----------------------------------------
Jace did so, and his heart sank. The way he entered was sealed up by the explosion. Damnit. Stupid, Jace. Stupid! He chided himself and kicked at the ground before letting out a huff. “Where’s that damned dungeon core?” he muttered.
Ollie flew ahead of him, “Oh! Back here! Behind this pillar.”
“You mean rocks?”
“Nope! It is a pillar!”
Jace circled the rocks and saw the golden pedestal. Snatching the orb from the top, he took a closer look at the pillar Ollie was flying around. What is it? He thought as he stashed the dungeon core in his backpack. The rock was…smooth. There were very, very faint symbols etched into the stonework. “Can you read it?” he asked.
Ollie shook his head, “It’s too faded for Universal Translation to pick up.”
“Let’s use that Information Boon we just got, then.”
“Roger! Translating the pillar!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Uncommon (Information).]
[Query: Information about this pillar.]
[Answer: One of the World Pillars that served as the foundation of magic on Nihilethelea. World Pillars were created by the first of the Nethal and infused with their magic and power to control the elements and core concepts of their world’s reality. The pillar was ‘charged’ and that charge slowly dispersed over the eons, fueling magic on the world. Since the Archmage Ascendant acquired Cosmic Power, the World Pillars have become inert.
[The latent power can be claimed by an Aspirant through their Wayfinder.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Pff. Wayfinders cannot interact with the world outside of The Cosmic System proper.”
Jace gestured to the thing and put his right hand on it, “Might as well try. It could help me get out of here since I collapsed the tunnel behind us.”
Ollie put his paw alongside Jace’s non-Anathema hand. The pillar glowed with a deep, brown hue that surged into Jace’s hand. “Weird,” Ollie muttered. “It gave the equivalent of a Skill, like Legendary Equipment. Once per day. Here’s the information.”
<<<<<>>>>>
Archmage Geomancy - Enables a Geomancy spell of the highest order.
<<<<<>>>>>
I can use magic? Jace felt a weird rush of joy fill him up. What the heck can this even do? How do I use it?
Ollie chuckled, “I could touch this World Pillar…possibly because it is so similar to The Cosmic System in its function on this world. Sort of like a sub-program.” He looked to Jace and smiled, “You just obtained the highest order of Geomancy. You could easily clear out the tunnel entrance.”
“How?” Jace asked as he looked at his Wirecannon Arm’s hand.
“Just say what you want to do. Then, say ‘geomancy - activate’.”
Jace got to the collapsed tunnel and raised his right-arm, “I want to clear this tunnel and make the whole cave system easy to navigate. Geomancy - activate.” There was a surge of brown light from his palm that pulsed into the space around him; up through the walls of the cave and the heights of the cavernous space.
The rocks in front of him receded and formed a neat, smooth tunnel. Walking down the corridor and into the main cave, he saw that the entirety of the cave as far as he could see was smooth, and had been straightened out along all the walls. There were no nooks or crannies. Just easy to traverse, smooth, stone terrain.
“Incredible,” Ollie muttered as he stroked his little chin. “There are World Pillars for each elemental type. It might be worth sticking around if Double-A will let us after this dungeon run wraps up.”
Jace cracked a grin and laughed, “I did magic!”
“You have been doing magic.”
Jace looked at him, confused, “Huh?”
“Your class is Sword Mage. Every Skill you have – except for ones from items, Cosmic Infusion, and the two basic ones everyone gets – they are literally magic. It is just manifested through The Cosmic System.”
Jace looked down at his Cosmic Power symbol, still visible despite the flowing aura around his sword. “Really? I thought it was just space-themed power. More technology, less magic.”
“Yes and no. Do not think about it too hard. The complexities would go way over your head.” Ollie replied with a slight sound of irritation Jace had not heard in a while. “Now come on – you have more Complexes to clear. Looks like this cave tile is going to mostly have spider encounters if the last two are anything to go by.”
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Flosho gripped his small, metal wand in his left hand. The Nebula symbol on his hand flashed with yellow and blue lightning. His Wayfinder hovered just above his shoulder – a round, frog-like creature with bulging eyes and leathery skin that fell off it in folds that would have dragged along the ground.
“This is too easy,” Flosho said with a hiss and a grin. “Not setting up guards when making camp? They’re dumb.”
“Ribbit.”
“I know!” Flosho crouched in the low grasses of the wetlands and slowly approached the Aspirants who had made camp. Like taking money from an untended stall, he thought as he got along the tent. Drawing on every bit of his talents as a thief and cutpurse, he used the tip of his claw to gingerly cut through the tent.
There was no light coming from the inside, and the deep sounds of sleep met his keen ears. He could see the slight outline of the people inside and fished around inside their pouches until he found his prize. 2 dungeon cores? They have been making good progress.
He slinked away from the campsite and headed towards the nearby plains tile which had no conquered dungeons yet. Flosho had grown up on his home world of Menaly. A child of the streets whose mother abandoned him, he had turned to a life of theft to survive. And he was good at stealing. Excelled at it, even. He was good enough to build up a network of pickpockets and cutpurses to make an enormous profit.
He worked his way to the top of the criminal underworld. He made Menaly’s largest thieves’ guild. A world-spanning empire of theft, extortion, and other profitable crimes.
But he was betrayed. His top man turned him in for a massive reward, and he had languished in prison.
Then, the Cosmogenic Merging happened. He was able to pass his Aspirant Trial and now as a Nebula Mage, he could plunder every world across The Cosmic Corridor. As part of the Nebula Alliance, it was encouraged, even.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the campsite, he looked at the tiles once more and saw one of the cave-terrain areas was…fully cleared. How? It’s so far ahead of the rest of the crowd? Most of the dungeons between the peninsula and the center-span of the map had been cleared, and Aspirants were spreading to the edges of the map in their various routes. But someone had traveled fast. As fast as he could with his Lightning Leap (Rank 2) Skill.
They must have a ton of dungeon cores…and be really strong. Flosho was no idiot; he knew that he might be at the top end of Tier 2 and possibly be one of the strongest on this world at this moment. But…whoever had run ahead of the pack must be incredibly strong or have a bunch of rare equipment helping them out.
But they are probably alone. A group couldn’t travel that fast. There were a few large groups of Aspirants, and he knew to steer clear of those. But the ones who went off solo, pairs, or trios? He could handle them. And this person in that cave tile was most definitely alone, he was sure of it.
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Jace lay down, exhausted. “That’s…how many?”
“That is the last in this cave tile,” Ollie replied as he cracked a smile and swam rapidly around the prone Aspirant. “Ten dungeon cores acquired. The current total Stardust is 9950, and you have lots of boons. 6 Common (Equipment), 2 Common (Information), and 1 Uncommon (Information).”
Jace nodded and grinned. The past few hours had been exhausting. He had fought dozens upon dozens of these spider-like creatures – including a few of the Apex ones – but he had it down to a formula. Enter the room, draw the attention, and kill them. If it was the big one? He blocked the surprise attack, countered, and slew them by exploiting their soft underside.
The day of fighting had drained him utterly, and he just wanted to sleep. “Are we in the lead?” he asked as his breathing calmed.
“I don’t know. We can just look at the total number of Complexes cleared to determine how many dungeon cores have been claimed.” The map opened above Jace’s head, and Ollie lay on his back next to Jace, pointing up at it. “407 Complexes remain. So, ninety-three have been claimed thus far.”
“And they are all in those first few tiles,” Jace replied. “Expanding along the top and a little into the center. We have to get out of this cave tomorrow and head up the tundra, towards the glacier. Get more towards the edge and just…blitz them like we did today.” He frowned. Hopefully, they stay consistent given the terrain tile like this cave was. He had fought…so many spiders.
“You have a ton of Stardust saved up.”
Jace nodded, “Let’s go ahead and use it. 1,000 Stardust per level?”
“Yup!” Ollie lay on his side propped up on his little elbow, posing like a pinup model. The sight made Jace chuckle slightly at the absurdity of it. Maybe his tiredness was also influencing his sense of humor.
“I want to spend all of it.”
“Nine levels, you got it. What do you want Skill-wise?”
“1 Rank in Cosmic Infusion will max that out, right?”
“Yup!”
8 more levels. 8 more Skill Ranks. “What I could use is…a finisher. Something big. Like a beam of Dark Matter.”
“Ready for the warmth?”
Jace nodded, “Hit me.”
Ollie flew above him and pulled out an enormous amount of Stardust. The glimmering, whitish-blue sparkles surged and cascaded above Jace, forming a mesmerizing display before surging into his torso. He felt the warmth and then a slight cooling as the ambient temperature of the cave environment reinstated itself.
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 2)
Power [Class Level.]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 37.]
Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions.]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3) [Reflecting.], Swordmage Stance (Rank 3), Dark Matter Dart [Exploding.] (Rank 4), Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Dark Energy Beam (Rank 8), Starfire Stride (1/day), Arbiter's Anathema (1/day), Archmage Geomancy (1/day)
Stardust: 950
Equipment: Swordmage blade, (Medium) Devastation Armor, Wirecannon Arm, Anathema Arm, Dragonclaw Devastation Legs, (Heavy) Venture Pack, survival meals (x42), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit, flint bar, flashlight, Omnitech prosthetic repair module (x3 charges)
Boons: x6 Common (Equipment), x2 Common (Information), x1 Uncommon (Information)
<<<<<>>>>>
Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10) - Increases the user's physical, sensory, and cognitive traits by a massive amount.
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 1) - The user fires a beam of Dark Energy that forces the atoms in the object struck to split apart (1 in. diameter).
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 2) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (4 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 3) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (8 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 4) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (12 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 5) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (16 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 6) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (20 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 7) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (24 in. diameter)
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 8) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (28 in. diameter)
<<<<<>>>>>
He felt his vision sharpen slightly, and his hearing picked up a drip he hadn’t noticed before. Everything seemed more vibrant as he maxed out the Cosmic Infusion Skill.
“Oh my,” Ollie said as he hovered in place, a look of panic on his face. “That beam forces atoms to split apart.”
“That…doesn’t sound good,” Jace muttered.
“I mean, it is, and it is not. It is not like splitting an atom that would cause a nuclear explosion. Dark Energy exerts negative pressure, that ‘anti-gravity’ force. To avoid the science terms that would go over your head – you would be disassembling matter using Dark Energy.”
“Like disintegrating something,” Jace commented as he sat up and began fishing inside his backpack for his canteen and survival meals.
“That is a basic way of putting it, but yes.” Ollie smiled and flew around, “It is a powerful tool but very energy intensive. I would use it only as a last resort.”
“Give me a size comparison of 28 inches.”
“About as big as one of the tires in your cars on Earth.”
Jace held up his hand, glowing with the slowly changing, purple shapes of the Dark Matter symbol. “I could really mess someone up with that.”
“Yes, you could. The (Rank 1) version is not as energy intensive, but I still would not shoot off beams of it all over the place.”
“Right. So, something to test out.” He looked around the rough cave and grimaced, “We should use some of the Boons. I want to use a Common (Equipment) Boon for a sleeping bag. And a second one for a collapsible tent that blends in with the environment. You know, easy to pack and move.”
Ollie nodded and clapped his paws together.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Common (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
[Using Boon: Common (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Next to Jace, there was a flash of bluish light a little darker than Ollie’s coloration, and a tightly rolled-up bedroll was set next to a corded-up tent. They both had a rustic look to them. “Remember,” Ollie said as he flew around Jace, “That the Equipment rewards take after the world they are from. So, you have a camping tent made of Wildercloth, and a bedroll made of Devilsram Wool.”
Jace set to work putting the tent up. It was easy to do, taking little time at all. It recalled a memory of when he was on his own – before he rescued Chroma – and he had put together a ramshackle tent at one of the bridge underpasses that he had been able to squeeze through fences to get into. The place was one of the safest holes he could find, since the fences kept the bigger street folk that would prey on the young ones alone.
He had scrounged, scrimped, scraped, and stolen. Old jackets, discarded sheets, tarps, and other cloth material – all to create a good hiding spot where he and other street kids were able to get away from those who would take from them. It brought a smile to his face, remembering how he had filled in an advisor role to the younger street kids. Passing on his knowledge to others. It had prepared him well for taking care of his sister.
As he finished setting up the tent, a small message showed up in the corner of his vision. The text was customized unlike the standard lettering he had been used to. This one was more…flowy? And even though his Universal Translation Skill let him read it, the lettering appeared…wavey.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Hi Jace! It’s Shhiv. I hope you’re doing well. I’m able to keep tabs on the System side of things a bit, so I know you’re getting more levels quickly! Exciting stuff. Anyway, just wanted to say that I enjoyed our night and cannot wait for a repeat performance. Message me back if you want to, I’m on the night shift this week.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace put the bedroll and his backpack inside the tent. Let’s see how well it blends in. Standing up and walking around the outside, he was pleased to see that it blended well into the surrounding rock face. Someone would have to get close to spot the fact that it was fabric. Crawling inside, he tied some cords through small rings to seal it up and laid back. “How do I respond to messages, Ollie?”
“I can do it for you, or you can just focus on the message itself, and then think of a response. When it looks good, say ‘send’ out loud.”
Jace focused on the message icon in the corner of his vision, and the screen took up his whole vision. Hi Shhiv. I’m doing well. Actually, just about to head to sleep right now, so I guess we are playing message tag a bit. I am looking forward to spending more time with you. He paused as the message populated in the response box. I really enjoyed my night with you. I hope it’s the first of many.
“Send.”
The System message vanished from Jace’s vision. He waited with bated breath for several minutes. Ah, well, she must be busy. He rolled over and shut his eyes. “Night, Ollie.”
“Goodnight, Jace.” He vanished with his signature pop.