Dark Matter Ascension

[Day 2 of The Dungeon Run.]

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Jace was greeted by a message as he woke from his slumber. Letting out a yawn, he sat up and heard Ollie's pop as he manifested. "Eight days left," Jace muttered as he got into his pack, took a sip of water, and cracked open another meal.

"Yup!" Ollie began swimming around the air around the young Aspirant.

"What happens when the timer ends?"

"You will be teleported back to the city, and your dungeon cores counted up."

Good, I don't have to worry about traveling back there. I can just focus on my little corner of the world map. "Please pull up the map," Jace requested. Ollie did so, and Jace took stock of the distance. Fifty miles through a cave system with ten dungeons, then a tundra tile, and finally the glacier tile. He wanted to get up to the glacier, because it, along with the volcano, were the two highest points. Once he was up there, he could just run, jump, and negate gravity as he charted a path down the descent, hitting multiple dungeons on the way.

Then, he could go back up and repeat the process in a different cardinal direction. Right now, he was on the edge of a plains tile. Cave it is, then, Jace thought when given the only other option of heading into wetlands in an adjacent tile. Both were valid paths, but the cave system wouldn't slow him as much as the wetland would.

He stood up, shouldered his pack, and took off running. "Ollie, notify me when we are close to a Complex. I'm going to start clearing them out."

"Roger!"

The terrain went slightly uphill as the grassland suddenly gave way to solid, rocky ground that Jace's prosthetic leg-claws bit into as dirt kicked up behind him in a spout due to his speed. An enormous, gaping cavern entrance stood in front of him. The cave tile, Jace thought as he crossed the threshold, and his vision shifted to the purple hue to enable seeing in the dark.

"When did you start using Earth slang? I've heard Greg say that before. Some type of affirmative?"

"Ah, I learned it from his Wayfinder, Darrin, during poker. I liked it, so I am using it! And yes, it is an affirmation." He pointed to his side, "To your left, through a crevice, there is a Complex," Ollie stated. He flew over to the gap in the wall that Jace would have missed due to how well it blended with the walls.

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[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]

[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 2.]

[Number of foes to clear out: 10.]

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[Quest: Clear the spider cave Complex.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Common (Equipment) Boon.]

[Sender: The Cosmic System.]

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"That's a crappy reward," Jace muttered.

"You can turn 3 of a lesser quality into 1 of a higher rarity – as long as they are the same type." Ollie flew in front of Jace, scanning the path through the close rock surfaces. "So, 3 Common Boons can create 1 Uncommon Boon of the same category. That is how Shhiv got you that Epic Boon that saved your butt back on Velenar Prime at the start of your Aspirant Trial."

Jace went over to the wall and flattened himself, shimmying into the crevice before emerging in a large cavern. He was on a raised platform, and below him was a vast array of spider webs. She…must have really cared, Jace thought. 1 Epic rarity Boon would be…27 Common ones. "How many Common Boons does she have?"

"Civilians get 1 Common Boon every month if they are employed by The Cosmic System, along with 10 Stardust. I do not know her exact count of either. Their housing and basic food needs are covered if they work for The Cosmic System."

Jace felt those butterflies in his chest once more. She spent over 2 years' worth of rewards on me? A total stranger, she'd just talked to once. He chuckled. I must have made one hell of an impression. Jace drew his sword. "Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 2)," he stated. The blade surged with the crimson and purple nebula, as the tower shield manifested on his Wirecannon Arm.

Spider webs coated the floor below the small ledge. 10 enemies, Jace thought. Easy enough. Let me just get their attention. Scanning the chamber, he saw no entrances or exits. At the center of the webs was a large, gold pedestal with a golden sphere on top. It was surrounded by shimmering, silver sands. That must be the dungeon core. He stared up at the ceiling, and thanks to Cosmic Infusion was able to make out the skittering shapes of several spiders.

He raised his sword, "Dark Matter Dart (Rank 1) [Exploding]." The single dart of purplish matter was sparking with a vibrant, yellow, crackling nebula as it launched out from the tip of the blade. It surged up as fast as a bullet, impacted the spider, burrowed deep into the creature – and exploded in a cloud of yellow nebula. Jace felt the tap on his energy and took a sharp breath.

The rest of the spiders began moving as their fallen ally's remains fell to the floor. They swarmed over the walls and ceiling, right towards Jace's position at the cavern entrance. Raising the sword, he waited until the first one came into range. It was a hairy, twelve-legged aberration that had black markings that – if he squinted – looked like a skull.

"Death's Head Recluses," Ollie stated as he monitored the battle and tracked the creatures.

Jace swung out and lopped the first one's head off. The creatures couldn't see his blade and had no sense of where the danger may come from. To them, this was a tasty, unarmed morsel. They closed, were killed by the invisible blade, or were injured and backed away. But even that did not save them, as the purple miasma opened micro-singularities along the wounds that dealt further damage, and the crimson nebula 'bleed' effect spread across their forms. They began to drop, and after only a few seconds of fighting – Jace was alone.

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[Quest Completed: Clear the spider cave Complex.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Common (Equipment) Boon.]

[Sender: The Cosmic System.]

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Ollie flew over the spiders and sucked up their bodies, transforming them into Stardust that flew into his palm.

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[Stardust Acquired: 1250.]

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Jace hopped down to the floor of the chamber and walked forward despite the sticky webbing trying to hold onto his legs. He was just too strong, and he snapped the adhering material. The swirling silver around the orb had vanished, and Jace grabbed it from the pedestal. "Do you hold this? Do I?" he asked.

"In the backpack!"

The young Aspirant nodded and swapped the tower shield to his sword-arm so that he could put the orb inside his backpack.

Ollie continued, "The orbs will 'fuse' together and become bigger the more of them you get."

"Right. Back up, then." Jace went back to the small ledge, jumped up, and went back into the main cave. "Next one?"

Ollie pointed down the tunnel, "That way."

I just have to keep the Skills manifested, and I don't have to keep re-spending the energy. Jace followed his Wayfinder's instructions, arriving at another crevice that he squirmed his way into.

"Die already!" Nzyo shouted out as her mandibles clicked together in rage. She swung her massive broadsword, crackling with violent, astral fury around her body and felt the metal bounce off the carapace of the Complex creature. "Why can't we hurt it?!" she shouted out, her Star symbol flaring on her hand as her Skills continued to augment her body and weapon.

The creature swung back at her, and she ducked the blow before holding her hand up to it, "Star Surge (Rank 4) [Melting.]!" Her pincer illuminated with a glowing, white-orange energy that lanced forward and expanded, boring a hole through the creature's body. "Yes!" she shouted in joy.

The creature wheeled back and smacked into her, and she went flying across the cavern. She landed in a heap and felt several of her limbs snap. Her best friend, Vzya, charged into the gap left behind and swung her enormous hammer at the gap in the armor that Nzyo's beam had carved.

Crunch. The hammer smashed into the wound and caved in the carapace. The enormous worm-like creature with its massive arms shuddered before collapsing. Vzya ran over to Nzyo, "Hey, you okay?"

Nzyo shook her head, clicking her mandibles in fear and panic, "I can't move. They're broken," she said, glancing down at her legs.

There was a movement at the entrance of the cave, and a voice that echoed through the room. "Well, what do we have here. Two Aspirants. Both injured and barely on their last legs. Thanks for killing the stuff in here. I'll just take that dungeon core and be on my way." The voice was confident, brash, and masculine.

Vzya stood up, "No! You will not take our prize!" she began to charge forward.

Nzyo cried out, "No! Wait!" But it was too late – her injured and tired ally, her best friend, was blasted by a beam of arcing, yellow lightning. It tore a hole through her torso, and she coughed up her pale, green blood as she collapsed. "No!" Nzyo shouted, feeling panic and despair set in.

The person came in out of the light of the entrance and crouched next to her. He had short fur covering his body, paws at the bottom of his digitigrade legs, and carried a small, steel stick that crackled with lightning in his relatively small, dainty hands. "Ah, sorry about that. Shame, having to kill another Aspirant for no reason. Now, you just stay there with your broken legs, and I'll be on my way with that dungeon core."

He pointed the wand at her and smiled as he waved it around, "And no sneaky business! I'll fry you where you lay!" She made out the Nebula symbol on his left hand, holding the metal stick. His face, though, is what caught her attention the most. It looked like the creatures that hunted her kind on their home world. A small snout, whiskers that wobbled back and forth, and piercing eyes that watched her keenly.

She kept fully still, filled with fear, as the man with the lightning rod in his grip walked to the pedestal the creature had been in front of, took the golden orb, and left the chamber. Nzyo felt completely helpless, and if she was capable of tears like the other species – she would cry. The depths of her sorrow knew no bounds. "Why?" she asked.

The voice responded from the cave entrance, "Because there can only be one winner, of course. And why would I risk my own neck fighting these things? It's much easier to let others do the dirty work, and then come get the rewards."

"Will you help me?" Silence answered her. "Help?" she asked once more…waiting…but no response came.

Her Wayfinder came out of the wall. A grub, just like her child in the clutch-mother's embrace. "Your ally is gone. Condolences. I will send out a call for help."

Nzyo passed out from the pain.

Ollie stopped in front of Jace, "Hold. Something is happening." Jace stopped in his tracks, scanning the area for any sign of danger. He heard the slight drip of water from the stalactites while Ollie floated in place with a blank look in his eyes. He shook his head and grimaced, turning back to Jace. "There is an Aspirant asking for help. She is far, far away from us."

"Then why tell me?" Jace asked.

"Because of the rest of the request. There is a…cat-person, to put it simply. A high-level, Tier 2 Nebula user. Some type of mage-oriented Class. He is blitz-attacking other Aspirants when they are just about to finish a Complex and claim the dungeon core." He frowned and swam around Jace, "I just want us to be cautious, is all. He should not be anywhere near us – but you never know. Lightning could mean he can travel quickly."

"He's at, what, level 50 then?"

"In all likelihood. Or just around it. Saving up Stardust to level up later to keep himself under the level cap for Tier 2 so he does not get booted off-world."

Jace frowned as he pushed his way into the next crevice, sword extended out front, shield behind. "I thought most Aspirants rush to their Advanced Class so they can become immortal faster?"

"It looks like factions are pushing their new Aspirants to focus on gaining Tiers. From what I can gather, they want Tier 5 and 6 to bolster their power." Ollie frowned, "I believe that it is part of a wider trend. There is something going on at the highest levels of faction development that I am not privy to."

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[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]

[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 2.]

[Number of foes to clear out: 1.]

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[Quest: Clear the apex spider Complex.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Uncommon (Information) Boon.]

[Sender: The Cosmic System.]

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Apex spider? Jace thought as he pushed through the slight bit of webbing that his sword cut a gap through. The chamber he entered was flat, with rough walls, stalactites, and stalagmites. The entire chamber echoed with the clack of his prosthetic feet on the ground. "I don't see it," Jace whispered as he scanned the room.

"Behind you!"

Jace barely turned around in time, interposing his shield between the large stinger and himself. The force of the unexpected blow blew him backward, and he barely kept his feet as he skidded into the center of the room, his claws tearing into the ground trying to find purchase. Above the entrance was an enormous version of the spider he had found ten of already.

But this one was bristling with metal blades along its body instead of hair. And was much, much larger. The stinger that had lashed down looked like a scorpion's tail curled in under its abdomen. Jace raised his hand to the creature, "Dark Matter Dart (Rank 1) [Exploding]." The bolt of purple matter arced out – but as soon as it touched one of the bladed pieces of hair – the creature dodged out of the way. It couldn't avoid the shockwave, however, and with a resounding crack the explosion blew apart the wall behind it.

The creature fell forward – having lost its purchase – and Jace ran forward, holding the blade straight up as the monstrous spider fell on top of it. The legs kicked and curled as it screeched and let out a pained wail – the stinger-tail darting forward only to be intercepted by Jace's invisible tower shield.

He heaved his shoulders and ripped the blade down the length of the abdomen as he ran through the back legs. The creature collapsed behind him. "Dust it," Jace ordered as he wheeled around to look at the slain creature.

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[Stardust Acquired: 500.]

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[Quest Completed: Clear the apex spider Complex.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Uncommon (Information) Boon.]

[Sender: The Cosmic System.]

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"Uh-oh," Ollie muttered as the Stardust finished gathering in his palm. "Look at the entrance."