Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 23B3 - : It comes to down to talent

Jace shouted, “Quinn, Ollie! I need the closest route to a city. Some place with high points I can maneuver on!”

“Check your HUD,” Quinn stated.

A line of gold showed up, carving away to Jace’s side. Following the line on the map, he raced across the tundra on the Sliver Arc, passing through ancient, frozen trees long since barren: naught but iced-over vegetation stretching on for miles. Thanks to his enhanced perception and the magic prosthetic eyes, Jace was able to navigate between the trees with ease.

But it cost him sight of his pursuer. He can track me, Jace thought, because the armor interfaces with The Cosmic System. If I took off the armor, he would not find me as easily. But I know they can sense Souls, so hiding is not an option. And I’d rather have the armor than not.

Taking stock of his Skills, he knew that all his Dark Matter and Dark Energy Skills were still useable. Only his Wrath’s Embrace, Void Blade, and Void Shield had been shut off. But losing out on Wrath’s Embrace meant he was also cut off from three more Skills. Think, Jace told himself as his mind raced, trying to come up with a way to deal with his pursuer. I have an Epic (Variable) Boon. What could I use it on as a Skill Evolution Boon? Void Step, maybe getting some type of…damage ripple when I teleport with it? Void Counter…maybe storing Skills used against me? Maybe…

“Ollie,” Jace said as he dodged more trees as they grew even thicker, and he had to ride along the trunks of trees to avoid some knots of frozen branches. “Can I use a Skill Evolution to turn a Swordmage Skill into something that uses my Void Ascended power? I know some didn’t convert over.”

Calculating, Ollie said in his mind. Stand by.

Jace glanced back and saw glimpses of the figure chasing him on its own Sliver Arc. But, ahead, he saw a break in the tree line and glimpsed large buildings beyond. Racing out past the icy jungle, he rocketed over relatively open land toward a series of round towers. They bulged outward every twenty feet going up to their maximum height of well over three hundred feet, giving them an almost terraced appearance.

Jace dashed into the city and kept his feet planted on the Sliver Arc, but used his Guatch Grappler to tag a building, and then grappled up to it, traveling at a sideways angle up the building, using the speed from traveling forward, and his anchor point of the grapple, to launch himself skyward, away from the building, and then back toward it. Letting the grapple line loose, he reattached it higher up on the building and pulled himself up.

At the top of the circle was a final bulbous shape that he clambered over, storing the Sliver Arc in the TPSB as he looked down. His pursuer had just left the tree line, and he could see them looking up at him. “Ollie? Progress?”

I got something, his Wayfinder replied. You wanted to have a Skill Evolution apply to a Dark Matter Skill, to imbue it with Ascended Power. I got one better.

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[Using Boon: Epic (Skill Ascension).]

[Applying to Skill.]

[Skill Name: Mage’s Mark.]

[Ascended Power applied: Void.]

[Reset accumulated Ranks?]

[Yes / No.]

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Say yes! Ollie shouted in Jace’s mind as he watched the Astral Demon in his body replicate his movement to gain height.

“Yes,” Jace said as he drew his sword and mentally prepared himself for the upcoming showdown.

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[Confirmed.]

[New Skill Name: Void Brand (Rank 1).]

[Effect: The user can mark any creature they touch with their body or blade. The mark lasts for 1 hour. While marked, the user knows the distance and direction to the creature (if on the same world) or is notified of the world's name they are presently on. Additionally, all attacks, Skills, or other forms of damage originating from the user are infused with the listed Cosmic/Ascended Power.]

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“Why didn’t this automatically upgrade when I chose my Advanced Class?”

Ollie sighed, You were the first person to ever choose Void. Xera and I had to make a lot of calculations, and did not want to risk your Advanced Class Skills upgrading if they would not work in the end. The Blade, Shield, and Beam were easy enough to run simulations on: but the rest took a lot of time, and we needed to see Void in the field to take data. Going forward, Skill Ascension is a Boon option available to you: courtesy of Xera making it literally two weeks ago!

Jace saw the figure ascending, their form crackling with a barrier of the black, crimson, and pink lightning. The same aura covered their sword. Jace held out his hand toward them, “Void Counter (Rank 10).” The shield vanished, and the figure threw up their arm.

Jace saw a notification cross his vision that Void Counter was disabled for the rest of the day. Well, at least he burned his use of Arbiter’s Anathema, Jace thought. I just need to apply the Void Brand to him, then actually hurt him…and not get hit if I can help it. Backing up to the center of the bulb-roof, Jace took deep, calming breaths and planted a Dark Energy Mine on the ground at (Rank 3).

The blistering wind and sleet was stronger, and thanks to the accumulated ice on the roof, plus the shape, Jace had to keep his Steelstalker Sabaton’s blades extended to anchor himself down. Glancing at where his Dark Energy Mine was placed, he used his Guatch Grappler to tag the spot.

His Edge’s Intuition (Rank 5) picked up the movement just beyond the bulb, and Jace aimed his sword at where the Astral Demon would come up, muttering “Void Brand (Rank 1),” as he threw the weapon.

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The copy of him, blade ablaze with the multi-colored lightning, vaulted over the edge and deflected Jace’s sword. Jace summoned it back to his palm and took up a blade stance. Its voice: Jace’s voice: was filled with arrogance and confidence. “Well…you took me on quite a chase.”

Jace did not speak, raising his sword and advancing forward slowly, gradually, wanting to feel out his opponent’s prowess.

They cackled out with laughter and rushed forward, their bladed feet cutting into the ice to propel them forward. Jace waited until they had passed over the top of the Dark Energy Mine, and then thought, Detonate. Gravity’s influence was removed, and his foe was still standing thanks to the Steelstalker Sabatons.

But Jace was not. He jumped up, shot out his grapple line, and pulled himself to the Astral Demon. Letting the tether fade, he brought in a sideways cut which the thing met with its own blade. But Jace was able to push into them enough to go bowling past them, redirected into open air. That brief moment of contact was all he needed, though, to apply his Void Brand (Rank 1).

Jace re-established his grapple line to stop spinning and flying off, and he saw the slight, shimmering, greyish-white handprint on the figure’s armor where his shoulder had bumped into them. Now that I’ve got that applied, Jace thought, I just need to beat them. Using the tether to pull himself back, he swung down as he approached with a vertical strike.

The figure held up its hand and a crackling beam of pink and black lightning shot out and slammed into Jace, before it brought the blade up to deflect him as Jace went sailing overhead. The jolt of energy that scattered across Jace’s armor hurt. But it wasn’t a surface-level pain. It felt like a deep, inner pain. Like a deep bruise.

Analyzing damage, Ollie said in his mind at the speed of thought. Looks like Astral Demons can hurt the Soul of the person they hit. Thankfully, you don’t have much of one left thanks to your number of prosthetic upgrades.

Jace pulled on the tether to ground himself on the top of the building, dropping the Dark Energy Mine as his gamble had only partially succeeded, and he braced himself as the duplicate of him rushed forward. While he deflected strikes, Jace was able to hold a short conversation with Ollie. What, he thought, does that mean if I got rid of all my Soul like Xera has done, then I could be immune to these things?

Some of their Skills from this Astral System, for sure. You’re highly resistant, whereas Priam would be highly vulnerable. It still did cellular damage, breaking down on the molecular level, but your NICIF can keep up with the pace by burning those excess calories. The regeneration is keeping pace.

Jace deflected a strike and riposted, able to score a hit, and he saw the slight, grey mark expand slightly. Every hit spreads it? He thought to Ollie.

Yup! Just gotta do that until it covers them entirely: then, they will cease to be.

Jace parried a stab and then kicked up with his prosthetic leg, scoring a cut that gouged the armor, drew blood: also the same nanite that sucked up into the wound, almost instantly repairing it: but the grey mark spread a bit further. Jace smiled as he saw the figure try to adapt their fighting style to the sudden use of bladed legs instead of just a sword held in hand. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“Clever. I did not know this body could do that,” it stated with some amusement as it lifted to do a similar kick.

But Jace was expecting something like that. He dropped prone, swept the other leg, and as his opponent went crashing to the ground, scored a solid hit on the hand that sliced down through it halfway. Ripping the sword back, he dodged a wild stab as the duplicate got to its feet. I have this, Jace thought. Just have to keep chipping away. He unleashed a cross-chop from the top right down to the bottom left, and the figure barely got their blade in the way to block the strike. Jace had the strength advantage and was able to push the guard down enough to cut into the armor and flesh beneath, spreading the mark even further.

The crackling energy on the figure’s blade began to sizzle against Nethaldrim from the sustained contact, and Jace’s sword began to warp and bulge before the (Adaptable) property automatically activated. Gold and silver dust accumulated along the edge and formed a sparking, white point between the two blades.

Jace lifted one hand off the hilt of his blade, letting his blade be pushed up and away: and as he leaned back with the momentum, he flipped backward, planting his bladed feet onto the figure and kicking off into the open air on the edge of the building. The two blade-kicks spread the mark further, and as Jace began to disappear over the lip of the bulge on the building top, he threw his sword once more, scoring a hit on the thigh that glanced from their armor: but did cut down enough to spread the Void Brand.

Jace shot his grapple out at the underside of the bulb, using the momentum of the swing to pull himself to the building’s wall. Retracting the line, he repeated a trick he’d used before, way back on Velenar Prime against his first Aspirant foe. As he rushed up, the figure he was fighting peered over the ledge, perhaps intent on following, but Jace instead slammed his bladed legs into them, bowling them back as he stabbed down with the spikes on the heels. When they brought their forearm up to push him off, Jace went with the momentum, rolling away and then onto his feet, turning to face his foe.

The Astral Demon was about sixty percent covered in the Void Brand, and it growled. A deep, monstrous noise that Jace doubted he could make with his own voice if he wanted to. “You should just die already!” The figure raised its palm, and Jace dove to his left as an enormous beam of crackling black and pink energy went cascading out from the palm.

Jace was partially caught, and he felt that same pain as the slight blow from before: but it was all over his body. As if he had done one of Shhiv’s workouts and was extremely sore the next day. But the soreness was almost debilitating, as he tried to move, and his muscles didn’t respond. He also felt extremely hungry as all his excess calories were used up as the NICIF tried to repair the damage.

Glancing at his energy, Jace saw he was running low. Nanites, he thought, use my energy stockpile to heal. I need to move!

Jace saw the energy bar in his HUD begin to deplete, and the soreness vanished as he was able to struggle to his feet in time to meet the assault. A series of slashes from all angles bashed down at him, but thanks to Swordmage Stance, he was able to parry or deflect the blows. But the person fighting him was frenzied, and some black and pink crackling aura surrounded them. Just like how Wrath’s Embrace looked, but this was pouring out of them with an almost oppressive force that Jace could feel in the air. It assaulted his senses.

He could taste colors, he saw feelings, he could smell sounds: everything was scrambled as his senses reeled from the sudden synesthesia onset. It was impossible to fight back, and he felt a deep, sinking pain as the thing stabbed him through the stomach. The pain brought clarity back to his senses, and he shook off the sense-altering effect.

Void Step (Rank 1), he thought. Instantly, space folded around him, and he appeared behind the duplicate that had just stabbed him, and he was facing their back. Wrapping an arm around their neck, he stabbed into their midsection with Nethaldrim. The weird mix of senses happened again, but Jace had something to hold onto, and he kept sawing the blade back and forth.

The figure tried to lose him and brought their sword up to slash at Jace’s arm: but the angle was wrong for the style of sword, and Jace activated Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric] to heal himself as he inflicted wounds on his opponent that also healed.

But the Void Brand spread. And it had covered almost the entire figure. It cackled madly, “You can’t kill me for good. You think this is my end?”

Jace finished applying the damage required for the Void Brand to spread over the thing’s whole body, and it vanished into nothingness. Jace was extremely hungry and tired. “Ollie…that’s the last one…right?”

Yup! Looks like it!

Jace sighed with relief and slid down the bulbous roof, using his grapple line to travel down the spire until he hit the ground floor. Getting to a doorway, he cut his way through and entered the space, slamming the doors shut behind him, setting up the tent, and wrapping up in the bedroll as he crashed out.