Revenge of the Sorcerer King 2 - 16

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Chapter 16

Oberon

The first undead made its way through the door and there appeared to be no traps at least around the immediate passage. We made our way through and found a large cavern with crystals dotting the area. I still didn’t detect anything living but wouldn’t be surprised if there was some sort of stalker waiting for the opportune moment. 

Irgire moved up next to me with a greatsword resting on his shoulder. “What’s the plan?”

I laughed despite myself. “Explore the dungeon.”

Our group made was in the center of the dungeon before the crystals started to glow. Not taking a chance, I channeled mana into a magic missile and sent them flying into the crystal constructs. The magic projectiles slammed into the crystals blasting large chunks free, but it got the job done, and the magic was canceled.

We continued on with more of the natural caves on our path. There were different types of crystal for each room which I assumed likely would have caused different types of aspect to manifest. I wasn’t taking any chances though and had started to shatter the crystals as soon as we got into the room.

“We’ve walked a good distance. At least five kilometers. Surely there should be some sort of monster,” Ted said after we’d been in the dungeon for nearly an hour. 

“All in good time. Why waste flesh and blood when you can kill them off with these magic traps?” I replied.

Ted wish came true after another two rooms. We emerged to a room that appeared to house a volcano at the center. I estimated the room had to be close to ten kilometers in diameter and close to two or three in height. A wave of heat made physical washed over us as we entered the room.

“You wanted a change. Is it to your liking master Ted?” Irgire asked with an annoyed gesture at the smoldering room. Black dragons weren’t very fond of fire. Goes back to their rivalry with red dragonflight. Something about fire burning away poison or whatnot. 

“I can’t say I’m too fond,” Ted replied rubbing the back of his head.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with,” I commented and moved into the room along with my forces. Not a moment after we entered did one of the flames that dotted the surface of the area start to move towards us. As it got closer, it took the shape of a human. I waited up until it threw a fireball at us. With a quick motion, I built a barrier around us. 

The fireball slammed into the barrier then exploded with enough force to cause the barrier to shatter. That meant it had a lot of levels on me. I ordered everyone back as well as to spread out. I’d hate for one goblin or undead to get hit only to take two or three along with them. A few of the undead were mages and I ordered them to start channeling water spells if they knew them. 

Drawing Promise, I made sure to stay close to the elemental. That would keep its focus on me for the most part. We would have to see how intelligent it was from there. I summoned half a dozen frozen needles and sent them at the elemental. It threw its own fire needles and countered them. The projectiles exploded into steam as they collided in mid-air. 

“I guess I’ll need to go a bit higher level then,” I mumbled before I stabbed my sword into the ground. Channeling mana. A sheet of ice shoot towards the elemental faster than it could move. The ice wrapped around the cone like legs and I heard a hissing scream come from the elemental as the ice started to melt. 

Apparently enraged, the elemental formed nearly a dozen fireballs around itself that it sent in every direction. No less than seven of my undead and one of the goblins were struck by the attack. The undead mages used their prepared water spells to put out the fires, but I lost four of the undead that were struck, and the goblin was nearly unrecognizable due to his burns. 

Ted launched his signature lightning at the elemental that passed right through the monster. Irgire also sent a breath of poison that evaporated before it reached the elemental. Realizing that the others wouldn’t be much help, I cracked my neck and took a stance. 

Channeling more mana, I formed a water cloak of sorts around me then charged at the elemental. It evidently wasn’t expecting a frontal assault and didn’t react until Promise was already stabbed through its center location. The blade started greedily drinking the mana that made up the creature. 

A resounding hiss echoed through the area as it struggled to free itself. I had to channel more mana than I expected to maintain my water cloak. After nearly a minute of struggling, the elemental grew weaker until the flames vanished and a red stone dropped to the ground. Relaxing, I bent down and picked up the stone. I realized it was the elemental’s core. 

Glancing at my status, my eyes would have bulged if they could. 

Name: Oberon Dark Phoenix

Age: N/A

Race: World Lich

Level: 63

[Necromancy Basic Magic Mastery: Adept] [Basic Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 30%] [Sword Mastery: Partial Lock 10%] [Rune Mastery: Partial Lock 63%] [Advanced Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 83%] [Contract Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 44%] [Space Magic Mastery: Partial Lock 72%]

Followers: 10310

Sin: Error! World’s Curse! EXP gain reduced by 66.6%!

Curses: World’s Curse, Ancestral Curse, Undeath

Boons: Forgotten Knowledge

Enhancement: [Body + 1]

I gained two levels just from that one kill. That meant they had to be well over level one hundred. Hell, if it wasn’t for Promise’s ability to siphon mana I might not have been able to contend with the monster. I glanced at the blade with sent a burp to me mentally. That was probably the most mana it had drank since I’d revived. 

I turned to observe the damage the group took. The undead while unfortunate weren’t that a big of a loss. The goblin was going to survive. Ted appeared to be starring at his status with wide eyes. 

“What is it?”

“I… I gained ten levels from that. I didn’t even do anything,” he replied with a gulp. 

“I’m pretty sure it was well over level a hundred.”

“Damn!”

“What are you guys talking about? Levels?”

“That’s right.” I remembered that Alessa mentioned he was likely in the same situation as I was when I first revived. “Think status.”

Irgire did so and I saw when his eyes focused on something in front of him. “A change roughly five hundred years ago made all our strengths become represented by numbers. As we are before the system, it has a hard time adjusting to us, but I assume you have a lot of locked skills?” 

“Yeah. If I started at level one the elemental just gave me twenty-five levels.”

“Not bad.”

I let Irgire study his status for a bit while I considered what to do going forward. This was a blessing in disguise. I was pretty sure we were still in the dungeon and if it truly was max level, then this wasn’t the deepest we could go. I didn’t have to cut through Siateth knows how many floors to reach this sweet leveling zone. 

“Goblins that have even a remote magical ability step forward.” I noticed that Gobrin had actually been with us the whole time as he stepped forward. He was so quiet and even changed to their Sun-touched forms, they were hard to tell apart if you weren’t paying attention. Him and about a dozen more stepped forward. “Good. You’re all going to learn water magic at this moment.”

I doubt it would help during the battle but it helped if another fireball crazy happened. Plus, I could have them attack the elemental before I used ice magic to contain it then Promise to kill it. The experience would be spread out among us all but a large force of high level monsters were better than a single person that was high level. 

Glancing over the floor, I saw several dozen of the flames. I wasn’t sure how they formed but dungeon monsters never truly died. We could hunt here until we all reached level hundred, not that I wanted to do that. The goblins only had enough supplies to last a few days. Damn mortals and their need to eat.

Alessa

“Once again I am glad to be a vampire,” I said as we walked through what the goblins were telling me was a pitch black tunnel. It had started out smooth construction like the entrance room but soon shifted back to rough hued tunnels. There had been some torches every few meters but soon even that stopped.

“It does have its benefits. I see none of your children were blessed with the same level of darkvision as you,” Helena said as we glanced back to the six that were following us. While they were more sure footed than the goblins they fell behind compared to the undead. 

I heard a sigh from Helena before she cast a spell. Several globes of light formed around her which she then sent to float at various points long the party. I almost wished she hadn’t used the spell. My vision kept swapping back and forth and it was causing a headache. 

“And some cons,” I commented back turning back to the tunnel and stepping a bit out of the light’s radius. 

“And some cons,” Helena parroted with a chuckle. 

The tunnel felt like it went on for kilometers. I was starting to wonder if it was some sort of trap when a room finally appeared before us. It was perfectly square with only a single wooden sign posted directly in the middle of the room. Helena and I approached it cautiously in case it was some sort of trap.

‘Welcome Adventurers! If you are reading this, you choose correctly! The path to the left was a trap left by an unfavorable fellow for an ancient rival. As he was quite powerful, I couldn’t go against him, but I did find a way to incorrupt it into my dungeon. You have chosen the path that was originally intended for divers! Enjoy!’

“Definitely something Oberon helped create. Other dungeons are more die, die, die. This one seems like you might enjoy some afternoon tea with,” Helena said after we read the message.

“I hope the others are alright. It said it was a trap,” I said looking back in the direction we had come from.

“They have Oberon. I hate to admit this and if you tell him I said I will deny it until the day I die, but he knows what he is doing and is probably the best suited person to handle anything that is thrown at him.”

I covered my mouth like she had said something horrible. “Helena! It sounds like… like you actually respect him!” I said with mock exasperation.

She gave me a rude gesture then turned back to the sign. “This probably means that the dungeon will proceed like normal on this path.” She pointed at the other side of the room where a doorway had appeared after a few seconds. “Looks like it wanted us to read the message.”

I nodded in agreement then turned to the rest of the party. “Everyone brace yourselves. We don’t know what to expect, but I know we can overcome anything with the people in this party!” I turned to the new passageway and head towards the unknown room.

“Nice.” I heard Helena mumble with a snicker, but I refused to blush. 

After only a few seconds in a tunnel, we emerged in a new room. It was more of a rough cave where sections looked like someone had attempted to form actually structures. Stone tools and wood littered the ground next to the areas. I noticed a glow that could be from a fire in the distance. 

“The vampires are going to go ahead first. I need to get you all bloody a bit outside of your frenzy.” Jade stepped out from the six vampires and nodded. The others soon joined her but looked much more nervous. I looked over to Sarius. “I want you to stay here with the Goblins and Undead. In case something attacks us from behind or we need assistance.”

“Yes, mistress.”

The vampires moved forward through the cave and I realized that without the goblins and undead, we all almost unconsciously faded into the shadows. I had no trouble finding them with my special sight, but I was sure mortals would be very hard pressed to detect them.

We made our way through the cave until we crested a sort of bulge around the glow. Looking carefully, we found a large gathering of goblins, only something felt off about them. They were acting like a tribe of goblins would but something felt scripted about it. Taking advantage of my vampiric sight, I focused on one of the goblins and my vision zoomed in on it. 

“Why are their eyes glowing?”

Helena appeared next to me. She had been the only one I could keep track of. “Dungeon trait. Dungeon monsters that are composed of flesh and blood are still formed from mana. These little guys are probably so overcharged with mana from never fighting that the usual tiny flicker is a bright glow.”

“Is it safe for newborn vampires to engage them if they are overcharged with mana?”

“Only one way to find out. To be safe, I snag one and we’ll run a few tests on it.” 

Helena vanished from sight again and I turned back to the goblin encampment. There had to be close to fifty or so goblins down there. I tried my best to watch for when she grabbed her prey, but failed to catch it as she reappaeered next to me with her prize in hand. I gathered up the others and moved a bit from the goblins.

I looked at the gathered newborn vampires then pointed. “Jade. I want you to try to kill it alone. We’ll help if we have to but we need to see how you guys match up.” 

“Yes!”

We backed up a bit and Helena revived the goblin by smacking it across the face a few times. She then leapt away so that only Jade was in the goblins sight. Jade had opted to bring bow. She had practice with it and felt comfortable using it. 

With practice ease, she readied an arrow on the string and sighted the goblin that was coming to its senses. When it saw her, it gave a shriek before it charged her. With a trum, she released the arrow and it snapped across the distance to bury itself in the goblins stomach. Before it could even react another three arrows sank into its body. A feat of rapid fire that was only possible by top tier archers, or a vampire with their enhanced strength. 

The light left the goblins eyes and it collapsed to the ground. The smell of blood filled the air. I jumped out and smacked one of the girls that had ran at the goblin and she came back to her senses. “The one who kills it gets to drink. If you’re thirsty, kill something,” I said looking at each of the women in turn. They all nodded while Jade bent down and grabbed the goblin and drank greedily. 

“I think they should be fine. This dungeon is probably like Oberon before his death. Fair to a fault.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

We moved back over to the goblin encampment with each three of the new vampires each taking a side of the camp, while Helena and I took a side each. We weren’t too worried about runners. It would just give the newborn vampires something to chase after they had their fill. I remembered my first night as a vampire clearly. It would do them good. 

Helena gave the signal by sending a wave of darkness through the goblin camp. Panic proceed to overtake the goblins as they rushed for their weapons and gear. We didn’t feel like giving them a chance. We all charged into the goblins with the exception of Jade who killed four or five of the goblins in a matter of seconds with her bow. Her kills clearly marked with an arrow protruding from goblins eyes and hearts. 

The goblins were much more low level than I anticipated as I turned one to a paste with a single punch. I decided to hold back and funnel the goblins towards the newborns so they could get more levels and confidence by claiming more kills. It appeared Helena had much the same idea as I saw her holding back on her side of the cave as well.

Two of the newborns were using swords but I saw by their third or fourth goblin they were basically scrap. They had no control or expertise with the weapons after all. They were using their claws to rend the goblins apart. The other three had gone for spears and while they faired better for a bit longer than the sword users, they also had to resort to using their claws and fangs to kill the goblins.

Only Jade maintained her weapon throughout the slaughter, as that was what it was. A few of the goblins attempted to reliatiate, but their weapons were strong enough to hurt the vampires. Their armor stop most of the weapons that could and the few injuries that were gained during the fight healed in a matter of seconds thanks to the vampires ability to heal.

“Why haven’t the vampires conquered the world yet?” I asked Helena more seriously than I was going for.

“One, because of the sun. Two, because you normally can’t make that many newborns. That is a privilege of the purebloods, to make as many as you want.”

“Really? How many do you have in you Famila?” I asked then covered my mouth. “Only if you feel like telling.”

“Ten. I was able to make ten before I reached my limit. Of course that changes depending on the person.”

“Is ten… good or bad?”

“Average.”

We watched the girls slaughter the rest of the goblins in silence. Jade had used all her arrows but had killed the most compared to the others. She was going around collecting her arrows while draining the goblins of every drop of blood they had in them. A look of pure estacy was on all the girls’ faces.

“I think that was a good first battle,” I commented looking at the fifty corpses shattered across the cave floor. 

Helena said waving her hand with a nonchalance. “It was a complete mess, but yes it was decent all things considering.”

“Well. Better to be safe than sorry.” I moved into the middle of the battlefield and channeled my mana into my lightly used necromancy. Ted had surpassed me recently due to his devoted studying of the art, but I was still decent thanks to Oberon always beating every lesson into me. 

With a deep breath, I released the spell and twenty of the corpses started to rise around me. I decided to go with zombies as they would offer a thicker shield for my troops. I sent them towards the entrance to the next floor while I waited for my mana to recover. Jade walked over dragging a few goblin corpses behind her. 

“Here. One from each of us, mistress.” 

I nodded my thanks then grabbed the closest corpse and locked my teeth around its neck. With the heart not beating anymore, it was harder to pull the blood from it, but with a bit of effort I managed to suck most of it out. After the first corpse, my mana had recovered by about three percent so I used water magic to pull the blood from the remaining five corpses. 

“I could get used to this,” I mumbled as the pleasure of drinking blood washed over me.

“And that would be the third reason,” Helena said.