NOVEL WEB B4 – Chapter 7 – Improvements
"Activate it," Jace said. "Let's see if we can focus it on specific pieces of gear. How about the Reaper Armor?" He saw a pink-on-black screen in his vision, and felt a weird, tingling sensation all along his body as pink sparks cascaded down from the top of his helmet.
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[Using Infusion: Rare (Gear Alteration).]
[Target Gear: (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard / Repairing) Reaper Armor.]
[New Infusion: Beacon.]
[Effect: The (Beacon) Infusion gives the equipped armor the ability to become a lure for Astral Demons, promising a powerful Soul.]
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"That would have been handy earlier," Jace said. Glancing back, he saw that his Void Stalker Skill had shaken off any pursuit as the starships that flew did so in a crisscross pattern, harried by flying Astral Demons all the while that were blasted by the lasers, only to recover and resume their assault.
I see how it works now, Ollie stated. Yes, it is very similar to Boons in The Cosmic System. And it appears that your Emotion Source and Class dictate how Infusions function. You won't get many stealth augmenting Talents, it seems.
Jace turned back to the front and kept jogging. Miles passed as the landscape began to shift slowly. Not due to his moving, no, but the landscape was literally shifting and distorting. The cracked, brown ground faded away as stalks of vibrant, yellow grass shot up. In moments, rather than a blasted badlands, he was standing in a huge savannah with clusters of trees. Trees with purple and green leaves, that were twisted into circular, spiraling shapes.
Interesting in leveling up?
"Yes," Jace said as he ran to one of the clusters of trees and let all of his Skills fade so that his energy could refill unhindered. "How does this work?"
I have to pull up the interface – I'll do it on my end. It is 1,000 Essence per level.
It took millions of Astral Demons to reach that, Jace thought. I'm going to have to kill so, so many of them. He felt a sense of dismay at how long that would take. I'm going to be here forever, and Chroma's soul will just get further and further away.
Not quite, Ollie replied, assuaging his concerns with his deep, comforting voice. You killed low Potency Astral Demons. Not even Potency 1, maybe a sixteenth of a Potency. They were the cannon fodder, basically. That Commander you fought was Potency 2. The stronger demons you fight, the more you will gain. Now, you have to choose – specialize your existing Talent or get a new one.
Jace pondered that for a few moments as he opened his TPSB and pulled out two survival meals, willed his helmet to recede, and scarfed them down. "The Might thing increases my offensive capabilities. Now that we know Psykinetic-empowered effects can go through my Void Shield, we should look at a Psykinetic defense. Sure, Void Shield is going to be good for the cannon fodder, as you say, but I need something defensive again."
Duly noted. Let us get it started!
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[You have leveled up!]
[You have chosen New Talent!]
[Talent Name: Crusader's Bastion.]
[Effect: Creates a barrier of Psykinetic energy that acts as a shield, placed upon the user's appendage. Size can be changed at will.]
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Name: Jace Seren (Potency 1)
Emotion [Class Level]: Valiant [Crusader 2]
Talent [Specialization]: Astral Adaptation, Astral Translation, Valiant Crusader's Might, Crusader's Bastion
Essence: 800
Infusions: None
Gear: <TPSB>, (Returning / Adaptable / Fulmination) Nethaldrim, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard / Repairing \\ Beacon) Reaper Armor, (Thrice Judged / Soul Tether) Anathema Arms, (Overclocked / Lightfoot) Anathema Legs, (Terrifying / Sealing) All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes, (Anathema) Primal Hide, (Flexible) Adamantine Skeleton, (Reactive) NICIF
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"Let's see how this works," Jace said as he stood up. Drawing his sword, he could see the faint, golden glow surge from his palm and infuse the blade. Not nearly as strong as before when he was on the battlefield and seen as a heroic figure showing bravery and courage, but still there. A glimmering gold that filled him with a sense of righteous vindication. Crusader's Bastion.
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He grinned as he saw a golden shield appear on his forearm. Just like the Dark Matter Shield (Rank 1) on Velenar Prime back at the start of his journey. Increase size, he thought, and the shield reacted, becoming the size of a tower shield, just like the (Rank 2) version of his old Shield. He could see his energy dip from manifesting the guard, but it did not drain further. It has an activation cost, but the Valiant Crusader's Might is like a permanent passive – Cosmic Infusion, basically.
The shield did not have any heft, but he knew it would be visible to others, since only Dark Matter and Void were impossible to see. I'll have to make sure that when I'm fighting someone, and I have this thing out, I treat it as something an opponent could see. Putting it up in front of him, he was satisfied to see it was mostly translucent. He could see through it with just a slight, golden hue. "Good."
It seems like an excellent addition, Ollie replied. Seems like your progression in the Astral System may go the same way as before.
"I doubt it," Jace replied as he sheathed Nethaldrim and let the shield fade away, the golden sparkles rapidly vanishing as the Talent deactivated. "This Astral System seems…less intuitive. More basic."
"You picked up on it, too," Quinn replied as she munched on something in the background. "It is not as flexible as The Cosmic System, but that is because it is akin to an ancient operating system. It has not had updates in a long, long time – but if it isn't broken, don't fix it."
Jace left the copse of trees and kept jogging to the East, keeping an eye on his refilling energy. He felt an immense satisfaction that he had taken the first step to gaining more power in this Astral System, but he seriously doubted that he would need to keep climbing higher and higher. I'm just going to deal with Missions and situations I come across that seem like they have good rewards, or I feel called to deal with. My priority is getting down the layers and making this tunnel to let the dead come back.
Shhiv was lounging in the pool cube, just enjoying the blissful silence. The public pools didn't have the same level of calm, and she quite enjoyed this little slice of paradise. Sure, she could leave the apartment if she wanted…but why would she? This was nice. Her little perfection.
She heard the elevator open and glanced down, and let out a squeal of delight. "Missy! You're back!" Shhiv swam down to the exit and ran out, hugging Missy who was dressed in light, lounge-about clothes. "Running the business without you has been hell. What you been doing?"
That's when Missy held up her left hand, and the golden glow of the Star Cosmic Power symbol caught Shhiv's eyes. "Greg kept me nice and safe, and we finished my Aspirant Trial. All my business earnings are going into investments through Quinn. Soon enough, I'm going to be leveling up almost every day."
Shhiv felt quite, quite happy for Missy…but also a bit envious. I could do the same, she thought. I'm sure Greg would be fine with it. And Jace would come back to help me out in a heartbeat…but I don't need to be an Aspirant or Ascendant as long as Xera's clone bodies are there. She looked around Missy's head, "I don't see a Wayfinder anywhere."
"Ah, well, they are busy," Missy replied. She pointed to the reclining chairs and the sun lamps, "Let's tan and talk. I've got so much to share! And you have to tell me about your honeymoon!"
Shhiv walked over with Missy and the two chatted for hours, fabricating food when they got hungry, and also drinks to get a bit tipsy as they spent a long, long time just catching up. Missy had been on a single world the entire time, and Greg had kept her perfectly safe and unharmed. She had chosen the [Guide] Class, wanting to be able to help people find their way to whatever they desired.
Shhiv, for her part, filled in Missy on the different places that she traveled to with Jace. All across the universe, world to world, as they just enjoyed life and each other. She ended with, "It was so fantastic. And he'll be able to come back once a week from his mission!"
Missy smiled softly, "So happy for you." She glanced over at the workout equipment, "I should probably get back to my routine with you."
Shhiv hopped up and began loading on weight plates, "Yeah, let's do a workout. I've just been swimming all day. I need a good lift."
Jace saw the timer in his HUD clicking away as he felt sleep draw him on. Scanning the environment for somewhere he could hole up, he grappled into the sky and spotted a clearing. Some type of structures were set up there, he thought as he saw marks of some type of vehicle that went off through the grasslands. Heading to the clearing with chained-together swings, he arrived at the clearing and an empty pit at the center.
Glancing over the edge, he saw nothing but tamped-down dirt and stone. As good of a place as any to set up the tent, he thought. "Ollie, my tent's (Augmentation) will still work here, right?"
Yup. And I will be able to unmerge and keep watch, since the System is part of you. I'll just do my outline-starry form and keep watch while I analyze more Astral System data.
Jace opened his TPSB, pulled out the Wildercloth tent, set it up, and then laid down. He quickly thought-off a message to Shhiv, knowing that it would travel up the cord of invisible voidlight back to their universe and reach her. Hey there. First day went well. I saved people. A lot of people. Killed a lot of Astral Demons, too. I hope you are holding up without me just fine. Another six days and the tether should be charged up enough for me to visit. Love you. "Send."
He curled up with his bedroll as he shut his eyes, and the NICIF helped him fall asleep instantly.
Xera glanced at the message that came through from Jace's end of the tether. Well, that's one thing I know works for sure, she thought. Sending the message through to Shhiv-zal, Xera began analyzing the data that Ollie had sent back along the voidlight tether. Irritating, she thought. I can't believe that it is so old and yet unassailable.
She had been trying to hack it for months now. It might be archaic, but it was impossible to crack. She wasn't sure why it was so difficult to break into. And she had given up at this point, instead diverting attention to the logs from Ollie. Interesting, she thought, There are not many species that he's come across that are the equivalent of a Tier 10 Ascendant. She smirked, knowing that Jace would not find much to threaten him on that first Layer of the Astral Verge.
Her probe pinged her, drawing her attention instantly as her heart skipped a few beats. The probes tasked with finding any trace of The Architect's journey. She scrabbled over to the console and began frantically flipping through the probe's logs. "Yes!" she screamed with delight.
She began drafting a message to Jace. He would need to detour a good distance, if her current map data was anything to go by…but the detour had to be made. She had to know what happened. And the fact that her probe was destroyed as it got closer to the downed ship meant that the automated defenses were all still active. I have to send him the override codes as well.