Rune Seeker

“You sure?” Seena asked. “Since it’s the first trial, we have no idea what we’re up against here.”

“All the more reason it should be me,” Hiral said. “My runes give me a lot of adaptability. And, if it really is just about shooting something…” he patted the RHC on his thigh.

“Can’t argue with that,” Seena said. “Okay, any objections from anybody? No? Good luck, Hiral.”

With the words, Seena tapped something in the air only she could see, sparklers of light appeared around Hiral, and the world around him shifted again. Between blinks, he went from standing in a plain room to what could only be described as an eclosed amphitheatre. Seating on one side of him held his party – who were looking confused at being in a new location and sitting down – while a glass wall separated him from a mirror image of the space.

Except, instead of seeing himself on the other side, he saw the multi-colored man standing there with his hands on his hips, looking straight at Hiral.

“Ferbal burg?” the man said, his voice carrying through the clear wall.

“Pardon?” Hiral asked back. Banst and Fitch both had been capable of conversation, and while Hiral didn’t expect to talk their enemies down, they might be able to learn something about Vorinal’s plans.

“Exsanich keekineemal guldoroch sa-va-ta,” the Infested said.

“Are you playing with me?” Hiral said.

“Susuinbol, zender pal?” the man said. When Hiral blinked at him, he chuckled. “Fergal schnergan?”

Of course. Al had said we wouldn’t be able to communicate. That the Cradle would find a way to prevent us talking things out. Damnit, how are we supposed to question Vorinal if this is what it does?

“Fergal schnergan?” the Infested said again, and all Hiral could do was shrug. Which seemed to immensely entertain the Infested, the man putting his hands back on his hips and kicking his legs out as he began some kind of dance. “Fergal schnergan! Fergal schnergan! Fergal schnergaaaaaan!”

“Hiral?” Seeyela asked in the party chat. “Do you have any idea what he’s saying?”

“None,” Hiral said.

“The interference to communication Al spoke of,” Left supplied. “If you look closely, the movement of his lips doesn’t match the sounds coming out. The sound is being altered somehow.”

“Can you read his lips?” Yanily asked. “Know what he’s saying?”

“No,” Left said. “Even as I watch them, they move erratically. Like multiple images of his lips are moving all at the same time.”

“Can’t imagine he’s saying anything nice anyway,” Right said.

“Fergal schnergan!” the Infested said one more time, but Hiral’s attention moved to yet another notification window that sprang up.

Tower of Dynamic Trials – First Floor

Challenge – Sharpshooting

Strike targets of sequentially increasing range and difficulty over the next minute.

Score per target will increase based on location of successful hits relative to center of target, while overall score will be measured by taking total of individual target scores.

Note: There is no limit of possible targets within the 1-minute timeframe.

Note (2): Missing a target will result in a score deduction.

Note (3): There will only be one round.

Note (4): All self-buffs are allowed.

Preparation time – 1 minute, beginning now.

“It really is just shooting?” Hiral half-asked himself.

As if to answer his question, a circle of light appeared around his feet, another quick notification popping up.

You are now in the designated shooting area, stepping outside of this will result in immediate disqualification.

A thought dismissed the window, and Hiral found where his first target was – two feet in front of him. Little more than an eight-inch, floating disc with concentric circles and a red dot in the middle, it was pretty clear this was what he needed to aim for.

Pulling his RHCs off his thighs – he still had more than forty seconds until the trial started – Hiral looked over at his competition.

Another wink from the man – Seeyela groaning into the party chat – and he pulled one of the scrolls off his upper-arm with a flourish. A spin, a twist, and he flicked his wrist, tossing the scroll out to the side while he held onto one end of the paper. Rolling nearly twenty feet across the ground, the scroll didn’t show any sign of reaching its end – not growing thinner in the least – but did come to a stop.

From where Hiral stood – and he didn’t dare move any closer for risk of getting disqualified – he could see dozens of what looked like knives depicted on the paper. Side by side, each of the weapons was a little different, but impressively well illustrated. In fact, they looked so well done, Hiral almost felt like he could reach into the scroll and pull one of the weapons out.

A pulse of energy from the Infested, and that was almost exactly what the other man did, except he stomped on the ground instead. As soon as his yellow boot hit the floor of the coliseum, dozens of daggers – every one on the scroll – jumped into the air to hang there at chest-height.

“Huuksnatch?” the Infested asked Hiral.

“Yeah, that is kind of impressive,” Hiral replied, even though he had no idea what the man had just asked him. Instead, he was more focused on the magic the man was using. He’d felt a hint of another rune with the stomping foot, but he had no idea what it was.

Was it connected to the scrolls? The stomp? The daggers? There was something there, and he’d missed the chance at figuring out exactly what Banst had used – some kind of sound rune, probably – so he didn’t want to miss another opportunity. His eyes weren’t giving him an answer, though, and whatever power the Infested had used had already faded. The knives still floated, though, so maybe it was more a function of the scroll.

The paper did feel magical to his senses, but not anything particularly powerful. A mystery Hiral only had one minute to solve, so he kept his gaze locked on the Infested while he raised one RHC to aim at the target. There, holding just like that, he waited until the timer closed in on zero.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

Hiral pulled the trigger without even looking, the bolt of searing Impact boring a hole straight into the center of the disc. Even before the blast was all the way through, another disc appeared in Hiral’s sensory domain, a foot behind and above the first.

A shift and a pull of his trigger – still without looking – put a hole in the second target, then the third and fourth. All within the first second of the competition. Even as more target discs appeared, small alterations to his aim punched through them one after another, thanks to the upgraded zero-point-one cooldown between shots and improved sensory domain.

Opposite him – while Hiral continued to shoot one-handed – the Infested had broken into a quirky dance – with each of his flairs, kicks, and hip-thrusts sending hovering daggers shooting at the floating targets. Impressively, each and every one struck true, blasting discs apart like they were made of cheap ceramic, even as they appeared faster and faster.

Within ten seconds, each competitor had destroyed more than sixty of the floating discs – and the Infested had used all his magic daggers. Not that that seemed to worry him, another stomp of his feet kicking more daggers out of the scroll to hang in the air. Just for a second there, Hiral sensed another familiar pulse of runic power, but it was gone so fast he couldn’t pin it down.

Worse, the targets were coming even faster, eight appearing every second, and his RHC was a blur of movement and spitting blasts. He still didn’t need to look away from the Infested, but he did need to pay a little more attention to his sensory domain to line up the shots properly. And, even before he got the chance to wonder how the Infested would keep up with the pace, the daggers all dropped to about waist height.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Then, like the Infested was listening to something only he could hear, he put one hand to his ear and leaned to the side.

“HUUUUKSNAAAATCH!” he shouted, then turned his attention to the seating on Hiral’s side of the arena. Up came a hand to point directly at Seena, and the Infested’s tongue slithered out of his mouth, the tip reaching his chin as he shouted wordlessly. “Raaaaaah!” he shouted, shaking his head at her, then put both hands on his hips, and thrust forward. The dagger rocketed at the nearest target, even as he pulled his hips back, and hopped to the left.

Thrust, another dagger shot forward.

Hop. Thrust. Hop. Thrust. Hop. Thrust.

The Infested turned and pointed at Seena again – tongue back out – then gave an extra powerful thrust, sending a dagger into and through another target.

And that was enough of that. The Infested and his antics had been keeping up with Hiral while he tried to figure out what rune the other man was using. Now, though? Now it was time to crush his competition.

Hiral turned from the man and lifted his secondRHC – the one he hadn’t fired even a single time yet – and began pulling both triggers. With his sensory domain, Atn, Dex, Combat Suite activating, and his full attention, he was already shooting at the next target before the first one fell. His arms became a blur in front of him, the bolts of searing Impact coming so fast they almost looked like connected beams whipping through the air and cutting apart targets.

Eight per second became twelve. Fifteen. Eighteen. Twenty.

Hiral didn’t slow. Didn’t miss. Discs in front of him were getting annihilated before they even fully appeared as the halfway mark of the competition came with a change. All at once, the discs stopped popping up in front of Hiral, and instead began materializing anywhere on his side of the room.

Right hand blasting the last target ahead of him, Hiral’s feet shifted within the glowing circle, his left arm swiveling smoothly to aim at the target behind him. A pull of the trigger in his left hand shattered the target, while he crooked his right elbow to blast the next disc that had appeared behind his head. White shards burst from the bullseye, and his left hand jerked ahead of him. Another pull of his trigger, another downed target.

He was already moving again. Around and around, he whipped with his pseudo-aspect-infused Coat of Amin Thettsnapping with each turn and twist. His shots came like a rain going in the wrong direction, the rapidly destroyed targets becoming a cloud of white dust left hanging in the air throughout the room. To anybody watching, it had to look like he’d grown twenty more arms, the speed of his shots creating afterimages as he continued to shoot.

Keeping up the unbelievable pace of twenty targets per second – appearing anywhere within two-hundred feet of him – Hiral blasted through the second half of the competition. Literally. Then, as the final target fragmented in a dozen different directions, both of his RHCs snapped up to point directly across the room at the wide-eyed Infested who had stopped all thrusting. It hadn’t even bothered launching daggers for the second half of the competition, and Hiral didn’t need a score or notification to know he’d won.

He got one anyway.

Tower of Dynamic Trials – First Floor

Challenge – Sharpshooting

Victory!

Note: Reward will be announced on the twelfth floor prior to commencement of the death match.

“Hiral! We love you!” a voice shouted from the stands. Yanily’s voice.

Still, Hiral glared for another second at the Infested, half-tempted to pull the triggers of his RHCs just for emphasis, but he instead slowly sheathed the weapons.

“Fur-gun whatever yourself,” Hiral mumbled, then turned back to his audience. The party was on their feet, fist pumps and small cheers aimed in his direction.

“Good job, Hiral,” Seena said. “You stomped him.”

“He completely gave up halfway through,” Yanily said. “Did you see his face? Or the length of his tongue?”

“How could we miss it?” Seeyela asked. “I thought he was going to loop it down and use it as a belt.”

“He acts like that again,” Yanily continued. “Hiral might make it into one for him.”

“I kind of lost my cool there,” Hiral admitted. “I should’ve held back more there. Anything they see from us – or we see from them – is an advantage when we get to the twelfth floor.”

“Nothing wrong with going all out to protect your girl, boy,” Gran said with a cackle. “Makes us ladies all weak in the knees when our man takes a stand.”

“Uh…” Hiral started, looking from Gran to Seena, who gave him a wink – after making sure Seeyela wouldn’t notice. “Would you be upset if I said I didn’t go… all out?”

The party stopped and looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Seena asked.

Before answering, Hiral walked over to the foot of the wall so the party could look down at him – and hear what he said without the Infested hearing.

“That was maybe half as fast as I could’ve gone,” Hiral said. “Didn’t need any more with how slow the targets were appearing.”

“With how… slow?” Seeyela asked. Then she chuckled. “You’re kidding, aren’t you? Right, when did Hiral learn to be funny?”

“I’ve always been funny…” Hiral murmured, though Left subtly shook his head in Hiral’s direction.

“He’s not joking,” Right said, lifting his hand up and clenching his own fist. “This is A-Rank. And he has his pseudo-aspect on. If his RHCs could’ve kept up, he really could’ve done double that.”

“Nine hells, boy” Gran said. “I hope you aren’t that quick when you’re…”

“And the Infested!” Hiral interrupted. “He was definitely holding back too. He only used the one scroll, and he was obviously making a scene of it. We should assume that was just scratching the surface of what he could do.”

“You sure?” Yanily said. “He kind of looks like an idiot.”

“Also making a scene of it,” Seeyela said. “Him – and the other three Infested – were totally scouting Hiral through that. And, from the looks on their faces, if they think that was his top-end, they aren’t too worried. A bit surprised, yeah, but not worried.”

“That’s okay, we’ve got eleven more floors to make them worry,” Seena said.

“Li’l Ur’s bloodlust catching on to you there?” Yanily said, poking the party leader in the side.

“His gestures at the Mistress deserve punishment,” the lich said, black flames of the necrotic blight dancing on his fingertips. “He shall not escape it.”

“The bloodlust might be going the other way,” Hiral said to Yanily.

“I see that!” Yanily said. “Hey, Boss, you get a new notification for the next floor or anything? Or, we staying here for a bit?”

“I’ve got a countdown,” Seena said after a few seconds, like she was checking notification windows. “Seems we get a short rest after each trial. Get ready for the next one. Another minute and a half.”

With the short amount of time they had, Hiral asked about anything the group had noticed with regard to the Infested. Any hints about his abilities other than the scroll and floating daggers. Hiral still didn’t know what rune or runes the man had used, but he was sure there was at least one. Then there were the scrolls, apparently loaded with weapons. Were they all daggers he could throw at the party – A rune of daggers? – or did they contain different weapons?

Actually, were they even limited to weapons. The scrolls could be his version of abilities, with anything from weapons to debuffs in there. Or almost anything else.

Yes, the man looked like an absolute fop, but there were far too many unknowns, which made him dangerous.

From the party’s perspective, they hadn’t been able to feel much about the man, other than he had a lot of solar energy. Even compared to Banst and Fitch, when he activated his abilities, they’d felt a deep, deep well of power within him. Seeyela also confirmed the scroll wasn’t teleporting those daggers in. It was actually creating them somehow.

Good to know.

Other than that, there wasn’t much more, and the party waited for the last seconds to tick down in silence, until a new notification window appeared.

Tower of Dynamic Trials – Second Floor

Challenge – Field Medic

On the battlefield, an enemy isn’t the only emergency.

Choose one party member (and their companion, if appropriate) to compete in this challenge.

Note: Chosen member will not be able to compete in any other single challenges until all other party members have competed at least once.

You have 1 minute to choose – 00:59

“Oh, don’t even bother asking,” Gran said. “We all know that’s got to be me.”

“It does sound like a healer-type challenge,” Seeyela said. Then she looked over at the Infested party. “Who do you think the healer is over there? The guy in the robe?”

“No way,” Yanily said. “It’s totally the giant, three-armed monster. I bet he ‘heals you’ by ripping the damaged limb off, then spitting on the amputation. Nothing a little spit won’t fix,” the spearman said in a deep voice with a horrible – and random – accent.

“What was that even supposed to be?” Hiral asked.

“A rather unpopular healer from our parents’ generation,” Seena said. “His abilities gave his bodily fluids – including his spit – sap-like, healing properties. He spit – among other things – on people to heal them.”

“Uh… bodily fluids?” Hiral grimaced.

“Which is why he was not popular,” Seena said.

Gran just cackled. “So, girlie, did you put me in? I’m ready to play.”

“You’re selected,” Seena said. “We’ll see who the other healer is in three… two… one…”

The room around Hiral vanished with the familiar sensation of teleportation – and sparkles, apparently – and when the light cleared, he was in a new stadium, seated beside the rest of the party. Well, everybody other than Gran, who was nowhere to be seen.

Directly in front of the seating, though, was a large forest, bodies strewn about within the trees. A large-scale battle had clearly been fought there… and… no. Not fought. Was being fought. Lightly-armed soldiers in two different colors – clearly two different factions – streamed between the thick trunks at the outskirts of the woods. Where they met, brutal combat took place. Limbs were hacked off Intestines spilled to the earthen floor. Heads were brained against knobby wood.

Strangely, none of the soldiers went for the kill, simply leaving the wounded groaning where they lay.

Tower of Dynamic Trials – Second Floor

Challenge – Field Medic

The wounded need your help! Evade death and injury yourself while healing as many as you can.

Score will increase for each life you save or serious injury you treat.

Note: There is no limit of possible lives to save within the 10-minute timeframe.

Note (2): Killing a target instead of saving them will result in a point deduction.

Note (3): There will only be one round.

Note (4): All self-buffs are allowed.

Preparation time – 1 minute, beginning now.

“We were right about it being a healer trial,” Seena said. “But if we can’t see Gran…”

Seena trailed off as a huge, square window appeared above the forest, a crystal-clear image of somewhere deep inside the forest appearing within. Gran.

And the Infested.

“Well… damn,” Yanily said. “I didn’t really expect the giant to be the healer.”

But, it wasn’t the nine-plus-foot, half-Pilgrim Hiral’s eyes were locked on. No, it was the complete lack of a barrier between it and Gran.

Something the giant seemed to notice as well, the ground beneath its feet cratering as it launched itself at their vampiric party member.