Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  Even though I knew I could shatter the barrier with brute strength, I let my Primordial Cat Form fade and all that was left was indignation in human form. Mana shot from both my hands. Dark in my left and Light in my right. Both Alignments touched together in perfect measure as they bombarded the barrier. Calamity howled into a mass of growing destruction until it was taller than I was. Under such power the barrier put up no resistance and it parted like burning paper.

  Calamity remained in place for less than ten seconds before I heard a sound like rushing wind that echoed through Sanctuary’s Outer Perimeter and the tunnel behind me. The Head Mistress’s barrier was completely destroyed.

  I marched forward with a still expression. On the surface, I was calm, but inside me was a tumult of murderous purpose. I couldn’t help but imagine what state Travis’s corpse had been left in.

  Nothing obscured my path in the Outer Perimeter, and I headed right for the Pits. I immediately noticed Khun’s handiwork on the walls of the first and second levels which were now covered in murals. Jala, the young dark elf girl he was fond of, was a constant theme, but so were other characters I wasn’t familiar with. I regretted not being able to start the search for her, but for now that was a fleeting thought.

  I ignored the murals for now and walked close to the edge of the long path that was surrounded on both sides with a deep pit. With Mana Sight at full power, I didn’t see what I was looking for in the pit on the left side of the path, but then checking the right, I saw it immediately.

  Taking a running step, I leaped into the pit. Near the center of the room against the far wall lay a figure that was barely holding on to life.

  He was surrounded by a thick aura of Dark Magic which seemed to be holding his life force inside like a feeble balloon that could burst at any moment.

  “Mel,” I said without any intention of hiding my presence. “It is Elorion. Drop your Dark Magic. I’m going to heal you.”

  A muffled voice came from inside the shroud of Dark Magic. “Elorion. You’ve come.”

  As his aura dissolved and his mangled body became clear, I threw my arm forward with a large surge of Light Magic. It was a hundred times more than necessary to heal him, but my very spirit was shaking as I struggled to restrain my fury.

  His limbs straightened so quickly it looked like they’d break again from the force of being put in place. He only grunted as my magic did its work.

  Not all of him was healing, for he’d fallen on a jagged rock which had lodged in his back.

  I wasn’t as kind as I should have been as I hauled him into the air with both of my hands under his arms. I gnashed my teeth as I saw the rock that stretched from one side of his back to the other, but it wasn’t very tall. It had still severed his spine and would have to be removed.

  “Sorry, friend,” I said through gritted teeth. “It will be over soon.”

  I held him up with one arm as I jerked the stone out of his back with my other hand. His blood tried to gush out, but as a Light Mage it had to obey my every command. Nearly all of my 100,000 MPS surged into his body, and his nervous system, spine, and tissue were fused together in less than a minute.

  When I let go of his arm, he was completely restored.

  He was taking great gulping breaths of air and I wasn’t sure why.

  He saw my look and answered with a weak grin. “I missed breathing so much that I’m trying to make up for all of the time I’ve lost.”

  “How long?” I said. “How long have you been down here?”

  “Two weeks. More or less.”

  His answer pelted me like stinging rain in the midst of a hurricane. “I’m sorry it took me so long. Let’s get the others.”

  I didn’t even look or turn to get the right angle, before exploding from where I stood. I landed before the entrance to the Master Chamber which was blocked with one of Sanctuary’s stone doors. I knew very well how thick and sturdy these magic reinforced walls were. This one as well as its frame and foundation had been blown to nothing when our Mana Cannon had fired at Mistress Nava. She’d been unharmed but 8,000,000 MP had been fired over a couple of seconds. Even now it was a pretty impressive display of power. It looked like they’d been able to do a lot of repairs while I was gone.

  My perception launched forward and pierced the door. The mana cannon stood before me in better shape than it had been before we’d fired it the first time. It had been upgraded?

  One thing was certain. There was no sign that mana was being channeled to the mana lens or in the walls. In the room, I saw a couple of dwarves working. It looked like they were adding levels to the stone barricade that had acted as cover and a last line of defense before an enemy could enter the Master Chamber.

  I sensed Mel had arrived on the platform behind me. Without looking back, I asked him to stand back.

  “Did you get ahold of Richard to know what you’re up against?” Mel said.

  “I did.”

  Primordial Cat Form once again erupted to 6x. Not only did Mel move back, but he started to run. The last time he’d seen this form, it was a shadow of its current glory. With a single swipe of my claws, the wall crumbled and showered the room behind it.

  A moment later, I took a step into the room in my human form with my Skeletal Armor covering me from the neck down.

  The two dwarves hadn’t just stopped working, but they sat on the floor shellshocked. I tossed them a heal which slapped them back to reality. They looked up at me in bewilderment.

  “Forgive the intrusion,” I said. “You can keep working.”

  I strolled past them and neither of them so much as breathed.

  When I entered the room that was directly adjacent to the Master Chamber, a new face had stalked in, outraged as he sought to investigate the noise. It was obvious the man didn’t expect to see me marching right for him.

  I didn’t bother giving him much of my attention. He had a sinister look and wore a familiar chocolate colored breastplate.

  A bolt of lightning shot from his hand. I didn’t block or dodge it, but ate it on the chest without even slowing down. My tail emerged like a twenty-foot-long switchblade and swiped across the ground to wrap around his leg. Before he could cast a second spell, he collided face first with the floor as I lifted him up by the leg.

  He didn’t stop struggling and tried to get turned around so he could see me. Before he accomplished it, my fist battered into his temple. The force threw him into the wall where his head pounded against it before bouncing off. He swung from my tail like butchered meat.

  I dragged him into the Master Chamber where Khun appeared and tried to stop me. I knew he had no choice because Mistress Nava’s goons had taken control of Sanctuary, so I didn’t give him much of a chance to respond.

  A jet of water with enough pressure to push an elephant across the room flew into his chest. He switched to his phantom form in an instant, so that the water jet passed through him. Right behind him was the pedestal that held the orbs that had been placed by the current dungeon master. The burst of water sent them all flying from the platform to bounce across the ground.

  I saw Khun’s grin as I walked right through him and place a Master Light Orb right in the center of the pedestal to retake command of Sanctuary.

  “Welcome, Master Elorion,” Khun said from behind me. I filled the cylindrical platform with master orbs of all kinds. Not only did I regain control of my home, but Khun went through a transformation of his own. His color was based upon the mana orbs available, and now he had at least one Master Orb of each of the main elements and two of Dark and Light. I even gave him one from the rare sub-element Magma.

  When I spun to face him, he no longer had any overwhelming tone or shade of color. Even in his phantom form he had the complexion of a living person. “I’ve missed you, Khun. Give me a minute to take care of something.” Seeing that the door to the Living Quarters was shut, I asked, “Are they all in inside?”

  “Yes, Master. They heard the commotion and are st
arting to realize what has happened. It looks like they are lining up to await your arrival. Shall I open the door for you?”

  “Mel.” I turned to him before answering Khun’s question.

  “Yes,” he replied from where he stood glaring at the entrance. He was ready to charge in and give it everything he had.

  “Stay here and guard the platform. If any of them try to escape, throw everything you have at them. Don’t hesitate to kill them if you can.”

  “You don’t need my help?”

  I gave him an emotionless smile. “No.”

  Facing Khun, I gave him my answer. “Open the door.”

  Chapter 43 – Stop

  Besides my always cast 10x Mind Buff, I walked into the Living Quarters with nothing but my natural form. I saw the people lined up against me standing a couple hundred feet out but paid them little heed.

  To my immediate right was the dining hall and in the distance I could hear the occasional grunting of cave swine. To my left were the crafting stations but I’d hoped to hear the steady tempo of Russ’s hammer. With every glance I remembered Travis’s face and small moments where we’d crossed paths, spoken, or given each other a hard time.

  I shook my head to help clear the tears welling up in my eyes. “Where are you guys?” I said to Richard through mind-speak.

  “We’re locked up on the second floor, but don’t try to come and get us directly,” he urged. “Skyler has a clear view and says they’re all waiting for you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m already here.”

  “Go back!” Skyler roared, not bothering to use mind-speak, from across the living quarters on the second floor. His voice echoed through the gigantic space.

  I’d even missed him, the moron.

  “Go back,” a mocking squeal came from the group standing against me.

  I finally turned my attention on the wretched monsters facing me as their taunts started to fly. Besides a girl that stood at the end of the line and the pipsqueak standing next to her, it looked like an inmate cosplay party. Starting on my right, three of the guys had their shirts removed with tattoos covering their bodies. Two of them were bald white guys and the third was a short Hispanic guy who stood with his arms puffed out and his hands in fists. The most ridiculous part was that they hadn’t removed their platemail leggings. On the surface they would’ve had impressive physiques, but here they were utterly lacking.

  The next was a redheaded girl that was taller than all three of them who looked funny trying to stare down her nose because she was supermodel thin. At least she was dressed in a lavender leather breastplate that was fastened over a long silver shirt with dark pants. So she only looked partially disjointed with her supposed intimidating look.

  The girl next to her was a little plump in the face and had some ridiculous forearms that were on full display as she held a sledgehammer type weapon at the waist with both hands.

  I skipped over the next guy, for he was the one I was looking for. Beside him was a heavily muscled black guy with a shaved head and a full beard. He seemed to be dressed in some kind of monk garb that was cream and navy blue.

  It was the pipsqueak next to him that had just mocked Skyler. He must have been some kind of magic user to have so much courage in such a small body.

  The girl on the end was small but attractive and if I had to guess was Korean. She wore a plain black dress and was the only one not meeting my eyes. Maybe they weren’t all willing accomplices…

  As for the guy I’d skipped, he wore a sleeveless crimson robe and looked like he was always squinting with his small little eyes and full, dark eyebrows. He stood with his arms crossed and watched me with a smirk. “You must be Elorion the Light Mage,” he said with extra emphasis on my talent.

  “You’re Napalm?” I didn’t hide my hostile tone, and I certainly wasn’t in the mood for a conversation. I began walking toward him without moving my glare. “Where’s Travis?”

  “He died like a dog,” the bald shirtless guy on the end said with a laugh.

  I marked those that laughed with him. More than half the group. The feeling of pain that Travis and I had shared while we’d fought as werewolves hit me like a hot flash. I’d shared so much with him and yet now he was gone. I’d once considered vampires monsters, but then found out they weren’t all the same. As for the person standing before me, he was the true monster.

  The raging sea of mana that churned inside me started to leak and my aura of Light Mana spilled into the air around me. The unconscious man that dangled behind me I lifted up with my tail where all could see.

  “Speaking of dogs, this one’s yours.” I stopped walking.

  They didn’t cry out or show fear, but the growing murmurs between themselves grew feverish.

  I unsummoned my tail, and the man fell. I reached up and caught him by the same foot with my right hand. Without taking a single step, I swung him up and repositioned my hand before tossing him like a ragdoll. He flew end over end for more than a hundred feet and landed like a ripped package of lunch meat. His limbs twisted in all directions, but he wasn’t dead.

  A spiral of water shot out of the redhead’s hand as she hissed vulgarities and headed for me like a corkscrew. At one time, I would’ve been impressed.

  I began walking forward again and let the Water spell jab into my gut. It pierced easily through my skeletal armor and tore open a shallow gash of flesh just below my ribs.

  In the next instant, my natural health regeneration had already completely healed it before their eyes.

  My skeletal armor began to fall off my upper body to reveal to them what a true physique looked like. At least three of them were melee fighters and had decent physical stats, but even if they had me beat in one area, I had the 10,000 bonus in every stat. I also hadn’t just gone through an Ascension but had advanced it to the second tier. In Hallow they would’ve been able to participate in the outer arenas at best.

  I almost couldn’t stand it any longer and wanted to quickly wipe each and every one of them from the face of the earth, but the pipsqueak also cast a spell. A green cloud rushed forward like a ghost. As it covered me, it seeped into my pores and attacked my throat. A Poison Mage?

  I didn’t look at him and kept walking, ignoring him the same way I had the corkscrew of Water. Before I even had the urge to cough, my body had completely rid itself of his poison’s negative effects. The pathetic little man stumbled backward.

  At that time, I saw the Korean girl take a step away as if trying to distance herself from them.

  “Let me,” the bald guy on the end snickered. A large two-handed sword appeared in his hand. He didn’t bother equipping his armor. The second bald guy next to him removed his own giant battle ax and began striding toward me.

  “Stop!” Napalm cried. “He’s a shapeshifter as well. Didn’t you see the tail? Step back. I’ll take care of him.” Turning to me, he chuckled. “I was hoping you’d be smart. It would be nice to have a healer around, but instead, you’re just another stupid little kid like the rest of the fools we found here. It’s a shame, but since they seem to follow you, you have to die.”

  I didn’t speed up my approach but continued unwavering.

  A ball of fire appeared in his hand with an off yellow tint. Taking it in through the mana realm, I hadn’t seen anything quite like it. It gave me the same feel as poison, but it wasn’t…

  As he threw it at me, I wondered if Travis had suffered from the same attack, or if this small spell was just to feel me out.

  The yellow fire screamed toward me and I stopped to watch it come. When it was about to plunge into my chest, I reached out with my left hand and snagged it from the air.

  The entire group howled in laughter at seeing me try to catch the fireball. Only the Korean girl and Napalm himself responded differently. He stepped forward as if too anxious to wait to see how well his magic would work.

  With his flame in my hand, I held it up as if examining a piece of fruit. I felt the heat and an even gre
ater burning sensation that came from the off yellow liquid that clung to my hand. It was eating away at my flesh like—acid. He wielded a unique Fire and Acid combination magic. No wonder the others had trouble with him.

  My natural regeneration kept the acid from doing more than burning the flesh of my palm, but it wasn’t enough to drive the acid away.

  “So that’s why you were able to harm Travis,” I said as much to myself as anyone else. If the acid could eat through metal, then even his resistance to heat wouldn’t matter.

  Napalm finally seemed to calm down. Skyler was yelling for me to run and Richard was basically saying the same thing through mind-speak.

  The pain didn’t bother me, but I wasn’t immune to it. I imagined Travis being bathed in it and ultimately being melted to death.

  I looked up from my palm and gave Napalm a dangerous look. My extra MPS flooded into my own body like casting a Master Heal spell that had no end. Even as the sticky substance remained on the surface of my hand, my regen rate increased to such a level that my hand completely restored itself and I no longer felt much pain. The aura leaking from my body became a reverse vortex of Light Mana that submerged the entire area in Light.

  As the pressure built, the acid peeled from my body before it was cast away. I held up my hand where all could see.

  I wasn’t in a hurry as I continued toward him one foot at a time.

  Finally, the group started to realize that I was different. The amount of power I was putting out was something their mages could only sustain for a few seconds at a time, but my colossal aura was pressing into them without any signs of stopping.

  The Korean girl started backstepping and had clearly separated herself from them entirely.

  “Go free my friends,” I called out without turning to look at her.