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

by Apollos Thorne

  “Yes, but if there was a new master, they would have to have a Master Orb, or a large army to be able to fill these outer rooms. When I lived here, the master was only able to fill the Mid Perimeter and he had been here for two centuries,” Zorik replied.

  “So, a lesser master might only have the mid or inner parts of the dungeon filled?”

  He made a whooping sound to indicate that was correct.

  “Which way do we go?” I asked.

  He nodded to the doorway across from us.

  We continued on.

  It was slow going, but after a dozen rooms, we had run into no life. The only surprise was an inactive trap that Travis had to point out to me in the middle of one of the rooms. It wasn’t the first one he discovered, but all of them were inactive and lacked the magic trigger that would have made them work. It was interesting to note that my trap detection didn’t work if the trap was inactive.

  Without Zorik, there was no telling if we would have found the Mid Perimeter, but after about an hour, we did.

  I approached with Travis and Steve as we had countless times before down a long hall that was only wide enough for half a dozen people to stand shoulder to shoulder. There was no obvious sign of life as we started to inch forward. Even with Mana Sight, there was no concentration of mana in the area, only the kind common to the stone that the entire area was made up of.

  When we exited into the next room, the scale of the place took my breath away. The room reached up one hundred meters at least. The outer walls were curved like a giant semi-circle, with numerous entrances along the wall just like the one we had just entered through. Half a mile across, the inner wall mimicked the shape of the outer, but only had a single entrance that stood twice as tall as a human and had massive pillars to either side which held up a stone overhang. In the middle of the room was a great chasm with a single stone bridge in the middle.

  I was able to turn down Mana Sight to see that the blue-green light had brightened enough to allow us to see clearly with the naked eye. Seeing no monsters so far into the dungeon, I began to hope.

  Calling everyone to join us, Zorik looked to breathe easier.

  “Are we home free?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but this is a good sign that any new master has not yet been able to gain much influence. Still. It takes a greater being to kill something that possesses even a lesser orb. Also, if they have activated any of the inner traps, they could kill many of us,” Zorik replied.

  “It's beautiful,” Aeris said with a low voice which only I could hear.

  “It is,” I agreed.

  We approached the bridge as a group. It was wide enough to let us all walk across together. Not that we did without first testing it.

  I stopped everyone else from trying and pulled out 8 ounces of Iron Ore. If my observations about how Animate worked had been correct, my higher level would now allow me to summon a higher-level Golem.

  At level three, the spell was still expensive, but I would recover the cost in less than a minute.

  Setting the ore on the stone floor just before the bridge, I cast Animate. The ore immediately merged into one then began to grow.

  Iron Ore Golem

  Level: 465

  Health Points: 27,500

  Mana Points: NA

  Strength: 825

  Dexterity: 400

  Constitution: 1,100

  Intelligence: 10

  Wisdom: 10

  An eight-foot Iron Golem stood before us like a stone hulk. Its weight would be a perfect test.

  It had worked. Even though Animate was at a low level, the strength of the creatures I could create was based on my own level. It was exactly 100 levels less than my own.

  “And you didn’t use this monster while you were in the Belly for what reason exactly?” Olivia’s voice came from behind me, followed by a long whistle.

  Turning, I gave her a wink.

  My Golem turned at the same time I did and stepped forward onto the bridge.

  From the look of it, the stone that held up the bridge was three meters thick, so I didn’t really doubt its strength, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Once he reached the middle, I commanded my Golem to jump. He only rose up in the air a little more than a foot but slammed into the bridge as he landed, shaking the ground beneath us. The bridge still stood.

  Not that I could do anything resembling dancing myself, but that didn’t stop me from commanding my Golem to spin on one foot to face us. Leaning over, he started churning his arms like a professional boxer.

  It looked better than I remembered it looking for me in the mirror.

  “He’s so cute!” Clarissa gushed from the back of the group.

  With my Golem leading, we crossed the bridge and made it to the entrance to the inner section of the dungeon.

  “We are almost there. Inside the Inner Chambers are the most powerful traps,” Zorik warned.

  No opposition met us, so we went in.

  Chapter 24 – Sanctuary

  A long hall led from the Mid Perimeter to the inner chambers. It was just as wide as the bridge had been. Almost immediately we ran into what could have been a problem.

  After a few meters, there were nasty 10-inch spikes lining both walls just like a real-life dungeon crawler. There was no visible trigger, so we let my Golem go first. Nothing happened. The trap was only about twenty feet long and ran straight into a second trap of spikes overhead.

  Once again, my trap detecting items showed nothing and the same went for Travis’s abilities, so the Rock Golem soldiered under it first.

  A single line in the stone reaching from one wall to the other came immediately after the ceiling trap. Because there were no trap indicators, I suspected, but couldn’t prove, that this part of the floor gave way, or pulled back to reveal more spikes.

  As we exited the hall, we reached a wide room with stone partitions set up, lining the room with a few meters between them. They stood only about four feet tall. Just high enough that you could hide behind them. As many as fifty mages could take cover behind the partitions and lob attacks at whoever dared enter the Inner Chambers from this single point.

  “It is safe,” Zorik said with relief. “Come!”

  He rose up and flew over those of us that had been standing in the front, passed over a partition and headed for the rear corner of the room.

  “Does this mean we can eat soon?” Russ asked suddenly.

  Turning as I laughed, I saw him standing next to Skyler. He met my eyes with genuine interest.

  “I hope so,” I replied.

  “Me too,” Skyler agreed.

  With a sigh, I hurried after Zorik with everyone in tow. He was already a few rooms away before we caught him.

  Each room we entered possessed the stone partitions for taking cover. Some of the rooms were wide and some were long and narrow. The wider rooms would allow more defenders and the long narrow ones would allow a smaller number to better defend it.

  The last room was more like a long hall with a series of open-concept side rooms running parallel with one another. The rooms were really just small nooks. Defenders could duck into one of these side rooms if they were being attacked. When being overrun, they could retreat to the next nook and find cover, launching another attack before retreating to the next one to do it again. They would also make perfect places for an assassin to wait for his prey.

  Steve realized I was looking at him and gave me a questioning look.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  Understanding registered and he gave me a smirk. “I’m feeling sneaky.”

  The first door we had seen still standing in the entire dungeon met us at the end of the hall. It was made of the same stone present in the area but was engraved with powerful wings, like those of a dragon, reaching to the top of the door frame and running down the sides all the way to the floor. They covered the body of some type of demon. The only thing revealed behind them was what looked to be a human
face. His face was long with a powerful but slender jaw. His eyes were large and seemed to look right through me.

  “That is Xenos. He was the Incubus that was master here. My father…” Zorik said.

  With the revelation that he was Zorik’s father, everyone fell silent.

  Zorik hovered before the door and placed his hand on the figure's forehead. He closed his eyes, and I watched as his chest hummed. A moment later, he shook as if taken by a mighty chill. Moving with purpose, he grabbed a doorknob that was in the shape of a cross and turned it. The door crept open.

  A circular room emerged before us that reached up a few stories into a dome covered in etched artistry. It was terrifyingly gothic; gorgeously so. The same figure that was depicted on the door covered half the dome with his army of imps surrounding him.

  Great monsters covered the walls below, underfoot and defeated. There was a Werewolf just as powerful as the pack leader Travis and I had defeated. Dark Elves, Dwarves, a Vampire, a Minotaur and even a Succubus were all depicted in their moment of death.

  In the center of the room was a stone pedestal. It clashed with the rest of the room. Instead of a gothic mosaic, its base depicted arcs of lightning fingering out from the base of the stone platform at its top.

  I walked softly as I joined Zorik before it.

  The platform had nine sockets large enough for the Fire Orb that encircled a single large one at its center.

  “You place the Fire Orb at its center. Whoever does will become the Dungeon’s Master, then you must name it,” Zorik said.

  Turning to the group of escaped captives, I saw it in their faces. They were ready to have a place to call their own.

  Russ waded through the group holding forth the Fire Orb. Even without Mana Sight, I saw that it glowed with red power.

  As I took my scepter in my off hand, he handed the orb to me.

  Immediately, I moved to place the orb into the socket at the middle of the podium. With my hand a few inches away from taking control, I stopped.

  Besides the fact that I was the highest level among us, was I really the best choice to become the master of our dungeon? I had left Aeris and the others waiting for me as I leveled up in the Bone Palace. Only after Aeris had rebuked me did I help everyone out. I had downplayed Mistress Nava’s threat when I responded to her, causing her to attack us in retaliation by sending her Hell Hound. Would we still be in the Head Mistress’s Labyrinth if I had trodden lightly?

  I had gone exploring when we reached the Belly instead of waiting for the others. Then, when I saw Xaphan for the first time, instead of staying away from such an insanely powerful creature, I let my desire for new Blue Magic entice me to try and steal from him. What of our current predicament? Would Lady Contessa have even found us if the Belly had stayed dormant and we made it through safely with stealth?

  Shaking my head, I knew it wasn’t appropriate to just take mastery of this place without first hearing the others’ thoughts on the matter. I had already been selfish enough.

  Turning to the others, I asked aloud, “Who should run this place?”

  No one answered. Their reactions were a mix of surprise and contemplation.

  Travis took a step forward, the first to have his say. “You should do it. We probably wouldn’t have survived Lord Darius, let alone made it through the Belly, without your help.”

  “I agree,” Russ said with a big grin.

  “Same,” Mel agreed.

  With a cough, Olivia readied her voice.

  Those in front of her cleared out so that she could be seen by all.

  “If it wasn’t for Elorion, it’s likely we wouldn’t have had to kill every creature in the Belly,” she said, crossing her arms with a tempered scowl. “He’s often distant and going off on his own. Also, he has spent little time to get to know everyone or showed that he cared.

  “But,” she said, showing the slightest grin, “with that said, I agree with Russ. He is always there when we need him to be and puts himself in the line of danger for our sakes. Aeris also vouches for him and that is enough for me.”

  Russ walked over to Olivia and reached his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

  “I do vouch for him,” Aeris said from her place at the front of the group. With a hop, she floated up and placed herself on her perch on the top of my head.

  Holding up my hand, I interrupted. “Before we get carried away, is there anyone among us with a talent that might work well with the dungeon system? Like Travis’s Mapping skill?”

  “If I may,” Zorik said quickly. “A map will appear on that wall once an orb is restored to the pedestal.”

  He pointed to the wall with a large empty space in the shape of a large rectangle. It was on the far side of the wall close to a door unique from the others. Throughout the circular room, there were four doors in total. Three of them were on this half of the room and would lead back to the Middle Perimeter.

  The door across from us was arched and twice as high as I stood. Its trim was made up of what looked to be runes of some language I couldn’t read. A solid stone slab without a handle stood blocking us from entering the area beyond. There was a large empty rectangle of space on the wall Zorik pointed to, but also on the wall opposing it on the other side of the arched door.

  “I don’t think my skill would help. What I really need is some pen and paper to map it out,” Travis said.

  Everyone looked around to see if anyone else would step forward.

  “Nope. There is no one with a special dungeon master skill. That would be cool, though,” Aeris said from above me.

  “So, no objections?” I asked.

  When there were none, I found it difficult to speak. What Olivia had said of me was true and I knew it.

  I remembered that the Head Mistress’s Lich had said that Wisdom was more than stats on a character sheet. He hadn’t been lying. So, what was wisdom? With my stat so high, I was now able to make logical connections with an exponentially higher number of variables than ever before. But that didn’t make me wise. There was one thing all of the mistakes I had made the last couple of days had in common. They had all been selfish. I’d never considered myself arrogant, but I had cut myself off from certain considerations because I was only taking what was best for me into account. It seemed the key to true wisdom was humility.

  If I hadn’t been humble before, I felt it now. Despite my faults, everyone was willing to look past them and let me take control of the dungeon that we would all grow to depend on. I needed to do better by them. I would do better.

  “Okay,” I said, more to myself than to the others. “But I will need your help. Olivia, you’re my magic advisor and will remain the leader of the mages.”

  Numerous heads nodded in approval.

  I continued, “Skyler, you are my melee advisor and will remain the leader of the bashers. Russ, you’re his second and will also be my crafting advisor.”

  They both received multiple pats on the back.

  “Travis, you’re our scout and will be in charge reconnaissance. Mel—” I wasn’t sure what position to give Mel. All I knew was I wanted him as an advisor. “You are my Dark Magic advisor. I know this is kind of selfish, but I’m weakest against Dark Magic and will need your input.

  “Finally, I want Aeris to be my second in command,” I said, patting her leg.

  Her knuckles rapped against my skull helmet, bringing chuckles from the crowd.

  “Out of everyone here, she knows everyone the best and is always a breath of fresh air,” I said with a chuckle.

  Another knock clanged against my helm.

  When I looked up, she reprimanded me with a look.

  I mouthed the words, “I couldn’t help it.”

  “Each and every one of you has unique talents,” I continued. “It’s only a matter of time until we will need your advice, so be ready.”

  Holding up the Fire Orb, I waited as everyone prepared themselves. Turning, I examined the pedestal, hesitant of whi
ch socket to place it in. Zorik had mentioned the center, but the orb seemed to small.

  “Put it in the middle,” Zorik said, still hovering at my side. “As you get more of them and more powerful orbs, you can replace it. The middle one though is what will give you mastery of this place and bring it back to life.”

  “Thank you, Zorik. I also want you to be an advisor if you agree to it,” I said.

  His eyes found mine and went wide in astonishment, mixed with disbelief. It was one of the first times he had looked me in the eye for such a long time.

  After a long moment, he gave me a concise nod.

  With all of that out of the way, there was only one last thing to do.

  Turning to face the altar, I took one last look at the orb that was somewhat smaller than a baseball and watched the mana inside it swirl about. Reaching forward, I carefully set the Fire Orb in the center of the platform. As soon as it touched, the crimson mana leaped from the orb into the altar, lighting up the numerous streaks of lightning spidering out of its base. They shone deep red.

  What started as a murmur turned into a buzz, as energy filled the room. Like a small rumble of thunder, the empty map Zorik had pointed to burst from the stone and was suddenly visible as if it had been etched there all along.

  A second rumble came from the second empty wall. A question appeared there carved out in the rock.

  What will you name your Dungeon?

  “Any ideas?” I asked, looking back to the others.

  “Bed and breakfast!” Russ called, chuckling.

  Skyler burst out laughing, pounding his fist against his friend’s armored shoulder.

  “Vale,” Olivia suggested.

  Everyone looked at her in confusion.

  Crossing her arms, she rebutted, “I miss skiing, okay?”

  “If we are going to use that as our criteria, how about Santa Monica?” Travis said with a big grin. “I miss the beach.”

  “Chocolate ice cream!” Clarissa cried.

  “Gutbuster chili cheese dogs!” Russ said, nodding his head.

  “Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream!” Audrey sang.

  As everyone called out their favorite foods or places to visit, I shared a solemn moment with Aeris. The heartache was written all over her face as she leaned down and our eyes met. This was a moment to enjoy, but it was also a moment to remember all that had been taken from us.