Underworld - Vampire Gate: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  I felt the first wall of hardened Crystalized Fog fall as Leeman cut his way closer. Amilia was further away, but I felt her testing Light Magic against my Fog and having some minor success. It wouldn’t be long now.

  All my focus turned to filtering out the different aspects of my Light Magic. I could feel both of them inside my shield but wasn’t sure how to remove the Solar Aspect. For the first test, I decided to cheat. Gathering Laser before me, I funneled the mana I supplied to the spell through my shield. While it was forming, I cut the flow of additional mana, forcing Laser to take all Solar Aspect mana. It left my shield with half the mana, but it was that of pure Life Aspect.

  After getting a feel for the filtering of the two, I absorbed Laser without firing it off and tried filling the rest of my shield with just Life Aspect Mana. It wasn’t as pure as using Laser to draw out the Solar Aspect, but it worked. I also received another popup.

  Light Magic has leveled up!

  Master Rank

  Level 3

  My face lit up, but I ignored it for the moment. With nothing but sheer mana manipulation, I compressed the Light Mana that in turn compressed the bone of my shield as well. I didn’t have any Light Ore to add to it or a special Light Ore manipulation spell, but I didn’t need it. As one talented in Light Magic, my ability to manipulate my Light Mana was many times than that of Fire Mana. It seemed just about any mana could be condensed into a physical state. Solar might be an exception, but I didn’t have time to test it.

  Leeman was one layer of Crystalized Fog away and my shield wasn’t designed to deflect his sword. A layer of Smog rolled over my shield as I hardened it into a thick layer and hardened Fire Mana quickly followed. Even if I needed to repair it between hits, it should do the job.

  The moment before he reached me, Amilia sent out a pulse of Light Magic that blew back my Fog. It cleared the view for him to launch a precision lunge.

  The blow was aimed at the side of my gut that wasn’t blocked by my shield. Pivoting back, my shield met the thrust and jarred me. My shield had survived.

  I had to repair a small puncture in the compressed Fire Mana and hardened Smog. They had stopped the blade before it reached my compressed Light Magic layer.

  My shield worked, but I still had a problem. Leeman drove me back with ease and all I could do was block each of his blows.

  I continued to take a beating. If it wasn’t for my Solar Focus, I would’ve already been cut in two. I knew that Amilia saw it and just had to wait until she made her move.

  Her Light Javelin came in the same way the first one had. Leeman attacked and moved out of the way just in time for her spell to shoot past him.

  I caught it near the edge of my shield and was pushed back even more than when I’d been struck in the body. It seemed Solar Aspect Ascended Body greatly mitigated her spell’s effects, just not as much as Life Aspect did. It battered into my layer of compressed Fire Mana with more force than I’d believed possible. How much mana was she using for each spell? It was like she was really trying to kill me.

  The layers of compressed Fire Mana and hardened Fog parted beneath her magic, but as it met my layer of Life Aspect, it dissolved.

  I wanted to mockingly laugh when I saw that my shield had worked, but another slash was there to meet me a split second later. I’d have to be careful after each of her attacks to patch my shield’s layers fast enough so that Leeman couldn’t attack the layer of Life Aspect directly.

  Seeing that it worked, it looked like I wouldn’t have to completely rely on Solar Focus to defend against her attacks. That gave me more options.

  Another ball of Fog appeared. Instead of casting with my hands, I channeled the mana through my chest and let it form before me. Instead of waiting for Leeman to attack it, I cast it toward the ground. Fog once again filled the area, only this time I added Crystalized walls around Amilia as well as Leeman. She shouldn’t be able to blow my fog away as easily this time.

  I began to transform. Solar Focus greatly increased my speed, but it was too limiting in another way. Crimson Incubus Form, on the other hand, would increase my base physical stats by 100% and 1,000 while giving me a few other bonuses. Like wings, even if I wasn’t as fast.

  My stats were nothing to laugh at and I kept my 10,000 stat bonuses intact because Master In The Buff was still active. It would also only lessen my time in my buffed stat by a couple of minutes.

  Strength: 16,128

  Dexterity: 15,454

  Constitution: 15,820

  The cave's ceiling was limiting, but I flew up until I was just out of Leeman’s reach. I was sure he could easily bound up to where I was, but he would be much slower getting to me than if I remained on the ground.

  Amilia blew the unhardened Fog out of the area quickly, but the walls of hardened Fog surrounding her and Leeman remained. I’d lost my connection with my Fog, so I couldn’t manipulate it further, but from my new vantage point, I wouldn’t have to. The walls were more of a distraction than an actual hindrance to either one of them.

  To get the most out of my Crimson Incubus Form, I turned up the heat. I’d had enough of being on the defensive.

  As Leeman cut through the remaining wall of Fog, I was there to meet him, diving in from above. Unable to get his sword between us in time, his Metal Aura intensified to meet my sword and its point rammed into his upper chest. It was then that the true worth of their armor was revealed. My sword seemed to puncture his physical armor at first, but without any further give, my sword took the brunt of the remaining force and shattered.

  I swooped into the air, throwing Decay at his back as I passed by. Glancing back, I watched as his Metal Aura repelled the magic and didn’t let it stick. I found myself in the air between them. I’d hoped that I’d be able to pierce his armor and was going to chain a second attack at Amilia. My plan had failed miserably. I considered following through since her physical stats were so much lower, but how exactly was I supposed to get through her armor?

  Bringing my shield up to meet another Light Javelin, I felt the swelling of mana behind me that was coming from Leeman. He wasn’t a pure tank, for he still had 10,000 Intelligence and Wisdom, so he had to have an impressive casting ability even if it wasn’t his focus. I’d given him a free shot.

  As best as I could, I gathered Light Mana over my back without bothering to filter out its aspects to help me shield against it. It was like a massive claw tore at my back from top to bottom. I was falling before I’d even realized his energy slash had severed my wing at its root. It hadn’t been a Light Magic attack at all that he’d thrown at me. It was razor-sharp Metal propelled by Neutral Mana. An enormous amount of it.

  The attack hadn’t just sliced me open but thrown me over Amilia’s head to crash into the ground on the other side of her.

  It left me woozy, but I cast Time Crawl even knowing it would extend the pain I was feeling.

  -1,100,340 HP

  In a single attack, Leeman had chopped my HP by a fourth—and he’d used a sword skill to do it. Despite all of our talks about them not being willing to use any magic other than Light, they had never said they didn’t use weapon abilities. I’d assumed they considered those a form of magic, but I’d been wrong, and it had cost me dearly.

  That wasn’t the only thing I’d been wrong about. Shamash had said to use everything and instead I’d underestimated them. If Leeman’s placement of his energy slash had been different, like to the back of my head, it could have killed me instantly. Who knew what Amilia was really capable of if she went all out? She had as much mana as the mana cannon we’d created in Sanctuary. There was no guarantee that I’d be able to block her with my Life Aspect Mana.

  As time once again started to churn, I healed myself and began to transform.

  “Elorion!” Amilia cried. I could hear the concern in her voice. It almost stopped me from doing what I had to do.

  Sorry.

  Primordial Cat Form merged with Master In the Buff and my physical stats s
urged to 25,000. My Solar Form was nothing compared to the power I felt. I’d once again surpassed my record for the highest physical stats I’d ever wielded.

  Leeman rushed forward to place himself between Amilia and me. He was fast. Incredibly so, but as volcanic steam vented from my enlarged size, I moved. I wasn’t so much faster than him that I outclassed him entirely, for he was easily the fastest person I had faced. It just wasn’t enough.

  Amilia’s Metal Aura flared, but she didn’t have the physical stats to even flinch before my paw swept her off her feet, past Leeman, and crashing into the wall.

  A brilliant Metal sword was extended to meet me as I reached the Light Magic tank. I didn’t bother to block it but opened my immense jaws and swallowed it as well as his arm and half his body as I chomped down upon him. His sword plunged through the back of my head, causing no damage. My magma body gleamed in orange and yellow as I turned up the heat to full power.

  As I wrapped my paws around him, I bathed his armor in molten rock, driving him to his back. I cooked him for many seconds before lifting myself off of him and gathering my magma.

  Seeing that his armor was now charred and deformed, I grabbed him between my fangs and flicked him toward the wall. The rock crumbled beneath his weight, but I was there before he could slump to the ground. With a solidified paw of hardened stone claws each the size of a man’s hand, I ripped through his breastplate, leaving him bare.

  Even as Amilia was up and attacking me from behind with Light Javelin after Light Javelin, I barely felt their effects. I bit down on a chunk of thick, pried open metal from Leeman’s breastplate and lifted him in the air as I began to shake him back and forth.

  He’d lost his sword during our exchange and was blasting the side of my head with energy blasts from his fists. It crushed the side of my face, but even that did me little harm. Because it wasn’t displacing any of my magma, all that I had to do was reform.

  The entire area seemed to shake as something exploded behind me.

  As the blinding light faded, I found myself lying on my side dozens of feet from where I’d been standing. Much of my magma had been blown from my body in the explosion, but not enough for me to be forcibly changed back to my human form. I climbed to all fours and prepared to attack when I saw Amilia running toward Leeman while removing her helmet.

  She cast Heal on him repeatedly, which should have worked since his breastplate had been ripped off of him, but he wasn’t responding to it.

  Forced Learn showed me all I needed to know. Blood was gushing from his side and his mana was spilling out with it. It seemed an arm-sized sliver of his Metal armor had been jammed into his side.

  Amilia's eyes were deadened as she carefully removed the sliver of armor. How many times had she done this to react in such a way? Her healing magic was constantly channeled into the internal wound as the foreign object slipped out.

  I saw it at the same moment that she did. He’d lost too much blood already. I didn’t hate either one of them enough to attack them while she was trying to save his life, but I had remained in Primordial Cat Form to be ready for their renewed efforts. If I let him die, then I was sure the fight would be over, or at the least Amilia wouldn’t put up much of a fight alone. I couldn’t do it. Not because there was a chance for the others to go home, but because I knew I could save him.

  Heading toward them quickly, my Primordial Cat Form faded as my human form took shape.

  I was met with a dull glare. “He’s already too far gone,” she said.

  Shaking my head, I gave her a wink.

  Even that couldn’t cut through her lethargy as she fell back from her knees to her rear.

  “Just a moment,” I said and suddenly my perceptions were flung from my body and strands of Life Aspect Mana shot from my eyes. I didn’t hesitate to plunge my sensory cords into Leeman’s body. A large artery had been severed, explaining the massive blood loss.

  Using Life Mana Manipulation, I drew at the blood pooling under him and rejoined it with the body. As soon as a sufficient amount had returned, I created a Life Magic Barrier that would keep his blood in his body. Next, I stopped his heart.

  Slowly, I pushed his blood back into his cardiovascular system so as not to burst any small vessels. As I did, his heart began to expand as if filled with blood. Once the mess was cleaned up, I focused on healing the artery first, then restored the larger minor vessels that had also been severed. Everything looked in order, so I helped his heart start again, and after a few beats and a little help from Heal, it was as if he’d never been hurt in the first place.

  My senses returned to normal as I changed back to my Ascended Form. I found two human faces looking up at me in a daze.

  “Ready to go again?” I said.

  They just kept staring.

  Chapter 27 – Now What?

  “What are you planning on doing with us?” Leeman said after more than a minute. His body was healed but his armor was in shambles. Somehow his pauldrons, or shoulder armor, hadn’t been torn off when I pried open his breastplate and removed it from him. His arms were also still fully armored. He was a powerful man, but with the thick armor covering his arms and legs, his torso looked puny in comparison. I had a feeling the destruction of his armor was no small loss. It was still many levels beyond what Russ was capable of.

  His companion was in much better shape. The tri-scar I had left in her breastplate was no more than an inch deep, which left her armor functional, if not looking even more impressive.

  Since they were both sitting, I decided to join them. “Nothing. Like I said before, I plan on heading to the Metal Vein and helping my friend unlock his First School of Magic. Then I’m going to head back, inform my people what we’ve been up to. After dropping some things off with them, I have some vampires to kill.”

  They turned to one another and shared a look. Leeman then turned to me and bowed his head. “Why did you save me?”

  “Why did you aim for my wing and not my neck?”

  “We never had any intention of harming you beyond what was necessary.”

  “I healed you because you remind me of someone.” And he did. There were certainly differences, but Leeman and Skyler had much in common. I found them both easy to understand. They might be quick to act, but their intentions were just as straightforward. “When you say that taking us would be the safest course of action for the protection of your people, I believe you, even if I disagree. And why would I kill you if I’d rather be your friend?”

  “Do you see how it's hard for us to just let you go?” Amilia said with pleading eyes. “You know the truth of our existence, and now you’re telling us that you’re purposely going to the vampires, the monsters who originally wiped us out.”

  “You have no choice but to trust me.”

  They were silent for a long while, but neither of them disputed what I said. Leeman seemed to mostly resign himself to this fact, but Amilia was full of questions. “How is it possible that you can use Dark Magic, change into a demon, and then a giant beast, and yet still wield the magic of the Undefiled?”

  “The Undefiled—do you mean that they’re able to transform into Light Surgeon?” I said, changing into the form before their eyes. Dropping the form, I changed again. “Or Solar Mage?” I said while in that form before changing back to Ascended.

  She was shaking her head. “No. They do belong to the Undefiled, but they’re even rare among their ranks. You’re not even a grandmaster, are you?”

  “I’m not. I’ve just reached the Master Rank recently.”

  Tapping her index finger against her lips, she considered what I’d said before continuing. “The Undefiled are Light Mages that spend their life seeking purity of heart. Through their dedication, they unlock greater Aspect control of Light Magic. They can transform depending on their focus. You showed us both Undefiled Forms when dealing with my Light Javelins.”

  “Oh,” I said, then shifted to Life Focus. “Like this?”

  She studie
d my face like she only half believed it. “Yes. This is what my brothers and sisters of the Illuminated Cathedral all aim for. How can you possibly have both?”

  “It’s what I’m talented in. But you’re saying anyone can become Undefiled?”

  “Yes. With hard work and purity of mind and spirit. It takes years for most to unlock them. Many never do.”

  “What about Solar Mage and Light Surgeon?”

  “I’ve never heard them called by these names, but historically, only our greatest grandmasters have unlocked them.”

  It seemed even among the Illuminated Cathedral, it was rare for humans to naturally be talented in Light Magic. The fact that many of them unlocked Solar or Life Focus must be due to them reaching some kind of mastery with their magic. I highly doubted moral purity had anything to do with it.

  “To answer your question, my ability to cast Dark Magic and Shapeshift comes from my Blue Magic. I’ve learned these abilities from the creatures I’ve faced.”

  “I understand that, but—how were you able to become that giant beast? What was that?”

  “That’s an interesting story actually,” I said with a laugh. I gave her a summary of my first run-in with Xaphan the Primordial Cat. “In other words, I’m lucky to be alive.”

  “If you plan on your friend using the Metal Vein, then you’ll have to face the monster guarding it,” Leeman said, breaking his silence. “We usually only mine Metal Ore on the outskirts of the dungeon, but there’s a Metal Dragon guarding the actual vein.” He glanced at Amilia and kept talking. “We’d never be able to defeat it with just the two of us, but it would be a great benefit to our people if it was killed…”

  “A Metal Dragon?” I said, spinning around to see if Shamash had heard. He stood no more than ten feet away with Travis and Degima.