Skyflare (Rise To Omniscience Book 3) Read online

  SKYFLARE

  Rise To Omniscience

  Book Three

  Aaron Oster

  For my sister. You never could get this sound right.

  Oink.

  Prologue

  In the far reaches of the North Kingdom, past the sprawling, snow-covered mountains and wide frozen lakes, lay the North Sea; a mass of water so cold that it lay half frozen year-round. Blocks of ice larger than some countries floated around in this sea, and every once-in-a-while, one of these would make landfall. In one of these huge ice-flows, lay a massive cavern set deep beneath the Sea’s surface. As the flow of ice collided with the frozen tundra, a beast of immense power stirred for the first time in over ten thousand years.

  The beast opened bright amber eyes and looked around the gloom of the cavern, trying to make sense of its surroundings.

  Where was this?

  The beast tried to rise but found itself bound to the stone on which it was lying. Looking down at itself, himself, he saw that his arms and legs were bound with thick icy chains, and reinforced by reiki-infused script carved around the base of each chain.

  Why was he tied up?

  He tried to flex his arms and found that the chains were too strong for him to break. Temporarily giving up on freeing himself, the beast looked around the icy cavern, trying to make some sense of where he was, and more importantly, how to get out.

  Casting his gaze around, the beast could make out a vast throne made of ice set in the very center of the cavern. Massive icicles hung from the ceiling and protruded from the ground, and at the far end of the room, a tall archway stood, indicating a way out. Other than the throne, and the stone slab to which he was currently bound, the beast couldn’t see anything else. The cavern was barren and completely devoid of any and all life.

  The beast turned his attention back up to the ceiling, where he could see many of the chains were tethered, and once again, attempted to break free. Flexing his massive, white, fur-covered arms, he heaved with all his might but still had no luck in weakening his bonds.

  Giving up once more, the beast closed his eyes and felt for the core of his power, the large red and blue sphere floating at his center. Tapping into that power, he cycled the mana and chi, in a quick spiral, speeding the rotation up with each flex of his power. After a few minutes, the red and blue began to slowly combine, and within a half hour, his entire core had been converted over to reiki.

  The beast opened his eyes, now glowing a bright violet, and let out an earth-shaking roar. He pumped his body full of the reiki now thrumming in his core and flexed his arms once more. This time, there was a loud creaking sound from up above, and one of the chains holding him snapped like a dry twig, shattering into a thousand pieces.

  As soon as the chain shattered, the reiki infused script around him flared to life and in a matter of seconds, the beast had his core drained dry, leaving him panting and out of breath on the cold stone slab. He growled to himself, knowing that his core wouldn’t regenerate for at least another few hours, and when it did, he’d be forced to once again work on creating reiki, which he could then use to break another chain.

  The beast was patient and he closed his eyes once more, this time focusing on his surroundings. He focused on the natural energy in the air around him, rather than the energy within. He could feel the entire cavern from where he lay, the reiki in the air showing him the placement of it all, from the smallest pebble to the largest pillar of ice. The beast’s lips quirked upward.

  He wasn’t sure where he was or why he was here, but he had an odd compulsion to leave and it appeared that it would be a slow process. In the meantime, he would content himself to expanding his influence on his surroundings. If he could find another sapient being, perhaps he could lure them in here to hasten his freedom.

  The beast concentrated on slowly pushing his influence through the tunnel on the far side of the cavern but found an invisible barrier blocking him from advancing. After a few confused moments of searching, he found the reason: another series of reiki infused script carved above the archway.

  Probing at the script, the beast felt his blue lips pull up in a small grin, showing the enlarged canines beneath. The scripts were old and although they’d been carved by someone with an immense amount of power, they had already begun wearing around the edges. Forming his mind into a razor, the beast threw his influence against the first of the script and felt it fray just a bit more around the edges.

  It would appear that this, too, would be a slow process. He had time…

  ***

  The man sat high in a tree above the clearing that Morgan and company had vacated two days prior. He could still see the large blood stain where Katherine had fallen, and sense the distortion in the air caused by a god’s teleportation. Until he’d come here, he hadn’t been aware of any other gods involved with Morgan, and it had come as a shock when his goddess had contacted him and told him to meet her in this location.

  He wasn’t the most powerful super, but his uncanny ability to sense power and track people - as well as his skills in manipulating the human body - made him an invaluable resource. Grimacing to himself, he looked down at the open clearing and could picture the scene from forty-eight hours ago with near-perfect clarity.

  Morgan and Sarah had emerged from a portal along with the god, and met with the North Kingdom’s princess. They spoke for a few moments as the god subtly positioned himself and unleashed a devastating attack that killed the Princess. Then had abruptly teleported away. Where to, the man couldn’t tell, but what happened next was what he found to be the most disturbing.

  Someone else had entered the clearing and somehow reversed the damage done to the Princess.

  It was almost as though they’d turned the clock back a few minutes to before she’d been injured.

  Or at least, that was what the man thought, as the distortion in that area was too chaotic for even him to make any sense of.

  Shifting slightly in the tree, he turned his gaze outward in the direction the small group had gone after the Princess had been revived. If he focused, he could see the clear trail of Morgan’s reiki, and something else, weaving through the trees.

  He was idly wondering if the goddess would have him follow Morgan again, when he detected the telltale crack in reality that was caused by the goddess’ travel. A second later, she appeared, balanced perfectly on the tip of the branch and smirking at him with her red painted lips.

  “What, aren’t you happy to see me?” she asked, cocking her head to one side and flashing a set of gleaming white teeth at him, which were somehow perfectly visible, despite the near darkness of the surrounding forest.

  The man didn’t rise to the bait, instead, shifting on the tree branch so he was facing her.

  “Why did you want to meet me?” he asked, for once actually not sure as to what the goddess wanted from him.

  “Aww, you’re no fun, you know,” she replied, placing her arms behind her head and reclining back in midair, as though leaning up against an invisible wall.

  The man remained silent, keeping his eyes locked on hers and waiting for an answer.

  The goddess finally let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes.

  “Fine. I’m sure you can see what happened here and now know that there is some competition where Morgan is involved.”

  “Yes, I figured as much,” he replied, careful not to give away anything.

  If he could keep her talking, maybe she’d reveal more about this mystery god.

  “I’m sure you also noticed the tremor that shook the Kingdoms two days ago.”

  The man nodded, though it had been far more than just a simple tremor. For most, t
he ground had shaken for an instant and most likely been dismissed as a passing earthquake, but to his senses, the world had lit up in a brilliant flash of multicolored light. Shortly following the brilliant display, a massive wave of power originating from the North had washed over him, making his skin prickle and a cold sweat break out on his back.

  The goddess nodded when she saw his reaction, and for once had a serious expression on her face.

  “That was the awakening of a very dangerous beast. Suffice it to say that if he isn’t stopped, this world will be destroyed.”

  “And you want me to stop him?” the man asked dubiously.

  The goddess grinned.

  “You couldn’t kill him even if you had a thousand lifetimes in which to do so. No, your job is much simpler. I need you to stand watch at the fringes of his territory until I get a more permanent guard in place.”

  A frown touched the man’s lips then.

  “If this beast is so dangerous, how will setting me to guard the entrance to his territory help?”

  “While the beast is awake,” the goddess said, “he isn’t exactly free to do as he wishes. The chains binding him will take several weeks to break, but I need someone with your talents there to gauge exactly how long we have before he does so.”

  “If what you’re saying is true, and this beast will break free, how exactly do you plan on stopping it? I’m guessing that you cannot directly interfere, and you made it abundantly clear that I don’t have the power to stop it. So who does?”

  The goddess smiled, pushing off the air to stand straight. Her long black hair blew around her face, and her bright green eyes seemed to glow in the light of the full moon.

  “Come on now, Hint. I’m sure you can figure it out.”

  The man frowned at the use of that name, but slowly inclined his head all the same.

  “Morgan.”

  “Very good,” the goddess said, clapping her hands and bouncing up and down. A moment later, her mood abruptly shifted and her voice became distinctly more businesslike.

  “I’ll be by to pick you up in twenty-four hours. I expect an accurate assessment of when the beast will be free.”

  The man only had time to nod, before the world collapsed in on itself and he was suddenly standing on the edge of a massive glacier, wind whipping his hair around his face and heart pounding a mile a minute.

  Loquin had not been exaggerating, he realized, as he stared at the massive crack in the glacier’s side.

  The power radiating out from that opening was enough to truly end the world as they knew it.

  1

  Morgan pushed through the tall reeds in his path, feeling the water sloshing around his ankles and hearing the loud drone of marsh-flies in his ears. It had been more than two days since Gold’s betrayal and the awakening of the first Pinnacle King.

  Gwendolyn, the supermage who Morgan recognized from his memories, had led them to one of the underground bunkers she kept hidden throughout the Five Kingdoms. As soon as they’d arrived, she’d tasked him and Sarah with looking after the still unconscious Katherine, while she left to do reconnaissance back in the North.

  Morgan had grown impatient of waiting after the first day and, seeing as he had a bag full of beast zone keys, figured he’d go in to kill some time and do some training. He’d asked Sarah to come along with him but she’d refused, saying that someone needed to look after Katherine in case she woke up. He’d actually debated staying with her but had then decided that it would do him no good to sit around and stew over everything he didn’t know, like why Gold had betrayed them the way he had, who Gwendolyn really was, and what role she’d played in his memory loss. Or why Samuel, a god, had given him bad information regarding the awakening of the Pinnacle King. Not to mention why he hadn’t mentioned so much as a word about Gold. By now, Morgan had figured that Gold’s mentioning of the rules, as well as his sudden disappearance from the clearing, could only mean one thing. He, like Samuel, was some type of god. A god that was interested in him, as well as seeing the resurrection of the Pinnacle Kings, though he couldn’t fathom as to why.

  Why would Gold want The Five Kingdoms to be destroyed? Why take the time to hide at the academy and teach? And why teach him in particular?

  Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Morgan shoved down those questions and turned his attention back to the task at hand, defeating the Arch.

  Doing a quick check of his reiki, he saw that it was pretty much full and used his flight skill to take to the sky. The wind whistled around him as he ascended, and within a few seconds, he’d reached his maximum height. Looking around the sprawling marshland, Morgan could now see a clearing in the waving reeds, where a massive froglike creature was resting on an equally massive lily pad.

  Guess that’s him, Morgan thought, angling toward the massive creature and using aura sense to get a handle on it. The frog’s body flared a bright blue and words appeared, floating above its head.

  Name: Yellow-Flecked Blowfrog

  Rank - 25

  Ability type - Mage

  As Morgan closed with the beast, he could see that while it was indeed massive, it did not have the telltale signs of an intermediate or advanced beast. Aside from its size - that of a large cow - it mostly resembled a regular frog, with the exception of the bright yellow spots flecking its entire body.

  The frog let out a loud croak as soon as Morgan crossed into his territory, then crouched on its lily pad and launched itself into the air with astonishing speed. A pink tongue as thick as his wrist shot from the frog’s mouth as he neared, and only Morgan’s Explosive movement skill saved him from being caught.

  Time slowed to a crawl as his skill activated, and Morgan darted in, closing the gap between him and the monstrous amphibian in an instant. He grinned as he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the beast’s flabby underbelly with a sickening squelch. Time abruptly sped up, as the 3-second timer on his skill ran out, and the massive frog was hurled from the sky under the massive force of Morgan’s punch.

  Morgan sped after the creature picking up speed as he fell, and felt the exhilaration that came with fighting threatening to overtake him. He reeled in his excitement as the frog slammed into its lily pad with a croak of pain. Morgan slammed into it feet first a second later, grimacing as his legs punched two holes in the frog’s stomach.

  “Gross,” he muttered, floating up from the frog and examining his legs, which were now coated in a mixture of blood and the beast’s body fluids.

  The frog twitched a few times as Morgan landed on the lily pad, but he knew that it was just a nervous reaction. The beast was already dead.

  He let out a sigh, then bent over the creature to retrieve its core.

  That fight wasn’t a challenge at all, he sadly thought, bringing up the core’s properties.

  Name: Yellow-Flecked Blowfrog Patriarch Core

  Rank - 25

  Total available energy: 17,270/17,270

  This core was taken from a yellow-flecked blowfrog. As this core was taken from a zone Patriarch, the amount of available energy has been slightly increased.

  Morgan sighed yet again, noting that the beast hadn’t even been an evolved one, but rather a basic beast, the weakest type there was. He snorted to himself, then absorbed the core’s energy and assigned it to ranking up.

  No messages flashed before his eyes this time, for which he was grateful. It had taken him nearly an entire day, but he’d eventually figured out how the messages had been functioning and had disabled them. Now they would only show up if he so wished. A warm tingling sensation ran through his body, letting him know that he’d just ranked up. Morgan ignored it, in favor of washing his legs off in the shallow water surrounding the lily pad.

  He cleaned himself off as best he could, then slumped to the ground and placed his back to the dead frog, staring up at the gloomy sky above.

  “Tell me, blowfrog, have you ever needed to worry about who you can trust and how many people were conspiring about you
behind your back?” he asked, placing his hands behind his head and leaning against it.

  He snorted a moment later.

  Of course the damn frog wouldn’t have to worry. It was dead.

  Blowing out an annoyed sigh, Morgan decided that he would indeed have a look at his status. He still had all those attribute points to assign from the core Katherine had left him, but he’d been holding off on doing that until he’d figured out where he wanted them all to go. Taking a deep breath, Morgan felt his annoyance dissipate and he concentrated in on his reiki-heart, the source of all his power.

  Closing his eyes, he could see the orb in his mind’s eye, thrumming lightly where his heart had once been. It was a deep purple in color, as all reiki was, but at its center was something else. A small, crackling ball of golden energy, which he’d yet to figure out. If he concentrated hard enough, Morgan could feel the energy on its own, something which he hadn’t been able to do when he’d first evolved.

  He’d found that as the days passed, his awareness of the power grew, and now he could almost separate the golden energy on its own. He’d used the divine power before now, when he’d fought the lizard back in the staged beast zone, but the feeling the energy gave him now was distinctly different than it had been back then.

  While his reiki felt calm, soothing and whole, the divine energy felt wild, destructive, and above all, not entirely right. Morgan took another deep breath, pulling his awareness from the divine energy and instead focusing it on his reiki. With only a minor effort of will, the reiki, along with a small bit of the divine energy, streamed up from his heart and up to his eyes. A second later, his status popped up.

  Name: Morgan

  Evolved Supermage: Rank - 22

  Energy to next rank - 1,344/149,000

  Ability Advancement: 35,690/3,800,000

  Total Available AP: 94