Stormforge (Rise To Omniscience Book 5)

by Aaron Oster

  Time was ticking down, and he didn’t have much longer to decide, so instead of deciding based on himself, he decided to base it on his opponent. The last time he’d fought Hilda, she’d had a skill that had blocked any of his attacks from reaching her. If the object was to land more blows than your opponent, the smart move would be to shield yourself, play defensively, and land more attacks.

  After all, if you landed one hit and the opponent got zero, you were still ahead. Even if she consciously knew Morgan was dangerous, subconsciously, Hilda would be a bit relaxed. She had won last time, and all without taking a single hit.

  “Three…”

  Morgan settled into a fighting stance, his mind made up on the route to take.

  “Two…”

  It was the riskier play, but Morgan had never been one to take the safe path. And this way, even if he did lose, he’d know that this time, he’d given it his all.

  “One!”

  Morgan shot forward, light on his feet, and closed with Hilda in an instant. Taken slightly off guard by his reckless attack, Hilda threw up an arm to block. In a normal fight, this would be the correct response. But in a fight like this, where not getting hit was the point, this was a bad move.

  His target changed mid-swing and his fist smacked lightly against her arm. Or at least, that was what he’d intended. Instead, the attack was halted just a few inches from her skin, stopping Morgan from making contact. Inwardly he smiled, now knowing the skill she was using. Hilda was playing defense, hoping that her shielding would stop him from landing a single blow. Still, he technically wasn’t supposed to know this, so he affected a look of surprise, dancing back as Hilda retaliated.

  Unlike him, she did manage to connect, a light swipe across his chest. Nonetheless, it would be counted against him. Hilda moved in then and began pressing him, and it was all Morgan could do to avoid being hit. His overall martial skills had improved over the time he’d spend getting his ass kicked, but that still wasn’t enough time to close the gap.

  Hilda had never slacked in her training, and it showed as she landed one glancing blow after the next, all timed perfectly, even when he tried to adjust and change his movement patterns. He could practically hear Le’vine’s smug look and he was sure that should he turn, he would see that same look of condescension on her face as before.

  However, unlike last time, Morgan was striking back. With each couple of blows he took, he landed one on Hilda, or rather, her invisible shield. There was a reason for what he was doing, as each attack was just a bit harder than the last. He remembered well what his seemingly inconsequential attack had done back in the training sequence, and he didn’t want to accidentally repeat that in real life.

  Each attack came faster and faster, and soon Hilda had wracked up fifty blows to his zero. He was getting closer, as his last attack had lightly buckled the shield, though he doubted Hilda noticed. From that, he was finally able to gauge how much force it would take to destroy the shield without killing her.

  “Thirty seconds left.”

  Herald’s voice broke through the relative silence of the room, reminding Morgan that he was still very much behind and half his time was gone. He’d only get one opportunity to use his skill, so he’d need to time it just right, in a way that she couldn’t catch up once it ran out. So, he counted down from ten in his head, doing his best to avoid Hilda’s attacks, which were coming faster by the moment.

  Her light blonde hair fluttered about her face, her expression tight with concentration as she worked to adjust to his ever-changing positions and stances. Even if he was sure he could win, he had to admire her raw skill. He didn’t think he’d ever met anyone who could beat him in straight up hand-to-hand fighting.

  The first time he’d fought her back at the academy, she hadn’t displayed nearly this level of skill. Shul, her brother, had been more of a challenge in that aspect, but Morgan had managed to defeat him by changing up his style towards the end of the fight and luring him into a trap. The same trap he’d tried using on her during their last match. The one Hilda had avoided. No matter how this fight ended, she’d earned his respect.

  Morgan took a deep breath as the timer in his head ran down to zero. Hilda was now up by seventy-nine hits, and he hadn’t landed a single one. He was taking a huge risk, but Morgan had never been one to take things easy. Sure, he could have shielded himself as well and turned this into a battle of brute strength, but that would have been boring. Something like this would be far more interesting.

  Despite himself, Morgan felt the familiar rush of battle begin to thrum in his veins as he used the single skill allowed. Wind billowed around him, his body growing lighter and more agile, his muscles contracted, becoming more powerful, and his perception slowed, giving his mind the ability to keep up. Morgan used his most reliable skill, the one that had gotten him out of so many of his previous jams. The one that had evolved along with him, growing ever-stronger, just as he did.

  Morgan used Concussive Burst.

  ***

  Hilda’s heart was pounding a mile a minute as she threw blow after blow. So far, her plan seemed to be holding up. Use her Guardian Shield and allow it to take the attacks meant for her. All the while, she’d wrack up points and come out on top. As much as she didn’t want to win, she had little choice but to give it her all. Though it hurt her to attack Morgan, the most perfect boy she’d ever seen in her life, her honor demanded it.

  She was glad that hitting the face had been forbidden, because she honestly didn’t think she’d be able to do it, honor or not. He was just so perfect. His features were intense, sharp, and, dare she say, beautiful. It was his eyes, though, twin pools of shimmering gold with just the smallest hint of violet around the…

  Hilda’s thoughts came to a screaming halt as Morgan simply vanished from view, her next punch, the eightieth blow she’d land, hitting empty air. For just a moment, her mind was confused, not quite understanding what was happening. Then, she felt something connect with her shield on her left side, hard. Her eyes widened as she was thrown back and the Guardian Shield, something which had failed her only once in all her time as a super, shattered under a single blow.

  She landed on her feet, turning in place and fighting to stay focused through the backlash, yet she still couldn’t see her opponent. Her heart sped up just a bit more as she whipped her head from side to side, trying to catch some glimpse of her opponent, but Morgan was nowhere to be seen.

  She felt a series of light taps on her left arm, but when she whirled to face the attacker, he wasn’t there. An instant later, she felt another series of light taps, this time on her right arm. She turned once more, swinging hard at shoulder height, only to be hit once again. Hilda began to realize that whatever Morgan was doing, he was now moving far too quickly for her to even see him.

  Only then did it begin to sink in as to what kind of monster she was truly facing. She wasn’t as delusional as her sister-in-law, nor was she too proud to admit when someone was stronger than her. If Morgan’s first attack had been hard enough to break her shield, it would most definitely have been hard enough to break her bones as well.

  The light tapping she felt was clearly him holding back, the only question was how much. She spun again, this time feeling a rapid series of blows on the back of her shoulders, and once again, her fist connected with empty air. She honestly couldn’t say that she knew how many times she’d been hit, but by now, she was sure it had been more than eighty times.

  Could Herald even see Morgan’s attacks to count them? she wondered, turning to look at the king overseeing the fight.

  He was staring resolutely ahead, his eyes unwavering and his expression inscrutable. It was only when Hilda felt another series of attacks land on her stomach that she remembered they were still in the middle of a fight. There was honestly little she could really do, though she did try, up until the last moment when Herald called the fight.

  As soon as it was called, Morgan reappeared in a billowing gust
of wind. His breathing was still perfectly controlled, and his eyes were locked on Herald. Everyone would have seen him vanish, as well as the first attack he’d landed when she’d been sent stumbling across the room. After that, his blows had been so light that Hilda doubted anyone had seen them. Le’vine was grinning widely, sure that Hilda had won by a landslide. Hilda could tell that Herald’s next words most definitely caught her unaware.

  “The fight between Morgan of the North and Hilda of the East has been concluded. The final score stands at four-hundred and three to seventy-nine. And with that, Morgan is victorious.”

  “What?” Le’vine exploded. “What do you mean?! He didn’t land a single attack! All of us saw it! I knew it. You’re not an impartial party, you’re clearly on his side! I should…!”

  “He won,” Hilda said, having to talk over the Queen.

  Le’vine froze mid-sentence, turning to look at her incredulously.

  “What are you talking about? Are you taking his side too?”

  “No, Le’vine, I’m not,” Hilda said wearily. “The skill he used didn’t make him invisible. He was just moving too quickly for anyone to follow. I don’t know how many times I was hit, but even if King Herald didn’t get the exact count, I can assure you that I lost.”

  “But…” Le’vine began, still sure that there had to be some sort of trickery involved.

  “No ‘but’s!” Hilda snapped, finally starting to lose her composure. “I lost, fair and square. Now, will you please stop being so stubborn and just accept it? I can tell you right now that he’s much stronger than I am. And when I say much, I mean it.”

  “But what about your shield?” Le’vine asked. “Surely the attacks wouldn’t count if he didn’t actually make physical contact?”

  “He shattered my Guardian Shield in a single attack,” Hilda said flatly.

  This finally seemed to get through to Queen Le’vine. No one had ever managed something like that, not even the previous king or any of her trainers. Sure, they probably could have, back when she’d been lower-ranked, but now, it should be impossible.

  “But you’re…you know. And he…” Le’vine said, obviously trying to say that she was at the Intermediate stage, while Morgan, although a supermage, was still at the base level.

  “You seem to have the wrong assumptions about me,” Morgan said, finally cutting into their conversation.

  Hilda felt a small shiver go down her back at the sound of his voice. It was so strong, so commanding, so… She shook herself, forcing down her body’s reactions and focused instead on what he was saying.

  “You seem to think that I’m just a regular supermage, albeit one at a high rank. If you believe that, then you’re wrong.”

  He turned to face Hilda, and she had to fight to maintain eye-contact while fighting down the blush threatening to spread to her cheeks.

  “I know the significance of your eyes,” he said, keeping his locked with hers. “And if mine didn’t betray my power, I would have three.”

  Hilda stood there, dumbfounded by that revelation. She could hear the light muttering go through the room as the guards tried to make sense of what he said. The significance wasn’t lost on her sister-in-law, her face going a deathly white. Herald remained stoic as before, which gave Hilda the impression that he’d known all along.

  She didn’t doubt for a second that Morgan was telling the truth. He was simply too earnest to rely on deceit. Besides, how else could he have known, other than through experiencing it himself? Morgan was strong, the strongest person she’d met in her entire life, and she was sure that if anyone could defeat a monster as terrifying as this Pinnacle King, it would be him.

  33

  “Are you sure you can’t stick around for just a few more hours?” Hilda asked.

  “No, I need to be getting back to the North,” Morgan replied.

  The details of their alliance had been nailed out over the last five and a half hours, and Morgan was more than ready to be heading back. He’d delivered the portal scrolls, all of which would take their forces to the border between the East and North Kingdoms. From there, they’d have to march to City Eleven. However, their most powerful fighters would be able to run ahead, which meant that powerful reinforcements should be arriving within twenty-four hours.

  Herald would be taking one of the portal scrolls back to his Kingdom and moving soldiers as well. He and Le’vine would meet up and together make their way North. In the meantime, Morgan would fly back and prepare the City to clear a path for the incoming forces. Otherwise, they’d be trapped outside the walls with hundreds of thousands of monsters waiting to tear them apart.

  Le’vine would be able to supply fifty fighters over rank 40, and Herald would be able to supply twelve. Add that to the fact that Hilda, a rank 50 super, would be coming, and that would massively increase their fighting power. Aside from that, they’d also be getting over one hundred fighters above rank 30, three hundred over 20, and a thousand above 10. All the rest would be below rank 9, but still strong enough to hold their own.

  It was Morgan’s hope that together, they could all force back Octagon’s forces and finally gain some traction. It would be a tough fight, but in the end, they’d succeed in defeating him. Once he was down, locked away as the mystery god had recommended, they’d be free of him. It was risky to lock him up instead of killing him, but he trusted when a god told him he didn’t have a chance of winning outright.

  “Are you sure?” Hilda asked again. “Won’t you even stay around for dinner?”

  It was very clear to Morgan what was going on here. The way Hilda leaned in whenever she spoke, the small excited breaths she let out when he answered. The increased heart rate and fast breathing, and the light flush that came to her cheeks when she looked at him. Hilda clearly liked him, but Morgan’s heart was set on someone else.

  Despite all their differences, their recent fighting and arguments, he still loved Sarah. And maybe, just maybe, their time apart had done their relationship some good. Still, he respected Hilda and didn’t want to hurt her feelings, especially not before such a big battle where distractions may cost her her life.

  “I really do need to get going,” Morgan said, pulling the staged beast zone key from his pack.

  Normally, he wouldn’t take a risk like this, but he needed to get back in a hurry. With no portal scrolls remaining, this was his best option.

  “Can I at least come with you?” she asked, moving in a bit closer. “I could watch your back. Beast zones are dangerous and unpredictable now.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Morgan replied, giving her a smile. “I’ll see you soon, I hope. The fate of the North depends on it.”

  Hilda’s cheeks actually did go a deep shade of crimson this time, and Morgan mentally kicked himself, only now realizing how that sounded. Before he could say anything else that could get him in trouble, he walked right into the open portal, closing it behind him.

  The staged zone he used now was one he’d never used before. Once, when they’d been chased by the Assassins Guild, he and Sarah had escaped into one of these, hoping to reach the portal on the ninth floor and escape. However, Katherine had found them before then and pulled them out.

  This time, he was going in alone, unprepared for what he might be facing. The key currently clutched between his fingers read 9 – 40, signifying that the Arc, the strongest beast in this staged zone, would be at most rank 43. However, with the removal of the level limit, the beasts would be allowed to continuously grow stronger, growing far beyond the constraints of the beast zones they inhabited.

  For all he knew, he’d be fighting his way through a swarm of rank 50 beasts. The worst part of this all was that the numbers on the key were dyed red, meaning that this zone had the ability to create Advanced beasts. They could be creatures of such immense power that even he would be wary of taking one of the same rank on alone. Still, this was a risk he needed to take. There were no more safe paths ahead.

  The portal closed b
ehind him, leaving Morgan on the tenth and final level of this beast zone. The air was warm and pleasant, trees towering high into the sky. In the distance was a brilliant blue mountain, glittering silver and gold at the peak. His Aura Sense told him immediately that the beasts here would be tough to fight, though most were at the Intermediate stage.

  There were several of the Advanced variety and some that could fly, if the streaks of light in the sky were any indication. However, it was the mass of concentrated red power at the tip of the mountain that caught his attention. That would be the Arc, the most powerful beast in this place and the one guarding the portal.

  Morgan knew that he didn’t have any time to waste, so instead of doing what he normally would – finding the most powerful beast and killing it – he instead took to the air and made for the mountain at top speed. He was needed back in the North, and the sooner he arrived back home, the better off everyone else would be.

  ***

  Octagon the Bitter was not happy. He’d left his icy abode after sensing a fluctuation in the world’s ambient reiki, a sign that told him his father, the supermage known as Morgan, the Beast King, was coming. He’d left in hopes of finding him, but instead, had discovered that it was just another regular fluctuation as the planet shed its protections.

  Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how much time he had left to conquer the Five Kingdoms before they all collapsed. Ideally, he’d have found and awoken all his siblings by then, and together, they’d have no problems defending their territory. When he’d returned back home, though, his most valuable prisoner was missing.

  He could smell the humans that had been here. Two of them, a super and a mage, had somehow snuck into his home and stolen one of his most valuable possessions. Den had assured him she was close to cracking, too, so this was a most inopportune setback. Now, he waited, black claws clicking on the armrest of his icy throne, for his Big D’s to arrive.