by Aaron Oster
“That would defeat the whole purpose of my visits,” she replied. “I can’t have anyone else know I’m here, now can I?”
Marcus had no idea why the goddess didn’t want anyone knowing of her presence. After all, shouldn’t the rulers of their countries be made aware at the very least? Still, she was a goddess, and he didn’t dare presume that his feeble mortal mind could comprehend the intricacies of her mind.
“So…Why are you here, if I may be so bold as to ask?” Marcus finally said.
“Why, to help you, of course,” the goddess replied, flashing him a perfect smile. “I couldn’t help but notice your plight and have come to offer my services.”
“You…have?” Marcus asked, blinking in surprise.
“Indeed,” she replied, reaching into thin air and producing a slim, metallic case. “Inside, you will find all you need to track your quarry. I’ll only give it to you on one condition, though.”
“And that is?” Marcus asked, his eyes following the slim box as she waved it around.
The goddess’s smile grew even wider at that, more predatory than anything else, and Marcus felt a chill run down his spine.
“That you call me as soon as you’ve located him. Does that sound fair to you?”
Marcus swallowed hard, but nodded, once again not daring to question the goddess as to why she would wish to be called.
“Good,” she replied, placing the slim case on his desk. “I hope to hear from you soon, Marcus.”
She then vanished, leaving only the scent of jasmine lingering the air. She also left the gnome in question with a strong sense of foreboding.
***
Morgan sat with his back to a hollow that he’d dug into the massive block of stone, turning the massive core of the Pinnacle beast over and over in his hands. It had been an entire week since Grace’s injury, and they’d covered a fair bit of ground since then. Grace had also shown great improvement and had even walked through a portion of last night’s travel. Now, she was sound asleep, her back rising and falling slowly in deep, even breaths.
They’d left the forest behind a couple of days back and were now officially in the Soaring Peaks, the homeland of the dwarves. He still had no idea what to expect of this race but hoped that the first person he’d run into would be this mysterious smith. Up ahead, he could see the face of a cliff, one that he’d have to climb by hand come morning.
Though they’d been traveling mostly at night, Morgan hadn’t wanted to attempt the climb in the darkness. He was confident that he could catch himself if he fell, but for Grace’s sake, he’d decided to push it off. The climb would be a long one if what he saw was anything to go by. The cliff face was quite sheer, rising thousands of feet into the air before vanishing into a bank of clouds. Once he reached the top, they should only be a day or so from the smith’s home.
Grace had taken well to his teachings, listening carefully to what he had to say, and asking questions more frequently. She’d become less self-conscious as well and had hardly blushed at all when he’d changed her bandages this morning. More and more, he realized that he was beginning to truly care for this girl, and it was in a way he’d previously never known. His emotions had been suppressed for years, but up until now, he’d been sure he’d experienced just about all of them. And this was what was keeping him awake right now. Well, that, and the fact that Lumia had gone out to scout, and someone had to keep watch.
Morgan turned his mind to the beast core in his hands. It was a powerful core, containing a plethora of energy. It had more than any Beast core he’d ever held. Yet, he had a dilemma on his hands, and he really didn’t know what to do about it. On the one hand, the energy in this core could push him forward a bit. However, it could push Grace far, far ahead. It would push her so far ahead that she wouldn’t need to worry about being hurt.
No, that isn’t a good solution, Morgan thought, turning the core over again.
A sudden boost in power wouldn’t do anything for Grace, at least not at this stage in her development. She needed time. Time to learn control, adapt, and grow. A huge boost would only be dangerous, both to her and anyone she came into contact with. He sighed, holding the core up to eye-level and pulling its description up in his mind.
Name: Core of Raja the Ore Eater
Rank - 48
Total available energy - 23,980,000/23,980,000
This core was taken from Raja the Ore Eater. Raja was once just a humble Stone-Cruncher Elephant, but by constantly eating rare and powerful ores, he grew into a powerful force of nature. As this core was taken from a Pinnacle beast, the amount of available energy has been maximized.
“Nearly twenty-four million energy in that core,” Lumia said, drifting down from the sky, already shrinking down from her hybrid form. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” Morgan admitted, lowering the core and turning to the drake. “I know we never really talked about it, but did you ever have any family?”
Lumia was silent for a few moments before answering, her voice sounding hesitant and uncertain.
“As far as I know, you’re the only family I’ve ever had.”
“I thought as much,” he replied, turning his eyes back on the sleeping Grace. “I’ve just been having a hard time understanding what I feel when I’m around this girl.”
“Is that what’s been troubling you so much lately?” Lumia asked, seemingly glad to be steering the conversation away from her.
“Yes,” he answered honestly.
“Well, what do you feel?”
Morgan thought on that for a few moments.
“I don’t really know how to describe it. I…care for her? But not in the same way I did Sarah or Katherine, or even you, for that matter. Honestly, the closest thing I can equate it to are my feelings for Gwen. But even that isn’t really it.”
“Let me ask you this,” Lumia replied. “Have you ever been close with anyone younger than you, or are they all around the same age or older than you?”
“Well, if we’re going by technicalities, then I’m older than anyone alive,” Morgan said with a wry smile. “But I get your meaning, and yes, they’ve all been older or the same age.”
“Then the reason why you don’t know how to feel is that you’re looking after someone as the older one for once, instead of the other way around. When it comes to Grace, she relies on you completely. You are the adult here, and she is the student. She’s young, inexperienced, and somewhat naïve in the ways of the world.
“You mentioned that you are feeling protective, and once asked if this was what it was like to have a daughter. I can’t say anything about the daughter part, as I’ve never had children of my own, but if I’m guessing, you’re feeling protective because of her relative youth. Her physical size and appearance may also factor into this, leading you to want to protect her.
“There’s also the fact that you lost someone very dear to you, and despite the knowledge that she can be brought back, you still fear losing someone else who can’t. My personal opinion is that Grace had pulled you out of the shell you’d built around yourself after Sarah’s death, and the longer you’re around her, the more you allow your guard to drop.
“She’s young, bright, and reminds you of your earlier days, back when the world was far simpler and there wasn’t so much at stake. It isn’t important to figure out exactly what she is to you right now, so long as you keep that in mind. Just keep thinking of her as your student, and in time, I’m sure things will become clearer.”
That said, Lumia turned away and headed to curl up beside the girl in question, giving him one last sidelong look out of one brilliant emerald eye and settling down.
Morgan found himself unable to sleep that night. Instead, he stayed up, thinking over all Lumia had said. It was true that he’d been allowing his emotions to slip out more as of late, especially with Grace around, and everything Lumia said made a strange sort of sense to him. She was younger than he was, so the dynamic betwee
n them was far different than the dynamic between him and Sarah, or him and Gwendolyn.
He didn’t yet know how Grace felt about him, as reading emotion in teenagers was far harder than reading adults or children. But, as Lumia had said, he’d figure out more in time.
At one point, he pulled up his status, checking on his personal progress.
Name: Morgan
Advanced Supermage: Rank - 66
Energy to Next Rank - 2,877,090/131,000,000
Ability Advancement - 15,000,000/15,000,000 (Max.)
Ability - Natural Disaster
RP - 7,190/7,190 (Regen - 72.1 per second)
Strength - 696
Agility - 1,043
Constitution - 825
Intelligence - 719
Wisdom - 721
Skills - Hypersonic Flight, Maximum Increase, Stormforge, Earthen Shift, Nature’s Wrath, Compression, Gravity Tear, Sunblast
Traits - Dense Body Max., Recovery Max., Aura Sense (inherited), Aura Flare (inherited), Perfect Self, Soul Stealer, Suppression (inherited)
Extra - Gravity Storm (7th category), Starbreaker (7th category), Collapsing Star (HyperNova), Shooting Star (Comet), Massive Meteor (2nd category), Continental Crush
He then pulled up the description for one of his traits, one that had inexplicably risen over the last couple of weeks.
Perfect Self - The road to the Pinnacle of power is nearly at its end. Gather the required energy and find your Perfect Self.
Progress - 52%
Aside from the massive 7% increase to his Perfect Self, several of his attributes, mainly Intelligence and Wisdom, had skyrocketed as well. Between the two, he could only see a single, common denominator. Grace. There was no other explanation as to why they’d gone up so much, which meant that Morgan was now discovering a whole new world, one that he’d never even dreamed of seeing before.
Never could he have imagined that unlocking his full potential could come from helping others, yet here was tangible proof that teaching Grace was helping him grow closer to the Pinnacle of power. It would be a height that would increase his strength tenfold and make him all but unstoppable. To bring Sarah back, he knew he’d need more strength than he currently had. He would need more strength than everyone in this world, in fact. More strength than the gods themselves.
“Whatever it takes,” he whispered, looking to the glowing green moon overhead. “No matter how long or how far I have to go, I’ll bring you back.”
41
“Are you sure about this? I mean, really sure?” Grace asked from her position on his back.
“Yes,” Morgan replied for about the fifth time that morning. “And even if I slip and fall, even right near the top, we’ll only fall a few thousand feet before I catch myself.”
“That hardly makes me feel any better,” Grace retorted, her voice carrying with it a hint of fear and nausea.
“Well, look at it this way,” Morgan said as he began rising off the ground, ascending the flat face of the cliff. “If I don’t catch you, at least it’ll be quick.”
He hid a grin at the sound that Grace made at that comment. It was somewhere between a groan and a gagging sound. Still, he didn’t think they should be worried. Sure, it was a very long climb, but he could fly. A hypothetical fall would likely only result in a scare, and nothing more. They continued climbing at a steady rate, the warm breeze passing by and ruffling his hair.
It was still early morning, not later than six by his estimate, so the real heat of the day had yet to set in. These hours, he’d found, were by far the most pleasant, and he was going to enjoy every second of it. It wasn’t long before he reached the maximum height his skill would allow and was forced to drift toward the cliff face, making holds for himself using his Earthen Shift skill.
This particular skill would make his climb infinitely easier, as he’d always have hand and footholds. As he looked up the side of the cliff, his view being blocked where the stone met the sky, he knew that it was going to be a long climb.
Best get going then, he thought and began their ascent.
It was pretty easy going at first. He climbed hand over hand, creating good holds for his limbs and always remaining on a straight path. However, the higher they went, the more the wind began to pick up, so by the time they were some two thousand feet off the ground, it was practically howling around them and trying to pluck them off the cliff face.
It didn’t help that Grace was on his back and letting out cries of alarm each time this happened, nor that Lumia was now digging her claws forcefully into his shirt. Their odd shape, with Grace on his back, didn’t allow him to flatten himself when the wind came, and each time it did, he felt himself being dragged to one side or another.
He made sure that the hand and footholds became deeper as he continued going. Another thing he began to notice was the change in temperature. He’d suspected this would happen, as it often did on tall mountains, so he’d told Grace to wear some extra layers, but what he hadn’t accounted for was the icy and treacherous footing once he got high enough. He was forced to place his hands with more care, making sure he had a solid footing before moving on to the next.
Suddenly, they were inside the clouds. Visibility immediately dropped, and Morgan could feel moisture condensing on his skin and entering his lungs. He’d never been high enough to be in the clouds, so this was a first-time experience for him, one that he wasn’t particularly enjoying. It was cold, dark, and wet, but the worst part was not being able to see. Despite it being unpleasant, he’d gone through so many dangerous situations that this hardly even registered. However, Morgan wasn’t alone.
“Hey, Morgan,” Grace said, her voice sounding oddly muffled.
“What is it?” he asked, heaving himself up another few feet and catching himself on the next hold.
“I feel strange and lightheaded…”
“Shit,” Morgan muttered, realizing that the air up here was growing too thin for her to breathe.
Looking up, he couldn’t really see an end, seeing as they were in the middle of a freaking cloud. Worse, he couldn’t even make an estimate, as Gold’s map didn’t really tell them anything.
“Just hang on,” he called to her. “We’ll be there soon.”
“If you say so…”
Her voice was growing weaker, sluggish, and he could feel her weight becoming more apparent. Conscious people were much easier to carry, and though Grace’s weight was practically non-existent where he was concerned, having her pass out from lack of oxygen wasn’t a good thing in any situation.
That only meant that he needed to climb faster. The sooner he reached the top, the sooner he could…
The sooner I could what? he asked himself.
Simply reaching the top wouldn’t increase the amount of oxygen in the air.
Unless there are trees up there, he thought. How else could the dwarves live all the way up here?
“Morgan, you need to climb faster,” Lumia said, shifting on his shoulder a bit. “I don’t like how Grace is looking.”
“Grace,” he called back to her. “How are you doing?”
A mumbled response was his only reply.
“Damn it,” he muttered, looking up to the sky and still seeing nothing.
“Lumia, try and keep her awake. Oh, and I’d tighten my grip if I were you.”
Lumia didn’t even ask any questions, merely curling her claws in deeper and turning to face Grace.
Morgan took a deep breath, gathered himself, then surged upward. He heaved and pushed with his legs, managing to throw himself up the face of the cliff. All of his limbs were away from the cliff face now, as the power of his jump threw him upward. Just as he felt his momentum weakening, he slammed a hand through the stone, driving his fingers deep and heaving up again.
The air sped by as he pushed, throwing himself recklessly farther and farther up. More than once, he pushed himself too far out, but a quick blast of his Compression threw him to the cliff once again, and his
Earthen Shift helped him catch himself. He could hear Lumia trying, yet failing, to keep Grace awake, which was definitely not a good thing.
In just a few minutes, Grace could be facing some serious danger. If he didn’t reach the top soon, he’d have no choice but to let go and take a dive back to the ground below. Morgan heaved, the air actually beginning to sting his lungs a bit as he pulled himself higher still. It was well below freezing, but he thought he could see something up ahead, a glimmer of light through the hazy clouds.
This small hope made him push even harder, and with one last jump, Morgan suddenly found himself above the clouds. Bright sunlight assaulted him, warming his body of the frost, though it was still quite cold up here. But when he looked up now, he could finally see the top.
“Almost there!” he called, heaving upward once again, practically bounding up the cliffside.
Morgan crested the summit and, for the first time since he’d begun, found himself on solid ground. However, the sight that greeted him was not one that he’d been hoping to see. All that stretched before him was a flat, open, and barren rock, one that disappeared into the distance. Turning back, Morgan looked down and saw only a swath of white stretching into the distance.
He was well above the clouds now, but they were blocking his view of the world below, and he was still faced with a dilemma.
“How’s she doing?” Morgan asked, trying to crane his head back.
“I’ve been blowing air into her mouth,” Lumia replied. “She seems to be stirring, but this is only a temporary measure. We have to decide whether to go back or push on.”
Morgan looked back out over the cliff face, wondering just how high they actually were. He knew he had to make a choice quickly. He’d never been one to turn back in the face of a challenge, and seeing as they were already up here, Morgan already knew which choice he’d make. Still, Grace was with him, and if they didn’t find a place where she could breathe soon, she wouldn’t just be in a little trouble. She’d be dead.