Rise to omniscience box.., p.87
Rise to Omniscience Box Set 1-3, page 87
part #1 of Rise to Omniscience Series
He did smash into Sarah’s barrier a couple of times though, but luckily for her, it held up just fine.
“I think you can come out now,” Morgan said after he was sure he wouldn’t hurt her by accident.
Sarah gave him a dubious look, but when he rolled his eyes and picked up a small chunk of ice without crushing it, she nodded and allowed her shield to drop. The small cubes of ice had been a test of sorts. Sarah had made them on his request, so he could gage when he had some modicum of control.
The first few times he’d lifted one of the cubes, it had shattered in his grip almost immediately, but as the minutes passed, he was able to hold out for longer before the cracked. Now, he lightly tossed her the ice cube, catching her off guard. She instinctively caught it, marveling that it didn’t hurt at all. Had he thrown that only minutes ago, it might have broken bone.
“You really are a quick learner,” Sarah said with a smirk, approaching him with a sway to her hips.
Morgan watched how she walked, picked up the subtle vibrations in the air around her, and heard her heart rate increasing. He knew what she was about to do, and although he wasn’t going to like it, he would bear it for her. After all, she had thought he was dead, and he felt he owed her after putting her through that.
So when Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, he didn’t resist. The kiss didn’t last very long, only a second or two, but when she pulled back, her cheeks were flushed, and she had a happy smile on her face.
“Thanks for that,” she said in a low voice. “I know you don’t enjoy it, but I couldn’t help myself. I thought you were dead, and…”
She cut off as Morgan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. He wasn’t much for hugging either, but knew that she needed the comfort. Despite his lack of an emotional connection with her, his new perception gave him an…insight, that he’d been previously lacking. She needed stability at the moment, and this would give her the strength she needed to get over the emotional turmoil he’d caused.
He felt her melt into him, squeezing him back and burying her face in his shoulder. She didn’t cry however, merely stood there and held onto him while the sun began setting in the west, sending golden light dancing across the dunes.
After what felt like an hour, Sarah finally let go and stood back, giving him a bright smile.
“Maybe you are learning,” she said in a quiet voice.
She rested her hand on his chest for a few more moments, then reluctantly backed away.
“So, what now?”
“Now,” Morgan said, “we train.”
***
Lord Simon stared down at the letter that was handed to him by King Edmund. There were several long pages of scrawling text, along with the Queen of the West’s signature and her royal seal at the bottom.
Outlined in the letter, were the rules for the Skyflare Tournament, as well as the limitations on the North Kingdom’s party due to the ongoing war.
“They’re only allowing five of us?” he exclaimed, throwing the papers to the table and glowering.
“I can’t say it’s surprising,” Edmund replied. “Have you gotten ahold of your sister yet? We only have two days until registration, and we need her to be there in person.”
“Yes, I’ve already tracked her down. Now all we need to do is use one of the scrolls to retrieve her, and another to travel to the West Kingdom.”
“That will use half our supply,” Edmund said, with a slight downturn of his lips.
“As invested as she is, I’m sure Loquin will be in the West for the tournament, so getting more shouldn’t be an issue,” Simon replied.
Edmund hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Very well, I will send you with three of my best. They will travel along with you to Sing’s location, then from there, you will travel to the West.”
“Two, actually,” Simon replied. He hated to contradict the King, but Sing had someone with her who would be crucial in fetching his daughter.
Edmund raised an eyebrow, and Simon was quick to explain.
“Sing is accompanied by the best tracker in the North Kingdom. He may not be a fighter, but we’ll need him if we are to succeed.”
Edmund stared at him for a long moment, bright violet eyes appraising him, then nodded.
“Very well. I shall have my two best men accompany you. Now, before you go; are you sure Sing meets the rank requirements?”
Simon grinned.
“She’s at the maximum allowed, which is perfect for us.”
Edmund nodded, then called out to his guards waiting outside. When one of them entered, he ordered his two best men, Luke and Desmond, to pack for a long trip and be in his tent within the hour.
They spent their remaining time discussing how best to extricate Sarah once she was found, and what they would do if she had any company. Simon was personally hoping that Morgan would still be with her. That bastard had escaped his clutches one too many times, and he still wanted him dead.
Finding Sarah would cement his place with the royal family, but killing Morgan would fulfill a baser desire. One that had been plaguing him for nearly seven years. Revenge.
Luke and Desmond appeared in no less than thirty minutes, armored in the red and white of the North Kingdom, and carrying packs slung over their shoulders.
Edmund handed Simon back three of the four scrolls he’d given him, and Simon unrolled one of them. Then, unstopping one of the blue vials, he emptied the contents. Everyone sat with bated breath until a swirling portal formed over the scroll within seconds.
“Guess Loquin isn’t full of shit, after all,” Simon muttered.
He bowed once to the King, then stepped through the portal, with his guards following closely behind. The trip was surprisingly smooth, and although he hadn’t traveled by portal often, Simon wasn’t an especially big fan of this method of transportation. It always left him feeling nauseous. This portal just felt like stepping out of one room, and into another.
As he emerged from the other side, he could already see Sing and Weasel waiting there for him, packs slung over their respective shoulders. Simon couldn’t resist as a wide grin spread across his face.
It looked like things were finally going his way.
110
It took Morgan and Sarah a few tries to find the right beast zone. They’d selected several rank 28 keys, but each time they’d stepped through a portal, Sarah had immediately demanded they leave. When Morgan finally asked why after the fourth such incident, she’d replied that she was sick of hot climates, and wanted to go somewhere a bit milder.
Finally, after their fifth, and final key, she’d agreed to stay. Looking around at the dense, and overgrown jungle, Morgan couldn’t fathom why. It was hot, damp and rainy. They had barely been here for five minutes, and already, his clothes were soaked through.
“You sure that this is the place you want to spend the next thirty-seven hours?” Morgan asked, giving Sarah a raised eyebrow.
Sarah, who had just pulled the soaked tan shirt she’d been wearing over her head, nodded.
“This environment is perfect for my ability,” she said, fishing around in the bag at her waist and removing one of the armored tops Katherine had provided her.
Morgan noted that she now seemed completely at ease changing in front of him, and her heart rate only slightly increased when his eyes fell on her mostly bare skin. She was, of course, still wearing a bra and was quick to work the armor over her head, where it conformed to her body.
He decided, however, that wearing a shirt in such conditions would do him no good at all, so he stripped his completely off, handing it to her so she could stash it in the bag.
“As much as I appreciate looking at you,” Sarah said with a smirk. “Don’t you think it’s unwise to walk around without armor?”
She’s also come a long way with how blunt she is about her attraction to me, Morgan noted offhandedly.
“It probably would be better to wear armor, but in these conditions, it would only impede my movement.”
She nodded her understanding, and stowed the bag away in the compartment inside her armor.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked, looking at their surroundings.
It was dark and gloomy, and the constant rainfall made detecting sounds difficult. The surrounding foliage was heavy, and would likely conceal a multitude of nasty creatures.
“The plan is to get both of us to rank 29,” Morgan replied, trying to find the best path deeper into the jungle. “Seeing as you’re still at 25, we’ll work on raising you first.”
Sarah nodded. She’d expected as much, but still wanted to be sure.
“Which way do we go?”
Morgan turned on the spot a few times, before finally shrugging his shoulders.
“Doesn’t really matter,” he replied with a grin. “We’re here to kill beasts. I’m sure we’ll find plenty, no matter which direction we go.”
He was about to pick a random direction and start walking, when a sudden idea struck him. He’d completely forgotten about his Aura sense, and what it could now do. Focusing for just a moment, his surroundings lit up in vivid streams of red and blue.
“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked suddenly on guard and preparing for a fight.
“Nothing,” he was quick to reassure her. “But I think I just found a way to effectively navigate a beast zone.”
“Really?” she asked, sounding intrigued. “How?”
“My Aura sense trait,” he replied with a grin. “I can see the surrounding mana and chi, as easily as the trees and giant puddles of water. Using them, I can track down any beast, so we shouldn’t have to worry about any ambushes while we’re here.”
“Alright then!” Sarah said, now sounding slightly more enthusiastic about venturing into the thick jungle canopy. “Lead on.”
Morgan nodded, looking around for a few seconds before spotting the thickest trail of red, and following it. He noted several smaller or less tangible trails, and figured that the beast they were tracking must be at a higher level of ability advancement than the others.
He wasn’t worried about running into an Advanced beast here, as this wasn’t an Advanced beast zone. The strongest beast they could hope to run into would be the Arch, which was probably a rank 30 to 32 Intermediate beast.
That one would be a challenge. If what Sarah said was true, he could technically take it on now, but he was going to save that particular battle until after they had both broken through to rank 29. The subsequent boost to both their power would make the fight a lot less dangerous.
“We’re getting close to the beast,” he whispered as he and Sarah pushed through the thick undergrowth.
He really hoped there would be some sort of clearing up ahead, because fighting in these conditions would be difficult, to say the least.
“What’s the plan?” he heard Sarah ask again, this time about the specific upcoming battle.
“Since we’re not sure how strong the beast is, just stay behind me. I still want to test my skills to see if they function properly, or if there are any differences.”
“Alright.” Her reply came a moment later.
They kept moving, trying to be as silent as possible. Normally, pushing through the undergrowth as heavy as this, they would make such a racket as to be heard for miles around. But luckily for them, the heavy rainfall muffled any sounds they made.
Morgan noticed the foliage thinning up ahead, and breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like they’d be able to fight unhindered, after all. He slowed, holding a hand up to Sarah to stay put. Then, he moved silently forward, pushing through the trees until he could get a better look at the clearing.
Sure enough, a beast slunk around the open space. It appeared to be some sort of jaguar, but its fur didn’t contain the usual pattern he would expect. Instead, its fur was a solid black color, interspersed with small round protrusions. Looking a little closer, Morgan thought he could see a light gleam coming off them, and immediately recognized it to be some sort of metal. A red light flared around the beast when he used Aura sense, and the creatures status appeared before his eyes.
Name: Adamant-Studded Jaguar
Rank - 27
Ability type - Super
Judging by the density of its core, Morgan could tell right away that this beast was at the Intermediate stage. He was now even happier about his increased perception, as it would give him more vital information on beasts and other people, before he had to fight. Motioning Sarah forward, he told her what they were up against.
“Let me do all of the fighting,” Morgan said, eyeing the jaguar.
When Sarah opened her mouth to argue, he was quick to explain his reasoning.
“I want to test my skills and if you happen to be in the way if they go out of control, I can end up hurting you.”
Sarah snapped her mouth shut, though she still looked angry.
“How about this,” Morgan said, already gearing up for the fight ahead. “After I get a handle on how my new ability works, I’ll let you take the lead on every fight we have in here. Deal?”
Morgan knew that though she would never admit it, Sarah enjoyed fighting almost as much as he did. While it wasn’t the same feral joy as he had, she felt a certain rush when fighting a challenging enemy. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have come into the beast zone with him and she wouldn’t be nearly as obsessed with gaining power.
“Fine. But I’ll hold you to that promise,” she said, now seeming a lot less angry.
Morgan nodded, then turned to face the beast in the clearing. Taking deep steady breaths, he felt his core thrumming in response. As he stepped into the clearing, he activated his shield, watching with some interest as it spread over his body. Normally, the shield would emanate from his skin all at once. Now, however, it started right over where his core was and spread across his body from there.
It was the same almost black-violet color of his core, with the red and blue sparkles of light floating across its surface. The beast turned to him almost immediately, and didn’t give so much as a snarl before it pounced.
Morgan, taken off guard by the sudden attack, stumbled backward, trying to at least dodge the lunging beast. The giant cat had the advantage of surprise and slammed into him with the full force of its two-ton body behind it. He went to the ground, unable to keep his balance, and the cat landed on him, its slitted green eyes glowing in the gloom of the forest.
Then it sank its jaws into his neck. Or at least, it tried to. It took Morgan, who was still stunned from the cat’s lightning reflexes, a few seconds to understand what was happening. The cat was growling in frustration as it clamped powerful jaws down on his shield, but was unable to break through.
Morgan could feel that his shield wouldn’t hold out for much longer, and supermage or not, those razor sharp fangs would punch right through his skin. Morgan had lost his breathing pattern when he’d been knocked to the ground, but now he took a deep breath again, feeling his core pulsing.
Then he activated Explosive impact. Time slowed to a crawl as both his speed and power were tripled and Morgan bucked his hips, throwing the cat off balance. He then shot up from the ground, slamming a fist under the cat’s jaw with a loud crack.
The timer on his skill ran out and Morgan landed back on his feet, careful to keep his breathing even. The jaguar yowled in pain, blood streaming from the sides of its ruined jaw. Morgan knew that he could probably kill this beast easily, injured as it was. He’d caught it off guard and had landed a clean blow, one which had carried far more power than he’d been expecting. The blow had also been perfect in every way. It was as though his body knew exactly where to strike to cause the most amount of damage in the limited time he’d had to act.
Even now, he could see the beast’s core pulsing, as the aura in the air around it began to warp. Morgan had to suppress a grin. He could now tell when a beast was about to use an ability!
He knew better than to sit still. The beast was still alive for one reason: so he could test his skills. The jaguar let out a pained roar, opening its broken jaw as red light flared around its body. The metal studs in its sides began growing at a rapid pace, until they’d lengthened and sharpened to points. Recognizing the attack for what it was, Morgan called out a warning.
“Sarah! Get down!”
He wasn’t sure if she’d heard him, but Morgan ran for the cover of a large boulder, even as the glowing spears exploded outward in all directions. He winced as two of them tore into him before he managed to make behind the cover of the big rock, and it took everything he had to keep his breathing steady.
Grimacing in pain, he pulled the two that had punctured his shield, one lodging in his right calf and the other, behind the knee. It was extremely painful, and the wounds bled profusely as he removed both of the spikes. Even as his reiki moved to stop the bleeding and numb the pain, Morgan was regretting not finishing the beast off.
He had a tendency to be careless when it came to his safety, and he knew he’d be hearing from Sarah once the battle was over. Peeking around the boulder, Morgan let out a shout, and quickly pulled his head back, as another barrage of metal spears flashed through the air.
It appeared that this beast could attack more than once without needing to recharge. He could feel the stone at his back shuddering with each impact and even heard a few alarming sounding cracks.
As soon as it went silent again, Morgan rolled to his side and used Advanced flight, speeding out from behind the boulder and out into the open clearing. It was now riddled with bristling metal spikes, but the jaguar was nowhere to be seen. Looking frantically around, Morgan used Storm blade, watching as a nearly black cone of swirling wind formed around his arm.
He then charged the blade, and watched as red and blue electricity began dancing over it. Another interesting change he filed away for later. The pain in his leg was nearly gone now, so Morgan landed on the ground, and began looking around for any sign of the beast.
