Chapter 42: New Runes_Rune Seeker

Chapter 42: New Runes

 Hiral looked up from where he sat studying the RHCs to see how Left and Right were doing. The two sparred with Vix and Nivian, while Balyo and Yanily practiced spear forms nearby. Fitch was by himself doing sword katas, and Lonil was learning how to swing his new heavy club around. Still, Hiral’s eyes kept going back to Left and Right as they trailed purple smoke from many of their movements.

 Infernal Conjuration, eh?

 Over thest six hours since they’d cleared the dungeon, the party had spent a lot of time discussing the abilities they’d gotten from the achievements and how they could incorporate them into strategies. Interestingly enough, even though they’d all gotten the same achievements in the dungeons—and some before, such as Terminal—the abilities they’d gained didn’t turn out to all be identical. Hiral and Seena, for example, had both gained Infernal Conjuration, imbuing Left and Right—along with many of Seena’s abilities—with additional effects.

 Seena’s roots gained a new damage type—the purple me—as did Left and Right, though Hiral’s copies also now trailed purple smoke when they moved, if they chose to. The smoke, like Seey had mentioned, had very minor slowing and acidic effects that didn’t affect the doubles or those they considered allies. During sparring, if the doubles concentrated, the smoke would hinder their opponent, so that implied it was at least somewhat under their control.

 On the other hand, Vix had gained the ability to do significant extra damage to conjured items or creatures from the achievement Unsullied and Unsummoned. And Wule, who got possibly the most interesting ability, could summon a pair of sr energynterns that would follow him around, acting like batteries until he used their energy. Each gave him an extra twenty percent sr energy capacity.

 The abilities from the dungeon had really given the party a lot more flexibility, and would make the next run they nned for the following… whatever they were going to call it after they slept… much easier. In the meantime, Seena had conjured a barricade in the entry to the cave to help prevent unwanted visitors—after they’d taken a quick look outside.

 Just like Dr. Benza had said, there was now a clear path for them to follow, glowing roots marking the trail for them to take to the next dungeon. Even more interesting, those nts in particr gave off faint sr energy which the party could absorb to restore spent energy. It was slow going, not even as strong as the Quillback room, but it was certainly better than nothing. Especially since they didn’t know how far the next dungeon was.

 Still, those were problems forter, and after moving all the corpses to one corner of the room—they didn’t want to risk leaving them outside and attracting predators—everybody focused on training and practicing with their new abilities.

 Well, almost everybody. Hiral had been sitting against the wall, studying the RHCs for thest hour.

 “Figure anything out?” Seena asked,ing over to slide down the wall and sit beside him.

 “I think I’m close,” Hiral said, lifting one of the RHCs up in both hands to show her. “See this rune in here?” He pointed with his left hand at what looked like a crystal slide with the rune etched into it. “This is the Rune of Impact, from what I can tell. And, you see how there are three slots here? I think the slot this rune is in is the primary slot. It determines what happens when I pull the trigger. You know, a trigger like a crossbow.

 “Anyway, when I tested it out by moving the rune slide into other slots, nothing happened when I pulled the trigger.”

 “So, what are the other slots for, then?” Seena asked, looking closely at the RHC.

 “I think they modify the primary effect,” Hiral said.

 “Modify? How?”

 “Not entirely sure. I’ll need more runes to figure it out.”

 “More runes? What about the ones on your arms?” Seena shifted her attention to the two visible runes on Hiral’s forearms. “Er, you know, Hiral, this is the first time I’ve really gotten a chance to look at them, but don’t both runes look the same?”

 “They’re inverted versions of each other,” Hiral said. “Rejection and Attraction. Like two sides of the same coin, or a mirror image.”

 “So, if you flip the rune in here upside-down, does that mean it has a different effect?” Seena pointed again at the RHC.

 “No, the runes seem to have an absolute orientation, so no matter how you hold it, it’s still the same rune,” Hiral said, though the question sent his mind down a different path. “You make an interesting point, though.” He pulled the Rune of Impact slide out of the RHC and held it up to his eye. “If this is anything like the runes I have, that would mean there must be a mirror image.”

 “What would the opposite of impact be?” Seena asked.

 Great question. Rejection and attraction. Are they opposites? Kind of, but not exactly. They’re definitely rted, though. What would be like that for impact? What is impact? The collision of two forces or objects. What’s the key there?

 Collision. Kind of like rejection.

 But collision and rejection don’t always happen when two forces or objects meet. Like when I pour water into arger bucket of water. Or when armor gets struck. Sure, there’s impact there, but if the armor is good enough, it protects the person wearing the armor. Why? If it’s a hard armor, it rejects the blow. Deflects it. But what about padded armor? It doesn’t reject the attack. 

 It absorbs it. 

 As soon as the thought solidified in Hiral’s mind, scripts of sr energy flowed from the double-helix patterns on his arms to consolidate on his biceps. Yellow energy red—Seena even had to look away from the bright light—and the power built and built as the scripts swirled into arger shape. Then, all at once, the light shed. Hiral’s sr capacity dropped to zero in an instant, and his previously bare biceps now held two new runes.

 “What…?” Seena started to ask, but a sh and Whoa from across the room had both their heads snapping to themotion.

 Blue light billowed out of Left’s and Right’s upper arms, so bright, it forced everybody to turn away or cover their eyes, then shed once, and the doubles were gone.

 “Hiral…?” Seena asked beside him, and the other Grower heads turned in his direction as well.

 “Everything okay?” Yanily asked.

 “I think so,” Hiral said, opening his status windoweven though he suspected what he’d find. “I’ve got two new runes. The Rune of Impact and the Rune of Absorption.” He looked down at his right bicep, though the rune was gone, and his tattoos had returned.

 “What happened to Left and Right?” Nivian asked.

 “That part… I’m not sure about,” Hiral said. “But I’m <empletely out of sr energy, so it’ll be a few minutes before I can bring them back to find out.”

 “Completely out and only a few minutes? Overpowered S-Rank absorption,” Yanily said. “Well, let us know when you’re ready. Balyo, let’s get back at it.”

 The spearwoman shrugged, then fell back in beside Yanily, and the two resumed their spear forms.

 “You okay?” Seena asked.

 “Yeah,” Hiral said. “Guess it answers a question I had, though.”

 “What’s that?”

 “How I would learn new runes. The dungeon abilities I got from the achievements didn’t give me runes, so I was a little worried I’d never learn any more. I guess I need some kind of… insights… into them. When I understood the concepts of impact and absorption, the runes just manifested on their own. I guess that’s how I get new abilities.

 “I mean, Shapers need Artists to give them the new tattoos, so I was really hoping that wasn’t the case for runes. Actually, how do Growers learn new abilities?”

 “Evolution,” Seena said. “Not the kind like when we go from E-Rank to D-Rank, but from challenging ourselves. Kind of like, if we need an ability to ovee a particr situation, we’ll spontaneously learn it.”

 “Okay, now that sounds overpowered.”

 “It would be,” Seenaughed, “if it was consistent. We can’t control when or why it’ll happen. All we can do is keep putting ourselves into more challenging situations to try and force an ability evolution, as it’s called.

 “Though, I guess it’s not really an evolution. We get a new ability, not a modification to an existing ability like we got from the dungeon achievements. Or like the mutation where I can use my Spearing Roots to create walls. More like my Target ability. I got that from one fight where Yanily just would not hit the right Troblin. It was driving me absolutely crazy, and then, boom—new ability.”

 “Wow. Sounds like Yanily needs to be annoying more often,” Hiral joked.

 “Oh, he’s annoying plenty often enough as it is.”

 “I can see that. Still, it’s so interesting. Uh… not Yanily. The magic. All the PIMs are different. I wonder what the fourth race is, and how they learn abilities,” Hiral mused out loud while he slid the rune-slider back into his RHC.

 “Fourth race? Oh, from how the dungeon interface had a fourth light that didn’t glow? You think there really is one?”

 “I think there was one, at least. Now? I don’t know. I don’t even know how many other Builders are out there.”

 “Growers. Makers. Builders. Strangely… appropriate race names,” Seena said. “You think Dr. Benza can exin more about it after we clear the other two dungeons?”

 “I was really hoping he’d be able to exin more now. We cleared this dungeon, after all, but it was still all the same information when I tried asking after we got out.” Hiral threw a dirty look toward the interface.

 “He wants us to keep pushing ourselves. Keep getting stronger,” Seena said. “We can only do that by moving on to the next dungeon.”

 “So we can deal with the Enemy he’s talking about. Well, talking around,” Hiral amended. “Do you think we’ll have an easier time the second run through Splitfang Keep?”

 “Much easier. Partly because of all the new abilities we got, but more so because now we know what we’re up against. Assuming nothing changes.”

 “I don’t think it will. Dr. Benza said something about it being a snapshot, and things resetting. I’m sure the Troblins will all have the same abilities and hide in the same spots.”

 “That’d be a relief. Anyway, back to your—what did you call them? Cannons? Now that you figured out new runes, can you do anything to them?”

 “No. I’m not sure why, but I know the runes I have aren’t the right kind to be put in those support slots. I’m notining, though. I’ve learned so much in thest few hours, not to mention since we came to the surface. I have a ss. You can’t even imagine how big a deal that is.”

 “What was it like, not having one?” Seena asked.

 “Horrible. And I’m not exaggerating. I was the only person above the age of ten without one. People thought something was wrong with me. Like I was sick or broken or something. Worthless. Even my own mother wouldn’t talk to me.”

 “How did you deal with it?”

 “By dreaming of the looks on their faces when I finally got my ss. When I proved them all wrong.”

 “Can Makers choose their ss?” Seena asked. “For reference, Growers can’t. It sort ofes naturally to us around our eighth or ninth birthday. Tenth at thetest. Like our abilities, it’s kind of spontaneous. But, I see you’ve got all these tattoos.” She pointed at Hiral’s tattooed arm, since he’d reabsorbed Right and Left.

 “Yeah, I was trying to be a Shaper, like those… uh…” Hiral trailed off; the issue of the people who’d captured Seey’s party was still a bit embarrassing.

 “I know what Shapers are,” Seena said tly. “Caaven’s niece, remember? I’ve been around enough when Arty came down to trade, though I wasn’t sure about you until thisst time.”

 “Oh, you mean when I threw myself off the ind? Twice?” Hiralughed.

 “Kind of stands out,” Seena agreed with a chuckle. “Shaper?”

 “Yeah. Both of my parents are Artists. Two of the best on the whole ind, actually. They started doing my Meridian Lines and tattoos even before I was old enough to take the Shaper test. Oh, there’s a test you have to pass that grants you the ss. You have to”—he touched the dagger on his left forearm then pulled his hand away—“shape something. It’s simple, really, if you can do it. I… uh… failed it ten times.

 “Anybody who can’t do it ends up as an Artist or Academic. Not that either is a bad ss,” Hiral quickly amended.

 “Why didn’t you be one of those two, then?”

 “Couldn’t be an Artist. There’s a test for that too. Uh… which I also failed…” Hiral said, and of course his brain whispered Everfail in a child’s voice for him. “Artists need to be able to mix their blood with a special pigment used for the tattoos. My blood didn’t work. And I didn’t want to give up and be an Academic.

 “Looking back, I bet I couldn’t have passed that test either. Seems like I was trying to get a ss for the wrong race.”

 “Were you… adopted… Hiral?” Seena asked.

 “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself.” Hiral chuckled. “But, no, I’m pretty sure those are my actual sisters. Uh, I’ve got two younger sisters. Way smarter and more gifted than me, but totally rted. And I remember them since they were babies. I don’t know how to exin the race thing. I just don’t. Another thing I want to ask Dr. Benza.”

 “Sounds like you have a long list,” Seena said.

 “And getting longer.”

 “Something I don’t get,” Seena said, scratching at her knee as she sat beside him. “Two things, actually. One, why do you guys even have tests? And two—if this is too personal, you don’t have to answer, but—why didn’t you give up on being a Shaper? Why’d you keep trying?”

 “The test is only once a year, like a rite of passage, and it’s a big celebration when people seed. I think it’s mainly just an excuse for that. As for your second question, it’s not too personal. Stubbornness, I guess? My father suggested I skip the test some years, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept asking myself, ‘What if this is the year I get it?’ And then I worried I’d have to keep waiting.

 “Spoiler, I never got it,” Hiral said, forcing himself to chuckle. Oddly, it wasn’t quite as easy as he’d expected, even though he had a ss. The pain was still there… like part of him thought this was a dream, and he’d wake up ssless all over again. “That… and, if I’m being honest with myself, I knew if I skipped a year, I don’t think I would’ve been able to go backter.”

 “Why did you? What made you want to be a Shaper so much?”

 “At first, it was because the Measure suggested I should be,” Hiral said.

 “The Measure?”

 “Ah, it’s where we get tested when we’re born, and our crystals get embedded in our chests,” Hiral said, tapping the center of his chest. “I guess where we get our PIM. Since I had the high sr energy scores, everybody assumed I’d be a great Shaper someday. Maybe some of their hopes rubbed off on me. Parents put a lot of effort into my tattoos because of that.

 “As time went on, well, I didn’t want to let everybody down. Then… that turned into proving them all wrong when they changed their minds so quickly about me. I went from being the once-in-ten-generations prodigy to… the Everfail practically overnight.

 “I… just couldn’t let it end like that,” Hiral said quietly.

 “I don’t think I could’ve kept going,” Seena said.

 “You’d be surprised how far stubbornness and anger will get you. So, Makers have three ss choices. Shapers, Artists, and Academics. What’s it like for Growers?”

 “Six sses,” Seena said, mercifully going along with the topic shift. “First, you’ve got Spear Wardens—or just Wardens, as most people call them—like Yanily and Balyo. I’m not exactly sure why, but the spear is a kind of special weapon for our people. We all learn how to use one, at least basically, starting around when we’re five or six.”

 “Another thing passed down from your ancestors?” Hiral asked.

 “Yup,” Seena said with a nod. “And when people have a talent for it, they tend to be Spear Wardens. It’s a strongbat ss, and the only one focused on a single weapon.”

 “What about Fitch and Vix?”

 “They’re both ss number two. That’s right, they actually have the same one—Stinger. It can take a lot of different forms, but it’s usually another weapon-focused ss. The person finds a weapon or style they have an affinity with, usually by learning a style ability, and that guides them down the ss. Like the Spear Warden, it’s always a damage ss.

 “Then you’ve got Lonil and Nivian—Swarm Leaders. In most parties, they’re both the tanks and the leaders.”

 “Except with you and Seey in the picture?” Hiral chuckled.

 “What can I say? We like telling people what to do,” Seena agreed.

 “Luckily, you seem pretty good at it.”

 “Thanks. Swarm Leaders have a list of defensive and what we call taunting abilities.”

 “Why do I feel like Yanily got some of those taunting abilities too?” Hiral asked.

 “Unfortunately, those aren’t abilities. Just how he is. I wish he could use those inbat on somebody other than us.”

 “Wule and Cal are both the same ss too, right?” Hiral asked, getting back on topic.

 “Correct. Menders. They all have abilities focused on healing and restoration. Some of our highest-ranking Menders can even regrow lost limbs or cure diseases. It’s a powerful ss and very much in demand. Just need to get them enough experience down on the surface to gain some of those abilities.” She grimaced a bit at thatst part.

 “You don’t look happy about that,” Hiral said.

 “Remember how I talked about spontaneous ability evolution? That’s usually what needs to happen to get those kinds of abilities. Which means…”

 “Somebody needs to lose a limb for the Mender to gain the ability to regrow it,” Hiral finished. “Ouch.”

 “Yeah. Part of me hopes Wule never gets that kind of skill,” Seena said, looking over at her friends.

 “You do a good job protecting them,” Hiral said quietly. “I’ve only been with you all a short time, and even I can see it.”

 “Thanks,” Seena said, eyes lingering on the other Growers a moment longer. “Fifth ss is what me, Picoli, and Seey fall under. We’re Callers. I’m what you’d name a Wood Caller. Picoli is a Light Caller, and Seey… Well, she’s something special. A Gravity Caller. Maybe the first of her kind. Most of our abilities work around manipting our focus. Wood, in my case.”

 “Which exins the roots and vines… Are vines actually wood?” Hiral asked, thinking about it.

 “Don’t get technical on me. We do actually have nt Callers, but they use a much wider variety than I do, so I got wood.”

 “I’ll take your word for it.” Hiral chuckled, and Seena scowled at him. “Uh, so, sixth ss?”

 “Farmer,” Seena said. “Kind of like your Academic. It’s the catch-all ss that nonbatants fall into. I hope that’s what Fav gets. Farmers get to stay nice and safe up on the inds. If you get one of the other five, well, you have toe to the surface.”

 “Is Caaven a farmer?” Hiral asked.

 “Yes, which is why I brought my party down looking for Seey. He wouldn’t know the first thing to do if he came to the surface.” Seenaughed. “I’d almost like to see it… if it wasn’t so dangerous.”

 “Hah. Same with Arty. Did you see his face when I told him I wanted toe down with you? Actually, did you see your own? Complete shock.”

 “Gee, I wonder why? Crazy Inder jumps off the ind, then tells me he wants to do it again? What did you expect my reaction to be?”

 “Yeah, that’s fair,” Hiral said, looking away from Seena to find Seey stalking over. “Uh oh. Iing.”

 Seena wiped the smile from her face just in time for Seey to nt her feet in front of them.

 “You two don’t look like you’re training very hard,” Seey said, crossing her arms.

 “You kidding?” Seena looked up at her sister without standing. “Hiral here just gained two new abilities.”

 “And why aren’t you trying them out to see what they do?” Seey asked, turning her attention on Hiral.

 “The process drained all of my sr energy…” Hiral said, but the look on Seey’s face told him just how weak of an answer that sounded. “But, hey, would you look at that? I’ve just now recovered enough to resummon Right and Left.”

 That was a lie; his sr energy was already past thirty percent. Really, he only needed three percent to use Foundational Split, but that would leave them all without enough energy to use any of their abilities.

 “Then let’s see what the light show was all about,” Seey said, offering her hands to help them stand.

 “Right,” Hiral said. After getting pulled to his feet, he took a couple steps away and activated Foundational Split.

 Right and Left peeled off of him on opposite sides, then each nced at their upper arms.

 “What is it?” Hiral asked them.

 “It seems I have ess to an additional tattoo,” Left said. “The Banner of Courage.” He pointed at the tattoo of a triangr g nted in the ground on his left bicep.

 “Reaaaaaaally?” Hiral said, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. “Right?”

 “Ah, Meridian Line up to just under my shoulder now,” the double said, the line glowing with sr energy along the back of his hand, up the side of his arm, and stopping just below his shoulder.

 “When I got upper arm runes, you guys got ess to your tattoos up to that point as well. So, for you to unlock more tattoos, I need to find more runes,” Hiral mumbled.

 “More abilities, huh?” Seey asked.

 “Yeah… yeah!” Hiral said. “The Banner of Courage is a buff ability for anybody within a certain range. Versatile, and really well-suited for a party. Not many people get it in Fallen Reach, because they don’t fight in groups usually, but my parents wanted me to have it to promote teamwork.”

 “Great story. Very moving,” Vix said.

 “Yup,” Seey agreed. “And you know what more abilities means, don’t you?”

 Seena and Hiral looked at each other, then both spoke at the same time. “More training.”

 “Best get to it, then,” Seey said.

AliNovel

Chapter 42: New Runes