Rune Seeker

Chapter 75: Splitting The Party

Pardon? Seena said to Hiral.

This Will of the Island, a voice speaking to the Artists, it has to be one of the Fallen. Who or what else would know about an Infested down on the Grower islands? It mustve brought Fitch up here to to what? If its talking, its awake. It must still be trapped within the crystal. Thats what it needs Fitch for.

Can Fitch destroy one of those? Seeyela asked. Odi was pretty confident even UrThul wouldnt be able to crack open the one we put around the Urn.

What are you all talking about? Gauto asked. Fallen? Urn? Whats an o-dee?

The Spear of Clouds, Seena said, ignoring Gauto. Its an S-Rank weapon. It might be strong enough.

Fitch cant be S-Rank, though, Seeyela countered. That that Rank disparity thing means he cant use its full power.

Yanily did Seena pointed out.

Shes right, Hiral said. The spear has the ability to remove Rank disparity at the cost of some of the users life. The Infested is probably strong enough it doesnt have to outright kill itself to use enough of the spears power to break the crystal.

Still doesnt explain what Fitch gets out of it, Seeyela said. Were assuming hes one of those Refined Infested, which means he agreed to let the Enemy in. Hes still partially in control.

Revenge for his sister? Seena offered. You know what? It doesnt matter. Well ask him when we find him. Where is he? Thats where were going.

The Fallen? Hiral asked.

Youll figure something out, Seena said evenly.

Me?

You. So, stop worrying about the problem and start solving it.

No pressure or anything.

None. Weve got your back, no matter what.

Hiral, you didnt exactly explain who these two are, Gauto said. In fact, you didnt explain at all, but Im getting a bit of a vibe here

Gauto Seena, Seeyela, Left, Right, Hiral said, introducing the rest of the party to his friend.

Gauto lowered his head into his hands, then stepped over to Left and Right and lifted his hands to their shoulders. Obviously he named you. Im so sorry. Uh, but who are you?

Manifestations of an ability I got on the surface, Hiral said. No, dont even start. Well talk about it after we deal with Fitch, the Fallen, and the storm. Not necessarily in that order. Where can we find him?

Well, finding him and getting to him could be two very different things, Gauto said. Hes been surrounded nonstop by Artists and Shapers. Youre not going to be able to find him alone.

Artists dont fight, right? Seena asked.

Not really, Hiral said.

How many Shapers, then?

A dozen, minimum, but up to a hundred, Gauto said. The insurgents took over a section of the art district to make their home base during the fighting. Thats where they all were before I came here.

What were you doing here, anyway? Seena asked. Hiding?

Gauto pointed down into the pit. Weapons. The Artists and Shapers have mostly ignored us Academics, but I dont know how long thatll last.

You wanted the weapons so you could fight back, Hiral reasoned. Theyre all E- or D-Rank, though. They wouldnt do you much good.

All E- or D-Rank? Gauto asked. How do you know that?

We have an ability called View we got on the surface. Lets us see Rank. Hiral shook his head. And stop asking questions! I promise, when we have time, Ill tell you everything.

A dozen Shapers is probably too much for us, Left said, bringing the conversation back on track. Let alone a hundred.

Academicseven with the weaponsarent going to even the odds, Right added.

Grower reinforcements? Seeyela suggested.

Not enough time to get them up here, Hiral said. At least, not enough of them, even with the Disc of Passage we found. He held up a hand to forestall Gauto when his mouth started to open after mention of the disc. No, we need Shapers of our own.

All the Shapers who fought back are injured, Gauto pointed out. And they already lost. They wont be much good.

Not those ones, Hiral said. You said Loan was one of the ones in the prison? How many others are there?

I dont know. A lot? Shapers all over the city surrendered when the insurgents took the hostages.

Enough to fight back, if we can get them to join us? Seena pushed.

Definitely, Gauto said. The insurgents took the hostages because they werent sure they could win against these Shapers. Add in how pissed theyre going to be at having their families kidnapped? Yeah, theyd be enough.

So, we need to go to this prison and break them out, Seeyela said. No, wait. That wont work. As long as their families are still held hostage, they wont fight. We need to free the hostages first

But as soon as we do that, the insurgents will figure out what were up to, Seena finished for her sister.

We need to do both at the same time, Hiral reasoned. Free the hostages and break the Shapers out of the prison before Fitch and his allies know what were doing. As soon as the words left his mouth, a pair of notification windows sprang up one after the other.

Dynamic Quest

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Under the guise of assistance, Enemy forces have infiltrated Fallen Reach.

To get past the army surrounding the Infested, youll need an army of your own.

Break the Shapers out of their prison.

Note: A zone-wide notification will go out when prison break is complete.

Note (2): Prison break must occur within 15 minutes of hostage rescue, or the insurgents will have time to mount a counterattack.

When Hiral finished reading the note, the notification window dropped away for the second to take its place.

Dynamic Quest

Under the guise of assistance, Enemy forces have infiltrated Fallen Reach.

Friends and family have been taken hostage to keep possible allies out of the fight.

Free the hostages to gain new partners.

Note: A zone-wide notification will go out when hostage rescue is complete.

Note (2): Hostage rescue must occur within 15 minutes of prison break, or the insurgents will have time to mount a counterattack.

You got the two notifications? Hiral asked Seena and Seeyela. Both women nodded. A zone-wide notification as well? Thats new. Explains why well only have fifteen minutes before the insurgents come down on us.

Do we even need to go to the prison, then? Seena asked. Wont they break out on their own once they see the notification?

Hiral shook his head. Eventually, maybe. But the people set to guard the prison usually have tattoos which make that very difficult. Barrier tattoos. Reinforcement tattoos. Trap and debuff tattoos. The prisoners would probably be able to get out with enough effort, just not in time. The prison also has crystals that absorb solar energy, so depending on how long the Shapers have been there, they might be completely out of energy already.

Hirals right, Gauto added. The guards outside the prison need to be taken care of before they can activate their tattoos. Or after, I guess. Either way, it needs to happen outside the prison.

And the prison and the Amphitheatre of the Sun arent close to each other, Hiral added. Definitely not within fifteen minutes if we arent using our mounts.

There are also the Oath Stones, Gauto said.

Oath Stones? Seena asked.

Magic stones that enforce promises or agreements, Hiral said. They use them mainly in the arena as guarantees people wont cheat. If somebody breaks their promiseor the rules of a duelthe stones give them a very nasty debuff. Similar to System Shock, but it also completely disables their PIM for more than a week.

Whats a pim? Gauto asked.

They use the stones at the prison as well, Hiral went on as if Gauto hadnt spoken. Make the prisoners promise they wont try to escape.

So, how are we going to make this work? Seeyela asked. If they promised they cant leave, or they lose their abilities when they do neither of those is good for us?

The oaths usually have a time limit, but thats not how were going to do it, Hiral said quickly when both sisters opened their mouths to object. The other way is to either get the person they made the promise with to release them or to remove that person.

Remove?

Unconscious, or move them outside the range of the stones, which is about half a mile, I think? Hiral asked Gauto the last part.

About that, Gauto said.

They probably made both sets of prisoners bind themselves to the guards through the Oath Stones, Hiral said. Once we take care of the guards present, that should make it so they can leave.

Seena immediately rubbed the bridge of her nose. Youre suggesting we split up. We already dont have a full party, and you want to break us up even more?

I dont want to, Hiral said, but I also dont see any other choice. We can stay in contact and coordinate via the Party Interface. Well scout out what were up against, then decide if we can handle it.

We dont have time to change the plan after we get there, Seeyela pointed out. If we do this, were committing to it. Im guessing its me and Seena together?

And Gauto, Hiral said. Hell guide you to the prison.

I will? Gauto then nodded. I mean, I will.

Dont do anything reckless, Seena said, stepping up very close to Hiral. And you two, keep him out of trouble, she said to the doubles without taking her eyes off him.

Well do our best, Left said weakly.

Lets be honestnot making any promises, Right added.

You were supposed to reassure me, Seena pointed out.

Wouldve been able to tell we were lying, Left said.

Hiral, Seena started, but she stopped when he put his hands on her shoulders.

I know. Ill be as careful as I can be, but we cant lose here. And weve already spent too long talking about this. Its going to take you nearly thirty minutes to get to the prison on foot. Thats not even taking into account breaking out the Shapers. Were all going to do what we need to do to save the islands. Even if it means taking a few risks.

Seena held his eyes, then reached up and put one hand on top of his. I hate that youre right. And that we dont have more time before we split up. That six months feels like such a waste right now

Well be back together soon enough, Hiral said. Dont worry.

Really feeling a vibe here, Gauto said, standing beside Seeyela. Are they? You know?

Its complicated, Seeyela said. Time compression, implanted memories, pocket worlds inside pocket worlds. You know, the usual.

Ah, of course. The usual. Gauto just shook his head.

Seena smiled at the exchange, then patted Hirals hand once more. Dont forget our promise of later.

Ive been looking forward to it for months, Hiral said. I know this great cheese shop near the port. And theres a place that sells wine right next to it thats supposed to be really good.

Your treat? Count me in, Seena said, stepping back. Another few seconds of meeting Hirals eyes, and she turned to face Gauto and Seeyelawho were both smirking. How many guards at the prison?

With the threat of the hostages, there wont be many, Gauto said. Minimal presence at most.

Still a Shaper presence, Hiral pointed out. These quests mean were walking into Mid-Bosses, or the equivalent. We have B-Rank Shapers up here, and by the look on Gautos face right now, some of them are on the side of the insurgents. How many?

I dont have an exact count, but I know at least Vule and Jukil.

Hiral immediately tensed at the names, long-buried anxiety rearing its head.

You know them? Seeyela asked, spotting his body language.

Two of the instructors who failed me during my Shaper test, Hiral said.

All ten times, Gauto reminded him.

Expect one of them at each location, Hiral said. Its too convenient. Gauto, explain what you know about them both on the way.

Sure. But, uh, sorry, Hiral. I need to ask one question. Can you use your tattoos finally?

Hrm? No. Left can use some of them, though.

But youre E-Rank. How can you talk about B-Ranks like its no big thing?

Three reasons, Hiral said, holding up a trio of fingers. One, we have to. I doubt well have the luxury of avoiding them, so we might as well plan for them.

Okay. And the second?

Hiral let one finger fall so that only two remained. Were not E-Rank.

You made it to D-Rank already? What? No way!

Were C-Rank, actually, Hiral said, and Gautos jaw dropped. Really. Not lying.

Even if I believe thatwhich Im kind of struggling with, though somehow it wouldnt be the most ridiculous thing Ive heard todaywhats the third reason?

Hiral pulled in his other finger so only one remained, then pointed over his shoulder.

The broken sword?

Thats the Emperors Greatsword, Hiral said. And Im looking forward to introducing my old test examiners to it.