Dark Matter Ascension
Chapter 14 – A hunter must hunt

The faint light of morning caressed Jace's face and he woke up. He pushed his way out of the hovel and stretched in the small dell, looking around for any signs of danger. Thankfully, his night had been without incident after the one predator came by. They must really range out far from each other, he thought.

He scarfed down a meal of the packaged rations and took some sips of the chilled water from his messenger bag. After putting everything into the larger duffel, he looped it around his shoulder and began following the faint trail of large, clawed footfalls of the creature that he had slain. The grey goo in the soil ensured that the indentation stayed quite visible, and even though he had no tracking experience, the trail was quite easy to follow.

Pop. Ollie appeared next to him and floated around, "Morning. Bad news."

"What's up?" Jace asked.

"Well, a Wayreplaceer named Valerie wanted to talk to me. She is assigned to Quinn Cipher."

Jace smiled and nodded as he trudged along, "I know her. We met for a few minutes. Another street kid."

"Yeah, well, she has set up a shop right along The Cosmic Corridor and joined the Star Council. But that is not the important part that is bad news. Someone from Earth is tracking you down."

"Let me guess. They want whatever I was transporting."

Ollie nodded but looked at Jace with a quizzical expression, "How'd you know?"

Jace peered at the ground as the trail disappeared. Looking around, he saw a wet patch. "Damnit, I lost it."

Ollie flew up and pointed, "That way. They continue over there."

Jace followed the directions and responded to the question, "I was transporting something for General Logistics. I was one of the best covert couriers in the city. I'd bet that grey goop was some experimental prototype that a lot of companies were after."

Ollie nodded, "Quinn passed along as much. Something called Cyberconnect Integration Fluid, or CIF. It is supposed to make a prosthetic fueled by the user's biological systems, instead of being reliant on external power sources. It was the foundation for more intensive cybernetic implantation. A milestone of sorts in Earth's technology."

"Why did it harden and kill the one that bit down on it?"

"It was not designed for non-humans. Instead of being absorbed by the body through the skin, it hardened and became inert."

"I wonder if my body absorbed some," Jace mused. "It was on my arm and had hardened but vanished once I was injected with the serum." It does feel like…my arm, he thought as he ran his fingers along the magitech prosthetic. A little bit.

Ollie shrugged, "Possible. We would need a medically inclined Class to determine for sure." He scratched his chin, "Why didn't these companies just hire an armored convoy?"

"Those are easier to track and heist," Jace replied. "A single street kid though? One who no one would ever suspect? Much safer. Plus, I had good rep." Jace glanced around for any predators before refocusing on the trail. "What's coming after me?"

"A big hitter. Nebula Cosmic Path, Tier 1. In a heavy suit of armor from what Valerie said."

Jace clicked his tongue and frowned, "I don't know if a sword can get past modern Earth armor."

"Maybe consider spending your next level choice on a new Skill. Something that will let you deal with armored opponents."

"A wise suggestion," Jace agreed. The grasslands ended and the ground maintained its consistency. "Why doesn't it keep growing out? The ground is the same."

"Not quite," Ollie replied. "It's mostly the weird soil with not much dirt."

"What happened on this world?"

"The people here created the equivalent of magitech nanites that did everything for them. Once the world was connected to The Cosmic System, someone decided it would be smart to give the nanites a hive mind. This gunk is their remnants."

Jace began trudging across the encrusted landscape. Thanks to the ground staying the same consistency, and due to the lack of grass and plants, the trail was quite easy to follow. A few hours passed in silence.

Jace spent the time thinking about how he would approach a den of these Vyrknadines sleeping. A good stab to the skull seemed to put them down, and he knew that if he got under them, he could stab upward into the heart as Ollie told him in the first encounter. If they live in a den or something like it, then I can replace a choke point and force them to come to me one at a time. They're predators, so they'll protect their home and be aggressive. If I make my presence known, then I can try that method.

It was around mid-day when he took a breather to eat another one of the pouch meals. He took in the bleak landscape and felt a sense of exposure. I'm out here in the open with no cover. It's not like the grassland where I could get onto the ground and hide. It made him feel vulnerable, having lived amongst skyscrapers his whole life and not being in such a wide, open space. He felt a ball of anxiety in his chest.

He picked up his gear and pushed forward at a faster pace, speed-walking along the tracks until the land began to slowly slant upward. There was not a mountain range, and when he asked Ollie to pull up the world-view map, he was able to zoom in and rotate it to make a topographical map. "We're getting up to a ridgeline," Ollie stated. "Then there's a bit of a crater."

"A bit?" Jace replied. "It looks like it's ten miles across."

"I've seen bigger," Ollie smugly said. "It was made on my Aspirant that time, but I saw bigger." He shook his head, "He had such promise. I told him not to touch that metal sphere in the weapons factory, but no, he did not listen to me."

Jace grimaced, realizing that Ollie must have seen the deaths of hundreds of people he had grown attached to. Well, at the start, at least. The way the otter had greeted him led Jace to believe that his Wayreplaceer had lost all hope in any Aspirant he was assigned passing their Trial. "I'm sorry," he softly said.

"Don't be," Ollie replied with a grin. "You have gotten further than any I've been assigned. Already that puts you near the top of my favorite people list."

"Who is above me?"

"Xera. And a few Wayreplaceers."

Jace smirked, "Do you have a crush on one of them?"

Ollie put on quite the bashful expression - which was odd, because Jace did not know that otters were capable of that level of facial expression. "Well…there is one. But I do not want to talk about her behind her back."

Jace nodded as he crested the ridge and took a deep breath. Before him lay a crater that was exceptionally large. "What caused…this?"

"A last-ditch effort," Ollie replied. "An attempt to shut down the magitech nanite swarms by taking out the center of the 'hive mind.' It worked, and that is why you have all this crusted goop everywhere."

Jace looked down at the large bowl and spotted the tracks going down further. He carefully descended, ensuring that he did not lose his footing. The descent to the bottom of the bowl took him into the early evening, and as the three suns passed overhead and began to hit the horizon line, his vision shifted to the purple hue.

The bottom of the crater was filled with water. A silvery muck of water. All around he saw ancient tunnels - a sewage system or maintenance corridor at one point, once buried under the ground. "This whole place could be their den," he muttered as he drew his sword and activated the (Rank 3) Dark Matter Shield, and the (Rank 1) Dark Matter Blade.

The shield formed a barrier around his body. A skin-tight coating of purple colors that shifted across the spectrum of hues. He kept following the tracks and noted that there were varied sizes of footprints around the pool. This is where they sleep for sure. A pack of these predators, and then they go out in different directions to hunt. He walked into the tunnel and whispered, "I'm not emitting light, right?"

"Nope. I can also turn mine off," Ollie replied. His starlight faded and he became naught but a silvery outline of a river otter, as if threads in that shape were cascading through the air. Jace kept walking forward, trying his best to set his feet down gently. The soft crunch of the grey goo slowly faded and became light taps of his metal-booted feet on concrete.

He began to see signs of detritus in the five-foot-wide and slightly taller tunnel. Tracked-in goop, bones, other inedible cartilage, and dried, spattered blood. They don't just eat on location. They bring back food. Which probably means they're feeding their young. He did not want to kill defenseless pups or their mothers - or fathers if that is how this species worked - but his survival came first.

And this Legendary Boon would most definitely help his survival. The rarest type of Boon, from what Ollie had told him while traveling. It could make a massive difference to Jace's survivability.

Jace pulled out his flechette pistol and loaded it. After a quick spin of the charge handle, he stowed it in his pocket. Just in ca- A deep growl echoed up from the tunnel, beyond a bend about fifty feet away. Jace held his sword tip-forward. He planted his feet and took a deep breath. "Ahhh!" he shouted down the tunnel, trying to draw attention of the creatures he now hunted.

The largest Vyrknadine he had ever seen charged around the corner and ran at full tilt towards him. Jace made sure to angle his ankles so that the makeshift prosthetic attachments on his feet would not snap, and instead, he would be pushed back along the ground. As long as he could hold his arms steady when the impact hit.

The creature charged into Jace and impacted the barrier with a loud but dull thud as the creature dazed itself. He felt no recoil as the shield took the full force of the blow, and he used the opportunity to stab into the creature's brain. It collapsed as the sword pierced through the skull and into the vital organ. Just to be sure of its death, Jace went to its side, found a spot between the chitin, and stabbed down before wrenching his sword around. I must've hit the heart somewhere in there.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest: Slay 10 Vyrknadine.]

[Current Progress: 2/10.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Legendary (Skill Evolution) Boon.]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Jace felt his knees shake and he leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. It felt like he had run a mile at a full sprint. His hands were shaking, and he slid down to his knee. "That…hit on the barrier…lots of energy…"

Ollie floated behind Jace, "Turn around, swap to Rank 2."

Jace groaned and turned as he forced himself to stand. At the tunnel entrance he had come from, another two of the creatures were standing next to each other, snarling, and snapping their multi-hinged maws. Dark Matter Shield (Rank 2), he thought. The barrier surrounding him vanished and was replaced by the tower shield. He placed it in between himself and the creatures and planted his feet once more as they charged.

This time, however, he was able to shove his heels against the slain creature behind himself so he would not be pushed back. These smaller predators would not have the same force as the big one, so he was sure he could stay firm, have them bounce off the invisible shield, and then follow up with quick stabs.

The one on the left took the lead from its peer and slammed into the shield. Jace felt the impact shake up his prosthetic arm, but he held firm. The pressure on his calves was intense, and he could feel the prosthetic attachments beginning to buckle. He flipped the shield to the side - the creature's head going the same direction as it was redirected - and he stabbed into the side of its head. The creature went limp.

The second one got next to him before he could bring the shield to bear, and it tried to chomp down on him. He turned his body, slammed his prosthetic arm's palm into the side of its head, and thumbed the fire trigger. The grapnel shot into the creature's skull before exiting the other side and it, too, went limp. He retracted the line.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest: Slay 10 Vyrknadine.]

[Current Progress: 4/10.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Legendary (Skill Evolution) Boon.]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Thankfully, these two Skills at their currently manifest Rank did not cost Jace any energy, and he felt a giddy rush of adrenaline just like when he was chased. He laughed aloud, reveling in this newfound strength. The magitech super soldier serum, Cosmic Power, a Class…it all was a game changer. "Bring it on!" he shouted. "Come on! I'm in here!"

"Behind you!" Ollie shouted.

Jace turned and brought his shield to bear as another of the Vyrknadine had snuck up behind him. He was able to interpose the tower shield, but he was pinned on his back between gnashing teeth and a hard place. He got a good, long look at the creature's maw as it tried to bite through the invisible shield. Jace could only imagine the frustration this creature must have felt, seeing a juicy bit of prey, only to replace some invisible obstacle.

This one was around the same size as the two he had slain. He tilted the shield to the side and pushed his knees against it, bucking the creature up and off him. The Vyrknadine landed and regained its footing.

"From the other side, too!" Ollie yelled.

Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3). Jace saw the barrier pop into place around him and glanced back towards the tunnel entrance. Another two were over there. Terrific. Three on one. He tossed the sword to his right hand and pulled the flechette pistol from his pocket. The creature he had initially faced jumped at him, and he held up his hand, watching with delight as the shield followed his movement. The creature began to chomp down, and he pulled the trigger.

Bang! Fthft! The scattergun ripped through the soft palette of the creature's maw. The spiked, metal rounds ripped up into the brain cavity before pinging around, shredding brain matter. The creature dropped.

Jace turned to the other two who were holding their distance. Perfect. Stay there for six seconds. He put the sword between his teeth, reloaded once more, and cranked the charge handle. He re-equipped his sword and waited as the two creatures cautiously approached. Their chitinous shells were oscillating, and that's when Jace saw the grey goop coating them both. "Ollie? Is that anything to be concerned about?"

Ollie frowned, "It'll just make them a bit harder to injure." The otter turned in the air to keep an eye on Jace's back.

The pair of beasts lunged forward. Jace held the invisible blade out towards one of them, and the scattergun at the other. They both reached him at the same time, and the one on his left had its brain blown apart just like the one that Jace had just dispatched.

The one on the right, however, did not impale itself on the blade as Jace expected. The tip of the sword impacted the skull - just like the other ones - but the weapon slipped without making good contact as the goop coating the creature's shells gave it a slick quality. It lunged into his guard and chomped down on his arm.

The shield took the full blow, but Jace felt himself getting tired as exhaustion set in from the energy drain. He pocketed the pistol, swapped the sword to his left hand, and stabbed into the Vyrknadine's eye. It plunged deep into the brain cavity, and he shoved it from his arm as it went limp. "Any behind me?" Jace huffed out in between recovery breaths.

"Nope. Clear behind."

<<<<<>>>>>

[Quest: Slay 10 Vyrknadine.]

[Current Progress: 7/10.]

[Time Limit: N/A.]

[Reward: Legendary (Skill Evolution) Boon.]

[Sender: Dark Between Stars.]

<<<<<>>>>>

"Dust them," Jace muttered as he sat down on the floor of the tunnel. "Please."

Ollie nodded and gave a small thumbs up with his little paw, "Yup!" He pointed his paws down both sides of the tunnel, and the various corpses turned into Stardust before flying into Ollie's paw.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Stardust Acquired: 2100.]

<<<<<>>>>>

"600 for the big one - must have been a pack alpha - and 300 for each of the rest." Ollie smiled as he bobbed in place. "Current total is at 2115."

Jace nodded, "Four levels?"

"Yup!"

"Right. Okay." Jace rested the back of his head against the tunnel wall, chuckling at his situation. I survived without injury. And I got a massive amount of Stardust. Part of him wanted to level up right there, but another part, the street kid part, told him to hold onto the currency of The Eternal City. I don't even know what my living situation will be like. Or buying food. Or entertainment options. I mean, sure, I want to get to Tier 10 which will take a lot of effort…but I need downtime here and there.

Ollie flew over and laid down in front of him on the tunnel floor, his silver outline like a drawing against the surface. "What are you thinking?" he asked with genuine curiosity and a tinge of concern.

"What's my living situation going to be like in The Eternal City?"

"As a Signer, you can live in Xera's faction HQ. It is the biggest spire at the center of the whole place. But that would mark you as her Signer. Right now, and as far as any other Wayreplaceer is concerned…you are just a free-agent Aspirant. Unless they know what Dark Matter's symbol is or can do a System request-" He punched the air with his little paw. "-Which they will not be able to do with my otter punch in their face! They will not know who you work for. You will just be an unsigned Aspirant."

Jace nodded, "Think she'd give me a salary of Stardust for a place to live? Food? All that stuff?"

Ollie nodded, "I can talk to her about that as an alternative to stay at her headquarters."

"Good. Then let's use all that Stardust. 4 levels."

"What do you want?"

"Let's spend two levels getting Swordmage Stance up to (Rank 3) so that I'm a master with bladed weapons. The other two levels, let's stay balanced and get Dark Matter Blade up to (Rank 3) as well."

"You sure? You wanted something to deal with that General Logistics person hunting you down. Something for armored opponents."

Jace waved the concern away, "We're over two-thousand miles away from the portal. Even if they used the fastest car on Earth, they wouldn't get here before my next level. I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yup! You got it." Ollie pointed his paw at Jace, and a flood of Stardust surged into the Aspirant's torso. Jace felt a more intense but still quite pleasurable rush of heat through his body. He still felt tired, but he felt a little better as his muscles relaxed.

<<<<<>>>>>

Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 1)

Power [Class Level.]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 7.]

Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions.]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Dark Matter Blade (Rank 3), Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3), Swordmage Stance (Rank 3)

Stardust: 115

Equipment: Swordmage blade, Swordmage starting gear, flechette pistol, flechette ammunition (x30), Wirecannon Arm, Runner's Replacement (damaged), messenger bag, sliverscreen, survival knife, survival meals (x46), canteen (x2), medical kit, orange tarp (damaged), flint bar, flashlight

Boons: None

<<<<<>>>>>

Dark Matter Blade (Rank 2) - The entire blade from hilt to tip is rendered invisible.

Dark Matter Blade (Rank 3) - As Rank 2, and the blade inflicts those struck with a minor gravitational pull, slowing their movement.

Swordmage Stance (Rank 2) - The user becomes an expert with all bladed weapons.

Swordmage Stance (Rank 3) - The user becomes a master with all bladed weapons.

<<<<<>>>>>

The various System screens popped into his vision, and he re-read the new Skills. The Swordmage Stance should always be on just like before. I wonder if the new Skills cost me more energy. He glanced at Ollie, who was looking at him with keen eyes. "What?" he asked.

"You are getting strong, fast. Which is great! I have always wanted a strong Aspirant. At this rate, you will max out your Class at level 100 in no time!"

Jace smirked, "I like the optimism, but that's a long way to go."

"Baby steps." Ollie floated up into the air and began to swim around, "Or, baby strokes, I suppose."