Seras Streams
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Chapter 49 – Lava lakes and Complexes like crucibles
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 13:30:03 +0000 UTCJace landed on the side of a mountain with a gentle ‘thud’, locking his feet-claws into place before letting the Dark Energy Mine effect fade. “And we have arrived!” Ollie shouted as he left the area around Jace’s collar and instead began to float around the air in excited, starlit strokes.
Jace took stock of his surroundings. The rocky cliff he had landed on was at a steep angle, and he found himself having to dig his fingers into the edifice to keep from falling backwards. “We need to use another (Information) Boon to find the location of Complexes here, right?”
“Yup! We only have an Uncommon rarity though. It is a little bit of a waste.”
“Do it.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Uncommon (Information).]
[Query: Complex location on volcano tile.]
[Answer: See Wayfinder map for updated information.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace looked at the map that Ollie had pulled up. Right. And I know where the other half of this rock-circle-thing is. Way past the volcano tile in the desert. Hmm. Looks like that tile is untouched for now. “Right. First off, let’s get to one of those nearby Complexes.”
Ollie flew ahead of him, and Jace trekked up the rock-covered landscape. The environment was naught but sharp, spiked rocks that jutted upward - and lava. Streams and trickles at most places, large lakes at others. Jace’s armor kept him insulated against the heat effects – but even being near the lava made him sweat.
He made extensive use of the Ghostlight Grapnel Arm to traverse the terrain rapidly – tethering to points higher up on the volcanic mountain and using his legs to build up momentum for swings that took him around the side of the mountain face.
He came to a stop and retracted the line to gain height as he got on top of a ledge. A rivulet of lava poured out like a waterfall, and the stream had seemingly carved a groove into a tunnel that led into the mountain. Jace’s sight adjusted automatically to the purple hue of his Cosmic Power, and he drew his sword. Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3). The blade thrummed with power, and he did not feel any energy drop from it.
“This new sword is great,” he said softly as he walked into the cramped tunnel, the hissing and sizzling lava next to him.
“Yup! Reduced energy cost is awesome. Hopefully we can find something that will do the same for your Dark Energy Beam.” Ollie dipped into and out of the lava, swimming through it with lazy backstrokes.
The tunnel expanded and Jace found himself in what he could only describe as a lava cistern. There was a large, center, circular indentation that bubbled and hissed magma to the surface before it ran down the channel Jace had just followed along. A ledge ran around the outside.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]
[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 3.]
[Number of foes to clear out: 1.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay Dhulgon, Flame Demon of Ash Peak.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Equipment Augmentation) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
The lava began to bubble and hiss. “Ollie? Why is it Tier 3? I thought this was all Tier 2?!”
Ollie froze in panic and shook his head, “I…I do not know! Querying System. We should ru-”
“Too late!” Jace dove to the side as the lava exploded upward and coated the chamber. It covered his body, and he grunted, crashing into a heap. His dodge roll would have ended with him on his feet, but the sudden lethargy that swept over him from the Dark Matter Shield was overwhelming. Dark Matter Shield (Rank 2), he thought as the barrier shifted and formed along his Ghostlight Grapnel Arm. The rocks around him sizzled and hissed.
A figure appeared in the lava and rose up in height. The waist-down was completely immersed in the fiery pool below, and what extended up from that was horrifying. A hulking mass of charred, burning flesh with spiky, bone protrusions that dripped viscera that bubbled and hissed with an inner heat of its own. Its head was the shape of a human, but with a slight snout that was naut but fangs of obsidian. In its hands were flaming, dripping, lava blades. And it was tall. Twenty feet, at least, and ten feet wide at the shoulders.
“I found it! The volcano tile was once called Ash Peak. The whole tile is Tier 3! The rest of the world is Tier 2.”
Jace side-stepped a vertical, slashing strike that carved into the stone next to him leaving a steaming slice. It’s too far into the lava for me to hit, Jace thought. And its reach is way more than mine. Pulling the sword back, he launched it to the creature’s chest.
The blade plunged in, the creature roared, and it swung that enormous off-hand blade in a horizontal cleave across the platform. Jace leaned forward – relying on his prosthetic’s omni-directional joint – as he ducked under the sweep. And come back. The blade vanished and reappeared in his grip.
The monstrous form roared; its eyes that were just black orbs blazed with an unholy fury of deep, brackish green. It swung back the other way, both blades swinging horizontally. Jace jumped into midair and twisted – flattening his body – as one blade went above him and the other went below. As soon as the blades had passed, he launched his sword again. He saw it sink into the creature’s body, and he recalled it once more. The [Rending] and [Rank 5] gravity are working.
The purple miasma was spreading ever so slightly, as was the crimson nebula. The tiny, black dots of micro-singularities were expanding within the purple – but this creature was huge. Easily the size of a two-story house. I can’t rely on the bleed alone.
The room began to get hotter, and Jace dodged a one-two combo of vertical slash followed by a cross-chop. “Ollie! What’s happening?!”
“It is going to use that lava-surge again! It will cover the room.”
Screw that! Arbiter’s Anathema! Jace pointed his sword-arm at the creature. A twisting spiral of black and gold magic lashed itself around the creature. The heat in the room began to dissipate, and the monster roared as the gold and black became a chain that wrapped around its torso. “No more lava bursts!” Jace shouted, his confidence brimming.
The monster moved closer to the platform, and Jace shot the grapnel above it, yanking himself up. Let’s try this out also. Shadow Nebula Smokescreen.
A silvery, black smoke expanded from his Ghostlight Grapnel Arm and settled around the head of the creature. It reached up towards Jace – but grabbed nothing except for open air as its vision was obscured.
Jace slashed down at the head as he passed by, releasing himself at the apex of his launch so that he could land on the opposite side of the room. The crimson and purple began to spread around the skull, and the monster roared once more – in rage, or pain, Jace couldn’t tell. And while you’re blind- He threw the blade and recalled it – over and over – getting a total of seven throws in during the 10-second smokescreen duration.
The creature was helpless, swinging in all directions while the cloud persisted, and Jace just hugged the wall as he kept stacking the [Rending] and (Rank 5) Dark Matter Blade effects. This (Returning) Augment is handy, Jace thought.
Ollie flew over to Jace and wrapped around his neck, “It is going to take a long time to bleed out.”
Jace nodded as the smokescreen dissipated and the creature refocused its ire on him. “Then let’s try something unexpected.” He stay put as the creature pulled back and slashed horizontally along the ledge. Instead of dodging, Jace interposed the shield – and retracted his foot-claws.
The blade hit, and he could see the dripping weapon beyond the shield. He was no match for the strength of the Flame Demon, but he wasn’t trying to hold his ground. He went skidding along the ground with the blow – around the outside edge of the room. The creature ended its swing, and Jace fired off his grapnel, using the momentum from the horizontal, sweeping strike to propel himself in a dizzying spiral towards the creature’s head once more.
Holding his sword out, he carved into its head and face – around and around – and made sure to let out enough line that he could slice into its neck. Practically becoming a blender of slicing blades that carved deep and spread the [Rending] effect. Only when it had begun to move – painfully slowly thanks to the purple miasma of his Dark Matter Blade – towards grabbing him did he release the grapnel and land back on the platform.
The creature let out a weak, gurgling noise before it collapsed and sank into the lava. “Dust it.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 1500]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay Dhulgon, Flame Demon of Ash Peak.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Equipment Augmentation) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
A golden pedestal appeared in the center of the lava pool, with a small platform extending from it to the ledge. Jace walked over and grabbed the sphere. 29 dungeon cores. “Let’s merge those 3 Epic (Equipment Augmentation) Boons together.” He sank against the wall and took deep, sucking breaths as the exhaustion swept over him and the adrenaline that was holding it at bay began to fade.
“Yup! One Legendary (Equipment Augmentation) Boon created from merging lower rarity rewards.”
“And levels. 2 levels, right?”
“Yup!”
“I need something that does energy reduction. Is that possible? Like…a generic energy cost reduction?”
“Let us find out!”
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 2)
Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 45]
Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3) [Reflecting], Swordmage Stance (Rank 3) [Astral Annihilator], Dark Matter Dart [Exploding] (Rank 4), Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant], Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Dark Energy Beam (Rank 12), Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 2), Starfire Stride (1/day), Arbiter's Anathema (1/day), Shadow Nebula Smokescreen (1/day), Archmage Geomancy (1/day), Archmage Hydromancy (1/day)
Stardust: 120
Equipment: (Returning) Starstorm Sword, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard) Devastation Armor, Ghostlight Grapnel Arm, Anathema Arm, (Overclocked) Dragonclaw Devastation Legs, x2 All-Seeing Dragon's Eye, (Heavy) Venture Pack, survival meals (x30), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit, flint bar, flashlight, Omnitech prosthetic repair module (x1 charges), (Restful) Wildercloth tent, Devilsram wool bedroll
Boons: Common (Equipment), Uncommon (Equipment), Epic (Secret Cache), Legendary (Equipment Augmentation)
<<<<<>>>>>
Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 1) - Any Skill the user uses has its energy cost reduced by 5%
Energy Cost Reduction (Rank 2) - Any Skill the user uses has its energy cost reduced by 10%
<<<<<>>>>>
“It caps out at Rank 10 and 50% reduction,” Ollie stated as he swam in little circles around Jace’s shoulders. “It would be wise to prioritize this new Skill over dumping more Ranks into Dark Energy Beam.”
“Agreed,” Jace said as he reached into his pack and pulled out the enhanced canteen and sucked down some of the cool, crisp water inside. “I want to use that Legendary Boon also. But I’m curious – each All-Seeing Dragon’s Eye counts as its own item, right? They can’t be…I don’t know…grouped up?”
“Hmm. Let me query the System.” Ollie’s eyes went black, and he went still. Jace kept resting and tore open one of the survival meals. Ollie’s eyes snapped back to their starry blue, “Normally? No. But Xera is going to…hack the System, for lack of a better word, to merge them together as a singular, plural item. Do not ask me how she will do it – breaking rules of reality is what The Cosmic System enables.”
Jace nodded and swallowed down his mouthful of sweet, tangy, goopy food. “Alright. Let’s use the Legendary Boon on them if she’s going to merge them.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Legendary (Equipment Augmentation).]
[Target Equipment: All-Seeing Dragon’s Eyes.]
[Augmenting.]
[Result: (Terrifying) All-Seeing Dragon’s Eyes.]
[Description: The Terrifying (Equipment Augmentation) makes any entity of a lower Tier than the user incapable of harming them, provided they are kept within field of view.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“Holy shit,” Jace whispered. “So, if I’m on this world as a Tier 3 Aspirant…they can’t do anything to hurt me unless I’m not looking at them.” He glanced to Ollie who was nodding sagely, “Right?”
“Yup!” Ollie said as he gave a little thumbs-up. “And entity categorizes anything. Even dumb slimes on magic worlds, or robots on technology worlds. If you keep them in sight.”
“That’s what the invisibility is for,” Jace replied as he stood up. “They can’t see me, but I can see them…I need more of those Legendary rarity Boons. Let’s go get more Complexes.”
