Dark Matter Ascension

Jace finished his gory work and sprinted to find the next Corcelati. I need to figure out a good strategy, he thought, like with the Zifran. A way to kill and harvest them more effectively.

Based on their pattern of attacks, Ollie replied, you should do what you did on this last one – sneak attacks before vanishing. But give more delay between and always aim for a lopping off of the head instead of other parts.

"What about when they do the cheat death and power up stuff?" Jace asked.

That part is going to be trickier, since each would have their own elemental subtype as Quinn alluded to. I would just say a more freed-up use of the Void Counter Skill. Do not be afraid to really stretch your energy reserves here. There are only hostile creatures on this world. No assassins, no bounty hunters. Just you, and your prey.

That sounded good to Jace. No longer the hunted, instead he was the hunter. Just like when he was tracking down those Vyrknadine back on Velenar Prime and figured out how to kill them. Just like when he figured out the pattern for the Zifran on this world. I'll figure out the pattern, he thought, and then I've got this under wraps. But I am curious how many of the things I've harvested so far have gone.

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[Batch Quest: Harvest components from tagged creatures.]

[Current Progress: 5%]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Astral System Integration]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars]

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"I'm still selling," Quinn stated as Jace ran across the plains. "The Current Progress percentage may go up as I sell more and more, since it is based upon total Stardust you require. I've still got buyers I'm finalizing, so expect it to jump up in bursts."

Jace kept jumping up in between sections of sprints and jogging, and he tracked down the next one of the creatures. It was eating something large – some type of cattle equivalent, but Jace couldn't really tell much given the state of the corpse that was being consumed. This is a good chance, he thought, to observe them and see how they eat.

"That should be good," Greg stated as he eyed the hole that Dee had bored into the mountain with her acidic goop.

She pulled back and the man looked down into the chamber below the chute she had just carved. "Think we can squeeze in?" Dee asked. "I mean, I can always just leave my chitin up here and get down if we want."

Greg nodded, his voice curt and gruff. "Sure. Do your thing."

Dee slipped out of her chitin and pushed her slime form through the two-foot-wide tunnel leading down. It was smooth going, and she emerged in an empty, hollow space in the center of the mountain. Clinging to the ceiling, she worked her way to the wall before rolling her mass down to the floor. Who would ever find this place? She thought.

The chamber was bare, with two tunnels leading in either direction. She rolled her goopy form forward, and the tunnel continued straight for a few hundred feet before it ended in a large, stone door. She simply squeezed through a crevice and found her answer. A small room, with a single hole looking down upon the vast land below. Ah, entry by flying only. Interesting. She slipped back through the crack and went the other way.

Past two more doors and she came upon a room full of stone warriors. Intricately carved figures standing at attention. Writing on the wall translated thanks to her Universal Translation and read as "The Arbiter's Rest". A simple sarcophagus stood at the end of the room, tilted slightly upward as if presenting the front of the cover for removal.

The room screamed "trap" to her. Dee had been a thief, a tomb raider, a plunderer; and this place screamed out to her. Opening the comms thanks to the commlink floating in her goop, she called out to her allies. "I think I found it – but there are a lot of stone soldiers. I'm pretty sure they will animate and attack me if I go further."

"You want to come back and open the hole more?" Priam asked. "Get us in there?"

"Sure. I'll head back and do that. Keep a clear line of sight to the hole!" she rolled her form back through the stone doors and got under the entrance tunnel she had bored down. Pointing a little globule of her goop up, she shouted out, "Demolisher's Devastation (Rank 1) [Beam]!" The acidic line arced up into the hole and widened the gap until it was four feet across exactly. "Toss down my chitin!"

Priam poked his head over as Greg tossed her shell down to her. She 'caught' it with her goop and slipped back into it as she stood up. Priam and Greg both hopped down, and flower petals cascaded from their bodies as they descended and landed gently on the ground. "That slow fall thing is handy!" Priam said. "Oh, right." He closed his eyes and a moment later his barriers and the symbol over their heads appeared for his [Contingent] healing Skill. "Ready here!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Greg nodded and took the lead as Dee pointed down the hallway leading to the tomb. The man walked up to the first door and placed a hand on it, pushing it sideways as it rolled into the wall. Continuing, Dee took the second spot in line along the narrow corridor, while Priam took the back. They went through the second door, and finally the third that had the tomb beyond. "This is it!" Dee said as she began to pour energy into her hands. "Just be careful."

Greg chuckled as he pushed the door open, brandishing his Beamblade. "I'm going to be fine," he stated. He walked into the room, and the statues did…nothing. They stood there, weapons in hand. "Well? What's the trigger? Is it like some crappy movie where once we touch the tomb, they awaken?"

Dee frowned, "No clue. Maybe? Trigger conditions are weird on magic worlds. It's not predictable like magitech or technology."

Priam frowned, "The air smells funny. Do you both smell it?" Dee and Greg both shook their heads, and Priam walked over to one of the statues near the entrance as Greg slowly moved into the room. "They smell…rotten, almost."

The stone warrior shed its stone skin, and a nightmarish monstrosity lunged at Priam.

Jace watched with morbid fascination as the Corcelati devoured the cow-like creature. It was a slow process as the snake had unhinged its jaw and moved its form forward to get a good grip on the thing. Then, it reared up, and began choking it down with little up-and-down movements, jostling the prey down the throat. Shortly after finishing its meal, the snake lay down.

This is a good chance to strike, Jace thought. Void Stalker was active already, and he dashed over to the head, lopped it off, and then ran into the grass again.

The grey-skinned creature surged with a white light before the head reattached, and it raised itself up into a coiled position, ready to strike. Jace circled around behind it, dashed out, and cut the head off once more before returning to the brush.

He repeated this another six times, and each time he waited longer and longer between regenerations, the creature unsure of where he would attack from as he kept shifting position. On the seventh time, the creature went through its power up; the white skin hardening to scales as a searing, radiant light surged out from it.

Void Counter (Rank 10) [Storing], Jace thought. The scales lost their luminosity, and he ran in and stabbed up into the top of the mouth, skewering its brain as it collapsed to the ground. It did not have a chance to use any other Skill, unlike the other lightning one. Jace set to the task of butchering it.

And just like that, Ollie commented, you have the pattern figured out.

It's going to speed things up considerably, Jace thought back.

Greg ran over to Priam and intercepted the blow meant for the healer. Aggravating Presence, Bulwark's Defenses, and Eternal Guardian were all active already. The intercepted blow did nothing to him, and he was able to kick the thing away; whatever it was. Bipedal, with the lower half of some type of bird of prey, and upper half covered in glistening, slick, black ichor that dripped over a skeletal frame.

"Undead!" Priam shouted. "Yes! Perfect for me to take out!" he raised up his little metal tube, "Wrath of the Gods (Rank 5)!" The entire room erupted in pure, golden light that melted away all of the statues and the revealed creature before Greg – eliminating the threat in a single fell swoop.

Dee patted Priam on the shoulder, "Good job! That showed them!"

Priam was practically bouncing with joy, "I haven't gotten to obliterate undead in a while!"

Greg chuckled and headed to the tomb. Putting the Beamblade away, he reached out to the lid with both hands and pried it off. It clattered with a tremendous crash to the side of the slightly angled pedestal. Inside was a corpse. Long since dead. But it wasn't really an intact corpse. It was in all types of bits and pieces, with metal replacements for the limbs, where the eyes would be in an avian-shaped skull.

In it's fake-metal-arm's grip was a long shaft of black with golden lines traced upon it. "This the staff thing?" Greg asked as he lifted it.

"Looks like it," Quinn's voice replied over the comms. "Good job – Bo Staff of Anathema acquired."

"I'll hold onto this, if that's okay," Greg said as he registered the Equipment with Darrin. "It will be good having the once-per-day Skill shutdown."

Priam nodded, "Yeah, it makes sense. We also have another arm, two legs, and the sword to find!" He frowned, "I…I'd like one of the Skill shut down things, but I don't want to use a prosthetic. And the sword should probably go to Jace, since I'd bet its an upgrade to his current one."

"I wouldn't advise that," Quinn stated. "Jace has a very useful Skill on that. If anything, Priam should have the Bo Staff, and Greg should get the sword when you find it."

"That makes sense," Greg replied as he de-registered the staff and handed it to Priam. "Now, are we going to climb back out of her? And where is the next Delve?"

"I'm on it right now," Quinn replied. "I'm going to use all these Common (Variable) Boons to find the last four. That leaves me with two sitting around for emergency use."

Priam spoke up after he finished registering his Equipment with his Verge-merged Wayfinder, "What would happen if someone had multiple Anathema items?"

"The uses would stack," Quinn replied. "I would advise that you set aside the right arm and legs for Jace. That would give him six total uses of Arbiter's Anathema. And he'll need all the help he can get. I looked over the logs from Star Father's fight millennia ago with Troxanir…and…" she let out a stressed exhalation. "I don't know how anyone could fight him. But Star Father was only Tier 8. Still, a being with the literal power of stars fueling his body."

Priam led the way towards the tunnel they had dropped down. "It'll be okay. He's got us to back him up! It's not just going to be one on one. We'll be beating up Troxanir's Astral Demon form."

Dee looked up at the tube. "How are we going to climb back up?"

"I lift you two up, then I jump," Greg replied as he put his hands together and knelt. "Dee, you first."

She stepped into his grip and he lifted her to the tube. She used her goop to melt handholds into the rock as she ascended, and Priam clambered up after her. She heard Greg jump and then his huffing as he made his way up after them.

Soon enough, all three were standing atop the mountain. Priam pointed his finger towards the next Delve on the map floating in front of him, "That way!"