15 The Might of Magic

The magically imbued scavenger shot out a bolt of violet lightning at me. Dipping behind the patch of vines, the lightning sunk into the greenery. Portions of the foliage disintegrated, patchy holes left of it. The other scavenger sprinted towards me, not even unsheathing his blade. The claw happy one snarled,

“You have to work on your aim.”

The magic in the purple skeptile’s hand shook with energy, “You’re getting in the way. We have to kill this thing before that necromancer finds us.”

I shouted back to them, "What necromancer, exactly?"

Instead of answering, the purple one unleashed his magic once more. I dove into the infested water, preferring raw sewage to death. Above, a flash of power coursed through the cavern. I pulled myself up to the other side, my eyes locked in on the wielder of lightning. The magenta lizard man channeled his energies while his bruiser friend jumped over towards me.

I snapped a jab at its mouth, and he slapped my fist sideways. Heavy and hard like stone, his hand actually moved my own. A quick jolt, I whipped a right cross straight at his chin. He landed on his feet before my fist hit his teeth. A few of them snapped as he wobbled back. I went forward, hitting him the stomach with a jab before he swiped at me.

I ducked beneath before whipping up. I hit him hard in his stomach, and the lizard man grunted as ribs cracked. He shoved me away while shouting,

“He’s stronger than he looks. Kill him.”

I moved my head at random, trying to be hard to hit. A coursing bolt whipped beside my head, striking stone and singing its surface. Lingering in place, the stone glowed yellow from the heat left behind. The green one charged me, taking his sword out.

Impatient and eager, he aimed right for my neck. I leaned away, and the blade struck one of my shoulder spikes. Sparks flooded the dim cavern, and his sword struck the concrete wall. It sunk in. I tackled the handle of the blade, and it snapped as the skeptile jerked his hand away.

The purple one shot another purple bolt towards me, and I jumped this time. I dodged the lance of lightning, but I hit the ceiling. Dust fell from the cracks I left behind, and I flopped on my face. The green skeptile ran up and kicked my face hard.

His steel tipped boot dented my helm, caving it in until it smacked me. My vision flashed white before I rolled back into the sewer’s center. I grabbed the other side’s grating and pulled myself up before lightning flashed into the water. It hummed and crackled before the green skeptile jumped over towards me again.

I jumped up, pulling my knees close to my chest. When the skeptile landed, I stomped my heels. The concrete caved beneath me, setting the green one off balance midway through his landing. I grabbed at his throat, squeezing hard before rearing my fist back.

The wind whistled behind me. Ice shards sunk into my side, and the cold pierced deep into my chest. Growling out, I smashed my fist into the other skeptile’s face, and his body went limp. Grabbing the back of his head, I pulled him into the wall before headbutting his face. It resisted my first strike, my vision going white. I slammed again. His head lurched with a sickening thud.

I roared before smashing his skull again with my own. A crack radiated throughout the cavern while the other skeptile shot lightning at me again. I pulled his partner’s corpse in front of the blast. It singed and sparked before I dropped it and charged. I reached the mage, and he formed plasma knives in his hands.

He swiped at my face, but I pulled back. The blade sliced through stone, leaving glowing rock wherever he scorched. Two swipes later, and a blade sunk into shoulder. It burned like wildfire as I screamed out. The skeptile lunged its dagger at my exposed throat. I watched the dagger come at me, and fear soared into the forefront of my mind.

Before it landed, My armor’s helmet opened, exposing the same jagged maw as before. It clamped onto the skeptile’s hand. The sorcerer dropped his blade as bones, sinews, and muscles snapped. The sorcerer pulled a handless arm away from me.

Taking initiative, I dashed forward and hit him with two jabs. Sweat flew off the back of its head, its skull whiplashing backwards. I kept my arms tucked against my sides as the lizard roared out in pain. It pointed its hand at me again, but I jerked his palm up.

Purple lightning arced over my head, cleaving straight through a spike of my armor. I pulled him towards me with his arm. A quick haymaker cracked his cheekbone, knocking him unconscious. Like the last skeptile, I grabbed his face and headbutted it hard. Teeth fell off my helm. Another headbutt. More blood and teeth.

I smashed my face into his like a hammer, pulverizing his skull into a thick stew. I let out an animalistic roar, tossing the headless corpse aside before turning around. The green lizard guy squirmed against the wall. I walked over before lifting a heel over its head. With a wet crunch, his face caved in as I stomped down.

The concrete cracked beneath his head, one fissure forming. I heaved for breath before I wiped blood off my helm. Cracking my neck, I took a minute and let the adrenaline flow through me. Sometimes, fighting felt good, though I’d rather not headbutt everything to death all the time.

Peering down at my armor, I gave it a begrudging nod out of respect. Yeah, it was creepy as hell, but the damn thing saved my life. In that same vein, I’d rather live as a monster than die as a man. Waving off some shaking hands, I searched for the hand my armor bit off, but I couldn’t find it. It probably fell into a null void or maybe my armor, but I hoped not.

I chose not to think about it as a notification sounded.

Level up! Five level ups!

At least something good came out of the blood bath, and I dove into any distraction from the blood on my face. Staring at my list of perks, I found my choice for my next level thirty attribute - dexterity.

My choice was based on the fight. The stone still sizzled from the plasma blades of the mage, as did stone in the distance from his lightning bolts. Despite my armor, I wouldn’t be able to tank that kind of damage. If these scavengers had landed those bolts, I’d be dead.

Thoughts of death passed over me, but I numbed to them somewhat. What was once trembling turned into a slight shake. It passed in a minute or two, and I moved on. The perk screen pulled up right after with fewer options than before. I had two perk points, however.

To my utter disbelief, that pitiful rat boss had given me a dungeon core. My armor had eaten it while devouring the rat’s corpse. Thinking of the skeptile’s descriptions, I connected the dots. Bosses like that rat king were why those scavenger’s came here. They wanted easy dungeon cores for easy money, and I happened upon them at the wrong place and time.

They mentioned a necromancer as well. Avoiding someone like that would take priority. Before checking out my status, I put my hands on my hips. I stared down at the bodies. These guys were literal aliens, and I just killed them.

I shook my head, wrestling with that reality for a moment. The system and its changes happened so fast, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. At this point, there was no telling who and what would land here soon. I glared forward, knowing I’d need to be ready when it arrived.

Whatever it was.

I put five points into dexterity and opened my perk menu.

[Powerful(Strength of 15 or more) - Your strength is admirable. Doubles carrying weight.]

[Smart(Intelligence of 10 or more) - Your intelligence is good. Doubles effective memory.]

[Flexible(Dexterity of 10 or more) - Your dexterity is good. Doubles flexibility bonus.]

[Lithe(Dexterity of 15 or more) - Your dexterity is admirable. Doubles reflexive and reaction time bonus from dexterity.]

[Graceful(Dexterity of 20 or more) - Your dexterity is excellent. 1/10th of dexterity added to perception. Physical oriented skills are learned twice as quickly.

[Perceptive(Perception of 10 or more) - Your perception is good. Doubles sensory bonuses.]

I picked the perks Graceful and Lithe before finalizing. The change coursed over me like the euphoria of an amazing stretching session. Tugging joints and tight muscles lengthened, and no part of my body felt foreign. Every fiber of every muscle obeyed my commands. I didn't feel jumpy either.

It was like I practiced every movement a thousand times. With limbs like water, I opened my attribute screen.

Level 87 Attribute Menu

Strength [30] | Constitution [36.3] | Endurance [51] | Dexterity [20] | Willpower [30.3] | Intelligence [10] | Charisma [4] | Luck [3] | Perception [12]

I needed ten more levels before the per level perks arrived in all its glory. I prayed I’d turn into a deft titan once the perk went through. Gawking at the carnage from our fight, I needed some oomph in my build. I mean, Oppression handled mobs and groups, so I kept my build and skills aimed at one on one combat.

If it all came together like I hoped, I’d be airtight in battle. I liked that.

Magic could come later but for now, I stuck to the old tried and true strategy of punching things. It hadn't failed me so far, and I doubted it would. My armor helped ensure that. Speaking of armor, I walked over towards the skeptiles and checked their gear for something useful.

Compared to my current platemail, their tanned hide bent like aluminum foil. Taking my time, I found nothing of note. They had no money, valuables, or anything on them really. I frowned at the bodies, thinking they put everything on the line to get here. Space travel might be expensive or something.

Either way, I walked through the rest of the dungeon, killing rats for extra experience. The passive activity gave me time to think. I peered at my notifications, staring at the status updates for the scavengers. It mentioned a bounty system and how Schema protected normal people. Considering I faced no consequences for killing those aliens, having a bounty seemed pretty bad.

Avoiding one on my own head took priority, as did learning Schema’s laws. I tapped my teeth together, wishing I went through the tutorial again. I needed every bit of information I could find because things were changing fast. When Schema came, so did a lot of differences in how everything worked. The possibilities were endless, and I didn’t want to get washed away in the chaos.

I glanced around the sewer room for a bit longer, wondering if anything hid itself. While searching the place, the throne of the rat king looked strange. Surrounded by matchstick woodwork, its stony surface contrasted everything around it. I walked over, feeling around it. A stone panel pressed down as I did.

Darts shot towards me from above. They bounced off my armor like rain on a window. I shrugged before a set of stone tablets lowered around the dungeon floor, revealing a spiral staircase leading down.

Part of me wanted to continue exploring, but I needed to prioritize. Finding Kelsey and Michael took priority. I put a placeholder on my minimap for exploring this later when I had the time. Walking around, I found a manhole less covered by the underbrush. After climbing the stairs up, I pushed my legs against the cylinder of stone around me.

That kept me in place as I shoved hard on the manhole cover. It shoved off with some effort, and I pulled it off before hopping onto a suburban street. Keeping myself somewhat hidden, I sprinted over towards a backyard. As I did, a scream erupted nearby.

I closed my eyes, sighing as yet another distraction presented itself. Not wanting to just let someone die, I hopped a fence or two before finding a home invasion. A pack of skeletons, blue fire glowing in their eyes and swords in their hands, raided a home by kicking the door down. They pulled people out of their homes, throwing them into a circular pit.

I dragged my hands down my face, my helmet peeling away in time for me to do so. A piece of me just wanted to leave them behind to be butchered. I couldn’t save everybody, and my own friends could be getting killed. Even from a casual glance, Michael and Kelsey weren’t in the group.

I turned to leave before a few children howled in the pack of people. Turning back, the people’s levels sat somewhere between five and ten. The skeletons were in the mid thirties. They stood no chance, but the skeletons would be child’s play for me. I took a deep breath before running in. It would be a quick adventure. In and out in twenty minutes.

I got near the group, and of course, people screamed at the sight of me. Ignoring them, I smashed through a skeleton before another snapped his sword on my back. I grabbed his skull by the eye sockets, crushing his head into a different skelly warrior. Several packs of the creatures peered on from nearby houses, and they swarmed from all directions.

I killed a few before pulling them away from the pack of people. Flying in from above, a skeletal dragon flew in, breathing plumes of blue fire. I gasped at the sight of it.

Undead Korgah | Level 281 - This undead creature is controlled elsewhere, and its flames can melt metal.

Run.

I turned around and sprinted straight for the manhole I ran out of. Playing hero would get me killed, and it wasn’t like I could save these people anyway. Leaping right down the cylinder of stone, the metal stairs whipped by my vision before I clipped one of them. I banged backwards, my head slapping into concrete.

Like the ball of a pinball machine, I hit every side of the sewer entrance on my way down. Flopping onto the stone ground, I stayed there for a second while feeling pain from the fall. Dexterity or not, that wasn’t my smartest move.

I pushed myself up with a grunt, looking up. Above me, the glowing eyes of a skeleton peered into the manhole. One leaped down, following the same pattern I did. Not quite as robust, its dry bones splintered before it collapsed beside me.

I stomped its skull beside me before the army of undead came down the stepway. I gawked around, wondering where to run before smacking myself in the forehead. Duh, the dungeon entrance.

I sprinted towards the rat king’s throne, my stomps echoing in the concrete tunnel. I ripped through a few vines and bushes before reaching the throne. I ran down the stairs, as the clatter of bone on concrete filled my ears.

I sprinted down the circular walkway, reaching a hallway. I ran down it, pillars of stone lining my sides. They carried glowing blue torches, spawned from magic. A cold, ringing silence filled the air along with a mist hugging the ground.

Unable to appreciate the sights, I found a doorway with a circular slot on its surface. Ornate markings covered its surface, the patterns flowing like the growth of branches or roots. I rubbed my temples, looking behind myself. None of the undead monsters found this place yet, but they would in time.

Racing for a solution, I looked around. Dark metal held the blue torch fires, and the mist moved when I kicked at it. Yeah, not exactly useful information. From behind, a few skeletons entered the hallway, swords brandished and eyes glowing. I wasn’t scared of them, but I was of what they omened.

I rolled my hands before snapping my fingers. The circular slot was the same size as the dungeon core. As I thought about that, my armor deformed before revealing a pitch black orb from my chest. It glowed with a yellow outline. Plopping out, the core landed in my hand, and I held it like a tiny eclipse in my fingers.

The dungeon cores looked as valuable as they were.

Not having time to sit around, I put the core in the doorway, and the orb floated midair. Tendrils of light leaked into the patterns, energy coursing through them as light expanded all around the glyphs.

The skeletons got close, the door taking its sweet time with this magical incantation. One of the creatures reached me, and I smashed its face into a nearby torch. The blue fire streaked across my vision as another swung a sword overhead. I grabbed its hand before another skeleton swiped at my side.

The steel sank an inch deep before another skeleton jumped over the other two. I stabbed at my face, but I tilted my head sideways, my neck bending unnaturally. Dexterity already paying off, I slammed my fist into the side of a skeleton crushing its ribs. I tore a skeletons arm out of its socket before crushing its skull with its arm.

Jerking the sword from my side, I slammed the metal edge into the other skeleton’s head before the door slid open behind me. I turned, running into a massive cavern. Skeletons fought their way inside, but I kept shoving them back. The stone doors slid closed while I kept the tide of undead at bay.

The doors slammed shut, powdering bone as they did. I turned away from the door, leaning against it. I took a deep breath, collecting myself after the chase. The incoming torrent of undead never stopped, meaning they could keep me held up until something stronger arrived, like the necromancer.

If it summoned a level two hundred, well, anything, then there was no telling how powerful the necromancer was. A minute passed as I got a grip on my situation. I couldn’t get a break, that was for sure. Looking up for the first time, torches lit dozens of colossal pillars stretching from the top of the cavern to the bottom.

Wooden bridges stretched out from these pillars, connecting makeshift shacks at the midway points of these massive columns. Gremlins, goblins, and orcs walked on these bridges. I gave myself a few slaps, kind of exasperated at the situation. Inspecting the beasts, I took a breath of relief.

They maxed out at level twenty or so. Along the bottom of the dungeon, swarms of angular, sharp insects crawled on the ground. They carried antenna glowing like dim grapes at the tendril’s ends. Colored a deep, menacing purple, these bugs reached up towards level thirty.

I bit my tongue. More bugs. Great. In the distance, a gremlin laid on its knees in front of an armored orc. The orc kicked the gremlin down into the abyss, and when it landed, the insects swarmed it. It died in less than a second. I already could paint a picture of how this place worked.

Orcs ruled over gremlin and goblins. The insects kept them fighting over the limited space the pillars offered. It wasn’t the best life. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't be existing for much longer. Being far down beneath the ground, I no longer worried about Oppression killing people on the surface.

I activated Oppression and trotted forward. Several goblins and gremlins fell off the bridge leading towards the first pillar. Confusion spread across the populace, many dying in less than a minute of exposure to my aura. Moving onward, the goblins and gremlins died in waves.

Their bodies would disintegrate into blue mana that my armor absorbed before reaching the bottom. The insects below cried out, screeches of indignation escaping their mandibles at missing out on the feast. The entire time, I inched closer to my next evolution while getting some easy experience.

The orcs would charge at me, weathering the aura well. By the time they reached me, I mashed them like dropping an egg on a countertop. They gave miniscule experience. Still, they gave tiny bits of ambient mana. The boss could be different.

He'd give me another dungeon core at least, and then I'd be able to get another perk. I paced on, eradicating the local population over time. About two hours later, I reached the fanciest shack here, with skulls, feathers, and totem poles jutting out from it. An ogre strolled out, a deep green compared with the lighter shade of his minions.

Muscles rippled as he moved with a club of iron. His teeth jutted out from his bottom jaw.

Cracole, Exiled Ogre of the Wild | Level 34 - An ogre that was exiled by his village for his cruel hierarchical methods. He was sentenced to become a bottom dweller, living in the darkness of the caves below the village. He slowly bided his time, trying to amass an army strong enough to overtake his village.

After Schema moved his village, his plans fell apart. Now, he is a bitter, angry chieftain, who unleashes his wrath onto the weaker members of his village.

It was a shame seeing the chieftain. He pushed two of his minions aside, killing them both as they screamed to their deaths. The ogre smothered anyone he deemed lower than himself. In a way, people were the same.

You couldn’t judge a person's character by how they treated those above themselves. What mattered was how they treated those below them. This exiled ogre was a great example of that. As I neared the boss, it contorted in rage. It banged its chest, roaring for me to come over, but I didn't. There was no need. Oppression handled the monster for me.

The ogre vomited a stream of blood before the veins under his skin turned black. His fingernails fell out, and his eyes grew bloodshot. I frowned at my aura’s influence, but then something odd happened. Claws expanded from the ogre’s fingers. Skin smothered its eyes and nose. Its arms lengthened, turning into poles of elongated bone.

Its underjaw’s tusks turned into long, enamel knives while drool leaked from its mouth. Red drool sizzled on the stone beneath it. I kept myself firmly on a pillar while it snarled at nearby goblins. The black beast picked one up, regurgitating acid onto the goblin’s face.

The goblin’s green skin peeled off, showing bone and blood from below. The goblin jerked and shivered before going limp. The dark abomination bit into the predigested corpse before turning to me. My eyes widened as I locked in on it. It roared out, ebbing forth an alien, eerie sound. Schema's message of the ogre changed.

Shapeless Horror | Unknown lvl 84 - A force unleashed this being's inner potential at the cost of its mind. Be wary.

I stayed back before it darted toward me. Sprinting forward, it stampeded through several goblins on the bridge before meeting me. We clashed like thunder, a booming echo surging from our impact. Stronger than I, it pushed me back. I reached the wooden bridge behind me, and the wood cracked as I pushed against its shoulders.

We shook from struggling, each of us trying to get the upper hand. I gave in, no longer pushing against it. It pushed me back while I leaned down. Coming over me, I used the monster's momentum to slam it against the twine bridge.

It lashed out with claws like steel. They scraped my helm, and I kicked the beast. It flopped sideways before I cracked my neck. I raised my hands and grumbled, “Man, I can’t catch a break.”

It reached me before I torqued my hips sideways and arced my fist forward. It traveled overhead, and right as the monster reached me, my fist collided with the top of its head. I nearly bounced backwards at the sheer force of the impact. The creature crashed down into the bridge, crushing wood like dry leaves. The echoes boomed seconds later in the gargantuan cavern.

I lifted both fists into the air and crushed the monster into the bridge again. Its tail whipped towards me, piercing into my collarbone. It whirled through the air again, snapping back. I reached out and missed it, the pointed tail piercing my chest.

As the beast pulled the tail back, I grasped it. I put my foot onto its head and another foot over its back. Forced into an arch, the monster gurgled before I pressed with all my might. It’s back popped, and the creatures legs went slack.

I let its tail go before lifting my hands. I battered its face. Mauling it from above, the beast's skull cracked open like a wet walnut. A few seconds later, it died. As I started wiping purple blood off me, my armor chomped on the corpse in a grotesque malformation of metal. The screeching of bending steel finally stopped when it finished eating the corpse.

With the fight handled, I turned around, wondering what caused the change in the ogre. My guess at the time? The necromancer. Peering for the summoner, I darted my head back and forth. No movement rustled on any of the pillars. The only movement showed from the writhing of insects below the bridge.

Beneath my feet, the wood creaked. I glanced down, noticing just how destroyed the bridge was at this point. I pushed off my feet to run off it, but the bridge collapsed as I did so. I fell downwards for a few seconds. My skin pulled on me, and my stomach floated as I fell. A second later, my head whipped as I landed with a monstrous boom.

Stone cracked, and bugs hissed in pain nearby. I lost my breath, my lungs and body beaten bloody. As I pushed myself off my landing spot, the insects swarmed towards me. I leaned down as they came, wanting to give in. The weakness passed, and I pushed through my exhaustion.

Oppression smothered the insects, softening them before they got to me. I smashed the bugs like trying to kill cockroaches. I stomped the guts of one. I pulled another apart. Yet another I shelled like a crab. They popped with a satisfying crunch when I hit them.

But they swarmed with fury. Covering me, they pincered at me from all angles. I kept them off my head, but they smothered me from all angles. The pile kept amassing over me, swallowing my body whole.

I kept my mouth shut and my eyes closed, feeling for their bodies. In darkness, I lashed out. In the mass, I crushed. In time, the insects crawling on me died from Oppression or my swings. I hid in their bodies, using them as a shield from the other insects. The bodies dissipated as my armor indulged on them.

My vision blurred. Peering at my status, a stacking poison debuff mounted. Willing my armor to stop, it let the pile of dying insects coat me. Like a pile of dead crickets, I stayed still while the others swarmed over me. It took over an hour of killing these damn things before they thinned enough that I could reach a pillar.

As I climbed the column, I checked out my notifications. I gained a level, so I put a point into dexterity before my perk screen appeared again. I'd gotten another core from the chieftain turned abomination.

[Powerful(Strength of 15 or more) - Your strength is admirable. Doubles carrying weight.]

[Smart(Intelligence of 10 or more) - Your intelligence is good. Doubles effective memory.]

[Flexible(Dexterity of 10 or more) - Your dexterity is good. Doubles flexibility bonus.]

[Perceptive(Perception of 10 or more) - Your perception is good. Doubles sensory bonuses.]

I selected Powerful this time just to climb the pillar. My body and armor lightened a tremendous amount, letting me get up this sheer face. My fingers lengthened into points, letting my stab into the rock a bit. Once I got back on the pillar, I sprinted towards the exit. Whatever unleashed that chieftain, I didn't want to fight it. At least not here on unstable bridges.

I reached another stone wall just like the one leading into this dungeon. My armor spit out the dungeon core into my hand. Holding the tiny eclipse in my palm, streams of light flowed into the gate. The glyphs on it glowed blue before the doors slid open. Dust fell from the corners and cracks of the ancient stone as they moved.

The door opened. All I could see was a wall of sickly, purple smoke as they did. This mist condensed into a single point. From it, the dried remains of a body walked out. Wearing ornate robes, the mummy paced out, his arms interlocked behind himself. His body was dry as cracks in mud, and when he moved his hands, his flesh crinkled.

Frail as it seemed, it leaked an aura of energy. The undead’s eye sockets were empty, each imbued with glowed plumes of navy-shaded fire. He let his mana ebb outwards. When it crawled over me, I choked on it. This mana was thicker than the sand that the Lord of Worms released.

I couldn't even breath. He didn't even need time to set this up. I gasped,

“Please...Stop.”

He lessened his aura, letting me take a breath. He paced back and forth, considering me for a moment. Stepping up to me, it spoke with a gritty, archaic voice,

“Ah, I see neither my minions nor my experiment caught you then, hm? That is more than merely interesting. No one on your planet should be powerful enough for these beasts. Not yet, at least. You seem rather ahead of the curve, I should say.”

He raised a hand, “Pleasantries aside, I’ve a pertinent question to ask you.”

I nodded, “Yeah, anything.

The dark blue fire turned a menacing red,

"Would you happen to know of an Alfred Worm? I am his father. Torix Worm, of Darkhill."