Dark Matter Ascension

Jace woke up and hugged Shhiv as she roused to consciousness as well. "How'd you sleep?" he mumbled into her ear.

"Mmm…Good." She stretched a bit in his arms.

Jace was about to respond but saw a System screen appear.

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[It is Ollie! I did not want to interrupt your morning. Xera has asked that we head back to the Astral Verge soon. You've got a few days, tops.]

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Jace snuggled up behind Shhiv and lightly nibbled her neck which he knew drove her crazy, eliciting giggles and little kicks from her. I'll make the most of these few days.

Time came for Jace's departure. He had geared up and readied himself. The armor fit better than ever before, and as soon as he finished putting on the pieces, he saw little lines of gold shoot out along it from the rune on the interior of the chest plate. A visual indicator that it was now able to interact with the Astral System and Psykinetics. No more acid phasing through the armor to eat my flesh, thank you very much!

Getting all his gear ready, he also acquired twenty throwing knives, since they would work with his Swordmage Skills, and were great for delivering Dark Energy Mines to distant targets without using the [Distant] Evolution.

Shhiv came over to him and he willed the helmet to recede as she practically tackled him against the wall, giving him the equivalent to a kiss that she could. "Come back safe."

"Will do. And we're splitting Essence now, right? So you can Rune Craft more?"

Ollie appeared with a pop, and a split second later, Josie appeared with another pop. "Actually," Ollie stated as he swam in little circles around Jace's head before hovering above his shoulder, "Xera has come up with something ingenious – a way to "catch" Astral Demons who try to enter our universe's funnel. She is going to bait them in, gather the Essence, and then have it pooled – ready for whoever needs it."

Josie flew over to Shhiv and flew in circles around her before landing around her shoulders like a fluffy, fuzzy, tube-pillow. "Yup! Shhiv is going to draw from that pool when it would be enough for her to get a level. You still need to get to Potency 10, Jace, but Shhiv will progress on the side!"

Jace smiled and gave Shhiv a kiss before pulling himself away. "Then I guess it's time to head out. Love you, hon."

Shhiv smiled and her tail flicked back and forth, "Stay safe! See you in a week."

Ollie activated the subspace warp network and transported them to the tether's start point. "Oh, that reminds me," the otter stated as he flew over to the tether's origin point on the far side of the room. "You have that Architect Ship Engine Core in your TPSB. Pull that out and plug it in here!"

Jace did as he was instructed, asking, "What is this going to do?"

"It is a power source that's been soaking in the Astral Verge. Xera has to run some tests, but it should give us a faster recharge rate for the voidlight tether."

"Sounds good." Jace faced the glowing, white-grey cord and took a deep breath. "Going to merge?"

"Verge Protocol is not necessary anymore now that we know the effects of the Astral Verge on your physiology," Ollie replied as he flew over to nestle in his usual spot around Jace's neck. "For now I'm good here!"

"Right. Here we go then." Jace reached out and grabbed the tether. He felt that familiar suction feeling, and in the blink of an eye was traveling through the skies of the Astral Verge, rocketing to the edge of the mountain he had been at before.

Xera's voice came through Quinn's comms, "I've hacked the locations of the Vaults from the Alliance Coalition's database. Looks like they only know about Vaults that are on this first Layer. But each one that you conquer is not just another Relic, but more lore about the Astral Verge."

"Two priorities," Ollie stated as he tapped out a little beat on Jace's shoulder. "One, kill Astral Demons. Should be pretty easy to find large clusters of them. Two, get to those Vaults – many of which are built under cities full of demons."

Jace glanced up the mountain at the fortress that he had rescued not too long prior. The defenders had added onto their fortification, and he could see small skirmishes of Astral Demons fighting with the guardians who kept the walls. "Right. Then off to one of these Vaults. The closest one."

Ollie pointed past his head, "That way!"

Jace sprinted across the flat, cracked stone. Whatever cycle changes had recently occurred had changed the volcanic landscape into that of a highland desert – small juts and spikes of rock poking out of the ground, but the land was relatively flat otherwise. He could see ships flying in the skies above, Astral Demons flying after and harrying them. And he kept running. He felt the raw power in his prosthetics and with all of his various Skills and Talents he was rivaling the speed of the fastest terrestrial vehicle one could find.

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Up above, he heard the loud crack and metallic rip of a ship being torn to bits by an Astral Demon horde. Glancing up, he saw people who were falling from the ship, being grabbed by the demons, and cut to bits. His chest felt like it was on fire, and he saw the crackling, golden flame surge out along his armor.

"Going to go and be a hero?" Ollie asked.

"Just a bit," Jace replied as he activated several Skills and Talents, ascending skyward as a golden, blazing rocket. He reached the flying demons quickly and began hacking them to bits, activating his Armor's (Beacon) Infusion to draw the demons to him.

And they came, like moths to a flame. Jace was floating thanks to Dark Energy Mine, and the whole sphere of the Hero's Arena surged with golden flame as they came at him, and he cut them down. A brief and easy affair. He felt the warmth suffuse his body and surge even brighter gold, and glancing at the ship he could see the survivors on board were looking out of the view ports.

Dispatching the hundred Astral Demons was a piece of cake, and Jace Soul Tether traveled his way over toward the ship until he received the communication prompt and opened his comms channel. "You all okay? Able to get back to your universe?"

There was a brief static before a voice responded in a rumbling bass, "We should be intact enough. Thank you, stranger."

"Be safe," Jace said as he let the Dark Energy Mine fade and plummeted toward the ground, sheathing his sword, letting Skills fade, and using his Soul Tether to lower his descent. Void Stalker (Rank 1), he thought as he used the Stealth Skill and continued his journey on foot.

"Fifty Essence," Ollie stated. "Not bad for a little side trip that took only two minutes."

Jace grinned as he kept racing across the cracked stone.

Mixarizk had arrayed a legion of Astral Demons, all Potency 8 or higher, from Valcrinox's sworn forces. "This cycle, we travel up through the Layers. Valcrinox has decreed that we are to assault a mighty fortress – that of Universe 8759. Magitech, so we should be on somewhat equal footing. We are going to place the largest of our kin in the funnel leading to that Universe…and we'll pull a Troxanir."

There was cackling and laughing, as news of Troxanir's strategy to glut himself upon a Universe had spread like wildfire – but it was agreed upon by all of the higher-Potency Astral Demons that he was an idiot in how he went about the whole business. Instead of working with other Astral Demons, he went solo – and it cost him dearly.

Mixarizk held his clawed hand up and the group silenced. "We will not make the mistakes of that brave pioneer." Again, more laughing as he made fun of Troxanir. "Let us depart. And remember, glut yourselves upon the universe as you see fit, but be prepared to return to the funnel once the pathetic insect-people appear," his voice lowered to a deep, menacing growl. "And especially if any of those gold-hue Psykinetic Dreamers show up."

There was a roar of outrage, as all Astral Demons had a natural hatred for those who viewed themselves as heroic individuals and were imbued with the golden flames indicative of such power. They were practically – and in the case of some of the madder demons, literally – chomping at the bit.

Mixarizk led the way to the large vertical tunnel. The means of traversing the Layers. Always moving, never in the same place for too long, it had taken a few days to track down. But now, they went up, through the Layers of the Astral Verge. A journey that would take some cycles but would lead them to the first Layer…and their prey.

Jace could feel the wind resistance vanish as he used Void Removal (Rank 1) to remove the concept of such a facet of physics, and so he blitzed across the landscape not stopping for a single instant.

A full cycle he ran, even as the world shifted and changed shape around him – turning into a high hinterland forest with gently falling slow. His (Lightfoot) Augmentation meant that he could run on top of the powdery substance just as well as the cracked stone before, and he kept going. Weaving through trees as a darting shadow that could scant be tracked.

Eventually, though, he reached a place untouched by the environmental changes. A small hill, with stakes planted into the ground around it. Atop the hill, a single tower that was covered in Runes that translated in his mind as he observed them. [Barrier] [Stability] [Fortify]. Repeated over and over and over again.

Interesting, Jace thought as he stopped at the edge of the barrier. This has to be above a Vault. But how to get down to it? He reached out with his hand and could feel the slight firmness and ever-so-slight squishiness of the barrier. Next, pulling back his arm, he tried punching it. There was a little wobble, but nothing else happened. Right. Let's try some Void. He raised his hand and pointed it at the tower. Void Beam (Rank 1) [Limited Range].

The beam shot out, through the barrier, and into the tower – blowing a hole clean through it so that he could see the black skies beyond the grey stone structure. But the barrier persisted. Well then, guess I'll warp inside it. Void Step (Rank 17), he thought. The world compressed around him and he was standing in front of the hole he had bored through the tower.

Climbing through he found what he had anticipated – stairs going down. Descending, his eyes adjusted automatically. Taking on a grey-white hue as he had perfect visibility, clambering down the steps one at a time as each one he inspected thoroughly for any signs of traps or tampering.

He spotted no traps, which checked out with how the prior Vault was set up. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he saw another short, stone hallway leading to a door labeled [Vault]. "Okay, Ollie. Verge Time."

Ollie flew into his head and Jace felt the comforting presence of Ollie's cooling energy spread through his forehead and down his spine. Verge Protocol activated! You know the drill. Touch the door, and we go inside!

Jace activated his Skills – Crusader's Bastion, Dark Energy Mine (Rank 1), Void Brand (Rank 1), Aura of Wrath (Rank 11) [Voidflame Vestment], Void Blade (Rank 17) [Rending], and Void Shield (Rank 6). He took a deep breath, walked forward, and reached out with his shield-hand, touching the door.

The moment his fingers caressed the solid stone surface he was yanked forward, off his feet, and phased through the object. The floor under his feet was the same as the other Vault, and he saw the same ceiling and walls. In the center of the room was another reliquary.

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[Vault Challenge – Activated.]

[Defeat the duplicate of the Demon Lord of Blood.]

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The whole room shifted, and the walls fell away as Jace found himself in the middle of a huge arena not unlike the Coliseum in Rome. As he held his sword at the ready, and shield in a stance to protect his upper body, he felt the thud.

Thud. Thud. THUD. Something big was approaching from the open tunnel entrance on the opposite side of the arena.