Rune Seeker

It turned out they needed to wait five hours—and four dungeon resets—for the portal to finally open, and Hiral let out a breath of minor disappointment when he didn’t get to kill the Lord again. Heh, I’m thinking too much like Yanily.

“If the portal is open, that means P—the Enemy—isn’t out there?” Right asked, changing what he was going to say after a brief look at Cal.

“Hope so,” Hiral said. “Still, be ready for anything.”

“I’ll go first,” Left said, shaping his Dagger of Sath and leading the way with Right and Hiral close behind, Cal bringing up the rear. “Clear,” Left said as the others emerged.

Hiral still did a quick look around at the room and all the new chunks of wall, floor, and ceiling missing. Most notable was the new tunnel opposite the one they’d entered through, their glowing root path leading in that direction.

“Somebody was looking for us,” Right said, running his finger along one of the gashes in the floor.

“And they weren’t happy when they couldn’t find us,” Hiral muttered. Was Picoli down the new tunnel, or had she finally given up? Either way, they couldn’t stick around. But, first, he spotted the dungeon interface and swiped his hand over it.

“Clear Times,” Hiral said, as Dr. Benza appeared.

The Troblin Throne – Dungeon

Top Clear Times

Hiral: 5:57

Seena: 7:31

ZZZ : --:--

Close Window

“Whoa,” Right said.

“A fast dungeon, one way or the other,” Hiral said, nodding. “They must’ve done the same thing we did and went straight for the Lord. It also means they should be out here any minute now, assuming they got stuck in the same reset loop we did. Left, keep an eye down the tunnel we entered from. Right, get the other one, please.”

“Got it,” they both said in unison, moving to take up positions.

This time, they didn’t have to wait long. A portal opened, and the five Growers piled out, ready for a fight.

“Just us here,” Hiral said quickly with his hands up.

“How do we know you’re not…?” Yanily started, but cut off when Hiral subtly pointed to Cal standing in the corner of the room.

Seena, on the other hand, breathed out an obvious sigh of relief. “You got through.”

“After being reckless,” Right said helpfully from where he watched the tunnel.

“Thank you, Right,” Hiral said flatly.

“Did you tell her?” Seena asked quietly, eyes zipping to Cal and back again. Hiral just shook his head. “Seeyela will talk to her, but she must’ve realized it when we came out.”

“I think maybe she had an idea even before,” Hiral said. “She got some kind of mirror from the dungeon, and she’s been wrapped up in it. Maybe it’s for the best. Either way, I think we should get out of here while we can. There’s a new tunnel.”

“I see that. Everybody ready to move?” Seena asked, though her lips tightened when she saw Cal fall into Seeyela’s arms, shoulders shuddering. “Sis?”

“We’re ready,” Seeyela said, patting Cal on the back. The healer pulled away, tears still streaming down her face. She wouldn’t be much help if it came to a fight, but at least she’d be walking on her own.

“Left, can you take the lead again?” Hiral said, pointing down the new tunnel, and the group quickly moved that way. Not even a hundred feet later, the tunnel widened significantly, and they found what looked like another dungeon interface. Twenty feet beyond the interface, the floor dropped off completely, only darkness below, though the tunnel continued off into the distance, the glowing roots running along the sides of the wall.

“They expect us to fly?” Wule asked.

“Or clear another dungeon?” Nivian said, eyeing the interface.

“Maybe not,” Hiral said, joining Nivian. “Hey, everybody, stand close. I think I know what this is.”

A WHAM echoed back from the way they’d come, small rocks and dust falling from the ceiling. Then, WHAM again.

“Maybe skip the explanation?” Seena suggested, the party drawing weapons and facing the tunnel.

Was that Hiral’s imagination, or could he hear footsteps? Running footsteps, getting closer. Fast.

Hiral put his hands on the interface, and the image of Dr. Benza predictably appeared.

The image of the doctor shimmered briefly. “Accessing PIMs. Access complete,” Dr. Benza said, his voice oddly flat. “All zone-dungeon clears detected. Asylum destination unlocked. Would you like to proceed to the Asylum?”

“Yes!” Hiral said, along with everybody else around the platform.

“Destination selected,” Dr. Benza said, and a dome of soft blue light rose around the circular platform. Then it gently pulled ahead into the wide hallway so smoothly, Hiral couldn’t even feel it moving under his feet.

At the same time, the sound of running steps grew louder and more frantic, glowing eyes and a manic grin appearing in the distance.

“Dr. Benza, faster, please,” Hiral said, pushing back the rising panic. If Picoli got on the platform, would they take her right to the one place that was supposed to be safe?

“Speed increasing,” Dr. Benza said, and the platform bolted away from the hall at the same time the thing that was Picoli arrived.

It skidded to a stop at the edge of the floor, nothing but emptiness immediately in front of it, then dropped down to hands and feet, a familiar glow appearing under the soles of her feet and the palms of her hands.

She’s going to try a Rejection-enhanced leap!

Seena and Seeyela both recognized the threat at the same time, and all three raced back to the end of the platform. Hiral poured energy into his Rune of Rejectionwhile a Gravity Well and a wall of Spearing Roots each filled half the hall. If Picoli jumped, they’d make her work for it.

But, as one second turned to two, to three, four… five, and the distance between them grew and grew, Picoli instead stood up. Her eyes narrowed, then she threw back her head and let out a raspy, keening howl, the sound quickly getting swallowed by the darkness as the platform accelerated away.

“Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of her,” Seeyela said, a note of sadness to her voice.

“Maybe we can find a way to bring her back,” Seena said, the words forced, but Seeyela nodded her appreciation. “So, Hiral, what’s this?” she asked, pointing at their feet.

“It’s a Disc of Passage. But, a real one. Not a shaped tattoo. It makes sense, I guess. All our tattoos were based on actual items from history.”

“Glad this is a bit more real than history,” Seeyela said. “It’s taking us to the Asylum?”

“Seems it,” Hiral said.

“Doesn’t even feel like we’re moving,” Seena said.

“The disc creates a protective shield around it—that’s the blue dome, I think—to maintain a steady environment within. We could even go underwater, and we wouldn’t notice. But, if you look at the roots along the walls, you can see just how fast we’re going.” Hiral pointed to the side in demonstration.

“I know how much you like testing things, but can we avoid the underwater bit?” Seena asked.

“Not up to me,” Hiral said with a shrug.

“Since the travel is taken care of, I’m going to check on Cal,” Seeyela said. “This is hitting her pretty hard.”

“Sis… how are you doing? Cal isn’t the only one who… who lost…” Seena started, but couldn’t finish.

“Once we get to the Asylum and can finally relax, I’ll deal with it. For now, I’m just not thinking about it. I can’t. It’ll be too much.” A crack formed in her façade, but she quickly buried the emotion. “See. It’s that close to the surface. Excuse me.” She spun on her heel and went over to join Cal.

“I don’t know how she’s doing it,” Seena said quietly for Hiral. “If that was me… would I be able to keep going?”

“You would,” Hiral said. “You’re both strong.”

“I hope we never have to find out,” Seena said. “Losing Vix was already hard enough. I couldn’t bear to lose another one of you. Yes, I’m including you in that category, so stop being reckless,” she added with a soft punch to his shoulder, then walked over to join the others.

Hiral, for his part, turned back the way they’d come, eyes trying to pierce the darkness to make sure Picoli didn’t find a way to follow them. That thing inside of her could fly, couldn’t it? So why didn’t it burst out and give chase? A shake of his head, and he let it go—there were just too many questions he didn’t have answers to.

Instead, he walked over to where Wule was handing out rations, and took one from the healer. “You guys have much trouble with the Lord?”

“Yes and no,” Wule explained. “The fight was brutal, but relatively quick. We had a pretty good system by the fifth time we had to fight it, but it didn’t get any easier. I can’t believe you two made it through. You’re lucky you didn’t have to fight it multiple times.”

“Uh…” Hiral said, then took a bite out of his ration.

“You did fight it five times? Just the two of you? Well, four, I guess. Maybe that’s not so different than what we did.”

“Except Hiral solo’d the Lord the last four times,” Right said. “One swing. Boom. Dead.”

“What!?” Wule exclaimed.

“Overpowered S-Rank weapons,” Yanily grumbled, running a hand along the shaft of his spear. “Don’t worry, baby. I know you’re just working up to it.”

“In all seriousness, you want to tell us how you managed?” Seena asked.

So, Hiral did, outlining the fight as the disc traveled. His story finished, and they took their turn. Then, from there, it became stories about Lonil, Balyo, Vix, and Fitch. They seemed to avoid talking about Picoli for the time being, but even Seeyela and Cal joined in. Minutes turned into an hour, then two, before the trip seemed to be nearing its end.

The Disc of Passage slowed to a stop when it ran out of tunnel, but then rose gently straight up. A moment later, the party found themselves in a wide, circular room seemingly cut from the stone itself, two more holes in the floor that looked like they’d fit their own discs, and a single tunnel leading out. More glowing roots ran along the walls and domed roof, and the air felt stale as Hiral breathed it in.

“It’s been a long time since anyone was here,” Nivian said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s safe,” Seeyela said, then strode toward the only exit.

The group walked down the narrow tunnel—just wide enough for two people to walk side by side—with their weapons drawn, the familiar roots their only light. This tunnel seemed to go on and on, so long, Hiral had trouble making out where they’d entered, and then further still. Ten minutes they walked in silence before somebody finally spoke.

“Why couldn’t the disc thing just take us all the way?” Yanily complained, his voice echoing strangely off the stone around them.

“Shush,” Seena scolded.

“Just saying…” Yanily mumbled, but they continued on in silence for another five minutes before emerging into another room.

Unlike the first room or the tunnel, the domed ceiling of this one was made from or covered in the same crystal as Hiral’s weapons. Four more doorways branched off from this area, their own rooms visible beyond—so no more long tunnels, at least—and, of course, there was an interface pedestal in the middle.

“This is the Asylum, isn’t it?” Wule asked as the group spread out around the room.

“This looks like some kind of training room over here,” Nivian said from beside one of the doors. “It’s huge.”

“A kitchen here, and… a garden?” Seena said from beside another door.

Hiral veered over toward another door, peering in and finding what looked like workbenches, a forge, and tools lining the walls, among other things. “Some kind of workroom here. For trades or crafts?”

“This one looks like… a house?” Seeyela said, Cal close at her side. “Living quarters or a dorm or something. I see more doors further down, but it kind of reminds me of the inn we stayed at.”

“Any Troblins and their inappropriate paintings?” Yanily asked.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Wule said. “Hey, I think I can activate this pedestal even though Hiral isn’t close.”

“Try it,” Seena said, and Hiral made sure not to move closer despite his curiosity.

The healer waved his hand over the crystal, and Dr. Benza appeared beside the pedestal.

“Welcome to an Asylum,” he said. “If you’re here, that means you’ve cleared the three dungeons in the area. Congratulations. Within these walls, you will find safety, shelter, and a place to regain your strength before you push on to the next set of dungeons.

“The remote location, along with the rare materials used to craft the Asylum itself, reduces the chances of Enemy detection to almost zero. Though, this does limit the maximum occupancy to only eighteen,” Dr. Benza added with a shrug. “Believe me, if we could’ve just built more Asylums to house our people, we would have. The dozen we’ve constructed around the world as waypoints for your journey through the dungeons will have to do, however.

“During your stay, please feel free to make use of the fully equipped training room, the well-stocked kitchen and garden—though watch out for the rabbits, they bite, little bastards—and the multi-purpose workroom. You will, of course, also have access to the Tutorials and Help sections equivalent to the number of dungeons you’ve cleared.

“With all that in mind, I’m sure you have many questions, and I would be happy to answer…” The image flickered, then vanished.

All at once, red lights came on within the crystal dome overhead, tinting the entire room the color of blood, and Dr. Benza’s image reappeared, though this time, it looked… older. Tired. Ragged.

“If you’re seeing this version of me, it can only mean one thing—the magic keeping Fallen Reach in the sky is failing.

“You need to act. You need to save it. If you don’t, within one year, the island and everybody on it will be destroyed.”

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