Silverspear (Rise to Omniscience Book 6)

by Aaron Oster

  She clicked her tongue again, revealing the same two figures, moving at a steady pace in her direction. They were being cautious, trying to make as little noise as possible. Little did they know that they’d already been made. Grace pulled around the final switchback, halfway between the house and forge, then placed her back to the tunnel wall.

  Her last click had revealed that they were right on top of her. They had no idea she was there, which meant that she’d be able to catch the first with a surprise attack. It would have to be strong enough to take them out, or at least cripple them badly enough to stop them from advancing.

  Grace could feel her heart racing as she contemplated what she was about to do. She’d never killed anyone before, though she’d known that it was an inevitable eventuality. Morgan had had many conversations with her about the price of taking a life, and how to deal with the aftermath. He’d shared with her his insights, reasoning, and coping methods. It had been something they’d talked about every single day without fail.

  Apparently, Morgan knew the price of taking a life and how crippling it could be in battle, especially the first time. He’d made sure to run through a series of exercises so she wouldn’t freeze up or panic in the aftermath. Now, in the dark tunnel, as she prepared herself to take a life, Grace took several deep and calming breaths. What she was about to do was something that Morgan had told her was possible, though she’d never actually tried it before.

  It wasn’t any mystical skill or power, but a regular technique that could be achieved through rigorous training and mental discipline, neither of which she had. The basic principles had been outlined, and she now put them into action. Counting her heartbeats in her head, Grace began to imagine a small box. With each beat of her heart, more of her emotion would leak away, draining into the box and staying there.

  The idea of this exercise was to lock away all of her fears and insecurities and help her focus on fighting. She’d been unable to do this while fighting the rhino, due to the unexpected nature of their battle, and Morgan hadn’t been happy with her about that. But he’d also known that something like this took years of practice to master, and months to be able to do so with any sort of speed.

  It was only because the enemy was moving so slowly that she had the thirty seconds she needed to concentrate on the box. She continued her deep breathing, pushing more and more of her panic and fear into the box and leaving it there. So, by the time she opened her eyes once more, she felt oddly calm, though nowhere near the levels Morgan had told her to expect.

  The fear, anxiety, and insecurities were all still there, but they were muted to the point where she could at least think straight. She knew she was about to kill someone, but Morgan had prepared her for it as best he could. He’d warned her that in the aftermath, she’d probably have to deal with the shock of what she’d done, but that he’d be there for her when she did.

  Grace took one last deep breath as she heard the light scuffing of boots, signaling that the two attackers were right around the corner now. Then, she stepped out and threw the first attack.

  56

  Morgan floated above the crater containing the massive piece of now solid stone, the heat from its descent fusing it together into a single, solid mass. Well, it had been a single solid mass. Now the surface was marred by cracks, jagged tears appearing in the stone and spreading wider by the second. The earth was rumbling ever so slightly, the trapped goddess’s rage felt by all.

  She’d only been trapped about five minutes, which was more than enough time for him to recover, but still, he’d really been hoping to do more damage. Morgan sucked in a deep breath, then prepared his next big attack. By his estimate, Gwendolyn should break free in the next thirty seconds, which should be more than enough time to use his next big skill.

  Shooting Star was a damage skill and wouldn’t trap her at all, so his next best bet was his Collapsing Star. It had evolved and grown stronger over the past years and would now keep her trapped for a whole minute. With his regen, that should be more than enough time to restore the spent RP and prepare the next one.

  The problem he would face was that the weaker the skill he used, the more of a chance that the goddess would escape. According to his calculations, the best he could do as far as stalling tactics at this point amounted to maybe another three minutes, by which point he’d be forced to fight her head-on. He had no idea how much longer Ivaldi would need on the spear but could only hope that it would be enough.

  He couldn’t accurately gauge Gwendolyn’s strength, as he hadn’t really fought her yet, but once he was out of stalling tactics, it was only a matter of when, not if, he lost. But these crucial minutes could mean the difference between life and death when facing a being of such incredible power, so Morgan was going to stall for as long as he possibly could.

  His hands came up, palms facing one another just a few inches apart as he activated his Collapsing Star, Hypernova. The biggest difference between this and the previous upgrade was in pure destructive capability. This skill could level ten times the ground as the last one when it exploded, but Morgan was confident that he’d come far enough to avoid waking the dragon beneath the mountain with his attack.

  The tiny black bead that was forming between his palms began to rapidly grow, and what appeared to be small blue arcs of electricity began sparking across its surface. Morgan knew better than that. What most would see as electricity, Morgan knew to be highly unstable plasma, heated to the point where it took on a new form. The crackling ball of power grew between his palms until it was roughly a foot in diameter.

  Light bent around its surface, making the edges appear to glow a dark blue. The center was black, not allowing even a speck of light to shine through. Morgan began to sweat as the skill locked in, the strain of containing it growing with each passing second. He knew he couldn’t act too soon and had to wait if he wanted the full effect of the skill. Massive cracks now lined the outside of the fallen meteor, and the ground’s shaking had grown substantially.

  Then, with a massive, splintering crack, the meteor shattered, revealing a small figure, surrounded by a field of angry pink light. The woman looked, as Morgan had guessed, pissed as all hell. However, not a scratch marred her body. Had this attack struck even a rank 80 Advanced beast, it would have done at least some sort of damage. Nothing could survive being buried and dropped at that speed without suffering so much as a scratch. Well, nothing other than an immortal being who couldn’t be harmed by mortals such as himself.

  Morgan had already known as much going in, so he wasn’t surprised at all. The woman turned her eyes up at him. They were now burning with the same pink light, small tails wisping out of them.

  “You’re dead!”

  The scream was powerful enough that Morgan felt the soundwaves knock him back, even though he was over a hundred feet up. That was pretty much his cue, and he teleported down, shoving the mass of unstable energy at her.

  “Here, hold this,” he said, dropping the super-dense Collapsing Star on her head, before teleporting back up.

  Morgan winced as he appeared back in the air. Some of Gwendolyn’s energy had lashed out at him when he’d dropped down and left an angry burn across his right shoulder. Still, the present he’d left her with was more than worth it. Gwendolyn’s scream was drowned out as the Collapsing Star expanded, a forty-five-foot area going completely black in under a second and burying the woman within.

  Nothing could escape the massive, gravitational pull from this skill, not light, not sound, and certainly not the woman herself. She might not be hurt, but she was trapped there for another minute, which was just as Morgan had intended. He knew that she’d be even more pissed when the skill ran its course, but by then, he’d have another one ready to go.

  He peered back over his shoulder, trying to see how Lumia’s fight was going. From what he could see, most of the beastmen were already dead, which meant that Lumia had the fight well in hand. A small flash of light from below caught Morgan’s
attention, and he looked down to see a single hand poking from the chaotic blackness sinking into the ground below.

  Burning pink light flared as Gwendolyn fought against the pull of the crushing gravity, making Morgan wonder if he’d overestimated his own strength. Overconfidence was the cause of many a downfall, and seeing as he didn’t much feel like being a statistic in that old saying, Morgan began to immediately prepare his next skill.

  His 7th Category Starbreaker began to form overhead, the massive red and orange ball swirling into existence and burning hotter and hotter by the second. The air began to vibrate, even as Gwendolyn’s second arm broke free, pink light burning through the blackness as she pulled herself out.

  Blue light flared across the massive, ever-expanding ball. The blue fire had started appearing when the skill had reached the 5th Category, though Morgan knew it was still going to get hotter. The bright blue ball swirling and growing above him began to grow darker, a sapphire light burning across some of the now six-foot ball of burning gas. Not a speck of orange remained as the skill finally locked into place.

  Gwendolyn’s head broke free of the Collapsing Star at that moment. She had time to utter a single curse before the skill’s timer ran out and the secondary effect activated. She let out a scream as she was suddenly yanked back, the blackness compressing to a single point before it exploded outward in a massive burning blue and violet nova.

  The heat washed against him as the skill activated, blasting the already scorched ground and ripping trees, stones, and boulders from the ground, burning and melting as it expelled its payload. By the time the energy burned out, only a scorched and glowing patch of ground remained in a seven-mile radius around the blast.

  Well, that, and the angry goddess crouched in the center of the blast zone. Morgan didn’t even give her the chance to look up before he launched his next attack at her, the burning blue ball dropping out of the sky and expanding as it did so. Gwendolyn let out a scream of rage, right before the sphere impacted, exploding outward and expanding sixty-five feet in a burning, swirling conflagration of sapphire flames.

  Gwendolyn’s scream reached him this time, and Morgan knew that the skill wouldn’t hold her for the duration of its time in this world. Cursing silently to himself, Morgan activated his shield, a violet light coating his skin, just before he created himself the strongest suit of armor he could manage. Glowing violet constructs floated up around him, sliding over his body and locking into place.

  An oversized shield grew out of the left gauntlet, and a long violet spear appeared in his right hand. He could feel the entire construct humming with power and knew that every strike would impact a jolt of electricity. The fact that he no longer needed to charge his constructs was amazing. He wouldn’t need to keep count as he fought, plus the saved RP would be very useful to have in his back pocket.

  Just as the spear formed in his hand, a violent pink light erupted from the center of the swirling blue flames, firing up to the sky in a wide beam. The wind kicked up, buffeting against him as a small figure streaked up through the light, reaching his current height of four-hundred feet in under a second.

  “No more games! No more tricks! No more running!”

  The pink pillar faded, revealing the goddess in all her glory. Her entire body burned with pink light, small tendrils wisping off her form and sending her hair drifting out in a strangely ethereal manner. A long, curved sword made of pink energy was clutched in her left hand, and in her right, was a glowing sphere of energy.

  Gwendolyn didn’t say another word, vanishing in an instant and appearing behind him. It seemed she was finally getting serious and using his own tricks against him. Luckily for him, he’d fought enough using this style of combat to be able to mostly predict her movements, even if she was way faster than him. Morgan whirled, his oversized shield moving up at an angle to redirect the attack, rather than blocking it head-on.

  When the sword struck, Morgan was very happy that he hadn’t tried a regular block. Pain flashed up his arm as the attack hit, throwing him back a full ten feet and numbing the limb up to his elbow. Gwendolyn vanished for a split second, then appeared before him. Thrusting her right arm forward, she expelled the blast of energy she’d been building up.

  Morgan had already been moving the moment he’d caught himself and managed to avoid a direct hit. The pink energy sheared straight through one of his shoulder-plates as though it wasn’t even there, but Morgan was hardly paying attention, as he was blocking another sword strike.

  Pain reverberated through his arm once again as the sword was redirected, the fact that she was fighting left-handed not giving him the opening he needed for a counter. He vanished, trying to give himself some space, but Gwendolyn appeared right before him no less than a second after. She let out a scream, swinging for his neck and forcing him back once again.

  He whirled as she teleported once more, appearing to his right and thrusting rather than slashing. The blade scraped along his ribs, as Morgan moved his body to avoid taking worse injury. Pain flared in his side as the sword ripped through his armor and supermage shield, cracking one of his ribs and opening a deep cut.

  She twisted the blade mid-swing, turning it into a cut to try and shear him in half, but Morgan used his Gravity Tear and appeared over her. Gwendolyn whirled in the air, blasting the area behind her with pink light, and Morgan took the opportunity to switch the spear and shield, so that the weapon was now in his left hand, while the shield was in his right. Gold had insisted he learn to fight ambidextrously, so he was just as good with his left side. This way, it would be easier to block and parry.

  He lunged downward, hoping to score a lucky blow, but Gwendolyn vanished, appearing a hundred feet away and immediately spotting him.

  “Smart move,” she said, swishing her sword through the air. “No one ever thinks to look up. I’ll have to remember that for next time.”

  Morgan didn’t really appreciate the compliment, what with the broken rib and blood streaming down his side. He was now very glad he’d opted to go heavier on defense, rather than focusing on speed. There was no way he could match her in either department, but it seemed her speed was a far greater threat. He honestly didn’t know how long he’d be able to last against her, especially seeing as his most powerful attacks hadn’t left her with so much as a scratch.

  One thing was certain. The longer he fought, the more tired he would become, and sooner or later, he’d make a mistake. Best to try and keep his distance for now and hope that Ivaldi finished the spear in time. Otherwise, he might be forced to do something really, really stupid.

  Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that, Morgan thought.

  He flashed the goddess a wide grin, made a rude gesture, then turned the other way and ran. The scream of anger was more than enough to convince him she’d follow. Now all he had to do was stay alive. That was easier said than done.

  57

  Grace’s Body Shift was activated at the same time as Expand Blows, so when her fist struck the surprised elf in the face, it literally hit his whole face. Her fist flashed out, even as she stepped into the blow. Twisting her hips and shoulder as Morgan had taught her to do, Grace put everything she had into the attack. There was a loud snap, followed immediately by a scream.

  The elf fell then, head crooked at an odd angle that told her his spine had likely broken – or at the very least, damaged – and sprawled back on the ground, blood beginning to pool around him.

  The second elf, standing right behind the first, stared in shock as her partner went down, nose splattered across his face and blood leaking from his ruined nose. It was clear from the way that his eyes had rolled up in his head that he was only unconscious, not dead, which to Grace, was a huge relief.

  Unfortunately, the elf had fallen in her path, so she was unable to launch an attack on the second quickly enough. Seeing an opportunity, the second elf turned and ran. Cursing, Grace leaped over the unconscious elf and dashed after her, making her body
grow lighter to increase her speed. She caught the second elf in just a few seconds, wrapping her arm around the woman’s neck and locking it into place.

  Grace’s second hand came up, wrapping around to cup the back of the elf’s head, and she leaned back to begin applying pressure. She felt a sharp sting as the elf fought back, wincing as something sliced her forearm, but instead of letting go, she simply increased her density and squeezed harder. The woman suddenly dropped, pulling her feet up in an attempt to break her hold, but Grace was prepared for a maneuver like this. In fact, Morgan had told her that most people who didn’t know how to break a chokehold would try something like it.

  What she should have done, was tuck her chin, before moving to one side and striking Grace in the groin to loosen her up. Only then, placing both hands on her arm, should she try and drop, and not to her knees as she did now, but into a stable, wide stance to prepare for a hip-toss.

  Having expected this, Grace simply widened her stance and locked her knees in place. Had she been fighting someone taller, like a human her age, there was no way she could have pulled something like this off, but elves, it seemed, were all around her height, if not a bit shorter. So, when the elven woman tried to drop to her knees, she suddenly found herself hanging in the air, supported by nothing other than her neck.

  She tried to gasp, tried to get her legs down on the ground, but Grace just arched her back, keeping the woman from doing so. Five seconds of weak kicking later, and the woman’s body went still, her head lolling to the side as she fell into unconsciousness.