Stormforge (Rise To Omniscience Book 5)

by Aaron Oster

  “What do you think our chances are of holding them off this time?”

  Morgan turned his head to Sarah, who was standing beside him atop the wall. She looked the same as ever, her body lithe, athletic, and powerful. Her face was slim and pale, defined with large green eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips. Though her red hair had grown longer over the last couple of months, she still kept it in her usual braid and it now fell nearly halfway down her back.

  She was dressed in a warm set of armor, similar to his, though a bit tighter in the chest and hips. For some reason, she liked to wear clothes that showed off her very impressive figure, even in the midst of battle. That wasn’t to say that it was impractical. The armor was tough, interwoven with magesteel thread and layered with chi-infused adamantine plates. This was all covered by a thick layer of diamondwool-ram cloth and accompanied by a heavy cloak.

  While Sarah’s had a ruff of white fur at the neck, Morgan’s was black, and aside from the tight fit of her uniform, his was pretty much the same. The only other difference between the two was the belt containing thirty odd-colored glass spheres. Anyone that didn’t know him would think it was simply there for decoration, and while it was pretty to look at, the item was actually an accessory to one of his most powerful skills.

  “I’d say our chances are as good as last time,” Morgan replied, turning back to the oncoming horde.

  Truthfully, their chances were worse than last time. They’d lost nearly twenty-thousand soldiers in the last attack, and seeing as their forces were no longer being bolstered by refugees and conscripts, they were fighting a losing war. With every attack, the Pinnacle King’s forces grew by the same number of their fallen.

  Whenever they had a body now, they would burn it to ensure the Pinnacle King’s power could not corrupt it. Several times, they’d had attacks from within the city itself, and after that, the new law to do so had been passed by Queen Katherine. She was now on the far side of the wall right, directing troops to man the oversized crossbows they’d had made to repel attackers.

  City Eleven was the linchpin in their defense and they could not allow it to fall. Though most of their citizens and non-fighters were currently in City Twelve, the area was much better protected. Like City Eleven, City Twelve had only two directions in which it could be attacked. But unlike City Eleven, which could be attacked by the Pinnacle King’s forces from the North, City Twelve could only be targeted by the West Kingdom.

  The area between the two cities was once home to sprawling fields and open farmland. Now, it was desolate and empty, aside from the hastily constructed buildings meant for resupplying troops with goods from City Twelve. Though they were technically at war with the West Kingdom, they hadn’t launched a single attack since their failed raid on City One. Their defeat, as well as seeing the Pinnacle King’s forces, had caused them to retreat without so much as a word.

  Their spies indicated that they were busy fortifying their own defenses and all attempts to communicate with them had been ignored. The same was true of all the other kingdoms. Katherine had been desperately trying to gain some support from the others in her battle against the Pinnacle King. Their once sizable force of three-hundred-thousand was down to only half those numbers, with more falling every day.

  The enemy forces weren’t the only cause of death. Disease and exposure were their biggest threats and, if they didn’t get a new supply of food, starvation would begin to set in within a few weeks. All attempts to use portal scrolls or Katherine’s own portals for anything more than short distance travel had been blocked.

  She’d said that the Pinnacle King had a way of stopping travel in his domain, and as winter truly settled over the North, it seemed that the entire kingdom was under his domain.

  “Do you honestly believe that?” Sarah asked Morgan. “That we can actually win in the end? That we can come out of this alive?”

  “I don’t know,” Morgan answered honestly.

  He’d been hoping that Loquin, the only surviving god in this world, might give them some insight. Sure, he didn’t exactly trust her, not after all she’d done. But when she’d appeared in his room in the middle of the night over two months ago, he’d been sure she’d tell him something. However, when he’d come to the place she’d set for their meeting, no one had been there, and he hadn’t heard from her since.

  This, not having anyone to rely on or ask for advice, was all new to him. Needing to make his own decisions without guidance was beginning to wear on him. Most days, he was walking on a razor’s edge between snapping and actually breaking down. His inner emotional turmoil was so great on some days that he didn’t even want to get out of bed.

  The only thing that kept him going was the promise he’d made to Dabu, the only person he could call a mentor and a trusted friend. He’d promised the man that he would save the innocents of this world, and Morgan wasn’t one to break a promise.

  “Why don’t we just leave?” Sarah asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him around to face her. “We can go far away from this place, outside of the Five Kingdoms, just like we wanted to before the Skyflare Tournament.”

  Morgan let out a sigh and pulled his arm free of her grasp. She’d been pushing for them to leave ever since the first attack, and each time, he’d refused.

  “We can’t,” he replied simply. “If we leave, then everyone here dies, and you know it. Would you willingly sacrifice all their lives simply to save yours?”

  Sarah’s pleading look vanished, replaced by one of cold anger.

  “There was a time when you couldn’t have cared less about anyone other than yourself. I miss that Morgan,” she said, turning to leave.

  “Yes, there was,” Morgan replied to her retreating back. “But he’s gone. He has been for a long time, and I don’t think you’ll be getting him back.”

  Sarah didn’t answer, heading away from him and toward the small force of elites she would lead into this battle. He found that the two of them had been fighting a lot as of late. Their nights were spent arguing more than in the comforts of each other’s arms. It had gotten to the point where they now had separate rooms once more, and Morgan feared their relationship, as well as their friendship, may be coming to an end.

  He couldn’t be bothered with something like that now, not when so many lives were at stake. War brought out the ugliest in people, or so he’d once heard, and Sarah’s continued insistence that they leave was beginning to show him just that. What he couldn’t understand was why she was suddenly acting this way.

  Before now, she’d stuck with him no matter what. But the endless cold and threat of death could wear down even the strongest of relationships. Countless marriages had ended, though from what he’d heard, some had become even closer. While danger and fear could bring out the worst in people, Katherine said that it could also bring out their best.

  The new Queen of the North was handling herself admirably in this war. Even with their numbers and supplies dwindling, she never gave up, continuing to fight on the front lines and protect her subjects. As though his thoughts had conjured her presence, Katherine suddenly appeared out of the swirling snow, her mane of golden hair billowing in the wind.

  She was the most beautiful woman Morgan had ever seen. Her beauty was legendary throughout the North, as was her skill in battle. Katherine was tall, nearly six feet, and had a body that most women would kill for. Her heart shaped face was perfectly framed, with bright violet eyes and full red lips.

  Her skin had grown a bit paler due to the lack of sun, but it was still flawless and unblemished. She was dressed warmly, the Pinnacle King’s power enough to chill even those at her impressive rank of 54. Recently, she’d taken to dressing a bit more modestly as well, saying that a queen must be presentable and that her subjects must respect her power and not disregard her because of her looks.

  Katherine was young, barely twenty-five, and it had been hard for her to gain respect among the older generals who’d survived the first major attack on their k
ingdom. However, over the course of several battles, she’d gradually won their grudging admiration.

  “Sarah passed me on my way over,” she said, stopping beside him and looking out over the approaching force. “You two get in another fight?”

  Morgan let out a long sigh but nodded. There wasn’t much point lying to her, and besides, he found that he really didn’t want to. Katherine was a trusted friend and they’d actually grown closer as the war went on. Gwendolyn, the closest thing he had to a mother, had asked her to look after him before going off on the fateful mission where she’d vanished, and Katherine was taking that to heart.

  And though she still made the occasional pass at him, Morgan still liked her company and valued her opinion.

  “I just don’t understand why she keeps insisting we leave,” he said. “And when I ask her, she refuses to answer.”

  Katherine placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a warm smile.

  “Couples fight all the time. It’s normal that you two should hit a rough patch, but trust me when I say that things like this have a way of working themselves out. Just give her some time.”

  Morgan let out another sigh, but nodded, allowing his shoulders to relax as Katherine gave them a squeeze.

  “You feel extremely tense,” she said jokingly. “Maybe you’d let me give you a massage when this is all over and work some of that out.”

  “I don’t think it’s suitable for a queen to be doing that to random people,” Morgan replied.

  “Aww, you know I wouldn’t mind giving you a rubdown, especially not after your last advancement,” Katherine replied cheekily, turning his face to hers so she could get a better look at him.

  Morgan’s features had changed when he’d moved from Intermediate to Advanced in his ability. Some of his more bestial features had come to the forefront, resulting in sharper cheekbones and a brighter coloration in his golden eyes. His muscles were dense and compact, layered with adamantine, due to him not being a human. He’d gotten taller, matching Katherine in height. His features had also been smoothed and perfected, removing any old scarring or blemishes.

  Now, from what he heard, he had the same effect on women as Katherine did on men. No one approached him out of fear of what he could do, but he’d definitely noticed watching eyes more than once.

  “You know what?” Morgan said with a half-grin. “If we come out of this alive, I might take you up on that offer.”

  He really could use a relaxing massage, and as a super with a rank higher than his own, she would be one of the only people who could actually work his dense muscles. He had been feeling tense, what with the war and his arguments with Sarah, and a relaxing evening with Katherine might be a nice change.

  “Guess I’ll have to make sure we win then,” she said with a playful wink.

  “Queen Katherine! We’ve spotted the enemy. They’re nearly to the wall!”

  General Bell came jogging out of the whirling snow, a scarf tied firmly around her face and her head bent against the wind. Morgan, Sarah, and Katherine had spotted the force already, their eyes far stronger than those of their scouts. Seeing as the Pinnacle King’s forces would take some time to reach them, the scouts were ordered to report as soon as they spotted them.

  Once the scouts could spot the enemy, it meant that an attack was imminent and that they should prepare. Katherine gave her general a nod to show that she’d heard, and Bell whirled to go rejoin her squad.

  “Take care of yourself, Morgan,” she said, giving his shoulder one last squeeze. “And if you see Arnold, try and take him out.”

  “You too,” Morgan replied, reaching up to squeeze her hand before turning to face the army of slavering monsters once again.

  Fighting was a way of life and something that once given him joy. Now he wanted nothing more than for the bloodshed to end. The wind picked up then, the snow mixing with ice that would sting normal people’s cheeks and exposed skin. Though he felt the chill, the whirling ice meant nothing to a rank 50 advanced supermage.

  The war had somewhat hindered his personal progress, but he was close to the next rank. Making it through this battle would give him the energy needed to move up, and Morgan planned on making it through alive.

  His back straightened as the wind intensified once more, howling around him and sending his cloak flapping in the wind. Gray clouds blotted out the sun, blanketing the world in darkness where all one could see was the white of whirling snow. The sound of thousands of feet pounding the ground reached him as the beasts charged the wall.

  Another battle was beginning, and Morgan could only hope that the North lived to see the next one.

  2

  Taking a deep breath, Morgan threw himself from the wall, freefalling over a hundred feet before catching himself with his flight skill and leveling out just a few feet from the ground. He spun in the air, pulling a wide loop to the north and moving to meet the approaching force’s flank. His RP continuously dropped, only to refill itself a second later as his regen compensated for the cost of his skill.

  Morgan squinted, his enhanced eyes piercing through the whirling snow and seeing the first wave of the massive force. The twisted beasts looked truly horrific. Their bones were misaligned, they had hair poking from random places on their bodies, and their faces were contorted and deformed. Their bodies were larger than the humans they’d once been, standing at seven feet tall on average, though the stooped gait in which they walked made them appear to be closer to six.

  An angry roar went up from the beasts as Morgan slammed into them, flattening them like stalks of grass before a storm. In battles such as this, he had only one job: cause as much destruction as possible in the least amount of time. He didn’t use any skills other than his flight skill when fighting these weaklings, saving his RP for any of the more dangerous ones, or beasts that the Pinnacle King sometimes added to his attacking force.

  Morgan moved too quickly for the monsters to react, his fists flashing out in rapid succession, targeting their cores. It was an easy mark for someone with his precision, and his Soul Stealer trait would ensure he got some of their energy when he tore them free, absorbing them into his own core and strengthening himself.

  He moved so quickly, in fact, that to him, it appeared that the others seemed to be almost standing still. In the span of only a handful of seconds, Morgan had downed over two dozen of the twisted beasts, leaving their lifeless corpses to fall to the ground. Once, he’d have been bothered by tearing the cores from humans, but not anymore.

  Now all they offered was a way forward, to grow stronger and push himself in ways that he hadn’t previously thought possible. Morgan spun between two advancing monsters, his fists lashing out and knocking them both back. His concentration slipped for a second, and their chest cavities exploded, painting those behind them in a shower of blood, bone fragments, and bits of flesh.

  He winced at his unintentional slip and tightened his focus. Sure, he could blow them to pieces using a full-powered punch, but then he wouldn’t be able to use their energy. That was one of the downfalls of growing as strong as he had. The slightest slip could mean accidentally killing someone when patting them on the back or annihilating their arm during a handshake.

  That was why he generally avoided physical contact with those who couldn’t handle his strength. Deciding he was now deep enough into enemy lines, Morgan dropped to the ground and gathered himself. He exploded forward, his hands blurring as they carved a path of destruction through the enemy ranks.

  Beast after beast fell, bones cracking and bodies exploding as Morgan rushed his way through. While he normally liked to take his time, he’d sensed something from deeper in and knew that it would be a problem for those on the wall. He had to hurry. His Aura Sense had become more potent since his advancement and he could now sense, as well as see, the energy of others in the air.

  The entire army glowed in a mix of blood red and sickly blue, showing the Pinnacle King’s effect on the cores of those he’d conve
rted to his cause. However, mixed in with that were the regular red and blue of powerful Advanced beasts, and that was where he was heading right now. Bodies flew in all directions as he bowled his way through, the snow underfoot being dyed a deep crimson by the blood of the fallen.

  Morgan powered on, knowing that each monster he killed was one less that the others would have to face. While the enemy soldiers may be weak compared to him, the bulk of the North’s forces, made up of rank 5 to 7 soldiers, wouldn’t have such an easy time. He reached his intended target and looked up to see a massive bear looming before him. It had stark white fur, its body was covered in ridges of blue ice, and oversized feathered wings protruded from its back.

  The beast was over twenty-five feet long and its head towered above him, over nine feet in the air. Its head was huge, its eyes glowed an icy blue, and its maw was lined with rows upon rows of oversized teeth. Its eyes fixed on him as he sent bodies flying and let out an earthshaking roar. The creature’s information spiraled out above its head, letting Morgan know just what kind of monster he was up against.

  Name: Giga-Polar Hawk

  Rank - 46

  Ability Type - Mage

  “Well, aren’t you just the prettiest little beastie?” Morgan said, feeling the familiar thrill settling over him.

  Sure, he wasn’t happy about the war, but when facing an opponent such as this, his old instincts couldn’t help but come to the forefront. The huge bear simply roared in response, then swiped one of its massive paws at him. Passing monsters were caught in its attack, shredded on the bear’s claws. The bear didn’t seem to care who it hurt, crushing those who were supposed to be on its side without remorse.

  That’s one of the downsides of using wild beasts to bolster your forces, Morgan thought, neatly backstepping to avoid the swipe.

  He could feel the wind as it passed, buffeting against his body and knocking half a dozen of the advancing monsters off their feet. Morgan wasn’t off the hook yet, as a blast of icy wind exited the bear’s open mouth. He didn’t wait for the beam of blue ice to hit him, moving quickly to the side and activating his Stormforger skill.