Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 70B2 - : Breaching the Astral Verge
[Gift Received: Artifact (Equipment) Boon]
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“How did they get one of those?” Jace asked as he continued his ascent up the network.
Ollie was once more in his hood, and spoke softly as Jace was traveling uncloaked to conserve energy. “The easiest way to put it; they took a bunch of (Equipment) from dead deities that Wricen had been hoarding, turned it all into Boons, and then combined the rarities as much as possible.”
“Is that something I could do? Would I get the (Augmentation) Boons back?”
“Yes and no to each question, respectively.”
Jace sighed, “Then it’s not a good idea. Okay. Artifact rarity…” he quickly took inventory of his equipment. Can’t use it on my sword because I need Hope’s Edge to execute my practical invincibility combo. Same with the Anathema Arm for the Skill shut down three times a day. The legs are pretty new and running on air is handy…so that leaves the Ghostlight Grapnel Arm since the smokescreen hasn’t been super useful, my eyes, my armor, the amulet, my skin, my skeleton, or the NICIF. “What are your thoughts, Quinn?”
“Hmm?” she replied, her mouth full of some type of foodstuff that crunched as her comms activated.
“What Equipment should I improve with the Artifact rarity?”
“Let me look through some databases and I’ll get back to you. Run some simulations, since all of your Equipment except the sword is not wholly unique.”
Jace finished his climb and began walking through The Cotton District. He spotted the same building where the Gold Paws had their headquarters. Might as well see if I can leverage any resources possible. He pushed his way in, and was greeted with stares from the various thieves’ guild members, Silverpaw, Copperpaw, and Goldpaw who looked very upset.
The man came out from behind the bar and pointed at the door, “You are not welcome here. Leave.”
Jace held up his hands to show he wasn’t armed, “Look, I just want to notify you of why I’m here. I’m stopping a cult. They are possibly cutting into your profits, and they are most likely located in the Veilshard Quarter.”
Goldpaw squinted, and his tail flicked back and forth indicating that he was on-edge. “And why should we care about that Quarter?”
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“I’m going to be causing a lot of noise and possibly blowing up a building or two. You can use that chaos, right?”
Silverpaw stood up and walked over to Goldpaw, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Let’s hear him out,” she whispered: but Jace’s hearing picked it up.
Goldpaw growled then sighed, “Fine. Let’s hear you out.”
Jace walked over to one of the booths, “Ollie, show them my map.” The Wayfinder did so, and Jace pointed to the various dots as the three leaders of the guild sat down: Silverpaw sat next to him, the other two opposite. “These are their known hideouts and where they most likely are in the Veilshard Quarter. I need to destroy this cult completely. Expect explosions, maybe a building disappearing, possibly an earthquake.”
As he spoke, he saw the looks of shock and concern on the faces of those around him. Copperpaw whispered, “You’re a monster, aren’t you?”
Jace shook his head, “No. Just someone trying to keep the System secure. I figure you lot can use the chaos my actions will cause to do some…covert actions in other parts of the city.” He smiled, trying to exude as much charm as possible. “And, if you happened to have a few people who were good at distracting guards and making some noise, I would not mind them trying that in other areas of the city.”
Goldpaw looked sideways at Copperpaw, then across the table at Silverpaw. He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and nodded slightly. “There are a few jobs we can run across the city to take advantage of the chaos you promise. I suppose in exchange for your distraction, we can run a few of our own. A few contained fires, public defacement of property…you’ve got a deal.” He looked up to Jace, “One hour?”
The entire building shook. The entire world shook, and Xera’s voice came over the comms, “No time! Jace, get there now! They’re trying to breach to the Astral Verge!”
Jace got up and took off at a run, shouting back over his shoulder, “Gotta do it now!” He exploded through the door sending wood shrapnel cascaded out. Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), he thought as he vanished, and firing off his Ghostlight Grapnel Arm, he pulled himself up to the network and began sprinting across the rooftops. He had to ascend one more plateau to get up to the Veilshard Quarter where the townhouses were.
Quinn’s voice came back over the comms, “Okay, use that Artifact Boon to replace your Leviathan Skin. I had to confirm with your doctors and Xera, but that’s the best bet for something spectacular.”
“Ollie? You heard that?” Jace asked as he kept running towards the house on the map.
“Yup! On it now!”
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[Using Boon: Artifact (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
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He felt an odd, buzzing sensation all along his body. As if his whole body had fallen asleep and gotten the tingles just like when he had slept on his arm in a weird way. Glancing down at his arm and pulling back the bracer that came with the Aegisleather, he saw that the skin had shifted away from the fur-coloration he had swapped to. Instead, the skin looked like his normal skin, but there was a strength within it. He felt…full of vigor.
As the prickling sensation faded, he felt full of energy. As if he could take on the world. Ollie rapidly explained, “Primal Hide. All the benefits of Leviathan’s Skin: pressure adjustment, toughness increase without losing sense of touch: but this also increases your energy reserves by allowing you to ‘store up’ energy in the skin. It also grants the once per day Skill called Primalist’s Command, which will force all creatures within hearing range your Tier or lower to obey a single command for up to one hour. Something like ‘fight’ or ‘flee’.”
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Would have been nice to have with those dinosaurs down in the jungles below, Jace thought. As he arrived outside of the townhouse, he felt the entire world shake once more.
Xera’s voice came out of Ollie’s mouth, “Hurry! You have to stop their ritual!”
No time to be quiet. Void Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Void Shield (Rank 6), Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1). He placed the mine on his chest as his sword and legs blazed with the grey-white hue of Void. Sprinting towards the door he rammed through it with a shoulder-charge.
The interior was sparsely decorated: a bunch of sleeping rolls were scattered around on the floor, and there were sounds of chanting coming from below. No time to find a way down. Jace cut with three, rapid slashes through the floor and fell with the cut-out piece of the building, landing in the basement level.
The cultists had tunneled deeper into the rock as there was an even lower chamber made of rough rock, hewn from the walls. Jace felt his stomach church as he saw bodies: dozens of them: mangled, ripped to bits, strewn all over the room. Three individuals stood before a complicated array of magical runes. They were all wearing robes, and the leader appeared to be older than the other two.
Jace immediately jumped down to the lower level and ran forward, ready to decapitate all three. But the world shook once more…and reality tore asunder.
The corpses all around Jace vanished, and time seemed to freeze around him. Just like with Cosmogenic Merging back on Earth when the world was first incorporated into The Cosmic System. Damnit! I can’t move!
Jace felt his heart beating in terror, rapidly, wildly pulsating with fear as space right in front of him distorted and split apart. The old man in the robes let out a cry of delight, screaming out, “Yes! The truth of what lies beyon-” only to be cut off as an enormous, clawed appendage grabbed his skull and dragged him, screaming, into a space filled with twisted screams and the echoes of agony.
The two apprentices seemed to move in slow motion away from the portal, but two more clawed appendages reached out and grabbed them, crushing them and pulling them into the portal. Xera’s voice came out of Ollie’s mouth, “That’s the Astral Verge! I’m doing my best to override whatever localized stasis: damnit!”
Jace felt a little bit of motion return to him as he began to shift his body back and away from the threatening claws that reached out from the portal towards him. But he felt one grip around him and dragged him forward. Oh, hell no! He launched his Ghostlight Grapnel: which thankfully seemed to follow the laws of reality, still. It tethered him to the wall, and he felt the claws trying to pull him back.
“Ollie, activate the Verge Protocol!”
Ollie flew in front of Jace’s face and grabbed him by the temples, “This is going to be weird!” He flew through Jace’s head and into his head. Jace could feel Ollie swimming around in his skull occupying the same space as his brain, and the NICIF recognized the new addition of an internal AI. There was a sense of calm and a soothing coolness that chilled the inside of his skull that was oddly comfortable.
Okay, we were saving this for when you entered the Astral Verge at Tier 10, but we have to do it now.
You’re in my head?
Yup! This is called the Verge Protocol. It’s how Xera planned to have you move around in the Astral Verge. Only possible since you have the full Cosmic Infusion at maximum Rank. Now give me a second…
Jace felt his body come back under his control, despite the rest of the world still seeming to be in stasis. He swung his sword across the clawed hands, chopping partway through them. They recoiled away, letting him go: and more claws emerged from the portal, gripping the edges and pushing them aside to let the body through.
Xera’s voice came over the comms, “An Astral Demon! You have to kill it. Now!”
Quinn watched, frozen in horror from her console. Xera’s voice came over her comms, “Level up and get Skills to buff Jace; more Stratagems. Now! Use the Artifact (Equipment) Boon: screw it, I’ll do that myself.”
Quinn wanted to reply, but instead her bionic brain overrode her emotions and helped her focus. Okay. Levels. I have 20,880 Stardust just like the other three. That’s eight levels. All eight into Stratagem.
Another message popped into her vision first, before she could do her level up.
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[Using Boon: Artifact (Equipment).]
[Manifesting.]
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The interface on Quinn’s arm shifted entirely. The glimmer of light-blue Stardust covered her forearm, and after a few seconds faded away to reveal a slim duplicate of Xera’s wrist pad. “This is a Reality Interface,” Xera explained. “It’s just like a Broker Interface but way more efficient. Plus, it will allow you to use your Celestial Observer without energy cost, along with all other Coordinator Skills. And the once per day Skill called Reality’s Order: which will let you shut tears in reality like that one. Use it, now!”
“Using it!” Quinn shouted as she focused on the portal. She saw a monstrous, demonic creature come through. Demon was the only word she could use to describe it. A horrific monstrosity that appeared humanoid with hulking shoulders, a horned, spiked head, and wicked bone-like protrusions all along its body. Come on. Reality’s Order!
To her satsifaction, the portal shut. Xera’s voice came over the comms, “Hurry up and level! Now! Use every Skill you have to empower Jace!”
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Name: Quinn Cipher (Aspirant, Tier 6)
Power [Class Level]: Star [Broker <Celestial Coordinator> 100] / Exoplanet [Reality Strategist 12]
Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Broker's Instinct (Rank 8), Broker's Contract (Rank 20), Broker's Fee (Rank 16), Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Magic World Interface (Rank 10), Magitech World Interface (Rank 10), Technology World Interface (Rank 10), Other Realm Interface (Rank 5), Celestial Observer (Rank 1), Coordinator's Critical Gaze (Rank 6), Coordinator's Warning System (Rank 5), Stratagem (Rank 11) [Mobility][Obliteration][Bulwark][Grounded][Resolved][Chaos Strike][Shattered Views][Slip Away], Reality's Order (1/day)
Stardust: 880
Equipment: Reality Interface, Broker's starting gear, Webwalker Implants, Pheracorp Bionic Brain Mk. 1, Pheracorp Bionic Eyes Mk. 1
Boons: None
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Stratagem (Rank 4) - Increases all Stratagem durations by 30 seconds (to 1 minute duration).
Stratagem (Rank 5) - Unlocks the 'Grounded' Skill Evolution
Stratagem (Rank 6) - Unlocks the 'Resolved' Skill Evolution
Stratagem (Rank 7) - Increases all Stratagem durations by 30 seconds (to 1:30 duration)
Stratagem (Rank 8) - Unlocks the 'Chaos Strike' Skill Evolution
Stratagem (Rank 9) - Unlocks the 'Shattered Views' Skill Evolution
Stratagem (Rank 10) - Increases all Stratagem durations by 30 seconds (to 2-minute duration)
Stratagem (Rank 11) - Unlocks the 'Slip Away' Skill Evolution
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[Evolution Name: Grounded.]
[Effect: Stratagem marked allies cannot be moved against their will.]
[Evolution Name: Resolved.]
[Effect: Stratagem marked allies cannot be subjected to mind-altering, reading, or influencing effects.]
[Evolution Name: Chaos Strike.]
[Effect: Stratagem marked allies damage is altered to that of the target's least resistant variety.]
[Evolution Name: Shattered Views.]
[Effect: Stratagem marked allies are shrouded by illusory duplicates that partially overlap with their real body.]
[Evolution Name: Slip Away.]
[Effect: Stratagem marked allies are incredibly difficult to detect.]
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Quinn rapidly fired off her Stratagem, stacking every single Skill Evolution and immediately triggering them on Jace. Additionally, she activated every Coordinator Skill at her disposal. She was glued to her monitor as she watched the creature approach him. It was a harbinger of destruction and chaos that shook her to her core, and she could do nothing more now but watch the scene unfold.
