Skyflare (Rise To Omniscience Book 3) Read online

  Ability - Divine Gravity & Air

  RP - 1,280/1,280 (Regen - 12.8 per second)

  DV - 40/40 (Regen - 0.4 per minute)

  Strength - 136

  Agility - 152

  Constitution - 137

  Intelligence - 128

  Wisdom - 128

  Skills - Advanced flight, Gravity impact, Explosive movement, Storm blade

  Divine - Shock-blast, Rage of the Gods

  Traits - Gravity field, Recovery, Aura sense (inherited)

  Extra - Gravity storm (2nd category), Starbreak

  Morgan nodded to himself, feeling quite pleased with his progress so far, and how quickly he’d mastered the new status he’d gained with his evolution. He liked the simplicity of his old status, and after a few hours of playing around with it, had gotten it mostly back to the way it had been before. The only additions he’d left were his available attribute points and how much energy he’d need to move up to the Intermediate stage.

  If he concentrated on his skills, he could easily see how many attribute points he’d need to advance them.

  Skills:

  Advanced flight - 3/10

  Gravity impact - 6/10

  Explosive movement - 3/10

  Storm blade - 3/10

  Divine:

  Shock-blast - 5/15

  Rage of the Gods - 9/1,000

  Traits:

  Gravity field - 5/30

  Recovery - 5/30

  Aura sense (inherited) - 12/50

  Extra:

  Gravity storm (2nd category) - 3/20

  Starbreak - 6/30

  He noted that his skills had automatically gained some points since the last time he’d checked. He assumed that they would advance without his interference and be ready to increase in power once he broke through to rank 29.

  Morgan wanted to upgrade at least two of his skills immediately, but he decided to look them all over before he did.

  Skills:

  Advanced flight - Manipulate gravity and air to reduce your weight and move swiftly through the air. You can now reach half your maximum speed instantaneously.

  Cost - 15 RP per second

  Max. height - 80 Ft

  Max. speed - 60 Ft per second

  Max. carry weight - 400 pounds (Adding any more weight will reduce speed by 5 feet per second for each additional pound).

  Gravity impact - Manipulate gravity and air to massively increase your striking power for a short burst (Currently: Strength X3).

  Cost - 100 RP

  Duration - 3 seconds

  Cooldown - 60 seconds

  Storm blade - Manipulate gravity and air to create a hardened whirling blade in the shape of your choice. You can change the shape of your blade without dismissing it. For an additional cost, you can charge your blade with electricity.

  Blade Cost - 450 RP

  Duration - Until dismissed

  Charge cost - 75 RP

  Duration - Single strike

  Explosive movement - Manipulate gravity and air to massively increase your speed for a short burst (Currently: Agility X3).

  Cost - 100 RP

  Duration - 3 seconds

  Cooldown - 60 seconds

  Divine:

  Shock-blast - Send out a massive shockwave of divine power, stunning everyone within the area of effect.

  Cost - 10 DV

  AOE - 15 Ft

  Duration - Varied

  Rage of the Gods - Reiki and divine power flood your body, massively increasing all of your stats (Currently X5). Your body will also rapidly regenerate any damage done to it, so long as your heart remains undamaged. The strain of the power on your mind will cause you to lose control and attack anything in sight (increasing your intelligence may help to mitigate this effect). You are unable to use skills while this skill is active, but you gain the ability to use pure reiki and divine power.

  Cost - (-2) AP to all stats

  Duration - N/A

  Traits:

  Gravity field - Your body is surrounded by a dense field of gravity, making all attacks, both physical and magical, 15% less damaging.

  Recovery - The spirits of the air have blessed you with the power of healing. If you can survive for 20 hours after being wounded, no matter the injury, your body will be completely healed.

  Aura Sense (inherited) - You have been bestowed the gift of sight by an omniscient. By concentrating on a target and thinking the word ‘sense,’ you will be able to view the target’s aura. The aura will currently reveal the target’s name, rank and ability type, provided that they are no more than nine ranks above your own.

  Extra:

  Gravity storm (2nd category) - Create a more powerful storm of intense gravity, damaging winds, and lightning, in a targeted area.

  Cost - 750 RP

  AOE - 40 Ft

  Duration - 45 seconds

  Cooldown - 7 hours

  Starbreak - Create a dense ball of superheated air and compressed gas, which will explode upon impact with a selected target.

  Cost - 1,200 RP

  AOE - 25 Ft

  Cooldown - 12 hours

  Morgan carefully checked over each skill, then rechecked his status to check his specific attributes. Finally making up his mind, Morgan spent 11 of his points on upgrading both his Explosive movement and Gravity impact skill, as they were the ones he’d been relying on the most. A message popped up as soon as he’d assigned the points and Morgan eagerly looked it over.

  Congratulations! Your skills have been upgraded!

  Gravity impact II - Manipulate gravity and air to massively increase your striking power for a short burst (Currently: Strength X3.15).

  Cost - 120 RP

  Duration - 3.5 seconds

  Cooldown - 60 seconds

  Explosive movement II - Manipulate gravity and air to massively increase your speed for a short burst (Currently: Agility X3.15).

  Cost - 120 RP

  Duration - 3.5 seconds

  Cooldown - 60 seconds

  To say that he was disappointed would have been an understatement. From previous experience, Morgan had been expecting the skills to each gain a significant boost in power. What he got instead was a slight boost in power, and at an increased cost as well. He growled under his breath and was about to close the screen, when a new message appeared unexpectedly.

  Since you have upgraded two compatible skills at once, you now have the option to form a combined skill.

  Explosive impact - Manipulate gravity and air to massively increase your speed and power for a short burst (Currently: Agility & Strength X3).

  Cost - 150 RP

  Duration - 3.75 seconds

  Cooldown - 55 seconds

  Morgan stared, then felt a wide grin spread across his face and selected to combine his two skills. There wasn’t any increase in overall power, but the decreased cooldown time and reiki cost, as well as the increased duration more than made up for it. He always used the two skills in concert, so it was fitting that they should become one.

  He felt a shiver run through his body. He checked his status and saw that the two skills had indeed become one. Closing his status, Morgan then pulled the core that Katherine had dropped back in the clearing when she thought she would die. He examined it for a moment, then absorbed all its remaining energy, but left a single point so that the core wouldn’t crumble. He would hand her the core once she woke up. She seemed to like keepsakes, and if he was the one who handed it to her, she would enjoy it all the more.

  Morgan then opened his status once more and assigned the energy toward advancing his ability. He could have used the energy to move up another rank, but he had a feeling that advancing his ability would give him far more power in the long run.

  He also took the time to assign his remaining attribute points, placing them where he believed they would be the most useful. He felt power flooding his body as the points were assigned, and he could feel a physical and mental difference as soon as he did so. His muscles tigh
tened and hardened, his skin became just a bit tougher and his mind expanded just a bit more, giving him an understanding of ideas and concepts that had eluded him thus far.

  Once the euphoric sensations had worn off, Morgan was quick to look over his status again, noting the differences right away.

  Name: Morgan

  Evolved Supermage: Rank - 22

  Energy to next rank - 1,344/149,000

  Ability Advancement: 185,091/3,800,000

  Total Available AP: 0

  Ability - Divine Gravity & Air

  RP - 1,540/1,540 (Regen - 15.4 per second)

  DV - 45/45 (Regen - 0.4 per minute)

  Strength - 145 (+9)

  Agility - 161 (+9)

  Constitution - 150 (+13)

  Intelligence - 154 (+26)

  Wisdom - 154 (+26)

  Skills - Advanced flight, Explosive impact, Storm blade

  Divine - Shock-blast, Rage of the Gods

  Traits - Gravity field, Recovery, Aura sense (inherited)

  Extra - Gravity storm (2nd category), Starbreak

  Closing his status, Morgan let out a content sigh, and once again stared up at the gloomy sky above. He didn’t know why, but he felt suddenly sleepy and was tempted to take a nap, propped up against the corpse of the dead frog.

  “My, my. Don’t we look all cozy?”

  Morgan’s head snapped up at the sound of that voice, but he resisted the urge to summon his Storm blade.

  Samuel grinned at him.

  “Good. It seems that you’re finally growing less jumpy.”

  2

  “No. I’m not,” Morgan replied in a flat tone, not even bothering to get up. “I’ve just become used to you appearing out of nowhere is all.”

  Samuel just shook his head at Morgan’s impudence, but smiled all the same.

  “I see that you’re doing quite well for yourself.”

  “No thanks to you,” Morgan replied with a snort.

  He’d learned a few valuable bits of information since meeting this so-called god, and was now a lot less afraid of him than he had been. In fact, he wasn’t afraid of the man at all. Judging from what he’d learned, he could curse the god out to his face, and Samuel wouldn’t be able to so much as lay a finger on him.

  Samuel raised an eyebrow, but Morgan ignored the gesture and continued with what he’d planned on saying, as soon as the god inevitably turned up.

  “You knew who Gold was, and didn’t tell me about him. As a result, Katherine was nearly killed. Not to mention that we could have been killed as well. So, Samuel, why didn’t you say anything?”

  Samuel’s good cheer vanished completely at Morgan’s tone, and his expression turned serious.

  “I couldn’t say anything, as it would have been against the rules.”

  Morgan just let out a snort of derision at that.

  “Those so-called rules didn’t seem to stop Gold from putting a spear through Katherine’s back. So tell me, why is it so different with you? Why can’t you seem to do anything at all, while he seems to have no problem doing so?”

  He saw Samuel flinch at the rebuke, but the god failed to answer. Morgan let out another snort, then rose to his feet and pulled the zone key from one of his pockets.

  “Where are you going?” Samuel asked as he noticed the motion.

  “Back to the underground bunker where I’ve been forced to hide for the last two days,” Morgan replied.

  “But we aren’t done talking,” Samuel said, frowning in agitation.

  “I think we are. There is no information you can give me, and even if you had any, I’m not even sure I’d believe you.”

  Samuel’s expression darkened further at Morgan’s words. He’d been off in his calculations on when the first Pinnacle King would awaken, and Morgan was reminding him of it.

  “Don’t you want me to heal you?” he asked as Morgan shoved the key into empty space.

  Morgan froze when he heard that, and slowly lowered his arm. Turning to face the god, he gave him his full attention.

  Samuel’s lips quirked slightly when he saw he’d captured the boy’s interest.

  “Now, I’m obviously not going to heal you right now, as you didn’t keep our original bargain. I will take partial responsibility for that, seeing as I didn’t mention Gold, and my calculations about the Pinnacle King were off. So I’ll offer you a new deal. Kill Edmund before the second King awakes, and stop the one that has already awakened. Do that and I’ll heal you.

  “And before you ask, you don’t have to worry about the Pinnacle King just yet. While he may have awakened, it will take him several months to break free of the bindings placed on him. Once Edmund is dead, you can focus on increasing your power to take him down. So, what do you say?” Samuel asked, already extending his arm to shake on the new deal.

  Morgan didn’t even need to think twice about his offer.

  “No,” he said, completely ignoring the outstretched arm. He shoved the key into the air and opened a portal.

  “What do you mean, no?!” Samuel exclaimed as Morgan stepped halfway into the portal.

  Morgan gave the god a cold look.

  “I’m not your errand boy, and I’m sick and tired of everyone thinking they can use me for whatever personal gain they want. If you want something done, do it yourself!” Then he stepped through the portal, leaving a fuming god standing alone next to a dead frog.

  ***

  “Wow, looks like he really showed you, huh, Sammy?”

  Samuel gritted his teeth in annoyance and turned around, to see Gold standing nearly a hundred feet in the air above him. He was dressed in a long robe split down the center, and a loose-fitting pair of pants underneath. His blonde hair fluttered in a non-existent breeze, and his brown eyes sparkled with suppressed mirth.

  “Shut up, Gold,” Samuel growled, floating up off the ground so he could speak with the other man at eye level.

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! How many years of plans you’ve ruined with that one stunt? Why couldn’t you just be content with sticking to yourself?”

  “Ooh, scary,” Gold replied as Samuel’s eyes blazed with golden light, and black tendrils of power began leaking out of him.

  “Don’t patronize me, Gold!” Samuel boomed, shaking the entire beast zone with the power of his shout. “It’s bad enough having Loquin interfering at every turn, but now you’ve decided to throw your hat in the mix as well. Now tell me why!”

  The black energy around Samuel flared outward, and the ground nearly a hundred feet below split open with a massive boom.

  Gold’s grin widened as Samuel briefly lost control of his power. He had always enjoyed getting a rise out of the man.

  “Do control yourself, Sammy,” Gold said, keeping his tone light and carefree. “It’s unbecoming of a god to act so… human.”

  His grin broadened as Samuel pulled a fist back, black and gold energy swirling around it in a configuration of power.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said, not in the least bit concerned about the massive attack Samuel was preparing to unleash.

  He knew he wouldn’t do it. Samuel enjoyed living way too much to attack him over something so petty.

  Samuel’s fist lashed out, and a beam of black and gold light shot right at a surprised Gold, who only just managed to get a defense up in time. The ground beneath them exploded in a five hundred yard radius as the attack hit, completely obliterating everything in the area. In its wake, it left a crater so deep that the bottom wasn’t visible to the naked eye. Cracks appeared in the air as the searing beam extended outward, threatening to shatter the pocket world in which the beast zone was housed.

  Samuel grimaced as a lance of pain shot through his head, and his attack faltered as he nearly fell from the sky, feeling the full weight of the Author’s attention land on him for a split-second. Then it passed, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  He was still alive.

  “Didn’t think you had it in y
ou, Sammy!”

  Samuel felt his annoyance flare up once again as the dust finally settled, revealing Gold, floating in the air in the same spot as before. He was, of course, completely unharmed, as Samuel knew he would be, but one could always hope to get a lucky blow.

  Samuel allowed his power to fade, feeling his energy retreat back into his body, as Gold dusted off his robes.

  “That was a close call, too,” Gold continued, ever-present grin still in place. “I felt Mr. Bigshot’s attention on you for a second there. Surprised you’re still breathing.”

  “I could say the same thing about you,” Samuel growled in return. “How is it that you’re constantly breaking the rules, and continuously getting away with it?”

  “Trade secret, I’m afraid,” Gold replied with a shrug.

  He then looked around at the devastation caused by Samuel’s attack and raised an eyebrow.

  “You really should learn to control that temper of yours, Sammy. This place won’t be usable for the next hundred years, at least!”

  Samuel snorted.

  “This place won’t be accessed ever again if you had your way. After all, you attacked one of the only people who could have stopped the Pinnacle King from rising, so you clearly want my world destroyed.”

  Now it was Gold’s turn to snort.

  “Your world? Please. You only got it because Herald wasn’t interested in running the place. Speaking of which, how is our fearless king of the Central Kingdom doing?”

  Samuel felt his fists clench once more as Gold pointed out yet another of his recent failures- the inability to stop the war from breaking out in the first place.

  “How about you ask Herald yourself? Aren’t the two of you the best of friends?” Samuel replied.

  “Ah. I think I may have gotten on his bad side after I attacked his one good chance of stopping the war two days ago,” Gold replied with a shrug. “But, sacrifices must be made if one wishes to succeed.”