Rune Seeker
Chapter 5: Man Up

After stopping by the Grandfather so Yanily could get his rank evolution – and the others could benefit from Evolutionary Inspiration – Hiral carried his sisters down to the surface for the first time on Drake’s back. The summoned dracolich was even on his best behaviour, as if he was being extra careful of the two comparatively-frail E-Ranks on his saddle.

“The surface looks so much different from closer,” Nat said from where she sat behind Hiral. She had to practically shout to be heard over the whistling wind from Drake’s flight. Despite the bonuses, they couldn’t invite the two sisters into their party since neither had the Party Interface ability – which meant no magical communication.

“It’s not so different when you get down there,” Hiral shouted back. “Scenery is a bit different, but as long as you stay out of the rain, it’s like going for a very long walk on Fallen Reach.”

“Is the rain really that bad?” Milly asked.

Hiral shrugged. “It wasn’t as bad as I expected, honestly. Very wet, yes, but the whole water falling from the sky thing? Kind of amazing – it’s not just like a shower, in case you’re thinking that – aside from the killer squids flying around.”

“We won’t see any of them while we’re down here, right?”

“We’ll be up and back before the storm wall reaches the dungeon,” Hiral said.

“Not to be eavesdropping,” Seena said over the communication magic, Vili flying just to Drake’s right. “But, we had a B-Rank team head over to the Endless Tunnels to run it. They said the rain was pretty light. Barely more than a drizzle. Didn’t see even a hint of squids, either.”

“Pretty risky to go that far without flying mounts,” Hiral said. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“They had the Recall Tokens, so they went and teleported right back,” Seena explained.

“Okay, yeah, those tokens are going to revolutionize dungeon runs. Still, it’d be nice to have actual bases of operation on the surface instead of heading back to Fallen Reach every time.”

“That’s what Asylums are, aren’t they?”

“For a maximum of eighteen people – three parties,” Hiral said. “If the PIMP really wants us to fight back against the Enemy, we’re going to need more than that. Sorry, I know we promised not to talk about that yet.”

“It’s fine,” Seena said. “After we run this dungeon, though, there was something else I wanted to talk to the party about…”

“Going to get Nivian and Wule?” Hiral guessed, and by the second of silence, he’d been right. “They won’t have the same tokens to come back with us, but it would make sense to go find them once we have that safety net.”

“You know it’s rude to talk when we can’t hear you,” Nat shouted from behind Hiral.

“Sorry!” he shouted back, then added more quietly for Seena. “We can all talk about this after the dungeon. I think it’s a good idea, even though I’m not sure how we’ll actually find them. If they left the undead city…”

“I have an idea for that,” Seena said. “I’ll explain after the dungeon. It should be down in that area there.”

Hiral looked over to see where Seena was pointing, then followed her gesture to find a whole lot of… nothing. The landscape was, all-in-all, pretty barren. Almost entirely flat, dry land with low bushes that looked barely attached to the ground. There were other, stockier plants of some kind that were bulbous and… spikey? Of course, everything on the surface has spikes or shells or…

Besides the plant life, the only other thing of note were the occasional pillars of wind-scoured stone. Even those didn’t stand more than fifty feet tall, with the largest one only being about twenty feet wide.

“Is that where we’re going?” Milly asked as Drake turned to follow Thunderclaws – Yanily’s gryphon mount.

“Seems that way,” Hiral replied.

“Are dungeons really small?”

“They exist within a hidden sub-space,” Hiral said. “You know this! We just need to find a place big enough for the interface.” But, even as Hiral said that, it had to be located in one of the larger stone pillars they were angled towards. Or, more likely, under.

“And we’re going to be fighting worms or something in here?” Nat asked.

“That’s what Seena said.”

“How are worms worth experience? I can just step on them without using my Medium.”

“Just because they’re called worms doesn’t mean they’re small. They could be…” Hiral trailed off and just pointed towards a section of the barren landscape to their right. He didn’t need to look to feel his sisters turning to see what he’d spotted.

Sprinting along the cracked ground, some kind of very fast – well, for a D-Rank – four-legged animal seemed to be running for its life. Like a cross between a goat and a horse, the thing was lightning quick, each of its leaping strides carrying it dozens of feet at a time. As for what it was running from? It wasn’t immediately clear beyond the way the ground behind it seemed to shift, like something was passing just below the surface.

Something that had to be more than fifteen feet wide, and faster than the dashing animal. From above, it was clear the prey was aiming for a wide but low slab of rock almost five-hundred feet away. At the speed it was going, it would be there in no…

The ground immediately beneath one of the animal’s leaping strides erupted upward in a shower of rock and dirt as a massive maw shot towards the sky. Rings and rings of sawing teeth lined the gullet leading down into the depths of the huge cylindrical creature as it snapped up and engulfed its meal. The thing had to be more than twenty feet wide, and as soon as it had the other creature within its mouth, a ripple of muscle washed up along its body, then it hauled itself back underground. Another second passed, and dirt filled in the hole to leave the ground almost perfectly intact. There was barely even a disturbance to the nearby plant-life.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

That has to be magic…

“Anybody catch that with view?” Seeyela asked over the party chat.

“It was called a Burrowing Gorger,” Hiral said. “Mid-D-Rank. Not elite. Probably the kind of thing we’ll find in the dungeon.”

“Great, we have to watch for the ground at our feet trying to eat us?” Seeyela asked.

“Better than spiders, at least,” Seena pointed out.

“Much better,” Yanily agreed.

“Nothing wrong with spiders,” Seeyela grumbled back quietly.

“So,” Hiral said loudly to his sisters sitting behind him. “Still think you could stomp one of those without your Medium?”

“I’d need a bigger boot,” Nat admitted. Then, more seriously, she asked, “Is this armor you made going to be enough protection if that happens to one of us?”

Hiral knew what she was talking about without looking. He’d taken some of the crystal armor found in the underground rooms on Fallen Reach – looking like little more than five plates that went on a person’s chest, upper arms, and legs – and modified it a bit. Runes of Rejection and Increase had dramatically improved the protection they offered, making them easily equal to high-quality, High-C-Rank equipment.

“The dungeon will be D-Rank, which means your C-Rank armor should offer you a lot of protection, in general,” Hiral explained. “First rule of running dungeons, though, is that everything in there is Elite, meaning it’s much stronger than most monsters you find outside – but immediately around – the dungeon. The second rule is that Mid-Bosses and Bosses are even stronger. Never, ever, underestimate them, even if you outrank them. They almost always have some crazy abilities that make them a challenge even for a full party.”

“Are they going to be a challenge for us?” Milly asked.

Hiral chuckled. “Despite what I just said, I hope not. We’re two full ranks above the dungeon, not to mention our advanced classes. If we don’t steamroll the place, I’m going to be disappointed. That said, do not take this dungeon run as an example of how things normally go. Actually, one second,” he went from shouting to his sisters to talking to Seena through the Party Interface. “Seena, I hate to ask, but has anybody had any trouble with the dungeons yet?”

Seena actually groaned before replying. “For the most part, no. People have generally been smart about running their first dungeon – taking it slow. It was a learning experience, like our first one was, where we weren’t really ready for how much stronger Elites were than normal monsters. Once they got a grip on that, in big part from us warning them, they managed pretty well.

“Except for one D-Rank group that went down. Overconfident idiots, Makers and Growers both. They lost their tank before they retreated to wait out the three-hour dungeon timer.”

“Damn,” Hiral said, somehow not expecting a casualty even though he’d asked about it. “The rest of them okay?”

“Some serious injuries,” Seena said gravely. “They were lucky they popped out right as a C-Rank party with a good healer showed up. They won’t be running this dungeon again at least until next year, though. Assuming Grandmother ever stops lecturing them.”

“Bet she gave them a good rap with her cane,” Hiral said.

“Echoed across the islands,” Seena replied with a chuckle.

Back to shouting to his sisters, “Sounds like somebody has already died in this dungeon, so I really want you to be careful. You’ll have us doing most of the heavy lifting, but the way that worm came out of the ground is likely to be a thing in the dungeon too. Especially with the Mid-Bosses or Boss.”

“Can we fight?” Nat asked.

“Absolutely,” Hiral said. “In fact, this is a great chance for you to figure out how your abilities work together and in a party.”

“I’m confident in my build,” Milly said.

“Your… what?”

“My build. That’s what people are calling the combinations of tattoos and abilities that are getting put together for dungeon runs,” Milly explained. “There’s even whole debates on theorycrafting what the next overpowered combo will be. What, have you been under a rock?”

“He literally has,” Nat said. “In the tunnels.”

“Oh yeah… Anyway, since I chose all my tattoos to work around the Fool and focus on buffing the party, that’s my build.”

“Huh,” Hiral said. “Kids and their slang.”

“Talking like you’re so much older than us,” Nat said, punching him gently in the back.

“I am the big brother. But, back to my point, with us there, it’s a good chance to test your builds. Not all abilities are equal against all enemies. What works on a common creature might be useless on a Boss. That kind of thing.

“And, Milly, if you’re going to be the party’s healer, you’ll need to work on your timing. Too much healing too early and you’ll run out of solar energy. Too late and… well… somebody dies,” Hiral said, wincing a little at the pressure he probably just dropped on his sister’s shoulders. Still, if this was the role she was going to take on, she needed to understand the consequences.

“That’s one of the reasons I took the barrier skills,” Milly said confidently. “Low cost, and pre-emptive. And with the Fool helping my efficiency and reaction speed, I have more wiggle room. Don’t worry, I planned it all out.”

“Planning and acting can be two very different things,” Hiral said seriously.

“We know,” Nat said, just as sincerely. “We’re both planning to make the most of this opportunity with it being as safe as it can be. Don’t worry.”

“I’ll always worry about you two.”

“You’re the one who’s died twice,” Milly said, reaching around Nat to poke him in the ribs. “Dad asked us to keep an eye on you.”

“He didn’t.”

“Totally did.”

“Not to be eavesdropping again,” Seena cut in. “He asked me too.”

“What did he say about his daughters?” Hiral asked.

“That I shouldn’t worry too much about them. They have good heads on their shoulders.”

“I have a good head on my shoulders too!”

“That you apparently lost in the Amphitheatre of the Sun,” Seena said, the pitch of her voice dropping dangerously. “Which, by the way, we haven’t talked about yet. Let’s add that to the list of things to discuss after the dungeon run.”

Hiral gulped and turned to look back to his sisters. “Do your brother a favor and make the dungeon take as long as possible? Test your magic until you master it.”

“Seena going to lecture you?” Nat asked.

“Yup.”

His sister gently patted him on the shoulder like she was consoling him. “Best to just man up and get it over with.”

“I’d really rather not,” he said weakly as the mounts finally landed at the foot of one of the tall pillars. Just ahead of them, the familiar, rune-coverer arch revealed a set of stairs leading underground. There were even the glowing roots – though it was harder to see their light under the sun – leading right up to the entrance.

“Aaaaaaand, we’re here,” Seena said, hopping off Vili’s back. The flaming phoenix screed once to its master, then vanished in a flash of flaming feathers to return to her Interspatial Ring. “Let’s get us some tokens.”

Sᴇarch the NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.