----------------------------------------
“Hurry up!” Bellor shouted to Renlas.
The stockier, shorter, red-haired man clambered up the mountain. The two had neglected dungeons in favor of reaching the ones that appeared to have higher rarity. The air began to grow warm, but thankfully they had both come equipped with clothing for all manner of temperature extremes. Once they got to a relatively sheltered cave on the side of the mountain, they stripped their armor off, donned heat-resistant undergarments, and re-equipped themselves.
“A few hours climb, and we reach the edge of the tile,” Renlas muttered as he finished attaching his last piece of his greaves.
“Damn right,” Bellor replied. “And then we get those sweet, higher rarity Boons.”
The two had concluded that they would not be winning The Dungeon Run. Someone out there had to have more than their paltry 10 dungeon cores – probably whoever sprinted ahead of the pack and seemingly cleared a cave tile and most of the glacier tile over the past days.
“If we get lucky, they might come our way. We could kill them, take their cores, and win.”
Renlas grinned, “I mean, oblivion awaits all. Right?”
“Close. It’s just ‘oblivion awaits’,” Bellor corrected. “The Black Hole Conclave is expecting a lot from us. Tier 6 at minimum?”
Renlas grabbed his gear and hefted it onto his stout back. Rubbing his beard and running his other hand through the soft spikes atop his skull, he shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t know why. The whole point is to feed planets to Troxanir at the center of the universe. You would think they want us to become Ascendants as fast as possible, you know, since that process will take millions of years.”
“Not really,” Bellor replied as he cinched on his own gear, and the two took turns jumping and jostling their equipment to identify loose bits to tighten down for their climb. “It is much faster than you would think.”
“Why planets though?” Renlas asked. “Surely we can feed it bigger things?”
“Planets have nutrients that stars and other space objects do not,” Bellor said.
“Ah. Okay. Well, you’ve always been the smart one.”
“Damn right.” Bellor tapped Renlas on the top of the helmet, “Come on, let’s get going. The volcano dungeons await!”
----------------------------------------
The wind had kicked up and Jace wrapped his cloak, hood, and mask tightly around his head. Stupid wind, he thought as his progress had slowed considerably. Not because of the cold; it was because of his footing. The glacier had crevices that he could fall into if he wasn’t careful, and so he had to poke in front of him with his Swordmage blade to try and find any cracks he would need to navigate around.
Ollie paused and held up his paw in a clenched position. “This is it.” He had brought Jace to the foot of a small plateau that was completely flattened.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]
[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 2.]
[Number of foes to clear out: 1.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay the Matriarch of the Wastes.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Secret Cache) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace held his blade at the ready, re-manifesting his Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending] and Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3). Stepping forward, the whole plateau shimmered as if a mirage, and at the center a creature appeared.
It was regal, in a way. An enormous head not unlike a bear with a slightly shorter snout was covered with icy spikes that formed a sort of collar around the neck and jutted from the face. Icy spikes extended along the back of the body, and oddly enough it only had two forelegs, dragging its massive, hulking form along the ice. Instead of back legs, the midsection tapered to that of a worm, with icy segments that allowed it to move forward with speed that Jace was not prepared for.
It closed the distance within a split second, and Jace barely got his shield up in place as it slammed a wicked, sharp claw into the barricade. The impact jarred Jace and he went flying off to the side, tumbling down the plateau and out of the Complex area.
The matriarch looked down at him from above, holding her position, and let out a growl that seemed to shake the whole glacier. Jace growled in response and got to his feet. “Yeah, stay up there! Dark Matter Dart (Rank 4) [Exploding]!” Jace felt the tiredness hit him, but pushed the feeling aside.
The nine shadowy-purple darts shot forth from the tip of his blade. They streaked up and slammed into the matriarch’s face, exploding once they had piercing a few inches.
“That only pissed her off!” Ollie shouted. “Incoming!”
Jace pointed his grapnel arm to the side, launched, attached, and retracted to pick up more speed as the matriarch charged down the glacier towards him. “I thought they couldn’t leave the Complex?!”
“It’s like their territory,” Ollie replied as he stuck close to Jace. “They can venture short distances – but rarely do. If you hadn’t shot her, she would’ve waited.”
Inconvenient, Jace thought as the matriarch turned course to follow him with her headlong charge. Jace planted his feet as she barreled towards him. Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1). He put the mine on the ground right in front of him, and the slight, black dot that only he could see pulsed with energy.
As the matriarch got closer, Jace retracted his claws and let himself slide backward down the glacier. As soon as the creature had passed over the mine, he triggered it. Detonate.
She stopped moving and hovered in the air. Clawing fruitlessly at the air towards Jace, she thrashed her tail, impacted the ground, and began ascending skyward. Jace pointed his grapple up at her, shot it out, and it latched onto her underside. Retracting the cable, he shot up towards her.
She saw him coming and tried to bite down at him – but her ability to move how she desired was hampered by the unfamiliar lack of gravity. 28 seconds, Jace thought. He slashed away at her midsection and heard her roars of agony. Planting his foot-claws into the hide, he used the grapnel to swing on top of her body as it continued to ascend.
Atop her, he kept slashing – well-spaced grooves that did not cut deep but began to spread the purple and crimson miasma. Over and over and over. He was heaving with his exertion and taking shaking breaths. It was less like fighting and more like swinging a sledgehammer.
Gravity reasserted itself and the two began to plummet. Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1), Jace thought once more, placing the mine on himself.
The matriarch turned over in midair and tried to claw at him. Jace simply jumped off her, and as she crashed into the glacier with a resounding thud, he activated the mine. Detonate. Floating in the air only twenty feet above the icy surface, he grappled himself down and retracted the line as he deactivated the Skill.
The matriarch was injured and had most definitely broken some vital, internal parts as she writhed on the ground. The miasma spread, and Jace waited patiently for her to expire. He was winded and did not want to tangle with her anymore. He was not waiting long as she finally stopped moving; the crimson and purple having spread all over her form. Walking down to the prone corpse, he gestured for Ollie to do his thing.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 800]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest Completed: Slay the Matriarch of the Wastes.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Secret Cache) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“I want to use some Boons,” Jace stated as he grabbed the dungeon core from the golden pedestal that appeared atop the plateau. And that’s 27 dungeon cores. He sheathed his sword and dismissed his Skills.
“Which ones?”
“The Epic (Equipment) for a new sword, and the second one of those for another All-Seeing Dragon’s Eye.” Because constantly closing my left eye or getting dizzy from the quality difference is annoying.
“Right. And any more?”
“After the new gear.”
“All right! Your left eye is going to burn something fierce.”
Jace sat down and nodded, “Ready.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Rare (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
[Using Boon: Rare (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace felt the searing heat in his left eye and shut both instinctively. He plunged his head forward into the snow and stifled a scream by biting down on his cloak. After a few seconds, the pain subsided, and he blinked his eyes open, looking out from the top of the glacier.
The lack of nausea from the differing types of sight was a welcome relief, and he felt quite pleased. But something was different. He could see farther, and with more clarity. Ollie began talking, “The magic-based eye prosthetics work better when they come in a pair, apparently. Congratulations! You are the first Aspirant or Ascendant to ever lose this many body parts and replace them!”
Jace rummaged around in his pack and pulled out the medical kit. There was a small mirror inside, and he pulled it out and held it up. His eyes were draconic: a deep, purple glow with a black slit that pulsed with a slight, light-blue starlight along the edges of the slit. It made him look intimidating. “I wonder what Shivv will think, now,” he muttered. “She has similar eyes.”
“Look at the sword!”
Jace glanced down at the sheathed hilt. It was no longer pure black. Instead, it was a deep, purple wrap with a silver cord running down the center. The pommel was a lighter, astral-blue gemstone that matched the hue of the cross guard. Drawing the sword, the blade slowly emerged from the weird not-reality he normally sheathed it into. The blade itself was still a black color, but there was intricate linework along the weapon; light, blue lines the color of Stardust mixed with gold traces of starbursts.
“A Starstorm Sword. The neat thing about this, is that it will negate the energy cost of weapon imbuing Skills – like your Dark Matter Blade.”
Jace grinned, “That’s what I’m talking about!” He took a few practice swings. The weapon was a little longer than his old one, but it felt perfect in his grip. “Now, let’s use those Epic (Equipment Augmentations). I want to upgrade my legs and this new sword.”
“Coming up!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Epic (Equipment Augmentation).]
[Target Equipment: Dragonclaw Devastation Legs.]
[Augmenting.]
[Result: (Overclocked) Dragonclaw Devastation Legs.]
[Description: The Overclocked (Equipment Augmentation) increases the user’s movement speed.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Epic (Equipment Augmentation).]
[Target Equipment: Starstorm Sword.]
[Augmenting.]
[Result: (Returning) Starstorm Sword.]
[Description: The Returning (Equipment Augmentation) enables the weapon to teleport to the user’s hand or dimensional sheath as long as both are within the confines of The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
So that’s what it’s called. A dimensional sheath. To test, he chucked the sword off the side of the plateau. It sailed a few dozen feet before clattering and beginning a downward slide. He could see a faint trail of starlight extending from his fingertip to the blade and tried tugging it back.
The weapon reappeared in his grip. “That’s awesome!”
Ollie swam around in the air, “Yup! Now you have a good non-energy intensive, ranged option.”
Jace sheathed the blade and only the hilt remained next to his hip. “Right. Another dungeon?”
“One more complex up here on the glacier! Then off to the volcano tile!”
----------------------------------------
Quinn and Greg were in the truck once more, traveling across the plains of Velenar Prime. The Vyrknadine were turning out to be a hot commodity – rich people from across The Cosmic Corridor saw the equivalent of a social media post featuring the pair that the duo had acquired for their last client.
And that kicked off a frenzy of people who wanted Vyrknadine puppies.
Quinn had procured a sweet deal. They would get residual income from the sale of the offspring – but they needed more breeding pairs. So, they were out once more, this time with a second attachment to the back of the truck to enable more cargo. Plus, cages this time.
Greg began loading up an armor-piercing anesthetic rifle, “How you holding up?” he asked.
“Holding up with what?” Quinn replied as she kept her foot on the accelerator.
He put a finger to his temple and made a corkscrew motion, “The whole cybernetics in your brain.”
She sighed, “I went by the hospital in Khrox. Someone looked…I have to get the Cybermind Mk. 4 removed, upgraded, or get my hands on the CIF stuff that Jace was transporting…and that was the only dose that was smuggled out of Enduralife Enterprises.”
Greg clicked his tongue and shook his head, “Damn. And no way you’re getting in there. The one that Jace was carrying was the only one smuggled out. It was going to a contact at Myscape Industrial.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Quinn replied. “I just have to get a replacement, and then the hospital can swap it out.”
“They are damned expensive,” Greg replied. “And I doubt that the megacorps will trade creds for Stardust at a favorable rate. I mean, when I went back, I figured out tha-”
“Megacorps and governments controlling the portals are keeping everyone on Earth subsistent on their credit universal currency, while Stardust is being exclusively traded by certain Ascendants and their factions to the higher-ups.”
Greg chuckled, “And that’s why you’re an information broker- Oh! I see one! Pull over.”
Quinn did so, and Greg clambered out of the window and on top of the truck. She zoomed in with her Cybereyes Mk. 3 and spotted the creature in the distance. How did he see it from so far? She thought.
She gripped the side of her head and let out an unintentional yelp of pain. Greg flinched and missed his shot, the crack of the gun going off as the Vyrknadine turned to the sound and began to charge the truck. She heard the clack of the bolt on the rifle, and another crack. Then, silence.
“Got it! Right in the mouth!” Greg shouted. He hopped off the truck and looked in through the window, his face swapping from elation to concern, “You good?”
Quinn nodded, “I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
Greg said nothing, nodded tersely, and went to go drag the male predator to the cage on the truck bed.