Soulstream (Rise To Omniscience Book 10), page 4
His eyes flicked to the ships, which had made it a good distance from the battle, thanks to Sarah’s power. Moving that much water, though, could not have been easy, and she’d likely exhausted herself in the process. Despite the beast coming back from the dead, not so much as a single ship had been lost.
In his opinion, that was the real prize here.
5
Although he’d killed the beast, Morgan remained on high alert for the rest of the night, floating above the ocean and keeping watch on the dark waters for any signs of the beast’s resurrection. Sarah came to join him at a certain point, more to make sure that he was alright and not hurt in any way than to join him for a potential third fight with the beast.
She had examined the core, exclaiming in surprise at the massive amount of energy contained within.
Name: Core of Moro the Chaos Kraken
Rank - 77
Total Available Energy - 338,069,420/338,069,420
This core was taken from Moro the Chaos Kraken. Moro was once just a humble Green Squid, but he grew in power by consuming the flesh of other sea monsters. Infused by otherworldly powers, Moro transformed into a Chaos-beast, a creature of endless hunger and destruction. As this core was taken from a Pinnacle beast, the amount of available energy has been maximized.
She, of course, refused even a drop of it, saying that while she had kept the ships afloat, Morgan had done all of the fighting and thus, deserved all of the energy.
He would have argued with her, had she really given him much of an option. She could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to be, and he knew better than to try and fight her on something like this. That was why Morgan absorbed the core, putting it toward his next rank.
Morgan then examined his status to see how much further he had to go to reach his next rank. He also viewed his expanded list of skills and abilities, as it was always good to refresh himself on what he could do, lest he forget that he could use a particular skill or ability.
Name: Morgan
Title: King of Eternity
Pinnacle Supermage: rank - 85
Energy to Next rank - 397,569,971/1,050,000,000
Ability - Downfall
RP - 16,750/16,750 (Regen - 158.5 per second)
Strength - 1,775
Agility - 2,125
Constitution - 1,735
Intelligence - 1,675
Wisdom - 1,585
Traits - Eternal Soul, Perfect Aura Control, Devourer, King’s Might
Skills - Gravity Release, Bestial Might, Starforge, Earth Mastery, Expanse, Rift
Superior - Infernal Star, Light Star, Meteoric Downfall, Continental Collapse, Soulstream
Ultimate - Eternity Beam, Sunscorch
King of Eternity: This title is granted to the King of Beasts after bathing in the Eternity Wells.
Effect: All skills cost 25% less to activate.
Traits:
Eternal Soul - Both your body and soul have undergone an evolution, reaching the Pinnacle of power achievable by mortal beings. Your body will perpetually heal itself, fully restoring any injury in the span of a single hour, with lesser injuries healing even quicker. The ravages of time, illness, or disease will not affect you. Your body will passively resist 50% of any damage, and your soul will remain eternally youthful.
Perfect Aura Control - Your gifts of sight and power have reached their Pinnacle. You can sense the energy of the world with perfect clarity and make all in your presence feel your power. You can expand your presence at will, projecting the might of your soul for thousands of miles around.
*The traits that are passed on to those below the Pinnacle will remain as Aura Sense and Aura Flare.
Devourer - The hunger of a beast is never-ending, and the hunger of a King encompasses all. You can tear the power from any in your path and can store the power for later use. Even the power of the gods cannot escape your hunger.
King’s Might - The might of a King cloaks your body, infusing your aura with the light of the divine. The power of all abilities and skills is automatically boosted by 25%.
Skills:
Gravity Release - Gravity no longer claims a hold over you. You may now soar through the skies or even into space itself! This skill will increase in cost based on speed and height.
Base Cost - 75 RP per second
Base Speed - 200 ft per second
Base Height - 600 ft
Increase Cost - 1 RP per second per additional ft of height/speed
Bestial Might - Tap into the power of your bestial nature and increase your Strength, Agility, and Constitution by a factor of 5. Your body will heal itself five times faster while this skill is active.
Cost - 1,000 RP
Duration - 30 seconds
Cooldown - 30 seconds
Starforge - Forge mighty constructs using the power of the stars. You can channel any skill through the constructs, summon them at a distance of up to 50 yards, and change their size and shape at will. The power of gravity and lightning suffuses these constructs upon being summoned and maintains them for a full 5 minutes.
Cost - 500 RP per construct
Duration - Until dismissed
Earth Mastery - The element of Earth and all minerals and materials within bend to your will. You may infuse your body with their strength and power or summon mighty storms of raging sand.
Cost - 250 RP per second
Expanse - Create expansive or narrow pockets of air, which can be controlled, sustained, or unleashed all at once. The element of air is as limitless as the expanse of space itself.
Cost - 500 RP
Sustained Cost - 75 RP per second
Rift - You may travel through space at will, covering vast distances over short periods of time or moving within the space of your spatial control instantaneously. Opening rifts to store items, create tunnels, or carry passengers is now well within your power.
Cost - 75 RP per second
Blink Cost - 100 RP
Rift Cost - 300 RP
Spatial Control - 100-yard radius
Superior:
Light Star - Summon a sphere of dense gravity, pulling all light into a single point. The power of pure light is unleashed when it ruptures, burning all caught within its radius of destruction.
Cost - 6,500 RP
AOE - 200 ft
Cooldown - 4 hours
Infernal Star - Summon a sphere of dense gravity, pulling all darkness into a single point. The power of the infernal is unleashed when it ruptures, disintegrating all caught within its radius of destruction.
Cost - 6,500 RP
AOE - 200 ft
Cooldown - 4 hours
Meteoric Downfall - A rift opens in the sky, raining down fiery destruction from above.
Cost - 7,000 RP
AOE - 350 ft
Cooldown - 12 hours
Continental Collapse - Split the ground with a bestial burst of power, detonating the very earth itself. This skill can cause the eventual collapse of an entire continent, so use with caution.
Cost - 9,000 RP
AOE - 100 square miles
Cooldown - 24 hours
Soulstream - Channel your inner power, calling forth the beast of your past and enhancing your body tenfold. Your injuries all continually heal, and your RP regenerates at ten times the normal speed.
Cost - 9,500 RP
Duration - 15 minutes
Cooldown - 24 hours
Ultimate:
Eternity Beam - Call upon the power gained from bathing in the Wells of Eternity. The skies open up and rain a beam of destruction down upon the world, rendering the area barren and unlivable for years to come.
Cost - 15,000 RP
Duration - Instant
AOE - 1 ft - 500 miles
Cooldown - 1 week
Sunscorch - Embody the power of the sun, embracing its might and infusing it within your very soul. You cannot be killed while this skill is active.
Cost - 15,000 RP
Duration - 5 minutes
Cooldown - 48 hours
Thankfully, nothing else happened that night, but the fact that the creature even came back to life meant that they would need to have another meeting, and after an entire night of keeping watch, Morgan was not looking forward to that.
6
“So that’s what all the commotion was about,” Fortuna said, her lips pulled down in a frown. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about it?”
The leaders of Faeland, in addition to Katherine, were all in attendance, standing on the ice float that had miraculously survived the night. They’d all been gathered first thing in the morning and none of them looked too happy to be there.
“Because, contrary to what you seem to believe, you’re not the one in charge. He is,” Sarah said, looking pointedly at Tagar. “In fact, I don’t even know why you tag along to these meetings.”
Fortuna turned an angry shade of red and opened her mouth to retort. However, a hand on her shoulder from Tagar got her to hold her tongue.
“Look,” Morgan said with a tired sigh. “None of us want to be here, but you all need to know what happened after the Kraken was killed.”
The leaders had been informed of the attack – at least the first one – by Sarah. They’d decided that they needed to speak to them in person about the second round.
So, he did, speaking quickly to avoid being interrupted. He knew that the line of questions following his briefing would be exhausting, so he wanted to get it all out before they could begin. Contrary to his beliefs, however, no one immediately spoke up, all of them staring at him with expressions ranging from horror to outright terror.
“That’s impossible, though,” Katherine finally said. “Beasts don’t come back from the dead, especially as Pinnacle beasts!”
“You can choose not to believe it,” Morgan said, “but you know that I’m not one to lie or overexaggerate something because I think it will make me look better. I’m telling you because if it happened once, it will likely happen again, and I want everyone to be prepared for what will come next.”
“He’s right, you know.”
Almost everyone was surprised by the man that just seemed to pop into existence in the middle of their meeting. Everyone but Morgan, that was, who’d sensed the man coming from a mile away.
“Gold,” Morgan said. “How nice of you to come for a visit.”
“Isn’t it?” Gold said, straightening the burgundy tie around his neck. “My presence is very desirable. People pay tons of money for me just to make an appearance, so you should be honored.”
Morgan ignored the man’s ramblings – humoring him always proved to be a big mistake – instead, getting right to the heart of the matter.
“Why are you here, and what do you want?” Morgan asked, crossing his arms and staring at the man evenly.
“More importantly, who the hell are you, and how did you get here?”
Morgan had to fight off his instincts to roll his eyes as Fortuna, the angry gnome, struck once again.
“I do believe that that is none of your business, short stack,” Gold said, not even bothering to look at the gnome.
“What did you just call me?” Fortuna yelled.
“You know what,” Gold said, pretending not to have heard her. “I do think it is getting rather noisy here, and there are so many quieter places we could be speaking.”
Morgan got the hint well enough, reaching out and grabbing Sarah’s hand.
“We’ll tell you everything when we come back,” Morgan said, meeting Katherine’s eyes.
The Queen of the North simply nodded, already well used to Gold’s particular brand of annoying. Fortuna, on the other hand, was still raging away and was being held back by Tagar, who was starting to look embarrassed.
“And do us a favor,” he said, turning to the gnome leader, “none of the other leaders bring their seconds to meetings. Please don’t bring her next time.”
Fortuna’s face went even redder, but Morgan disappeared before she could start yelling again, traveling through the brilliant tunnel of color before emerging over the North Kingdom’s nineteenth city. Morgan wasn’t sure why he’d picked this place in particular, as it wasn’t exactly comfortable or even livable just yet.
It was one of the many cities still overrun by beasts, but the actual palace was mostly intact, and it wasn’t too difficult to find a room that they could close off to the outside world.
“Ew,” Gold said as he appeared in the room a moment later. “Couldn’t you have picked a nicer spot?”
The room wasn’t really all that bad. Sure, it looked as though some sort of beast had torn the bedding apart, but there were a couple of comfortable armchairs and the windows were still intact, as was the fireplace.
“It’s private, just like you wanted,” Morgan said, his breath steaming in the air.
Gold rolled his eyes, then waved his hand. A moment later, there was a roaring fire in the hearth. He then pulled a chair from thin air and sat down, pulling a mug of something from the same place. It was dark brown, with small white pillow-like objects floating on the surface.
“You know,” Gold said, taking a sip from his mug. “You’re right. This is quite cozy.”
“Just get to the point and tell us why you’re here,” Sarah said as Morgan pulled one of the armchairs over for her.
She flashed him a smile of thanks before sitting, while he went to fetch another one.
“Oh, I was just listening in and happened to overhear your conversation about that fight with an undead beast,” Gold said. “I figured I’d drop in and give you my opinion on the matter.”
“And what would you like to add to our conversation?” Morgan asked as he pulled his chair next to Sarah’s and had a seat.
“Well, you’re entirely right in your line of reasoning,” Gold said. “If it happened once, it will most definitely happen again.”
“Is there any way to stop it?” Morgan asked.
“Of course,” Gold said.
Morgan raised an eyebrow, though the man didn’t elaborate, instead taking another sip from his mug.
“Can you tell us how we can stop it?” Sarah finally asked.
“Of course I can. Why else would I have come?” Gold replied.
When he didn’t say anything further, the corner of Sarah’s eye began to twitch, and Morgan could feel a distinct drop in temperature as she began to radiate cold air. Morgan, having grown used to dealing with Gold, could see what he was doing. Morgan wasn’t much interested in playing this game, especially seeing as the ships could be attacked again at any moment. Still, Gold had answers that he needed, which meant he had little choice but to go along.
“Will you tell us how we can stop it?” Morgan asked, placing a hand over Sarah’s to calm her.
“But of course,” Gold repeated, releasing his mug and pulling out a handkerchief from nowhere to dab at his lips.
The mug vanished before it traveled halfway to the ground, as did the handkerchief when he tossed it away.
“You need to kill the agents of Chaos,” he said, almost casually.
“Great. I’ll get right on that,” Morgan said flatly.
“Excellent! I knew you would,” Gold said, beaming.
Morgan started to feel his patience slipping. Dealing with this man was almost as painful as getting into a brawl with a Pinnacle King. The only difference was that once the Pinnacle King was dead, it was gone forever. Gold, on the other hand, never seemed to stop showing up.
“Would you be so kind as to explain why I need to kill the enemy gods for this to stop?” Morgan asked.
“Finally, a question worth asking,” Gold said, standing from his seat and beginning to pace. “While the destruction of Faeland did tip things in favor of Chaos, it wouldn’t give him enough of a grip on this world to influence a dead beast like that. On the other hand, that same destruction did give the gods a bit of a boost. It’s enough to influence the world in a small way, but only if they concentrate their energy on a particular spot.”
“So what you’re saying is that we’ll keep running into problems like this, so long as the agents of Chaos are alive,” Morgan said.
“And it will keep getting worse as it spreads,” Gold said, sounding oddly cheery for someone who was talking about the end of the world.
“Just explain one thing to me,” Morgan said. “How in the hell am I supposed to defeat three gods at once? And that’s not to mention the other two who are watching them.”
“You don’t need to worry about Herald and Loquin,” Gold said with a wave of his hand. “They can’t do anything unless they are attacked directly. Additionally, they can’t simply move into the path of an attack to use it as an excuse. If you attack the agents of Chaos, they won’t be able to interfere.”
“Alright, so I’ll only have to fight three of them,” Morgan said. “But that still doesn’t solve my problem. In case you’ve forgotten, my last fight with a god nearly killed me, and that was when I was against just one!”
“But you were a lot weaker when you fought her,” Gold said.
“No, I wasn’t,” Morgan replied. “I was at rank 80 when I fought her, which is just five lower than I am now.”
“Did I say you were stronger?” Gold said. “What I meant to say was that you will be stronger. Once you get past the breakthrough rank, you’ll get another boost.”
“Firstly, ranking up like that will cost me literal billions in energy. Secondly, will it really give me enough power to take on three gods at once?”
