Dark Matter Ascension

"Josie! Damage report!" Xera shouted as several alarms went off.

Her primary Wayfinder assistant was manipulating dozens of screens with her phantasmal tentacles, tapping buttons and coordinating the other Wayfinders. "Not good. Eighty worlds, all hit by mass casualty devices in a short span of time – no more than two minutes between the explosions, all told. Numbers are coming in."

Xera's eyes went wide as the numbers ticked upward as more casualties were registered by The Cosmic System as Civilians were snuffed out. Damnit. So many dead. A coordinated attack…who is responsible? She began tasking a few extra Wayfinders to checking over access logs and travel reports through Khrox and The Cosmic Corridor. As their reports came in, the picture became clear.

Troxanir. His followers, given potent Boons that he had been hoarding for millions of years, were going to heavily populated capital cities on all manner of technology-focused worlds, and committing suicide bombing runs. He must be close, she thought, to whatever amount of Souls he needs. Maybe Jace's sudden attack on his real body – accident though it might be – scared him into pulling the trigger on this plot.

She couldn't restrict every single world and transit to and from them, that would be a gross overreach of her tech support powers, and the System would lock out her credentials permanently if she did that. Instead, she began drafting off messages to the local administrators of every world, her implant-enhanced mind able to come up with the appropriate messages for each different faction in fractions of a second.

Every faction, every local admin be it god, Ascendant, or other, was given the same message in almost the same verbiage:

This is X. Troxanir is sending suicide bombers into high population areas. I highly advise that you activate your lockout protocols and prevent anyone from going to or leaving from your world until his plots are thwarted. This threatens the existence of all of your assets, so it is in your best interest to listen. Donations to help the Pulsar Coalition deal with this threat, or donations to the Dark Between Stars will aid in quelling this threat much, much faster.

She watched with satisfaction as the replies came in from all across the System. If they are anything, they are selfish, she thought. All those Ascendants don't want to risk their lives or the lives of those under their control. Factions are the same. She began manually deactivating The Cosmic Corridor's portals to worlds with no direct administrative personnel – worlds where no gods existed for those magic worlds, or worlds where no uplifted technological controller existed for technology worlds.

Lastly, she drafted off a message to the Divine Beasts, the deities of Harkon Secundus:

My Signers are going to need all the help you can send their way. If you know the location of Anathema's Delves, forward them to me, and then I will distribute the information. If you meet the one hunting down creatures, give him aid and allow him to use your portal. Keep vigil, as anyone else who comes through the portal is a dire threat.

Xera leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh of relief. She had done everything she could. It was up to Quinn to sell the various creature parts, and her Signers to gather Stardust and the Anathema, respectively. She turned to her side project, and began making alterations – cutting down the number of drones she would be producing to send through the singularity at the center of the universe. Instead, those factories were tasked to improving the vehicle taken from Deckard Stonewall. A spaceship that Xera was altering to be capable of near-lightspeed travel, and once Jace was aboard, would have the integration relays necessary to amplify his Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Void power manifestations.

"Josie! Keep working on the messages. I need to make a few calls."

"You got it!" her Wayfinder replied.

Jace received a message in his vision. From Xera. It was being shoved into his eye as if it was an annoying sliverscreen popup advertisement.

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[You have to pick up the pace. No more laying around.]

[Troxanir is assaulting worlds. I've put a stop to it, but that won't last forever.]

[Get that Stardust, those creature components for Quinn to sell, and those pieces of Anathema!]

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Jace rolled off the ground and stretched slightly. His allies also picked themselves up. "Well, good luck finding the rest of these Delves," he said.

"We don't need luck when we've got Boons," Priam replied. "I've still got a Common (Information) Boon." He closed his eyes, and a moment later opened them. "Used! I have the location of the next Delve! Greg, get the kite thingy."

Greg tapped his wrist and the TPSB manifested the kite. The trio got on board, and Jace waved at them as they flew off. "And now," Jace muttered, "time to get to work. Void Stalker (Rank 1)." He went sprinting into the undergrowth, shooting out the grapple and pulling himself up into the trees, propelling himself up through the canopy and across the treetops. "Ollie, area scan constantly so I can find the next thing to hunt."

Scanning now, Ollie replied.

Jace saw the outlines in the trees below him – mostly blue, meaning targets he did not need to find, kill, and harvest. But, a few orange outlines caught his attention, and he plummeted through the canopy and landed on a branch as he saw the shapes come into sight. A series of plated creatures, akin to armadillos, were trudging through the undergrowth below. Five of the creatures. They were brimming with a vibrant, yellow energy that billowed into an explosive aura and jumped from one to the next.

Jace dropped down from above, slicing clean through one of them. The thing died instantly as he cut it in half, and the yellow energy surged from its body and split itself evenly between the others. They grew slightly, and turned to face him. But he was already back up in the trees, using his insane movement speed and the grapple to ascend and relying on his Void Stalker to keep him from being detected.

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Repeating the drop attack, he cut into the leading one, and then grappled up once more. The aura surged from the dead creature to the other three, who grew in size and began stomping the ground. Jace had to hold onto the tree as he felt the earth shake and the trees all moved with the motion. They get stronger as they die, he thought, passing on their energy to their nearby allies. Interesting concept. He dropped down a third time, cutting through another.

But this time he could not get up and grapple out of the way before the other two, empowered by their allies' deaths, spun in place and slammed into him. The energy did not hurt Jace, but their strikes did, and he felt his armor crunch inward; the metal protecting his prosthetics but suffering severe damage. With two more rapid slices, he dispatched the two remaining. "Dust them," he ordered.

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[Stardust Acquired: 2,500]

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"Those things die easy for 500 Stardust apiece," he stated as he reactivated Void Stalker (Rank 1) and grappled back up to the trees, scanning for his next target.

Quinn's voice came over the comms, "I'm using one of my Common (Variable) Boons as an (Information) type. Uploading an area map to your HUD. It looks like these things live in an enormous burrow. It should be easy pickings. Close quarters, but they don't have much in the way of physical combat. Oh, and I've got some buyers for the goods so far. Even some prospective buyers who want the turtle components, so fill up and deliver the goods to The Cosmic Corridor ASAP."

"Right," Jace replied as he made for the burrow a few miles away.

Troxanir was pleased. He was on the cusp of having enough Souls. But then he began to hear the reports filtering in. Messages sent to him from his Signers – able to access The Cosmic Corridor and Khrox, but none of the worlds were accessible. Every world had been locked down, save for one called Harkon Secundus. But powerful entities guarded those gateways to the high Tier world.

I accelerated my plans massively, Troxanir thought. But X must have convinced everyone to lock down their worlds. I won't be able to rely on suicide bombers until the locks are lifted…unless…I could try it there. He pulled up a System screen and began sending off a message.

His Signers, sent to the building that X occupied in Khrox. Well, one of them, would attempt to do what had been done on other worlds. Troxanir doubted it would work, but it was worth an attempt while he had the resources.

People will still die. Every second, people die across this universe. I will reach the threshold I require before X's pesky Signers are a problem. And, now that I have the souls of my dead servants protecting my true body in the subspace of The Cosmic System…none can stop me. He cackled with delight.

Soon, he would enter Khrox, and the whole of creation would be laid bare before his might.

Jace made it to the hill that Quinn had described. The creatures were milling all about, and that is when Jace was struck with a thought that made him very upset at himself. He had been taking risks he didn't need to. He had a (Returning) sword. Staying hidden in the treetops, he cocked his arm back and threw. Over and over and over.

The armadillo creatures died in droves as he kept doing his grisly work, and he continued to do so until the hue surrounding them became a blue color. Now, to get them to the other side of the clearing. He threw his sword at a tree across from the mound, and the armadillo creatures went to investigate, letting him jump down and harvest the Stardust.

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[Stardust Acquired: 20,000]

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Grappling back to the trees, he began moving away as he recalled his sword back to his side. "Two levels worth," Jace stated. "Time to level up while I run."

What are you thinking? Ollie asked in his head.

"Future proofing. Whatever Skill I need to use Dark Energy to seal off the singularity at the center of our universe."

That will be one level up. What about the second one?

"Voidsoul. If I'm fighting against the strongest Astral Demon we know about…I want to have my defenses against whatever stuff he might try against me that deals with soul stuff."

Here we go!

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Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 8)

Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage <Wrathblade> 100] / Void [Edge 55]

Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Swordmage Stance (Rank 3) [Astral Annihilator], Dark Matter Dart (Rank 4) [Exploding], Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant], Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10) [Innervating], Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 10) [Siphoning], Void Brand (Rank 1), Wrath's Embrace (Rank 10) [Focused], Ruination Razor (Rank 3) [Wrecking], Raging Cleave (Rank 10) [Echoing Cleave], Aura of Wrath (Rank 11) [Voidflame Vestment], Void Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Void Shield (Rank 6) [Reflecting][Wall][Sphere], Void Beam (Rank 3) [Limited Range][Horizon-Splitter][Piercing], Edge's Intuition (Rank 5) [Danger-Sense], Edge of Possibility (Rank 3), Void Counter (Rank 10) [Storing], Void Step (Rank 10) [Burst], Symbol Shift (Rank 1), Void Removal (Rank 9), Voidsoul (Rank 3), Void Stalker (Rank 1) [Group], The Architect's Gate (Rank 1), Arbiter's Anathema (3/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: 6,065

Equipment: (Returning / Adaptable) Nethaldrim, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard / Repairing) Reaper Armor, (Thrice Judged) Anathema Arm, (Overclocked / Lightfoot) Steelstalker Sabatons, (Terrifying / Sealing) All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes, Primal Hide, (Flexible) Adamantine Skeleton, (Reactive) NICIF, Guatch Grappler, TPSB, survival meals (x100), enhanced canteen, (Restful) Wildercloth tent, Devilsram wool bedroll, Blood-Infused Holy Water (x3)

Boons: None

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The Architect's Gate (Rank 1) - The user's combines the powers of Dark Matter (to create the barrier surrounding Oblivion), Dark Energy (to create the entryway) and Void (to eliminate hostile forces) to form a gate guarding the singularity known as Oblivion at the center of the universe. WARNING - this Skill requires Tier 10 to activate.

Voidsoul (Rank 3) – As Rank 2, and the user may absorb two hostile effects each day with the same energy recovery and limitations.

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"Future proofing accomplished," Jace said as he glanced at his level. 200,000 Stardust to hit level 75, and then it'll be another 500,000 to level 100. A huge amount. No wonder almost no one goes above Tier 8.

And, Ollie added as the otter could read Jace's thoughts, most of them do not cap out their regular Class to get the free Tier at level 100. The average Ascendant Tier right now across The Cosmic System is Tier 5, but factions are pushing for their Aspirants to become Tier 6 or 7 before taking their Ascension Trial to properly join the faction's ranks.

Jace nodded, "Makes sense. A whole lot less Stardust required. I mean, what could 500,000 Stardust buy me?"

A whole planet. A decent one. Not the nicest – Earth, for context; if the Star Council tried to sell it to another faction or an Ascendant, would cost around 5 million Stardust. For 500,000 you could purchase a small planet like Nihilethelea.

"Yeah, that's a lot of Stardust for twenty-five levels when there probably isn't a big difference between Tier 9 and 10."

The immortality is why most people go for Ascendant in the first place. That, or the power – and if your intent is to live a good life, you do not need to be extremely powerful. Just stronger than most.

Jace nodded as he kept swinging and eventually hit the edge of the forest. Vast grasslands extended before him, and he could clearly see the gorgeous night skies, the floating mountains drifting about, and the shape of flaming birds flying high aloft. Out amongst the grasses, he saw thousands of outlined creatures. Mostly blue, meaning he shouldn't kill them, but a decent amount of red intermixed. "Lot of things to hunt," he muttered.

Scanning the shapes, I can refer to the Cosmic System's database. These are called Corcelati. Big snakes. I mean, huge. They could eat you whole!

Jace dropped down from the trees, rolled with the landing, and began moving through the head-high grasses, feeling like he was back on the first world he had started his Aspirant Trial on. Surrounded by predators, in a grassland, at night. He smiled a wry smile at the coincidence.