Rune Seeker

Chapter 31: Splitfang Keep

The portal closed behind them as the last person, Hiral, passed through it, and the six party members stood in the enclosed room.

“What do we do now?” Wule asked.

A blue window popped into existence as if in answer to his question.

Splitfang Keep – Dungeon

E-Rank

Top Clear Times

XXX : --:--

YYY : --:--

ZZZ : --:--

Attempt Dungeon?

Yes / No

“Everybody ready?” Seena asked, and when they all nodded, she tapped the hanging blue Yes.

The room vanished in a puff of what looked like solar energy, and the group was left standing in the middle of a small clearing, huge trees encircling them on all sides.

“We’re back outside?” Nivian asked, his thorny shield and whip growing out of his hands, and bark-like armor appearing on top of his skin.

“I don’t think so,” Wule said, pointing straight up toward the canopy. “It’s sunny out.”

“There’s a path,” Hiral said as he gestured ahead of them, the space between the bushes and trees conspicuous in its uniqueness. “Do we follow it?”

“Looks like the way we’re supposed to go,” Vix said. “Could also be a trap.”

“Since we can clear the dungeon, that suggests there is a definite end to it,” Hiral said. “Especially if it’s like the Time Trial I did back up in Fallen Reach. Following the path is likely the quickest way to that end.”

“Nivian, out front. Usual formation. Hiral, can you call out Left and Right?” Seena asked as the rest of the group got into position.

“Let’s find out,” Hiral said, and activated Foundational Split.

Solar energy—along with his tattoos—peeled off his body, and Left and Right formed at his sides.

“Looks like we’re ready,” he said.

“Not quite,” Wule said, then Nature’s Bulwark enveloped everybody. “Now we’re ready.”

Seena, staff in one hand, tapped Nivian on the shoulder, and the tank led them down the path.

The trees towered above them on both sides, but the forest was eerily quiet all around them. No animal sounds. No breeze. Not even insects. The leaves on the nearby bushes hung completely still unless somebody from the party brushed up against them.

“We sure there is anything in here?” Wule asked quietly.

“Something ahead,” Nivian answered almost immediately, and the party crept up to the edge of another break in the woods, where they collectively stopped for their jaws to drop.

Directly in front of them stood a massive yet squat tree, easily several hundred feet wide and maybe half that tall. Thick branches twisted and wrapped around themselves, forming what could only be described as a thick-walled building, a single ramp leading from the ground up to the only visible entrance. Rope bridges ran along the outskirts and seemed to connect smaller satellite buildings to the main one.

Two notable structures stood out alongside the main building. The first looked to be some kind of platform, though what was on it was impossible to tell from the angle. It definitely wasn’t another building, so maybe a garden of some kind? The other had the unmistakable look of a smokehouse, with three chimneys puffing gray smoke into the air above, and even from a distance, the faint smell of barbeque could be detected.

Then, above it all, the tree’s thick canopy completely blotted out the sun with layer upon layer of foliage that draped the entire building in shadows, swallowing even the rising smoke.

“So that’s Splitfang Keep,” Yanily said.

“Shhh. Movement,” Seena said, and led the group off the path and into the bushes. “Up there, on the walkways.”

“Troblins,” Yanily said immediately.

“Why are there Troblins here?” Nivian asked back.

“Where do they usually live?” Hiral asked, and that got a strange look from the Growers.

“I… have no idea,” Seena said. “We’ve never found anything even resembling a Troblin camp. It’s always been encounters with them on or around the paths.”

“So, this…” Hiral said, subtly gesturing toward the massive keep, “…could be the kind of thing they live in?”

“I had no idea they were so… advanced. Always assumed they were basically feral little bastards,” Vix said.

Thinking about something else he’d been told about Troblins, Hiral’s eyes drifted up to the smokehouse. “Didn’t you say they sometimes tried to eat the people they Piled On?”

“Yeah, so what…?” Yanily started, but then all eyes went to the smokehouse. “Oh… yuck.”

“Yup, time to kill some Troblins,” Seena said flatly.

“Plan, boss?” Nivian asked, watching as a group of three Troblin sentries walked a circuit along the rope pathways.

“Only one way in, from the looks of things,” Seena said. “We can expect reinforcements as soon as we get noticed, so it’s going to be a slog. Thoughts on what our goal should be?”

“The platform and the smokehouse for sure,” Hiral said. “The objective is to clear the dungeon, right? Until we know exactly what that means, we should assume it means defeating all the Troblins present.”

“From the looks of the walkways, we can get to both of those places without going into the main building,” Wule said, pointing at the connecting bridges.

“I count three patrols, moving pretty consistently,” Vix said. “They’re spread out enough, I think, that we can take one down before the next notices us. Might even be able to move around and pick the others off after we down the first.”

“I don’t like the looks of all those bridges and overhangs,” Seena said. “We don’t have anybody like Picoli who could deal with things from a distance.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Hiral said. “If it comes to it.”

“Your runes?”

“Yeah. May not be able to kill the Troblins, but I think I could at least buy some time.”

“Good enough. Okay, then, here’s what we’re doing. As soon as that first patrol passes, we’re going to sweep up behind and take it out. Then move around and deal with the other two. From there, I think the smokehouse is the most accessible target. After that, we’ll decide if we want to move to the platform or drive into the keep itself. All depends how much attention we get before then.”

“The patrols are only groups of three,” Vix said. “We could probably take them all on at once if we needed to.”

“We don’t need to, so let’s take it a bit slow and make sure we don’t take any unnecessary risks,” Seena said, making sure she looked at Vix and Yanily both while she spoke.

“Does anybody else see that green band of energy around the patrollers’ arms?” Hiral asked. “I think that’s the same as the Shaman’s guard.”

“I don’t see anything,” Nivian said.

“I see it, and agree with Hiral,” Left said. “It looks almost identical.”

“Twenty-nineattunement,” Wule said. “We should trust their eyes for this. That means they’ll hit harder, right?”

“Assuming it’s the same, yes,” Hiral said.

“First patrol is just about to pass. We going?” Vix asked.

“We’re going,” Seena said, and gave Nivian another tap on his shoulder.

The tank immediately ducked out into the main clearing and made a beeline for the ramp up.

Odd that’s unguarded, now that I look at it.

As if his thoughts were a signal, four Troblins rushed out from somewhere under the ramp, heavy axes in their hands, and took up position in front of the incline.

“Hard and fast,” Seena ordered, skidding to a stop. She began to build solar energy while Nivian lowered his head, raised his shield, and charged right toward the group.

Nivian seemed to stretch and blur, closing the seventy-five feet between the party and the Troblins in the blink of an eye. Out snapped his whip, catching the shoulder of the closest Troblin, and the monster turned furious eyes in his direction, immediately breaking formation and stepping forward. But Nivian basically ignored it, bull-rushing right past and slamming his shield into the next Troblin. Seemingly surrounded as he shoved the monster to the ground under his thorny shield, a massive burst of solar energy pulsed out of him, and suddenly, Vix and Yanily were right there with him.

Caught off guard by not one, but three Growers right in their midst, another Troblin fell back to a barrage of spear strikes while Vix jump-kicked the other square in the face, staggering it.

“They’re tough,” Yanily said, his spear tearing off a chunk of bark-like skin, but doing little more than superficial damage. Like it wasn’t leaking green blood to run down its legs, the Troblin got its axe in position to deflect the next strike.

There was still also the matter of the provoked Troblin bearing down on Nivian’s back. The man was still on top of the other Troblin as he ground his shield into the monster’s face.

Not quite as fast as whatever Nivian did to pull Vix and Yanily over, Hiral and Right still sprinted with their 30 Dex—which had been earned after reaching level 10 from the lizard—and closed the distance just seconds later. Hiral slid to a stop while Right continued on, snapping out his left arm and activating his Rune of Attraction.

The Troblin, with its attention firmly on Nivian, jerked back so violently, it left its axe behind. It flew through the air until Right intercepted it with a glowing haymaker in the small of its back. CRACK. The Troblin crumpled the wrong way around Right’s fist, the back of its head actually slapping into its heels before the momentum of the punch tossed it aside. It didn’t get back up.

Vix, meanwhile, dodged away from a sweeping axe strike, then came back in with his own uppercut, clapping the Troblin’s jaw shut and staggering the creature back. Like some kind of prize fighter, the thing wiped glowing green blood from its mouth with the back of its hand, then stepped forward to take the fight back up.

Until four Spearing Roots drove their way through its chest and back.

Still, it didn’t fall—despite coughing up blood—and hacked into one of the roots with its axe.

Vix blurred around the side of it and then hammered blow after blow into the back of its unprotected head. A few seconds of that, and the axe finally fell from the Troblin’s dead fingers. That just left the one under Nivian, and the one engaged with Yanily.

With Left already on his way to back up the spear user, Hiral and Right headed for the tank just as the Troblin underneath him somehow managed to toss the bigger man aside.

With green bands glowing fiercely around its arms, and blood oozing from dozens of wounds on its upper half, the monster found its feet at the same time Nivian did.

“Stubborn bastard won’t die,” Nivian said, snapping his whip out to lash across the Troblin’s chest, like it needed to hate him more.

“Let’s motivate it, then,” Right said, bolting out to the far side while Hiral went straight until he was opposite Right.

“Do what you’ve got to,” Nivian said, another lash drawing green blood along the Troblin’s shoulder.

“Now!” Hiral said.

Right dashed in as Hiral threw out his right hand and activated his Rune of Rejection.

Focused just on the Troblin, there was no shockwave or torn ground, but the monster shot sideways, directly away from Hiral—and straight into Right’s punch. They’d misjudged the angle this time, though, and instead of bending the Troblin around the punch, it ricocheted off Right’s fist to hit the ground and bounce once, twice, three times.

And it began to push itself up…

Nivian’s foot slammed down on its back at the same time he looped his thorned whip around its throat. Then he pulled.

Hiral looked away—that Troblin was done for, whether it knew it or not yet—and turned his attention to the last monster standing. He needn’t have bothered.

Yanily’s spear drove into the Troblin’s side, blowing a hole right through where a person’s kidney would be, at the same time Left brought his Dagger of Sath around. The liquid blade, trailing a stream of water, slammed into the side of the Troblin’s neck, then exploded out the other side with enough force to send the head cartwheeling in the air before hitting the ground.

“Ooooooh,” Yanily said, his face scrunching up. He stepped in and patted Left on the shoulder. “Nice! I mean, I could’ve handled it on my own. But, nice!”

“Well done, everybody. Any injuries?” Seena asked.

“Just my pride,” Vix said. “These things either know how to take a hit, or I’m wearing my kiddie gloves.”

Nivian’s eyes seemed to glaze over for a second as he looked at something. “Check your notifications. These are Elites. Still only level fourteen, but that explains why they were so tough.”

“And this is a Mid-E-Rank dungeon,” Wule said.

“Good thing reinforcements didn’t arrive, but we’ll have to assume there are more in hiding. Either way, we should take a minute and then get…” Seena cut off as a blue notification window appeared in the air in front of them.

Dynamic Quest

The Ritual of Summoning has begun!

Time until completion: 10 minutes.

Stop the ritual or face the consequences.

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