Underworld - Vampire Gate: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  I watched myself as if seeing through another person’s eyes. The clean precision that I normally fought with was discarded, but in no way was it replaced with blind rage. Travis still held his spear, and my fist, tail, and magic were readily at my disposal. Mana Sight remained active, but only in its lessened state. Adrenaline sharpened my senses, propelling them to new heights. Instinct pounded on the drums of war, and we danced to its beat. I lashed out with my fists and tail at the same time. Fire spewed from my Crimson Incubus Fist, while Magma Fist reshaped itself into a long hardened spike. With my Strength and Dexterity, the imps dropped like sacks of meat. My tail’s end became a ball and chain, blasting bodies apart as it swung through the air. The spear of my other heart was there in the midst, fighting with me. At times we were inches from colliding, but even as I extended a fist of flame to melt a dive-bombing imp, Travis’s spear shot up as I drew my fist back, barely missing me and driving his spear up at two imps that were flanking us. Exploding from his spear was not one, but eight great spikes of power, skewering the imps like a couple of fish.

  In a few moments, we’d blown through the room and left every other living thing in it dying and broken. Whether it had become so habitual that it was now a part of me, or my mind really wasn’t as given over as it seemed, I cast Forced Learn with sufficient mana to gain a new form.

  You have learned Earth Imp Form!

  You have gained a greater understanding of Earth Magic through the observation of multiple Earth Creatures. Inexhaustive list: Master Earth Elemental, Rock Lizards, Stone Giant, Rock Beetle, Earth Imp.

  You have unlocked the Blue Magic Elasticity!

  This greatly improves an Earth Creature’s ability to regain its shape even after constant stress.

  You have unlocked the Blue Magic Malleability!

  This greatly improves an Earth Creature's ability to manipulate its shape.

  Note: These can be applied to Earth Magic Forms or those with similar characteristics.

  As I turned to leave, Travis didn’t have to say a word. Our prey had fallen, and it was only appropriate that we take what was ours. That too was a feeling we shared. We looted quickly, I Drained the room, then we took off at a run. The hunt continued.

  For four nights we continued that practice until we neared the Fire Dungeon. The connection Bloodlust provided us with went beyond the battlefield. The more we used its connection, the more we were able to feel. Between battles, when we looted and traveled, the connection remained strong. It allowed me to experience his emotional pain. How he missed Kylie, but also his uncertainty. I didn’t realize how committed I was to Aeris until I felt his apprehension. There was a part of him that hated his doubt. He sincerely believed she deserved better, but another part of him, the rational side, wasn’t yet convinced. After all, he’d only really known her for a couple of weeks. I wanted to know more, and perhaps later I’d ask, but at that moment, they were little more than feelings. True as could be but lacking the context of clear thought. It might be best to keep the discovery to myself.

  Becoming aware of his feelings made me painfully aware of my own. It was true that I’d known Aeris longer, but a few months was still a very short time. Was it love I felt, or guilt? Aeris had gone out of her way to show me how self-centered I was being when I spent most of my time soloing or putting the entire group in danger when I approached Xaphan for the first time. Maybe it was immaturity that was leading me to confuse the thankfulness I felt toward this girl that had proven to be a true friend because I also happened to be attracted to her. Asking her to marry me had felt like the right thing to do at the time, but maybe I’d made a mistake in not waiting until all the life and death nonsense had settled down…

  Letting Travis fight in his Werewolf Form had more positive effects than just him gaining greater control. As our connection developed so did the wolf’s trust. He’d never tried to attack Shamash, but, after he’d stopped moping around, he’d constantly been cold, even hostile, toward the lich. That improved as he became more aware of my feelings toward our guide.

  Holding up his boney hand, it flashed with purple light. We came to a stop behind the lich, who’d turned to face us.

  The surrounding cavern was already lined with red, mana-rich rock, so I wasn’t surprised at Shamash’s words.

  “We are nearly there,” he said. “Before we arrive, let’s discuss our strategy. The goal is to level up and find Light Magic materials. How do we proceed?”

  Even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I could feel his gaze stop on me.

  “Well… I’ll use my Crimson Incubus Form,” I replied, holding my hands out as if it weren’t obvious it was the form I was already in. “It will give me near immunity against fire and a big offensive boost in stats. Fire Magic won’t be very helpful, but I have Ice and Water Magic, and physical attacks should work.”

  “And I have fire-resistant armor,” Travis added in his human form. “And an ice spear.” He pulled it out of his inventory, revealing a nearly ten-foot-tall shaft of deep blue steel with a foot-long bladed point with a sharp edge and a smooth extension that reached down over the top of the shaft. It almost reminded me of a poleaxe, but the extension of the blade was one with it and sloped down with no jagged edges. Perhaps it was more like a harpoon.

  “No to the spear,” the lich said immediately. “Yes, it would be strong against fire, but the heat would also cause it to take much damage. Use it only against fire creatures as a last ditch effort and be prepared to part with it if you do.”

  “Then what’s the point?”

  The lich leaned closer to him but didn’t reveal its face. “This weapon would best serve against Nature or Water creatures. Its Chill ability would have great effect and it wouldn’t take much damage. It would also be good against Light or Dark Magic creatures, for those schools of magic wouldn’t interact with the Ice Element. Except for higher level creatures that we aren’t likely to see here, even fire mobs have a physical body so decent steel will do the job. If we get lucky, we may run across some discarded weapons that greater beings have left here. It’s about time we find you something better than this lesser gear.”

  Travis and I shared a look.

  “What do you mean by lesser?” I said.

  “Since you left the Head Mistress’s dungeon, you’ve had to fend for yourselves in regard to armor and weapons. She’d designed the Bone Palace to continue your training, but also provide you with the necessary equipment. Her undead mobs and elementals were a part of a loot distribution system that would gift you with level-appropriate gear. When you left, you were only rewarded with whatever the creature you fought happened to be carrying when you killed them. The level-appropriate loot distribution is gone. If it wasn’t for your blacksmith, you would have been grossly underequipped. But even with his help, you have fallen behind. In the Dungeon Level, it is decent, but on the Cavern Level, it would be hand-me-downs for lesser slaves. Your armor is an exception. It would be given to a mid-tier slave.”

  After he had thoroughly thrashed us with his assessment of our gear, we settled on our approach. Travis would be up front, and I’d stand at his rear. I’d heal and focus on casting while he’d take on lesser mobs and hold off greater ones. Because we had no idea about the dungeon’s design, we’d have to first explore to further refine our approach. Travis would map things out as we went and give us a dungeon assessment on its rank as soon as he had a reading on it. If there happened to not be any mobs that were too powerful for us, then we’d clear it entirely. If we ran across some that were questionable, we’d retreat and reevaluate. Only after we’d cleared the area the best we could would we start searching for Light Magic materials.

  “Take a moment to prepare if there’s anything you need,” the lich said. “I’d also recommend having a bite to eat. Who knows how long it will be before it’ll be safe again…”

  It had been five days since Travis had slept. I’d let my buffs from the dried pork we’d brought fail yesterday, leaving
most of the sustenance for him. I didn’t need to eat, and I could sustain him for quite some time with my Light Magic, but I wasn’t a substitute for food.

  The lich threw one of his defensive territories around us as my friend ate. I just sipped on some water as I brought up my stats.

  I’d gained 31 levels from the constant hunting, even if most of the creatures were of a low level. I’d also gained 60 Str, 61 Dex, 9 Con, 32 Int, and 22 Wis from all of the creatures I’d Drained. Most of those creatures I’d already fought numerous times, but the rarer ones, like the Drakyrd and the Earth Imps, had been kind to me. They had been even kinder to Travis who was closer to them in level. I’d effectively been power leveling him.

  “What’s the count?” I said, showing him my character sheet.

  A small piece of food jumped from his mouth as he tried to reply. He wielded a strip of the greasy dried pork in one hand and brought up his own character sheet with the other. Mouthing that he was sorry about the delicious projectile, he stopped trying to speak and just showed me.

  Travis

  Level: 561

  Attributes

  Strength: 500

  Dexterity: 2,089

  Constitution: 594

  Intelligence: 200

  Wisdom: 102

  He’d gained a total of 94 levels since we’d begun. It was a good start. He’d gotten his Intelligence to 200, which did seem to be helping, but the most surprising thing was that he’d actually gone through with pushing his Strength and Constitution to 500 so that his Werewolf Form’s buffs would put them past 1,000. I already knew that doing so had provided him with the 1,000 stat bonuses. He’d doubled in size. Since he’d been in the middle of his transformation though, we hadn’t talked about it.

  “So you decided on going for the 1,000 stat bonuses… They’re nice, right?” I said, approaching the topic as gently as I could.

  The grin he gave me was rather encouraging. “Yeah, they’re incredible. I’m working on Constitution next. I’d prefer to have the HP bonus at all times.”

  “That’s smart. So, you’re more confident with your control?”

  He was about to take another bite but stopped himself. “When we are fighting together, yes. Alone? No, not really, but I can’t be selfish. You’re going to eventually need me to protect you while you learn a new school of magic.”

  I hadn’t broached this subject with him, hoping he wouldn’t concern himself about it for the time being, but I should have expected that he’d already been thinking about it.

  “I’m not worried,” I said, brushing it aside. “By then the Dungeon Level will be easy for us and Shamash can probably hide me in one of his giant eggs or something, so you can just spend the time power leveling.”

  He laughed for the first time in days. “Scrambled eggs would be nice.”

  A few minutes later we were ready to go. Travis had retrieved his normal spear that had minor Earth Mana attributes that would only add to its durability. Taking the lead, he started forward at a slow pace, and I followed behind. Shamash took up the rear. There was probably more I could be asking of the lich, but I was still leery of becoming dependent upon him. The information he was providing was already priceless. Until there was no other choice, I would keep it that way.

  Finding the entrance to the Fire Dungeon, we felt the temperature increase as if coming to greet us. It was finally time to find out what veins of magic were all about.

  Chapter 7 – Fire Dungeon

  I didn’t know what I’d expected, but the dungeon entrance resembled little more than an offshoot of a larger cavern. It was a natural hole in the wall with no sign that anyone was involved in its creation. If it weren’t for the well-worn path on the floor’s surface, I would’ve suspected we were in the wrong place. There was also a feeling that came from that direction, although it wasn’t the same one I felt when dealing with large sources of mana.

  “Do either of you have a Fire Compass?” the lich said.

  I answered in the affirmative as I fetched it out of my inventory. More accurately, I grabbed my Magic Bag from my inventory and retrieved it from there. It didn’t exactly weigh much, but a weight reduction of 30% was nothing to scoff at when the full contents I was carrying were taken into consideration. I’d purchased a few compasses before leaving the Head Mistress’s dungeon. It was by no means a full set, and most sub-elements hadn’t even been available in the shop. The ones that I possessed were Fire, Wind, Water, and Dark. I technically had a Light Magic one too, but that had come with the purchase of a Light Magic manual and didn’t have much of the extra information that the other compasses did. Most of the ones we could purchase had the literal compass instrument, but also a physical map and detailed information about a number of known dungeons. It was the extra information that must have given it the extra cost.

  I held the compass up when I had retrieved it.

  “Good,” the lich continued. “It’s important that you know how to use one. Give it a try.”

  There wasn’t much trying needed. The moment I held it up, I felt a slight tug from the instrument in the direction of the vein. Examining it closely, it resembled a wand more than an actual compass. The handle I held was made of Firazite. I recognized the ore from my time leveling Animation. I even had some in my Magic Bag, though it was in limited quantity. Near the end of the wand was a ball of varying shades of orange, yellow and red, with a face on it. There was a small ball inside in a precisely carved channel. As I moved it back and forth, the ball would move from one side to the other in the direction of the vein. It was simple enough to understand. There was only one groove at the end of the ball that pointed forward. If the ball inside lined up with the groove, that meant it was straight ahead.

  “How do you tell it to switch from tracking one vein to another?” I wondered aloud.

  “Give it a small surge of mana to switch from one vein to another,” the lich replied. “They will usually give you between three and ten readings depending on how many veins are in the region. To reset it to the closest one, give it a steady stream of mana for about five seconds.”

  I did just as he said and gave it a small jolt of mana. Immediately, the tug led me to turn to the right and it centered on a place that was in the opposite direction that we stood. I played with it for a minute. In the end, it was able to track four veins in the region. The lich explained that it had a limit of approximately a thousand miles—which made it shockingly sensitive, but he followed up by saying that it also depended on the vein. Not all veins were equal.

  Travis gave the device a try, and despite his lack of magic talent, he was easily able to make full use of it.

  I deposited the compass in a convenient place, before making a request. “I don’t sense any high-level mobs. Do you mind if I start testing my new Battle Horn ability?”

  “Just know that the creatures in the immediate area that hear it will come to investigate,” the lich said. “Fire creatures are generally jealous of their territory.”

  Then looking to Travis, I heard him reply. “Sure. Why not?”

  “It adds Stamina Regeneration that might hinder you from getting stats from physical exertion. It’s also very redundant at the moment. I can easily just heal you.” I pulled up the spell information to show him.

  Battle Horn

  Level 1 Rank 1

  Abilities

  Battle Cry

  Cost 1,000 MP (100 MP with base buffs)

  Increases the Stamina Regeneration of everyone in your group by +2 Per Second for 5 Minutes.

  Note: As Battle Horn improves, new abilities and buffs are unlocked.

  “You can scream at me all day if it’s going to give me extra buffs,” he said with a snicker.

  “The higher rank ones should unlock much better buffs,” I replied.

  It wasn’t my first time casting it. I’d first used it to hunt down the minotaur champion after Waldemar’s death. It was little more than useless now, but in time, it should be helpful when
fighting with the others. Casting Battle Horn, it wasn’t necessary to make any noise myself. Something like a bull horn sounded all on its own and subtle ethereal energy covered Travis and Shamash at once.

  “That’s rather disappointing,” Travis said. “I was hoping you’d have to yell or something.”

  “I could always just shout at you if it makes you feel better,” I replied.

  “Children, focus,” Shamash rebuked.

  We burst out laughing to the lich’s distress, but Travis headed forward and I followed. I could already see small concentrations of mana heading toward us in the distance.

  The small cavern we took to enter the dungeon was long and narrow. I could see the opening at the end, but it was small enough that I couldn’t make out what the first room of the dungeon looked like. That soon changed.

  As soon as we stepped into the opening at the end of our tunnel, we were greeted by monsters of rock and fire—giving me no time to get a good look at the room.

  With Mana Sight at full power, I quickly observed the five creatures surrounding us. They were humanoid in shape, reminding me of the elementals we’d faced in the past.

  Faeastein

  Level: 474

  Health Points: 151,700

  Mana Points: 6,300

  Attributes

  Strength: 1,111

  Dexterity: 216

  Constitution: 1,517

  Intelligence: 63

  Wisdom: 21

  With a single snap of my wings, I rose up above the group of mobs. They all ranged between level 450 and 600. I cast Battle Horn. It didn’t have any debuff listed in its description and the buff it granted us was far from wearing off. Regardless, I put it to the test.

  I ruled out any hidden debuffs, but the five creatures were quick to react as my battle cry sounded. I had their attention. Casting it again, I watched their response. This time it had little effect. I believed their response was to the noise and not because the battle cry hid some kind of magical taunt.