Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7) Read online

  Come to think of it, her father had begun telling her to keep herself covered around him more as she’d grown older, but until she’d met Morgan, Grace had never really felt embarrassed around men. She was only fourteen, after all, and was only just starting her journey into adulthood.

  “So,” Lumia asked, thankfully distracting her and moving her mind off the topic of Morgan. “Do you have any ideas about what the training might entail?”

  “I do have some ideas,” Grace replied, testing the water before stepping in. “But, they’re just ideas.”

  “Well, let’s hear them,” Lumia said. “Speaking ideas aloud can often help you reach a quicker conclusion. Plus, you’re technically not on the timer yet, and since Morgan never stated you couldn’t start thinking right away, I’d suggest you start now.”

  Grace had noticed that as well and was going to take full advantage of the opening he’d given her. She did not doubt that Morgan had spotted the flaw in his plan, but had left it purposely for her to discover. It showed her that while Morgan was a tough teacher, he cared about seeing her succeed and become a better supermage.

  She already knew he cared about her. That much was evident by the fact that he’d agreed to continue training her and that he’d been there for her through all of the tough times. But he didn’t often express emotion one way or the other, though getting him to laugh gave Grace butterflies in her stomach and made her feel oddly giddy.

  Her feelings for her teacher were still oddly mixed, split between blind admiration and more than a little bit of a crush, and seeing him as a mentor or older brother, someone she could count on when she was feeling down, scared or overwhelmed. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, to pick one way or the other, her body simply refused to obey. As a result, she’d been having a bit of a hard time concentrating when he was around lately.

  “Your mind is wandering again,” Lumia said as Grace began lathering her hands with soap. “How about I leave you for a few minutes to relax and cool off from the fight? Maybe take a chance to check your status. Once I return, you should have a clearer head, and then, you can start voicing your theories aloud.”

  “That sounds…alright,” Grace said, flushing once more as she realized Lumia had likely gotten a bit of what she’d been feeling.

  The drake was oddly empathetic and seemed almost to have the ability to read minds. With her around, it was virtually impossible to think about Morgan as anything other than a teacher, as Lumia had chastised her many times and warned her against romantic inclinations. Without her here, she’d be able to truly relax and decompress after all the fighting.

  Lumia gave a sharp nod, then spread her wings and fluttered out of the room, leaving Grace alone to mull over the day’s events. Not wanting to think about her mixed feelings regarding her teacher once again, Grace instead did as Lumia suggested and opened her status, reviewing her progress for the day.

  Name: Grace

  Supermage: Rank - 9

  Energy to next rank - 12,106/18,000

  Ability - Sound Self

  RP - 510/510 (Regen - 5.2 per second)

  Strength - 63

  Agility - 42

  Constitution - 64

  Intelligence - 51

  Wisdom - 52

  Skills - Expand blows II, Body Shift+, Air Pulse, Echolocation+

  Traits - Perception Field, Sharpen Mind

  Extra - Wail Wall

  She grinned to herself as she closed her status, marveling at her progress over the past couple of weeks. Sure, she hadn’t gained a single rank – Morgan had refused to let her – but she was growing stronger with each passing day. She was still quite petite, but she was a growing girl. Plus, she’d begun to notice some definite changes since she’d become a supermage.

  For one, she was a bit taller, now standing around five-foot-two. Her arms, legs and abdomen also had a bit more definition to them, and any traces of fat were pretty much a thing of the past. Soon enough, she’d be knocking over mountains and looking even prettier than the Queen of the North! Or…so she hoped. For now, though, Grace was content to simply lean back, enjoy her bath and begin to puzzle out Morgan’s words.

  She’d seen plenty of hair products she’d wanted in the Central Kingdom the last time they’d visited, and there was no way in hell she was going to miss out on an opportunity like this!

  4

  “Survival training,” Grace said, looking up at him with surety in her eyes.

  It was midafternoon, and Morgan was sitting on one of the couches in his suite, reading up on the latest reports of beast activity near the city, when Grace finally approached with an answer. He looked up to her, seeing that her hair was now neatly styled with two strands – one silver and the other pink – drawn back in place of a headband. She was dressed in loose-fitting armored clothes and carried a small pack on her left shoulder.

  “Explain,” he said, putting the report down and giving her his full attention.

  “You said that we’re going to a Beast Zone in the South Kingdom,” Grace began without hesitation. “You also mentioned that this would be training that we’d all benefit from and that we’d be there for a few days. If so, it stands to reason that I’ll be left pretty much on my own once we enter, while you and Lumia go off to either a higher stage or go to a different Beast Zone entirely.”

  Morgan was nodding along slowly, and though his face didn’t give away so much as a hint of what he was thinking, inwardly, he beamed with pride. Grace was starting to learn to think for herself. Not only that, but she had managed to come up with the answer in only half the time he’d allotted.

  Of course, she could have taken an extra-long bath, but Morgan wasn’t going to count that time, as he’d specifically left it as something for her to recognize and take advantage of.

  “You hit the nail right on the head,” Morgan replied. “Well done.”

  Grace flushed at the compliment, a happy smile coming to her face.

  “But you were wrong about one thing,” he continued, rising from his seat. “And don’t worry, we’re still going to stop by the Central Kingdom on our way back,” he said before Grace could jump to any conclusions.

  “Oh…What did I get wrong?” she asked, the look of disappointment which had begun forming on her face vanishing in an instant.

  “That you were going to be alone. As much as I’d love to throw you in headfirst, having someone there to bail you out is important. Of course, you will be fighting on your own, but if things get too tough, Lumia will pull you out.”

  Grace swallowed nervously as Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “What kinds of beasts am I going to be fighting?” she asked, looking up at him fearfully.

  “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” Morgan replied, giving her a smile that was less than reassuring.

  ***

  “Damn freaking chickens!” Grace yelled, extending a hand and using Air Pulse – the upgraded version of her Air Siren – to blast the angry beast from the air.

  The chicken, a beast nearly three times the size of a regular one, let out an angry squawk as it flew back, leaving a spray of blood and feathers in its wake.

  “Why the hell would Morgan think this was a good spot for training?” she asked, whirling on Lumia, who was hovering a few feet away.

  “This is challenging for you, is it not?” Lumia replied.

  “Well, obviously!” Grace snapped, whirling back to the oversized chicken as it came back for a second round.

  “Then I don’t see the problem.”

  Grace let out a yell, snapping her leg up and catching the plump bird in a clumsy shortened roundhouse. She knew it was a bad kick, but her skills would more than make up for it. Density Shift+ activated as soon as the kick struck, slamming into the beast with more than twice the force, thanks to its increased weight.

  There was an awful crunching of bones as the chicken ruptured, spraying Grace in a gross mixture of blood, guts and feathers.

  “J
ust look at me!” she exclaimed, pointing down at herself.

  “I see that you are covered in gore,” Lumia said with yet another shrug. “Something you should grow used to on the battlefield.”

  “Not the gore,” Grace whined. “Just look at what those damned feathers did to my hair!”

  It had taken her the better part of an hour to get it just right, and in her first fight, a chicken had gotten its gross feathers tangled in it. Now, instead of looking stylish, her hair looked like an angry flock of pigeons had attacked it.

  “You need to think up a better way to manage your hair, if it means that much to you,” Lumia said as Grace walked over to the still-twitching chicken to put it out of its misery.

  Grace just glowered at her, stomping down hard on the chicken’s head and shattering the fragile bones within.

  “My hair stays the way it is!” she said, leaning down to fetch the core. “I refuse to change my style just because I have to fight now.”

  “Then best not to complain when you get it messy then,” Lumia said as she rose with the core. “Now, we’d best get moving. There is still quite a distance to cover today, and if you want to shelter in relative comfort and safety, you will need to reach the designated camp.”

  Despite what Morgan had said about survival training, he had ensured that there would be several camps dotted throughout the Beast Zone during her stay. This told her that despite his sometimes-stern demeanor, he was just a bit softie at heart. Of course, had Grace known the actual reason – that the beasts in this zone became far more dangerous at night – she might not have thought about him quite the same.

  It was also the reason why Lumia had been sent along. She wasn’t there to babysit during the day, but to ensure that some dangerous beast didn’t make a snack of her in the night.

  Grace let out an annoyed huff, then did the best she could to remove the feathers from her hair. She could already tell this was going to be a long few days, especially if there would be nowhere she could bathe. This place was pure hell, and when she got out of here, she would make sure that the present that Morgan got her would be more than worth the discomfort and nasty conditions.

  ***

  Morgan watched the approaching beast using his Aura Sense and got a feeling for its strength. It was powerful, but not strong enough to pose a real challenge. In fact, there were very few beasts that could challenge him. But Morgan wasn’t here for a real challenge. He was here to test a skill that he would be unable to otherwise.

  Grace was several stages down, so there was little chance of her getting hurt. This left him free to act as he wanted. Still, as he used his flight skill and rocketed towards the Arc of this stage, he had to wonder if what he was planning on doing was even a good idea. After all, he might need to use the skill in the coming weeks, and not having access to it because of a long cooldown time would suck.

  If it comes to that, I’ll be in too much trouble for it to make a difference, Morgan finally decided. If he were ever going to use this skill in combat, he needed to understand how much destruction it could cause. Besides, who better to test it on than the strongest Arc he could find?

  There were, of course, far more powerful beasts in Faeland, but he wasn’t there right now. Besides, even if he were, he wouldn’t want to run this test there. Here, in the Five Kingdoms, he was relatively safe from scrutiny. Outside was a different matter entirely. The Arc in this zone was powerful, but the only remaining question was if it was strong enough.

  Morgan streaked through the swamp, flying high enough to ensure that he wouldn’t be seen or caught by the wandering beasts, but close enough to engage if the need arose. He knew he’d be here for several days, which meant that he could get in some training, but the sooner he used this skill, the sooner the cooldown would run out. He thought that a two-week cooldown was far too long, even for a skill as powerful as Continental Crush.

  His eyes flickered over the various beasts, noting odd growths and strange substances he didn’t recognize, and several had glowing spots on some of their backs. He knew he’d need to come back when he was done, but the Arc was growing close, and Morgan could now very clearly see the force of its power on the horizon.

  The wind whistled as he approached the vast open expanse of the shallow lake. The sky was gray overhead and hung thick with thunderheads, while the water itself was nearly choked by weeds, algae and muck. Although he knew that different creatures needed different environments and conditions, he really could not imagine how anything could live down here.

  It was just the way of the world, and there was nothing he – or anyone, for that matter – could do to change that.

  Well, he was technically about to change it. He was about to change the entire landscape, in fact. But that wouldn’t change the Arc’s living habits, nor how it would live once the Beast Zone healed itself.

  Morgan came to a halt at the very center of the lake, looking down at the small island bulging out of the water. Grass, moss and even a few small trees clung to its surface, yet Morgan knew what it was, and anyone foolish enough to think that that small patch was an island was in for a rude awakening. Still, the beast wasn’t moving just yet, so Morgan counted himself lucky that he was getting such a stationary target.

  His Aura Sense sharpened, honing in on the beast’s back and pulling up its status.

  Name: Island-Shell Goliath Turtle Patriarch

  Rank - 65

  Ability Type - Mage

  Power - 412

  Defense - 1609

  Ability - 885

  Morgan let out a low whistle when he saw that. While this beast was quite a bit higher in rank than the Pinnacle Beast, Raja the Ore Eater, it was only an Advanced Beast. The fact that its Defense was so high, even higher than Raja’s, meant that this was a truly fortified opponent. He grinned then, knowing that there was no better target for his experiment than this Arc right here. He felt his heart beginning to race a bit as he stared down, then began turning a slow circle.

  Even if he were to fly to the maximum his Flight would currently allow, he’d still be unable to see the edges of his skill. Morgan knew he would have some time to examine the results. Right now, though, he was just eager to get started. So, reaching for the skill for the first time and already preparing himself for the massive cost of activation, Morgan used Continental Crush.

  5

  Grace dodged quickly to one side, only her Density Shift’s lightening ability keeping her head from being caved in by the kicking farm animal. She growled as the beast came back down, and blasted it with her Air Pulse, throwing the beast to the side.

  “I don’t know if this is some kind of sick joke or something, but I am not happy!” Grace complained as she dove upon the fallen donkey.

  She wasn’t sure why Morgan would make her face warped versions of the animals she’d been around her entire life, but she was going to have a talk with him when this was over. The donkey was far nimbler than she’d given it credit for and leaped to its feet, causing her to barrel into the ground face-first.

  “Son of a bitch!” she yelled, coming up spitting and gagging as she tried to get the dirt from her mouth.

  It was only thanks to her Perception Field, the new Trait she’d received upon becoming a supermage, that she felt the attack coming. Just because she felt it coming, however, didn’t mean she could dodge it. Grace did the only thing she could, increasing her density as far as it would go and bringing her arms up to block her face.

  The stone-shod hooves slammed into her upraised arms, and she cried out as she felt the force of the impact nearly break her bones. She was only thrown back about a foot, sprawling on her stomach and wincing at the throbbing in her arms, but quickly scrambled to her feet and whirled to face the charging donkey.

  “Fine, you wanna play rough?” Grace muttered, extending one of her arms and pressing her index and middle fingers together. “Let’s play!”

  She snapped, focusing in on the donkey’s right ear, and sent a co
ncentrated blast of sound right into it. This was one of the upgrades to her skill, and though she still couldn’t target things perfectly, the more precise attack definitely proved itself to be a marked upgrade.

  The donkey let out a high-pitched scream as the ripple of sound exploded into its ear. The drum ruptured, throwing the donkey clean off its feet and leaving a spray of blood in its wake. Unfortunately, while more precise, these attacks only had the capacity to stun, not actually kill. However, when Grace dove upon the downed donkey, slammed a palm over its bleeding ear and unleashed a full-powered Air Pulse, the donkey’s head was blown to bloody chunks.

  “Eeeww!” Grace exclaimed, leaping off the donkey as blood splattered on her face and hair. “Damn it!”

  “If you wanted to avoid the blood spray, you could have used your body shift in conjunction with the attack,” Lumia chastised.

  Grace looked a bit sheepish at that, as she realized the drake was right. With her upgraded Expand Blows II, she could stretch her limbs up to a full foot. Had she done that and then activated her Air Pulse, only her arm would have become dirty. Her entire chest, face and hair would have then been left out of the gore entirely.

  “I guess I’ll know for next time,” she muttered, wiping an arm across her face and getting as much of the blood off as she could.

  “You should also have never been taken by surprise like that in the first place,” Lumia continued. “You do have a locator skill, after all. So, locate!”

  Grace let out yet another sigh but nodded in agreement. Lumia could sometimes be just as harsh as Morgan, but like he, she always made valid points and never yelled needlessly. Both of her arms were throbbing now, and she knew that come nightfall, she’d be dealing with a pair of very nasty bruises. She also knew that that was the price she’d paid for being careless and rushing in headfirst.