Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  The remaining undefeated competitors were given their own section on the front row so that we were sure to have a good view of the fight. Even though we were more than an hour early, the place was already filling up. It was slow going as we headed down to our seats.

  As we closed in, I noticed the Tir family was sitting a few rows up from the competitors’ seating. Almost as soon as I saw them, I heard a voice in my head. It was Jale’s Aunt Alexandria private messaging me. “Greetings, Master Zerin. Would you honor the Tir family by joining us?”

  I wasn’t proficient with sending mental transmissions like Richard or Shamash were, but I had plenty of experience responding to them. “I’d be happy to.”

  Giving him an overly aggressive pat on the back, I informed Sai that I’d be abandoning him.

  “Then I will face my suffering alone,” he replied. “Don’t mind my wails if they become unsightly.”

  “Don’t worry. I have some knowledge in Sonic Magic, so I should be able to repel your soundwaves.”

  “That’s cold-blooded, sir. Like a lance to the heart.”

  We parted ways with a good laugh as always. Shamash had already told me to expect the Tirs to invite me to sit with them. Such an act was a statement that would be obvious to all. The lich would take this time to explore the outside of the city to look for the best escape routes. It was the most security I’d had since coming to Hallow, so I didn’t blame him for going. I’d hoped to get his take on today’s fights, but I also knew that he wanted me to figure this out on my own.

  I didn’t sit directly next to Jale Tir, for my standing in the family was far inferior to hers. A seat on the very end of the row was already vacant and waiting for me next to Alexandria herself. She was standing to greet me. Before following her in sitting, I bowed to Jale, who offered me a warm public smile. It was such a small gesture, but to the vampire world it was as if they were announcing my partnership and a herald was proclaiming it at the top of their lungs. I was nothing but thankful.

  After I took my seat, Alexandria offered me some kind words, but asked me a more serious question through mind-speak. “I’ve noticed you with this Sai more than once. He’s also approached us. Is he a friend?”

  I didn’t keep anything from her, and even tried to talk him up a little. “Although I’ve only met him recently, I would consider him a friend. He’s an ex-soldier that wants to be a beast-feeder but was given nothing but human blood during his time of service, so he struggles with the thirst.”

  “I read him as more of a playboy, looking for a free ride.”

  I held my laugh to a grin and replied, “He’s shameless, but I can vouch for him being a hard worker. He’s abandoned his family business because he doesn’t want to be involved with human slavery. He’s hoping to do well enough in the preliminaries to establish himself.”

  “I’ll have to give him another look then.”

  A sudden boom of monstrous drums sounded from the sky. It came from the energy-canopy above. Four colossal dragon-skin-wrapped barrels the size of small buildings were being pounded upon by vampires in blood-red robes. The roar of bass reverberated inside my chest. It was the first time such theatrics had preluded the fights. The final rounds of the competition were soon to begin.

  With his name being called from the announcer’s booth, Parth Gul arrived at the top of the stairs on the far side of the arena. He once again was wearing something that resembled a Hawaiian shirt, except it was tightly fitted over his armor and long-sleeved. It may have been meant to be a statement of wealth, but to me, with his pale complexion, he looked like an overeager tourist.

  Appearing below us, near the top of the contestants’ entrance, Eshana the dark elf’s hair was pulled back into a tight braid. It was black with a tinge of purple that was similar in color to the dark leather armor she wore beneath her coat of sky blue. I hadn’t yet seen her wear the coat but believed it must be to help combat against Parth’s variety of magic. As a Blue Mage, he’d have access to nearly every Alignment.

  Her repertoire was less diverse than his, but not compared to the average contestant. With a talent in Water, Earth, and Dark Magic, it promised to be a fight that utilized many different kinds of magic.

  I took a quick look at the dark elf below.

  Eshana Dara

  Character Sheet

  Level: 14,213

  Health Points: 5,003,500

  Mana Points: 5,039,500

  Attributes

  Strength: 1,377

  Dexterity: 15,994

  Constitution: 10,007

  Intelligence: 10,079

  Wisdom: 50,161

  Most vampires used high Intelligence builds because vampirism gave them a natural Intelligence buff just as my Vampire Form did. Eshana was different, as were most of the dark elves I observed. They placed a great emphasis on Wisdom.

  There was also something peculiar about the number of stats she had. She had more than 15,000 more than her level suggested. I’d gotten enough information to know that elves were able to quickly train their Dexterity without gaining levels, but 15,000 was a little exaggerated. Compared to the other dark elves in the stands, not even the ones twice her level could match her except for the rare melee fighters.

  Resting my eyes on Parth Gul, I observed him as well.

  Parth Gul

  Character Sheet

  Level: 14,463

  Health Points: 5,252,500

  Mana Points: 15,204,250

  Attributes

  Strength: 2,403

  Dexterity: 3,614

  Constitution: 10,505

  Intelligence: 60,817

  Wisdom: 10,003

  They were both close in level, so it should be a fair match. Parth also had inflated stats, but despite not having as many as Eshana, he seemed to have the advantage. Hers were limited to Dexterity, but his had been focused on improving his casting. It was still possible that her mobility would play a big role in the match though.

  One thing I immediately noticed was that despite his high Intelligence, my mana pool was larger than his if I included my refined mana. It was more than double…

  I was a little bummed that they were going to fight each other. It meant that I’d most likely not have the chance to face the loser of the match. Just the fact they were both experienced was more than enough reason to want to fight them, but Parth was the only other Blue Mage in the competition. It would be a shame not to face off with him at least once. Eshana was also a powerful caster with a greater variety of Alignments than average. She was also as obnoxious as a poisoned dagger in the back and would be fun to compete with.

  “What’s the matter?” Jale said, through mind-speak.

  It startled me to hear her suddenly since it had been Alexandria who greeted me. “There’s no problem. I’m just disappointed I’ll only get to fight one of them.”

  “Don’t be. If you win the preliminaries, there are many more experienced duelists we’ll get to face in the main competition. Who do you think will win the match?”

  It was like the grinding of gears to hear her mention the Festival of Parmida, but I didn’t let it show. “I can’t say for sure. I’d generally say Parth has the advantage, but against Eshana, I can’t bring myself to count her out.”

  “I’m of the same mind.”

  Our conversation was cut short when the two competitors reached their places on the arena floor. Eshana had been uncharacteristically silent up to this point. Parth pulled out his dagger-like wand to ready himself.

  Seeing his stance, Eshana must have felt she’d kept quiet long enough. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

  Parth’s response was rather ruthless. “I’m thirsty.”

  “Doesn’t that make the wait even more enjoyable?”

  “My wait is over.”

  “Oh? Do you plan on dipping me in expensive wine…? I’m afraid I’m somewhat watered down.” At her last word, before the announcer had even started the match, she tossed her hand forward
. A fist-sized Water bullet screamed through the air.

  Parth flicked his wrist and met Water with Water. A thick jet collided with her bullet, stopping it in its tracks.

  “Are you one to share with your friends, or will you selfishly keep me to yourself?” she called, while firing off a number of Water bullets with one hand and raising up a stone wall with Earth Magic in front of her. The wall rose to over fifteen feet tall and was about ten feet wide. She wasn’t finished. From one side of the arena to the other, the ground shook as stone protruded upwards.

  The nearly indestructible tile wasn’t destroyed in the process, but new stone was grown from what was already there. After my experience working with our Earth Mage Clarissa, I knew Eshana was using the tile as a template and just expanding on top of it. It happened so quickly, though, and in moments there stood a wall completely cutting her off from the rest of the arena. It was a tremendous use of mana, but she also had high Wisdom to quickly recover.

  Parth stopped casting entirely, and just waited to see what she was up to. While he stood there without a visual, she didn’t stop with the walls. Water poured from her body. It was as if each of her sweat glands was a firehose turned on at full power. Not only had she walled herself up, but now she was filling the space with water. It was a huge area and yet it was filling so fast…

  Soon the water was over her head and she didn’t even try to stay afloat. Submerging before it had reached her eye level, she disappeared beneath the surface.

  Her opponent hadn’t moved and looked annoyed.

  “Have you seen this before?” Jale said.

  “I haven’t,” I replied. “She normally doesn’t rely much on defense…”

  I watched closely with Mana Sight and saw her swim toward the wall she had raised. When she touched it, even her mana density seemed to dissipate into the pool that was now over ten feet deep.

  “She disappeared?” Jale said aloud.

  Alexandria was two seats away from her, but she answered before the others. “No, but her mana signature is being dispersed. It seems her talent with Water and Earth is greater than the average dark elf.”

  A mass of fire and rock appeared above Parth’s head that was as large as he was. With a flick of his wrist, it flew toward Eshana’s wall.

  As if it had a mind of its own, a wave of water swept over the wall and jumped into the air to meet the meteorite. It didn’t completely stop the falling mass, but its explosive power was quickly curtailed.

  The wall shook as it fended against the steaming rock. It held firm.

  What was left of the meteorite crumbled to the floor. At that moment, the meteorite dissolved into energy and rushed into the wall as if being devoured.

  Parth inclined his chin when he saw it and began summoning even more meteorites—over twenty of them.

  His ability to blend the Alignments of Fire and Earth was impressive, especially since they were both based on Blue Magic versions. I’d have to try it.

  The sky above him was filled with flaming boulders. They flew toward Eshana’s wall all at once. Some of them were aimed at the same spot, while others seemed to have minds of their own and headed toward different sections of the wall. Every part of it would be pummeled.

  Again, the water surged over the wall. This time from one side of the arena to the other. It was like a meteor shower versus a tidal wave. The tidal wave was broken up, but it had done its job by drenching most of the fire.

  There was a vicious tremor from the wall, and in places more than one meteorite hit. There were even cracks.

  I saw Parth clench his jaw as the rumble from his assault was absorbed into the wall a second time. The cracks disappeared.

  “I thought you were done waiting?” Eshana jeered.

  As his face scrunched up into a scowl, hundreds of rocks the size of beads shot out from the surface of the wall. It was like it had always been covered with killer hornets and they’d finally woken from their slumber.

  It seemed Parth had had enough. With a slash of his dagger, a wave of Dark Magic swamped the area and intercepted all of the Earth Bullets but a few. His armor easily handled the few that remained.

  He thrust his dagger forward. The Dark Magic wave ran at Eshana’s wall like a demon possessed. Immediately, the largest meteorite yet formed and followed.

  The dark wave slashed into the wall and stuck to it like a thick layer of tar. Unlike tar, it hissed with innumerable trails of purple lightning. I didn’t have to even use Mana Sight to know that it was rich in the Corruption Aspect of Dark Magic.

  As if admitting there was no way she could block the attack, Eshana didn’t send a wave of water to mitigate its strength.

  The meteorite exploded on impact, tearing a man-sized hole in the wall. It looked like water was going to bust out when the meteorite didn’t fall to the ground but instead it magically erupted toward Parth like a geyser’s spout. There had to be hundreds of gallons of water formed into a jet that would likely knock the Blue Mage off his feet if not worse.

  He still hadn’t moved from his starting spot, so he had room to work. A meteorite formed before him and launched forward to meet the jet head on. Another couple of meteorites formed above each shoulder so he had extras at his disposal.

  Both attacks canceled each other out, but Eshana had left Parth a surprise hidden from view following behind her first attack. A bolt of Dark Lightning streaked toward him.

  With a thrust of his dagger, his own bolt of Dark Magic leaped into action, blocking her hidden attack.

  A volley of attacks followed. Water Jets, Earth Bullets, and Dark Lightning flew out from the hole in the wall and Parth defended against each of them with an expert hand.

  It was at that moment that Eshana’s wall began to crack. Along its length, the cracks widened until it was clear it was about to collapse. Her attacks continued even as water began to leak. When it couldn’t hold any longer, it collapsed. A true tidal wave followed as nothing was left to hold it back. A fifteen-foot wall of water swept forward.

  While still fending off a myriad of attacks, the ground beneath Parth began to rise. He too was proficient with Earth Magic, even if it wasn’t at the same level as Eshana’s. To fend off the wave of water, he didn’t even plan on taking a step. By the time the water reached him, he stood atop a platform of rock that held him above it.

  Even though her wall had fallen, Eshana’s onslaught didn’t cease for a moment. None of her attacks were very powerful, or costly, but as I’d seen from many of the more experienced mage duelist, she knew the power of a well-placed spell.

  Parth seemed to be searching for her now that the wall was down, for he was sending meteorites falling toward different places along where the wall had been. Even though all the attacks were coming from the same place, he didn’t fall for her diversion.

  It was only when a wave surged up from behind him that he seemed to realize he’d been searching in the wrong place.

  He spun and threw out his empty hand. Dark Magic gushed out of it.

  Even though his platform had risen above the water line, he’d still gotten wet from the spray and overflow of the crashing waves. He’d sent a couple meteorites to deal with the incoming attacks that still came from where her wall had stood, but he hadn’t seen the arm take form from the water at his feet. It was Eshana.

  She simply grabbed ahold of his ankle and pulled. He caught himself before slamming face first into the platform, but she then tossed him into the water—the water that she controlled.

  He didn’t break the surface for more than a minute before she let him go. I watched the surges of mana as he fought back, but nothing he did caused her any damage.

  The water finally receded, and he appeared with her behind him, holding a knife to his throat. Even after the announcer called it her victory, she didn’t let him go until leaning forward and biting him on the back of the neck, drawing blood.

  She licked her lips clean of his blood to examine its taste. He pulled away and spun
to face her while holding the wound on his neck. The look he gave her almost knocked me out of my chair.

  “That’s disgusting,” Eshana cried. “Since you’re so thirsty, you can drink your own blood, thank you. It’s my gift to you. At least I have some water to rinse my mouth out.” A swig of water appeared in her mouth and she began to swish it around before spitting it on the ground. Before she left, she added one last thing. “Sorry for ruining your shirt.”

  As she walked away, his mind seemed to explode. He couldn’t accept any of what had just happened.

  I heard Jale’s voice in my head. “You find her behavior humorous?”

  I leaned forward and glanced in her direction. She didn’t look angry but like she found it strange. “It’s more Parth’s suffering that I find funny. Although, I must admit she amuses me.”

  “Does the way she treats people not irritate you? If she were to win against you, you would also receive added ridicule because of her actions.”

  “No, not really. The reason is because I know it’s just a game. Even though her actions might seem dishonorable, she does it to confuse her opponents which gives her an advantage. Knowing that it’s a game makes it easier to look past. It also allows me to examine her behavior as a strategic action instead of taking offense. Parth actually uses a similar strategy by wearing his expensive garb while he fights. Most vampires competing can’t afford to buy such a garment, and even if they can, they would never wear it during a battle in fear it would get ruined. Everyone he fights realizes this and knows he has had access to many more resources than they have. They automatically judge themselves inferior which gives him a mental edge.”

  “I can see that rationale. Is she not as feral as she appears then?”

  “She may be a bit untamed, but she knows it and uses it to her advantage.”

  “I think I like her more then. Also, she thinks Parth tastes disgusting, so she can’t be all bad.”

  Even though we’d been chatting through mind-speak, she laughed where all could hear. How could I not join her, even if it left me feeling awkward with the surrounding vampires watching. I decided sharing a private joke with Princess Jale Tir was not something to be ashamed of. Instead of the rolling of eyes, this time I’d be receiving looks of jealousy.