Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  “If that’s the case, follow me,” the maidservant replied.

  I let Jale leave first, then followed them down the hall and soon found myself in a library. It was four times the size of the last room and only had a few seats for study and one table at the far end. It should work.

  While preparing, I couldn’t help but admire the room. The shelves on one side were made of the same dark wood as the coffee table from before and resembled traditional bookshelves. Many of the books were leather-bound, and there was also a large section for rolled up scrolls. Some were even packaged in individually sealed wooden boxes that fit the dimensions of the scrolls perfectly. On the other side were smaller cubbies filled with mana tablets. There were tens of thousands of them. They also had different sizes, but most of them were about the size of a USB Drive.

  I faced both ladies once I’d reached the middle of the room and addressed them. “I won’t show you all of the abilities I have yet to use, because not all of them are that powerful or have only situational uses. But so that you can see what I’m capable of, there are two that should help convince you.”

  Jale and her maidservant stayed by the entrance, giving me plenty of room to work. I’d considered showing off my Metal Dragon Form, but I wasn’t confident that it was powerful enough to run through the rest of my competition. A little channeling of extra mana to Crimson Incubus Form would be more powerful, but they were already familiar with it.

  I purposely waited until Jale’s maidservant asked me to proceed.

  Resting my attention on Jale Tir, I saw that much of the outer shell she normally hid behind was starting to wear thin. She seemed genuinely interested in what I could do.

  Without ever removing my gaze, I started to change. My mass increased tenfold as the heat of molten lava welled up inside of me. I quickly found myself on all fours. I closed off my charcoal-like flesh from releasing its heat and scorching the room and the people in it. I’d gone from standing twenty feet away from them to looking down on the women from a few feet away. My Primordial Cat Form made me a mass of controlled lava larger than two elephants in bumper to bumper traffic.

  Jale’s maidservant had jumped between us as she saw what I’d become.

  The Tir princess herself hadn’t moved. She was beaming up at me.

  “That’s enough,” the maidservant said.

  I quickly cut my mana and returned to my Vampire Form a few seconds later.

  “You’ve faced a Primordial Beast?” the maidservant said, still standing between Jale and I.

  “Twice,” I replied. “The first time he almost ate me. The second time was a little less dangerous.”

  Jale stepped out from behind her well-meaning servant and said, “I’m impressed. You said there were two things?”

  Without saying a word, I held out my hand, palm up, and summoned Light Magic the size of a pinhead.

  The purple eyed girl knitted her brow. They both knew what it was immediately and took a step back even though I was once again in the middle of the room over twenty feet away.

  “And so that you’ve seen that I can control it,” I said, beginning the formation stage of creating a Light Mana Orb. It was the same utilization of mana I’d used when creating the highly compressed Dark Magic discs.

  I let my newly formed Light Magic disk spin above my palm for a few seconds before letting it disintegrate. Then, with a dot of Light Magic above one index finger, and one of Dark Magic above the other, I sent two small beams of each alignment on a collision course. I held my fingers about a foot apart. The streams met between them, causing a small explosion of Light and Dark. I fed the explosion with a constant stream of mana. What seemed like a perpetual detonation the size of a walnut hung there in space. It was the closest I’d come to controlling Calamity. I still wasn’t sure if it was its own alignment at all. I could do the same on a greater scale. Such a small scale was actually more difficult.

  It wasn’t fear I saw on their faces, but fascination. Light Magic wasn’t impossibly rare for a Blue Mage. It was rather highly sought after. That didn’t make it easy to get.

  With that done, I finally asked, “Are you convinced?”

  Jale looked at me with a glint in her eye. “Let’s talk.”

  Chapter 20 – Tir Family

  Back on the comfy couch in front of the crackling fire, I sat with Jale. Her maidservant still stood at the entrance to the room behind me, but the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as before.

  “So let me get this right,” the princess began. “You’re confident in winning the preliminary and only want the Tir family’s support so that no one will attack you to steal your prize? A Leviathan’s corpse is worth quite a lot, but it’s not generally a prize that high level experts would kill for. That can only mean that you’re planning on purchasing something with the Victory Tokens that even they will covet. What could it be I wonder?”

  She really knew how to cut to the chase. Seeing that she was now leaning forward in her seat, I subconsciously leaned forward even more than I already was. I didn’t hide my intentions. “I wish to purchase Trueblood.”

  My answer didn’t seem to surprise her. “You’ve said that your principles align with the Tir family’s tenets. As a beast-feeder that doesn’t have any backing, it is understandable that there might be some flaws in your practice of such principles due to a lack of knowledge, or necessity. I’ll ask you plainly, would you be willing to give up becoming Trueblooded if it was a requirement to join the Tir Family?”

  “I can’t. There’s something I must do that’s only possible for a Trueblooded vampire… After it’s finished, I’d be willing. I admit that I clearly understand how hypocritical that sounds.”

  “May I know why you believe you must revert to cannibalism to accomplish this goal of yours?”

  I studied her gaze for a moment before answering. Empathy was the last thing I believed I’d receive from a vampire, but she was more preceptive than I would have dared imagine. “I may not belong to a family, but I do have friends that will suffer until I complete a certain task. I’m sorry, but that’s as much as I can say.”

  Jale didn’t respond right away. There was a rugged side to her that Aeris didn’t have, but I could still see she shared my fiancée’s bearing in the way that she held herself, and the way she seemed willing to take on the cares of the world for those that mattered to her. I’d already guessed what she was going to say next. “Is there a way I can help you with your problem?”

  I was already shaking my head. I noticed she referred to herself and not the Tir family. “Thank you, but no. Just your consideration already means a lot. I fear it’s a problem that even the most powerful family can’t help with.”

  She seemed to know exactly what I was implying. Either I was exaggerating my cause, or there was an ancient monster behind my problems that would be nearly impossible to deal with. “If there ever comes a time that I might be of help, please don’t fear to ask.”

  The fact that she was so willing amazed me. I wasn’t entirely sure how powerful the Tir family was, nor how powerful their allies were. It would be a stretch to say that they would take up arms to defend me and rescue my friends anyways. Besides, there’s no way I could keep hiding the fact that I was actually human if I decided to put all of my hope in them.

  She began tapping on her chin as if she were unweaving a difficult problem one thread at a time. “I can guarantee that the Tir family elders will never agree to you becoming a full-fledged member while you’re intending to consume vampire blood. It would be the same if you were still consuming the blood of other sentients, but the blood of vampires is especially taboo for the reasons you might guess. It’s common for beast-feeders who grew up on the blood of sentients to have addiction issues. The family offers a trial membership under such circumstances. However, the same grace is not given to those who feed on their fellow vampires…”

  “If joining you isn’t an option, what about an alliance?” I wondered aloud.

&nbs
p; “What do you have in mind? There must be at least some semblance of benefit you bring.”

  “I will publicly dedicate each of my victories to the Tir family and beast-feeders in general. All that I ask is that the Tir family provide safety and the illusion of friendship.”

  “Princess Jale,” the maidservant interjected. “You have your integrity to consider. Let’s say Master Zerin does win the preliminaries; the moment he uses his winnings to purchase Trueblood the Tir family will be mocked. Your knowledge of his intensions puts you in a particularly precarious position.”

  “Thank you, Aunt Alexandria.”

  Hearing the princess call her aunt and not rebuke her for interrupting made me look at her maidservant in a whole new light. There was so much I didn’t understand about how the Tir family differed from the rest of vampire society. I made a mental note to never treat her like an actual maidservant.

  “Integrity is indeed important,” Jale said while still tapping her chin. “But Zerin, I believe you. Generally, vampires feed on other vampires to grow in power, not out of thirst or addiction. Seeing the power you already possess, becoming Trueblooded wouldn’t grant you as much power as it would the average vampire. Then there is the fact that you have come to us on your own and publicly embarrassed the Shahs in showing us equal honor. So it is also integrity that requires me to help when I see an honorable person in need. Is there any reason you have not disclosed that might cause embarrassment? Do you struggle with addiction, or any perversion?”

  Seeing the way the conversation was going, I could no longer hold back my grin. “No, I don’t drink blood so as to keep any temptation under control, and I’m not hiding any perversion…” It was incredibly hard not to laugh saying that, but I pulled it off.

  My response seemed to catch her off guard. “You don’t drink blood at all? Even beast blood?”

  “Correct. I gain all my sustenance through magic means. I have made exceptions for toasts and the like.”

  “Well then, Master Zerin, unless anything you’ve said is found to be false, the Tir family agrees to an alliance.”

  “Congratulations,” Alexandria said. “Miss, there is the matter of the Festival of Parmida competition. If Master Zerin wins the preliminary, then House Tir will in effect have two representatives and it’s possible you’ll end up fighting one another.”

  In order to squelch any conflict, I responded immediately. “I will not be fighting in the main tournament. The prize from the preliminaries should be sufficient for me to become Trueblooded with the additional supply I already have access to. I’ll then be able to quickly complete my mission.”

  The maidservant was dismayed at my response, but Jale had something else in mind. “And what if I prefer you to stay in the competition? There’s no way the Tir family will elude all embarrassment once you’ve become Trueblooded. Keeping such a secret is impossible. If we fought, it would give us a public avenue to save face, even if it’s only on the surface. I also have to admit, I’ve been impressed with your performance in the preliminary, but I only thought you might be of benefit to the family. Now that I’ve seen what you’re hiding, I want to fight you myself.”

  When she had stepped out of her shell and revealed to me her gracious and empathetic nature, I never expected the fierce side of her to return. I’d thought it was an act, but seeing the sudden glint in her eye, I realized that it had never been one to begin with. The same person that had shown me human levels of compassion also thought it would be fun trying to beat me to a pulp. I had no idea how to respond, but ultimately said, “I’ll seriously reconsider.”

  She slapped her lap with both hands and seemed pleased but didn’t require me to make any pledge that I would indeed fight her.

  I left the Tir residence after getting everything I wanted, but I also felt terrible for deceiving her. There was no way I could stay for the main competition, and neither could I return to make it up to her. Just thinking about it made my head spin. I started my journey with the goal of slaughtering all vampires in my path. Now there were some I considered like-minded and I felt compassion toward. There was still a lingering question in the back of my mind that I couldn’t help but ponder. What would happen if they found out I was human? Jale might not devour me, but would her beliefs keep her from turning me in to the vampire authorities?

  Even if she did accept me, Lilith had likely seen everything. If I decided to rely on the Tir family, Jale would become a direct target for the Head Mistress. As much as I wanted things to be different, Jale was just another person I had to protect. The best way to do that was to hide my human nature and leave when the time was appropriate.

  ***

  When I returned and reported to Shamash on how the meeting had gone, he wasn’t shy in insisting that I continue with the current plan. We both had come to the same conclusion and he seemed content that I agreed with him.

  I’d moved on from casting fused Blue and Dark Magic according to any template and was pushing my mana manipulation to the limit while trying to keep them fused at the same time. It was a success, some of the time. All that I could do was keep learning from every failure until it became second nature. One thing that helped with making constant subtle changes was creating Minor Dark Orbs with fused Dark Magic. The process was in a sense a complex template, but it required constant fine-tuning during the process. I was now successful about half the time.

  Though it seemed to be slowing down, my Vampire Form had reached level 70.

  Vampire Form

  Bloodline: Minor

  Next Rank: 13%

  Level: 70

  Cost: 2,200 Mana Per Second (220 with buffs)

  Strength: +914

  Dexterity: +914

  Intelligence: +914

  Special Abilities: Vampire’s Might, Night Vision, Shadow Step, Bat Form…

  Next Level:

  Cost: 2,160 Mana Per Second (216 with buffs)

  +6 Strength

  +6 Dexterity

  +6 Intelligence

  It cost nearly 1,000 Mana Per Second less than before and I’d gained an additional 144 to Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Jale was right that reaching the rank of Trueblood wouldn’t be a gigantic jump in power for me, but it would still be enough to make Vampire one of my go-to Forms.

  I even had the momentary thought of remaining a vampire indefinitely. Actually becoming part of the Tir family didn’t sound too bad, but that would be the most cowardly decision I could make, and how could I possibly give up my friends and Aeris…

  The preliminaries reached round 6 and there were only 14 competitors still undefeated. Besides my fight with Gansuk, none of the other favorites had fought one another yet. The hosts had planned well. Gansuk still had a chance of placing in the top 5 if he could beat everyone else who only lost a single match. There were many more matches for Hallow to profit from.

  My day wasn’t over yet. My opponent was decent but shouldn’t be a difficult match. What I was most interested in were the other fights. Finally, some of the real contenders were going to have to face one another. Parth Gul, the merchant’s son, was going to face off with the dark elf Eshana Dara. It was one fight I really hoped she would win. Parth was supposedly just as experienced as she was, so I wasn’t sure who’d come out on top. The main event was even better. Lusa Egotak was going to take on Manu Shah with her Nature Magic. I’d finally get to see him go all out. At least I hoped she’d push him to his limits. From what I’d seen from her, it was even possible for her to win…

  Chapter 21 – Unsightly Wails

  It wasn’t my opponent’s day. Everything I tried just worked for me. I was even able to finish the fight by sweeping the guy off his feet with fused Dark Magic. It was also nice that my fight was early so that I had the rest of the day free to watch the big fights.

  My fight had only been held in one of the middle arenas, but, for the first time since the preliminaries had begun, the central arena was being opened up for the competition. There woul
dn’t be one, but three fights there in one day. The first of which was Parth Gul versus Eshana Dara.

  As I arrived with Sai, I couldn’t be sure if the crowd had grown more compact because there were more people or if everyone had converged at the same time. Taking my first step into the arena, I noticed that it was twice the size of the others and its ground floor wasn’t packed earth but made of large stone tiles that were black with grey granules. For them to use any kind of stone meant that it must be strong enough to resist the kind of pounding that the gladiators brought, not just at our level, but even at the middle to higher ranks.

  Taking a look behind me, I saw the outer bleachers outside of the arena that surrounded this great pyramid of multiple arenas. They must have risen up thousands of feet on all sides so that those sitting there could get a clear angle to view the fight that was about to take place. If the central arena was the size of a professional football stadium, the outer seating was the size of a city’s perimeter that had risen up like a mighty wall all around us. I’d never seen anything so enormous in my life. This was the reality of the Hallow Amphitheater. Most small countries could come and find plenty of seating to watch with room to spare.

  A new feeling wrapped me in its chaotic embrace. Up until then, my main motivation had been to improve myself, complete my mission, and secure the preliminary’s prizes. But it was impossible in that moment not to feel the tug of what the Amphitheater offered. To have all these people coming to watch me… I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t cared before when there were only thousands, but the sheer force of so many people left me struggling to catch my breath—and I didn’t even need to breathe. I knew it was dangerous to have such thoughts. I couldn’t be tempted to stay for the main competition, but the rumble of the crowd was not something my best intentions could tame. I was drawn to it like a dying man to Healing Magic.