Stormforge (Rise To Omniscience Book 5) Page 5

  Recovery + - The spirits of the air have blessed you with the power of healing. If you can survive for 6 hours after being wounded, no matter the injury, your body will be completely healed. Your body will begin healing immediately at 15% per hour for 5 hours, the last 25% will heal at the end of the 6th hour.

  Aura Sense (inherited) - You have been bestowed the gift of sight by an Omniscient. By concentrating on the natural energy within yourself, you can read the aura in the world around you. You now have True Sight and can see through any deception, be they words or abilities.

  Aura Flare (inherited) - You have been bestowed the gift of power by an Omniscient. You can make those around you feel your power, merely by focusing your intent. Your aura will now stun the weak minded for up to five seconds and may cause some physiological damage as well.

  Perfect Self - The road to the Pinnacle of power is nearly at its end. Gather the required energy and find your Perfect Self.

  Progress - 2%

  Soul Stealer - You now have the ability to tear the cores from supers or mages, absorbing them as you would a beast core. The energy you will receive will vary based on the strength of the individual.

  If there was one thing that bothered him here, it was the lack of progress in his Perfect Self. He’d known it would be a tough road to the Pinnacle of power, but he’d had no clue just how hard. In two entire months, he’d progressed just 1% of the way there. He was sure there was a better way forward but had no one’s advice to lean on. With a sigh, he continued to the last section.

  Extra:

  Gravity storm (4th category) - Create a cyclone of intense gravity, damaging winds, and lightning in a targeted area. The ground quakes and splinters under the force of this storm, and the earth ruptures and spews forth fire.

  Cost - 1,400 RP

  AOE - 60 Ft

  Duration - 45 seconds

  Cooldown - 8 hours

  Starbreaker (3rd category) - Create a dense ball of superheated air and compressed gas, which will explode upon impact with a selected target. The heat is so great that it will melt stone and detonate the very oxygen in the air.

  Cost - 1,900 RP

  AOE - 45 Ft

  Cooldown - 14 hours

  Collapsing star (Nova) - Create a small sphere of super dense gravity that exudes the crushing force of a collapsing star. The collapsing star will then explode outward, burning all in its path with the heat of a burning Nova.

  Cost - 2,600 RP

  AOE - 25 Ft

  Duration - 30 seconds

  Cooldown - 32 hours

  Shooting Star - Cloak your body in fire hot enough to melt diamond and the power of a shooting star.

  Cost - 3,500 RP

  Duration - 25 seconds

  Cooldown - 168 hours

  Closing his status for a moment, Morgan leaned back, placing his head against the rim of the tub and staring up at the ceiling. His extra skills were amazing, extremely powerful, and very effective at ending fights. However, they were a one-use skill. The shortest cooldown was his Gravity Storm at 8 hours.

  That meant that if he used the skill as soon as it was available, he’d only be able to cast it three times in twenty-four hours. It was also only the weakest of his powerful skills. Shooting Star, the ability that had allowed him to destroy a group of several max-ranked supers and mages, could only be used once a week.

  In fact, he’d never used it since the first time, keeping it in reserve just in case. Morgan decided that the skills to upgrade were either his regular ones or one of his traits. He’d just have to hope that the skills would upgrade on their own when he reached rank 59. He couldn’t really make up his mind without seeing how much the skills would cost, so he opened his status another time to view the upgrade price.

  Skills:

  Supersonic flight - 0/1,350

  Concussive Burst - 0/2,250

  Stormforger - 0/2,750

  Nature’s wrath - 0/1,350

  Rupture - 0/575

  Maximum Might - 0/1,500

  Traits:

  Dense Body+ - 0/1,650

  Recovery+ - 0/1,650

  Aura sense (inherited) - 0/1,650

  Aura Flare (inherited) - 0/1,650

  Perfect Self - N/A

  Soul Stealer - 0/2,350

  Extra:

  Gravity storm (4th category) - 0/2,150

  Starbreaker (3rd category) - 0/2,425

  Collapsing star (Nova) - 0/2,750

  Shooting Star - 0/3,000

  Surprisingly, that wasn’t the end of the list. Morgan’s eyes widened a bit as a new tab was now available, and it got him excited for the first time that night.

  New Skills Available: You can now see what new skills will become available to you at your next breakthrough. However, you have the option to spend forward using AP to unlock them early. This also has the added benefit of replacing the learned skill with another, which will then be unlocked by your next breakthrough in place of the learned skill.

  Available Skills:

  Compressive Blast - 620/1,600

  Gauntlet Gatling - 612/1,600

  Gravity Warp - 370/3,800

  Massive Meteor - 244/5,000

  Now really excited, Morgan checked to see if he could pull up the skill’s descriptions. Before getting the information, though, he noted that the last two skills seemed far less advanced than the first two and cost more than any he currently had to even unlock. Instead of trying to guess at it, he pulled up the descriptions. However, he was only partially successful, as the last two skills only gave him the barest of information.

  Compressive Blast - Compress the air in your immediate surroundings down to a point, then send it out in a powerful blast.

  Cost - 150 RP

  Gauntlet Gatling - Project your forged constructs in a hail of blows. (This is a sub-skill of Stormforger)

  Cost - 50 RP per second

  Gravity Warp - Gravity has no hold over distance.

  Massive Meteor - Your power knows no bounds.

  Morgan was torn. On the one hand, both Compressive Blast and Gauntlet Gatling sounded incredible. Not only that, but their costs were low, and both offered him ranged attacks. At least one would rely on his Strength attribute, of which he had in abundance. On the other hand, the latter two skills were intriguing, even if frustratingly vague. Morgan decided to do something reckless.

  Reaching down to the side of the tub, he lifted a gold coin and placed it on his thumb.

  Heads, I wait. Tails, I choose a skill, he thought, then flicked the coin into the air.

  Time seemed to slow as the coin spun end over end, glimmering in the dim lighting of the bathroom. His hand blurred as it dropped, snatching the coin from the air and slapping it on the back of his hand. Holding his breath, Morgan slowly slid his hand away to reveal the wings of a hawk, between which stood an unsheathed sword.

  Tails it is, he thought, flipping the coin once more. This time, it was to decide which of the two skills to learn.

  Sure, he could learn both at once, but he wanted to leave some AP over to put toward either of the two more powerful skills. His hand blurred out as the coin fell, and he slapped it to the back of his hand once more.

  Morgan knew what he’d been hoping to see, and as his hand slowly uncovered the coin, a wide grin split his features.

  It seems like luck is on my side tonight!

  6

  Morgan had just exited the tub, a towel wrapped around his waist, when a knock came at the door. His Aura Sense told him who it was and even if it hadn’t, it really could only have been one person. He debated ignoring her and leaving her standing out in the hall, but he knew that if he didn’t answer, she’d simply come in anyway. Resigning himself to a lecture, Morgan moved to open the door.

  “Oh good, you’re still awake,” Katherine said with a bright smile, shoving past him and into the suite.

  “Sure, let yourself in,” Morgan muttered, closing the door and turning to follow her.

  He couldn’
t help but notice her odd state of dress. Having come from a meeting, he would have expected to see her in her armor or maybe a formal dress. Instead, she wore a fluffy red robe that trailed almost to the floor. It also had long sleeves and was completely closed, barely showing any skin at all, which was unusual.

  Even if she’d started dressing more modestly when she’d become the queen, it was only by a bit. Katherine was a woman who liked to flaunt her looks, so he found her attire to be odd.

  “A bit strange to wear something like that to a meeting, don’t you think?” he asked, following her into his bedroom.

  “Oh, I didn’t bother going tonight,” she replied, flopping down on his bed with a sigh. “I was too tired from the battle, so I decided to let Bell handle it while I took a much-needed bath.”

  “So, you’re not here to chew me out for not coming?” Morgan asked, moving to sit in one of the overstuffed armchairs adorning the room.

  “Hardly,” Katherine said with a snort. “I can’t really fault you for not going when all they talk about are all the ways we’re going to die, instead of looking for an actual solution.”

  “Then why are you here?” Morgan asked.

  “Have you already forgotten?” Katherine asked with a coy smile.

  “About?”

  “I promised you a massage, didn’t I? I’m here to pay up.”

  “Oh,” Morgan said.

  Truthfully, he’d completely forgotten about that. He was actually about to get dressed and go out to practice with his new skill until he tired himself out enough to sleep.

  “I can guess at what you’re going to say,” Katherine said, rising from the bed and moving to walk behind him.

  Morgan began to turn, but Katherine placed her hands firmly on the sides of his face and held his head in place.

  “And before you say no and run out to punch rocks for the next five hours, I’d like for you to just give it a chance.”

  Morgan debated getting up and leaving. With all the turmoil in his mind and the weight of his responsibilities, he simply didn’t have time for leisure. He’d even spent most of the time soaking in the hot bath working on his skills.

  “I really should…” he began to protest but stopped when he felt Katherine’s hands close over his shoulders and squeeze.

  When Sarah had tried to do this for him about a month ago, he hadn’t felt a thing. Sure, she was powerful for a mage of her rank, but her physical strength just wasn’t up to par when it came to his super-dense muscles. Katherine, on the other hand, had no such problems, and Morgan began to slowly relax as her powerful fingers began digging into the tangled mess of knots that were in his shoulders.

  She started off slow, her thumbs pressing in just below his shoulder blades, while her other fingers pressed down, one after the next, compressing the muscle. Then, as she pressed, she rotated her fingers in small circles, all the while squeezing down on the muscles in question. The feeling was exquisite, and Morgan’s eyes grew half-lidded as warmth flooded his body.

  “How does that feel?”

  Katherine’s soft voice sounded next to his ear and Morgan gave her a soft smile.

  “You were definitely right,” he said in a dreamy voice.

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. But I’d be able to work much better if you were on the bed.”

  In all honesty, Morgan didn’t want to get up. He was so relaxed and felt so warm, yet Katherine’s insistence eventually got him to move to the bed, where she instructed him to lay on his stomach. For just a moment, Morgan felt a bit embarrassed as he realized his situation. He was dressed in only a towel, with Katherine climbing onto the bed with him.

  However, as soon as she resumed her massage, all thoughts of embarrassment vanished. Katherine dug her palms into his lower back, then slid them upward, working loose weeks of tension. Her strong fingers pushed and prodded in all the right places, untangling knots and untensing muscles he hadn’t even realized were strained.

  He could not remember the last time he’d felt so good, and despite himself, Morgan soon began to drift off. The constant and amazing pressure on his back was lulling him deeper and deeper into a state of euphoria. His trance was broken when Katherine leaned down and whispered for him to turn over.

  “Why should I do that?” he muttered, half asleep.

  “You have muscles on your chest, silly,” she replied.

  Seeing as she hadn’t let him astray thus far, Morgan turned over onto his back and placed one of the pillows behind his head. He felt just the barest of light touches on his chest before he drifted off, truly relaxed for the first time in months.

  ***

  Morgan awoke early the next morning when a hand slapped him in the chest hard enough to rouse him from sleep. Rubbing at his eyes and yawning widely, Morgan moved to rise from the bed but froze when he noticed an arm draped across his chest. He’d seen Sarah’s body enough to know it on sight, and this arm most definitely did not belong to her.

  Heart pounding, Morgan’s eyes slowly trailed up the well-toned and defined arm to where it attached to the body of the woman sleeping next to him. Katherine was fast asleep, her lips slightly parted, and her back rising and falling in an even rhythm. She was, thankfully, dressed in a sleeveless nightgown, the fluffy red robe lying next to her in a tangled bundle.

  Not moving too quickly, Morgan lifted his head and looked down, breathing out a huge sigh of relief as he saw the towel still in place. He lay back down, mind combing over the previous evening. He remembered Katherine coming by and offering him a massage and him reluctantly accepting.

  He remembered the amazing feeling of her hands working his tired muscles and the pleasure he’d taken from it. What he didn’t remember was anything much after he’d gotten into bed. He had a vague recollection of her continuing to work on him, but after that, he’d fallen asleep. There were a few confused moments after that, half-remembered dreams of Katherine, Sarah, and then a woman screaming in pain, though he doubted the last two had happened at all.

  The real question was why Katherine was still here.

  She should have left after he’d fallen asleep, but Morgan couldn’t really fault her for staying. Perhaps she’d been more tired than she’d been letting on or simply too exhausted to go back to her room. She had done him a great service by coming by and helping him in a way he hadn’t even realized he needed.

  He’d been having trouble sleeping well ever since Sarah had moved out, yet last night, he couldn’t remember waking. Not even once.

  Maybe you miss her more than you realize, Morgan told himself as he stared up at the curtains above.

  Perhaps having someone to sleep next to had been why he’d slept so well. Well, that and the fact that Katherine had somehow removed weeks of tension in just an hour.

  He turned his head to watch her sleep and couldn’t help but feel a small smile touch his lips. She was beautiful and looked so peaceful sleeping there. The harrowed look of worry in her eyes and the tightness in her shoulders that had been there for months were now gone as she dreamed of whatever it was girls dreamed about.

  Morgan knew he couldn’t stay in bed for too much longer, as it was already close to six. It was odd for Katherine to still be sleeping, not that he was one to talk. With his newly enhanced body, a few hours a week was more than enough. However, he’d found that while his body didn’t need the rest, his mind most definitely did.

  He was debating reaching up to move Katherine’s arm, when her breathing sped up and her eyes flickered open.

  “Morning,” Morgan said, covering a yawn.

  Katherine squinted at him, blinking her eyes rapidly as her mind woke itself up. It didn’t take long, though, maybe a few seconds. At her high rank, her mind would be fully aware in a matter of seconds, not needing the hour or so to wake that normal people did.

  “Good morning,” she replied, giving him a sheepish grin. “Sorry about crashing here last night. By the time I was done, I was so tired that I just fell asleep.
”

  “No worries,” he said, smiling at her in return. “I figured you must have been pretty tired to sleep here. Honestly, I’m not going to complain. It was the best night of sleep I’ve had in weeks.”

  “Same here,” Katherine replied, moving a hand to cover up a yawn. “It seems like we’re getting less and less time for things like sleep, and my mind keeps me up most nights for hours on end. So, either you’ve got magic powers to put people to sleep, or I just exhausted myself to the point where I passed out.”

  “I am pretty good at knocking people out,” Morgan said jokingly. “But I think it might have more to do with the company than anything else. I haven’t slept right since Sarah moved out. It was nice to sleep next to someone again, even if it was just for one night.”

  Katherine let out a long breath, then moved to sit up, patting him lightly on the chest.

  “Much as I hate to say it, I’m sure the two of you will work things out. At least I got my hands all over you for one night,” she said with a sly grin. “Even if nothing happened.”

  “I’ll be happy to return the favor anytime,” Morgan replied. “Though I’m not sure how good a job I’d do.”

  Katherine pulled her knees up to her chest, the nightgown billowing out around her.

  “I think you’d do just fine. I’d honestly take you up on that offer right now, though I’m afraid it’s going to have to wait.”

  “What do you mean?” Morgan asked, sensing the shift in her tone from playful flirting to business.

  “I know I don’t need to tell you how badly we’re losing,” Katherine said, her voice heavy with weariness even though she’d only just woken up.

  It was a feeling that Morgan could well understand.