It was easy enough to come up behind the zombie without making too much noise. My new Boots of Concealment literally made my footfalls sound lighter. I was creeping myself out.
Slipping my Dagger of Frostbite into the middle of the zombie’s back, I saw dozens of blue magic fingers seep into its flesh and muscle around the blade. It chilled everything within six inches of the puncture wound. Stepping back, I gave it some room to see how powerful the Frostbite effect really was.
As it turned to face me, it tried to look back in my direction. Noticing something was wrong, it reached back and tried to scratch at the wound in its back. Besides the distraction, it didn’t seem to really affect its movements.
I had been still long enough to have gone invisible again. Circling, I came around behind it and considered what might be the best place to stab it. The neck might do more damage, but if it didn’t kill it then it would only limit its neck movement. In its lower back or glutes…
Thrusting low, I punctured the zombie’s right rear cheek. Part of me wanted to apologize immediately, but instead, I jumped back to see the effects of the spell. The zombie was struggling to twist at the middle. It was able to turn its head but was unable to lift its leg to fully face me. With a sudden jerk, it tried to turn the other way and dragged its leg as it did. I had successfully given it a frozen tush.
It wouldn’t work on skeletons, but this was exactly what I was hoping for. The zombie’s HP was already low, so I finished it with a swing from my mace. Before I moved on I tried stabbing a zombie in the lower back to compare the effects of stabbing one in the glutes. Thankfully the lower back worked just as well.
Alpha Bolt cost a lot of mana. 500 for a single cast. Now it was time to see if it was worth it, or if it would take some leveling before it was of much use. I knew its damage output was about 500, so it should be overkill on the Decrepit Zombies. I didn't know what to expect from the spell or the form it would take.
Ready or not. I held up my hand toward the closest zombie. As I willed it to life, gray smoke the size of a golf ball seeped out of my palm and quickly solidified with an added purple hue and grew until it was about the size of a bowling ball. Once it reached that size, I already knew that Alpha Bolt and I were going to be great friends. About a second after casting, the dull purple energy shot toward the zombie knocking it firmly off its feet and collapsing its chest. One hit kill!
It needed leveling up, but I couldn't deny the Mistress had kept her end of the bargain.
***
With that out of my system, I moved on. I was careful not to move on too early. If I hadn't killed the imp it would have been wise for me to face these zombies a bit longer, but after reaching level 83 I was through here.
I doubted there were any creatures I would run into for quite some time that would be able to see past my invisibility spell, but that didn't mean I would take any chances. There was no manual or tutorial here. This was my new life.
Trying not to snack too hard, I gobbled down some mouth-watering dried cow. Nothing like some beef jerky to help me forget the rotten zombie smell.
The next creature I ran across was a Lesser Skeleton. My knife wouldn't be much use here so I sheathed it. Directing spells was easier empty handed anyways. Sneaking up on the first skeleton, I tested Invisibility, finding I could stand directly in front of its line of sight. It was level 61 and didn't have any discoloration to its bones, but was almost identical to the Decaying Skeletons I had faced before. When I was within arm’s reach, I was convinced it was completely oblivious to my invisible state.
Backing up, this skeleton was slightly taller than its Decaying brother. When I was at a comfortable distance, I cast Decay.
It noticed me right away but was confused, perhaps not seeing me clearly or at all. I let Invisibility shroud me fully to see its reaction. For about ten seconds it looked toward me, but then seemed to forget me entirely.
Decay had started to take effect. The same discoloration I’d seen on the Decaying Skeletons now appeared on the Lesser Skeleton. With my new 2k MP, I didn't waste the opportunity to power level my spells. I spammed the room with Decay, casting it on every Skeleton I could see.
Next, it was time to come up with my mana usage strategy. I needed to level both Heal and Alpha Bolt without neglecting Decay and Pain. Not that Pain would do any good against Skeletons, but that didn't mean I couldn't level it by casting it on them.
So I segmented my MP usage. 500 for Alpha Bolt, 500 for Heal, 500 for Pain and Decay. The Extra 500 I kept as a buffer in the case I needed to use an Alpha Bolt or Heal in an emergency. Since I had 142 Mana Regen a minute it wouldn't take me long to regain my pool. Less than fifteen minutes to be precise.
Lesser Skeletons crumbled in heaps of bone dust. I saved my Alpha Bolt for the last skeleton, scattering its bones across the floor. There were two drops that remained after the skeletons disappeared. A femur and bone meal. The drop rate here was pretty low, but higher than the lower level Skeletons.
After killing the first, the level up notification streamed from the floor. Thanks to the bonus for killing a Lesser Skeleton for the first time, I reached the next level and upped my Wisdom. The experience other than that could only be described as awful. I would be in this same area all day to level just once if I didn't move on.
As I headed to the next room, I continued killing every Skeleton I came across. Leveling spells would likely be as useful as leveling up itself. If there were only a few enemies, I would first cast Decay, Pain, then Heal, unless it was time for Alpha Bolt. I decided to make Alpha my primary focus since it cost so much MP and would take that much longer to level. Heal cost so much less that I could cast it at least five times more often.
I considered going room to room looking for new creatures to kill. It would certainly gain me new levels quickly, but eventually, I would run into a creature that was too strong for me and end up dead or mangled. Also, I had a feeling leveling up my spells would be just as important as levels themselves. I had played too many games where that was the case.
After five rooms filled with Lesser Skeletons, I reached a higher level creature, the Skeleton Scout. These actually used a variety of weapons, although most of them were of lesser quality. They ranged from knives to clubs to the rare bow. Their levels ranged as widely as their weapons anywhere from 70 to 85. I had found a satisfactory hunting grounds—for now.
The room I entered had started to change. The gray stone was smoother and looked less weathered. It was almost as if the room was a living thing and leveled up with the creatures inside it. There were also about fifty skeletons total, about twice as many as the lower level rooms. This still left many side rooms and gave them plenty of space to spread out in the football field-sized area. The rooms did vary in length and width, some half this size and others larger. It seemed the first room was commonly one of the largest rooms, if not the largest.
For the first time, I really had to consider the best strategy for survival. The archer scouts were of the highest level, between 80 and 85, but also had the lowest HP at around 400. It was still beyond the reach of a single cast of my Healing spell, even with double damage. Alpha Bolt could one-hit an archer I was confident, but the sword-wielding Scouts had close to 600 HP. If they were aggro'ed, then I'd end up having to run as they tried to attack.
I knew what I had to do.
Finding an archer by itself wasn't easy. I was afraid every other creature around it would go aggro and start attacking me if I wasn't careful, so I waited and watched their patrol patterns.
If I was honest, the unknown damage a bow could do scared me. I found an empty side room without a door that I could snipe out of. As I watched, it became clear they really didn't have a specific pattern. At least, not one that they shared between themselves. Instead, each individual seemed to roam around at random, according to a nature I didn't understand. As I acknowledged I didn't understand them, or their motivation, a notification popped up.
You now better u
nderstand the essence of the Undead.
I was being rewarded for realizing I didn’t understand?
I finally saw one wander far enough away from its companions that I felt comfortable taking a shot. If I was wrong I could just jump out of the doorway behind the stone wall, and go invisible until they got bored of looking for me.
I led with Decay and Pain, before casting Alpha Bolt. As soon as the first spell was cast, the Scout became aware of where I was and drew back his bow. I was able to cast Pain quickly enough to stay arrow free, but I jumped to the side before I was able to cast Alpha Bolt.
The arrow soared through the now empty doorway where I had been. I stared at the projectile as it hit the far wall and dropped to the floor. That could have killed me.
Unsure how aggressive the Scout was, I began casting Alpha before I peeked around the corner. It only took about a second to cast; a second that could prove life-threatening.
Only daring to reveal the smallest amount of flesh to my enemy, I peeked around the corner with caution, seeing the archer had moved to get a better angle on the direction I had fled. His arrow was drawn back, but Alpha was already cast. My spell released faster.
Throwing my hand forward, the purple cannonball of energy shot straight at it. Aiming was easier than I would have guessed considering it was done by a matter of will.
I leaned back in a panic.
When no arrow flew past me, I took a deep breath and looked out again. The archer's bow was snapped at the middle, as was its body. There were dozens of pieces scattered across the floor.
Two level ups shot up from the ground, reminding me this was the first Skeletal Scout I had faced.
Next, I picked a Scout with a sword. Decay and Pain went off without a problem. This one also proved to be quite alert and was running at me a moment later. Spamming Heal, it took three casts to bring the monster down. The experience was pretty good. I estimated twenty more for the next level.
After putting down a knife wielder, I got my first drop. It was a pretty terrible quality knife but gave +4 to Dex. It was worth keeping to sell. I had already learned that the addition of the magical properties this dagger possessed was garbage, but it was better than selling zombie flesh and the like.
As I began to get into a rhythm, I found my mind wandering. The loot was good and the experience was better, but even these higher level skeletons were very limited in their ability. I was capable of facing something with a lot more difficulty.
Leaving the shelter of the room, I continued to pick them off one at a time. If a second one was close to catching aggro, I skipped casting Decay and Pain, instead fully laying into it with my offensive power.
My spells continued to level and my confidence grew. Soon I was purposely taking on two, then three, being most careful of the archers.
When I felt I was ready, I stepped forward, taking on groups of skeletons one after another. My mana regen was good enough that if I limited my use of Pain, I could leave piles of dust in my wake.
As I entered the next room of Scouts, I carved out a corner to myself and went to work. Strolling past the side rooms on my right I challenged myself by continuing to fight without slowing my pace. It wasn’t a fast pace but forced me to put all of my focus on what was in front of me.
Two groups of three, one directly in front of me and another to my left out in the middle of the room turned their attention to me as I sent an Alpha Bolt barreling into the chest cavity of one of the two archers.
Before they could take their first step, my Heal spell was already blanketing the other archer. A second one ended him before he could notch his first arrow.
A sword and a club wielder ran at me. They were the two remaining from the group in front of me and were much closer than the others.
I prepared an Alpha Bolt. Taking a large step closer to the wall, I let it go as they lined up in my sights.
The soccer ball-sized ball of energy plowed through one and continued on to leave the other crumbling to the floor.
Laughter escaped as I turned to the last two. There was no denying the power I felt. I was actually using magic.
My laughter was stopped short when I felt a stinging sensation in the back of my arm.
Looking down, an arrow was embedded in the back of my arm. The arrowhead had stopped just before it had broken the skin and exited out the other side. I turned a ghastly white.
Spinning, I saw an archer with a second nocked arrow was pivoting its bow to me. It stood in the center of the doorway of one of the side rooms. I had completely forgotten to check. It had been able to see me because of all my movement and casting despite Invisibility.
My predicament dawned on me in that moment. Knife- and sword-wielding skeletons were approaching from behind and I was about to be shot with a second arrow.
Instinct took over. I lunged to the side while throwing up my arms.
The second arrow jabbed into my leather armor, just nicking the skin of my lower ribs. The arrow cartwheeled to the floor. I retreated into a room. The two melee skeletons were already at the door when I turned around to meet them.
My hand cocked back like I was about to throw a punch, but with an open palm, I summoned Heal, but unlike any time I had ever cast it before.
Adrenal necessity drove me as I let mana drain into the spell before I let it go, blanketing the both of them in liquefied light.
Not only did they die, but they burst apart, sending the archer behind them onto its rear.
Looking to my mana, I had very little left. I must have subconsciously charged the Healing spell. It just wasn’t enough to finish the skeleton where he sat.
My wits had recovered enough that I cast Heal on it once and then stepped to the side, putting the wall between us.
I let Invisibility take me.
Listening to it get up made my already pounding heart beat like a drumline. Still, I stayed where I was, trusting Invisibility.
It entered the room, with an arrow nocked pointing right at me.
The muscles in my calves and quads tightened. I was about to jump to dodge when it turned with a jerk to the other side of the room suspecting I was behind it.
With a deep breath, I let a few seconds pass as my mana built up. Normally I would get a kick out of watching the skeleton struggle to find me, but the pain in my arm demanded I respect it.
I gritted through raising my injured arm and turned it to dust.
Immediately I cast Heal on myself, which took care of the cut on my ribs but did nothing to my arrow wound. Archers are worse than brussels sprouts on pizza. The arrow needed to be removed.
Sitting against the wall, I examined the wound, finding no easy way to take it out. If I pulled from the end it entered, it was likely the arrowhead would get stuck inside my arm. The other option was to force it to exit out of my arm from the other side. Pushing it through the skin was not what I considered a good time. It had to be done though.
Since I was already against the wall, I lined up the arrow and found it was the right angle. This was going to hurt.
Stretching my arm forward, I made sure I had the room to build up enough momentum.
I needed a distraction. Think of food. Homemade meatballs and pasta. Large rump roast that has been cooking in a hot tub of gravy and meat juice!
With clenched teeth, I pulled my arm back, like I was trying to elbow someone behind me. The tail of the arrow struck the wall solidly, forcing the arrowhead to jut out of the other end of my arm about ten inches.
I would have made most banshees cringe at the screech that erupted from me. Grabbing the bloody shaft of the arrow, I took advantage of my adrenaline and tore the arrow the rest of the way through.
There wasn’t a millisecond before Heal bathed me. Within a second I was already feeling better. That didn’t stop me from casting Heal another two times.
I had been so stupid. A mix of arrogance and neglect had nearly gotten me killed. What if that arrow had hit me in the back of the head?
My cry of pain brought a few skeletons to me to see what was going on. I started with them.
I ended up hunting Skeletal Scouts for another two hours, before reaching level 92. It wasn't the experience that kept me going, but they deserved all the death they could get. I decided it was a wonderful idea to try a few experiments.
Casting Decay on a high HP club-wielding Scout caused the bow wielder about thirty feet away to turn its head. This seemed to be the aggro range of this specific monster unless I screamed at them or made a lot of noise. Anything within thirty feet would be noticed if one of their fellow skeletons was being attacked. The distance between it and its companion determined how quickly it would find me.
At a range of about twenty feet, I cast Alpha Bolt, hitting the bow user as the basher ran at me. Two heal spells later and it was dead. My novice Heal spell had been leveling up extremely fast. It was already level 23 and doing over 300 damage more than it had at level 1.
From now on I would have to give the archers some extra loving care anytime I passed through here.
Chapter 9 – Getting Started
With the Scouts behind me, it was time to move on. My breathing grew heavy and my nerves were on edge. I hadn't had any close calls since getting shot, so it couldn't be that, but I felt as if I was drowning in an ocean of stone. Never before had I felt claustrophobic. Although, that might not have been what I was experiencing then. One thing was sure, the reality that I was in an underground dungeon surrounded by an endless supply of monsters had become very real. I was alone.
Was I afraid of the dark? Perhaps. Real monsters lurked in the deep recesses of the underworld, which I was now a part of. Who knew how many meters or miles of stone and earth sat over my head between here and the world of men? Once you reach a certain age it is considered childish to fear the dark in the world above. Was it childish to fear the dark here? If any of us lived long enough to have children and see them grown, what would we teach our children about the dark? How different would their lives be in a world like this?
Underworld - Level Up or Die: A LitRPG Series Page 7