Underworld - Through the Belly of the Beast: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  What did I have? Fire, Ice, Neutral and Sonic were the main damage spells in my arsenal. I doubted Healing would do anything against the Earth Elemental, but I would at least try it. The Black Orb inside it, which I suspected was its heart, might make it weak against the opposing Alignment. I also had Decay and Pain—I doubted their usefulness as well but figured they might be worth testing.

  Out of all the damage spells I possessed it was the Sonic Magic that piqued my interest the most in this context. It was one of my newest and lowest level spells, but the Elemental might be weak against it. I pulled up the Sonic Blue Magic I had stolen from a Ghoul.

  Lesser Wail of the Banshee

  Sonic damage expelled through one’s cry. Dead mages who are resurrected for whatever unknown evil become ghouls and have this ability naturally.

  I’d forgo casting it from my mouth. Style points didn’t matter when no one could see. At Level 6 it had jumped from a base 1,000 to 1,250 damage, costing a 477 MP per cast down from 500 MP. With Intermediate Mana Flow the spell was 40% more powerful doing 1750 damage and it cost 40% less mana making it 286 MP to cast. It scaled well. If it continued in this pattern, it would do close to 7,000 sonic damage with my buffs when it reached level 100. I looked forward to the Intermediate level.

  Placing myself a few meters behind it, I raised my scepter and cast Lesser Wail of the Banshee at the Earth Elemental’s lower back. I secretly hoped it would cause cracks and send it to the floor crippled. That didn’t happen.

  When the spell activated a distortion in the air streamed toward it like a large funnel. Even when viewing it with time slowed, its ripples sped forward faster than my eyes could keep up. As it neared the mob, its radius widened exponentially. The further the spell drifted, the wider the area of attack. Instead of hitting the Elemental in the back, it was enveloped. Immediately, I recognized the issue I was going to have with this spell. It was difficult to direct. A wide area of effect could be helpful, but only if the situation called for it.

  The Elemental seemed to shake as the spell surrounded it. A low whistle came from the mob, like the horn on a train.

  -1,312 HP

  The Earth Elemental began to turn toward me.

  I suspected I could cast Lesser Wail of the Banshee one more time before I’d have to move or try something else. I wasn’t entirely sure why the spell had only done 75% of its max damage, but whether it was the stone mob’s armor rating or my theory that it would be strong against earth had been wrong, it was time to try something else.

  Flame Thrower billowed out of my scepter in a tight stream. It impacted the side of its head. At level 94 Flame Thrower cost only 12 mana per second to cast and did approximately 1,200 fire damage with all my buffs. As you can imagine, that was not enough for my tastes. I funneled 182 additional mana per minute into the spell to hopefully melt its head.

  -982 HP

  Though it did seem like the side of its head had started to droop, the low damage output was unexpected.

  I started to sidestep away from it. I put some extra distance between us while I was at it.

  Ice Shard formed at the end of my scepter and blasted high, hitting the Elemental on the same side of the head.

  -530 HP

  Even though the shard had left a serious dent, the damage was minimal.

  Seriously?

  Although I was in no immediate danger, another fear of mine was beginning to be realized. Outside of killing the Undead and enemies weak against a Light Alignment, my advantage here was gone. What if all my spells were weak against it?

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

  I cast Decay on the mob and retreated into a backward creep for a few seconds. Nothing. Pain was just as useless. When I cast a typical Heal spell, there wasn’t even a damage or heal indicator.

  I sighed in frustration.

  The Elemental stopped trying to turn after me and spun the other way, moving twice as fast as it had before. As it pivoted, its arm swung like it was about to throw something. Its fist disconnected from its arm and flew toward me.

  It took little effort to dodge the attack, but I remembered that this thing had 100 Dexterity and 400 Strength. I didn’t want to test its damage output.

  With only one thing left to test, I reached toward it, casting Alpha Bolt. I allowed 1,000 MP to enhance the spell. Its purple energy threw sparks as it built at the end of my scepter. When released it barreled forward like a cannon, leveling it in the chest.

  It fell, landing solidly on its back. Steam rose off it as the energy dissipated.

  -2905 HP.

  I shook my head, almost not believing what I saw as the creature moved to climb to its feet. A 1,000 MP-charged Alpha Bolt and it still had half of its HP left?

  There was no doubt I could defeat this creature with a few more casts of Alpha Bolt, but it had to have a weakness of some kind. I remembered the Head Mistress telling me the story of the ancient humans that use to live in the Underworld. They had been defeated because the Vampire Lords had first defeated their armor before attacking them. They had chained spells together to get the best effect. It was worth a shot.

  Perhaps, if I first fried the Elemental with fire, then attacked it with ice, the temperature difference would cause it to crack like a hot glass run under cool water.

  I widened the area of effect for Flame Thrower and began to roast him. His HP was chipped away as the flames surrounded him.

  -110 HP

  -94 HP

  -102 HP

  As I released the spell, I focused my mind on what I was about to do. It was a manipulation of Ice Shard that I had never tried. When I had the image of what I was about to do planted firmly in my mind, I let my mana flow.

  From the end of my scepter gushed a flow of sleet that caked the Earth Elemental’s legs. They weren’t as thick as his torso, so they seemed like the best target.

  The creature resumed trying to catch me. After a few steps and no damage notifications, I was certain something had gone wrong. Were its legs too thick for my plan to have an effect?

  I scrambled for another possible combo, unable to keep from grinning when an idea hit me.

  Letting the Elemental close in until he was only a step away, I thrust my scepter right at its chest as I let Wail of the Banshee blast sound.

  It was close enough that the mob’s torso was blasted with the attack. This time as it started to shake it crumbled apart and blanketed my legs in debris.

  -4,515 HP

  The Level Up notification streamed up from the floor. I received bonus experience since it was the first Earth Elemental I had killed. Now I was level 262 and had 25 stat points to spend.

  Being covered in dirt didn’t diminish my elation. I held my hands up like I had just made a field goal and nodded my head back and forth. I really wished there was a dancing skill to make up for my lack of ability.

  So trying to defeat the Earth Elemental with quick changes of temperatures didn’t work, but casting Flame Thrower on the mob must have leeched the moisture out of the rock, leaving it brittle. In that state Wail of the Banshee was able to rattle it to pieces. That was a pattern I could duplicate!

  Looking down, I saw what I had half expected. There were two piles of ore nuggets.

  4 oz of Iron Ore

  7 oz of Bauxite Ore

  With a shrug, I picked up the ore and deposited it in my inventory. It wasn’t a lot, but if we could kill these things in bulk then we would have all the common ore we could ever need. I hoped they would also drop some of the rarer ores Russ was after.

  There was a sudden rumble from the middle of the floor. I hurried away and braced myself with a hand against the bone wall close to the palace entrance.

  What started like a small burrow the size of a mole hole quickly proved to be anything but. It grew in width until it was the size of a family-sized pasta bowl then began sprouting up from the ground.

  Is the Elemental respawning already?

  As the earth creatur
e started to take form, it was twice the size of the Earth Elemental, with robes of smooth red rock. Its face was just as detailed, but it possessed a crystalline aspect to its eyes and dark pupils.

  When its eyes found me while I was cloaked in Invisibility, I knew it was far more than the first creature.

  I immediately studied its magic aura. Instead of a channel of cloudy brown, it possessed a dense fog of mana in a much deeper and richer shade of brown. If it had a dark orb it wasn’t visible or was overshadowed by the intensity of its mana.

  Casting Creature Observation didn’t give me much information.

  Creature of the Earth

  Level:?

  Strength:?

  Dexterity:?

  Constitution:?

  Well, that didn’t tell me anything except it was a much higher level than me.

  “Welcome to the Earth Level!” the creature bellowed with drawn out words and an odd echo to its voice. Even if it could see me, it didn’t match my speed of thought as Mistress Nava had.

  Since it obviously knew where I was, I released Invisibility and lessened the mana being filtered into my eyes.

  “Oh. There you are!” it said, a grin spanning its slender face.

  “Wait… You couldn’t see me?” I asked, taken aback.

  “Ha! You are on my chunk of earth! I could feel your every step.”

  I stared at him, making the face a fly might make the moment before it splatters on a windshield.

  “Do I fight you?” I asked.

  “You may, but I’ll just run away,” it replied with a smile.

  “Then why are you here?”

  “I am the Earth Level Overseer. You can call me The Rock or Hard. Because I am hard as a rock and I am rock. That’s an interesting concept right there. What is it to rock? Most rocks don’t act but are. Is to rock to be, or is it to be hard? Yes, to both, and of course, a resounding no! I rock, for I am of rock, but to define what it is to rock is just as hard.”

  I raised a brow.

  “Forgive my manners,” he said, mimicking a sigh without expelling any air. “I have a job to do and you have rocks to grind. To your left is the west wing. There you will find Earth Elementals similar to the one you just faced. They will gradually get stronger as you face them until you make it to the last room and face their champion. To the right, it is much the same, except the creatures you face there will be much more unique and possess a variety of abilities. I recommend conquering the west wing before you face the earth creatures of the east. After you have had your fill of fighting both, enter the master door behind me. In there you will face the level boss. It’s pretty simple really. Have fun!”

  “You are really here as a guide?” I asked, finding it hard to believe.

  “Head Mistress Lilith does not have the time to be here herself,” he said as if that was all that needed to be said.

  “Okay… Are the Earth Elementals grouped together behind the door to the left?”

  “Uh. I can’t tell you that. Not unless you bribe me. Do you have any gold? I know its softness gives me love handles, but it has the sweetest chew to it.”

  “Sorry. I think I will figure it out for myself. Thank you, Rock.”

  “Hard,” he insisted, “for I am hard like a rock.”

  “How about Rock Hard.”

  “I, I do like that. Do I rock, hard, or am I hard like a rock? Could it be both? Thank you, Flesh Soft! Because you flesh, softly!”

  Do you tell a rock man that he makes no sense?

  “You can call me Elorion,” I offered.

  “Very well, Elorion Flesh Soft. If you are not splattered when facing my rock brothers, I shall see you again.”

  A thought came to mind and I just couldn’t help myself, so I asked, “Rock Hard, would you like some bacon?”

  “Eww. As in the fatty part of those large cave rodents? Keep your bacon to yourself, Flesh Soft.”

  “I had to ask.”

  “No, you didn’t. But thanks anyway.”

  “Later, Rock Hard.”

  With a wave, he said his farewell. “Stay soft!”

  Turning Invisibility back on, I tried to walk away softly enough he couldn’t track me.

  “I feel that!” he said with an echoey chuckle.

  “Bye, Rock Hard…”

  Chapter 7 – Earth Elementals

  I turned my attention to the door to the west wing. Before approaching, I took a seat against the wall and meditated to completely restore my MP to its 38k max. Instead of spending my 25 stat points I saved for later. I was pretty sure I would spend them on Intelligence since that was the stat I was working on increasing to get the bonuses that would come when it reached 1,000. Thanks to Vampire’s Might, I already had the passive bonuses that came from having 100 in all my physical stats, so there was no use pursuing them.

  What was important now was finding more of these Earth Elementals and killing as many of them as possible to level up. During that time, I hoped to use Force Learn to strip a dying Elemental of the knowledge necessary to learn the Blue Magic Animation. I also needed to try Vampire’s Might, which I doubted would do me any good. Rocks have no blood after all.

  Fully prepared, I approached the door to the west wing. This one was made of red clay and stood only a few feet over my head. The handle was made of a stone bar that hung perpendicular to the ground. With a push, the door swung open on its own.

  Earth Elemental

  Level: 315

  Health Points: 10,750

  Mana Points: NA

  Endurance: 5,275

  Strength: 400

  Dexterity: 100

  Constitution: 1,075

  Intelligence: 50

  Wisdom: 20

  There was only one mob standing in the middle of the small room as if all it had to do all day was stand here waiting for someone to enter. Its face seemed to come awake as the door opened, as if it had been asleep on its feet.

  Calming myself with a breath, I pumped more mana into my eyes to speed up my perceptions to retain the greatest advantage I could.

  I knew the basic Elementals like this weren’t immune to my Invisibility like the Overseer had been. Although I suspected all Earth creatures had a similar ability, just to a lesser extent.

  The room was square with red stone on all sides, with a high ceiling. There was a door to the left, identical to the one I had just entered through. Behind the Elemental was a gate of red stone bars from ceiling to floor. There was enough space between them that I could see another small room almost identical to this one that held two Earth Elementals. If only I could somehow blast through the bars.

  I began by circling the Earth Elemental like the last one I had faced. I didn’t want to make the mistake of thinking that I already entirely understood these creatures. The last one had surprised me by upping its speed and throwing a rock fist in my direction. Still, this shouldn’t take long.

  The Elemental walked forward. Its unnaturally soft footfalls clicked as it went.

  When I was at its rear, I lifted my scepter and let Flame Thrower rage into life. I drenched the creature in fire for three seconds before stepping forward.

  It had turned and taken a step forward before I released my next spell. Wail of the Banshee reverberated into it. I didn’t just cast it once but sent a steady flow of mana into the spell to keep it blaring. At the same time, I started to pour mana into my eyes, readying Force Learn. I quickly passed 1,000 mana and reached 3,000 less than a second later. The extent of the power I was holding back felt as alarming as the first time I cast it and was just as intoxicating.

  The Earth Elemental quaked apart. It wasn’t as quick of an end as the last one because I had already taken half of its HP, but even as it fought against the sonic onslaught, it was no use.

  As the Elemental shook apart, I watched with Mana Sight as the thick fog of brown mana that flowed through it started to dissipate. It was as if there were cracks in the shell of its body and its life force was starting to s
eep out. As the brown mana escaped, the black orb started to lose form. It was being pulled apart.

  At the moment that the black orb lost form, the torrent of mana that I had been holding back rushed to fulfill its purpose. Time froze, and I was transported into the failing shell of the Earth Elemental. The black orb was little more than a figureless ink blob at this point, but its purpose became clear. The orb had in a sense been the heart of the creature. It was the power directing the Earth Magic in its currents and giving it purpose. The Dark Magic was its life force. The Earth Magic was its clay. Its physical form was one with the Earth Magic. Each without the other could not exist in the same form.

  You have learned the Blue Magic, Animation!

  Animation

  When used, you gain the ability to create and control a Golem. As the spell levels up, you will be able to manage more than one. The abilities of the Golem will depend upon the level of the spell and the item consumed in its creation.

  Requirements:

  Earth Golem – Ore, or refined ore. Different ores give the Golem different characteristics.

  Wind Golem – Pure source of gas. Different gasses give the Golem different characteristics.

  Fire Golem – Fire. What is fueling the fire will give the Golem different characteristics.

  Ice Golem – Ice, Water, or Vapor. The different forms of water and the water’s make up will give the Golem different characteristics.

  Note: For more advanced Golems or Golems using other than base schools of magic, experimentation is required.

  I would have forgotten the ore it had dropped on the ground if the notification didn’t mention that ore was required to create an Earth Golem. To celebrate, I took out my bag of jerky and tore off a chunk.

  Animation was incredible. It was too soon to say, but it sounded like it had as much utility as blue magic itself. I could only imagine having a Golem of each element and being prepared for any situation. The big limitation was immediately apparent. It limited me to one Golem until it leveled up.