----------------------------------------
There’s 9 more Complexes on this volcano tile, and I’m at 39. That would put me at 48 if I cleared them all, Jace thought. Way more than the prior record of 22. “Why so few?” Jace asked Ollie as he crept through another lava-tube; the stream of liquid passing by him just like the last one he had entered. He had deactivated the Dark Matter Cloak, and had his Dark Matter Shield active at (Rank 2).
“So few what?” Ollie was back to popping into and out of the lava stream playfully.
“Dungeon cores for the last record-holder. I’m almost at double what they got.”
“That would be because they were not as bloodthirsty the last time around,” Ollie replied. “Or, rather, after getting a good amount of dungeon cores, they retreated to the starting peninsula and the ‘safe zone’ of Double-A’s city. You could call them cowardly.”
“But that doesn’t explain why the ones who fought and got cores from each other didn’t keep doing that to get more.”
“Ah. Well, the last time, it was limited to Tier 2 Aspirants and Ascendants. Ascendants really do not like getting on each other’s bad side, because they do not want to risk their immortal lives. That explains the lack of interpersonal combat. And, also why you rarely see Ascendants in the field – they send their Signers to deal with issues.”
Jace nodded, “So my killing one for the Black Hole Conclave-”
“-Will have sent a message,” Ollie stated as he came to a stop in the lava and bobbed in place, his head just above the flow. “You can bet that they are trying to figure out who you are.”
“And let me guess, Double-A wanted us to kill each other for his entertainment.”
“A probable guess,” Ollie replied. “He could be monitoring the world constantly – it is his world after all.”
Makes me hate him even more, Jace thought. It’s just like the corpos on Earth. Pitting us against each other for their amusement.
He had never gone to the skin-pits himself, but he had heard stories. Street folk who were desperate enough for food, creds, or medical care would put themselves into a series of gladiatorial matches for the amusement of the elite. Bloodsport. Some of the competitors were put into service for the corpos, and in exchange for food and shelter, they were turned into living nightmares of machinery and flesh.
He had never been so desperate but had heard of others who had gone in to provide for their families on the streets and vanished into the skin-pits forever. And this Archmage Ascendant is doing the same exact thing. Just pitting us against each other for his sick entertainment.
Jace didn’t feel wrong for the lives he had taken whilst on this world. The cat-man had taken his eye and could have killed him – in fact, he got damned close to death. And the two Black Hole Signers…well, they worshipped oblivion. If anything, Jace had just sent them onto their desired destination.
If they were bad for The Cosmic System, that was enough for Jace to justify the lethal force.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]
[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 3.]
[Number of foes to clear out: 6.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Defeat the obsidian sentries.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Secret Cache) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
That’ll put me at 3 of that rarity. I can upgrade them to one Legendary, and then use it. But…traps might be wherever it leads me to. That put Jace on edge, as he knew from what Ollie had said way back on Velenar Prime regarding the Hidden Location and Secret Cache varieties. He gulped, and Ollie flew over in front of him.
“They are just rock sentries. You got this!”
“Yeah…” Jace replied as he trailed off and focused on the task at hand. The room expanded and like the cistern he had previously been inside, this one had a lava pit in the center. But it was much, much smaller, maybe a foot across. Most of the room was the simple, circular chamber which appeared to be a dead end.
Or it would, if not for his All-Seeing Dragon’s Eyes. He saw the slight, silvery and golden glow around the ‘end’ of the chamber. Ah. Sentries. They’re guarding this place. He scanned the edge of the room but did not see any sign of these obsidian constructs.
“Look out!” Ollie shouted as forms dropped from above.
Jace raised his shield as one of the objects slammed down onto him, and he fell flat on his ass. The creature that had landed on him rolled to the side and stood up in a clunky, robotic fashion. It was a statue of obsidian – now with some chips and flecks on the surface – in the style of an armored fighter. A pair of greaves, a cuirass and armored skirt, a short sword, and a shield were all topped by a helmet that had a plume of rubies. The face was completely flat and blank save for a single, green emerald that acted as an eye.
“They are slow, but strong!” Ollie stated as he swam around the space. The creatures began to circle up around Jace.
“No shit,” Jace replied as he backpedaled and got out of the encirclement with ease. But movement here is limited. The roof isn’t nearly as tall as that demon-thing’s chamber, so I can’t just grapple around the room. Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant]. He felt tired and almost slipped with his footing – barely dodging a violent blow that carved the floor next to him and would surely have cut right through his armor.
The black dot appeared in the center of the room, just floating above the tiny lava pool. Now, to just get them all closer. Jace circled and kited the constructs – who moved surprisingly fast despite the mechanical nature of their form – into the radius of the mine. Detonate.
There was a pulse of invisible energy, and gravity was removed from the sentries as they floated upward. 30 seconds, Jace thought. They began flailing, and Jace kept his foot-claws embedded in the ground as he ran across the chamber, slashing each of them to start the bleed. The first pass took six seconds, and he performed four more dashes across the room, slashing each of the foes once – all their limbs.
As the Dark Energy Mine ended, the sentries crashed to the ground. The purple miasma had spread, and they moved ponderously. The crimson [Rending] had spread as well, and Jace just paced the outside edge of the room as the foes tried to walk towards him. Almost as one, they collapsed to the floor of the chamber. “Dust them.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 1500]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Defeat the obsidian sentries.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Secret Cache) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Now at 3650 Stardust,” Ollie stated.
“I want to level up. More Ranks into that Energy Cost Reduction, and lets convert those 3 Epic rarity Boons into a Legendary.”
“Roger! Coming up!”
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 2)
Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 48]
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) [Astral Annihilator], Dark Matter Dart [Exploding] (Rank 4), Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant], Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Dark Energy Beam (Rank 12), Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 5), Starfire Stride (1/day), Arbiter's Anathema (1/day), Shadow Nebula Smokescreen (1/day), Archmage Geomancy (1/day), Archmage Hydromancy (1/day), Archmage Pyromancy (1/day)
Stardust: 650
Equipment: (Returning) Starstorm Sword, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard) Devastation Armor, Ghostlight Grapnel Arm, Anathema Arm, (Overclocked) Dragonclaw Devastation Legs, (Terrifying) All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes, (Heavy) Venture Pack, survival meals (x29), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit, flint bar, flashlight, Omnitech prosthetic repair module (x1 charges), (Restful) Wildercloth tent, Devilsram wool bedroll
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Boons: Common (Equipment), Uncommon (Equipment), Legendary (Secret Cache)
<<<<<>>>>>
Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 3) - Any Skill the user uses has its energy cost reduced by 15%
Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 4) - Any Skill the user uses has its energy cost reduced by 20%
Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 5) - Any Skill the user uses has its energy cost reduced by 25%
<<<<<>>>>>
25% reduction is pretty awesome. I should be able to use Dark Energy Beam without exhausting myself fully. He went over and grabbed the orb that appeared on the pedestal. And that’s 40. Jace smiled as he looked over to the shimmering, magical wall. “Question, Ollie.”
“Go for it,” the Wayfinder replied as he swam around Jace’s shoulders, splashing in phantom nebula that glimmered silvery blue.
“I know there’s some type of…magically hidden thing on that wall.”
“Go touch it with the Anathema Arm. Remember, just touching magic and magitech can result in ‘shutting off’ those effects. But you have to want it.”
Jace walked up and put his hand on the shimmering wall, “So I just say I want this magic to end-” He almost fell forward as the wall suddenly vanished. Regaining his balance, his vision shifted to the purple hue as he stared down a dark tunnel. “Well, that’s one question answered.”
“I wonder where this goes?” Ollie asked as he floated ahead of Jace.
“Before that,” Jace replied. “This is a hidden location…but I didn’t use a Boon to find it.”
Ollie nodded, “When you stumble across some hidden place, it no longer becomes a ‘target’ for the Hidden Location Boon. Whatever you find inside is…what you find. The higher rarity of that specific Boon means that you are going to be directed to a Hidden Location that has rarer items within. If you used a (Common) Hidden Location Boon, for instance, you would find some not-well-hidden place that probably has some basic supplies.”
He frowned slightly, and swam more slowly through the lava. “We got lucky on Velenar Prime.”
“What if I used that Secret Cache Boon? Would it…create a hidden vault?”
“No,” Ollie replied. He turned in place and returned to Jace, splashing and creating cascading starlight around himself. “It is like Hidden Location. If you already knew about, say, a secret vault – the value of what was inside would not change. The Boon just reveals the location of a Secret Cache with commensurate value to the rarity of the Boon used. ”
“Let’s use that Secret Cache Boon,” Jace replied glancing down the hallway. “Hopefully, there is some hidden vault inside this place.”
“Roger!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Legendary (Secret Cache).]
[Uploading information to Wayfinder.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Ollie’s eyes flashed bright silver for a moment, and he pointed down the hallway. “Oooh! It is definitely in this place! But…remember, traps can be in Secret Caches and Hidden Locations.”
That caused a pit to form in Jace’s stomach, and he gulped audibly as the vivid memory of the turret shooting into him and his near-death experiences on Velenar Prime came rushing back.
Instinctively, he backed out of the entrance of the tunnel and crouched next to it. He could feel his heart racing, and his breath came in short gasps as he replayed the experience over and over again. He swore he could feel the same dripping, warm, sticky feeling of blood on his torso, and looking down he felt a sense of relief as it was just his imagination.
“Hey…what is wrong?” Ollie asked as he stilled and flew in front of Jace, ‘landing’ on the ground and ‘placing’ a paw on Jace’s knee. “Everything okay?”
Jace tried to respond, but his mouth went dry, and he could not respond despite trying to speak. It seemed like the world was closing in around him.
----------------------------------------
The center of the universe was not a hospitable place. Nothing should be able to survive within the singularity that comprised the middle of everything.
And yet, Troxanir did. They stood on the precipice of eternity, staring into the center of the dot that represented the joining of all existence.
A screen appeared and flicked across their vision.
<<<<<>>>>>
[My lord. We have unfortunate news.]
[The same Aspirant that stopped our efforts on Velenar Prime, who slew Brom Farkonen, has slain two of our most promising Signers.]
[We are seeking your blessing to send a higher Tier Ascendant after this individual whom we only know as ‘Flicker’. Their Cosmic Power is an unknown manifestation.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Not one of the existing types?” Troxanir asked aloud, the System message box filling as they spoke. “Are you sure?”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Yes, almighty one.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Interesting… “And have you ruled out Dark Matter?”
<<<<<>>>>>
[What now?”]
<<<<<>>>>>
Troxanir sighed and rubbed their face with four of their countless tentacled appendages that popped out from its robed, humanoid figure – a physical manifestation or avatar they had taken on to more easily interface with the System. “It looks like a purple light, with squares and other shapes in a dance.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Ah. I’ll check the logs…]
[Yeah, that looks right.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“X is behind it,” Troxanir growled as rage filled their every syllable. As it growled out, the event horizon’s edges began to shake and tremble. The whole fabric of reality shook as the space-time altering event quivered at the emotion filling his voice. “I will not allow this to continue. Do whatever you must to identify this Dark Matter user, this ‘Flicker’.”
The rage faded and was replaced with monotone, cool, calculating malice. “Once we identify the person, we can find their weakness. Mortals who are not dedicated to oblivion always build connections – we will exploit that. They will either bend the knee and help us with our goals…or we will crush them with the might of my consumption.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Forgive me for asking, my lord.]
[Why would you want them on our side?]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Quite simple, underling.” Troxanir touched the edge of the event horizon and stabilized it from their earlier outburst. The stellar object returned to its smooth, calm circle. “In order of most ‘quality’ matter to feed into Oblivion, we go with worlds, then stars, and then anything else we can get our hands on. Dark Matter…well, that comprises most of the universe. It is the lowest in terms of quality…but there is so much of it that it more than makes up for the lacking quality.”
Troxanir licked their lips with a black, fleshy, barbed tongue that ripped and flayed the skin before that sealed over. They grinned, “But due to the nature of Dark Energy that accompanies the mass…it cannot be consumed. Except, when a Dark Matter Cosmic Power user controls it. They can force it to do things that it normally would not. If we can bring this ‘Flicker’ to our side, then they will be able to accelerate our plans by an almost incomprehensible amount.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[What if they are already Signed?]
<<<<<>>>>>
Troxanir laughed. A maniacal, hysterical laugh. “Oblivion comes for all. We will kill them – whoever they are. Eventually, our plans will come to fruition.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[…Forgive me the impudence, my lord. But one more question.]
[Couldn’t a Dark Matter user…if they were strong enough…put a ‘seal’ of Dark Energy around Oblivion’s Maw? Keep anything else from entering while still letting it persist?]
<<<<<>>>>>
Troxanir felt an emotion they had not felt since first being constrained and given will by The Cosmic System wrangling it into a manipulatable form. Not since they had encountered The Architects and the nebulous figure only known as X. Not since Star Father of the Star Council had almost acquired the upper hand in their last battle millennia ago.
Troxanir felt uncertainty. Perhaps…that is a possibility I had not considered. They chided themselves as the tentacles thwipped around their form. If I were X…I’d be training this Aspirant up to do just that. Tighten the cage around me. Troxanir growled and took deep, calming breaths to stabilize his being at the center of it all.
“If we find this Aspirant…do not kill them. Show them the paradise that lies beyond. We will convince them…and if not; then we kill them.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[As you command.]