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Priam could feel Jace’s ragged breath next to his chest. Jace was pushing himself on the verge of exhaustion – and still kicking up a spray of dirt and clods of grass as he jogged across the plains tile.
The man had saved Priam from being consumed by a singularity. A black hole that threatened to completely devour the rabbit-man. In that moment, his whole life flashed in front of his eyes. He saw his childhood in the schools at Khrox. The apartment that he would go to after school since his dad was in The Eternal City. Going to the park to play with the other kids.
He remembered every moment of his Aspirant Trial. The death of his brother, the chill of fear and the thought he would die. The sudden relief at finding people to help him out. The shock at their utter devastation…and the familiarity of a strong person taking him into their protection.
You’ve got this, he thought. I wish I could give you energy.
He could feel Bloopa under his hat, moving about and shifting shapes. The (Insightful) Augmentation of his Dad’s Hat assisted in his interpretation of her words.
There is a way…but it would be risky.
“Oh? Do tell.”
“What?” Jace huffed out.
“Oh, I’m talking to Bloopa,” Priam clarified. Jace nodded and kept running as Priam directed his attention back to his Wayfinder.
You could spend the 1500 Stardust to hit level 51. It would make you Tier 3, and you would be removed from the world because of the restrictions for The Dungeon Run…but if you were quick about it, you could get a Skill that enables energy transfer and use it before you were sucked into The Cosmic Corridor.
“I…Good to know if we need it in a pinch.” What we really need is just a place to hunker down for an hour. He looked up and saw the invisible sensor still following them.
Then, an idea hit him. He grabbed Jace’s shoulder, “I got it! Slow down!”
Jace shook his head, “If I stop I’ll fall asleep. Just tell me what it is.”
“Your Anathema thingy! Have you tried using it on Double-A’s sensor? Shut it off for a day?”
He could almost feel the groan deep within Jace’s chest. But it was expressed in his words soon enough. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He skidded to a stop, pivoted around, and lifted his left arm, the black metal laced with golden scrollwork beginning to light up. “Arbiter’s Anathema.”
----------------------------------------
Yholl was tracking the two and coordinating efforts of the various Aspirants to rush to the location. Come on. They’re on their last legs! The closest group is twenty min-
His sensor deactivated, and he was left staring at his study’s blank wall. “What?!” he shouted as he tried to activate his scrying spell-converted-to-Skill once more.
<<<<<>>>>>
[ERROR.]
[Your use of the Supreme Scrying Skill has been deactivated for 24 hours.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“How?!” Yholl shouted as he flipped over his desk. How did that happen? Did The Cosmic System lock me out? “Identify the source of it!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[You have been targeted by Arbiter’s Anathema – a Skill from a Legendary (Equipment).]
[Arbiter’s Anathema – The user may ACCESS DENIED.]
<<<<<>>>>>
How is my access denied? I can access The Cosmic System on my own! It just…takes a Skill and a while. Another screen flashed to his right – one that was not his coloration. A deep purple that was drastically different from Troxanir’s communication.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Yeah, no. I’m not letting you get any information on Flicker.]
[Get fucked.]
[X.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“That bastard!” Yholl screamed in rage as he felt the panic once more set in. His own mortality may be on its way right at that moment. “I can just…I’ll send a lesser Scrying Skill out. But it has to travel there – and they might have moved on.”
I’ve got no choice. I have to try to find them to coordinate the Aspirants.
----------------------------------------
Jace lowered his arm and turned around, taking off at the jog again. He felt his hips burning, and his abs were screaming at him to stop as well. Just a bit further. He could see the plains tile and the tall, rolling grassland. Get there. Find a place to hole up.
“We need a safe place to recover,” Priam stated. “I’m using a Common (Information) Boon.”
There was a brief pulse of yellowish light from just behind Jace, and the map Ollie had pulled up just under his chin for quick at-a-glance reference showed a yellow dot. “Get there!” Ollie ordered.
Jace trudged onward, crossing the remaining three miles without much issue. There was a deep dell in the ground, and he spotted a hovel of some ancient creature that once burrowed. Just like how it started, he thought with a wry smile on his lips. As soon as he skidded to a stop he collapsed to his knees, taking in shaky breaths.
Priam immediately got out of his strapped-in setup, delved into Jace’s pack, and got the tent out. He hurried into the burrow and came out a minute later. “Come on! I’ll keep watch.”
Jace numbly nodded and crawled over on his hands and knees – too tired to do anything else. As soon as he got inside, he finally surrendered to the call of sleep.
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Ollie appeared in the Starlit Sea. Xera was waiting for him, her face on a screen looking into the space. “Oh, hi Xer-”
“No time for that. Double-A is onto you.”
“Yeah,” Ollie said as he scratched his chin. “We know.”
She raised an eyebrow inquisitively, “Right. Sorry I’ve been a bit preoccupied and couldn’t read the usual reports. Events on Earth are starting to spiral. I’m going to have to pull the trigger pretty soon here to lock down the portals – but I can only do that for a month before tapping my resources down to nothing.”
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“So we have to finish up Nihilethelea pretty quickly.”
“Correct. I’ve also notified the Pulsar Coalition about the impending demise of the Archmage Ascendant. They are getting ready at The Cosmic Corridor to enter the moment he perishes to secure the world.”
Ollie felt some relief. He was not sure what would have happened. A faction taking over, for sure. But if it was the Black Hole Conclave or Nebula Alliance took over before they got out of The Cosmic Corridor…then it may have been a sticky situation. “That is good.”
“What’s his status?”
“He is exhausted, but recovering in the tent. Priam is keeping watch.”
Xera smiled, “I’m happy that I found another Signer. And it appears that he has quickly latched onto Jace. Looking through Priam’s records, it appears that he had an older brother? To your observation, is he latching onto Jace like that missing figure?”
“Oh, I would say so.”
“Good,” she said as she rubbed her temples. “Okay. I’ve got messages to deal with on my end.” The screen vanished.
Ollie swam around the space slowly, staring out at the limitless Starlit Sea with a feeling of wonder as he always had. We will deal with Yholl easily enough. Jace and Priam have this victory secured.
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Jace woke up with a start. He hadn’t dreamed – just surrendering to the darkness. Must’ve been so tired my brain just said ‘fuck it’ and went to sleep too. He sat up and saw Priam’s outline outside of the tent. Opening the small buttons, he looked out at the Pulsar Priest who was ducked into the grass just outside the hovel. “Hey, I’m up.”
“Oh. Good.” Priam said softly. “I’m pretty rested up – I napped a bit during your run earlier. So, whenever you’re ready to go, I am ready.”
Jace nodded and scrounged inside his pack, grabbing several meal pouches and scarfing down the contents. He also drained the last of his canteen. Only three meals left. I need to stockpile more, he thought as he packed up camp and rolled up the tent. Once he got outside, he spotted Priam a slight distance off, staring off into the distance. “You ready?”
Priam nodded, “I miss that desert tile. I really liked it. I felt like I was home.” He looked back to Jace and smiled, “But I’d rather stay safe with you than just sit around in a desert all day!”
“You will get to customize your apartment,” Ollie said as he popped into the air next to them before curling around Jace’s neck. The Dark Matter Aspirant reached up and pet his otter companion, eliciting a pleased noise akin to a squeak from the AI given form.
“Oooh. I can make it look like a desert?”
“You can even have sand and baking, scorching heat,” Ollie replied.
Jace smiled and helped Priam get situation on his back again, pulling the straps close. “Ready?”
“Yup!” Ollie and Priam both said at the same time.
Jace looked forward toward the trees in the distance. The forest tile. A little over fifty miles standing between him and the safety of the capital city on that starting peninsula. Here we go. He began running to the destination, brimming with confidence after fighting twelve hostile Aspirants and coming out the victor.
I’ve got this.
----------------------------------------
Yholl was all eyes to sensors, watching all four-thousand he had at his disposal. Each was on a miniature screen, and he had used a Skill called Scattersight Iris to enable his eyes to track every single screen independently of the others.
It caused a massive headache the more he had to focus on – but it was worth it to have, effectively, a security-camera network. The entire exterior of his capital was covered with the magical sensors, and he had them at the edges of the forest as well.
Ah! There you are! He saw the spray of dirt and grass from a fast-moving object. Zooming in his sensors, he saw the Dark Matter and Pulsar Aspirants rocketing across the landscape. I’ve got you now. “He’s on the southwestern edge of the forest tile! All hands – get him!”
The human raised his right arm. What is that? Some type of prosthetic. There was a flash of gold and black – and all of Yholl’s sensors vanished.
<<<<<>>>>>
[ERROR.]
[Your use of the Scrying Skill has been deactivated for 24 hours.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Damnit!” He slammed his fist against the desk. That was my last Skill of that type. Scrying magics – the ones that let the user see across vast distances – were extremely narrow in scope and there were only two varieties. And both were now locked away from his use.
I just have to hope that the Aspirants I recalled are enough.
He was not able to banish anyone from the world. That type of spell was one that he did not have access to. The only reason that the Aspirants who fought at the stables when The Dungeon Run first started was that the contract he had signed with The Cosmic System enforced the rules. The same went for the Tier 2 restriction.
The non-violence between Aspirants within the city, the Tier 2 restriction on the world, and the passive-state restriction on Yholl would all be lifted once The Dungeon Run ended.
Please be enough. I don’t want to die.
----------------------------------------
“Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) [Group].” Jace vanished along with Ollie, Priam, and Bloopa. Arriving at the forest’s edge, he saw the shimmer of Skills on the ground level. Dozens, if not hundreds of different Skills all active.
Too bad for them. Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1). Detonate. He kicked off the ground and went sailing up and over the forest terrain. Far above the trees. Only when his breath failed him did he deactivate the Skill and begin to fall to the canopy.
But even then, he was able to angle his body during the fall to get into a small clearing, and shooting out the Ghostlight Grapnel, he latched onto one of the trees and swung with the momentum – launching himself further towards the capital.
“This is too easy,” Jace muttered.
“What do you expect? You cannot be found,” Ollie replied.
Jace nodded and latched onto another tree, continuing his swinging. But one of the trees ahead shimmered with the telltale sign of an active Skill. Pulling himself to a stop on a large tree branch, he saw that the forest itself was moving. A writhing wall of wood, spikes, and roots that blocked all access. I only have one more use of the Arbiter’s Anathema. He grimaced and drew his Starstorm Sword. Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3).
The Skills flared to life and he used his claws and grapnel arm to descend to the ground floor of the forest.
The roots around him began to writhe and wriggle. Not attacking him but…moving, just like the enormous wall of moving plants ahead. They can’t see me, track me, or detect me. But the Black Hole Cosmic Power users were seemingly able to notice the lack of something when he was almost adjacent to them. Can plants do the same thing?
Ollie seemed to pick up on his confusion. “You might be invisible, undetectable, and untraceable – but you still weigh something. Just because you do not leave a footprint does not mean that you do not interact with the world around you. You are standing on the forest floor.”
Priam froze up, and Jace could tell instantly that something was off. “Planet Cosmic Power users could use plants, couldn’t they?” he asked quietly.
Damn. He’s right. Jace cautiously walked forward, making sure to watch for where his foot fell and to avoid clusters of roots or undergrowth. Hopefully, grass isn’t something that they can manipulate. There were small patches of grass and dirt, and he tried his best to keep to the patches of dirt.
The tense fifteen minutes of travel was only broken up by Jace pausing every few seconds to assess the next path of steps. But they arrived at the wooden, shifting wall. Jace raised his weapon to prepare to stab. “This will probably get their attention,” he muttered.
He shoved the blade forward. Thanks to [Astral Annihilator] on his Swordmage Stance, the Skill that was being used fell apart instantaneously.
“…Oh no…” Ollie whispered.