Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 72B2 - : Showing thanks and showered with sincerity
Jace easily made his way through the city streets. There was tumult as crowds gathered to look at the obliterated remains of a townhouse. The whole combat had taken less than a minute, and Jace was still coming down from the adrenaline high. He shifted his gaze to Ollie on top of his head, “I didn’t know you could manipulate my brain.”
“Yup! Thank Cosmic Infusion, and your nanites. It is handy having the ability to ‘on switch’ your anger to really empower <Wrathblade>, is it not?”
It’s weird is what it is. But… “Yeah, it is handy,” Jace replied. “Is that going to be a regular thing; you entering my head and then guiding from in there?”
“It is a handy tool,” he replied. “But not necessary all the time. What it does let me do is fully merge you with the Cosmic System.”
“That’s how I was able to break the stasis?”
“Correct! The whole computational capability of a universe-wide supercomputer calculated infinite workarounds until we found a solution that would break you from the Astral Verge’s stasis effect.”
Jace kept walking towards the portal leading back to Khrox. “If I went to the Astral Verge, then I’d be in that type of stasis constantly?”
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“Yup. I would have to be merged when you are out-of-universe limits.”
Good to know. The marketplace was busy, but Jace moved undetected through the space. He spied a handful of Black Hole users: not Signers for the conclave: and a few others of varying Cosmic Power types. Seems like my display at the bottom of the cliffs did not get the message across.
“Is there a way Xera could pull some strings and get these bounties Deckard placed removed?”
“Nope,” Quinn said over the comms having listened in to the conversation. “She’s tried, and Deckard has holed himself up on his home world which doubles as his faction headquarters. It’s under tight lockdown on the non-Cosmic Corridor side.”
“How about everyone at home? They all doing good?” Jace asked as he gave the Aspirants a wide berth and entered The Cosmic Corridor proper. The flood of various species going by and then popping away as the warping system did its job was not as much of a marvel to Jace, now that he’d experienced it so much.
“Yes, they are fine,” Quinn replied. “Where are you headed?”
Jace focused on Nihilethelea and thanks to Xera putting him and the other Dark Between Stars Signers into a priority queue, he was instantly warped to the front of the portal entrance. “I want to thank them,” he replied, as he walked into the doorway. He emerged in the same town square that he had entered a little under a month prior.
No longer a lifeless town; the Nethal species were thriving in their home world. Jace saw people socializing, performing tasks, playing games, using spell-like Skills, and just enjoying their lives. Jace de-cloaked and waved, raising his voice a bit. “Hi. I’m the guy who got you your world back. Do you all have a leader, or something?”
Quinn groaned into the earpiece, “You could have just asked me. I know this stuff.”
Several Nethal turned to Jace and bowed at the waists. One approached him: an elderly looking one for the long-lived species and smiled graciously. “Ah, Flicker. Yes, we have a council who rules.” He pointed at the familiar-to-Jace castle where he had fought the Archmage Ascendant. “Are you staying for a while? I’m sure they would arrange a celebration-”
“No, thank you,” Jace replied as he used his grapnel and Dark Energy Mine to remove gravity and launch to the castle. There were some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ that trailed after him from the crowd as he sailed over the buildings and re-latched with his grapnel to keep himself from flying off into the sky.
Less than ten seconds later and he was standing in front of the enormous castle gates that were wide open. There were no guards: just people dressed in attire like what the Archmage Ascendant had been wearing, fancy robes with some jewelry. After a few pleasantries, Jace was led to a large, circular chamber opposite the feast hall he had completed the Dungeon Run at.
There were five Nethal who were seated around a table, chatting idly about some business that Jace did not care to tune in for. They all looked up at him when he entered, and Jace waved. “Hi. I’m Flicker. I just wanted to thank you all.” He pulled Nethaldrim from the sheath and held it horizontally. “The Boon you gave me has been very valuable and kept me alive. And…well…I felt like you should know that without this, I would have died a few times.”
The council all dipped their heads in respect, and one who looked to be the primary figurehead stood up. “Flicker…thank you for giving our world back to us. Yholl was a difficult figure to deal with, and when he ousted his own species for the sake of personal power…well…let us say that there are eternally grateful.”
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Jace sheathed the blade, “It wasn’t just me. Priam, my ally, helped.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?”
Jace shook his head, “Unless you wanted to just give me a whole bunch of Stardust or some Boons? No. I am just here to say thank you.”
The council looked at each other and muttered something that Jace couldn’t quite pick up, but the leader’s gaze stayed fixed on Jace. “We could take up a collection,” one of the counselors stated. “See if anyone would like to volunteer Stardust to the savior of the Nethal species.”
“Or” the central counselor said as he sat down again, “We can look at another option. Is your Wayfinder present?”
Ollie flew out from Jace’s cloak, “Yup!”
The councilor nodded, “We could attempt to infuse your Aspirant, Flicker here, with the power of the Nethal’s potent spellcraft. But I do not know how The Cosmic System would react to that.”
Ollie looked at Jace and shrugged, “Let me ask her,” he said as he put his little arms in an X-shape across his face. His eyes went black for a moment, and then snapped back. “She says it will integrate.”
Jace looked past Ollie to the central councilor, “Sure.”
“It must be done at the site of one of the World Pillars. Thankfully, the Pulsar Coalition has ruled with a very gentle touch; just leaving a stationed garrison. And they used a Skill to manipulate the landscape making it much more predictable. Including placing the World Pillars outside of the city walls, which also reset them.” The councilor stood, “Come with me.”
An hour later, Jace was standing next to the one World Pillar he had not claimed: air. The crowd that had built up and followed the councilors was several thousand strong, and they all gathered around the pillar, with Jace and the lead councilor next to the pillar. “Place your palm on the pillar and claim the power within.”
“Ollie?” Jace asked as he put his hand out and touched the pillar. Ollie flew forward and did so as well, and Jace received the notification that he acquired the Archmage Aeromancy Skill. Jace turned to the councilor, “Thanks for that.”
“That is not all, Flicker,” the man replied with a chuckle. “We sensed the presence of the other elements within you already. Now that you have all four that Nethal has to offer…we can improve them.” The man closed his eyes, put a hand on Jace’s shoulder, and then others in the crowd began holding hands and forming a chain of held limbs that connected to the councilor. “Now…we merge them together.”
There was a blinding flash of light that forced Jace to close his eyes, and when he blinked them open, he saw a System message scrolling across his vision.
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[Merging existing pure-magic spell-turned-Skills.]
[Converting merged pure-magic spell to a Skill.]
[…]
[Archmage’s Admixture: once per day, the user may use any elemental spell manifestation, including outside of the four World Pillar elements. This may be done by thought alone and does not require incantation.]
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The councilor withdrew his hand, “There you are. The blessing of the Nethal. A final act of thanks for your deed.” He bowed deeply, and the rest of the Nethal species joined in. It made Jace feel a bit uncomfortable, and he scratched Ollie’s head to distract himself as the elongated bow kept persisting awkwardly.
“Thank you,” Jace finally said as he broke the silence. “This will help, I’m sure.” Being able to do anything…elemental? I’ll have to ask Quinn to come up with a list for me. “Really, thanks a lot.”
The Nethal stood up and went to their city, save for the five councilors. One of them held up their Civilian-marked hand, “We proposed a charitable donation. I am pleased to say that quite a few donated small amounts. As the old saying goes, ‘every little bit helps’.”
Jace chuckled and held up his hand, “We have the same saying on Earth.”
The Nethal councilor gripped his hand and Jace saw the transfer of Boons scroll across his vision.
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[Gift Received: Multiple Boons]
[Common (Variable) Boon x90]
[Uncommon (Variable) Boon x10]
[Rare (Variable) Boon x3]
-----
“Thank you so much,” Jace said as he felt a warm sense of fulfillment fill him up. “This means so much to me.”
“You are welcome. Now, if you will excuse us.” The councilors departed, and Jace looked back at the World Pillar.
“Want me to merge those?” Ollie asked.
“Yes, please,” Jace replied.
“Roger! I can make it into a Legendary (Equipment) and a Rare (Variable) after all is said and done. Want me to do that?”
“Yes, please,” Jace replied as he casually strolled back into the city.
“You did good there, didn’t you?” Quinn asked. “The way they almost revered you was kind of…heartwarming, and awkward at the same time.”
Jace chuckled, “Glad I’m not the only one.”
Quinn’s voice came back more sincere than before, “You…really did make a difference there, right?”
“Priam and I killed an Archmage Ascendant who had taken over the world and kicked out his species. Real piece of work, that guy. Reminded me of the corpos on Earth.” He pointed up to the castle, “That’s where I unlocked my Class Expansion after seeing Priam suffer.” He pointed off to the glacier in the distance, “Almost died to an ambush there.”
Quinn was quiet for a few moments and when it returned it was very calm. Almost unnervingly calm. “That’s…you’ve done a lot in a short time.”
“Really? How long has it been since Earth’s Cosmogenic Merging?”
“Two months and eleven days by Earth timekeeping standards,” Ollie replied.
It’s been such a short time in the grand scheme of things, Jace thought. Less than a half-year and I’ve already gotten together with an alien shark-woman, I’m well on my way towards Tier 10, and I’ve got plenty of years left before I can’t get Chroma back.
That thought brought him some comfort. He could go a bit slower. Enjoy life a bit. Sure, still do what Xera needed; but he could actually have some fun. Spend a few days just hanging out with the group. There is that party that they mentioned on this other world. I should go get Shhiv and the other ladies and escort them with my Cloak. It could be a fun event.
He ran the idea by Ollie, who ran it by Xera, and reported back that Xera advised against it. “I mean, that’s fair,” Quinn said over the comms. “The Conclave and Deckard’s contract are still out there looking for you. Using Shhiv to get to you is what they would do.”
“Can we…could we bring the party to the apartment?”
Ollie put his thumb up, “Yup! As long as they stay on the first floor.”
Jace left Nihilethelea and returned to the apartment, going to the elevator and punching the button to ascend. “Then let’s get ready for a party with some guests.”
