《Apocalypse Unleashed ~ A LitRPG Story》Book 2, Chapter 1: Something Familiar
Advertisement
Chapter One: Something Familiar
*
Not far from Zion, the great mountain city, Aiden paced back and forth, Blizzy hot on his heels. He kept shooting glances towards the black swirling portal of gloom and doom that his scouts had found the week before. From over a hundred feet away, he could feel the deep darkness that oozed out of it.
Everything reminded him of the School of Shadows. The portal’s shadows stretched farther than the sun in the sky would otherwise suggest. Already, he’d been there studying the portal for hours. Nothing changed. Nothing surged from its depths.
Despite that, the uneasiness caused his heart to race. The presence of shadow magic in such abundance meant one thing. “Shadowborn. Can’t be anything else.”
“We knew that the minute we found it,” Anna said as she pet Ares, petting its single horn. “When are we going in?”
“We aren’t doing shit,” he muttered with a shake of his head. “I’ll be going in.”
“You know better than that, Aiden.” Anna walked up to him and grabbed his hands. “Teamwork makes the dreamwork. Your words, not mine.”
“But this is too dangerous. We don’t know how strong these things might be, and—”
“We should send you, the leader of Zion, into a dungeon of unknown power, by yourself? Olivia would skin me alive if she ever found out.” Anna passed Aiden and stepped toward the portal, holding up a hand. Emerald green shined from her hands as she approached. A wall of green pressed against the portal, warping against the emerald colored power. Once it quit spreading, she turned back to him. “Yikes.”
“Haven’t seen one this strong before,” Aiden said, clenching his fists. He considered his options for only a brief second before fixing Anna with a hard stare. “I’m going in. We can’t let it grow anymore. Zion needs to keep growing.”
“You’ve been working tirelessly, Aiden. There’s always a new objective, and there always will be. I get you want to protect Zion, but this could be seen as an opportunity for growth.”
“Not happening. I’ll shut this dungeon down. We already have two others that the newbies can use to get stronger.” He knelt and tossed Blizzy a Core. She happily took it, sending feelings of happiness through their bond. “You’re a good girl. You ready for some fun?”
The blizzard dragon puffed a small icy cloud in agreement.
Advertisement
“Good.” He turned back towards Anna and sighed. “Don’t tell Oli. It’s better this way.”
“Which one of us are you trying to convince, Aiden?” She stared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head. “The moment I received the report, I already knew how things would play out. I’ll keep watch. You just come back in one piece, got it?”
“I always do.” He turned and held his hand up to the portal.
Shadowborn Incubation Chamber - Rank C
Status:
Active
50% developed
Confirm entry?
Party listing (1/5):
Aiden Pearce
Warning: A party of five is recommended for this dungeon!
Yes.
No.
As he’d done dozens of times before, he stepped through with Blizzy by his side into the dungeon. Immediately, the forested area gave way to the authority of the dungeon. The bright sun disappeared, and the shadows became omnipresent.
Moments passed as he waited. When nothing happened, he sighed. “Guess they won’t be coming to me this time. Blizzy, go hunt.” She trilled happily and ran off. “Remember, keep in touch!” Through their bond, he could almost feel her roll her eyes. “They grow so fast.”
Now that he’d set her free, he moved forward. The dungeon had an open layout and stretched farther than he could see. The magic power emitting from it sent chills up his neck. However, now that he was out of Anna’s sight, he grinned deeply.
“Time to blow off some steam.”
He loosely gripped Silver as he started to job through the massive dungeon. It didn’t take long for Blizzy’s hunt to show progress, the bond lighting up with excitement as she found prey. He continued. The time would come for him to have his fun.
As he walked, the last month’s progress made him smile. After the first week of securing Zion, two important things happened. Arguably the more important of the two, new humans arrived. As much as he hated to see them forcefully brought to Midrath, he needed the man power. The second noteworthy occurrence happened to be the appearance of countless dungeons similar to the one he wandered around in.
More people, Essence, and Cores meant more progress growing Zion.
Discussion with The People— the Osh’Tika’Varu— progressed with V’Yenya and Anna acting as the primary diplomats, so that was progress. Even though their alliance was tentative, he couldn’t complain. The other native he’d met, Avacyn, had set the standard fairly low. Anything that didn’t try to forcefully read his mind or threaten his life or the lives of his people got a solid thumbs up in his book.
Advertisement
With the influx of Essence and Cores from the dungeon, things got exciting. As he started to think of the second week’s progress, he grinned. Air-piercing shrieks shook the air, echoing across the landscape.
“Took you long enough. I was getting bored.” Aiden clicked the edge of his pen, and Silver’s glorious ice blade extended. Casting Icy Touch started to create Shards over his shoulders. The shadows around him shrieked as ice started to spread from his feet. “You think I didn’t notice you there?”
He quickly identified the two Evils that rose from his shadows, ignoring the smaller ones frising around him.
Enemy Elites Identified!
Shadowstalker - (D)Pillar Monster - First Stage
This creature was spawned to guard a newly created Shadowborn dungeon home. It has formed its first Pillar.
Current Pillar Allocation: One Complete Pillar
Current Core Allocation: One Complete Second-Stage Core
Both Shadowstalkers were exponentially stronger than the dungeon boss he’d barely defeated in the school. Rather than feel fear, Aiden rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
“See, this is what I call a good warmup.” Eyeing the rest of the Evils approaching, he leapt forward. “Let’s see how much you can take!”
The Shadowstalkers were surprisingly agile despite their large frames. Their faces looked like a parasite from a zombie game he’d once played, but the rest of their body looked like an oily panther. The three tails snapping behind them only further convinced him that none of the Shadowborn creatures would ever resemble anything remotely normal.
But however they looked, it didn’t matter to him.
A current of wind wrapped around his feet. He launched past the first Shadowstalker, Silver tearing a deep hole in its side. An Ice Shield manifested, and he smacked the second in the face. A wall of ice taller than he was bought him some time. Arctic Gale locked onto the wound he’d caused in the first, and a Hoarspike reduced the first to an icy block that dissipated into a cylinder full of milky Essence.
The ice wall collapsed seconds later, and Silver met the second Shadowstalker’s face point side first. A loud shriek ripped through the air. Aiden threw himself backwards, holding up the Ice Shield to stop the sound attack reminiscent of the dungeon boss.
With a quick flick, Silver cut through three Evils. Proliferation activated, and his Shards slammed together. He pointed towards the second Shadowalker. “Glacial Fang!”
The attack exploded through the short distance. A second cylinder of Essence fell to the ground. He adeptly threw both into his bag and continued to hack his way through the spawned Evils. In front of his power, the horde of Evils meant nothing.
Halfway through slaughtering the Evils, Blizzy appeared and unleashed a gout of frost that ended things. He rolled his eyes as she casually sauntered over, picking up the spoils of her attack. The smugginess was palpable through the bond.
“I had things handled,” he grumbled as he looted his own Cores. When he looked in his bag, he sighed. “Even though this is a decent haul, it barely scratches how much Zion needs to grow.”
Blizzy chirped.
“Yeah, I know I can’t rush things. I just want to get home. I’m still worried.”
Understanding momentarily flooded through the bond. Then, just as fast as she’d come, Blizzy left to continue her hunt. He took that as a sign that it was time to get back to work. He moved farther into the depths of the dungeon towards the strongest magical presence he could sense.
The next two hordes lacked the Shadowstalker elites and fell just as easily as the first. The magical corruption of the portal made him think things would’ve been far harder, but he hadn’t seen the boss yet.
“Don’t get cocky now,” he muttered.
After the fifth wave of Evils, he came upon a door at least three times taller than him. Shadow magic continuously wafted off the door, flooding out to the rest of the dungeon. The more he looked at the door and watched the shadows, the more he started to understand a thing or two.
“Blizzy, I’m gonna need you,” he said, reaching for her through the bond. He immediately started to prepare Shards. He tried to calm his racing heart, but the excitement and adrenaline rushing through his veins
From what he observed while waiting, everything he’d fought to this point was simply a byproduct of whatever waited within. Once Blizzy appeared, he grinned as he pressed both hands on the door and pushed inward.
Advertisement
- In Serial8 Chapters
Vampire Life: Sara
This is a short story based on the character from my main book that is still in progress. The question that caused me to write this and other one to come was simple.... if you can't die, live forever, and interact with the human world, what do you do when something happens that you can't anticipate. In this book, Charles gets hit by a car.
8 129 - In Serial7 Chapters
Age of Blackstone - The Spawn of Apophis
When an elven princess is kidnapped, Blackstone finds himself aligning a mission of rescue with a bloody pursuit of vengeance. Can the stoic armored adventurer save the young royal from a horrid fate at the scaled clutches of the Spawn of Apophis?
8 237 - In Serial102 Chapters
Conquer the World
The World How much world do you know? What is the meaning of creating the world? The young scientist transfered to another world and successfully entered a vessel but he also encounter a problem! He must inform his success to his original world and then his job will be done.
8 78 - In Serial96 Chapters
The Fairest (Book #1)
COMPLETED - A prophecy was given to the Realm of Valeera, but only one kingdom took heed to it and set forth a law that would divide the people into two groups. The fair and the strange. One group possessed a promise from the gods while the other is doomed for eternity. Well, that's what the people believed...17-year-old Mageia Unknown is an orphan and the leader of a group of defected youths living on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Ardania. Growing up into a skilled thief and sword fighter, she makes it her duty to take care of her family, no matter the cost. But when an act of heroism goes wrong, she is next for the executioner's sword. 17-year-old Grisonce Arlon is not the most respected prince in the kingdom. But when his obsession with the Fairest Prophecy intervenes with the case of the one called the Purple Thief, he turns into the royal joke. The odds are against him and Mageia with no joy in sight. Their world may be divided by the fairest and the strangest in the realm, but all would soon discover, that Mageia is neither one. She is both. Under New Edits since - 9.1.2020#8 Fantasy - 10.1.2020#1 General Fantasy - 7.26.2020#10 Adventure - 10.7.2020#1 Fairest - 5.27.2020#1 Gemstone - 10.26.2018Book Cover Designed by Me
8 108 - In Serial13 Chapters
Building a World From the Ground Up
A planet named Ereos learning how to exist. She's a child, go easy on her. Lets hope the god of war doesn't find her first. (A full restart of the story. Sorry if you wanted her to be Akana, my draft said the edgiest name ever and I made it Ereos, and DAMN is that a good name or what?)
8 131 - In Serial21 Chapters
Draconic Transcendence: Cinders and Ashes
In the world of Aesir, there lies magic and beasts, gods and heroes. A world amongst many. In a particular era of prosperity, there lies the Apollyn Empire, a large Empire stretching across most of the western continent, and the most powerful nation in the world. It is during an age where Humanity turns away from the Gods, turning from Faith to Science. From this viewpoint, magitech exists, miraculous inventions that make life easier than before. But the world is vast, and filled with myths. Legends point to a select few individuals, who throughout history are born from magic alone, and gifted with immense power. All are destined for tragedy, however, and to wreak chaos. With power surpassing that of the Gods and Dragons, it is they who have been behind nearly all the major calamities of the world; these are beings known as "Harbingers". In the slums of Harlup, Capital of Apollyn, a young girl is found in the ashes of a burnt building, and adopted by a homeless woman searching for something of value. Raised from the ground up, and evemtually finding her way to the Gran Sars, an organization of magicians dedicated to war magic, she will rise through the ranks with her partner, and eventually discover that she too, is destined for tragedy. Her path forced by the Gods, she must fight to save the ones she loves, and at the same time face her destiny, and surpass it. Because if she does not, the world will burn, and all she knows and loves will crumble to cinders and ashes.
8 166