by Aaron Oster
“I really don’t see it that way,” Morgan said with a shrug. “Why don’t we just relax? You wait to hear from your pet gnome again. I’m sure he’ll tell you that the humans are dead and that we have nothing to worry about.”
Gwendolyn looked around the room one last time, then let out an annoyed huff and stormed out. The others didn’t even look up from what they were doing, which aggravated her even more. It was fine, though. There was someone here who would listen, someone who’d always listened. Loquin had been her best friend back when they’d been working together, and no matter what, she was always there.
She made it to the end of the hallway, then pulled open another heavy door. There, sitting in the center of the room and bound in chains of pure chaos, was the woman in question. Her cheeks had grown sallow over the last couple of years, and though she couldn’t move much, she was still very much conscious.
“Hey, Locky,” Gwendolyn said, pulling the door shut.
The emaciated woman looked up at her, eyes half-lidded and face expressionless. It killed Gwendolyn to see her this way, but keeping her chained and cut off from her power was the only way to stop Order from reclaiming her — or worse, sending her back to her own world. They needed her here if they were going to get free, and right now, she and Herald were their best hope.
While they were stuck under Chaos’ proverbial thumb, both she and Herald would be freed if Order were overthrown. That meant that there would be two gods, completely free and unfettered, and with people like that on their side, breaking their links to Chaos would be a lot easier. Not only that, but she really wanted her friend back.
“We finally found the human spies in Faeland,” she said, crouching down next to the woman and being careful not to look at the chains.
Chaos’ power was just that, chaotic. One look could drive even someone as powerful as her mad, and madness wasn’t really something she wanted to have to deal with right now. It could take days for her to recover, by which time the humans could have slipped her grasp once again. No one seemed to realize just how much of a threat they posed, so it was up to her to stop them before it cost them all their lives.
Loquin made a small grunt in reply, but otherwise, said nothing.
“Herald warned us about them,” Gwendolyn continued. “Said that one of them went toe to toe with Sammy and that he was very dangerous. Can you tell me anything more about him?”
Loquin’s body stiffened, and her eyes snapped wide open. The woman slowly turned until she was staring into Gwendolyn’s eyes, the sunken green orbs burning with a fire that she hadn’t seen in months. She also saw something else, something she hadn’t expected to see in the eyes of someone who was as powerful as Loquin. Fear. Loquin opened her mouth, a dry croak escaping. Then, her body locked up, and a soundless cry escaped her throat as Order’s power tried to punish her for speaking out.
Gwendolyn let out a sigh, stepping back as the chains flared as well, countering the power and fighting it back. However, by the time the light dimmed, Loquin was once again staring blankly into space, her few moments of consciousness clearly at an end. Gwendolyn hated seeing her friend this way, and as she left, once again reaffirmed her promise to set her free.
Her visit with Loquin hadn’t been all for naught. No, that flash of fear she’d caught in her eyes told her that Herald was telling the truth and that this human was very dangerous. None of the others were taking this seriously, so she would just have to go take care of it herself!
53
“They still haven’t moved,” Lumia reported as she fluttered in from a window and landed on Morgan’s shoulder.
“How long has it been now?” Grace asked. “Two days?”
Morgan nodded, stroking the small beard he’d allowed to grow over the past few weeks. He knew it needed a trim, but he could always take care of that when they weren’t surrounded by enemies.
“Perhaps we’ll get lucky, and they won’t move in until after we have the spear,” he finally said, moving away from the window. “Once we have that, we can leave using my long-range teleportation and be back in the Five Kingdoms in a matter of a couple of minutes.”
“What are the chances of that happening?” Grace asked.
“Probably zero,” Morgan admitted. “But that isn’t for you to be concerned about. What you should be doing right now is working on your core combination.”
“But it’s so boring!” Grace complained. “Just hours and hours of sitting there while they trickle into one another!”
“Well, if you ever want to be a supermage, you’ve still got hours and hours ahead. Now, go back to your spot and keep working.” This last part was given in the form of a command, not a suggestion.
Grace let out another annoyed huff, then stomped off to do as she was told.
“Are all teenagers this difficult to deal with?” Morgan asked, rubbing at his temples.
“Yes,” Lumia answered simply, saying nothing more on the subject.
Morgan let out a long sigh, then slid to the floor and folded up his legs, reaching for his pack.
“I’m going to see if I can give myself a little boost with what I’ve got. Can you please keep scouting? And let me know the moment you see anything.”
Lumia let out a puff of smoke through her nostrils to let him know of her displeasure, but she did as he asked and fluttered out the window once more. He knew she didn’t like all these scouting missions and that she wanted to rest, but she was the only one who could safely do so without being spotted. After all, people tended not to see things that they weren’t looking for, and a tiny flying lizard was the very last thing on their minds right now.
Morgan pulled a few cores from his pack, then opened his status and did a quick overview of his skills tab.
Skills:
Hypersonic Flight - 3.9M/100M
Maximum Increase - N/A
Stormforge - 26.8M/100M
Earthen Shift - 1.2M/75M
Nature’s Wrath - 0.7M/25M
Compression - 11M/100M
Gravity Tear - 33M/85M
Sunblast - 15.9M/120M
Traits:
Dense Body Max. - N/A
Recovery Max. - N/A
Aura Sense (inherited) - N/A
Aura Flare (inherited) - N/A
Perfect Self - N/A
Soul Stealer - N/A
Suppression (inherited) - N/A
Extra:
Gravity Storm (7th category) - 102M/200M
Starbreaker (7th category) - 98M/240M
Collapsing Star (HyperNova) - 200M/280M
Shooting Star (Comet) - 58.7M/145M
Massive Meteor (2nd Category) - 106M/370M
Continental Crush - 0.1M/500M
Any skill that he wanted to upgrade would cost him a whole lot of energy. In fact, he had only enough to upgrade a single regular skill and still boost himself a rank. He’d already hit the maximum of what he could accomplish at rank 66, so not moving up would just be counterintuitive. There was no point in putting in all the work if he wouldn’t see any gains, and the whole idea of this way of ranking was to maximize his strength in each rank.
It was far slower than just pushing on, but there was hardly any point to being rank 100 if you could have increased your attributes by 50% or more along the way. The way he saw it, this slow progression was an investment. It was an eventual payoff that would see him far stronger at rank 100 than anyone else who hadn’t put in the work. Another reason that he didn’t simply push on was quite simple. Ranks cost a lot of energy at this point, and it took a while to gather enough.
As it stood now, he knew he had a decision to make. There was only one skill he could upgrade, so he had to decide which he found most useful, and which he could do without. The latter was easy enough. Though useful, Nature’s Wrath had never been his favorite, and while he wanted to fly faster, his Hypersonic Flight was fine as it was for now. Maximum Increase could no longer be upgraded as he was, so that left him with five choices.
Maximum Stormforge - Manipulate gravity and air to forge solid constructs in the shape of your choice that can be changed, projected, and controlled at will. Constructs can now be summoned at a distance and are automatically charged when summoned. You can continually stream RP into a construct for a sustained electrical current.
Cost - 350 RP per construct
Duration - Until dismissed
Electric Current cost - 100 RP per second
The reduction in cost was a huge boon, but so was the fact that he could now summon constructs away from himself, meaning that control of a battlefield would be far easier. He’d been using his Earthen Shift in this way while fighting, but when airborne, it was much more difficult. Now, he could summon constructs behind his enemies for sneak attacks, all while darting around with teleportation and using himself as a distraction.
Morgan pulled the next few cores from his bag, then began absorbing them, shivering slightly at the feeling of all that power rushing into him. No matter how many times he did this, Morgan always reveled in the sensation of ranking up. The feeling was indescribable. It was a rush of power and awareness, coupled with a feeling of ecstasy and a hint of invincibility. It was a strange combination, but one that he – and likely everyone else – enjoyed very much.
He took a deep breath as power flooded him and the last core was emptied just a bit more than halfway. Though he wanted nothing more than to continue draining it, he cut off the flow as soon as the rank-up hit. Grace would need this energy, and he was saving it for her as a present for when she became a supermage. There was still quite a bit left, more than enough to boost her into the 40’s or even 50’s, but he was going to be monitoring her closely to make sure she didn’t use it all at once.
Lumia had rejected the energy from the hydra core, wanting her share to go to Grace, and Morgan wasn’t going to argue with her. He noticed that he’d taken a bit more than he should have and promised himself to find another beast core to even out what he’d taken. Morgan slowly flexed his fingers, feeling the new strength flooding through him. The amount of power that a single rank could bestow was incredible, especially when one pushed themselves to the maximum with each successive rank.
While attributes were all good and well for gaining power, many people didn’t talk about the boost in strength that came with a rank up, or the intangible and unchangeable flood that came along with each successive rank. It was what made those of a higher rank stronger, despite the fact that they may have some weaker attributes. There was a limit to this, and Morgan had figured that by the time he hit around rank 80, he should be able to outclass someone who hadn’t put in the same work at rank 100, supposing they were still at the Base evolution in their ability.
Right now, he placed his strength at the equivalent of a rank 74-76 Base super or mage. The gap closed when they started advancing. So, if he were to face an Advanced super or mage, he’d probably be able to take one at rank 69, maybe 70. But those at the Advanced stage would have put in at least some work, so they couldn’t really be counted in this hypothetical. Dropping the core back into his pack, Morgan pulled up his status.
Name: Morgan
Advanced Supermage: Rank - 67
Energy to Next Rank - 19/157,000,000
Ability Advancement - 15,000,000/15,000,000 (Max.)
Ability - Natural Disaster
RP - 7,190/7,190 (Regen - 72.1 per second)
Strength - 697
Agility - 1,043
Constitution - 826
Intelligence - 719
Wisdom - 721
Skills - Hypersonic Flight, Maximum Increase, Maximum Stormforge, Earthen Shift, Nature’s Wrath, Compression, Gravity Tear, Sunblast
Traits - Dense Body Max., Recovery Max., Aura Sense (inherited), Aura Flare (inherited), Perfect Self, Soul Stealer, Suppression (inherited)
Extra - Gravity Storm (7th category), Starbreaker (7th category), Collapsing Star (HyperNova), Shooting Star (Comet), Massive Meteor (2nd category), Continental Crush
Closing his status, Morgan leaned back and closed his eyes. The past couple of days had been anything but restful. It had been constant clanging and banging from Ivaldi’s forge, interspersed with the dwarf calling him to melt something else. He hadn’t really seen how the spear was coming along, but from the constantly shifting colors, he could see that something was happening.
He’d tried using his Aura Sense on the metal, but all he’d gotten was a blank void, as though the metal didn’t exist at all. Ivaldi had seemed to know what he’d been trying to do and had explained that the Godsteel’s aura was invisible to the eyes of mortals. Morgan didn’t find this hard to believe. Sensing a god’s aura was impossible, so it only made sense that this would be, too.
Gold was invisible as well, his entire presence simply not registering in his skill’s sweep. He knew that the Beast King, the creature locked within, could sense him, though Morgan couldn’t figure out how to replicate it. He was sure that he’d manage it eventually, so he wasn’t too worried about it.
Morgan was broken from his thoughts as Lumia came rocketing through the open window, a small trail of smoke flowing her.
“What happened?” Morgan asked, immediately more alert.
“I don’t know,” Lumia answered, landing on his lap.
She was trembling, her entire body quivering from nose to tail. There was a large singed mark on her back where something had hit her, but Morgan couldn’t think of anything hot enough to damage her, short of his own Sunblast skill. Not to mention, no one should even have been aware of her presence. A booming voice shook the entire house and surrounding area, shaking Morgan down to his very bones.
“I know you’re in there! Come on out, or I’ll level this entire mountain and everyone on it!”
54
Morgan was on his feet in an instant, Lumia fluttering from his lap and up to his shoulder as he moved to the door.
“Morgan, what’s happening?”
Morgan turned to see Grace come charging into the entryway, her face as pale as a sheet.
“Go into the forge, and don’t come out,” Morgan said. “That is an order!”
Grace looked hurt for a moment, but she must have seen the look in his eyes, because a moment later, she firmed her shoulders and nodded, turning to do as he commanded.
Good, Morgan thought. With her out of the way, he wouldn’t need to worry.
The door was flung open, and Morgan exited out into the early-afternoon sun. It didn’t take him long to spot the one who’d been shouting, as she floated some fifty feet away, arms folded and staring down at him. For just a moment, Morgan wasn’t sure if he was seeing a ghost. The woman floating in the air before him was the spitting image of Gwen.
In fact, if not for the bright pink hair, he’d have said she looked exactly like her. She was a perfect copy in every other way. As Morgan floated up to meet her, he began to notice some small differences. The set of her shoulders, the way she carried herself, the look in her eyes as she watched him ascend. She might look like the mother who’d died at the hands of the Pinnacle King, but Morgan knew that they weren’t the same person.
Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious or torn about fighting someone who bore such a striking resemblance to the woman who’d taught him what love really was. She’d sheltered and protected him, even at the cost of her own life. Despite the pain he knew it would cause him, Morgan threw his Aura Sense wide open, focusing all his attention on the woman who was growing closer with each passing second.
Pain blasted through his mind as the reiki assaulted him, blinding like the light of the sun overhead. But, even through the wash of pow
er, he could still sense his surroundings. He could feel Grace’s twin cores and Ivaldi’s single red core. He could sense the cores of those hiding, thinking themselves out of sight, and could sense the core of the drake on his shoulder. What he couldn’t sense, at all, was the woman before him.
As soon as he realized that, he slammed his Aura Sense closed, pulling it in to just a few inches and blinking mental black spots from his eyes.
“You’re not mortal,” Morgan said as he floated up to meet the woman.
“Very astute of you,” she replied, lips twisting up in a slight smirk. “Don’t think that’ll save you. I plan on ending you here and now.”
“Be that as it may,” Morgan replied, still staring the woman down. “I’d still like an explanation as to why you look so much like my mother Gwendolyn.”
The woman’s smirk vanished, replaced by momentary a look of shock before she covered it up.
“I don’t know how you knew my name, but don’t think that’ll give you any sort of edge,” the woman replied.
Now it was Morgan’s turn to be shocked, though he didn’t allow it to manifest in expression. This woman, who looked so much like Gwen that she could be her identical twin, also happened to have the same name. What were the odds of that happening?
None, he realized.
There was no way something like this could happen, unless someone had deliberately done so, which meant that Gold had a lot of explaining to do. The fact that this woman said that she was going to kill him, stating so outright without any hesitation, meant that she was likely one of the agents of Chaos. How else could a goddess attack a human without provocation? He had a problem, though, one that she most definitely did not.
He couldn’t kill her. At least, not without the weapon currently being created in the smithy below. Morgan couldn’t be sure how long that would take, but he knew that if this goddess found out, she would destroy the smithy without question. There was also the fact that Grace was down there, as well as a sleeping monster deep under the mountain. A fight like this might very well wake it, which meant that he needed to take this fight somewhere else.
