Rune Seeker

This was it, the last patrol of a Mecha-Armor G14NT and W45Ps the party needed to deal with before the 0M3G4 W34P0N finally awoke – whatever, exactly, that meant. One G14NT and six W45Ps rumbled down the street two blocks ahead of the party, blissfully unaware of what was coming for them.

The last group the party had fought consisted of one behemoth and only four flyers, so this would truly be the biggest test before what the party assumed was some kind of Wild-Boss armor. This time, though, the party was planning on changing things up a bit, since the previous battle had gone smoothly.

For the last one, they’d all stayed in the comfort zone, with Hiral, his doubles, Yanily, and Seeyela dealing mostly with the flyers. Drahn and Igwanda had helped out a bit as well, but most of the group had focused on the tanky G14NT. For it, they’d gotten damn good experience.

With them all close to level twenty at this point, it wasn’t experience they needed or wanted, but advanced classes. Which meant they needed to go outside their comfort zones. After a bit of discussion, and unanimous agreement, they’d come up with a simple plan.

Ilrolik’s group would take care of three of the A-Rank W45Ps. Nivian’s group would handle the other three. That just left the G14NT for Seena’s group. And, honestly, Hiral was kind of looking forward to it. He’d really only gotten to fight the faster – and more lightly armored – flyers. It was a good chance to stretch a bit.

“Nivian, Ilrolik, you in position?” he asked over the party chat.

“Almost,” Nivian replied. “One more minute.”

“Getting set up now,” Ilrolik said immediately after. “We’ll be ready when the others are.”

“Good,” Hiral said. He looked at the others huddled in the alleyway, and they gave him a nod they were good to go at any point. Romin and Wallop stood closest to the mouth of the alley – since they’d be the first to rush out when it was time – and the Bonder hefted his blunderbuss, while Wallop pawed at the ground. Out of the everyone in the party, those two and Seena had the most experience fighting G14NTs, but they’d gone over everything the titans were capable of. “We’re ready here any time.”

Thanks to a bit of testing, they’d determined that attacks past a certain range would break up the patrol, with half the flyers – exactly half, every time – going to intercept. If two attacks came at the same time, half of the flying W45Ps would go after each group. If there were three, then the G14NT would move on the third. If there were only one or two attacks, the G14NT would always move after the first, but it wasn’t like the raid group was going to let that happen this time.

No, the party was going to use the predictability to nicely break up the larger group and fight it on their own terms. All they needed was…

“Ready,” Nivian said. “Igwanda is set.”

“Also ready,” Ilrolik said. “Drahn’s got the closest one on the top here.”

“Bottom here,” Nivian confirmed, to make sure they weren’t aiming at the same targets.”

Moving up beside Romin and peeking around the corner, Hiral eyed the Mecha-Armor group as they entered an intersection. “Go.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, then pulses of solar energy came from both sides in the distance. Two arrows followed immediately after. The first, from the right, went boom, boom, boom as it created vertical blast waves in the air, the speed of it seemingly breaking some kind of sound barrier as it sped up.

From the other direction, Drahn’s arrow shot like a meteor, the head of it flaming with volatile energy. It didn’t have quite the same dramatic entrance as Igwanda’s shot… until it hit. The Mecha-ArmorW45P at the top-left from Hiral’s point of view vanished within a sphere of flame as the Explosive Arrow struck. The flash and sizzle lit up the sky, until a secondArmor got hurled into the flames.

This was, of course, the armor Igwanda had hit with her arrow, the durable armor of the W45P taking the hit without breaking. The momentum of the shot, though, was another story entirely, and it sent one Armor careening into the other.

Out of the flaming sphere, both Armors tumbled, tangled with each other and still on fire. Meanwhile, two of the flyers predictably shot off in each direction toward where the attacks had come from.

“Igwanda…” Nivian said flatly over the party chat.

“You asked me to shoot it,” the One True Shot said. “I did.”

“I also asked you not to overdo it…”

“Complain later,” Wule interrupted. “Incoming.”

Just as the healer had said, two of the W45Ps streaked at the party clearly visible on the roof of one of the tall buildings. The barrels of their heavy weapons flashed, heavy rounds streaking at the party even as they closed the distance.

In front of Nivian – and the rest of his party – a dome of blue-flame, almost like armor, took shape to block the opening salvo. The two flyers obviously weren’t going to give up just because of that though, and streaked in to close the distance.

That immediately turned out to be a bad idea for them, with Nivian’s fiery dome shaping into his Aspect. Just the top half of it though, and much smaller than normal. This time, instead of being as tall as the towering building they stood atop, the torso of his Aspect was “only” thirty feet tall. Before the two flyers could even react to the change, a massive hammer of blue flame swept around to bat one of them clean out of the sky.

Like a streaking comet – one engulfed in the same blue flame – the Armor shot down at an angle to crash into and through the building across the street.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Ilrolik’s group had chosen to make their stand from within one of the buildings – instead of on top of one. Drahn pelted the two incoming targets with Pollen-Poison-laced arrows, then ducked inside and out of sight as the A-Rank opponents arrived to give chase. More of their rifle fire shattered windows and tore out the side of the building, and it seemed like they’d completely cornered their prey.

“Got you,” Loan said over the party chat, and Hiral could clearly imagine the predatory grin on his instructor’s face.

In the next second, another window shattered outward, though this time there were two forms within the falling glass. The first was, of course, one of the suits of Mecha-Armor. The second was Loan, one hand glowing with black light and clenching the faceplate of the armor, while the other held the barrel of the dangerous weapon out to the side.

If the armor thought it could overpower the big Shaper – it was A-Rank compared to him only being B-Rank, after all – that idea was quickly dispelled. The weapon didn’t budge. In fact, it broke within the man’s large, squeezing fingers. Quickly realizing that weapon was now useless, the Armor popped the blades on its left forearm, clearly planning to skewer the Shaper with them.

It even seemed like a good plan, until one of Sera’s barriers appeared to block the blow in instant before the pair crashed into the ground fourteen stories below. With Loan on top, the big man used the Mecha-Armor to “cushion” the fall, and even as dust and debris shot into the air from the impact, a WHOMP sounded from within, blasting those fragments away in a shockwave.

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Loan’s fist fell again and again on his target, each with their own resounding WHOMP, driving the W45P deeper and deeper into the ground.

As advantageous as the positions were for both parties, the last two Mecha-ArmorW45Ps finally untangled themselves, and one each went to assist their struggling allies.

Which meant Hiral didn’t have any more time to enjoy the show.

“Our turn,” he said, and felt Seena give Romin the shoulder tap through his sensory domain.

Wallop, who’d eagerly been awaiting the tap, trundled out of the alley and around the corner. The ground shook under his steps as he picked up speed far faster than something his size should be able to. One wide turn later, he lined himself up with the G14NT several blocks distant, then he really charged, the air around him shimmering as powerful barriers built alongside his momentum.

A powerful SNUFF echoed from his nostrils, dust and solar energy billowing ahead of him like the big Rune-o was shouting, “COME AT ME!”.

The G14NT – sensitive to solar energy – instantly turned at the display, the thirty-foot cannon over each shoulder taking aim at the companion sprinting in its direction. BOOM, BOOM the cannons bellowed in response to Wallop’s challenge, the shells digging channels through the air as they crossed the distance in the blink of an eye before slamming into the Rune-o’s barrier.

Twinned explosions filled the streets, shattering some of the few remaining windows in the city on both sides, before Wallop burst out of the flame on the far side. Feet crunching pavement with each step, wisps of smoke streamed from this thick armor-plating, and he snuffed again.

Is that the best you can do? It seemed to say. My turn!

More energy shimmered across the Rune-o’s body, like he became made of colorful glass, before he shattered into a shower of thousands of shards. Those shards vanished before they hit the ground, only for thousands more to reform blocks ahead, Wallop appearing at the foot of the G14NT to slam into it.

The Rune of Impact flared, living up to its name, blasting the left leg out from underneath the huge Armor. Right arm stretching out for balance, the heavy, metal hand clawed into the building next to it, shredding even more glass and metal as it stretched for something to prevent its fall.

During all this, the rest of the party hadn’t been idle either. The moment the two cannons had fired – Wallop’s first role had been to draw the fire of the powerful weapons and put them on cooldown – the rest of the party had moved.

Scarves of solar energy grabbed Hiral’s doubles, pseudo-aspects flaring on all three of them, before he dashed out of the alley and sprinted down the street. Even without the benefits of Wallop’s Blink-Charge teleportation, he arrived at almost the same time the Runeocerous did, simultaneously throwing Left and Right into position while he reached over his shoulder for the Greatsword of Amin Thett.

At the same time, a flaming bird had shot up the side of the building the party had hidden behind, wings spreading as it cleared the top of it to arc in the direction of the G14NT. It’d barely gone more than a few feet forward before it erupted in a shower of flaming feathers to reveal two forms.

The first, a vaguely man-shaped dragon with wings of storm-clouds and lightning, and a spear of crackling energy. No sooner had the bird released him, then he transformed into a bolt of thick lightning that shot for the sky before bouncing down toward the Mecha-Armor.

The second was a woman with green – almost stemlike – skin, clad in armor of red-and-green, metallic feathers, and six, fire-lily wings stretched from her back. Despite not being able to actually fly, Seena seemed to glide imperiously through the air, arms spread out to each side as new suns were born next to her. From her location, a bone-chilling chant echoed, syllables fading in and out like the words themselves navigated the threshold between life and death. Blue lines of power ran from Li’l Ur’s raised hands, running down his Mistress’s shoulders and arms, then out from her hands to the building suns.

To Hiral’s side – and as he’d run down the street – flashes of purple-and-red flame announced Seeyela had kept pace with him, building her own momentum and power through the Chord of the Primal Moon. Her daggers glowed a sickly green, the coronas around them seeming to melt space itself as they passed, and she appeared behind the G14NT before lunging forward.

Out of a sheet of black that unfurled across the street, the two final members of the party emerged. Gran’s hands snapped out, needles and crimson threads coming in a storm from each. Her left hand – aimed at the building the Mecha-Armor was falling into – wound dozens of the crimson lines around the monstrosity’s hand and arm, binding it in place. From her right hand, one thicker needle went to each of her party’s damage dealers, filled with potent healing to offset the thirty-percent Delicate Balance they’d each activated.

Ability – Delicate Balance: Exchange health for bonus damage for thirty seconds.

Note: Bonus damage is equal to twice the % of health sacrificed to the ability, with a maximum sacrifice of 50%.

Note (2): Health cannot be sacrificed below 50% through the use of this ability.

Romin, at the healer’s side, came out with his Runic Blunderbuss already up and ready. From experience, he knew what always came after the cannon fire, and even while the G14NT stumbled, a section of its thigh opened up. Lined with the explosive, self-propelled canisters, it would be the next salvo to pummel the close-range Rune-o, fire already flashing within to signal their launch.

The bolt from the Runic Blunderbuss arrived at the same time, causing each and every one of those dangerous cannisters to rupture at the same time. The resulting explosion threw the massive Armor even more off-balance.

Which left it wide-open for the coordinated arrival of the other party members.

Hiral got there first, Greatsword of Amin Thettwhipping out and across in its fallen-star form. Enhanced by his runes, the blade practically vibrated with power, Separation, Breaking, Dreaming, Increase, and Impact leading the way. In the rest time Seena had – so generously – granted him, he’d figured out how far he could take his runic enhancements without accidently triggering the Rune of Eclipse, and it was a fine line.

With access – even limited as it was – to the new rune, his other runes were more powerful than ever. Easier to use than ever. With a greater limit to what they could do than ever. The downside was that half of that new power resided within the realm of the Eclipse, and had drastic side effects if he ventured in there.

Still, he was able to push his runes just a little further than he’d been able to before without calling on the Eclipse, and that was what he did then and there. Walking that razor’s edge of how far he could push himself, Hiral channeled his runes into the strike. But, there, in that moment, inspiration struck.

Threads of solar energy leapt into his Runes of Time Dilation and Contraction, slowing his rocketing body to a bare crawl while solar energy practically flowed like converging rivers from his allies around him. His strike was going to be powerful, perhaps one of the most powerful he’d ever used… at B-Rank. But, for a few short, glorious moments, he’d been A-Rank in his battle against the Ex-General. And, while he couldn’t replicate most of what he’d done then – yet – there was something he could modify.

The sword of utter destruction he’d forged directly from the Edicts had been a terror-and-a-half. Except, he couldn’t do that again. Not without Eclipse, at least, but what he could do was use those same Edictsto enhance his Greatsword of Amin Thett instead of creating one of his own.

With that thought – that desire – in mind, Hiral reached out to the Edictsof Separation, Gravity, Energy, and Increase. He didn’t have the same access to the Edict of Expansion he had while in his rage-induced epiphany before, so the sword wouldn’t be any bigger, but as he felt the energies coalescing along the greatsword, he was not worried.

A notification popped up in the corner of his vision as something shattered, ripping him out of the paused time from his runes. The blade in his hand howled as it swung, the fallen-star form of it now etched in energy with symbols of the Edicts along its length. To Hiral’s eyes, a spectral chain appeared around the blade, then blasted itself apart into hundreds of fragmented links, while strings of Connection now spider-webbed out. With every inch the blade moved, it pulled on the power, concepts, and very being of the Edicts around him.

The Greatsword of Amin Thett didn’t just have energy extending its length – it wasEnergy. The core concept and purest form of it. The blade didn’t swing with additional mass because of Gravity, it swung with the true unwavering and indisputable authority of Gravity. The limits on the blade weren’t just expanded because of Increase – they’d been outright removed, though Hiral’s limits still capped what they weapon could do.

Finally, the edge of the blade didn’t just cut anymore, it Separated. Anything it touched would become part of that reality. Before the Edict, the concept of ‘whole’ didn’t exist.

And neither did the G14NT’s knee.