Rise to omniscience box.., p.108
Rise to Omniscience Box Set 1-3, page 108
part #1 of Rise to Omniscience Series
Arnold seemed surprised that Morgan had even seen the attack coming, and was therefore off balance when he slammed into him feet first with a double kick. Morgan exhaled as his back hit the sand, immediately forcing himself back to his feet and sprinting towards the still downed man.
Arnold was just rising, when Morgan struck out for his neck, the razor edge of his violet sword crackling with lightning. Morgan could already taste victory, when something slammed into him from the side, sending him skidding across the ground and sending a web of cracks across his shield.
He knew he didn’t have any time to waste, so even as he bounced, Morgan shoved his arms into the ground, using the momentum to regain his balance. He planted his feet in the sand, and threw both arms up un time to catch another slashing attack from Arnold’s glowing sword. He felt heat searing at his skin, even through his shield, but he managed to turn the attack away just in time.
Then Sing appeared before him, a sadistic grin on her face as she slammed a closed fist into his unprotected stomach. She’d used the opportunity left by Arnold’s opening to attack, and Morgan could see the chi wrapped around her fist even as his shield buckled. A massive force impacted his stomach as her fist landed, radiating outward from her hand and flowing into him. Morgan recognized the force aspect of her attack, right before he was thrown backwards and slammed into the arena wall.
He gasped as chips of stone flew up around him, and he felt his ribs creak under the strain but thankfully, his shield had stopped the worst of it. His core was taking care of the rest, but the other two weren’t letting up on their attacks. Sing had already covered half the distance between them by the time he landed on the ground and was already preparing to use another attack, so Morgan did the only thing he could.
Though he’d been reluctant to use it so early in the fight, he now had no choice. His Explosive impact was still on cooldown for the next few seconds, and he wasn’t sure he’d last that long at this rate. Grimacing, Morgan dismissed his Stormforged weapons, then reached down to his belt and used Nature’s wrath.
He felt power flood his body, and hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
“You’re mine now, brat!” Sing yelled, fists distorting as she prepared to launch another attack, but Morgan was already moving.
Grimacing at the strain it was already causing, Morgan pulled both his fists up and slammed them into the ground, the force element increasing his striking power immensely. A massive shockwave exploded out from the point of impact, sending cracks through the stone nearly a foot beneath the sand and throwing Sing off balance.
Morgan then switched to lightning, covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and slammed a steel-clad fist into her face. As she stumbled back, he used Stormforger, bringing back one of the weapons he’d banished before using Nature’s wrath. Then with a shout, he swung the oversized hammer into the off-balance woman, sending her flying across the arena with the satisfying sound of crunching bones.
Morgan’s skill ran out then as his RP bottomed out, leaving him panting hard as he shrank the hammer down to normal size. He slowed his breathing, watching as Sing got back to her feet, blood streaming from a cut just above her eye, and clutching at her side where his hammer had hit her. She looked pissed, and Morgan couldn’t blame her. He knew he was in a bad spot, though, as he had almost no reiki and still had two opponents to deal with. He was honestly shocked he’d managed to keep up with the both of them so far, but knew that he was fighting a losing battle.
They’d had him on the defensive since the beginning of the fight, each one keeping him just off balance enough that he could never gain any momentum. With his flight skill, he would have a good chance of succeeding, as it would give him the speed he was currently lacking. But with the ban once more in place, he was forced to improvise.
His Explosive impact had already recharged, but it wouldn’t do him much good unless he was close enough to deal a devastating blow to either Sing or Arnold. There was also the fact that it would take him at least another few seconds to recover the RP he needed to use the skill, and in a fight like this one, seconds might as well be decades. His Aura sense then detected the air around Sing warping and he braced himself for an attack. It didn’t help.
Sing practically exploded towards him, moving so fast that he couldn’t follow her movements, even with his increased perception, and slammed into him full force. Morgan held back a scream as he felt his left forearm break as the threw it up in defense, then was abruptly slammed into the wall with enough force to make his vision fuzz when she spun and slammed her boot into his midsection.
Even as he tried to pull himself free, a massive concussive force hit him, tearing at his skin and opening thousands of tiny cuts across his entire body. Morgan gasped, getting his core working, and tried to clear his head, but felt someone’s fingers curl in his hair and drag him from the crater he’d left in the wall.
His swimming vision landed on Sing’s face, right before she slammed a fist into his nose. Morgan felt blood coating the inside of his throat as his nose was flattened against his face, and he gasped for air, lashing out wildly in an attempt to break the woman’s iron grip.
“You’re not getting away that easy!” Sing snarled, slamming her knee into one of his kidneys and causing him to buckle, dropping to his hands and knees.
“My brother said to make sure you didn’t leave this arena alive, and he wanted to make sure that when you died, it would be in as much agony as possible!”
Morgan coughed, sending a spray of blood to the ground below as he wheeze for air. His breathing wasn’t deep enough to get his core working, and he was having a hard time focusing on anything other than the pain. He felt something hard slam into the back of his skull, driving his bloodied face into the sand.
Colored lights flashed before his eyes once more and he groaned, barely conscious as Sing yanked his head up painfully once more. A shadow passed over him then as someone else loomed over him. He saw Sing turn to the man, and pulled his head painfully to one side.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Arnold said with a grin. “I didn’t get to kill you back at the academy, and was forced to save your sorry ass for that damned Princess. But one one’s here to protect you now!”
Arnold’s fist slammed into the violet sword Morgan had forged, and thrown up in a hasty defense, but before he could launch an attack, a vicious kick to his ribs sent him sprawling once more. Morgan wheezed, trying to get a breath in. His vision was obscured by blood and tears, an involuntary reaction from having his nose broken.
He was sure he had a concussion, and a pretty severe one at that, as well as several broken bones. He could surrender. In fact, he should surrender…
Morgan opened his mouth to call out to the referees, who were standing by and waiting any verbal surrender, but before he could get it out, something struck him hard in the throat, cutting off any attempt at speaking. Morgan tried to take in a breath, but his ruined throat just wouldn’t allow it.
He could distantly hear the booing of the crowd, but he knew that no one would interfere. It was against the rules, after all. Someone tugged at his hair once again, and Morgan’s eyes focused on Sing and Arnold. They both looked extremely pleased with themselves, even as Arnold drew his fist back to deliver the finishing blow.
“And so ends the mighty supermage!” Arnold yelled, then the air between them exploded as Morgan formed his Goldfire barrage between them, blowing up all six balls of violet fire.
He couldn’t even cry out as the fire burned his skin as he was thrown back, due to his ruined throat. Landing hard on his back, Morgan stared up at the sun above, feeling his consciousness fading fast. His skin was blistered and burned from the attack, and he didn’t know if it had accomplished anything, but at least he’d rob Arnold and Sing of the pleasure of delivering the finishing blow themselves.
Well, Morgan thought as his vision darkened. He’d had a good run, and survived way longer than anyone else could have imagined.
He coughed one more time, his entire body wracked with pain. Then, he abruptly found himself on his feet again, and, to his complete and utter surprise, felt no pain at all.
Looking around in confusion, he saw both Arnold and Sing, each of them frozen halfway as they rose from the ground. Their clothes were burned, Sing was missing a good chunk of her hair, and Arnold’s left arm was blackened and charred. Neither of them looked too happy.
Then he turned and had the shock of his life, as he saw himself lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He’d never seen himself look so bad. His face arms and chest were all red and blistered. His nose was just a lumpy, bloody mess, and he could see numerous cuts all over his body. There was a noticeable indent in his neck, and he figured that that was what had caused his airway to be blocked.
He was still extremely confused however, until he heard a voice from his right.
“It looks like you’ve seen better days. Are you prepared to take my deal now?”
135
Morgan turned on the spot to see Samuel, standing there with his both his arms held behind his back. If he was in any pain from the punishment Gold had mentioned, it didn’t show. He looked as healthy as ever and his silver eyes drilled into his.
“What deal?”
“The one I’m offering you now,” Samuel responded. “You will do as I say from now on, without questioning me. If I say jump, you will reach for the skies. If I say fight, you will slaughter nations. If I say bark…”
“No,” Morgan replied simply.
“What do mean, no?” Samuel asked, folding his arms. “It doesn’t seem like you have much of a choice. You either accept my deal or you die.”
Morgan shrugged.
“A life stuck serving as your slave isn’t one worth living, especially since I could end up living forever. So, if it’s all the same to you, I’ll take death.”
Samuel’s face darkened at that, and his tone became decidedly less friendly.
“Don’t think that you’ll get out of this alive. I’m not bluffing. If you turn me down, you will die. No one will save you, and no one will care.”
Morgan grinned at the man, taking one last look around. This would probably be his last conscious moment, so he would take it all in. The only regret he had was that Sarah would have to watch him die. He just hoped she’d be able to get away without him.
“I’m sure you have other things to do,” he finally said, turning back to the god. “So you’d best be on your way.”
Samuel’s face twisted in anger.
“I hope the void serves you well, you ungrateful piece of shit!”
Then, he vanished. A moment later, the sound of the crowd returned, along with the agonizing pain. Morgan scrabbled around in the dirt, even as his consciousness began fading all over again. He tried desperately to get a single breath. If he managed that, his core would begin numbing the pain.
Sing and Arnold were hurt enough that it would take them at least a few seconds to act, which would give him time to surrender. He might not win the tournament, but at least he’d still be alive. The problem was, that he couldn’t get so much as a breath past his ruined throat. His one good arm moved up his body. It was a desperate measure, but if he could cut open the obstruction, he’d be able to breathe again.
It would be extremely risky, as he could bleed out before the healers reached him, but it was likely his best chance at survival. His hand brushed over something hard and round sitting in his right pocket. Despite his frantic need to stay alive, something in him recognized the shape, and he drew out the glowing core.
He wasn’t sure how it had gotten there, or what it contained, but it blazed with power to his Aura sense. He could tell that this was an extremely powerful core, and one that likely contained a lot of energy. Not having the time to check however, Morgan simply willed the energy to flow into him. If he could force an evolution now, his body would likely heal itself, saving him the risk of cutting his own throat.
As the energy flooded into him, Morgan assigned it all towards advancing his ability. He wasn’t sure how much energy the core contained, but just hoped it would be enough. A massive pain wracked his body as the core crumbled to dust in his hand. Then his core exploded.
***
Sarah watched with growing horror as Morgan was continuously beaten into the ground. Clenching her fists at her sides, she felt her fear increasing with every blow he took. She’d known they would be aiming for him from the start. What she hadn’t realized, was how badly outmatched Morgan would be with all his most powerful skills locked away.
By this point however, he was too far gone to even think straight. If he could, he would have flown away, and accepted the disqualification. It was obvious to her, as well as everyone else what was going on. Both Sing and Arnold were going to kill him, and weren’t going to give him the option of surrendering.
She felt tears of helpless rage building at the corners of her eyes, as she tried to break through the crystal barrier keeping her from reaching them. Sing and Arnold were taking turns beating him now, and Marsha was just… standing there! Once she got out of here, she would kill them all!
Sarah threw one attack after the next at the crystal wall displaying Morgan’s broken and bloodied body, but none of them so much as caused a single scratch. Finally, she collapsed to the ground, hands pressed against the pane as she watched the fight unfold. There was a momentary spike of hope when the air between the three of them exploded in a configuration of golden fire, but her hopes were soon dashed as both Arnold and Sing rose from the ground. And although she could see that they’d both sustained injuries, neither of them was down.
It was all her fault, Sarah realized as she watched the two of them approaching Morgan’s prone form. If she hadn’t insisted he compete in this stupid tournament, he would be fine! So what if he never learned to love her? At least he would be alive!
Not for the first time, Sarah wondered why the universe seemed to enjoy screwing her at every turn. Everyone she’d ever cared about was gone. Morgan had been the only one, and now, she was about to lose him as well. She’d thought she’d lost him before and that had been devastating, but now she had no doubts that he wouldn’t be coming back. This wasn’t some self-inflicted injury caused by a combination of energies. This was real damage, inflicted by two sadistic psychopaths, bent on destroying him completely.
She could see Morgan’s one good arm moving around, as though he was trying to find some way out of his predicament. The referees were waiting by, but they needed a verbal admission of defeat in order to intervene, and Sing had made sure Morgan couldn’t do even that. She’d crushed his throat, thereby ensuring that he couldn’t surrender. She saw his hand finally stop moving, and knew this was the end. Sing and Arnold were only feet away from him now, and would finish him off as soon as the reached him.
Then, something began happening to Morgan. Sarah sat up straighter as his entire body began jerking and spasming. At first she thought that he was having some sort of seizure, but when his body started glowing, she knew it was something else. Her eyes widened, and she quickly moved back from the crystal wall so she could get a closer look on the screen.
Sure enough, a purple-black light had surrounded his body, and was beginning to swirl around him, kicking up the sand around him. Sing charged at him, trying to get to him before anything happened, but a dome of purple energy flared out around him, covering Morgan’s body completely.
Sarah watched as Sing slammed into it and was violently rebuffed, being sent stumbling back. Arnold tried next, swinging his massive sword down, but it was similarly blocked, sent back by the dome of purple energy. The crowd seemed confused, and the announcer was trying to guess what was going on, but Sarah knew what was happening.
She didn’t know how, but Morgan had somehow gotten ahold of a core with enough energy to advance his ability. Even now, his body was likely being restructured and hopefully, healed. She held back a laugh as both Sing and Arnold began pounding on the dome, each unleashing some pretty powerful attacks, but all to no avail. The barrier was just too strong.
Then, as Arnold’s sword descended once more, a hand shot out from inside the energy wall, catching the sword. Sarah stared in shock as Arnold tried to tug it back, but was unable to. Then, her eyes widened even more as the fingers flexed, and the sword shattered.
“Holy shit!” Sarah yelled as Arnold stumbled back, staring in dumbfounded amazement at his stump of a sword.
Then, the dome contracted, leaving Morgan standing in its place, whole and unharmed. He looked as though he’d grown a couple of inches, but his body looked to be, if anything, a bit slimmer than before. He didn’t look nearly as muscular, but Sarah knew that it was all just a deception. As she watched the recently evolved supermage, she wondered just what kind of power he was about to unleash.
***
Morgan felt his core explode outward, flooding his body with energy. He tried to gasp, but found that he was unable to move. He could vaguely see someone approaching him, then his vision went dark. Morgan wondered for just a second if he’d gone blind, when he saw a flash of color race before his eyes.
Not blind, he realized. He was in some sort of protective dome!
Then he felt the energy burning him from the inside. It felt hot, scorching his bones, muscles and skin as it washed over him. Finally, he screamed, back arching as he felt his muscles and bones contract, becoming denser and tougher. The pain was lost on him, as he was finally able to get some air into his starving lungs.
He didn’t know how long he lay there, writhing on the ground, but as the pain receded, and his consciousness returned, he could feel his core rebuilding itself. Slowly, the energy that had washed through him was collecting at the center of his chest once more, slowly forming a sphere of dense violet reiki.
