Dark Matter Ascension

"Why did it have to be a pit full of salt?" Dee asked as she stood at the farthest end of the chamber.

Greg was knee-deep in salt that was alight with flame; which did nothing to Priam's barriers, thanks to them being powered by Gigastar as an Ascended Power source. "At least it's just boiling salt," Greg replied in a shout. "The stuff superheated becomes sticky. Without Priam this would be a pain in the butt!"

Priam shouted out, "You're welcome!"

Greg got to the far end of the room and grabbed the sword from the holder it was resting on. "And just like that, another one of Anathema's bits of (Equipment). How come this is so easy?"

"It isn't," Quinn replied over the comms. "Well, to a non-Aspirant or Ascendant. These trials would be a lot harder without your Skills. Head back to the temple with the portal. Jace discovered something."

Jace got back to the temple and greeted Hualong. "There are some big creatures here," he commented.

She opened one of her enormous eyes, "Ah, you saw the leviathans. Marvelous, enormous creatures. Did you know that far beneath the dirt of this world is an ocean? It gets warmer the closer one gets to the inner, hollow core – but that is how those mammoth creatures maneuver about to different regions to fight for dominance."

"A hollow core?" Jace asked.

"Oh, yes. That is where Anathema kept his retreat. Supposedly he had a way to get there – but that has been lost to time."

What could be in the hollow core of a planet? Jace thought. He was brought out of those thoughts as he saw the kite beginning to descend. His allies landed and Dee put the kite in her TPSB. "Hey, you're back."

"We found a sword!" Priam said. He also tapped a brand-new staff, "And I got a staff!"

Dee tapped the side of her chitinous head, "I got the eye."

Greg held up the sword, "I'm going to hold onto this since you've got a nice weapon already, and this thing will give me that once-per-day Skill shut down."

Jace stood up, "Fine by me. That leaves what parts?"

"Both legs and the arm," Quinn replied. "Jace, want to share your findings?"

Jace nodded and began leading the group up the stairs, explaining the process he had gone through with the meditation to gather ambient Stardust. He ended with, "…Priam should stay here since he can gather far more than the rest of us. We three can go out and get the remaining Anathema parts. Plus, Quinn still has stuff to sell, so we are biding our time anyways."

Priam looked around at the large temple and grinned, "I'm okay with that! Meditating is something I'm good at. But how about Dee and Greg? Without my barriers…" he trailed off.

Dee shrugged, "Plorps are tough. Plus, Greg is a monster of a man, now." That earned a chuckle from Greg as Dee continued, "We'll be fine. Go get yourself some relaxing meditation, bunny boy." She scratched Priam's head as he sat down on a cushion.

Xera's voice came over the comms – but only to Jace. "I investigated this hollow core. It was a sanctum for the man who invented the Anathema items. We should investigate that place once you have the remaining parts. I'll figure out how to get you down there – likely, it'll be swimming through the lower strata of the world and this enormous ocean. Big monsters down there. Leviathans that literally wrap around the world."

Jace felt fear course through him. That big? How would it even live? What does it eat?! All those questions rattled around in his head, but he kept them to himself. Xera wouldn't send me on a suicide mission – I'm too valuable to her. That gave him a sense of reassurance.

Greg looked at Jace, "We going to head out then? Find these other three parts?"

Jace nodded, "Let's head out. Have fun, Priam." The bunny boy did not acknowledge Jace, already deep in a trance. And he could see the flickers of Stardust manifesting around him. He waved for Dee and Greg to follow him, and the trio got onto the kite. Greg at the center, with Jace and Dee on the sides to balance out the weight. Greg used his foot to control the device, and the trio lifted off into the skies.

Priam had settled into a trance with ease. Meditation was second nature to him, and he had sunk into the spiritual realm of this world with ease as if he was taking a refreshing dip in a pool. He was seated upon a rock in a placid lake. He had envisioned the sucking power of quicksand as his dad had told him about, and he willed that funnel of energy to open up.

A small, green dragon flew up to him. Hualong in miniature form. "Well, you are proficient at cultivating your spiritual energy."

Priam beamed at the compliment. "Yes, ma'am. I've got a high soul energy coefficient. My clan puts dead gods to rest." He looked around, "I prefer deserts, but this place is nice enough."

Hualong laughed lightly, "You, child of Fernaid, are uniquely suited to this place given this soul energy you speak of. Keep meditating, and I will leave you be. Perhaps you will be able to break past your limits as you are not tied into the System to the same extent as your friend Jace."

"We aren't supposed to call him that. It's Wraith," Priam replied.

"X has bound me to secrecy via contract through this Quinn," Hualong replied. "It is safe with me."

That brought Priam some relief in this inner world, and he nodded. "Well, I'll have to choose Cosmic Infusion soon enough if I want to help my friends fight Troxanir."

"An Astral Demon, from what I have been told by X, attacks the soul directly with several Skills. I would not be surprised if you, given your unique bloodline, and choice of Advanced Class, could protect Souls."

"Well, I'll meditate and suck up all this Stardust that I can!"

Hualong nodded, "I leave you to it." She flew off into the distance.

Priam sighed and resumed his state of inner peace, finding his calm place with ease as he coalesced more Stardust.

Jace cut through the stone door with ease before kicking it in. Greg was right behind him, and Dee just behind Greg. "This is the type of stuff you've been dealing with?" Jace asked.

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Dee replied, "Yeah. It's kind of boring, honestly. Not a lot of threats we've had to face. Nothing really challenging."

"I know a lake with leviathans the size of a bridge," Jace replied with a chuckle. "I'm sure that would be an interesting challenge for you." He glanced back and saw Dee's eyes go wide with excitement. "But they were all tagged orange – Stardust only. Though something that big would probably give you a heaping load of the stuff."

She clapped her hands with enthusiasm, "We should go there right now. Screw finding these Anathema body parts! I want to blow up some giant leviathans!"

Greg sighed, "This is what I've been putting up with," he muttered. "Dee, you need to calm down a bit," he said addressing her. "Given the size Jace describes…your strongest blast would probably just piss it off."

She shook her head, "I'd like to try anyways!"

"After we get these body parts," Jace replied. "We can go give it a look. But I think once you see their size, you'll agree it might not be a smart idea. There's only so much a small thing can do to something that big."

The stone chamber they entered was tight and cramped. Jace saw the telltale signs of trapped panels along the floor. "Void Shield (Rank 6)," he stated. Walking forward, he activated all of the traps and the bolts of magical energy, slicing blades, ricocheting needles covered with toxin were all instantly vaporized upon touching the shield. Walking over to the stand on the far end of the room, Jace grabbed the arm. "Anathema Arm number two," he stated. Glancing down at his grapple arm, he frowned. "I don't want to replace my mobility from the grapple line."

Dee raised her hand, "I've got a few Rare Boons I've been holding onto. And Quinn has some also. Maybe you can get a grapple (Augmentation) for it?"

Jace walked back through the trap room – suffering the hail of attacks with no issue – as he returned to his allies. "If you're okay with it."

Dee nodded, "I don't mind. I don't have much use for Boons except for maybe some Skill Evolutions down the line. But I'd rather funnel the Boons to you if it is going to increase our likelihood of beating Troxanir."

Jace felt touched by that sentiment and glanced over at Ollie, who was floating next to him alongside Greg's Wayfinder Darrin. "I know (Augmentations) are somewhat random, but that you can guide them a bit. Think we can get this arm attached and a grapple also linked on?"

"Better idea," Ollie replied. "How would you like three arms?"

Jace blinked a few times in confusion, "Huh?"

"We can move the Guatch Grappler to your back and then socket the Anathema Arm where it was."

Greg let out a brief, barking laugh. "That would be funny. And it's not a bad idea. More arms mean more weapons."

"It also means I'll look like a freak," Jace replied. "I don't want an arm sticking out of my back all the time!"

Ollie shrugged, "That's your choice. We can try the (Augmentation) route."

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[Gift Received: Rare (Variable) Boon.]

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Jace held the Anathema Arm in his hands, "So how do I attach this? I've only ever done it with the doctor, or through a Boon."

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[We got you covered, boss!]

[Receding armor, removing NICIF…ready!]

[Just rip your arm off and hold the new one up to the socket.]

[We'll do the rest!]

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Jace felt all sensation leave his right arm as it became numb, and the armor receded back to reveal his Guatch Grappler underneath. He reached up to the shoulder joint and gave it a tug. "Okay. Bad angle. Greg? Mind ripping my arm off?"

"What?" Greg asked with bewilderment in his voice.

"You heard me." Jace held his arm out. "Give it a nice, strong rip."

"If you're sure…" Greg grabbed with both hands, put a foot onto Jace's torso, and yanked hard. Jace felt a weird, sucking sensation as the arm was ripped away. He took the Anathema Arm and put it up to the socket, and he felt the NICIF pour out of his shoulder. It took hold of the prosthetic and socketed it snugly into place before integrating the new limb. The NICIF surged down into the limb, and Jace felt it as if it was his own natural arm. The armor grew over it.

Greg held up the grapple arm. "This thing worth anything?"

His Wayfinder nodded, "Someone else could graft it onto themselves with the help of a physician like Jonsar back in Khrox."

Greg shrugged and handed it back to Jace, "I'm good. How about you, Dee?"

Dee shrugged, "I don't need it."

Jace put it into the TPSB, "That gives me another use of Arbiter's Anathema each day?" he asked.

"Correct," Ollie replied. "Now let us use that (Augmentation), and I'll nudge things System-side to try and get you a grapple."

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[Using Boon: Rare (Augmentation).]

[Target Equipment: (Thrice-Judged) Anathema Arms.]

[Augmenting.]

[Result: (Thrice-Judged / Soul Tether) Anathema Arms.]

[Description: The Soul Tether (Augmentation) functions as a soul-based magic grapple line. It does not require a tether point and can be affixed to any point in localized space. There is no physical line, as it is formed of soul-based magic.]

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"I can grapple…anywhere?" Jace launched the grapple line to a point in space above Greg's head, and he saw a gold and black cord fire out to that point in space. "Oh, that is awesome!"

"What is?" Greg asked.

"Can you not see it?" Jace asked.

"Nope," Dee replied. "You just held up your arm, and then said it was awesome."

Jace released the grapple, and the line faded to nothingness. "That gives me great maneuverability that is unpredictable." He looked over to Dee, "We know the location of the next place?"

"Yup," she replied. "Quinn's been using her Boons for that."

Quinn replied over the comms, "That's right. I've got the location of both legs ready to go, and two spare Uncommon (Variable) Boons in case of emergency."

Greg turned towards the exit and led the trio out to the large, circular stone platform they had landed. Dee pulled out the kite, and the trio took off to the skies once more.

Quinn glanced over at Xera, "I've got the last few sellers ready. We should have quite a bit of Stardust – but Greg is still behind."

Xera frowned, "I know. The Class Reset was the correct move for him. I'm hoping that when I find this route to the world's hollow core, that the group can defeat a few of these world-spanning leviathans-"

"Okay, but how?" Quinn interrupted. "They are people-sized, and the world's size…I mean those things are enormous! One of them is the size of our moon's circumference! It's like stabbing an elephant with a toothpick!"

Xera shook her head, "I know. It is a large task to ask of them. But one of those creatures would easily be a hundred-thousand Stardust. Plus, Jace has enough Stardust stored to achieve Tier 9. That puts him above any creature on that world. That means his (Terrifying) Augmentation to the All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes should make any foes easy to dispatch."

Quinn tapped her stylus on her lower lip as she thought aloud, "Why not just go the easier route with this meditation thing? It looks like it works."

Xera's face became a scowl, "Fucking magic," she whispered before returning to a normal tone. "I hate magic. It's so nebulous. Now we've got three types – pure, divine, and soul. One of those doesn't even have the proper means to be integrated without me getting past Troxanir to perform exterior maintenance." She rubbed her temples, "For all I know, Harkon Secundus might have been classified correctly back when it was first integrated…but it could be considered higher Tier."

Quinn frowned, "So Jace's eyes might not work on these planet-encircling leviathans."

"Possibly," Xera replied. "Perhaps stealth is more appropriate. He has Void Stalker and can cloak the group with it. But I do agree, having Priam meditate is quite effective. He has harvested a nice amount of Stardust so far."

"There has to be a limit," Quinn replied. "The ambient soul energy or however it works being condensed down; it has to have a limit."

"I've spoken to Hualong, and she has stated that is the case. Soon enough, that locale will be tapped dry, and Priam will have to go through The Cosmic Corridor, enter a different portal in that black transition space, and go to a different temple with a Divine Beast. But he could just hop around the world like that." Xera chuckled and her demeanor lightened as she shook her head. "Bunny hopping around the world."

Quinn's frown didn't leave her face as messages popped up from Mizarion.

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[Long time no talk.]

[Listen, I need your help. Well, you and your faction.]

[I've got a revolt on my hands. Levi wants to split off and form his own coalition.]

[We might schism. Levi needs to be taught a lesson.]

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Quinn forwarded the message to Xera, "Thoughts?"

Xera pondered the screen for a few moments before nodding, "I will dig up what I can. If anything, I'll send Greg to deal with it on his own. He is more than capable of handling many Aspirants and Ascendants on his own given his Skills and build – we saw as much on Teresii. For now, we let the rest of my Signers focus on their mission."