Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series
Page 1
Underworld
Scorching Sun
Book 6
Copyright © 2021 by Apollos Thorne
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Preparation
Chapter 2 – Dark Magic Progress
Chapter 3 – Mining
Chapter 4 – Different Level of Loot
Chapter 5 – Passage of Many Rivers
Chapter 6 – Hallow
Chapter 7 – Vampire Shopping Trip
Chapter 8 – Hallow Coliseum
Chapter 9 – Bloody Rumble
Chapter 10 – The Competition
Chapter 11 – Don’t Kill Him
Chapter 12 – Victory Tokens
Chapter 13 – Opening Ceremony
Chapter 14 – Vampire House Party
Chapter 15 – Bloody Offer
Chapter 16 – Vampire Comedian
Chapter 17 – Melee Thunder
Chapter 18 – Orc Respect
Chapter 19 – Vampire Princess
Chapter 20 – Tir Family
Chapter 21 – Unsightly Wails
Chapter 22 – Dwarf Princess
Chapter 23 – Shapeshifting
Chapter 24 – Dark Elf Wit
Chapter 25 – Family Ties
Chapter 26 – Crack
Chapter 27 – Chophouse
Chapter 28 – Stabby stab
Chapter 29 – Championship Match
Chapter 30 – Can Vampires Blush?
Chapter 31 – Trueblooded Exchange
Chapter 32 – The Hallow Exchange
Chapter 33 – Bloody Secrets
Chapter 34 – Mission Portrait
Chapter 35 – Bloodbath
Chapter 36 – Jasmine
Chapter 37 – Space
Chapter 38 – Sunrise
Chapter 39 – Making Friends
Chapter 40 – Snuggles
Chapter 41 – Thank You
Chapter 42 – Rushing Home
Chapter 43 – Stop
Chapter 44 – Little Sister
Chapter 45 – Succubi’s Pet
Chapter 46 – Jasmine Arrives
Chapter 1 – Preparation
There was a time when I wanted little more in life than to lose myself in imaginary game worlds and an endless supply of snacks. I wasn’t sure if much would’ve changed in the last six months if that imp-faced punching bag with wings hadn’t bound me up and dragged me into the Underworld. I still remembered the emotions I’d felt when I first woke up and discovered the 19 other kids my age that were in the same predicament I was. Then the Head Mistress revealed herself for the first time. Knowing what I know now about how powerful she really is, I couldn’t help but to sigh at how ignorant I was. The imp that kidnapped me was kind enough to help wake me up to what was going on by introducing me to the Blue Magic spell Pain—casting it on me until I’d unlocked its Intermediate Rank. He’d gifted me with the same spell that I would use to kill him just a few days later.
The weeks we spent in the Head Mistress’s dungeon seemed like the distant past. So much had happened in such a short period of time. Mistress Nava saw to it that we wouldn’t remain comfortable and drove us into the Underworld’s Dungeon Level. It was only later that we learned that Nava and Lilith were working together to make sure we had no choice but to level up. There was much that I knew the two succubi had left up to chance. They didn’t know that the entire Belly would attack us, or that I would be foolish enough to try to steal Blue Magic from a Primordial Cat. I still wondered whether they expected us to survive Lady Contessa and the Minotaur Captain, or if we were originally intended as sharpening stones to help them hone their servants.
That was the most frightening thing about everything we’d been through. It was impossible to know what the Head Mistress’s true motives were. The one thing that was clear was that she wouldn’t have gone through the work of bringing us to the Underworld unless she had some convoluted plan. We’d come face to face with some of her pawns. Lady Contessa and Waldemar were only two of them. Mistress Nava, as much as I doubted she considered herself one, was probably also just another piece on Lilith’s grand chessboard. Perhaps the reason the Head Mistress seemed so demented was because she had hundreds, or even thousands of pieces in play. Either that, or she really was schizophrenic. I wasn’t sure either boded well for us. Honestly, I was sure she had some majestic scheme in mind and, whether we lived or died, she’d have multiple schemes for either outcome.
As I focused on revolving mana around my core and extracting the condensed liquid essence from it, I tried to focus my attention on power leveling in as many areas as I could, but it was hard not to get distracted. I needed to level up my Dark Magic as quickly as I could. Hitting the Advanced Rank would give it a huge jump in power. The journey to Grand Master Light Magic would probably take even longer but was even more important. There was also my research into the unknown world of Calamity. And that was only a fraction of what I could focus on.
My Vampire Form was now at the forefront of what I needed to improve. It was likely even to become my main form over the next several weeks and possibly months. Even if I were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I would cause less of a disturbance as a vampire than I ever would as a human.
I needed to be in my human form in order to refine mana, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t blend forms, especially with my outer limbs. I spend most of my time with my arms and legs in their Vampire Form, which forced me to always be aware of the danger of Light and Dark Magic’s reaction. The form leveled quick enough that it had minimal effect on my available mana. Keeping it in a partial form gave me plenty of wiggle room to keep it active and continue to work on my Dark Magic.
Even that was only a starting point. I wouldn’t see the true benefits of the Vampire Form until I’d absorbed blood from numerous vampires. That would allow the form to slowly rank up until my Bloodline was purified. Even Shamash, the lich that was contractually obliged to help me on my quest, wasn’t sure what the benefits would be once I reached Trueblood. The Blue Magic Form and becoming a vampire were two different things. My Forms varied compared to the lich’s experience because of my Blue Magic talent. It wasn’t as extreme as my Light Magic’s endurance restoration ability, but there were still distinct differences from the average.
While discussing the Vampire Form, he gave me a warning. “If you weren’t a Light Mage, I’d have you consider seeking out vampire blood to become one of them. It is a painful experience, but it would change your natural alignment to Dark in the process and greatly increase your Dark Magic’s power. But, because of your Light M
agic Talent, if you ever ingested enough vampire blood to begin the transformation, instead of changing you, it would kill you. If you were to get captured, vampires rarely try to convert their slaves, but because of your talents they might. I fear if they ever tried, instead of forcing a transformation, they’d turn you into a living Calamity bomb that would kill you and everyone in the immediate area.”
“Don’t drink vampire blood. Got it,” I said, quick to take his advice.
My distractions didn’t spawn from boredom or fear but because Aeris and my friends were in constant danger and there was nothing I could do about it—for now. In one sense, the guys were probably better off than I was. They had each other, and even if they ranked up Sanctuary’s Dungeon Aura to attract even higher level mobs while I was gone, they had a certain amount of control of it. They could switch to different ranks after they unlocked them, and even turn the aura to repel mobs if they so desired. The main danger was that they were at the whim of the Head Mistress. Who could say what she would do while I wasn’t there? I was surprised she hadn’t tried to eat Skyler again when I’d left the first time.
The girls’ situation was even more stressful. If spending most of your waking hours surrounded by succubi and even attending classes with them could be categorized as merely stressful. Even if the creatures they were killing to level up were offered to them on a silver platter, the real monsters were the human-like creatures they had no choice but to interact with.
And then there was Aeris. Even though I thought I understood her thinking, she had agreed to execute the Succubi’s prisoners to increase her level at the quickest rate possible. It couldn’t have a positive influence on her mental health.
After killing my way through the Vampire Gate I had to spend time refining my mana before continuing, and the delay was like a thorn in my ribs that was being constantly twisted. I knew this had to be done and there was only so much I could do to speed up the process.
It took me just under 10 days to fully refine my mana before I was finally ready.
Elorion
Character Sheet
Level: 5,897
Health Points: 563,716
Current Mana: 28,751,995
Base Mana: 5,750,399
Mana Per Minute: 240,170(4,002.83 Per Second)
Attributes
Strength: 6,500
Dexterity: 6,174
Constitution: 5,344
Intelligence: 11,417
Wisdom: 24,017
When my base mana increased due to my increase in level, so did my refined mana. That meant that my current mana, or maximum mana after refinement, had a large jump from 25 million to 28,751,995. It was actually taking me longer to refine because there was now more of it. With the increase in total mana, I hoped that I’d be able to clear the next group of vampires and have some refined mana left over. The less mana I used the less time I had to spend refining.
As soon as I’d finished my mana refinement, I found Shamash standing above me with his multi-colored gaze beaming down on my face like the burning rays of the sun. His ghastly grey and black robe never seemed to stay still as it billowed off of his skeletal frame under the power of his mysterious existence. Unless he willed them to materialize, I wasn’t sure if he even had feet, for he was always floating a few inches off the ground.
“Have you decided how you want to approach your quest?” he said. “Unlock Trueblood with your Vampire Form, master stealth, or seek power to rain destruction on the entire city of Persepolis?”
His level tone while talking about slaughtering an entire city no longer shocked me, but it still made me uncomfortable. “I will begin with unlocking Trueblood and then reassess afterwards,” I replied.
“Very well. There’s an outpost half a day’s journey from here on foot with at most a squad of guards. I had a brief stop there when I was traveling with Lord Darrius. It’s a small mining colony that is mostly managed by slaves. Let’s start there.”
Getting to my feet, I changed to my Vampire Form. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter 2 – Dark Magic Progress
My facial features remained the same while I was in my Vampire Form. That was about the only thing that stayed the same. The indwelling glow from my Light Mana infused flesh had been replaced with a pale, obscure complexion. I didn’t look ghastly, or unwell, but the Dark Mana running inside my imitation body gave off no light of its own. The other main difference would only be visible if I smiled or grimaced to show off my new set of canines.
In the last ten days, my Vampire Form had reached level 31.
Vampire Form
Bloodline: Inferior
Level: 31
Cost: 3,760 Mana Per Second (376 with buffs)
Strength: +650
Dexterity: +650
Intelligence: +650
Special Abilities: Vampire’s Might, Night Vision, Shadow Step, Bat Form…
Next Level:
Cost: 3,720 Mana Per Second (372 with buffs)
+5 Strength
+5 Dexterity
+5 Intelligence
I was thankful for the bonus Intelligence, but now that I’d gotten 10,000 in the stat, its benefit was minimal. It was still extra mana that I could tap into, though.
We traveled along the base of a high shelf that was miles long in a cavern that I guessed was two miles from floor to ceiling. As for how large it was from one side to the other, I was at a loss. After briefly discussing it with Shamash, it sounded like the cavern I was in was the size of a small state or country. After we reached its end, it would link up with other caverns just as large, if not larger. This cavern was much darker than I was used to on the Dungeon Level.
With Night Vision, the world filled with greys, reds, and purples, lighting up my surroundings in a similar fashion to my other vision abilities except with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. So this was how a vampire saw the world. Part of me wanted to go back to the Vampire Gate to see how different it looked in this spectrum. Of course, I’d basically torched the place, so it probably lost much of its former glory.
The area was so dark mostly because it was rich in Dark Mana ore. The most interesting thing was that there seemed to be more than one different kind of ore that contained such mana. It enlightened me to how little I knew of the world. I’d honestly thought that there was only one kind of mana-rich ore for each Alignment. If there was more than one type of Dark Ore, then there were probably others I didn’t know about as well. Who knew how many of each Alignment there was? It could be dozens, or even hundreds…
“While we travel, it’s time you begin blending your Dark Aligned Blue Magic with your Dark Magic,” Shamash said from where he was floating at my side. “This will be the first step in the process of getting the most out of your Dark Magic.”
“Okay,” I replied, “but why have you waited until now to tell me?” I’d just spent ten days with only power leveling to keep me busy. Shouldn’t this have been something to focus on days ago?
“The first step is easy. The only thing you’ll have to remember is to keep it active once you’ve blended each spell and have them stabilized. Holding it while we walk should be enough to get you familiar with the principle.”
My eyes widened. There is something that is actually easy in this world? “Okay, what do I do?”
“Cast your Blue Magic version of Shadow Cloak, then cast your Dark Magic version immediately after. Don’t cast it on top of the first spell but cast it as if the first Shadow Cloak wasn’t even there.”
It sounded simple enough. I was in my Vampire Form, so I wasn’t fearful of Dark Magic coming in contact with my skin. Without a second thought, I cast the two spells, one after the other. I stopped in my tracks when I saw how the second spell reacted with the first. I didn’t have to will the two cloaks to blend together. It happened on its own. Not only was it as easy as Shamash said, but the effect was that my Shadow Cloak became thicker and would conceal me at a much greater level.
Thinking back, I had wanted to try something similar after unlocking Dark Magic, but time hadn’t allowed for much experimentation. Power leveling came first and then the Vampire Gate. Giving the lich a look, I could almost sense his smile hidden beneath the shadow of his cloak. “Good,” he said. “Now just hold them in place for a while as we walk.”
It took little effort.
A half an hour later, he broke the stealthy silence between us and told me to drop my Blue Magic Shadow Cloak while trying to sustain it with my Dark Magic.
The first few times I failed, but after a few more tries, I found I had to channel additional Dark Mana for this to work. At first, I thought I was just replacing the two spells cast together with a Dark Magic version that had excess mana channeled to it. In a sense, I wasn’t wrong, but then I looked at the numbers. Neither spell took a lot of mana but all Dark Magic cost me more than every other School of Magic because it was the opposite of my natural Alignment. I noticed the difference immediately. Using my Dark Magic to sustain both spells while cutting mana from the Blue Magic version had an obvious result. It cost 30% less mana to sustain a Shadow Cloak of this quality in any other way. I tried every other possibility to get the same results. Channeling extra mana to either spell was much more costly. Blending the two at the same time also cost more. Shamash had just taught me an easy way to empower my Dark Magic for a fraction of the cost.
You awesome undead magic freak, you! I didn’t dare say what I was thinking out loud.
“Now work on switching between blending the two spells and sustaining the results with Dark Magic. It needs to become second nature,” Shamash said.
I did as he said.
An hour later, we still had approximately another hour until we reached our destination, when Shamash asked me to stop. “It’s time that you prepared yourself.”
“Use everything?” I said, already knowing what he was hinting at.
“Yes. Also, it’s not just guards you’ll be killing. The slaves can’t be left alive.”