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Chapter 46 – S̵͈̜̺͂̀̅͊̽̎̄̈́͐͆͑Ŷ̵̘̬̎̅̑̈́͒̋̓͂͊͆̈̈́̆͝S̷͓̺̲̲͋̔̉͒͜T̸͕̣͇͙͍͊͜E̶̱̦̳̥̥̹̬̱̱̻͉̥̅̐̔͌͝M̸̛̳̈́̓͛̑̇́͑̀̿́͐̔̕͠ G̶͉̏̈́̋̅̃͆̕̕Ĺ̵̤͎̻͎̬̣̩̤̳͓̗ͅȊ̷̡͖̟̝͔̋T̴̨͔̭̰̪̗̲̣̰̦̻̍̀̽͐̆͗̽̇͛̉C̴͓̭̫̮͔̤̪͔͙̀̄͑̒̈́Ȟ̷̝̰̖͉̝̫͍̫̖͎̣ͅ
🕑 Added 2024-10-15 13:55:27 +0000 UTC<<<<<>>>>>
[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: 8.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay the Razorfrost Elementals.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Information) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace came to a stop in front of the Complex’s entry point. It was a slight depression with a frozen lake that filled a good football field sized area. “Razorfrost Elementals?” he asked as he looked up at Ollie.
“They are going to be ice – sharp ice. Elemental is just a designation for a magic-imbued substance. Normally, something elemental.”
Jace raised a quizzical eyebrow, “Couldn’t I just use the one a day Archmage Hydromancy to just…destroy them?”
Ollie shrugged, “You could try it. I don’t know if it would take effect.”
Maybe not, Jace thought. As he had traversed the glacier, his All-Seeing Dragon’s Eye had been able to make out several Aspirants in the tundra tiles surrounding his elevated perch. I can save the hydromancy once-a-day Skill to push them back and away. Turning back to the icy lake, he stepped forward onto the thick, blue ice as his claws dug sure footholds. Plus, they’re just sharp ice. What could go wro-
There was an intense pain in his ankles. Looking down, he saw that the icy surface of this frozen lake had sprouted shards that pierced his prosthetic. Not actually going inside, but due to the CIF perfectly integrating the prosthetics – he felt the pain that lanced up the appendage. Slashing down, he cut the icy shards away.
To his surprise, the crimson and purple miasma began to spread below the ice. They’re under it? Jace thought.
All around him, spheres of ice with glacial spikes jutting out from all directions levitated from the surface of the frozen lake. They were the size of his torso, bristled with sharp bits – and all launched forward at him.
Shit! He held the tower shield in front and felt the impacts of the icy spheres against the surface – and they stuck in place. He could see the spikes slowly pushing through the invisible substance. That’s not good! He began hacking away with his sword at the icy spikes he could make out around the edges of the shield.
But as soon as the crimson and purple began to spread, the icy spikes were shed off of the spheres and replaced by new ones – the miasma falling to the ground before dissipating harmlessly.
“Starfire Stride!” Jace shouted. The bright, purple flames exploded from the soles of his feet, and he rolled back, put his legs against the back of the shield, and dismissed the shield entirely.
The icy spikes began to lurch forward only to recoil from the intense heat. There was a crackling noise not unlike a shriek of pain, and the three that took the brunt of the fiery blast exploded into a glittering, snowy cloud.
3 down. 5 to go. Jace kipped up from his back and ran across the ice, jumping up and kicking two more of the orbs in rapid succession. He felt an intense satisfaction as they cracked and exploded into snow. 3 left, he thought as he landed and turned around.
And then he fell. Wha- he was floating in darkness, and a flickering image went across his vision. It was static-filled, as if it was struggling to reach him.
<<<<<>>>>>
SYSTEM ERROR: UNMERGED LOCATION IDENTIFIED
Emergency Message dispatched: You have come across a location on a world that The Cosmic System was not able to fully assimilate through Cosmogenic Merging. Because of this, you may lose access to your Cosmic Power and Class Skills. Now that the System has been notified, it may take up to a minute to integrate. Please stand by.
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace could not see Ollie. His vision had not shifted to the purple hue…and he felt cold. Numb. Did my gear stop working also? His sword was just a dull, black blade, and he felt himself sinking due to the weight of his gear and prosthetics. Panic began to set in, and he tried to swim up – but could not. The flames on his legs vanished despite him knowing that the water wouldn’t douse them.
The Razorfrost Elementals descended through the icy layer above, and he saw the world seemingly slow down as they raced toward him.
He tried to speak. He tried to say, “I want all the water and ice gone! Hydromancy – activate!”
But all that came out was a gurgle and bubbles.
However, that was enough. This part of the world, despite not being touched by The Cosmic System, was still subject to the laws and rules imposed by the very nature of the locale. And technically, he had used magic. Magic in a magic world.
The water vanished. Jace fell to the bottom of the now empty bowl, landing on his feet and then falling on his butt. The ice above him vanished. The elementals vanished.
There was an odd pulse in the air – Jace could see slight, prismatic sparkles as some invisible force field passed over him. He felt his warmth return as his equipment came back online, and his Cosmic Power symbol pulsed with power once more.
Ollie appeared with a pop. “What happened?” he said in a panic.
Jace took a deep breath and shook his head, flicking water out of his hair. “You didn’t tell me that there are unmerged locations.” He stood up.
“I had no idea there were any on this world!” The otter flew up to Jace and made a show of putting his paws on Jace’s face, peering into his eyes. Well, pantomiming putting his paws on Jace’s face – he felt nothing. “You survived though. How?”
“Magic,” Jace replied. “Hydromancy.”
Ollie nodded and his face was washed with relief. “Smart. I knew I got a winner when you survived the Vyrknadine.”
A golden pillar appeared nearby, and Jace walked over, grabbing the dungeon core. 26, he thought.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest Completed: Slay the Razorfrost Elementals.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Information) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“No Stardust it looks like,” Jace muttered. “That feels crappy.”
Ollie frowned and looked around, “I can try to harvest it. Walk around the bowl here a little bit.”
Jace did as he was instructed, and Ollie waved his paws several times over. As they reached the center of the depression, the blue starlight streaked from the center of the bowl into Ollie’s paw.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 800]
<<<<<>>>>>
“How does that happen?” Jace asked. “A part of the world doesn’t get affected by Cosmogenic Merging?”
“Right. So, that happens when a location is very well hidden, or has some extremely powerful magic, magitech, or technology. It makes me wonder what is special about this frozen lake on this glacier, that it was not affected.”
“Let’s spend the Stardust. How much are we at?”
“3520 Stardust.”
“Three levels. As many as I can pump into Dark Matter Mending.”
“There are two Ranks of that left. That leaves you with one remaining.”
“Then dump it into Dark Energy Beam.”
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 2)
Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 42]
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 11), Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Starfire Stride (1/day), Arbiter's Anathema (1/day), Archmage Geomancy (1/day), Archmage Hydromancy (1/day)
Stardust: 520
Equipment: Swordmage blade, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard) Devastation Armor, Wirecannon Arm, Anathema Arm, Dragonclaw Devastation Legs, 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: x4 Common (Equipment), Common (Information), Uncommon (Information), x2 Epic (Equipment), x2 Epic (Equipment Augmentation), Epic (Information)
<<<<<>>>>>
Dark Matter Mending (Rank 3) - The user cures all injuries or afflictions on themselves.
Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) - The user cures all injuries and all afflictions on themselves.
Dark Energy Beam (Rank 11) - As Rank 1, but increase size of the beam (40 in. diameter)
<<<<<>>>>>
Jace felt the warmth suffuse his body and as he began to scan the ground in this deep bowl, he spotted something glowy with a slight sparkle under the center of the bowl. What the hell? He went over to it and tried to focus with the right eye by closing his left one. There is definitely something under this.
Pulling out his sword, he slammed it down and into the very stone-like, icy layer. Why didn’t the hydromancy spell Skill thing affect this? He made a nice little gap, and reached in with his Anathema Arm to rip out the chunks of ice. It felt more like rock than ice. That might explain it.
Once he had cleared away enough, he reached into the slight hole he had made and pulled out a smooth, round stone with arcane markings and symbols. On it. The symbols did not make any sense.
Ollie flew above him and read it as well. “Oh, it’s snapped in half. The other half must be somewhere else on this world.”
“What could it be?”
“We have (Information) Boons saved up.”
“Let’s use them.”
“We will have to use the Epic rarity one. I can tell you right now, if this thing was strong enough to keep Cosmogenic Merging from taking place in this location – a Common or Uncommon rarity will not cut it.”
“Do it.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Epic (Information).]
[Query: What is this stone?]
[Answer: This stone is half of a soul-binding spell, often referred to as a phylactery. If destroyed, it will reform at the location of its other half. If both halves are destroyed at once, the spell is broken.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“What do you want to bet that this thing belongs to Double-A?” Jace asked.
“It would be likely, since he was the only Archmage before this world’s Cosmogenic Merging, and the only Aspirant to survive the Trial.”
“We can’t use an (Information) boon to find the other half, but, we could use it to find where The Cosmic System is not present – right?”
Ollie cracked a grin and clapped his paws together, “Smart thinking!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Common (Information).]
[Query: What other locations on Nihilethelea repelled Cosmogenic Merging?]
[Answer: See Wayfinder map for updated information.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Ollie pulled up the map, and there was a bright, orange dot in the farthest desert tile at the corner of the world. “It is past the volcano.”
Jace tossed the half up and down in his hand, “This Double-A guy, you said something along the lines of this Archmage being crazy. Would it benefit The Cosmic System to have him toppled?”
“Let me ask Xera.” Ollie’s eyes went black for a moment. Jace began walking to the edge of the depression and pulled himself up and out using a combination of his clawed feet and grapnel hook. Ollie’s eyes relit as Jace got out of the bowl. “She said that it is up to your discretion. It would make this world habitable once more, but would end The Dungeon Run permanently, since Double-A is the one that runs the whole thing. But, it would open this world up to the original inhabitants once more – some of whom desire the magic they once knew.” He crossed his arms, “He is Tier 4, however.”
“So, I get to level 50, stock up Stardust, finish the Dungeon Run, get the prize, and then level up to 51 or higher. That gets me to Tier 3. Then…I could have a shot at killing him.”
“You had a problem with killing, I thought.”
Jace shook his head, “Not with this guy. He pushed people out of their home world. I had the same thing happen. An awesome little setup we street folk had under a bridge. Corpos pushed us out. This guy...I bet he treated the people here like insects.” Jace felt himself getting heated and the more he spoke the angrier he got.
“Okay, I can tell you are passionate about this.” Ollie flew forward and pulled up the map.
“No shit. They kicked me out of my home. I mean, yeah, we relocated easy enough…but it still sucked being kicked out and having to uproot my whole life. It hurt Chroma more…she was so sad having to leave behind her fort she had been working on for months. A literal fort of sheet metal and scrap wood. Something that had started to become a home.”
Ollie didn’t respond, but Jace could see the sad expression on his face. “We have two more dungeons here on the glacier. How are you feeling? Need a break?”
“I’m good.” Jace followed the path Ollie laid out.
