Coming out into the Defier’s lobby, Luke navigated around the servants.
Out of a sense of familiarity, he decided to ask the receptionist, Persephone, where Iona could be. Leaning over the smooth, semi-circular desk to get her attention, Luke greeted her, “Hello again Persephone. Is Iona around? I’ve been thinking no one else would know best how to train Sooty.” He pointed back to his companion with his thumb.
The brunette flattened her clothes and rolled back her chair to better meet Luke’s eyes, “Defier Iona is on tower business today, she left over an hour ago. If you want an audience with her, she tends to return late in the evening. Shall I leave a notice for you?”
She did say that going into the tower was what Defiers did often. Also explains why it’s hard to meet any of the other eight, other than the fact that there’s this much space for too few. When I’m gone they’re here, when I’m here, they’re in the tower.
Exiting his mind, Luke said, “I would owe you one, Persephone, thanks.”
Persephone waved her hand at him, “This is hardly worth owing for, Defier Luke. Do you have any plans for the day? I understand you’re the only Defier unable to meet the demands of the tower for now.” She widened her eyes after that and slapped her hands on her mouth, “Please take it as no more than an observation and not an insult.”
“No insults seen or heard here. I guess some negative gossip has rubbed off on you?”
The receptionist’s eyes looked down into her lap, “The same rounds always come when a new Defier appears, especially if they are accepted before the second tier. Think of it as nothing more than jealousy.”
“Is it the other hunters? Or the servants?”
“Heavens no, the servants wouldn’t dare, the dissidents are all higher ascended hunters. Soured that one less achieved than them, in their eyes, has risen above them.”
“That’s understandable, it doesn’t help that some of the strongest hunters can still trounce me, even with my technique mastery. Nothing I can do to help with that. Eventually, I’ll level, while for them, they may never reach the lowest rung of expert for the rest of their lives.”
While rolling her eyes, Persephone said, “The thick-headed hunters who stop me on my way to work fail to see it that way. But that’s the policy, and it has yet to fail the Defiers. It exists for a reason. Aruna, the only other apprentice Defier, could take on even the strongest hunters in the city while being a tier below them. Can they say the same?” she scoffed, “No, they can only try to pick on the lowest Defier.” Rapidly changing her body language, Persephone had a bit of water come to her eyes, “I’m being too rude to you, aren’t I?”
Being called the lowest stings some, but the truth hurts often in life. If I’m not okay with it, then it’s better to try and put effort into changing it than getting upset at someone for making it clear.
“No, you’re being honest with me. While being within a reasonable realm of politeness. Thanks Persephone, I need people who aren’t yes men.” Luke scratched his cheek, “ Or yes- a woman is more suitable for you. I’ll see you around, thanks for keeping a message to me, I’ll try to get Iona’s sigil information in the future so I don’t have to bother you as much.”
Luke walked toward the kitchens while waving goodbye to Persephone. He scratched Sooty on her talons, “Ready for some food? I’m hungry, aren’t you?”
Sooty gave an enthusiastic coo.
----------------------------------------
With the timer lock on the Ruined Realm still in effect, Luke thought to brush up on the Runic Enchanter aspect of things. As such, he was in the enchanter platform, hunched over one of the three enchanting forges the area possessed.
The steps of golems echoed around, Luke withdrew the papers with Runes etched onto them. Luke could say and think what he would about Annika, but the woman did create good teaching aids. He laid the papers onto the enchanting forge, and the candles lit up while Ether in the air surged to the apparatus.
Just as Luke was to dig in and try to practice Runes, Wayfinder said, “Goes against me policy, but desperate times call for a more flexible measure. Lad, you’ve been underutilizing your trusty compass.”
Standing back from the forge, Luke asked Wayfinder, “A little more detail, if you could?”
Wayfinder pointed his needle at Luke, “Now that we’ve been together longer, I’ve tried not to over impose as I did when we first met. Thinkin’ that occasional self-discovery is best, I haven’t said, but time isn’t on your side. Let me give you a hint: read Polar South, and think about how else that can help your noggin.”
Polar South? All I’ve used it for was to sharpen my senses or intuition. It can ‘show’ the way in something occasionally. How can the insight help with…wow, I’m an idiot, but let me check to make sure.
Luke toggled the description of Polar South and scanned it thoroughly.
[Polar South III]: Gives user a fleeting insight into their target, easier to discern as Polar South goes up in rank.
Cooldown: 10 Minutes
“Would a Rune count as a target? If I ‘targeted’ my attention to learning and understanding Runes, would that even work?”
“That’s all up to your stride, I’ve opened me clasp enough,” Wayfinder said.
“Can my wand form help you with Runes, Luke?” Xera tried to contribute.
“Amplified casting from putting Essence Bond onto you might help when it comes time to try and enchant something, but I’m not sure. We’ll try it when I enchant an item, okay?”
“Neat! If it works I can be in wand form more. Too bad I can only be a wand in this ‘version’ of you. But that’s okay, sword time is a good time.” Xera kept to her normally cheery identity.
With his artifact’s guidance, Luke used Polar South and focused on a Rune while pressing Essence into it. The standard roadblocks melted away, and while it wasn’t an effortless task, the acquisition of requisite skills was significantly accelerated. When the effect vanished, Luke felt like a dullard compared to beforehand, yet the Rune was already half completed.
It had to be said this was an entirely new Rune, not one of the three Luke had spent hours with Annika’s guidance understanding. Yet, an ability with only a ten-minute cooldown allowed him to understand half of one.
Annika had told him that there were 33 Runes to be mastered for any class or profession involved with them. If he mastered each one, his effectiveness would shoot up, and the Rune world would finally be his oyster.
The Reaver checked in on Sooty, who enjoyed a nap on top of a wandering golem’s head, and the timer left on the Ruined Realm dungeon lock.
[04:10:03]
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
He had an idea of how best to spend his next four hours.
----------------------------------------
Rune sauntered through the twisted gray tree forest. The sun was brighter than yesterday, piercing through the usually gray veil in the dungeon contamination zone.
Sooty, or rather Lilith, hopped from tree to tree with a tendril, enjoying her version of entertainment. She was relaxed, now having experienced the area once before. Xera excitedly commented on anything interesting, such as tree shapes, abusing the fact no one could hear her when Rune put on the black metal mask.
“And that one looks like it was blasted with a wand and carved with a sword in half. It’s nearly two trees in one.”
“Lass, you don’t need to appraise each tree. They’ll grow whichever way they take to their liking.”
Which was a really fancy way of saying the affected area around the dungeon. The trace mana leaked out changed the local ecology and often gave rise to zones radically different compared to ‘uncontaminated’ terrain.
A small pack of clown fool spiders lay dead beside Rune. He kept to the edge of the road while he paused, only to prevent other hunters from getting annoyed at him for occupying shared travel space.
Not much of that intention came his way. Already, he heard whispers hinting at Yelaris’ effectiveness. A human warrior murmured into the ear of an elf archer beside him, “Isn’t that the Rune fellow half the hunter’s branch is talking about? Says he’s a madman who won’t spare you if you mess with him.”
The elf woman glanced at Rune, “Fits the description alright, I don’t know of any hunter that wears a black mask with gray marks around the eyes. The blue wisps that come out give me chills.”
That group passed by Rune, noticeably tensed, but Rune paid them little heed. Shortly ago, Rune sorted out his gains. After eating breakfast, he used one of the deposit areas he saw in the Hunter’s branch.
All the uncommon items, materials, and anything else he gathered were sold off then. Only keeping the two rares, enchanting materials, potions, bandages, and the one Exceptional Quality two-handed battle axe. The three ‘practice’ common items for Runic Enchanting were kept in Sooty’s more expansive Spatial Feather.
The higher quality items would probably be best sold to the Fasa house or traded for a suitable equivalent he could use. Rune shifted on his feet as he checked on the updated gold count: one hundred and seventy-three. His wealth had ballooned between the payment from Dejen’s store, extorting Yelaris, looting two underworld gangs, and selling off any material he didn’t need. Now that his need for money likely tapered off, Rune decided to disenchant the next uncommon items he looted unless they were an upgrade in gear, of course.
This is what Edric meant. Your earning ability scales quickly in this line of work. Helps I’m keeping it all to myself, splitting it five ways with a party would be a bummer.
Naturally, Rune had acquired a return scroll after the windfall. There was no need to be stingy anymore.
Rune swapped out his uncommon quality Blood Ring for the Patchwork Ring. If the loss in health absorb from dealing damage was too much, he’d swap back, but for now, he wanted to give this other ring a fair shake. On the bright side, he possessed the Blood Weaver Ring, which gave 2% health steal from damage.
He knew that leveling was becoming a challenge. And that was without him having to share experience with a party. The patchwork ring could be a backup if he pushed too hard or took too great a risk while grinding levels. The slow and steady method sounded nice, but he was in no position to try it.
Before delving into the Ruined Realm, Rune stopped procrastinating. He felt conflicted for too long if he should pour more points into Infusion or slap them into Siphon, but frankly, it shouldn’t be a debate. Boosting Siphon to tier 1 wouldn’t be too expensive, so he spent what he needed to. Ten points drained from his current stack, lowering it to fourteen.
When that number stared back at him, Rune wondered what he’d been waiting so long for. Even if Siphon was still too weak after reaching tier 1, as it had now, there were fourteen points to spare and pump up Infusion three ranks. He liked the idea of keeping some back, in case he found a skill book, but the pressure from Yuriel’s decree dashed any leisurely approach.
Whatever, what’s done is done. Let’s take a look.
[Siphon Tier 1]
Place a draining mark on target enemy. Steals a low amount of stamina and energy resource from target every second. Stackable, refreshes duration if target experiences direct damage of 8% or more to their health. Considered an Essence debuff. Current stack limit of two. Duration 5 seconds. Cost: 20 Essence
Cooldown: 30 seconds (cannot be reduced)
Requires Essence Based Combat Class: Enhancer, Bloodmancer, Astralist, Necromancer, Essence Reaver
“It can take people’s resources? Meaning mana, essence, and…what were the others? Energy was one, think there’s one more. Does it convert to essence for me? Feels like between this and the armor effect that draws in essence, I’ll be a generator and never run out.”
“What can take people’s stuff?” Xera said, reminding Rune of his bad habit of speaking out loud without explaining a word to her or Wayfinder.
“I upgraded Siphon. Don’t mind me and my muttering for the next minute.”
The stolen stamina had gone from minor to low, and the stack count increased to two while extending the duration to 5 seconds. The final improvement was the amount of damage he had to deal to invoke the refresh mechanic.
Overall, the ability became more useful, but not a game changer. At the current rate of improvement, Rune could envision it becoming his most nasty ability by tier two or three. If it kept ‘expanding’ what it could drain, Siphon would make him near-invincible against the wave tactic. Only low numbers and quality would continue to be a genuine threat.
Ruminating over what the changes meant, Rune focused on a previously ignored part of the description.
Considered an Essence Debuff. When I apply it to a monster, Essence Bond becomes an Essence Debuff, which can spread from Sooty’s screech ability. If the same rules apply, she should be able to spread Siphon for me too.
Earlier, the duration and effect were too weak to catch any of Rune’s splintered attention, but now it required testing.
Rune found another suicidal pack of Fool Marked Spiders and applied Siphon onto one. He felt a ‘return’ in Essence and stamina to his body each second. Lilith wailed, and Siphon appeared to begin to spread. The only issue was all the spiders kneeled over and died, unable to take the one AOE attack from Lilith.
Slumping his shoulders, Rune said, “No avoiding it, we’ll have to test this in the Spectral Wing.”
____________________________________________________
While on the Spectral Wing side of the foyer, Rune noticed people firmly avoided him.
The withered green aesthetic around this end certainly gave no favors to an already ‘off’ feeling and looking hunter, but that wasn’t the real reason. Instead, Yelaris and his group had done incredibly well, considering it had only been a day.
“Is that Rune the Insane? Heard he tortures babies for fun and maims anyone who slights him.” A frightened and stressed monic woman said, her back shivering.
“That companion on his shoulder is rumored to be a Soul Eater. If you try to fight him and lose, you’ll never live another life.” Another human archer chimed in, keeping his hands close to his bow.
“I heard he slaughtered two city gangs out of frustration when he couldn’t find enough hunters to kill in the Spectral Wing yesterday.” Yet another group included themselves in the conversation, this time a Tora leader of another group.
“What a madman, glad he doesn’t come to the Vampiric Wing. Let him have the Spectral side to himself.” A middle-aged elf warrior whispered.
The stage is set, the Spectral Wing should be far less of a headache now. Or people on my way here will ‘excuse themselves’ around me.
Rune popped into the Spectral Wing, the souls sliding up walls were there as always in the hall. He felt the faint decay effect, even from here, now that he was aware of it. That naturally regenerated his stamina and essence. Green-grey light reflected off the souls.
A thin stench accompanied the decay effect, and Rune moved down the hall. He turned the corner, expecting to see the three packs of abominations and banshees. On the now white floors, from being purified, were the banshee shackles.
Other hunters clearing out the wing was to be expected. For all Rune knew, some specialized group came here two hours ago and was knee-deep in ghosts up ahead. He moved on, ducking into the hole in the wall at the end of the corridor.
The Ferryman, who may as well be the grim reaper with his appearance, held a dim lantern, waiting at the end of the short rotting dock. Double-checking the area, Rune breathed in. This was the way forward. He would stall without stepping next to that monstrously powerful creature.
Scraping his feet back on the green-sludged wooden dock, Rune boarded onto the fairy. Keeping his senses on the Fairy man, Rune remained aware while standing near the boat’s edge. A rotting aura blasted from the boat guide.
Ironically, despite the dread, the aura supercharged Rune. He was more energetic than ever. The ether in the air floated before his eyes. Five minutes later, the ferryman pushed off the edge of the dock.
The dilapidated naval vehicle meandered down the ghostly lake, guiding to the river leading further into the Spectral Wing. Slithering scales dipped in and out of the green cloudy water.
Ghosts floated up, approaching the boat, yet they never dared to intrude. Before Rune could wonder why, the Ferry Man raised a hand, and a suction vortex formed. All the nearest ghosts compressed into a cube and then rushed to his hand.
Bringing the hand to his face, the Ferry Man consumed the cube, and a spark of ‘life’ revitalized the creature before he reverted to normal.
Rune heard a ghastly voice, “The meager meals offered up from the accursed lake are never enough, the spire’s chains are a gaol.”