Damon's Ascension

The Vanguard Team stepped through a portal, reappearing in the main floor of the casino which was now a little more crowded as Pre-Chaos species form other parts had come over to witness the battle royale.

Seeing the Post-Chaos humans coming out unscathed, the faces of those spectating were not too good. They cursed the powerful abilities of this group, which were frankly too broke and unfair because what was this outcome?

Nyros himself was scowling heavily, but not that much. After all, he knew that these creatures likely had abilities given the way they moved, along with their confidence, so his goal was to dig out what those abilities were.

Luckily, he had managed to do just that for a few of them, so his eyes began darting around as he calculated how to keep this team here forever after the next wager.

Meanwhile the triumphant Vanguard Team congratulated each other through their mental link and felt a lot more confident about their chances in exiting this hidden area. Damon stepped forward and stared down Nyros, his smile cold.

"Our winnings, if you will." He demanded.

Nyros snapped out of his calculations and managed a thin smile, nodding. "Of course, to the victor goes the spoils."

He clapped his hand and another humanoid being wearing a valet's outfit - which was the same as a human female with normal features but had dark grey skin and two small horns on her forehead - appeared while pushing a large tray towards Nyros.

Nyros nodded and unveiled what was on the try, showing two plates. One had orange, semi-translucent card-like blocks layered over each other, numbering exactly eleven while the other had a slew of items of various shapes and sizes laid together.

"The wager was all your skills and items, and our return was a single skill or item to match one of the ones you already possess." Nyros began as he picked up one of the items on the tray and tossed it over to Damon.

Damon caught it and inspected it, noting it was a pistol holster that was old fashioned in design.

Nyros continued. "We pre-selected items based on what you all have, and they will complement one of your already present items, either enhancing them or completing them."

[Void Holster - Auxiliary Tool.]

[Rank: D]

[Details: This is a special holster that can house any small to medium projectile weapon of the energy class, charging the weapon up to its max capacity while holstered using ambient energy. The longer an energy weapon spends in the holster, the higher the chance that it might upgrade in rank along with the holster, but this chance if very low.]

Damon hummed and took out his old Energy Flintlock that carried him through his early days in the African Essence instances. It was still quite strong as a D rank weapon and still had utility for him, but he hardly used it since his own personal power ballooned.

Damon placed it within the holster and noted that it fit perfectly within, the holster slightly shrinking to fit the flintlock, while the space between the shaft of the gun and the edge of the holster's internal walls glowed with a gentle green light, likely infusing it with energy.

Damon had a thought and checked something.

'What are the chances that the Energy Flintlock can be upgraded by the Void Holster?'

[Not a valid criteria.]

Damon raised an eyebrow and realized his mistake. His Probability Manipulation could only influence outcomes of process and actions, not omissions or states of being.

Damon made a mistake by asking about a static fact as his ability only worked on things that involved doing something, not things that already were.

He rephrased himself.

'What are the chances that the upgrade process will succeed if I use the Void Holster for 1 second?'

[Objective chances are currently 3%.]

Hm, that was actually surprisingly good. For just a second of use, he had a 3% chance and given the way the holsters ability was worded, it should theoretically continue to increase the longer he used it, so there was no need to rush the upgrade of the flintlock, it seemed to be something that would occur in due time.

He put away the holstered flintlock and glanced at the others who also received their toys one by one from Nyros. Damon had a general idea of everyone's loadout, but he paid particular attention to Felicia, which was a small bucket of black liquid.

Walking over to her side, Damon looked at it and inspected what was contained within.

[Refined Dark Essence - Special Item.]

[Rank: ?]

[Details: This is a specially distilled essence of dark matter that can fuse with any object to enhance its power and grant it unique effects that are generally in a positive direction. It is one of the foundational building blocks of Bright Realm societies and used for basic construction everywhere.]

Damon and Felicia were left silent by this. One of the foundational building blocks of the society in this realm? So there was confirmation that the Bright Realm had its own 'beings' like how their home universe did, which was theorized by many researchers and thinkers of the IUAS.

If so, then where were they located? Or rather, where were they, the explorers of their Post-Chaos universe currently situated within the Bright Realm? How far were they from the 'normal civilization and was that place also split into sectors with rules?

So many questions, so little answers.

Felicia held the bucket with both hands, tilting it slightly as the thick black liquid swirled lazily inside like sentient tar.

Despite its ominous hue, there was no malevolence emanating from it. Rather, it radiated a strange warmth, like rubbing a sleeping dragon's belly with the palm of your hand.

She furrowed her brows in thought, clearly analyzing how best to make use of such a strange reward.

"It's probably meant for your Psychic Shards. The description implies it works on physical mediums." Damon said calmly beside her, hands behind his back as he examined her expression.

Felicia nodded slowly. "I agree. The shards adapt based on psychic force and intent, and this… refined dark matter seems like it could evolve them into more stable constructs. But before I fuse it, I want to calculate how to get the most utility out of it."

Damon's lips curled upward slightly. "You're not planning to use Quantum Analysis on it, are you?"

Felicia met his gaze, her smile sly. "Of course I am."

He gave a soft laugh. "Of course."

Around them, the rest of the Vanguard Team was busy checking out their new items with varying degrees of interest and excitement.

Kyle was grinning ear to ear as he spun two silver rings around his fingers. "Dual Echo Bands! Apparently, if I clap with these on, I can create multiple vibration loops at once. Guess I'll be trying out shockwave juggling now."

Levi had received a simple vial with red liquid swirling inside. "Blood Resonator. Improves the strength of my ability based on nearby hostile blood pressure. That's… gruesome."

Henry snorted, inspecting a mask-like attachment he'd slotted over his left eye. "Replicant Lens. Records the last skill I see used, stores it for thirty seconds. Why am I being relegated to copycat?"

Bane grunted, holding what looked like a furred belt with a gem embedded in the front. "Primal Tether. Supposedly lets me 'mark' a creature and redirect its focus to myself. Might be useful for taunts or drawing aggro."

Connor raised a brow, crouched beside a black obsidian dagger with shimmering blue runes. "Void Fang. Shadows coat the blade with every swing. I can already feel the synergy with Shadow World."

Protizen Echo's new armor plating simply clicked and unfolded once before returning to its original form.

"Upgrade acknowledged." He said in a monotone, as if he'd expected this all along.

Xela, Nicholas, and Marshal received items they seemed to appreciate, but none of them bore direct relevance to their combat style. Nicholas had a golden scroll, Xela received a crystalline seed, and Marshal… was currently swinging a heavy silver baton back and forth, looking pleased.

Back with Felicia, she had finally finished running her calculations.

"So, I discovered something quite thrilling." She said, eyes sparkling as she looked up at Damon.

"Oh?" Damon raised an eyebrow with interest.

"When I used Quantum Analysis on my own Telekinesis before, the calculations amplified how efficiently I could move matter, from weight, to trajectory, and to internal cohesion. But with this dark essence... I ran a projection."

She lifted one shard from her belt pouch and held it just above the surface of the swirling black liquid.

"If I fuse even 10% of this into one shard and focus on long-range manipulation, the projected strength increase is… 320%. But if I focus on precision instead of strength, the control fidelity jumps to 580%."

Damon let out a soft whistle. "So you can either punch holes in tanks or thread a needle from a mile away."

Felicia nodded. "Exactly, and if I apply the analytical boost while using the upgraded shard…"

She paused dramatically.

"It turns into something even more frightening, a true multiplicative effect. Not two plus two equals four, but more like… two times twenty."

Damon's gaze turned sharp. "A composite scaling ability, then. One that allows recursive reinforcement."

Felicia smiled, proud. "Yes. So much so that if I used Quantum Analysis just to guide my Telekinesis and do not actively attack, I could mimic most high-level machine precision systems. I could perform delicate surgery, separate chemical bonds, or disarm a bomb blindfolded."

Damon looked at her with undisguised admiration. "You're wasted as just a support."

She chuckled. "Well, that's why I plan to become more."

With a gleam in her eye, Felicia slowly dipped the first Psychic Shard into the bucket.

The black essence surged upward like it had been waiting, coating the shard in layers of obsidian silk. It hardened, and then…

SHWIIM!!!

A faint pulse of psychic energy radiated outward that made Damon's skin tingle and so did everyone else.

Kyle turned from his rings. "What the hell was that?"

Nicholas's mental voice echoed across their link, dry but impressed. "Felicia just made something… impressive."

Damon folded his arms. "And she's just getting started."