Dark Matter Ascension

Troxanir was frustrated. Worlds were still locked down thanks to X's interference. Well, whoever X was did not cause the various portals in The Cosmic Corridor to shut – rather, their warning that went System-wide was. The few that did open their portals after the initial surge of bombings by Troxanir's followers had suffered atrocious fates.

He looked back to his trapped Astral Demon form. It is not enough, he thought as he felt the Souls in him. He had lost quite a bit of progress when whatever-that-thing was that ripped souls out of him. I'm going to be hinging on my Universal Matter stores instead.

That was irksome, as for Astral Demons in their Astral System, Universal Matter was the more potent of the two currencies that enabled one to increase their power. It was highly sought after, and why there were always fierce fights to enter universes and begin to plunder and despoil.

I should have thought of suicide bombers far sooner, he thought. I have so many Signers who could die a second time without issue. Why did I wait millennia to do this? This damnable Cosmic System must be changing me in some unseen way. He shook his avatar's head and looked to a group of Signers – standing at the ready. "My Talent has become re-enabled. Who wishes to attempt an assault on Khrox?"

Every Signer's hand went up in a balled fist, and Troxanir smiled. "Very well. Remember, your location of arrival is random. No more trying to assault X's tower. Instead, as soon as you arrive, use your Boon, and detonate." The Signers all let out various shouts, but one echoing chant was picked up.

"Oblivion Awaits!" Over and over they chanted in a shout.

"Transdimensional Sending (Rank 1)," Troxanir muttered. He felt his Essence reserves dwindle as he sent the huge group of Signers to their destination. But thanks to Khrox's weird location in another dimension of this universe, the targeting would be randomized. If he had been there, then he could send to specific locations.

"Let's see how X deals with that."

Jace woke up immediately as his Edge's Intuition (Rank 5) [Danger-Sense] activated. He bolted from the watery cube and sprinted to the hallway. A figure in black armor was hastily tapping at the wall console, muttering something about Boons.

Void Step (Rank 4), Jace thought as he warped twenty feet to the figure, grabbing them around the torso with both arms and squeezing. They let out a grunt of pain and tried to speak, but could not as Jace practically crushed their torso. "X! Ollie!"

Ollie popped into existence next to Jace, "How did he get in here?"

"He was trying to use the panel," Jace shouted. The figure in front of him began glowing black, "Arbiter's Anathema," Jace growled, and the Skill that was being used was deactivated. "Does X have a prison or something?"

Shhiv appeared at the end of the hall, and Jace looked to her, barking an order. "Ring! Now!"

She nodded and became encapsulated in the white bubble that would protect her from all harm for up to an hour. A second later, she was warped away – Jace assumed by X.

Ollie floated around Jace, "Keep using your Arbiter Anathema the second you detect a Skill being used."

Jace's [Danger-Sense] kicked in again, and he thought Arbiter's Anathema as he shut down whatever Skill the hostile intruder was going to use. A few seconds of the man struggling against Jace's grip, and both were warped into a small, white place. Enormous robotic sentinels stood with guns trained on the figure Jace was holding.

Xera's voice came out of one of the robots, "You're in one of my holding cells. It cannot stop his Skill use, but you can. Put him in the restraint chair." A chair the same white color as the room around them popped up in front of Jace, and he wrestled the captive into the seat, having to use another Arbiter's Anathema charge to keep him from using a Skill. Once the person was forced into the seat, restraints popped out and tightened; pulling him deep into the chair.

Jace finally got a good look at the individual. He looked similar to that Tyul person that Jace had seen on the conference call with the faction leaders – a bird-man. But this one did not take after some tropical bird, this one looked like a bird of prey; a sharp, protruding beak, piercing, furious eyes, and deep, grey feathers protruding from his wing-arms and covering a good portion of his body. He spoke, "You dare stop Troxanir's chosen!"

Jace's [Danger-Sense] picked up again, and he used his fourth out of five charge on Arbiter's Anathema to stop the Skill. "Don't try it," Jace growled. "You come into my fucking home!"

Xera's voice came from the robots as Ollie popped next to Jace. "They warped all over the city and went for the nearest means to interface with The Cosmic System to redeem boons." Her voice was filled with melancholic sorrow, "We lost…a lot of people in this sudden attack. Mostly civilians."

Again, Jace's [Danger-Sense] kicked up, and he used his last Arbiter's Anathema charge. I still have Void Counter, but that is only for ten seconds at a time.

The person before him, Troxanir's Signer, was huffing and heaving. Needles on robotic arms rose from the chair and jabbed into his neck, and the Signer relaxed in their restraints, a happy look spreading along their face. "This will keep him compliant and complacent," Xera stated. "I have to do damage control – I leave the questioning to you and Ollie."

"We are going to keep him here, right? He can't report back to Troxanir."

"Oh, yes. He will be in that restraint chair until you defeat Troxanir. I'll keep him drugged. And your partner is safe and sound – I had to do a sweep of the apartment complex, but it looks clear, and she is back there. Gotta go – damage control is more important right now."

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Ollie flew over to the man in the chair, "Okay, time to question you." A small investigator's cap appeared on Ollie's head, and he was holding a pipe in one of his paws. "What is it Troxanir wants?"

The drugged Signer giggled a little bit, "For everyone to join Oblivion…it is…pretty. So blissful. Eternal…pleasure."

Ollie took puffs from the pipe, and little bits of starlight cascaded up in the place of smoke. "What does he want by detonating all these bombs?"

"Souls…how he levels up in his Astral System."

Jace approached the individual, "He uses both that and Universal Matter, yes?"

"Mhmm…I like feeling like this…" the Signer's head lolled a little bit, and some hidden electrode in the chair must have shocked him, because he jolted upright for a moment.

Ollie looked to Jace with a perplexed look, "Want me to continue questioning, or do you want in on this?"

"Just ask what you think of," Jace replied. He looked to the Signer, "What is your name?"

"Fyord."

"And how long have you been Troxanir's Signer?"

"Mmm…time is funny in Oblivion…A few millennia?"

Ollie's eyes went black as he accessed the System, "Ah, yup, found him. Five-thousand years ago he died according to records."

Jace looked back to the captive, "What is Troxanir, exactly?"

"Astral Demon. Not a Demon Lord…he never told us about how the Astral System works…just that he was from midway down?"

And I know from what Xera told me that the deeper into the Astral Verge a person goes, the more power the Astral Demon that resides there. Sort of like the leviathans on Harkon Secundus. Jace cleared his throat, "What happens to Souls that he uses to level up?"

"They get…consumed…and join Troxanir forever and ever."

That sent chills through Jace. He consumes them? Then he'd consume Chroma! Jace grabbed the man's arms. "How close is he?"

"…Close…ninety-six percent."

Jace felt an icy shard stab into his gut. He looked at Ollie, "We need to get more Stardust, now!"

Ollie nodded, "We'll let other Wayfinders question him on our behalf." Ollie clapped his hands, and a few seconds later, the small sparrow Wayfinder Jace had seen before appeared. "Jace, you remember Valeria, right?"

Jace nodded, "Quinn's Wayfinder, right?"

The bird nodded, "Yup! But I'm a brand-new me! And Quinn put me into The Cosmic System pretty much permanently since she doesn't need me. But that's fine! I got myself a nice reset. I feel so much better now." She flew over to the Signer and began to question them, perched on their shoulder.

Ollie clapped his paws and Jace warped with him back to his apartment. Shhiv was pacing the hallway nervously, and ran forward to hug Jace when he reappeared. "I'm so happy you're safe!"

Jace held her tight, "I'm more worried about you." He looked to Ollie, "Is there a place safer than here?"

Ollie shook his head, "Khrox is the safest place one could be if a Civilian."

Jace brushed Shhiv's hair out of her face and gave her a kiss. "I have to get a ton of Stardust, ASAP. I need to go." He looked to Ollie, "Tell the rest – I'm going to Harkon Secundus. And Ollie, figure out the fastest, most efficient way for me to kill creatures to get Stardust."

"I'll calculate!"

Quinn's voice came over the comms, "I have been selling all the goods and finally got the last of the sales finished. I'll send you your split of the Stardust right now."

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[Stardust Acquired: 100,000

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That's a third of what I need, Jace thought as he began armoring up and pulling Equipment out of the TPSB. Once he had everything adjusted he turned to his lady love and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. "I'm sorry to cut the visit short-"

"Don't be. You need to do what you need to do." Shhiv smiled softly, "I'll be here, waiting and working with Missy and Ree."

"You're the best and amazing," Jace replied as he willed the armored helmet to emerge. "Ollie? Warp me."

The world distorted around Jace, and he was in front of The Cosmic Corridor…but it was not the portal to Harkon Secundus. It was the end of The Cosmic Corridor. A black wall. Ollie flew in front of him, "This is going to be challenging, but if you want Stardust fast…this is the best place. It has been sealed off since just after The Cosmic System was formed, that is how dangerous it is. The equivalent of tier 10." Ollie flew over to the wall, and it turned transparent for a moment. "Go in."

Jace walked forward and entered what looked like an ancient, older part of The Cosmic Corridor. There were three apertures where portals would reside, but they were all very highly technical in nature, and even with his Edge of Possibility Skill, he could not make out what made them work. This must be incredibly advanced technology, he thought.

"This place," Ollie began, "Is the foundational portal hub for The Cosmic System. Where it all started. The Architect's home solar system had three habitable planets that evolved life."

Ollie flew over to each portal and pointed at them in turn, "This one is The Architect's home world, which is sealed not for danger, but because it is where Xera keeps all the technology they used to forge The Cosmic System and encapsulate the universe within it. Technology world."

He flew to another portal, "This one leads to a different alien species' home world that was heavily militaristic and tried to conquer The Architect's in their first push for space exploration and colonization. Magitech world. They were subjugated, integrated into The Cosmic System, and let to live out their lives. A few are still around in Khrox, but their home world is off-limits to all except their species. And Xera can warp them directly to and from Khrox to that world, so this portal remains dormant except in emergencies."

He flew to the last portal and pointed, "And this is a forbidden world that even The Architects stayed away from. Magic world."

"Why?" Jace asked as he walked over to the portal's aperture. It was far smaller than The Cosmic Corridor's portals, at only twenty feet high and wide.

"It is a place where magic was first discovered, and possibly first used. The first world of magic in our universe. A dangerous place. A hostile world to all but the native life. No sentient species live there. Just brutal killing machines in a fight for who is the apex predator. A world of predation." He frowned, "If we do this…you will be fighting against foes who will equal you in power. Or, be stronger, since the baseline is Tier 10."

"Can I use my Void Skills against them to kill them?"

"As long as you don't annihilate their whole being, then you will get some Stardust. Destroying bodies with Void eliminates some of the Stardust that can be gathered."

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[Batch Quest: Gather 300,000 Stardust.]

[Current Progress: 36%]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Astral System Integration]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars]

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Xera's voice came through the comms, "I am swapping over your Quest objective from harvesting components. Jace…be careful. That world will test the mightiest of Aspirants or Ascendants."

"What are you going to have the others do?" Jace asked as he drew his sword.

"Priam is going to head to another cultivation world to meditate. Now that we know he can do that at great efficiency, it'll be a good way for him to gain Stardust on his own. Those worlds tend to be pretty safe, but Dee and Greg will be going with him. That should equate to around 4,000 Stardust an hour. But they need that for themselves – they have to be as strong as possible when they go into the depths of The Cosmic System to accost Troxanir's Astral Demon form."

Jace took a deep breath and nodded, "What's the name of this place?"

"We simply called it the Death World. Now, with the new naming conventions of The Cosmic System…it would be called Regnum Mortis."

Ollie flew over to the portal aperture and tapped the edge of the frame. The shimmering, blue barrier appeared, and the Wayfinder flew over. "Verge Protocol activating!" He flew into Jace's head, and the familiar feeling washed over the Aspirant. Ready to go, Ollie said in his thoughts.

Jace let out the breath he had been holding and walked through the portal.