Sunscorch (Rise To Omniscience Book 8)

by Aaron Oster

  His moonlight vanished about halfway to the ground, forcing him to slow. He growled in annoyance, landing on a gigantic boulder – likely a section of wall that had been torn away – and looked skyward to the burning chimera that winged its way toward him.

  “Ripper,” he growled, feeling his muzzle bunching up.

  He could still try and dive for the corpse, but he knew the other World Beast would be fast enough to intercept, so he remained where he was.

  The ground trembled beneath the boulder, and just seconds after he’d spotted the massive chimera, a badger with a shining golden stripe burrowed to the surface, gigantic claws tearing the earth away as though it were made of paper.

  Breaker felt his anger mounting as Ripper landed upon the wall, glaring down at him with his two sets of eyes as though he were beneath him.

  Having to fight off two other World Beasts to get at his prize was not something he’d been counting on, but when the ground shook once more, and the gigantic serpent flowed out, her body twining around dozens of trees, Breaker felt his anger turn to rage. Of all the World Beasts, he hated Strangler most of all.

  She was a cunning, conniving, and brilliantly wicked creature. One who had, on multiple occasions, outwitted him.

  Lightning flashed in the sky overhead as a sandstorm began to kick up. The others were trying to enforce their wills in the area, to overwhelm their competition and claim the prize for themselves. Breaker was not going to give up his prize so easily. His power flared, right alongside that of the others.

  The earth began to tremble as night overtook the area right above him. However, seeing as he was clashing with the other World Beasts, their own power overwhelmed his in their immediate vicinity.

  This left the sky split in four. A burning red with lightning flashing above Ripper, a dim, whirling sandstorm above Quaker, a corrosive, green fog above Strangler, and a bright, orange-hued moon, accompanied by night, above him.

  The World Beasts were about to fight over a priceless prize for the first time in millennia, and Breaker didn’t envy anyone within a thousand miles of the place!

  ***

  Morgan stepped through the portal and back into the darkened warehouse, followed closely by Katherine and Gwendolyn. Dinner with Gold had been nice, if a bit strange. His memories of his older brother of the past and the one now were quite different. It was mainly in the smile. Both the old Gold and this one smiled a lot, but it was the way he smiled that had changed.

  The old Gold’s had been genuine, happy, and usually carefree. This one, on the other hand, smiled in a way that hid something, more things than he would probably ever know. Sure, the smiles seemed genuine, but for someone who’d known Gold as well as he had, Morgan could tell something was off.

  They hadn’t really spoken of anything important either, simply talking about their childhood and reminiscing about the good times. Better days, before they’d pissed off the ruler of all creation. After their meal, Gold had said he needed to leave but that they should do this again sometime. There had been no set date, but Morgan knew he’d be seeing Gold again.

  “So, what did you think of him?” Gwendolyn asked as they stopped before the warehouse door.

  “I can’t be sure,” Morgan replied, rubbing at his chin. “I can tell he’s up to something, but what, I don’t know.”

  “Please,” Katherine said, glowering. “You can’t trust that eel with anything. He was clearly fishing for information, trying to further his own agenda. You’re being played!”

  “And at what point, exactly, was he fishing for information?” Morgan asked with a raised eyebrow. “When he talked about my bike accident when we were kids or that time he took me to the amusement park halfway across the country for my birthday?”

  “I…Well…You…Ahhh!” Katherine yelled, then stomped toward the door and yanked it open.

  She and Gold had dated once, and it had not ended well. Katherine was still holding a grudge and was looking for any excuse to bash him, which was fine in Morgan’s book. None of them should have been dating in the first place. They were friends, family, and colleagues. People who’d been together through horrors that no one back home would believe, and because of that experience, they should remain as they were—friends, and nothing more.

  “I still say we should keep an eye on him, even if he didn’t pry,” Gwendolyn said, as the two of them followed. “He…” she trailed off, eyes going wide.

  Morgan followed the line of her gaze, curious as to what had caught her attention. When he saw Loquin standing in the center of the room with tears spilling down her face, he felt a thrill of fear crawling up his spine.

  “She’s dead,” Loquin whispered.

  “What? Who’s dead!?” Morgan asked, already knowing the answer.

  Sarah was very conspicuously not there, and with Loquin finally lucid, she should have been right there with her, awaiting their return.

  “I warned her,” Loquin whispered. “Told her not to go.”

  The others stood, frozen around him, staring as Loquin collapsed to her knees.

  “Told her not to go where?” Morgan asked, his voice coming out sounding hollow and dead.

  “Not to go face him,” Loquin replied. “He was too strong for her to face alone.”

  “Who was?!” Morgan all but yelled, having to resist the urge to charge in and grab her by the shoulders.

  Loquin finally looked up at that, her red-rimmed eyes meeting his own.

  “The weapon created to destroy gods,” Loquin whispered. “The creature we created using your DNA.”

  “No,” Morgan said, his eyes going wide. “That’s impossible. We killed him!”

  “He’s still alive,” Loquin whispered, “and stronger than Sammy and I could ever have imagined. We’re all doomed. He’ll come for us, all of us.”

  “No,” Morgan said again, feeling a mix of both anger and fear. “He can’t. He won’t. He’s not that stupid. He can’t face us all!”

  “But he can.”

  They all turned to see Herald, walking into the room with a grim expression on his face.

  “He won’t be able to resist it,” the man continued. “It’s in his nature. He will seek us all out, every last one of us, and end us all.”

  Morgan felt his hands curl into fists, his brows drawing together and teeth clenching as anger burned within him like an inferno.

  “Then we find him first,” he said, the words coming out through gritted teeth. “And this time, we make sure to end him for good!”

  ***

  Wind whipped around Morgan’s body as he streaked through the dark North Kingdom sky. On his back lay the gleaming silver spear, and tucked within a small pocket dimension, just within reach, lay the shining golden orb that would restore Sarah back to her body.

  Grace and the others were back in Faeland, recovering in Elyssa’s palace, but he couldn’t wait to return here and finally do what he’d been working toward over the last two years.

  Sarah hadn’t spoken much since he’d returned, likely out of fear that something would go wrong and that it wouldn’t work. Although he didn’t say as much, Morgan had those same fears. Unlike her, he didn’t distract himself with silence, rather, by looking over his status and seeing how his battle with Sarah’s counterpart had changed him.

  Name: Morgan

  Title: King of Eternity

  Pinnacle Supermage: Rank - 80

  Energy to Next Rank - 0/750,000,000

  Ability - Downfall

  RP - 16,620/16,620 (Regen - 157.0 per second)

  Strength - 1,768

  Agility - 2,122

  Constitution - 1,729

  Intelligence - 1,662

  Wisdom - 1,570

  Traits - Eternal Soul, Perfect Aura Control, Devourer, King’s Might

  Skills - Gravity Release, Bestial Might, Starforge, Earth Mastery, Expanse, Rift

  Superior - Infernal Star, Light Star, Meteoric Downfall, Continental Collapse, Soulstream

&
nbsp; Ultimate - Eternity Beam, Sunscorch

  While he hadn’t gained any energy, all of his attributes had gotten a significant boost, way more than should have been possible for a single rank. Right then, he wasn’t sure if it had something to do with being at the Pinnacle or had come as a result of fighting a goddess. Either way, he was going to be sure and find out as soon as he could.

  There was still a lot about his new skills and ability he didn’t know, and if there was anything he enjoyed doing, it was testing himself against a superior opponent.

  Especially gods.

  The thought came unbidden to his mind, but Morgan dismissed it, shaking off the strange sensation of wanting to go find another, just to see how strong he really was.

  Right then, he needed to focus on one thing in particular — restoring Sarah to her body.

  He drifted slowly out of the sky, landing in a wide-open field of ice, tracking her location to the spot where Katherine had been keeping her for him after the destruction of the Ruined City. He didn’t need to walk for long, finding the spot where she was supposed to be located.

  Raising a hand, Morgan pressed his palm flat to the ice and flexed the muscles in his arm. The twenty-foot mound of ice shattered into a thousand tiny crystals, revealing a five-foot block of diamond encased at its center.

  Standing frozen within that block, eyes closed to the world and seeming like she was just asleep, lay Sarah – her body unchanged from the day he’d first encased her, preserving her body perfectly against the ravages of time.

  Morgan felt a lump in his throat as he walked forward, the ice crunching beneath his boots. He reached the block of diamond and breathed out, his breath puffing in the frozen air.

  “You ready for this?” he asked, directing his thoughts into the spear.

  He didn’t receive a verbal reply but got an acknowledgment, all the same, the mental equivalent of a head-nod.

  Breathing out again, Morgan reached out a trembling hand and placed it against the diamond block. It began to immediately flow away, swirling like water as it fled from Sarah’s body. Morgan caught her before she fell, placing her gently against the cold ground below.

  Letting out a shaky breath, Morgan reached behind his back, grabbing ahold of the spear and placing it under her hands. Then, reaching into the Rift, he pulled the glowing, golden sphere of divine Essence.

  “Please let this work,” he muttered, then slammed the golden core right into the center of her chest.

  The sphere parted around the haft of the spear as though insubstantial, then sank into Sarah’s chest.

  For several long moments, nothing happened. Then, Sarah’s body bucked, the fingers tightening around the spear as golden light began flooding from her skin. At the same time, the spear itself blazed with its own light. The two mixed and a pillar of twisting gold and silver blasted into the sky.

  The force of the beam threw Morgan back several feet, but he scrambled upright again, watching the twisting beam flowing higher and higher, their light reflected in his eyes and shining off the line of scales tracing his hands.

  He watched in silent awe as the pillar twisted into an intricate pattern, sending shimmering lights dancing across the sky. The entire world lit up in multicolored light, reflecting off the ice as though the world itself were celebrating in anticipation of what was to come.

  Then, the pillar flowed downward, pouring into Sarah’s body. She locked up, back arching and head thrown back as the light continued to pour into her. Then, it was gone and she relaxed, her body lying still as the spear rolled from her fingers. The lights in the sky didn’t vanish, remaining where they were, rippling back and forth as Morgan staggered toward her.

  He fell to his knees next to Sarah, watching her worriedly. Nothing was happening. Nothing was…!

  Her chest began to slowly rise and fall, and a moment later, a pair of eyes flickered open. Eyes that shone a light green, with twin rings of blue around the pupils.

  Morgan’s own eyes grew blurry as he looked down, feeling his jaw beginning to tremble.

  “You’re finally awake,” he said, his voice sounding choked.

  She blinked a few times, those brilliant eyes locking onto his and a small smile curling the corners of her lips.

  “You’re finally awake,” Morgan repeated, tears now streaming down his face. “Welcome back.”

  Keep reading after the credits for a sneak-preview of Age of Ancients.

  Coming January or February 2021.

  Afterword

  What’s up, Super-People?! Thank you so much for reading another book! This is the longest I have ever written so far! Thanks to all of your reviews on the last book, Sunscorch is a staggering 178K words! If you want the next book to be even longer, make sure to leave your reviews!

  Remember, every review past 130 will add another thousand words to book nine, so make sure to get them in there!

  You may also have noticed that Arbor and Morgan didn’t really have much of a scene together. That’s because I didn’t want to make anyone who hadn’t read the other series have to go read it to understand what was happening. I will be doing the same with book 4 of LOE. But, if there’s enough demand, I will write a crossover story, separate from both series. So, make sure to let me know if you’d like to see that!

  Also, make sure to check out the preview for Age of Ancients! If you’re a fan of RTO, this is not a series you will want to miss!

  Thank you so much, and I’ll hopefully see you all back for the next one!

  If you love GameLit or LitRPG as much as I do, you should check these amazing pages out! You can keep up with your favorite genre of books, all while being part of an awesome community.

  GameLitSociety

  Spoiled Rotten Readers

  Soundbooth Theater Live

  LitRPG Books

  You can check out my website for all news on current and upcoming releases, blog posts, artwork on characters, and other exclusive content. You can also contact me directly through the site if you have any questions.

  AaronOsterAuthor.Com

  Check out my YouTube Channel as well!

  YouTube/Aaron Oster

  You can support me on Patreon if you want some exclusive previews, benefits and access to a full beta read of the books before the release. You can also follow me on my various social media accounts, as that is where I do giveaways and the like.

  Patreon: Rise to Omniscience

  Instagram: Aaron Oster

  Facebook: Aaron Ostreicher

  Facebook Group: RTO/Buryoku

  A special thank you goes out to my two beta readers, Josh and DJ. You guys rock!

  And, to my Patreon Beta readers: Connor Melehan, Kwame Speller, Dylan Alexander, Michael Tunsil, Rossmwi, Brandon Decker & Desmond Lewis

  Coming Next

  Age of Ancients: Shattered Kingdoms Book 1 (January/February 2021)

  Buryoku Book Five (February/March 2021)

  Time of Titans: Shattered Kingdoms Book 2 (March/April 2021)

  Series by Aaron Oster

  Complete

  The Rules

  Somerset: Book One

  Pendrackon: Book Two

  Grempire: Book Three

  You can also pick up the series as a box set!

  Ongoing

  Rise to Omniscience

  Supermage: Book One

  Starbreak: Book Two

  Skyflare: Book Three

  Solarspire: Book Four

  Stormforge: Book Five

  Silverspear: Book Six

  Sandqueen: Book Seven

  Sunscorch: Book Eight

  Book Nine TBA

  Book Ten TBA (Series Finale)

  Buryoku

  Power: Book One

  Light: Book 2

  Water: Book 3

  Wind: Book 4

  Book Five coming February/March 2021

  Land of the Elementals

  Rampage: Book One

  Emerald: Book Two

  Origin: Bo
ok Three

  Book Four TBA (Series Finale)

  All dates are only an estimate and are subject to change. Please check my social media for any and all updates.

  And now, a sneak preview of:

  Age of Ancients

  Shattered Kingdoms

  Book One

  For all info on getting an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Age of Ancients ahead of the release, make sure to reach out to aaron@aaronosterauthor.com

  Hope you enjoy!

  1: Dabu

  Dabu stared at the small leafy-green head poking from the arid soil, concentrating on the singular plant as though his life depended on it. He sucked in a half-breath, feeling his lungs, weakened since birth, already struggling with the strain. A trickle of sweat ran down his back, sending an unbearable itch running across his spine.

  It wasn’t the harsh sun, which was beating high overhead, that had Dabu nervous. No, what had his heart racing was fear of the unknown.

  Would this radish come out whole and ripe, or would he pull up the deceptively leafy-green head only to discover a dry, shriveled mess?

  The air slowly exited his straining lungs, and Dabu had to resist the urge to cough. It was a struggle he had to deal with on a near-constant basis. In fact, had his mother known he was out here, she’d have scolded him for being so reckless. With his condition, he risked aggravating his lungs any time he went outside or performed even the simplest of physical tasks.

  Still, Dabu persisted. His father and older brother were gone, leaving only him to take care of his mother and younger sister. Aho would never admit as much, but she needed the help. Although she had Kahi, Dabu’s younger sister, she was only eleven years old and wasn’t exactly big enough to do some of the tougher work around their small plot of land.