Chapter 11 – Ascending the Stairs.
Bel sighed as he leaned his forehead against the wall that a few seconds ago led to a place of safety he might never feel again. He was angry at himself for not seeing this curveball coming. He couldn’t trust anything down here and yet he had walked in here without a plan if he couldn’t get back. Just because he had been able to do that before. Sighing he turned towards Ignatius who was looking at the Ziggurat while bobbing up and down, seeming in deep thought.
“Did you know anything about this?” He asked through clenched teeth.
The skull was silent for a few seconds before answering.
“I had a suspicion we would not be given as much safety going forward as we had before. I couldn't say anything though, not even if I wanted. He was watching.” The skull sent the impression of pointing, and he was pointing straight at the man on the throne.
“Why tell me this now when we’re standing in the same room as him?” Bel was frowning, he didn’t understand what was going on.
“He is busy at the moment. The others are here as well, watching from just outside the skin of the dungeon. But this is his place, only he rules here, no matter how much the others think differently. No matter how many times they kill his corpse and hunt his followers.” Ignatius was angry, but Bel was unsure who he was angry with.
“That’s not ominous at all... What the hell is going on here? This is so much bigger than me?!” Bel's anger was back. He felt the injustice of his situation but also a wave of hopelessness. A few weeks ago he was going to a party and now he was in the fucking crosshair of warring Gods or so he assumed.
Bel swore for a couple of minutes but finally, his rage subsided. He was never one for long fits of anger. He started to shake from the adrenaline, taking a few calming breaths he turned towards Ignatius.
“What do I have to do to get out of here?” He asked through clenched teeth.
Ignatius floated to him and whispered in his ear for a few minutes. The look on Bel’s face changed from anger, to fear, to disbelief, back to anger, finally settling on a determined frown.
“The Gods are not omniscient. You are free but they will always watch you, no matter what happens here. Do not trust anyone but the Carrion Lord, the one above us all.” Ignatius's voice had taken on a dramatic and ominous tone at the end. Bel looked at his somewhat friend and nodded.
It was time to go.
Bel formed his small troop, putting the tanks in the front, the werewolves on the flanks, and the sword wielders he kept with him in the middle. The rat was nowhere to be seen at the moment; they really could hide when they wanted to. Bel felt it though, hiding close to the stairs.
As they took the first step on the wide stair, the ziggurat shifted somehow. It was a major shift but Bel got the sensation that the ziggurat had always looked like this. It was disorienting and familiar at the same time.
The stairs grew shorter and they arrived at the first level after just a few steps. Walking a few meters extra showed Bel that the floor had widened to the next set of stairs. They were now more like twenty meters away but he could have sworn that they were much closer before, only a few meters then.
Shaking the disbelief from his mind he turned towards the enemy. They had gathered on both sides, the monstrous entities on this floor screamed and hissed for his blood. But none crossed an invisible line parallel to the stairs which were about forty meters wide. Vortexes started to appear on the ground all across the area from which a horde of goblins emerged. They were ugly creatures; the stories were underestimating just how ugly these creatures were. Wide oval heads sat on comically thin necks and their bodies were skinny and covered in sores from a lack of hygiene. Their mouths were full with wide flat teeth sticking out at odd angles.
Goblin Spawn of Morkin (Healthy) - Level 6
The army of Goblins numbering about a hundred charged his lines. They lacked discipline and tactics but they made up for it with numbers. But no matter how many they were they could do nothing against his minions. The goblins were shorter than a meter and they threw themselves at the waiting shields. The first line was smashed so hard against the tanks they died from the sheer impact. The rest tried to crawl over their dead kin. Those trying to run around the line were cut down by swords or hit with Necrotic Bolts.
Bel didn’t hesitate and sent his wolves charging. With a feeling of something like glee, they rushed in. Nothing could stand in their way. The small daggers the goblins carried couldn’t even pierce their skins. The goblins died in droves. Bel felt an almost animalistic urge to join his minions but he kept himself calm, holding back and keeping his battle meditation going. This was not the end of this floor, it couldn’t be.
He was right, as the last goblin fell after only a few minutes, new vortexes started to appear. Calling his minions back he reformed the battle lines, smoothing out a few chinks in the shields of his tanks. He hadn’t needed to draw his blade yet but he kept his hand close to the handle. The blade was so long that he had to make a sort of sling from his old jeans to carry it on his back.
From the vortexes, a new foe appeared.
Orc Spawn of Morkin (Healthy) - Level 12
These orcs were also not quite as he expected them to be. They looked more like tusked humans with a sickly green complexion. They, like the goblins, were skinny and looked malnourished but they were more dangerous than the small goblins.
They were about half the numbers of the goblins but these formed together before charging Bel and his minions. The orcs had more sense of tactics and worked better as a group. The first orcs reached the tanks and were stopped dead in their track just as before. These didn’t die though, they started to stab the tanks from above with their rusty short swords. The orcs spilled out on the sides meeting the swords and claws of his bladed skeletons and wolves.
The orcs may have been stronger and smarter than the goblins, but that meant nothing against Bel and his minions. Bel drew his blade and stepped forward, swinging the large blade in a wide sweep as a group of orcs stepped forth. The sword cut through them like they weren’t even there. Bel was surprised by the lack of resistance and stumbled to the left before catching himself.
When he turned forward again a new group of orcs was approaching. With a scream, he threw himself forward stabbing out and skewering an orc. Pulling the sword free he blocked a swipe and showed the offender back. His strength was immense compared to the orcs and the thing didn’t even stumble, it flew back like it was shoot from a catapult, taking out a bunch of orcs following it.
The screams of the dying and wounded were loud in his ears even amongst all the screaming and jeering from the watching crowds. Throwing an eye to the sidelines he looked over the crowd more clearly. He saw orcs and goblins standing amongst the crowd of creatures, but these looked healthy and strong, clad in metal armor. Why did he fight the dregs instead of those if they wanted to kill him?
A rusty sword entered his left biceps a few centimeters, drawing blood. He cursed himself for getting distracted and dispatched the orc with a swipe of his blade before grappling the next orc in line, throwing it on the floor so hard it broke its back. With a casual cast, he touched the orc with his left hand and drained the orc of its Life, healing the small wound and returning some stamina to him. He was far from tired but as he suspected, this would be a battle of attrition.
Ten minutes later the last orc died and new vortexes started to appear. Bel thought about backing down the stairs to get some more room but as he looked back, he saw a line of burning green fire going from one end to the other of the floor. Cursing again he turned back and reformed his troops. He had to expend more mana this time to Shape the tanks back into fighting condition, and one of his sword skeletons had lost an arm to a dying and crazed orc.
With about two-thirds of his mana left he got ready, holding his sword before him, pommel up, he waited for whatever came next.
He didn’t have to wait long, a few seconds later creatures started to emerge from the vortexes. These were strange creatures, he had never seen or heard about them before. They were called Huxelixes and they looked like bipedal lizardmen almost 250 centimeters tall. They towered over everyone except the werewolves.
There were only about ten of the creatures but for the first time, Bel felt a cold shiver of fear. These creatures looked healthier and more ferocious than the others. They were also his level, 15.
He felt that the tactics from before would not work here so he decided to take the initiative. With more force than he had ever been able to muster before he charged straight at one of the tank's back. When he was just a few meters away one of them shifted at his command, turning and holding its shield as a springboard. Bel reached the shield and jumped over the line, soaring above his minions straight for the first Huxelixes. He hit the creature so hard it almost became horizontal from the force and his sword slid into the creature's chest, killing it instantly.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The other lizardmen looked stunned for a moment, a moment that Bel took advantage of. Charging a clump of three lizards he summoned forth a Bone Storm whirling it around himself. He ordered his minions to take care of the other enemies for now.
Sliding underneath a blow from the large club the Huxelixes were carrying he sliced out and severed another lizard's leg at the knee. The bones from the shield around him sliced the other creature's skin but it did not penetrate and kill them, their hide was tough and thick. At least against the bone slivers but they stood no chance against his blade.
Two clubs descended from the still-standing lizards and he caught them on his blade as he couldn’t avoid them due to the still-prone one-legged lizardman behind him.
Their strength was immense but his new strength could not be denied. They pushed him back before he steadied his feet and with a shove threw their weapons wide. Stabbing forward he ran the first one through then kicked out, shattering the knee of the second one. It screamed in a deep hiss which was cut short as Bel's blade took his head off. The remaining lizard tried to stand up but Bel kicked it in the chest, it fell back down, dropping its club. Bel stepped forward and punched it in the face while activating Life Transference. The fight ended then.
There was still a lot of energy left in the lizardman and Bel drained it all. A wave of exhilaration ran through him, but he held himself back. Looking across the field he saw that a sword skeleton was down, he had felt it as he fought but he couldn’t focus on that fight as well as his own, and the tanks looked worse for wear.
There were one Huxelixes left but the two wolves were tearing at it, ripping it to pieces with slow cuts.
Bel took the moment of respite to meditate, ordering his minions to not kill the creature. He managed to get a few mouthfuls of mana inside his core before the dungeon decided that it wouldn’t allow such cheating, and new vortexes sprung up. The last lizardman fell at a command when Bel saw this.
This time there was only one. In the middle of the room, a large vortex several times the size of the former vortexes appeared.
Bel thought about running for the next set of stairs but the green flames could be seen there as well.
“Bastard. So that’s how you want to do this, eh?” Bel whispered to himself. He looked towards Ignatius who was floating above the fighting, as high as he could. The skull was safe for now. The size of the vortex didn’t give hope of something small appearing though.
A giant serpent's head rose from the ground, hissing, and spewing a green mist around it. The thing was massive, formed like that of a venomous snake with spikes sticking out at odd angles. The head was attached to a long neck and it sat next to four similar heads.
“Oh, crap.” Bel looked with awe at the creature.
Lesser Hydra Spawn of Morkin (Healthy) - Level 20
“Fuck this place.” Bel ordered his minions to surround the hydra. A lesser hydra at that. This thing was easily five meters tall and twice as long. How much bigger must a regular or greater be, he thought.
The gas coming from its maw was corrosive as well as seen when one of its heads spewed the gast all over one of his tanks, the thing melted within seconds.
Bel was wracking his brain every which way to form an idea as his minions occupied the thing, dying without care.
Looking around he saw that the creature seemed to be focusing primarily on where the central head looked. An idea came to him and he circled the creature so he stood at its right flank. Sacrificing a werewolf he sent it forward onto the hydra's left flank. It ripped a long gash in its side with its claws, a wound that started to heal immediately, then scrambled up the things left most head.
As the hydra was distracted Bel charged forward and then jumped with all his might, clearing the back of the creature and landing on its back, where the heads met its body.
Bel managed to steady himself and holding the Necro Blade with his left hand on the blade just below the guard and his right hand on the hilt, he drove the thing into the root of the central head's neck. At first, the hydra didn’t seem to notice. Bel wasn’t about to start cutting off heads and burning the stumps as the old mythology said, instead he activated his best ability by far and started to drain the creature. The slice he received on his hand from holding the blade healed immediately.
The skill almost immediately backfired as a wave of energy like no other entered Bel. This thing was so full of energy due to its regeneration, size, and level. Bel almost passed out from the ecstasy and he hated every minute of it. The creature went berserk, trying to get to Bel but its heads couldn’t reach him and neither could it afford to roll over as the remaining minions stabbed and pummeled it from all sides.
In the end, Bel won out of sheer perseverance. The hydra slowly lost more and more energy, losing its ability to regenerate and soon the creature fell over, barely breathing.
Bel didn’t feel sorry for it. It was a monster trying to eat and kill him, even if it looked at him with pity. He stopped channeling the skill and withdrew his sword, he then used it to chop off the five heads. None of them regrew.
All was still for a moment, then the creatures around him wailed and screamed in fear and loss before turning into dust and falling to the floor.
Bel looked around and saw that the entire level was clear now, except for the dust off the defeated creatures. From far away Bel thought he heard the snarls and cries of a wounded creature, a creature the size of a mountain judging from the sheer pressure he felt upon his shoulders.
A chest manifested before Bel but before he opened it, he checked his gains. They were smaller than he thought they would have been.
Deathless Gaze has leveled up x1.
Summon Lesser Undead has leveled up x1.
Life Transference has leveled up x3.
Identify has leveled up x2.
Necrotic Bolt has leveled up x1.
He had only leveled a few skills, no new personal levels, and no rewards.
Looking towards the stairs he came from he saw that the flame was still there and the path forward had opened. A shifting motion brought his focus toward the green flame. After a few moments he saw what drew his eyes, the flame was moving towards him, slowly but surely.
It seemed the dungeon wasn’t going to give him a long break.
Ignoring the flame for now he opened the chest. Inside lay some missing parts of his armor set. They were called the Vambraces of the Necro-Lord but they seemed to cover his entire arms not just his forearms.
Vambraces of the Necro-Lord - Tin Rank
He equipped the item as fast as he could, this item like the others, shifted and formed, fitting him and the other pieces of gear perfectly.
Moving up the stairs leading forward he sat down and meditated. He only had one werewolf, one tank, and one sword skeleton left, miraculously the rat was still around. It was actually on the next level, hunkering down next to the stairs forward. The creature seemed to have learned some kind of stealth ability. Perhaps something the rats had in real life that he hadn’t seen before, he thought, or perhaps something from his skill levels. His summoning ability had leveled once during the last encounter.
Looking at the encroaching fire he did some silent math in his head and he figured he had about one hour before the fire reached him. It was enough time to top himself up with mana, he was at a little under half, right now. He summoned another wolf and a new tank, and a sword wielder. That used up his last mana. His pool once again felt somewhat deeper and wider.
It was harder than usual to get into the right state of mind. His adrenaline was through the roof and he didn’t look forward to fighting like this, six more times. But he managed to find some peace within himself out of sheer willpower and forty-five minutes later he was brimming with mana again. Due to his drain skill, he was healthy and full of energy, it could do nothing for his mind though, and he already felt somewhat mentally tired.
“Who is Morkin? These creatures were called a spawn of Morkin.” Bel asked Ignatius before they made their way to the next floor.
“He is the god of Monsters and Outsiders. Patron God of the Orcs and other races that are deemed “savages”. He is the one who feeds the other races' advances by supplying his beasts for everyone to kill, he is ever hungry and seeks to devour all of Eshander. At least that was scripture when I was a professor. He is placed at the bottom of the ladder, only a step above Death.” Ignatius was looking up the stairs as he spoke.
“That is both fascinating and horrifying. What can I expect from the next floor then?” Bel had a hard time wrapping these gods around his head. He needed more information about them to build a better picture of what was going on in this world.
“That is the domain of Hyala, Goddess of Air and Sky. I suggest you get ready to get pecked a lot.” He sounded dead serious.
“Will you be alright? So far nothing has been able to threaten you but here I don’t know.”
“I will be fine; I have a skill that makes me less of a threat. Monsters ignore me most of the time.” That was good to know. Bel had forgotten to check if Ignatius had any skills. He had made a stupid mistake again. He didn’t have time to dwell on it as the green fire had almost reached him. Bel saved his mana instead of summoning a full pool. He didn’t know what would await him next. He was sitting at 24/30 so he felt confident in his capabilities for now.
Moving up to the next floor he put his fresh minions and the haggard-looking summons in front of him. Holding his sword in front of himself he felt that he was ready for what came next.
A strong wind picked up, blowing the small amount of dust and debris around them into a maelstrom of air. A screech could be heard as something dove from the ceiling landing in front of Bel.
Imbued Griffin Spawn of Hyala (Healthy) - Elite level 22
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!?” Bel raged internally at this dungeon and the Gods around him if they were even here.
The creature looked just as the stories described it. The front half of a majestic white eagle and the back half of a ferocious lion. The creature slapped its wings together sending a shockwave of air straight toward Bel. The tank in front of him jumped forward and planted its shields on the stone floor. The force was so strong that the tank was crushed into a heap of bones, it just managed to stop the force of the attack only letting past enough wind to ruffle Bel's hair.
“You're strong, I'll give you that. Let's see what you think of this.” He raised his blade with one hand pointing its tip at the Griffin, who looked at him with distaste and pride, the same look it shared with the watchers from the sidelines. Bel smiled wickedly before using a skill he hadn't used in a while, Imbue Undead.
He used the skill on every undead except the rat. Then he sent them forward. The skill was so strong, he hadn’t used it against an enemy before and he regretted it now. The summons went insane and rushed the Griffin. The thing swiped its sharp wings at the wolves but they just caught the wings with their bare hands. Bel couldn’t tell who was more surprised, him or the Griffin.
Holding the wings in place the other minions swarmed the Griffin, slicing, gnawing, and pummeling the thing into a wet slob on the floor within thirty seconds.
Bel just stood there, mouth open and the silence around him was defining for a moment. A new wind started a moment later but this time there weren’t more enemies coming, instead, the creatures around him blew away, turning to dust. He had won. After only one creature, a powerful creature though. He felt a moment of joy but then the drawback of the skill hit and all his summons crumbled to dust, eaten up by the cost of the skill burning through their ectoplasmic energies. The mana burn that hit him was greater than any he had felt before. The sheer number of minions he had imbued made it feel like his head was splitting open and he momentarily lost consciousness.