by Aaron Oster
Dabu nodded.
“Then why have I never heard of this before?”
Morgan folded his arms, not liking where this was going.
Every time he spoke with Dabu, some new piece of information would be revealed to him. Something that he felt should be known, but for some reason, was not.
“Simple really. Nobody knows about it.”
Morgan opened his mouth, but Dabu held up a hand to forestall him.
“Let me explain. All people who awaken an ability have the potential for evolution. The only problem is, is that almost no one manages it. Therefore, it has faded into obscurity.”
“What about you then? You’re a supermage. You’ve lived for thousands of years. If there is an evolution, then shouldn’t you have reached the pinnacle?”
Dabu looked slightly sheepish at that but answered all the same.
“I actually haven’t found a way to evolve yet. It may be hard for you to believe, but some things are beyond even my understanding and this is one of them.”
He let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, staring up through the hole in the ceiling, his mind apparently far away in some distant past.
“So I’ve met these prerequisites somehow. I’m guessing that it has something to do with the person who screwed with my head.”
Dabu opened his mouth to reply, but Morgan was the one to cut him off this time.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s against the rules,” he said, prompting a snort of laughter from the man.
“But tell me, how can I know if I’m up against an evolved mage or super? Are there any out there that are more powerful than the intermediate level? If so, where would they be?”
“To answer your last question, no. There are currently no mages or supers who have managed to advance past the intermediate stage. Normally, there would be no way to tell them apart, but if you advance your aura sense skill, the extra information will become available to you.”
“Okay, so if there’s no discernable difference, why do I have a new source of power? Do all evolved supermages have it?”
“If I’m being perfectly honest, I actually have no idea,” Dabu said with a shrug.
He laughed at Morgan’s look of disbelief and continued his explanation.
“As I said before, I’ve never actually met a supermage who’s evolved. But just from the look of your aura, I can tell that you’ve grown significantly in power. You even have a new source of energy other than reiki, which I didn’t know was possible.”
“So you don’t know anything about this divine energy either?” Morgan asked, already feeling his spirits sinking.
“I do not,” he confirmed, and Morgan felt his frustration growing.
What did he know then?
“My skills don’t really feel any different, and the way I move and fight hasn’t changed. The only difference I can see is in my shield... Oh, and I’ve had screens popping up every time I absorb a core,” he added after a few seconds.
“I don’t know much about the differences between the two, but I do know one thing for certain. Evolved supermages have the power of choice. They also get a more in-depth view of the world around them.”
Dabu grinned once more.
“I think a demonstration would help you to understand better. How close are you to your next rank?”
“I have the cores needed, but I haven’t trained enough to gain the maximum attributes for the next rank.”
Dabu just waved his hand, brushing his concerns aside.
“Once you evolve, you should receive a set amount of attribute points per rank. The tradeoff for this is that it will cost significantly more energy between ranks than it normally would.”
“Is that why it cost 380,000 energy for me to reach rank 19?” Morgan asked as he pulled a core from his pocket.
“It was that much?!” Dabu exclaimed, eyes widening in shock.
“Yeah. Isn’t that normal for supermages?” Morgan asked, placing the core down on the table.
“No! That’s not normal! It should only have cost three times the energy of the previous rank. Not ten.”
He rubbed at his chin while Morgan picked up the core again, preparing to absorb it.
“Maybe that’s how you evolved. When beasts prepare to evolve, they must first store up a massive amount of energy. Once they reach an appropriate rank, the energy they’ve stored up will fuel the changes.”
Morgan nodded, remembering that the first beast he’d ever fought had a massive amount of energy for its rank. Seeing that Dabu was still lost in thought, Morgan absentmindedly absorbed the core.
The energy flooded into him, but this rank up was nothing like the previous ones. Instead of feeling the small increase to his attributes, a purple and gold screen flickered into view before his eyes.
Rank Up!
Congratulations! You have reached Rank 20. You have 18 attribute points to distribute. Would you like to distribute your points now?
Yes/No
Morgan stared at the screen, not believing what he was seeing.
He could choose where his attribute points would go?
His mind began racing, completely ignoring the screen hovering before his eyes. Even if the only perk of evolving was to have the option of placing his points where he wanted, then it would already be worth it. It also hadn’t escaped his notice that he had 3 more points than should be possible for his rank.
Was this another perk?
Morgan thought about it for a second, then found he didn’t care. He now had the option of placing his points where he wanted. This would give him a huge advantage over anyone, even other supermages.
“So, can you tell me what you see?”
Morgan looked through the translucent screen to see Dabu looking at him with a curious expression.
“You were right,” Morgan said. “I have the option to place the attributes where I want.”
“Well; go on then,” Dabu said, and Morgan turned back to the screen.
Mentally hitting yes, a new screen popped up, this one with his attributes.
Strength - 121
Agility - 152
Constitution - 137
Intelligence - 128
Wisdom - 128
That wasn’t all that showed up, however.
Skills:
Advanced flight - 1/10
Gravity impact - 1/10
Explosive movement - 1/10
Storm blade - 1/10
Divine:
Shock-blast - 1/15
Traits:
Gravity field - 1/30
Recovery - 1/30
Aura sense (inherited) - 4/50
Extra:
Gravity storm (2nd category) - 1/20
Starbreak - 1/30
Morgan felt his heart rate speed up as he stared at the screen, then a smile crept onto his lips.
If he now had the option to put his attributes into increasing his skill’s power before the next breakthrough, then he really could become an unstoppable killing machine. He could imagine himself at his current rank, plowing through supers and mages miles above him.
He had to stop himself from immediately putting all his points into one of his skills to see what would happen. Instead, he forced himself to carefully think through his next decision.
He could upgrade his skills every time he ranked up, but that would leave him physically weak once he got to higher ranks.
Morgan had always been a melee fighter, and no matter how many skills he acquired, that would never change. He thought over what had been his biggest issues in the recent fights and found that he’d been lacking in one area, physical power.
He nodded to himself, happy with his choice, and put 15 of his points into strength, and the other 3 into his gravity impact skill. He figured that since he’d only been expecting 15 points per rank, he wasn’t actually losing anything by investing in the skill. A new screen popped up then, asking him to confirm his choice. Morgan selected yes, and felt the changes take hold.<
br />
Immediately, he felt his muscles ripple under his clothes, as they tightened up, becoming harder and more compact. They didn’t actually show any visible sign of growing, but Morgan could feel the effect that it had on his body. Closing the small screen, he opened his status to view the changes.
Name: Morgan
Evolved Supermage: Rank - 20
Energy to next rank - 4,701/109,000
Ability - Divine Gravity & Air
RP - 1,280/1,280 (Regen - 12.8 per second)
DV - 15/15 (Regen - 0.15 per minute)
Strength - 136
Agility - 152
Constitution - 137
Intelligence - 128
Wisdom - 128
Skills - Advanced flight, Gravity impact, Explosive movement, Storm blade
Divine - Shock-blast
Traits - Gravity field, Recovery, Aura sense (inherited)
Extra - Gravity storm (2nd category), Starbreak
Morgan grimaced at how much more it cost to move up to rank 21 but decided that the ability to choose where he put his attributes was ultimately worth the price. He also found that by focusing in on each skill, he could now see how many attribute points he would need to put in to advance them to the next level.
It also didn’t escape his notice that his DV had gone up by 5 points, and the regen had gone up as well.
Did that have something to do with ranking up?
He idly wondered what kind of power he could have if he somehow figured out how to take his evolved supermage ability and evolve it further to the intermediate class.
“I can already see quite a difference.”
Morgan closed his screen and saw Dabu rising to his feet.
“Yes. Thank you for giving me answers to my questions. They were very informative,” he replied.
“Of course,” Dabu said with a warm smile. “After all, I am invested in seeing you succeed.”
“Why is that?” Morgan asked with a raised eyebrow. “And how did you even get in here, or know that I wanted to speak with you?”
“Trade secret, I’m afraid,” the man said, winking at him.
He laughed heartily at Morgan’s flat expression and backed slowly away.
“I’m afraid that my time here is limited. Just like you, I cannot dally where I do not belong. But don’t worry, my young evolved supermage. We will be seeing each other again soon and I will be keeping a close eye on you.”
Morgan nodded, rising from his seat and smiling at the man.
Even if he was cryptic, Dabu had helped him more than anyone else in recent months. This conversation had been extremely enlightening, even if he didn’t have all the answers he’d wanted.
“A warning before I go. You mentioned the Pinnacle Kings in our last meeting. They are truly terrifying creatures, with all the cunning of an equivalent ranked supermage and twice the power. Be wary of facing them, as you most definitely will not survive at your current rank.”
Dabu started to fade from view then but said one last thing before he went.
“You didn’t hear this from me, but you may want to focus on advancing instead of ranking up. You may also be able to gain a few extra attributes by absorbing certain cores, but be careful, as they may be too advanced for you.”
He winked, and then he was gone.
Morgan stared at the place where Dabu had disappeared, feeling his smile widening at the corners.
He wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he was fairly certain that Dabu had just bent the rules for him.
***
Six years ago…
Sarah watched in horror and amazement as the small boy shoved his arm into Kook’s side. She winced in sympathetic pain as the man brought his pommel down on Morgan’s head, and was taking a step forward to help, but Morgan miraculously kept his feet.
Sarah stopped, her eyes widening at the sheer display of willpower and perseverance Morgan was displaying. She could clearly see the blood pumping from his shoulder and the blood matting his hair to his skull, yet he hung on, shoving his arm ever deeper into Kook’s side.
She was holding her breath, watching the struggle going on between the two of them. As Kook raised his sword to strike again, Morgan’s arm suddenly sank deeper into the man’s side, and a moment later he let out a howl of pain, the sword clattering from his nerveless fingers. He gasped a few times, face pale and twisted in agony, then he brought his elbow crashing down on top of Morgan’s head.
Sarah let out the breath she’d been holding as Morgan staggered back, then fell to the ground. She quickly ran to his side, keeping an eye on Kook, who had sunk to his knees and was clutching weakly at his side.
Bending down next to him, she felt at his neck as she’d seen the healers in the manor do, that one time her mother had passed out. She wasn’t even sure if she was doing it right, but she felt a huge sense of relief when she felt a small throb under her fingers.
He was still alive.
Sarah stood, trying to figure out what to do next. The manor was just through the alley up ahead, but Kook still wasn’t down and she wasn’t even sure if she could trust the guards at the gates.
She looked to the man in question as he let out a long groan and fell to the ground, blood pooling around him in a growing puddle.
Sarah grimaced, deciding that Kook was as good as dead, and she no longer had anything to worry about. She bent down near Morgan and heaved him up from his prone position. She knew it probably wasn’t good to be moving him in this condition, but she didn’t think she had any choice.
She grunted under his weight as she heaved him over her shoulders, managing to get him onto her back after a few moments of maneuvering. She could feel his blood soaking into her dress, but by this point, it was so filthy that she didn’t care.
She staggered forward, stumbling past the dying Kook, not even giving the man a second glance. He didn’t deserve that much. He deserved to die out here, alone, for what he’d done to Hint.
Sarah felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she stumbled out of the alley and into the open courtyard. She saw the two guards standing by the gate and was glad to see that they were the same ones as this morning.
Sarah staggered up to the gate, falling gratefully to her knees as the guards rushed forward to meet her, asking questions about her state of wellbeing, Hint, and who the boy was.
Sarah did her best to answer and soon, both she and Morgan had been whisked inside the grounds. Guards had been sent out to purge the city of the gang that had put their Lady through so much, and workmen were sent to clear the rubble and fetch Hint’s body. As Sarah lay in bed, watching the healers working over Morgan, she saw him breathing, and she finally felt her sadness abate somewhat.
Today she’d lost a father figure and loyal servant, but she’d gained a friend. She was sure that if there was a heaven, Hint was smiling down on her, glad to see his birthday wish for her finally come true.
41
Sarah looked up from her book as a portal opened in the middle of the room and Morgan walked through. His armor was all scratched up, and there was a trail of dried blood running down from both his ears, but otherwise, he looked to be unhurt.
“Well, don’t you just look peachy,” Sarah said, as the portal closed behind him and Morgan tucked away the key.
He grinned at her and walked over to flop down on one of the couches.
“You won’t believe what happened to me in there,” he said, kicking his boots off and sticking his feet up on the couch.
“Really?” she asked, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. “And what might that be?”
Morgan then spent the next ten minutes shattering every belief she’d once held, about how abilities worked. By the time he was finished speaking, Sarah was on the edge of her seat, wracking her mind to find any way she could become an evolved mage.
“Did Dabu mention any limitations on evolving?” she asked. “Like only being able to evolve during a breakthrough?”
; “Not that I can remember,” he said with a shrug.
Sarah nodded, mind going over all the information he’d just given her and trying to piece something together. Then she remembered something Samuel had told her before he’d left them in the Beast Zone.”
“I think Samuel hinted at this when we last saw him,” she said with a grin.
“Really?” Morgan asked, sitting up a bit in his seat.
“Yeah. He said that the true path to power does not lie in merely ranking up,” Sarah said, repeating what the god had said, word for word.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” he asked, quirking a brow.
Sarah shrugged.
“Guess I didn’t really think it was that important.”
Morgan grunted in reply, then slumped down into the couch.
“I just wish there was a way to figure out how much energy I need to become an intermediate supermage,” Morgan idly said.
Sarah sat bolt upright at this, eyes going wide as all her scattered thoughts finally came together.
“Say that again,” she said, prompting Morgan to give her a strange look.
She glared at him, and after a few seconds of staring he finally relented.
“I wish there was a way to figure out how much energy I’d need, to become an intermediate supermage,” he robotically repeated.
He raised an eyebrow as Sarah’s grin widened, and she stood to begin pacing.
“What?” he asked, wondering what she could have figured out.
“How do you know that energy is the path to evolving again?” she asked.
“I don’t,” Morgan said with a shrug, “I just assumed it was, because of how much energy it cost for me to evolve.”
“But it makes sense that it would be an energy requirement, though!” Sarah exclaimed.
“Even if it was,” Morgan said, “how would you know how much was needed, and how would you even apply the energy?”
His interest was piqued. Sarah wouldn’t be talking about this unless she thought she’d figured it out, and he was eager to hear her thoughts.
