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Yholl Tristrus, the Archmage Ascendant, colloquially known as Double-A, was pacing his throne room as he watched the various screens that showed visuals from all his sensors across Nihilethelea. He let out a chortle as he sat behind a desk.
As he traced a pattern on a sheet of parchment, preparing the Legendary rarity Boon that he would bestow to the winner, he kept watching the screens with glee. Soon enough The Dungeon Run would conclude. Perhaps within the next six hours or so. Ah, I need to set up the banquet hall, tables, and enchant the dinnerware!
He stood up and went to the enormous feasting hall within his citadel. The whole room was dusty from ten years of neglect, and Yholl utilized a Skill based upon a spell from his youth. The entire room was washed in an instant, becoming sparkly and shiny from the level of cleanliness. The ancient, metal tables and benches looked pristine, the enormous kegs along the walls were spotless, and the chandeliers in the ceilings no longer had cobwebs between their chain links.
And for the food…what did I do last time? Ah! Yes. He walked over to the far wall and cranked a small lever in a clockwise direction. The wall retracted into the ceiling, and a long countertop appeared behind it. Buffet style. Less work. He set to using several spells to spontaneously create foodstuffs from his Stardust supply, and another spell to keep the food warm and ready.
And I must fill the barrels full of wine and beer, I have to get the dinnerware ready… Yholl kept busy as he prepared for the event that he loved the most.
The end of The Dungeon Run, where he got his valuable dungeon cores. And, after giving the feast, all the Aspirants would be forced from his realm with their prizes from The Cosmic System. A perfect ecosystem that supports me.
There was a loud ping noise from above and behind him and looking back he saw a red-limned screen appear. What?
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Jace held his Starstorm Sword in his left hand, keeping his right free to grapple. The blade was ignited with crimson and purple nebula of Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], he was surrounded by the purple of Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3), and he was also under the effects of Priam’s Pulsar Ward (Rank 20) [Multi-Target].
The bunny-boy was walking a few steps behind him, the world bathed in a golden-yellow hue. “This place is really run down,” he muttered.
Yeah, it’s been a long time, Jace thought as he walked through the horizontal, fallen tower. The alchemy lab had nothing noteworthy save for the slime-thing that the duo had killed. And now they were approaching what had to be the basement. The chamber they entered through the ‘stairs’ – that acted more like an awkward door thanks to the laying-on-its-side structure – was filled with display cases. Armor, weapons, scrolls – an entire trove of treasure. All of the objects looked in pristine condition and were stuck in place on the walls; perhaps pinned or maybe magic, Jace had no clue. What stood out most to him was on the ‘roof’ of the chamber. An enormous suit of full-plate armor holding a wicked, spike-tipped mace. Who the heck could even wear that? He thought.
Priam’s ears wiggled and he pointed to the end of the tube, “Oooh, there’s something really magic over there.”
Jace looked over and saw a blinding-bright, white glow around a box. He had to wince and look away. “I’m guessing that’s where his soul thingy is.”
“Probably,” Ollie muttered. He poked his head out of Jace’s hood and looked up at the armor above, “I do not trust that.”
Jace followed his gaze and threw his blade up at the armor. It pierced deep into the object, and remained stuck until Jace willed it back to his hand – at which point it teleported to his grip. “Seems fine to me.”
Priam walked past Jace and to the box. “I’ve seen this type of ward before! A ward is sort of like a stationary spell. Oh, your Dark Energy Mine is sort of like a ward! It’s been a while, but I can disable it.”
Jace walked over and touched the box with his Anathema Arm. Just go away, magic-thing. The blinding, white glow vanished. He opened the box and saw the other half of the rock-circle. Priam touched it with his fingers, “Oooh, yup. Definitely a soul cage. And you’ve got the other half?”
Jace nodded, “Yeah. It’s in my pack.” He took it off, rummaged around inside, and grabbed the other half. Priam gestured for it, and Jace handed it to him.
“Hmm…this is a tricky one. You can only destroy it in his presence, and he must be within about 5 feet of you when you break it. But breaking it is easy! Just snap it into smaller bits. With your arms, it should be easy.” He handed both halves to Jace, and the Dark Matter Aspirant put both into his pack before hefting it onto his shoulders. Priam turned to walk to one of the cases.
Jace looked around, “Ollie, is any of this stuff useful to us?”
“Possibly. But it would all be Tier 2. And since you are going to be Tier 3 soon enough and heading to Earth – also a Tier 3 world – you will not find much in here that is valuable.”
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“Why didn’t I start at Tier 3 if Earth is rated as one of them?” Jace asked.
“Because the world is rated at that Tier. The occupants are Tier 0 by default.”
Priam nodded as he tapped one of the display cases, “Yeah, that’s because guns are dangerous.”
Jace turned to him, “How do you know what those are?”
“I’ve seen guns before. Firearms are really dangerous and scary. But I’ve been to a technology focused world before.” Priam looked to the exit, “Do your eyes see anything useful?”
Jace looked around and did not see any magical glow, “No, this stuff must just be valuable in some other way.” He paused, and grinned, “Ollie…we can take this stuff and sell it, can’t we?”
“Ooh, I completely forgot about that, given the excitement at plotting the demise of the Ascendant Archmage. Yeah! Get everything you can shove into your packs.”
Jace and Priam both took their packs off and began taking everything valuable within arm’s reach. Jace focused on the cases with larger objects that he could shove into the pack, and Priam focused on the smaller trinkets.
Both were interrupted by an enormous crash that drew their gaze. Jace ducked the enormous, spiked mace that swung at him and evaded the blow. But the sideswipe continued into Priam and impacted his barrier. He jumped, startled, as the ancient armor pulled the mace back. “Holy crap!”
Jace willed his sword to his grasp and re-ignited it with the weapon imbuing Skill. The thing he was facing off against was easily ten feet tall and dwarfed his bulk. Broad shoulders, covered in smooth, almost-shell-like plate armor. A spiked gorget was around the neck, and an equally spikey helmet topped off the hulking ensemble. “Priam, back off!” Jace shouted as he used his grapnel to draw himself off to the other side.
The armored hulk looked over at Jace and swung the spiked mace. He was able to angle his body so that the blow went under him, but one of the wicked, metal spikes on the mace grazed his barrier and it began to crack. Priam raised his hand, “Priest’s Smite (Rank 9) [Marking]!” The bolts of gold energy streaked down from above and crackled over the metallic object’s form before it…bent inward?
Right. Pulsars can use electricity or magnetism, Jace recalled. So that must be magnetism. Smart play. The crackling energy detonated; and then the same process was repeated for a total of 5 applications from the single Skill use. Each time, the armor slightly crunched inward on itself, and the crackling gold energy permeated its form.
Jace was successfully on the opposite side and jumped toward the armor, getting right behind it outside of its swing radius. Chopping at the ankles, he saw the purple and crimson miasma begin to spread over its form. A bright, almost neon-red energy surged out from where he cut into. Is it powered by magic? He swapped sword-hands, placed his Anathema Arm on it, and tried to will the magic to deactivate.
He had to jump back as it tried to sit down on him. Nope. Not magic. So a creature? But it's not a Complex-moving-thing like the Boreworms. Jace cut the armor a few more times, and saw Priam’s Skill crack down into the shell and continue to pulverize it.
The hulking monster swung its spiked mace at Priam, and Jace heard the loud crunch of the barrier breaking. “No!” he saw Priam’s body launched into the wall before sliding down. There was a pulse of gold energy around him, and a [Contingent] Pulsar Physic went off, healing his form. He took a deep breath and screamed as the mace was raised again.
Jace wasn’t quite sure what his body did, but it reacted before he could. The sword was summoned to his left hand, he grappled over to the wall just above Priam to interpose himself, and he raised the sword to intercept the blow. He felt it crunch into the Pulsar Ward which held for a few seconds before it shattered. Jace felt his own energy wane from the Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3) absorbing the blow, and the armor lifted the mace once more.
Jace felt Priam’s hands on his back. “You got this,” he wheezed out. “Priest’s Benediction (Rank 13).”
“That won’t wo-” Jace was cut off as he felt a surge through his body. Like a stream of warm, comforting water that ran over him before crackling with a static that made him feel like he was unstoppable. The world seemed to slow down as the metal-mace creature began to bring the mace down once more from the top of its swinging arc. Jace could see the floating dust particles acutely, and smelled the must of the rolled up scrolls in Priam’s bag.
Ollie rapidly spouted off information right in his ear, almost so fast that Jace couldn’t keep up. “Cosmic Infusion caps at ‘massive’ increase to physical, sensory, and cognitive traits. But Priest’s Benediction increases them by an ‘obscene’ amount.”
Oh hell yeah! Jace saw the slow-falling mace and punched at the creature with his Ghostlight Grapnel prosthetic – right into the elbow joint as it began to bring the mace down. The blow was enough to shove the incoming strike to the side, and it cracked into the ground. Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Jace thought as he focused on his legs. The foot-claws ignited with the same crimson and purple, and he kept a solid grip on the arm as he kicked his legs around, cutting into the armor’s chest.
Pushing his hips up, he wrapped his legs around the neck and pushed off of the arm with his hand, swinging his body up to the top of the creature. Inside the armor, he saw something white and wriggling. Got you! The blade easily slid into the gap between the helmet and the neck, and he heard a loud squeaking noise before the armor collapsed.
Dropping his sword he went over to Priam, “You okay?” he asked.
“I’m good,” Priam said as he chuckled and moved his hand up to his ears. “I almost got crushed. Thanks for getting in the way, Willi-” he stopped, his face went beet-red, and he pulled his hat down. “Sorry.”