get sent out to counter the other faction.”

“Who says the teleporter network is in a B-Rank trial?” Seena asked. And, she had a point. It wasn’t like it was guaranteed to be in one of the more difficult trials. They may’ve just been unlucky in not finding it in a lower-Rank trial yet.

“You know what? They probably…” Hiral trailed off as a movement off near the front gate caught his attention. Enough people it had to be two raid groups had gathered up in full gear, and the gates opened up in front of them. “Looks like they’re way ahead of us. People are already getting sent.”

“There’s still time before the new barrier comes down,” Seena said. “Maybe enough to get a last trial in. Some more achievements and strength. Enough about that, though. How’s your project?”

“Almost finished here,” Hiral said. “I’ve reinforced the runes on this thing – well, maybe more corrected, they were messy – and added a few more. Nothing to give it more powers, just to make it more durable and hit harder. A bit more speed, too, I think.”

“Will it still have that split-up-and-hit-through-its-illusions ability? Wasn’t that based on the Rune of Dreaming.

“It should still have that,” Hiral said. “The construct that has the other half is way beyond my ability to repair in the time we have left, but I’m going to set it up near the back of the fortress. That will give this guy access to the rune-half on it. In theory. The connection is still there.”

“And who will tell it what to do?”

“Me or Grandmother,” Hiral said. “Since she’s the General of the faction, it will listen to her. The Trust is something we created, and while the War Table has a function to delegate who can use it, this guy doesn’t. That said, the Guardian here was designed to protect something. I’ve made this fortress that something.”

“Last question,” Seena said with a smile that clearly said it may not be the last question if she thought of something else to ask. “When will you know if it’s A-Rank or B- still?”

Hiral interlaced his fingers, turned his hands, and stretched his arms out before he answered. A nice pull in his shoulders, then he shook it off, and rubbed his hands together. “Right after I activate it, which I’m ready to do right now. I’d just been thinking if I should name…”

“Don’t,” Seena said immediately. “Please. Just… don’t.”

“You sound like Left now.”

“He’s a smart guy. And, I’m sorry, there are a lot of things I love about you, but your sense of naming is not one of them. Let it keep Guardian P3W P3W, it’s kind of cute anyway.”

Hiral didn’t even want to argue the point. His naming had proven – on multiple occasions – to be less than stellar. “Fiiiiine,” he said in faux-disappointment. “Let’s wake P3W P3W up then and see what it – he? – has to say about all this.”

“I agree, probably a ‘he’,” Seena said while she focused on where Hiral put his hands on the big construct.

Energy – solar and runic – flowed out of his hands and into the channels within the crystal body. Filling them. Modifying them. Bridging connections that’d been damaged in their previous battle, and creating new ones to facilitate the increased power Hiral was hoping to achieve. As his web of recreation expanded within the construct, Mold Crystal flowed along with it, reforging the crystal at the same time his runes added new meaning and intent to them. Like he was giving P3W P3W an artificial concept – one similar to Nivian’s ‘I protect’ – Hiral then tied it to the fortress and the faction.

As if something in the Cradle was primed for such a thing to happen, outside assistance surged in, accepting the connection he was offering. With it came more power, along with something unexpected.

Locations where the core of the Cradle’s power stemmed from. Even as part of Hiral’s mind worked to finish the work on P3W P3W, another part of it followed these new connections back to their source. Or, more accurately, sources.

Most of these seemed to follow a kind of pathway that led to other locations within the mountain range, and Hiral immediately recognized the city where they’d completed the Who Dunnit? trial as one of them. He was inadvertently getting a map of some of the trials! Even trials they hadn’t found.

Even as he was marveling at that, though, he could feel the connections beginning to weaken. The process of the Cradle connecting to P3W P3W was almost finished. And, while he could – maybe even should – use the time to pinpoint as many hidden trials as possible, there was something else that caught his eye.

A location unconnected to anything. Deep below the belly of the Cradle of Tomorrow – even far below where the 0M3G4 W34P0N had been sleeping – lay another facility. A large one, and seemingly completely sealed off. No, that wasn’t quite true. Hiral could feel a crack in the outer layer of it, like the ground itself had shifted and broken in.

The more he looked at it, the more he understood that crack was the only reason he could sense the place at all, the energy within leaking out. Energy that had meant to be contained along with something else.

Thanks to his Rune of Connection – or maybe even its Edict – and the bridge made directly with the Cradle, hints of the facility’s purpose, almost like memories, came along with that energy. Lingering pride and affection overlaid the place. Tomorrow had been proud of what she’d done in there. It was a research facility. Her most secret and advanced one in the Cradle.

But, that pleasant sensation faded almost as quickly as it reached Hiral, only to be replaced with disappointment and a certain amount of horror. She’d created something there. Something beyond the Chimeras or even the Ex-General. Something that hadn’t lived up to her expectations, but was also far too dangerous to leave free on Genesis.

As she couldn’t bring herself to destroy her own work – it was so close to the perfection she sought – she instead sealed it off. The research facility had become a prison. One that held its occupants separate from the world for thousands of years, until one had escaped.

One the party had met.

This place Hiral was feeling was where the Unnamed had been created.