“What game did you play before you were brought here?” I asked her.
“Greece.”
“Really? That’s the Virtual Reality Online Multiplayer Game where you fight other players in massive wars with Greek weapons and formations…”
“Yup. I liked the strategy the best. What about you?” She grinned.
“I played Juggernaut.”
“Sci-Fi Player versus Player, huh?”
“Yup. Plasma swords, laser guns, and concussion grenades. I wonder if there is a pattern to the games everyone that was kidnapped has played.”
“There is. Greece, Juggernaut and Elite Tournament Online are the three games everyone seems to be picked from.”
I looked at her sideways.
“If you would spend more time among the living you would know. We figured that out yesterday.”
“Right.” I surrendered.
“I’m always right. Girl power and all.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
This was getting silly. I’d take silly over hunting alone any day. Shaking my head I rebuked myself.
Room by room we cleared in a similar fashion. A few elites came at us, but there was no serious danger. Drops were average. In no time she gained 2 levels and she admitted my methods were worthy of praise but not in so many words. I gained another level myself and pumped Wisdom.
When we got past Skeleton Warriors to Skeleton Archers we ceased the old strategy and attacked smaller groups, quickly and in an overpowering fashion. I always stood in front of her since I had a shield and was better armored. It wasn’t necessary. Not a single arrow flew our way.
It was as simple as her casting Gust and knocking them off their feet and the both of us competing to see who could kill them off first. The competition was fierce. I did higher damage and could often one hit them, but Wind Slash could hit more than one if they were close enough.
As we got closer to the Skeleton Champions, the stone walls began to change from basic large rectangles to smaller and smaller bricks. There were also pillars in places as the area changed.
We both agreed caution was a priority. Each champion was equipped with the same Skeletal Armor I wore, so they weren’t just naked skeletons. They also had a variety of weapons, and some wore shields. I liked to consider them the first really complex monsters in the dungeon. Their tactics were just as advanced. They could full out sprint at you at a vicious speed and were handy with their shields.
This room was much wider than the average room, at least as wide as a football field. The side rooms had twin pillars marking each entrance.
In this first room it was possible to find solo mobs, so we would stay here until she got comfortable.
Our jesting slowed to a stop and teamwork became our focus. More than a single spell was needed to take them out. An Alpha Bolt to the leg was my preferred method to slow the enemy down on this level 150 monster. Without a leg, you moved much slower. Aeris’s Wind Slash did an even better job at it because it could fracture both legs.
Here the battles took longer but the experience was much better. Especially for Aeris who was leveling up every half an hour. Perhaps I needed to bring some of the others here and power level them a bit. All I would ask for was free meals for life!
Skeletons were interesting opponents. Their real weak spot wasn’t their skull, but their spine. It was hard to hit with their armor, but a good shot to the head or neck at the right angle and I could one hit them with Alpha. Channeling extra mana into my spell charged up its impact and made it even easier. Intermediate Heal was even more powerful, but cost the most mana so I cast it normally.
These mobs were a good example of how armor worked as well. The skeletal armor didn’t have any magic resistance itself, but since magic had to be propelled from the caster to hit the target if the armor was between the wearer and the caster it took the damage from the magic first. Even something without magic resistance could block a spell, making shields and armor very useful.
It wasn’t long before I couldn’t help myself and showed her how easy it was to sneak up on a mob with Invisibility. We practiced for a while from different angles to determine what was the best part of their body to attack. Though it might be a bit morbid, if Aeris’s Wind Slash was cast just right with a condensed width that focused the power, the skeleton’s head would pop right off like a bottle cap. Seeing her laugh when it happened made me scratch my head at her personality.
Within two hours we were both filled up on loot and started to head back to sell. Something unexpected slowed our progress. The largest skeleton, perhaps 15 feet tall, stood at the entrance not letting us leave. Its skeletal armor was equipped, but instead of just a breastplate, his armor extended down his legs and across his arms. A large two-handed sword at least ten feet long was stabbed into the stone floor between us and the exit. No sneaking out this time.
Chapter 14 – The First Boss Monster
Before us was not just an elite skeleton but a real boss. The first one I had seen. Instead of a name, there was only a title.
The Decapitator
Boss Monster
Level 150
HP 50,000
MP 0
Str: 220
Dex: 40
Con: 300
Int: 10
Wis: 5
Description: With talent and hard work a person can become a master at their profession. Here stands a man that mastered his; the executioner of an ancient kingdom.
What kind of crazy description was that? Well, at least we were safe for now. With the food and water I had, we could last for days.
Somehow we must have triggered some kind of event that caused the boss to come out.
Too bad Pain didn’t work on skeletons or this fight would be easy. Without it, I just wasn’t sure.
“One second. We need to find a place to sit,” I whispered.
She just looked at me as if I was out of my mind.
For the third time in three days, I was scared witless. First I had fought the imp, then faced the Mistress and now this head hunting mega skeleton. This time there was also excitement though. To be honest, every enemy I had fought up until now had been fairly easy once I understood it. Here was the possibility of a real challenge.
When we made it all the way to the wall on its flank, I stepped into a small room that happened to be empty of skeletons.
Turning to Aeris I motioned for her to sit. “You have meditation, right?”
She nodded.
“Build up as much mana as you can. If you have any ideas, I’m all ears.”
There was a twitch in her neck when I mentioned she should share her ideas. Not wasting the opportunity, I stuck out my tongue.
Did I have a plan? Sure, about 30 different ones floating through my head. Take out a leg first, or have Aeris fire from one side of the room while I fired from the other, perhaps walk out in the middle of the area and charge up an Alpha Bolt with 2k mana and see if it finished the boss off in one blow… Oh, I definitely had plans.
What I hated the most was the fact that I wasn’t sure how overpowered this boss would really be. Don’t let the level 150 fool you. Usually, a boss of the same level as a normal monster could take out a small army of other monsters the same level. For comparison, he’d likely be much more dangerous than the imp.
With my mana finally capping out at 4000 it was time to get serious.
“So this is what we are going to do…” I said with a wink.
***
The signal for her to start was when I started attacking the boss mob. “Let’s do this!” I said to no one but myself under my breath.
Considering the armor the skeleton had, I was pretty sure it was something I could learn with blue magic. I cast Force Learn on the armor and the sword it wielded. When the sword identified as a sword and not a part of the creature I knew it wasn’t something blue magic could steal, but a real magic sword.
The armor, on the other hand, registered as the skeleton. Perhaps an u
pgrade of Skeletal Breastplate… If I was correct, I needed to make sure to use Force Learn to pick up the blue magic spell.
Before my initial attack, I ventured to the far side of the room and started spamming Decay on each and every part of its body, but mostly its head. The Boss didn’t even look my way since it wasn’t doing any immediate damage.
I didn't wait to cast Force Learn on each major area of its armor. It only cost 10 MP for each cast. After about 10 casts, I allowed invisibility to take effect and walked back to take my place. I had received the pop-up I had been hoping for.
It would be up to me to attack first to keep it from attacking Aeris just in case.
I left the Creature Observation screen up so that I could watch its HP and see how damaging my spells really were. With the thick bone armor wrapped around the creature’s legs and extending over the foot, I wasn’t sure if trying to take out one of the legs would be worth the mana.
When it was time to begin, I cast my first Alpha Bolt. My bolt flew—though this one wasn’t charged. It was to test its effectiveness. The bolt hit it on the side of the face.
Even with Decay it only did approximately 750 damage on impact. Oh great. 66 more casts of Alpha and we could call it a day.
Immediately after, I cast Heal on it, causing approximately 3k damage. Now that was more like it. About 16 more casts to go if we could survive that long.
There wasn’t a lot of room for us to run around without other skeletons joining in on the fight, so a lot of how well our fight went would depend upon Aeris.
I shot off Heal after Heal making sure to hit each and every piece of armor. Slowly, I started whittling its life down as it picked up stride, heading right for us.
When it was about 30 meters out and that large sword was way too close for comfort, Aeris cast her first Gale right for its chest. Even with the skeleton at a run, the gale caused him to stagger back and to the side.
As soon as I had seen her cast, I had begun charging an Alpha Bolt. It had one ability that Heal didn’t. It rammed into its target with a lot of force. Honestly, I hadn’t used Charge much yet just because it wasn’t an efficient use of mana most of the time.
With the boss off balance I let Alpha reach 500 mana; about 5 times what it now cost me. This took about four seconds total and the normally bowling ball-sized orb of smoky energy grew to the size of a hippo. The Skeleton Boss was already recovering. At this range, it was easy to aim, so I launched it towards his face.
The massive boss didn’t even try to move. A direct hit scored 3200 damage.
The impact of charging a bolt was far more effective than I thought. 4 times the damage for 5 times the mana. Where I hit it also had something to do with it, I was sure. Still, at this rate, the math just didn’t add up.
It still had about 66% of its health left and I had used over a thousand mana.
Another Gale came from Aeris. This one hit it low in the gut. She didn’t wait for another round, but fired off Gale again, this time high to the back of the head. The skeleton lost its balance and landed head first on the stone floor.
It was time to test the full capability of my new Heal spell. If a hacksaw is taking forever, take out the chainsaw!
Charging Intermediate Heal for the first time, I let it grow. The yellow mist that normally blanketed my target began to build in a golden cloud.
The boss monster started to shift on the group, pulling its arms up to brace itself.
Still, my Healing spell grew. After two seconds I had only directed about 1000 mana into the spell.
It pushed off the floor, lifting itself with its arms.
1500 mana, but it still wasn’t enough.
It had made it onto one knee. I needed just another second.
The sound of bone against stone echoed through the room, as it got it finally got its foot underneath itself.
Finally. My Healing spell reached 2000 mana.
It began to rise and turned to face me.
I released Heal. A yellow swarm completely engulfed its head, and a large cracking sound reverberated throughout the room. It was so loud I was afraid it would bring every champion in the area to see what was happening.
That was not where it stopped. As if an earthquake was going on inside the Skeleton’s body, its skull began to crack and fracture in dozens of places and the frequency increased. Soon the skull itself was left in rubble and the rest of the skeleton's body was shaking violently. The internal combustion of the boss moved further down its frame. When the destruction was finished all that was left was a pelvic bone and some legs. Had my Healing spell just done over 20k damage?
Pop-up windows galore!
As amazing as it was, we were in trouble if we didn’t hide immediately.
I hurried to Aeris and grabbed her hand, making sure to walk slowly enough for invisibility to take hold. When we entered the empty room we had used before I motioned for her to send her light orb to the far back corner of the room. I did the same. We sat and waited.
Technically we were safe-ish with invisibility. The main problem with being invisible was that you didn’t really disappear. If there were dozens of creatures around it becomes difficult to manage not running into them. Hence our retreat.
Anticipating another fight to win the items the Boss dropped, I started meditating, ignoring my pop-up windows for a few minutes more. Aeris did the same.
Once recovered, I let myself browse the trigger windows. I was level 201! And for a bonus of reaching level 200, I got 50 extra attribute points to spend! Wisdom 880! 24 more levels for the 1000 Wisdom bonus!
But that wasn’t all. Skeletal Breastplate had become Skeletal Armor. Force Learn had come through for me once again. It was time to look fabulously terrifying and strike fear into the hearts of stuffed animals and kittens everywhere!
My final pop-up was another odd Undead one.
Your understanding of the Undead has grown. Soon you will unlock their secrets.
Blah. Just give me a cool spell already!
“Elorion! I reached level 100 and then some!” Aeris exclaimed in hushed tones. She was dancing where she sat. “I got a skill that passively fills me with Air magic, making me lighter so that I can jump higher and run faster!”
“Seriously? How much lighter?!”
“It starts at 5% and then gets higher as it levels.”
Looking over at her status screen, my smile turned to awe. I saw that she had leveled up 7 times from killing just one boss with only two of us in the party. She was now level 103. The way we were going she would reach level 115 before the night was over.
I had to admit I was a little jealous considering I had got a worthless skill at level 100. It seemed the skill you got was based on your talents. The way she was going she would become extremely mobile. I wondered if she would eventually be able to fly.
“What was that spell by the way?” she asked.
“I charged my new Healing spell with 2000 mana. I thought it would do less damage than that...”
“Oh. That’s amazing. I really haven’t used charge yet.”
We spent time examining our attribute screens. I gave her extra time since she had just gained so many levels.
“Elorion,” she said, with worry in her voice.
“Yeah?”
“This is amazing, but do you think we are going to make it? I mean, do you think we will be able to survive down here?”
It was the question I knew we were all thinking, but I had kept putting it off.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s possible. All that we can do is get as strong as possible and hope that it's enough.”
She nodded her head as if confirming something.
“I’m worried about the others. Being here is like having our dreams come true. The ability to level, use magic… It’s everything I ever dreamed of. But soon, and the timing might be different for each of us, the novelty of this place will wear off. We’re in real danger.”
“Do you think they might hur
t themselves?”
“Well, probably not. I was thinking they might get angry and do something stupid, like attack the Mistress or run off into the Underworld and get killed.”
I was silent for a moment as I considered her words. One of my reasons for going off solo was so that I could protect the others, but I really hadn’t spent much time thinking of them. My focus was survival. I was determined to grow as powerful as possible as fast as possible.
“I’m not sure we have the luxury of worrying about our long-term problems. Not yet. Who knows when we will be attacked by the lich.”
“I see. Promise me though that when the time comes you will discuss it with me. We are going to need you.”
“Of course. I know you think it’s selfish that I’m out here alone. I admit that in part it is true. I want to survive. But, I also want to protect everyone. I was kidnapped just like everyone else. I know what that feels like.”
She chuckled softly, remembering we were in stealth mode.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t think you’re selfish. A little crazy maybe. Getting attacked by that imp had to be hard. I think you know how serious the situation is. That’s why you’re here. It takes a lot of strength to be able to go off into the labyrinth alone and you are in here day and night.”
All red faced I replied, “It’s the beef jerky.”
“What?” she asked, surprised. “Does it give a buff?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I’m just embarrassed, so I said something ridiculous to change the subject.”
A full belly laugh burst from her, even as she tried to choke it off. “You are the first blushing skeleton I’ve ever met.”
I shushed her as the sound of multiple footsteps neared the door.
“Watch this,” I said, casting Skeletal Armor for the first time. What had been just a breastplate, started to creep down my arms and legs. Its weight was almost nonexistent and the rest of my armor was still underneath it as a second layer of protection. How effective it was really wasn’t something I was excited about testing though. Eventually, I would find out.
Underworld - Level Up or Die: A LitRPG Series Page 12