Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 14B3 - : The problem with Void

Jace rocketed across the tundra on the hypercycle. The energy canopy surrounding his vehicle was constantly making a fzzth noise as it instantly evaporated the sleet, ice, and rime that slammed into it. Without the vehicle, Jace would doubtless be a slow, slow traveler; and probably having his armor damaged by the chunks of ice that would randomly fall out of the sky.

“Heads up!” Ollie said as he pointed back and above Jace, “You are being watched by a drone.”

Jace craned his head back and was barely able to make out the drone that flew above and behind him. A series of lights were the only way he could spot the thing through the tempest of ice and snow. “Conclave, right?”

“Yup!”

Void Blade (Rank 5), Jace thought as he drew his sword, took aim, and threw it. The blade lanced up, struck through the thing, and it fell into the snow. Summoning his sword back to his grip, he sheathed it and looked ahead. “How far to the next Complex?”

Ollie pulled up the map and made some weird, flappy gestures with his arms that were a little goofy, but the distance appeared a moment later in Jace’s HUD. “Thirty miles,” Ollie stated.

Quinn’s voice came over the comms, “I was able to find someone to buy the Class Reset Crystal. Just making sure you want me to sell it.”

Jace nodded, “Yeah. Do it.”

“Right! I was able to get 75,000 Stardust, and because of my Broker’s Fee (Rank 16), I got an additional 50%. So, the result is 112,500 Stardust. I would ask that since I sold it, I get a cu-”

“Give me 75%,” Jace replied. “I did the hard work and experienced body-death getting this thing. I think that warrants me getting the larger share of it.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take my 25%, and give some to our allies. We each get 7,913 Stardust, but you did almost die, so it makes sense. Gotta go! I’ll keep tabs on you, and if you need me, give me a shout!”

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[Gift Received: Stardust]

[Stardust Acquired: 84,375]

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“Holy hell,” Jace muttered. “That’s…so much.”

“Yup! Puts you at 87,445,” Ollie stated.

“How many levels is that?” Jace asked almost incredulously at the sheer amount of Stardust.

Ollie clapped his paws, “30,000 Stardust to get you to level 25 in your Advanced Class, then it goes up to 5,000 per level until 50. You can get 11 more levels, putting you at 36 overall, with 2,445 Stardust left over! In total, you will be gaining 23 levels if you use it all right now.”

“Right, let’s level up,” Jace said with a grin on his face under the helmet. “What’s the maximum on that Edge’s Intuition? If I, say, want to have the ability to know anything hostile within a huge range.”

“Twenty-five feet at Rank 5. That would be three of your levels, placing you at twenty remaining levels to choose.”

“My [Edge] Advanced Class makes me operate at…what was it Xera said? The outer limits of how people can do things?”

“Correct!”

Hmm, Jace thought. I can try to use this to make myself extremely skilled at practically everything I put my mind to. He cleared his throat, “Okay. I want a Skill that makes it so that whenever I try something, I become on that outer limit of capability. Like, if I tried to pick a lock, I’d be the best possible in that field.”

“I will see what I can do. Xera?”

Xera’s voice came over the comms, “Hmm? Oh. Reading your message…yeah, I had something in mind for that. Set aside three levels for those Ranks. Seventeen more levels. Think about Void and how you can use that. I’ll be around for a bit while you decide.”

“How about something that lets me instantly counter a Skill? I have my Anathema Arm that can shut down Skills: what about something that uses the nothingness of Void?” Jace asked.

“It will need to scale with commensurate counter power: ten levels; one for each Tier you want to effect. Seven left to choose.” Xera sounded interested, but distracted.

“Hmm…something to deal with Astral Demons would be smart. That one back on Graskorn was able to counter my Void Blade and said something about being entropy.”

Ollie shook his head, “Do not worry about that. Xera is working on something using the Astral System. We just need more data, which your allies are gathering each time they defeat an Astral Demon. Focus on what you need now.”

And, Jace thought, it can’t be something that covers me or affects me directly with Void, because like she said when the Dark Matter Cloak didn’t convert over from my Class to the Advanced Class…if I did that, I would cease existence. “Could I use Void to remove inju-”

“No,” Ollie stated, cutting him off. “Applying Void to your body is not viable. It is a…more projected Ascended Power.”

“What about a tunnel?” Jace asked as he pulled up to the next Complex, activated the heat ray, and then sat there, waiting for it to melt through the very thick ice on top of the entrance. “If I was able to remove space between myself and a target location, I could sort of walk from one point to another. Teleportation.”

Xera’s voice came through the comms and she was rapt with excitement, “I had never considered using Void as a means of warp technology. It’s so hard to wrangle into technology, but you can use it intuitively thanks to how Xero crafted the magic and magitech side of the System’s operational parameters. Let me run a simulation.”

Jace got off of the hypercycle as it finished melting the door, and he put it back into the TPSB before drawing his sword and moving to the door.

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“Got it! You will need to put in a lot of levels, because the distance versus energy cost is so great. Dump the remaining seven levels into it.”

“Ollie, I think we have our plan,” Jace said as he began to cut through the door.

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Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 7)

Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage <Wrathblade> 100] / Void [Edge 36]

Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Swordmage Stance (Rank 3) [Astral Annihilator], Dark Matter Dart (Rank 4) [Exploding], Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3) [Group], Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant], Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10) [Innervating], Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10) [Siphoning], Mage's Mark (Rank 5), Wrath's Embrace (Rank 10) [Focused], Ruination Razor (Rank 3) [Wrecking], Raging Cleave (Rank 10), Aura of Wrath (Rank 11), Void Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Void Shield (Rank 6) [Reflecting][Wall][Sphere], Void Beam (Rank 1) [Limited Range], Edge's Intuition (Rank 5) [Danger-Sense], Edge of Possibility (Rank 3), Void Counter (Rank 10), Void Step (Rank 7), Arbiter's Anathema (3/day), Shadow Nebula Smokescreen (1/day), Hope's Edge (1/day), Steel Gale Stride (1/day), Primalist's Command (1/day), Reaper's Shadowstep (1/day), Archmage's Admixture (1/day)

Stardust: 2,445

Equipment: (Returning / Adaptable) Nethaldrim, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard / Repairing) Reaper Armor, Ghostlight Grapnel Arm, (Thrice Judged) Anathema Arm, (Overclocked / Lightfoot) Steelstalker Sabatons, (Terrifying / Sealing) All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes, Primal Hide, Adamantine Skeleton, (Reactive) NICIF, Mind's Eye Amulet, TPSB, survival meals (x50), enhanced canteen, (Restful) Wildercloth tent, Devilsram wool bedroll, Blood-Infused Holy Water (x3), Hypercycle, microchip from ST41K3R chassis, x60 lbs. of Starheart Steel, Lightning Rifle

Boons: Common (Secret Cache)

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Edge’s Intuition (Rank 5): As Rank 1, but increase the radius to twenty-five feet.

Edge of Possibility (Rank 1): Whenever the user attempts an action they do not have training for or in, gain temporary proficiency in the action.

Edge of Possibility (Rank 2): As Rank 1, but instead of proficient, attain temporary expertise.

Edge of Possibility (Rank 3): As Rank 1, but instead of proficient, attain mastery.

Void Counter (Rank 1): The user designates a Skill or effect caused by a Skill, and disables it if Tier 1, for ten seconds.

Void Counter (Rank 10): As Rank 1, but effect Tier 10 or lower.

Void Step (Rank 1): The user causes space to temporarily cease between themselves and a location within five feet, traversing the distance instantaneously. Must have line of sight to target location (or be intimately familiar with the location).

Void Step (Rank 7): As Rank 1, but increase distance to thirty-five feet.

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“Interesting,” Jace said as he kicked down the door and walked into the lit room. Ice and snow began rushing in from outside, and he lifted the door to shove it into place. The chamber was some type of entry-hall that was tall and vaunted. On the enormous double doors ahead was a sign that read, “Outer Sanctum,” and a console was nearby, humming with life.

Time to test this out, he thought as the text was instantly translated as he leaned down toward the circular keyboard that spun in place on a single axis. As soon as his fingertips touched the odd interface, a rush of information filled his mind, and by just thinking about what he wanted to do, his body was seemingly responding to the concept he put forth. Thinking I want to get into this computer resulted in him brute-forcing a login through dozens of password attempts within seconds: almost faster than the input device could keep up with.

Jace laughed as he found instant mastery over the task he was engaged in. “I’ve never hacked before, but this must be what you do all the time, right, Quinn?”

Quinn’s voice was a bit gruff and she sounded irritated, “Sort of. But what you’re doing is child’s play…still…instant mastery? At anything you try your hand at? That’s just…not fair.”

Jace pulled his hands back and the rush of information faded as he stared at the monitor, “If it helps me survive, I’ll take it.”

“Just isn’t fair is all,” she mumbled before going quiet.

Jace shrugged and gestured to the console, “Ollie, do your thing and figure out what in there is valuable.”

Ollie saluted with his little paw to the top of his head, and then flew over to the computer console, holding his paws above it as twinkling, light-blue starlight cascaded down from his outstretched limbs. “Hmm. This place is where they worshipped one of their deities. A deity long-since dead, thanks to their lack of veneration in prior generations before the cataclysm. But, they turned to religion in their hours of need: some of them.”

Jace turned to the enormous set of double doors, walked over, and braced his arms against either side. Pushing, he felt them slowly grind open against the gears and servos keeping them shut. They finally gave way with a tremendous wham as they slammed into the walls on the inside. A shallow ramp went down, and he summoned his sword to his hand as he descended into the facility.

“No Complex notification so far,” Jace muttered. “But this might lead to the planet’s core, so we have to check it out, right?”

“Correct,” Ollie replied.

Jace nodded as he kept descending into darkness.

Jericho sat down amongst the other Signers for the Conclave at their morning meal. He looked across to one of his buddies who had joined up for the promise of eternal paradise, a stout, gruff woman named Burmy. She was whispering to some other Signers, and all Jericho caught from the conversation was something about a drone being lost.

“What did we lose it to?” he asked as he stirred his nice, meaty soup.

The table quieted and looked over at him, his buddy whispering, “An unknown variable. Some…armored Aspirant. The drone was downed before we got a look at their Cosmic Power Symbol: but an armored drone was taken out almost instantly!”

Jericho frowned, “How were they moving around?”

“Some type of hover craft. Like our hovercycles, but…faster, and with a weird shroud thing. Some type of energy barrier.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“And why are we whispering?” Jericho asked.

“Because,” Burmy replied as she frowned, “Renlas and Bellor are pissed off about it.”

Jericho frowned, “Why were they even put in command? Just because they came back to life? Didn’t they die really easily, too? Cooked in their armor, is what I heard.”

The rest of the table looked at each other, and Burmy shook her head, “I don’t question the will of Troxanir. Do you?”

Suddenly, Jericho felt like every eye in the whole room was on him, and he vehemently shook his head, “No! I don’t question his mighty will! Why would I?”

“Good,” Burmy muttered as she resumed eating her soup.

Jericho slowly sipped his own food, letting the warmth rush through him as it hit his stomach. Someone taking out a drone is somewhat surprising, he thought. I mean…what is on this world that is valuable enough for someone to try and race ahead so quickly?

Jace reached a set of doors that read as “Inner Sanctum” across their face. They were big, made of metal, and glowed. “A Skill?” he asked as his eyes saw the tell-tale sparkling of magic thanks to their inherent property.

Ollie frowned, “I…no. It is some ancient magic. Not a Skill. This place was merged with The Cosmic System.” He put his paws on the door, and that prompted Jace to take up a ready stance. “It’s keeping me from going through it as a System construct,” Ollie stated as frustration showed on his face, his whiskers twitching. “Something about this magic is keeping me out! It…this is weird. Xera?”

“Looking at the logs now,” Xera replied. “It is a spell that was not properly turned into a Skill because there was no localized administrator thanks to the circumstances of the world’s demise. Jace, cut through it. Your [Astral Annihilator] Swordmage Stance Evolution should sunder it.”

Jace touched the tip of his blade against the door and saw the sparkles fade. “Looks like that did it,” he stated as he looked around for some means of opening the door.

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[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]

[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 10.]

[Number of foes to clear out: 1.]

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[Quest: Slay the corrupted deity.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Legendary (Skill Evolution) Boon.]

[Sender: The Cosmic System.]

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“What’s a corrupt-” Jace was cut off as the door slammed open and he went flying back up the hallway, tumbling end over end as an ear-piercing roar echoed throughout the tunnel. The lights above winked out, and Jace’s vision compensated to adjust.