Starbreak (Rise to Omniscience Book 2)

by Aaron Oster

  He’d never been to the South Kingdom before, but he’d heard they were a bit different. Then again, it would be an extremely boring world if everyone was the same.

  He followed the man through a maze of turns, and took the time to examine him more closely.

  He was sure he’d seen him somewhere before. But where? The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t figure it out.

  They stopped before another sliding door, and the man knocked three times on the wooden frame.

  “Enter,” a feminine voice called out from within.

  The man slid the door aside, and Arnold followed him in, eyes widening in recognition at the woman sitting behind a low table.

  “What are you doing here?!”

  Arnold was so shocked, that the words slipped out before he could think better.

  The woman laughed, however, a light airy sound that put him somewhat at ease.

  “It’s quite a surprise to see you here as well, Arnold,” Loquin said, placing her chin on her hands and leaning forward a bit. “The last time I saw you, you were on a killing spree in the academy.”

  “Oh, well you see…” Arnold began.

  He was so off balance that he didn’t even know what to say. It didn’t help that the woman sitting before him had beauty, enough to even rival that of Katherine’s. The whole thing was enough to leave him tongue-tied.

  “Don’t worry about that,” she said, flashing him a smile. “That was then, and this is now. How about you have a seat, and we can discuss your future.”

  Arnold nodded, feeling an odd mixture of excitement and trepidation as he took his seat across the striking woman.

  ***

  Loquin grinned as King Edmund’s face appeared in her mirror.

  “King Edmund, I’m glad you could take the time to speak with me,” she said, pitching her voice just enough to make him think she was interested in more than just a meeting.

  “Headmistress Loquin, or should I say, former Headmistress. To what do I owe the pleasure?” His voice was hard, just like the rest of him.

  His face was set in a neutral expression, but his violet eyes bore into her with all the intensity of a predator examining his next kill.

  “Yes, I am the former Headmistress of the academy, but I now hold another prestigious title,” Loquin fired back, not even showing a hint of discomfort.

  “So I’ve heard,” he replied. “Get to the point, then. I have a war to win.”

  “But of course,” she replied, grin widening just a touch.

  “What would you say if I had some information regarding someone close to you, someone who may be plotting something nefarious?” Loquin dragged out the S, so it came out as more of a hiss than an actual word.

  “I would ask for proof of this supposed elicit activity,” he said, folding his arms, but seeming to take a greater interest in what she had to say.

  “But of course. Arnold, why don’t you come and say hello to your old King?”

  Loquin had to suppress a laugh at Edmund’s expression as Arnold came into view.

  “Hello, Edmund,” Arnold said, keeping his tone even despite the urge to curse and rail at the man who had broken his promise to him.

  “My, my. Aren’t you full of surprises?” Edmund replied. “I take it that he is your informant?”

  “Him, and another,” Loquin replied. “I assure you that the information is accurate. We even had a diviner listen for any falsehood and they found none.”

  “Very well,” Edmund replied.

  He didn’t honestly think that the Merchants Guild would provide him with false information. He’d just wanted to see who their informant was, and now he had.

  Loquin grinned.

  “I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement for this information. Don’t you?”

  Edmund’s eyes glittered for a moment, then a small smile cracked across his granite-like features.

  “Very well. Let’s make a deal.”

  ***

  Loquin sat back with a sigh of contentment. Her dealings with Edmund had gone quite well, all things considered. She’d told him of his daughter’s plans to overthrow him, and in exchange, he’d offered his aid when she called upon him.

  She grinned to herself, knowing exactly what she’d be asking for.

  It was about time for a new Queen to rule the South, and she just happened to know the perfect candidate.

  “My, my Locky. Aren’t we having fun today?”

  Loquin froze, blood running cold when she heard that voice. Slowly turning in place, she saw a man emerge from a shadowed corner of the room and stride casually over to lean against the far wall.

  “What?” Loquin swallowed hard, trying to get some moisture down her suddenly very dry throat.

  “What are you doing here? I haven’t broken any of the rules,” she said, feeling her body trembling.

  “Oh, I know,” he replied with a wide grin. “If you had, you would already be dead. After all, no one breaks the rules and lives. Not even gods.”

  The man stopped speaking for a moment and examined her features with a slight frown.

  “Please take your original form. It just doesn’t feel right speaking to you like this. It’s as though I’m talking to a whole other person.”

  Loquin’s throat bobbed once, then her features abruptly shifted. Long black hair replacing the brown, and piercing green eyes showing through. Her red painted lips were trembling slightly, but she did her best to keep her features composed.

  “Much better,” the man replied, sending a shiver down her spine.

  “So what do you want?” she asked, still trembling, despite the knowledge she was safe.

  “Just curious, I suppose.”

  He pushed himself off the wall and began pacing back and forth.

  Now that he had moved into the light, Loquin could now see him clearly, noting that the outfit he was wearing was one that she hadn’t seen in many years.

  He was dressed in a crisp three-piece business suit that did not match the style of the Five Kingdoms in the slightest. A gold chain looped at his waist, to the pocket watch he always kept with him, and his brightly polished shoes contrasted visibly with the bamboo matting underfoot.

  “Why tell Edmund about his daughter, but leave out the other vital piece of information you had? You know. The one about our young supermage.”

  “That’s none of your business,” she replied, trying to feign annoyance. “Now if you don’t want anything else, please leave.”

  The man paused his pacing, tapping his finger against his chin.

  “I’m hurt, Locky. I thought we’d grown pretty close in our time together at the academy.”

  “You ruined my plans. Now leave,” she said, now feeling her fear being replaced by anger.

  “Fine. I’ll go, but just a little warning before I do. You came very close to breaking the rules with that stunt you pulled with Morgan.”

  His voice hardened and his eyes gleamed with golden light.

  “Make sure it doesn’t happen again, or I’ll be back for a less pleasant visit.”

  He gave her one last grin, then vanished into thin air.

  Loquin slumped down into her seat and let out a long shuddering breath. Her earlier excitement at successfully maneuvering Edmund was now gone, replaced by a feeling of dread.

  Why had he come here? There was no way it had just been to issue her a warning. This could only mean that he was planning something. But what?

  Loquin blew out another breath, feeling her heart rate slowly going down. She may not know what he had planned, but she knew one thing for certain.

  Gold truly was a terrifying man.

  ***

  Morgan stared down at Katherine’s body and Sarah clung to his arm, as much to support herself, as to support him.

  “What do we do now?” she finally asked.

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  Gold had been right. Without Katherine, they stood no chance
of killing Edmund or even making it there in time to stop the Pinnacle Kings from awakening.

  “I just can’t believe she’s dead,” Sarah said. “She seemed too powerful to die.”

  Morgan knew what she meant, but a life of hardship had already taught him that no one was truly invincible.

  He noticed something glittering on the ground near her. He’d nearly missed it, as her body had landed on top of it, but he was now glad he hadn’t.

  Reaching down, his fingers closed around the largest core he’d ever seen. He hadn’t noticed this anywhere on her, which meant that she’d removed it from a spatial tear before she’d died.

  Taking a deep breath, Morgan opened the core’s status.

  Name: Infernal-Bane Lyvern Patriarch Core

  Rank - 49

  Total available energy: 431,932/431,932

  Total available AP: 58/58

  This core was taken from an infernal-bane lyvern. As this core was taken from a zone Patriarch and an advanced beast, the amount of available energy has been massively increased.

  “Holy crap,” Morgan whispered, getting Sarah’s attention.

  “What?” she asked, wiping at her eyes.

  Morgan quickly absorbed all the available attribute points, then handed the core over to her.

  Sarah took the core, eyes widening as she examined it.

  “This is…”

  “I know,” Morgan said. “I think she wanted us to have this, to help us against her father.”

  “With this much energy, I can…” Sarah trailed off again.

  “Yes; you can evolve,” Morgan replied, giving her a weak smile. “Go ahead. Do it.”

  Sarah nodded, letting out a shaky breath as she absorbed the 280,000 energy she needed to move up to the next rank.”

  Morgan watched her closely.

  Neither of them had seen him evolve, so he was curious how it would look.

  Sarah stared at the core for a second, then her body went rigid and she began emitting a bright blue light. Morgan was forced to cover his eyes as the light flared brighter and brighter. The entire thing lasted only a few seconds, but when the light faded, Morgan noted some significant changes to his friend.

  For one, she’d grown a couple of inches taller, putting her once again at eye level with him. Her arms had become more toned and her body had slimmed down, and the new muscle definition was giving off the impression of coiled power just waiting to be unleashed. The strangest part about it to Morgan was that her breasts and hips had actually grown a bit.

  He knew that women liked having those traits accentuated, but always thought that having a slimmer figure would make fighting easier. Regardless, he was sure Sarah would be happy with the change.

  Then she opened her eyes, and the most notable change became apparent to him. Her eyes were now a bright emerald green, as opposed to the darker leaf green it had been before. A bright blue ring surrounded each of her pupils, the same way Morgan had gold around his.

  “How do you feel?” Morgan asked as she examined herself.

  He noted with some satisfaction that she did indeed seem pleased with the cosmetic changes.

  “Just give me a second,” she said, flashing him a grin, and looked over her status.

  After a few moments, she closed it. She seemed slightly disappointed, but not overly so.

  “It doesn’t look like I have the option to assign my attribute points, but they’ve all increased by 18! My ability has also changed to evolved mage, and I can see how much energy I’ll need to move up to intermediate. I also got a new skill, storm cyclone, which lets me conjure a massive ice storm full of cutting water and ice.

  “Oh, and that’s not even the best part,” she said with a grin, then her mage shield flared up around her.

  Morgan stared at the construct of pure mana that surrounded her body like armor. It looked as though she were standing inside a slightly larger version of herself, and he tapped his fingers against it, feeling how solid the barrier actually was.

  “Looks like evolution is different for mages,” he said, a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to place her attribute points, but glad that her shield had improved this much.

  It would definitely help her if an enemy got in close as that ape had. He wasn’t even sure he could burst through that without using his gravity impact skill.

  “It looks like we owe Katherine a lot,” Morgan said, feeling his chest tighten again as he looked back to the woman’s prone form.

  Sarah’s happy expression vanished, and she dismissed her new shield.

  “Why do you think he killed her?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “She’s not dead.”

  Both Morgan and Sarah jumped, whirling at the unfamiliar voice that rang out across the clearing.

  A woman strode out from between the trees, a serious expression on her very plain looking face.

  “Who are you?” Morgan asked, pulling away from Sarah and taking up a fighting stance.

  He’d been surprised too many times tonight to take any chances.

  “What do you mean, ‘she isn’t dead?’” Sarah asked.

  “Katherine knew me as Vivian, a talented healer, but that isn’t who I really am.”

  She then bent down near the Princess’ prone form and laid a hand over her ruined chest. A pulse seemed to flow out from her palm, and then she rose, dusting off her pants.

  Morgan and Sarah then stared in dumbfounded shock as the pool of blood around Katherine suddenly began moving in reverse, flowing back into her body. Her skin began reknitting itself, and soon Katherine was lying whole and undamaged once more. Even her clothes had stitched themselves up, and after a few breathless moments, her chest began to slowly rise and fall.

  “How did you do that?” Sarah asked, awe tinting her voice.

  “That was way beyond healing,” Morgan cut in, looking from Katherine to the woman who had called herself Vivian. “She was dead, no two ways about it.”

  “That she was,” the woman admitted, contrary to her earlier statement, but she didn’t offer any further explanation.

  “Who are you really?” Morgan asked, eyes narrowing.

  It didn’t escape his notice that despite Katherine’s healthy complexion, and obviously beating heart, she had yet to awaken.

  As though in response to his question, Vivian’s form began to change, shifting and ripping. They both stared, as her features rearranged themselves until the person standing before them barely resembled the woman who had been there, just a moment before.

  Morgan’s eyes widened as he took in her features, and he felt his stomach drop.

  She was tall and slender, with a lithe and athletic build. She had a tanned complexion and slightly upturned brown eyes. Her black hair was short and choppy, and a silver stud pierced her left ear.

  “I know you!” Morgan said, in a half whisper, half shout.

  “Wait, you do?” Sarah asked. “Who is she?”

  “She’s the woman from my memories!” he said, instantly on guard.

  Had she been the one who modified him?

  Sarah’s eyes widened as well, and she turned back to look at the mystery woman.

  The woman didn’t seem surprised to be recognized and nodded her head sharply.

  A lance of whirling purple and gold-tinged wind flared around Morgan’s arm, and he took a step forward.

  “Tell me who you are. Are you the one who messed with my head? Why can’t I remember anything?” His violet eyes began glowing as reiki flooded his body, and he prepared himself for a fight.

  The woman didn’t budge, staring him down without a trace of fear in her eyes.

  “We have no time for this right now.”

  Her voice even sounds different than it had, Sarah noted as her eyes flicked between Morgan and the woman, wondering if a fight was about to break out.

  “Then make time,” Morgan replied, lightning now crackling across his glowing lance.

  The woman opened her mouth
to reply when a loud echoing boom rang out through the night. The next moment, they were all thrown off their feet as a massive shockwave ran over the ground beneath them.

  Morgan was so surprised, that his lance disappeared, fading away into nothingness.

  “What the hell was that?” Sarah exclaimed, getting slowly to her feet.

  “That,” the woman replied, getting to her feet and lifting Katherine in her arms, “was the awakening of the first Pinnacle King.”

  Both Sarah and Morgan stared at her.

  “Wait. How do you even know about that?” Morgan demanded, debating whether to just attack this woman right now.

  “I thought we still had twenty-four hours!” Sarah exclaimed at the same time.

  The woman just shook her head and turned to leave the clearing.

  “As I said before, we have no time for that now. Katherine will need a few more hours to recover, and we’re too exposed out here. So you can either come with me or stay here. Your choice.”

  Morgan stared after the woman, mind racing with all the disparate pieces of information he’d collected thus far. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

  This woman had the power to bring the dead back to life and had knowledge of things that were given to him by a god. She may also have had something to do with his memory loss, and somehow knew Katherine.

  None of it added up.

  Morgan was never one to dally, however, and quickly made his decision.

  “Fine. We’ll go with you, but on one condition,” Morgan said.

  The woman turned her head back and quirked an eyebrow at him.

  “Who are you really?” he asked, folding his arms and daring her not to answer.

  The woman seemed to consider her answer for a moment before she shrugged, the corners of her lips quirking up slightly.

  “Very well, I suppose it’s only fair. My name is Gwendolyn, and I am a supermage.”

  Continue reading for an exclusive preview of:

  Somerset: The Rules (Book one)

  Afterword

  What’s up Super-People. For reaching the end of book 2, I award you with 5 attribute points (assign them as you will). I’ve had an absolute blast writing this book! If you love GameLit or LitRPG as much as I do, then you should check these amazing pages out! You can keep up with your favorite genre of books, all while being part of an awesome community.