Rune Seeker

Chapter 45: Showing Off The Upgrades

Hiral raised both RHCs in front of him and aimed as a name appeared to his PIM, floating above the monster’s head. That’s got to be View kicking in.

Giant Horned Lizard – High-E-Rank

No surprise there. He pulled the triggers, the weapons kicking up as the Runes of Impact activated and released bolts of pure force. Unlike his Rune of Rejection, which simply pushed things away, the Runes of Impact concentrated their energy on the instantaneous collision, resulting in a force much like Right punching something with his Meridian-infused fist.

Whomp. The twinned bolts smacked into the side of the Giant Horned Lizard’s head, blasting off one of its namesake spines, and audibly fractured the skull. The lizard staggered to the side, distracted from Yanily as the man slid in beside it and unleashed a barrage of spear strikes. That wouldn’t be enough to bring the beast down, though—the second that had made the mistake of attacking the party—and Hiral darted out to his side, weapons aimed again at the lizard’s head.

Even in the relative dark and rain, the only light provided by the glowing roots and the slight purple flames from Infernal Conjuration, Hiral’s Dex and Atn steadied his hands as he pulled the triggers. Alternating fire—the weapons had a one-second cooldown between shots—one then the other, Hiral peppered the head and shoulders of the lizard while the others struck from melee range.

Nivian, with his whip and shield sheathed in purple fire, held his ground as Hiral’s shots zipped past him, visible only in how they displaced the rain. He then lashed out to drag the infuriating thorns across the lizard’s face again. Angry eyes turned in his direction, and Nivian lowered his shoulder and charged in, Spearing Roots bursting out of the shield in his hand.

Pull after pull, Hiral kept up his barrage of shots, the combination of his attacks and Nivian’s vicious shield strike twisting the lizard around on its back legs. From there, Vix danced in, his punches landing before he ever got close—projections of force shooting out with every strike—while Wule focused energy into his new rod and hurled a blast of icy energy at the lizard’s back foot.

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Suddenly unable to shift its foot—or its weight—the lizard overbalanced, and Right swerved around Vix to deliver a powerful uppercut, completely flipping the monster onto its back.

Another strike from Yanily scored a light wound across the exposed belly, and then the man’s spear lit up with its final crude etching flaring purple light.

“Ready!” he shouted, shifting to the side and spinning the weapon in his hands.

That was Left’s cue. The double leapt into the air, twisting his body into a powerful spin that surrounded him a bladed stream—now purple due to Infernal Conjuration—from his Dagger of Sath.

Yanily’s spear struck with an eruption of purple flame at the same time Left’s liquid dagger did, its trailing stream suddenly rushing to catch up to the blade and add an unparalleled explosive slice to the strike. He’s gotten better with the dagger if he can use that ability.

The body of the huge lizard collapsed around the force of the two blows, bones and spines shattering, and bloody gore spilled across the ground in a wave. One of the thing’s front legs shuddered, and Hiral pulled both triggers one more time at the thing’s head.

Just to be sure.

And not a moment too soon, a croooooooak and cascade of breaking branches swept in at the group from one side.

“Vix! Behind you,” Hiral shouted, giving the pugilist just enough warning to dive to the side, though he still got clipped by the speeding lizard.

The new arrival, at least twenty percent larger than the original, skidded to a stop, claws digging into the ground for purchase, and its empty mouth clamped shut. The tail whipped hard in one direction, then snapped in the other, pulling the back end of the lizard around while it quick-stepped its feet to turn.

Too bad for it, Right caught the side of its head as it spun, snapping its body back in the other direction—right into a wall of Spearing Roots that burst out of the ground. Flickers of purple flames mixed with the green blood running down the roots, but they hadn’t penetrated deeply enough to be fatal. The lizard’s spines provided sufficient armor, and a great shudder along its body shattered the wood.

One of the lizard’s eyes caught sight of Seena as she lowered her staff from using her ability, and the monster lunged forward to lash out, five-inch claws swiping across to disembowel her. Nivian appeared from out of nowhere, sliding smoothly in between Seena and their opponent, and brought his shield up to catch the claw.

Purple fire flashed and ran up the lizard’s leg at the impact, doing little damage yet infuriating the beast, and it beat its claw a second time against the shield. Nivian fell back under the weight of the blow, then struck out with his whip, scoring one, two, three quick hits along the lizard’s flank. Again, little damage was done, but that lizard wasn’t going to be attacking anybody but the tank for at least several seconds.

And those several seconds gave the others time to get in position.

Hiral fell back a good thirty feet from the melee, still well within the optimal range for his RHCs, and pulled the triggers in quick succession. Bolts of force carved through the falling rain, leaving small tunnels in their wake, and passed over Nivian’s shoulders and between his arms to smack the lizard head on, further drawing the monster’s attention to the tank.

Between Nivian’s and Hiral’s tactics, the incensed monster roared ahead, claw after claw getting deflected by Nivian’s shield, the tank methodically falling back along the glowing trail. And as the other damage dealers moved in from the sides, Hiral held his next shot, charging power into the runes, then dropped to one knee and unloaded both barrels through the space between Nivian’s spread legs.

The empowered shots carved a six-inch tunnel through the rain, then struck the monster straight on in the face, bursting one eye entirely from the force and stopping its forward momentum cold. Just what Yanily and Left had been waiting for. Attacking with dagger and spear, the two chopped hard into the lizard from both sides, Yanily taking full advantage of the wounds already opened by Seena’s Spearing Roots, Left winding his body around in a dance to extend the dagger’s trailing stream before slamming it home with explosive results.

Sandwiched between the two onslaughts, the lizard’s head snapped side to side with each new, flaring pain. Nivian, meanwhile, continued to lash it with his whip. Hiral peppered it with shots, never giving it a chance to settle on one target, and Wule began tossing balls of condensed cold at its tail.

Like Hiral’s shots, Wule’s attacks left a trail of falling icicles from the rain with every throw, and each hit coated the lizard’s tough scales in ice. All together, the party was piling the damage on, though it still wasn’t enough to completely put the creature down.

At least, not until Seena thrust her staff toward the sky. A fusillade of Spearing Roots burst straight up from the ground directly beneath the lizard’s belly. Held in place from attacks on all sides, the lizard took the full brunt of Seena’s attack in its most vulnerable area, the roots actually lifting the monster off its feet even as they buried themselves deep in the length of its body.

Hanging there, four feet off the ground, the lizard still feebly tried to pull it forward. Its claws couldn’t reach the ground, and its lifeblood gushed out in great torrents.

“Fall back,” Seena ordered. “It’s dead, even if it doesn’t know it yet. No need to risk it getting a lucky hit in.”

Every party member took a few quick steps back, eyes still on the monster. Hiral signaled Left, and the two of them turned their attention back to the woods. Another of those things could come rushing out at any moment, and it was up to them to warn the party.

As each second passed, more and more blood fell from the lizard. Its movements slowed, then eventually completely stilled. And, at least for the moment, no more monsters appeared, though the sound of approaching footsteps reached Hiral’s ears.

Looking up the path, he found Seeyela running in his direction, a pair of Light Darts over her shoulders for illumination.

“Well, guess we didn’t even need to rush back this time,” Seeyela said, her party just a few steps behind her as they ran up.

“Hiral spotted the first one coming at us from the side. Thought it could ambush us, I guess,” Seena said, giving Hiral a thumbs-up.

“Hah, didn’t work out so well for it. Or the other two,” Yanily said, wiping the green blood from the blade of his spear. “Damn, that ability is good. Not as strong as what you can do, Balyo, but getting it for free every tenth hit? Loving it. Oh, and it looks like we got Racial Growth for these things up to level one. Five percent more damage against the next ones we fight!”

“You killed three of them in the time it took us to notice the fight was happening and run back?” Picoli asked.

“The new gear and abilities from the dungeon have made a huge difference already,” Seena said. “Hiral’s cannons there pack a mean punch, and finally give us a ranged option. Add in the new versatility Vix and Wule bring, we’re a much stronger party than we were a few days ago.

“And, yes, Yanily, your new spear is great too. Don’t pout,” Seena finished.

“Wasn’t pouting,” Yanily said quietly.

“Do you think that first lizard let us pass and waited for your group?” Seeyela asked, turning to Hiral with the question.

“No, I only heard it because it was moving,” Hiral said. “Maybe it was attracted by our sounds or the lights, and it just happened to find us when it arrived. I think it could’ve turned out much worse if it had been lying in wait for us.”

“Still, only on the path for an hour, and already we’ve been attacked twice,” Seeyela said. “That first lizard that attacked us was pretty small, but these three here look a little more intimidating. How do you think you would’ve done if they’d all come at once?”

“Not nearly as well,” Seena said. “Takes all of us to bring one down. Their scales and spines are just too durable.”

“You know, I was thinking about that after the first one we killed,” Lonil said, standing beside the latest kill hanging from the Spearing Roots. “Cal, could you and Fitch make armor out of this?”

“Armor?” Hiral asked Seena quietly as the two aforementioned Growers moved closer to inspect the body.

“Fitch and Caleon have been learning how to tan hides and craft armor from them,” Seena answered, her voice just barely above the sound of constantly falling rain. “Usually leather, like we’re wearing, but they might be able to do something with the scales from these lizards.”

“Fitch?” Cal asked. “Thoughts?”

“Maybe. It’ll be a bit different than usual, but we could try attaching the scales, and maybe even some of these horns to leather. There’s probably a way to make something directly out of the scales—would be lighter, but I don’t know how to do it.”

“Something Lonil could wear over his Stone Form?” Seeyela asked. “A few of those spikes would sure make anything attacking him regret it.”

“You trying to steal my gimmick?” Nivian asked Lonil playfully.

“You know what they say about imitation and flattery,” Lonil responded, his hand still running along one of the lizard’s longer horns. “How long would it take?” he asked Fitch.

“Much longer than we want to spend out here in the open,” Fitch answered. “When we get to the next dungeon and have a place out of the rain, we’ll see what we can do.”

“Sounds good,” Lonil said, standing up. “Shall we keep going and see what else is stupid enough to attack us?”