As you drain targets, the benefits you receive will depend primarily on the purity of the source. Once your stats have reached a certain level, you will not be able to drain from low-level creatures to improve stats, only to sustain them.
If no stats are lost in a year’s time, they will become yours permanently without having to continue to use Vampire’s Might. All attribute gains through use on multiple targets of Vampire’s Might stack. The one-year timer does not start over with each gain of more stats. Each creature drained starts a separate timer.
Holey Vampire underpants! Did I just gain 140 levels worth of stats?! Everything just got a bit more complicated.
Okay, breathe.
After a few heavy breaths, I settled down. This was a good thing, but also dangerous. If the Head Mistress, and all high-level creatures, commonly had skills like this besides just the ability to level up, then how powerful were they? If spells like Vampire's Might were rare, would this give me the ability to compete with them and possibly catch them?
A second pop-up was in regard to my strength reaching level 100. I had gotten the bonus even though the stats had come from Vampire's Might.
Heavy Lifter
You are now able to lift things 10% heavier. Because it is so much easier for you to handle lighter weight, all damage with melee weapons is increased by an additional 10%
Intensity
You will now have the ability to increase your focus at will at a cost of double stamina use to add 25% damage and 50% aim to every melee attack.
Full Body Synergy
Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity all work together through muscles, tendon, and bone. Because of this relationship and the improvement of all three, it will be as if you have an additional +25 in all three attributes.
Additional +1 to all three stats for every 5 points put in each attribute equally. Example: 5 Str = 1 Con and 1 Dex.
This +25 is included in all damage and skill calculations but does not apply to Leveling Bonuses.
I looted the vampire's corpse! To my horror, most of what the vampire carried was as destroyed as he was. All that I could recover was a golden ring with a nickel-sized blood ruby. Sadly my identification scroll couldn’t identify it. That was interesting in itself. It was the first item that I wasn’t able to identify with the scrolls.
Turning to the corpses of the rest of the creatures scattered around I hesitated. Should I really drain them all? I feared that the rest of my group would find out what I was doing. Would they look down on me for it?
Looking back, I didn't see anyone that had re-entered this room.
If only skeletons were left out of the zombies, ogres, ghouls, dark elves, orcs and the vampire, how would they react? Shaking my fear away, I remembered that they were gamers. They would understand. At least, that seemed reasonable.
No doubt they were on their way already, so I got to work draining everything. It was a fairly quick process. I wondered if it took longer if I tried to use it when the creatures were alive. The orcs, zombies, ghouls, dark elves and ogres only gave a fraction of the bonuses the vampire gave.
It was interesting seeing which creatures gave me the most stats. Dark elves and orcs gave me more than any of the undead creatures except the Zombie General.
Overall I gained the following stats.
+14,741 HP
+11,277 MP
+66 Str
+37 Dex
+71 Con
+207 Int
+103 Wis
The undead and orcs gave Strength and Con. The dark elves gave Dexterity and the casters gave Intelligence and Wisdom. It was all pretty logical in the stats they gave.
Should I start dressing like a vampire? A vampire with Skeletal Full Plate Mail. After all, my teeth would always stay nice and white, I mused. The stats would be permanent unless I didn’t drain anything within the next seven days and then once a week after. I didn’t think that would be a problem for the year required to gain the stats permanently. There were lots of creatures besides skeletons available for me to fight, so I’d just make it a point to drain things on my way to and from my hunting trips.
As I drained the Zombie General something very interesting happened.
You have unlocked the nature of the Undead and the magic that brings them to life!
Blue Magic - Undead Dominance (Novice)
Unlike Raise the Dead, you are able to both bring the dead to life and command those that are already raised unless the being is directly controlled by the necromancer. The level of undead you can control or raise depends on the level and rank of the spell.
So this is what all of those you better understand the undead notifications were about. Considering our base was an undead haven it was perfect. Icing on the cake!
***
My group joined me a few minutes later. There were still about 30 zombies I had left to drain. Well, and of course the skeletons remained untouched since they had no blood to leech.
“What are you doing?” Aeris sounded shocked.
The bloody strand that came from Vampire’s Might, connecting me and the blood, was already gathered from a zombie and was beginning to fill me.
With a sigh, I looked at her. “I gained a spell from the vampire that lets me drain creatures of blood and gain stats. And no, I don’t have to drink anything! It’s only a spell,” I insisted before anyone asked.
“That's totally gross, Skeletor!” Olivia butted in, ignoring my insistence.
“Seriously!” Travis ran up to me and watched as I finished draining the zombie. “I always wanted to be a vampire!”
“What?!” Olivia turned on him.
He just grinned at her, placing his fist on his hips, standing like a superhero.
“So he likes to drink a little bloody Mary… or bloody Matt, Bob, Sue, and Jose or whatever these zombies’ names were. Aren’t you guys forgetting something? Loot!” Russ shouted way too loud for how close he was to us.
Any attention to my new spell was forgotten immediately for the promise of rare equipment, which had suddenly become common. Only Aeris hesitated, looking at me with concern for another second longer before the call of loot beckoned her.
It was then I realized that I had been so lost in considering the positives and negatives of draining and devouring that I hadn’t looted anything else besides the vampire. Progression fail! And I call myself a gamer?
I stopped what I was doing even though the zombie wasn’t fully drained and ran to the where I remember the ghouls being. Only a cloak and short staff the size of a baseball bat was left on the now skeletal mages.
Drew had already looted at least two of them himself. Greedy Lightning Mage!
What was I complaining about anyway? I had just gained an insane amount of free stats!
I wandered to the Head Mistress’s side of the main battle line where the skeletons had fallen. The skeletons I hadn’t paid much attention to and most of the group hadn’t reached them in the looting spree. Only Mel, our redheaded dark mage, was already there. He seemed to be looking down and considering something seriously as he stood over the Skeleton General.
What was there to consider? The two-handed sword the monster had wielded as a one-handed weapon was obviously one of the highest quality I had ever seen. A silver wire handle with large silver gothic fangs for a cross guard and glass finish had a soft glow to it. No doubt it was magic. Was something wrong?
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.
“Elorion!” He jumped. “You uh… you really sucked blood from those mobs?”
“Drained is more like it. No sucking required.”
A faint smile appeared on his face and was gone as soon as it came. “I, uh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I… What do you think of necromancers? I’m not sure what everyone will think…” He looked down, not willing to meet my eyes.
“Well considering the Mistress and Vampire dude had their own army of undead, I think everyone will be happy to have th
e undead on our side for a change. I have a new necromancer type spell myself but haven’t gotten the chance to test it out yet.”
With a look of relief, he finally dared to look at me to make sure I wasn’t mocking him.
I just shrugged.
“So you’re a necromancer too, huh?!” A grin found his face. Suddenly he was talking way too fast.
“Not exactly. I’m a total necro newb. I only have one spell.”
“Ahh. Let me know if you need any pointers. My Summon Undead reached intermediate.”
Not mentioning to him that my spell was Blue Magic and not Dark, I agreed I’d have some questions for him later. It would be a good opportunity to learn about Dark Magic anyways. He had just squashed a number of high-level orcs with some ginormous dark hand spell no one had ever seen. I didn’t doubt his ability for a second.
When he bent down to pick up the Skeletal General’s loot, I started to turn to look for different bounty, but I stopped short. Mel wasn’t grabbing the amazing sword. He grabbed the General’s skull, which was the size of a bull’s head. He stepped on its neck and started to pull. I just stared at him for a few seconds as he tried to yank its head off.
A look of dread came over him as he noticed me watching him. Must be for some Dark Magic I decided and walked up to give him a hand.
I motioned to the skeleton’s neck as I grabbed the general’s sword that was far too big for me even with two hands, but my strength made it wieldable. His excitement returned.
With a single swing, I was able to decapitate the skeleton.
“Jackpot!” he cried.
Why he was so excited escaped me, but hey, if he needed the bones and I needed the blood then we might complement each other while hunting. I suspected I would be spending even more time with everyone in the coming days anyway. They were far more powerful and had proved we could take out some fairly high-level creatures as a group.
He put the giant skull in his inventory and pulled out some chainmail to discard, thanking me for the help. Why was he just taking the skull? The dropped sword that I held he had completely ignored. So I happily took it.
It was then that Skyler and his group entered the battlefield, coming back from their hunt.
“What the? What happened?” he said, staring wide-eyed.
The sledge boys and the casters were just as shocked. It was obvious they had been completely oblivious to the battle, or that an army passed right by them. They must have been in a side dungeon.
“Is that what I think it is?” the chestnut-haired rock mage asked. She rubbed her hands together in greed.
“Dude!” Skyler called before he rushed forward,
He reached one of the zombie's corpses at the rear of the defeated army and stooped over to grab a helm.
An oppressive barrage of energy soared over my head like a world-ending comet had just shot past.
Then I looked to see the Mistress floating above Skyler, staring down at him like he was Thanksgiving dinner. “What do you think you are doing?” she said. Her voice was sharp, but playful.
Skyler fell back, his mouth agape as he looked up at the predator above. No words came.
“Every one of these humans helped with the battle,” she said, motioning to us with her arm. “They are welcome to take what they please. But you and your friends weren't here.”
She slowly drifted closer to him, until she was nearly standing on his gut.
It wasn't what she was saying, but how she was saying it that made me weak in the knees. Her tone was almost flirtatious as if her deepest desire was for him to continue doing what she was asking him not to do.
Something in what she said stole my attention. How had she known we had all helped with the battle? A glacier had literally stood between her and us. How she did it was not as important as what it implied. Either she had the ability to sense the unseen, or the original spell she had cast on us to leech our excess energy could act like a super GPS.
I couldn't see her face since I was standing behind them, but I imagined her licking her lips. It seemed in all the excitement, the succubus part of her she had been suppressing was now unleashed.
“I don't tolerate thieves.” She giggled. Raising an open hand, she hovered there motionless for a long moment.
I dared to hope that she would let him go after scaring him speechless, but then she closed her hand.
As if an invisible giant had reached out and grabbed him, he rose off the ground, his arms and legs bound with invisible chains. With a single movement of her hand, he flew off, stopping in mid-air ten feet to her side and hovered there.
“Come, my lovely humans. Gather around.”
At her word, the enticing draw I had felt from her the night I had warned her of her imp's betrayal grabbed a hold of me. It wasn't just me that seemed to be affected. My sudden desire for her overcame my fear, and I found myself obeying her summons.
When we were all lined up with her facing us, she looked upon us with enamored eyes.
Even though I was conscious of it, I was entranced.
“You have done so well. Beyond what I had expected in such a short period of time.”
Her words pleased me, even though I knew my real concern should be Skyler and whatever she planned to do with him.
“You will all be rewarded for what you have done. This area,” she said, with a wave of her hand, “will be rebuilt. You will each be given your own room and access to builders and contractors. There are those among you with crafting talent. If you raise the funds, I give you full reign of building up this area however you so desire. Carefully consider your options.
“I will leave you now. It's a time to celebrate! Do enjoy yourselves.”
She looked back as she turned to go, adding one last thing. “Elorion. Do come see me when you have a moment. Once again you have warned me as danger approached my door. As I promised, I have a special reward for you.”
She flew away at a leisurely pace with Skyler in tow.
When she disappeared into the next room, her spell's effects lessened and there was a sudden uproar.
“We have to rescue him!” one of the sledge brothers roared.
“How?” asked the much more level-headed earth mage.
A passionate jumble of ideas and objections started to be tossed back and forth.
I ignored them. The illusion of the last week dissolved, and it was clear to all that the Mistress was nothing more than a monster.
It wasn't anger at the injustice that Skyler had been taken, nor betrayal that the Mistress couldn't be trusted with the deal she had given us that bothered me the most. It was knowing that all that the Underworld provided could be taken from me so easily. My talent with Healing and Blue Magic, my Invisibility spell and the power I had leeched from the vampire and his army. I wasn't sure if I should feel ashamed, but if I was honest with myself, I loved this new life. The Head Mistress threatened it and I hated her for it.
I really needed to punch a succubus in the face right now.
Shaking off the thought, I knew there was really only one chance of saving Skyler. I needed to go speak with her. Now.
How do you tell a succubus who is a self-imposed vegetarian to not indulge when she finally gives in to her desire to eat meat?
It was then that I noticed Aeris was staring up at me. “You’re going?”
All I could manage was a nod.
“Save him,” she replied, unable to look me in the eye. Before I knew it she was hugging me at the waist, and just as quickly walking away.
“Go!” Olivia demanded. “We will hold these idiots back.”
She wasn't kidding. Russ and our tanks were literally standing in front of Skyler's group as they tried to push through.
Seeing their dangerous reactions helped cool my own head a bit and focus. Anger would do me no good where I was going.
With a sigh, I turned to go.
“Stay alive, Skeletor!” Olivia called.
I held up my hand so that she
could see that I heard her and marched to the Mistress's dinner. I just hoped I wouldn't end up as the main course.
Chapter 21 – A Succubus’s Reward
I didn't bother asking the imp to take me to the Head Mistress. As foolish as it was to make it known that I had overheard the imp, I stopped at the part of the wall that had opened to the imp before and spoke the word I heard him say. “HidaGrach.”
Silently, the wall parted and folded in to reveal the staircase I had taken before. I began the climb up to the domain of my schizophrenic kidnapper.
It was my second time in this hall since I had arrived. I allowed my advanced buffs to remain, but let my skeletal armor remain uncast. She had already seen me in the armor and with my buffs. Removing the armor seemed respectful. Keeping my buffs felt like self-preservation. It would hopefully remind her that we were worth keeping around.
In most games, there was a limit on how high of a level you could reach and how powerful you could become. That didn’t seem to be the case in the Underworld. There was no indication there would be a cap to the progress we could make. Levels were only one way to progress. The spells like Vampire's Might and the spell the Mistress had used to drain the vampire’s energy looked very much like an unending source of growth if you could manage to live long enough.
How powerful could someone become in a thousand years? Were there those that were a lot older than her? Insanely powerful was an understatement. It took no effort at all to approach her with a renewed dose of humility.
There was no need to knock when I reached the golden double doors to her quarters. They stood wide open.
The Mistress sat cross-legged on her throne while two familiar succubi that had been here on my last visit sat on the couch to either side. Skyler was missing. Was I too late?
This time the three of them were dressed in lavender togas. The Mistress had a golden Olympic wreath sitting on her head like a crown. The two lesser succubi wore a generous amount of clothing in comparison to last time. I was surprised they weren’t looking at me like I was the main course. As I entered the room the lesser succubi both stood and motioned for me to sit.
Underworld - Level Up or Die: A LitRPG Series Page 18
