Rune Seeker

Epilogue – Vanguard (END OF BOOK 4)

Almost twenty hours after completing the Siege of the Hanging Garden, Hiral stood off to the side of the large group, just outside the entrance to the raid zone. Like Left had estimated, they now had about a-hundred-and-fifteen hours until it unlocked, though there had been new information when they all arrived.

“So,” Seena said, coming over to sit beside him. “Are you as surprised as I am that there’ll be a connection from the Asylums to this place? And ten hours before the zone itself unlocks.” She pointed around the valley-like area sheltered from the rain by the mountain peaks. “The PIMP must be putting a lot of importance on this if it’s going to spend the energy to do something like that.”

“After some of what we saw back at the Hanging Garden,” Hiral said, referring to the name of the Bonder city – not the dungeon. “Not really. It popped that dungeon interface up, gave us rewards, and then vanished like it was never there. It’s probably been preparing for this raid zone to open for a long time.”

“Yeah,” Seena said. “I know we all sort of… crashed… after everything that happened in that dungeon, but we’ll need to talk about the rewards we got at some point.”

“Yanily is obviously happy about whatever his were,” Hiral said, looking over at the spearman beside Nivian, Wule, and Seeyela. “He’s been practically glowing the entire time.”

Seena squinted as she followed Hiral’s gaze. “He might actually be glowing.”

“Who knows with that guy,” Hiral chuckled, then looked at Li’l Ur floating on Seena’s shoulder. There’d been a bit of a scare when they’d all realized the little lich had been missing after Seena’s resurrection. Thankfully, it turned out Li’l Ur had evolved from a pet to an ability, kind of like Foundational Split, and Seena could resummon him if anything happened. “How’s your new hat?”

“It’s not a hat,” Li’l Ur snapped, turning his head strikingly to the side so Hiral could get a better view of the crown of blue flame hovering above his skull. “It is my Un-Halo, returned to me at long last.”

“Is that actually the name of it?” Hiral asked, and Seena nodded.

“What do you mean despite the name?” Li’l Ur asked. “I dubbed it myself upon its creation.”

“Sure, sure, Ur,” Seena said. “It’s very cute.”

“Cute!?” Li’l Ur staggered. “This… this is one of my greatest creations! On par with the Second-Skin of Amin Thett. With it, I led my armies. Conquered nations!”

“And looked adorable doing it, I’m sure,” Seena said.

“It’s not…” Li’l Ur started.

“If your Mistress likes it,” Hiral interrupted. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I… fine,” Li’l Ur surrendered.

“How about you, Hiral?” Seena said, bumping her shoulder against his, and then taking his hand. “I know I just said we’d all talk about it a bit later, but you’ve been kind of distracted by something. It’s not… us… is it?”

“No!” Hiral said, squeezing her hand tighter. “Not at all. I’m sorry if I did anything that made you even consider that.”

Seena let out a breath like it was a relief to hear it. “What is it then? Did you get another achievement reward you didn’t like?”

Hiral’s lips quirked up. “Something like that, actually.”

“Like that?” Seena asked suspiciously.

“I… got an advanced class,” Hiral said.

“What? Really?” Seena said. “That’s fantastic! Isn’t it? What is it?”

Hiral chuckled at the rapid-fire questions. It was good to have Seena back. Better than he could even put into words. “It was called the Runic General.”

“Whaaaaaaaat!?” Li’l Ur practically shouted, his little jaw dropping while blue flared in his eye sockets.

“Is that good?” Seena asked the lich.

“It’s what we called Amin Thett before he became the Emperor,” Li’l Ur explained. “If it’s anything like what he… why are you looking at me like that, would-be-apprentice?”

“I thought it was something like that,” Hiral said. “Even the flavor text of the class gave me the same hint.”

“You didn’t take it, did you?” Seena said, reading his face. “Like Nivian. It didn’t line up with how you saw yourself.” Something about what she said made her frown. “Hiral, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about when I came over… it’s about the raid.”

“What about it?” Hiral asked.

Seena bit her bottom lip. “You can say no, if you want, but…”

“But what?”

“We talked about it – me, Nivian, and Seeyela – and we want you to be our raid leader,” Seena said, then quickly continued. “Nivian and I will still lead our parties – and you’ll listen when I tell you not to do something reckless – but… when it’s come to it, a few times now, you’ve made the hard choices. Seeyela absolutely won’t do it, and she agreed you’re the best choice, even if she wanted to.”

“Even after…?” Hiral couldn’t finish.

“Even after,” Seena said. “Maybe especially after. You did what none of the rest of us could’ve. When it needed to be done. You’re smart. Quick to action. But, you also care about us. We know you’ll make the best choices for something like this.”

Hiral chuckled and shook his head, but not because he was saying ‘no’. “When did you discuss this?”

“While you were still asleep, recovering. You’re okay now, aren’t you?”

“Back to normal,” he said, patting his stomach. “Took longer than I expected, but it’s fine. I guess this explains why I woke up to the advanced class option, though.”

“I’m sorry if we forced that on you,” Seena said.

“No, I don’t think you did,” Hiral said. “At most, that was only part of it. The PIMP seemed to want me to go in this direction. I disagreed.”

“Okay,” Seena said. “Maybe your next advanced class option will be a better one?”

Hiral chuckled again, and this time when he shook his head, it was definitely because he was saying ‘no’. “I won’t get another one offered,” he said. “Well, at least not until S-Rank.”

“What? Why? We got a lot of experience from that dungeon, but not enough to get to…” she trailed off. “You… didn’t.”

“I… may have?” he said, and now he was really smiling.

“You modified an advanced class?” she said, fully catching on to his tells.

Hiral nodded.

Seena leaned away from him enough she could punch him in the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say that sooner?!”

“I just finished a minute before you came over,” Hiral said. “I haven’t even finalized it yet.”

“You going to explode?”

“Probably,” he admitted.

“Warn me before you do that? That All You Got? just came off cooldown, but I’d rather not make a habit of needing it. Are you sure you’re okay with losing that ability? I mean… it could literally save your life.”

“I’d much rather know it could save yours,” Hiral said.

Seena sighed. “Then maybe stop being so reckless.”

“No promises.”

“Ugh, I know. Can you at least show me the window for your new class? Maybe it’ll make me worry about you less.”

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“It’s kind of a wall of text,” Hiral said.

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Seena looked over at the others talking. “We have time. Let’s have it.”

“Okay,” Hiral said. “I was able to change the Runic General – something I didn’t want, though it had some great abilities – into something that fit me a lot better. And something that’ll let me walk the path I want to take, as well as building off what I’d already had.

“I’m going to be the one who decides my path – even if the PIMP and I agree the end goal is important – and this is another step in that direction.”

With that preface, Hiral shared the notification window.

Advanced Class: (Lost) Vanguard of the Runic Cycle.

Though your actions position you as a leader among your friends and allies, it’s not towards battle you lead them. Instead, though you may pass through conflict, you forge your own path towards a peace all can share.

Class Abilities

Gain +4 attributes per level, starting in B-Rank.

Class Ability (Active): Vanguard’s Sword – Choose one among your party members to be dubbed your Sword, gaining the Vanguard’s Sword buff.

Vanguard’s Sword (Buff) – Gain 15% Str, 10% critical hit chance, 25% critical hit damage, all offensive abilities have solar energy costs reduced by 20% and benefit from 20% increased potency, and every time an opponent is defeated by the Sword, both the Vanguard and the Sword see all cooldowns reduced by 2.5% of original cooldown value.

Note: Vanguard’s Sword cannot be used on the Vanguard.

Note (2): Vanguard’s Sword persists until cancelled by the Vanguard, or the buff is granted to another.

Class Ability (Active): Vanguard’s Shield – Choose one among your party members to be dubbed your Shield, gaining the Vanguard’s Shield buff.

Vanguard’s Shield (Buff) – Gain 15% End, -10% chance to be critically hit, -25% critical hit damage suffered, all defensive abilities have solar energy costs reduced by 20% and benefit from 20% increased potency, and every time the Shield prevents damage from being taken, a portion of that potential damage is converted into a barrier protecting all allies.

Note: Vanguard’s Shield cannot be used on the Vanguard.

Note (2): Vanguard’s Shield persists until cancelled by the Vanguard, or the buff is granted to another.

Class Ability (Passive): Vanguard’s Presence – You are in inspiration to those who follow you on your journey.

Being in a party adds Party Interface: Shared Storage, Party Interface: Aim High, and Party Interface: Allied Killing Spree

Party Interface: Shared Storage – Allows all party members to access (storage and retrieval) an Interspatial Space powered by the party’s shared solar energy.

Party Interface: Aim High – Allows all party members to ignore up to 1 Rank of Rank disparity.

Note: Party Interface: Aim High can be resisted by adequately powerful opponents.

Party Interface: Allied Killing Spree – Each enemy defeated within 30 seconds of the previously defeated enemy by any member of the party grants the following stacking bonuses to the entire party:

+10% experience gained, +2% to all attributes (Duration: 60 seconds or until a new stack of Allied Killing Spree is obtained), +2% solar energy instantly regained, and instant minor health recovery.

Note: Allied Killing Spree can stack up to a maximum of 25 times.

Class Modification: Life of the Party+ becomes Class Modification: Heart of the Party+

Heart of the Party+: Simply being in a party grants the following buffs to you and your allies:

+25% to all attributes, solar energy capacity, solar energy output, and solar energy absorption. Reduces solar energy cost and cooldown of abilities by 25%.

Class Ability (Passive): Ever Changing+ becomes Class Ability (Passive): Ever Evolving

Class Ability (Passive): Ever Evolving – Every time the Vanguard or one of their party members overcomes an opponent’s strength or exploits an opponent’s weakness, all members of the party gain a stacking bonus of +3% critical hit chance and +8% critical hit damage.

Note: Ever Evolving can stack up to 10 times.

Note (2): Bonuses last until the opponent is defeated or the fight ends for other reasons.

“You weren’t kidding,” Seena said, eyes scrolling through all the text. “That’s… a lot. Are you okay with losing Ever Changing?”

“Definitely,” Hiral said. “I’ve been focusing more on my runes, and less on swapping weapons. Especially since I’m using Emperor’s Decree. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still happily take any weapons we aren’t using to throw them into the Arsenal of Amin Thett for more options, but they won’t be my go-to anymore.

“Other than my trusty RHCs and the Greatsword of Amin Thett,” Hiral admitted. Those particular weapons would always hold a special place in his heart, and they were frankly too useful to ignore.

“And another version of Killing Spree? How many of those do you need?”

“Only have the one, now,” Hiral said. “I changed my personal one to a group version with this advanced class. It cost me the ‘plus’ to it, and downgraded it back to the original parameters – though for the whole party – but I’m hoping I can upgrade it down the road.”

“No more explosions?”

Hiral coughed slightly. “Less explosions, since A Violent End went with the ‘plus’, but I’m sure there will still be plenty going around between the two of us.”

“Eeeeh, that’s probably true. Those Sword and Shield buffs seem like they’re perfect for Left and Right, too” Seena said, clearly reading through things again.

“They’re an option,” Hiral said. “If we had a more dedicated tank – especially one focusing on endurance – the Shield one might be better for them.”

“True,” Seena said, then snapped her fingers. “That reminds me of one of the other reasons I came over to talk to you.”

“How many things were there you forgot about?” he teased, and she just glared at him. “Sorry.”

“Anyway,” she said dramatically. “We’re going to have room for a tank, so maybe you’ll get your wish.”

“Drahn?” Hiral guessed.

Seena nodded. “He’s going to use his token to get people back home – both our islands, don’t worry, I made him promise – ready for this raid zone. They’ve only got a hundred-and-fifteen hours to get as many people Asylum access as possible. Less, actually, since the Disc of Passage will connect ten hours before, which is probably for the best.”

“Will give us all time to coordinate,” Hiral said. “We’ll need all the advantages we can get if Vorinal and the Infested will be there contesting us for rewards. And…” he trailed off as he looked at Seena.

“You expect more Unnamed to be in there too, along with the other Chimeras, don’t you?” she asked, and he nodded. “Me too. Not looking forward to that.”

“What I did with you,” Hiral said. “Probably a one-time thing. We can’t count on it again.”

“I know,” Seena said. “If we even catch a whiff of one of those Unnamed bastards, we’re going after it with Yanily’s favorite kind of prejudice.”

“The extreme kind?”

“Exactly.”

“I assume we’ll be forming a raid group with Nivian and his party?” Hiral moved on to the next topic.

“Yes,” Seena said, looking back to where a pair of Bonders stood with Burs, Nivian, Wule, and Seeyela. “It’s too bad about the dungeon they did.”

“From the sounds of things, it’s not their fault only two of the party they were sent to rescue survived,” Hiral said.

“Not their fault at all, and the two don’t blame them.”

“Nivian blames himself, doesn’t it?”

“He does.”

“Even undead, he doesn’t change. We lost almost half the defenders before things finished,” Hiral said, referring back to how barely more than three-hundred defenders had been left in the counter when they completed the dungeon. “It’s what happens when the dungeons are real. Things go wrong.”

“Things went really wrong in Nivian’s dungeon,” Seena said. “They didn’t have to deal with an Unnamed, but it was almost as bad from what I heard. This raid zone is going to be rough.”

“Sure hope we have more than three hours to complete it,” Hiral said.

“With how many people it seems we need, I bet we will,” Seena said. “Anyway, we’re going to be heading back to the Hanging Gardens soon. Will you be ready to go? Can you get the exploding out of the way?”

“Yes,” Hiral said with a roll of his eyes. “When we get back, are we still planning to run the Bonders’ dungeon?”

“Drahn leaving changes things a little,” Seena said, then shook her head. “It’s good he’s going back and everything, but I don’t think that’s the real reason he volunteered to go.”

“He doesn’t feel like he can keep up with us,” Hiral said, echoing what Nivian had said to him before.

“Exactly, and honestly? He can’t,” Seena said. “He did well during that last dungeon, don’t get me wrong. The wall wouldn’t have held without him. But, against that Unnamed, he would’ve fallen behind. And, really, we need a tank more than another damage dealer.”

Hiral rubbed his stomach where not-Seena had punched right through him. “Don’t I know that.”

“Shush, you. My jaw still hurts, and you didn’t even punch me,” Seena joked, winking to make sure he knew it didn’t actually hurt. “I’ll talk to Burs when we get back. Maybe we can pick up a Bonder tank to run the dungeon.”

“Does it really have multiple-rank dungeons within it?” Hiral asked. He’d heard a rumor of it, but…

“Burs says it does,” Seena said. “Each floor of the tower – as he calls it – is a different rank. E-Rank on floor one, then D-, C-, B-, A-, and… yup, the top floor is S-Rank.”

Hiral whistled. “How far up have they gotten.”

“They’ve only cleared up to C-Rank, but we’ll have to start at E-. Apparently, you need to clear them in order.”

“We’re going for clearing at least the B-Rank before the raid, right?” Hiral asked, heart beating a little faster at the thought of the challenge.

“You bet. We’ll even take a look at the A-Rank, though rank-disparity is a bitch,” Seena shrugged. “Then again, your new class might help with that.”

“Wording suggests it might not work on Bosses,” Hiral said. “Right where we’d need it most.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it as a group,” Seena said, then patted him on the shoulder and untwined her fingers from his. “I should get back. I’ll warn everybody you’re going to explode – and let the Bonders know that’s normal for you – then get everybody ready to move. We’ve got a dungeon to clear before we hit this raid zone.”

Hiral stood before she could go back to the group, then wrapped her in a tight hug. It didn’t take her more than a heartbeat before she returned it. They held each other a minute longer, then parted. It was good to be close to her, and he would not let something happen to her again. Not to any of them.

His new advanced class was just the first step to becoming strong enough he never had to worry about that again.

“I’ll let you get to the exploding,” she said, patting his arm.

“Make sure you and the others aren’t too far away,” he said. “Evolutionary Inspiration.”

“We’ll be watching. From over there. If all that text is an indication of how big you’re going to explode, we don’t want to be too close.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he said, then watched her walk away.

A moment later, she and the others stood watching him, smiles on their faces, and the Bonders behind them. Seeyela had her arm over Seena’s shoulders, and there was still a bit of tension there. On the other hand, she hadn’t killed him in his sleep, so they’d be able to work through things with time.

There was a path forward.

Hiral looked at the notification window just waiting for him to confirm his acceptance of his modified advanced class. Time to take the next step on their journey.

As soon as he tapped Yes, the notification window shattered like broken glass, his double-helix erupted off his skin, and he – as Seena put it – got to the exploding.

Fin