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The Unfortunate Fool
Vol.7 Chapter 3 - The Nether

Vol.7 Chapter 3 - The Nether

Part 1 – This was a Mistake

Running in the hole in the wall I soon realised that it was actually more like a tunnel....a web of tunnels in fact. After a mere minute of running, I was already lost in this maze I found myself stuck in.

However there were some good things about this. The first is that there weren't any monsters near by me.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuush

Bang!

Was that....a fireball that almost hit me.....?

I looked to my right and there was a human like shaped flame creature. From what I know it looks like one of those rare....Fire Elementals. Why was there one here....actually scrap that, there's now two....no three of them....and they seem angry for some reason....

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhit!!!!”

I started running again since I rather not risk it right now. They were most likely stronger than me since this place was their home turf. And why the hell couldn't I sense them?! Aren't they living creatures?!

After running around losing those fire elementals that were shooting a variety of fire spells at me, I finally made it to a place in which I was now safe.

Rackle Rackle Rackle

What was that sound.....?

I looked and there was a....black Skeleton with a sword? What the hell is that creature? I never even heard of such a thing before. Not to be racist or anything.

The skeleton moved in high speeds which combined with my confusion and slow state of mind recently allowed it to cut me using its sword.

Slash!

You took 43 588 damage

You are now Withered, lose 2000 health per second

Shadow Bracelet Negates Status Effect

HOLY SHIT!

Using what was left of my crumbled mind, I dodged the next couple of blows using mana shields to at least stop them for a second and ran deeper into the maze.

“Huff.....Huff.....”

Okay, I was REALLY safe now.

“Urrrrrrrgz”

Okay no I really wasn't. I looked to see some sort of human like thing. It looked like a half rotten undead with a pig head....it was holding a golden sword at hand as well and there were....lots of them.....hundreds in fact.

It seems I discovered a large hole in the wall where these guys all live....or I hope this is all of them. One of those creatures saw me and moved in my direction and....ignored me? Hmm? That was strange.

Well it seems these guys are one of the rare non-hostile mobs in this world. Strange for such a creature to exist in this kind of hell.

Then I tripped and fell and hit one of them.

“....”

There was a bit of silence in the area as I looked up and got up patting myself to get the dust off.

“Urrrrrrrrgz!”

“Urrrrrgz!”

“Urgz!”

Then hundreds of these creatures swarmed at me at once. It was more frightening than the worm in the lava I must say.

It took me another few hours before I could actually lose them in which case I was almost sure that I was even more deeper in this maze in the wall and therefore even more lost. Eventually I got to the other side of this maze and found that I was in a large open area.

However there was one small problem.

Where there was land, there was lava. A lava lake, a lava waterfall and even several more lava rivers!

Plus I can see that there are several hundred more of those guys I faced before. Therefore before I entered that place and trigger some sort of horrible even in which I most likely have to face all of those things there, I turned back.

Walking a few metres back into the tunnel maze thing in this giant thick wall, I used Earth magic to dig out a hole large enough for me to settle in. Setting my things aside I determined that I had enough supplies to last a few weeks but using Creation Magic this could continue without end and even years may pass in this place unless I can get out.

The largest problem was water in which normally I could get using water or ice magic. However in this place I couldn't use that type of magic at all which was a problem.

I took an empty bottle and used creation magic to make a litre of water.

Splash~

I looked in the bottle and there was only a tenth of that.

“...”

Rather than saying I can't use those kinds of magicks, its more like there are restrictions on this place to the point that I can't use it.

Using Creation magic which was in its intermediate level only managed to create one-tenth of what I wanted and I still used the same amount of mana, no twice as much since this place drains double the mana for spells as well.

Because of all of this and the fact that the others are probably worried about me, I logged out.

Yes, I can now log out of the game now thanks to all the stuff that happened.

Part 2 – So you guys are not helping me?

Logging out of the game was a very refreshing feeling just for you to know. A small freedom that I was recently granted that was kept from me for a long time was very refreshing. I was back in this house which now also had a front and backyard as well.

Funny how you miss the small things though I don't actually have any memories of that anymore so I guess....

“Running jump kickkkkkkkkk!”

Bang!

“Ow!”

I was kicked into the wall in more of a comical manner than I expected. Shaking my head to get rid of the dizziness, I looked to see Alexandra with Viv behind her.

“So what happened this time?” asked Alexandra in a grumpy mood. I scratched my head a bit embrassed and said, “Couldn't teleport out in time and ended up in an underground dungeon which I can't escape from.”

“...”

Both Alexandra and Viv sighed at the same time saying 'typical of Eden' which was quite insulting and hurt my feelings a lot. I explained the tripped in which I failed to teleport out and that I made a box to ensure my safety which led to me being dropped somewhere. After that was facing several monsters that were really powerful.

“So...this black skeleton took a quarter of your life in one swing?” Alexandra lifted her eyebrow in suspicion.

“More or less and I was using both Dragonic Release and Dragonic Overload at the same time during that time as well. They're most like over level 500 which actually makes them a great training enemy. Plus I'm sure there's some more powerful enemies out there as well.”

“Well since we have no idea how to get there in the first place, we can't get to you. We have to train separately then. Also I'm sure things won't go as well as you think. You said magic was difficult to cast there. Doesn't that mean most of your attacks are useless in that place?”

I thought about it and then realised I was a bit screwed. My magic power was really high but my physical power wasn't that high. I might actually die at this rate and have to spend weeks retraining skills.

“So what did you guys do while I was running for my life?” I asked steering the conversation away from my final demise.

“More or less got settled into a new base of operation. Some kind nobles lent us a castle to use plus we are gathering allies as well. Already we have a few thousands ready to fight and their average levels are around 150. They're mostly the remnants of the guards of the city that was destroyed thanks to lots of stuff” said Viv.

“The nobles asked us to take care of them until they get back on their feet” said Alexandra.

Wait you guys are making an army....well that does make sense.....

“Technically they aren't our army but those nobles. There are quite a number so they are spread out to help with the recent increase in monsters in more dangerous areas.”

“Hmm....while I try to escape hell itself, is it possible for you guys to make a large army for later? It would at least help plus we can use them later after everything is done as well.”

“We can try but I fear most of them will break after our 'regular normal' training of mass killing” said Viv with the truth of things.

“Well take it slow and train some guys up, maybe a hundred or so and leave it to them to train the others later. A few month...no a month of a bit toned down training in a dungeon should make them powerful enough. Just level them up to around level 200 and make them train the others that are below level 100 to bring the average level up.”

“We have more and more people coming in wanting to fight from all over the western continent, we might be overwhelm soon...but the nobles are in charge of supplies so I guess its all right” said Viv.

“I can bring in some of the churches armies as well to help out. Having healers is a great asset to any army!” said Alexandra realising that fact.

“Wouldn't that mean we have more people to train then?” pondered Viv again.

Alexandra scratched her chin and said, “Well there are some dungeons nearby but I don't think a month will be enough to bring them up that high unless its powerful enemies. A level 300 or so dungeon is needed for that.”

[May I be of service]

Ahh! I was scared for a second there. Don't ever do that. Its bad enough that I have to watch out for attacks from Alexandra of all things.

“Yeah we need a place to torture...train some NPCs into elite troops.”

[Ask one of your comrades, they should know a place or two]

That was easy enough.

“Hey, do you know where I am?” I asked the Goddess AI.

[Somewhere not on the continent. You fell into the cracks unluckily enough and was transported to a place that is very similar to Hell. Well there should be a portal back somewhere in there. The place isn't that big and I believe there is a portal somewhere in the black fortress]

Black Fortress, got it.

“By the way, what's the average level for the place I'm in?”

[Around level 500 I believe]

Okay....magic with great restrictions and powerful enemies that can easily kill me....great....

Part 3 – On the other Side

It had been a few days since Eden wanted us to raise an army....well technically raise the Noble’s army overall. Right now we as in me and Viv took in around 100 normal guards and went into a dungeon that was twice their level.

“Commander....I don't believe this is a wise idea....” said one of the soldiers near me.

I dismissed that and said, “In a month, we will raise you to be more powerful than ever.....raise you around 50 levels to be exact!”

“....”

There was some silent in the small army where many people tried to slip away. However those who even tried to move away where quickly captured and place at the lead near me. I was on front while Viv was at the back making sure no one escaped from us.

“Ahhh! Let me go!” someone shouted. The morale of the group decreased once again thanks to these repeating attempt escapes.

Ding

You have entered a dungeon

“Now if you try to escape then you will probably die when you leave the rest of us” I said warning everyone of the dangers in this place.

“Yes ma’am!” they all shouted at once stiff with something other than fear....nope, its fear all right.

This place was in a cave of some sort. There were monsters that similar to wolves as well as bulls that stood on two legs instead of 4. They were quite powerful with the wolves being around level 200 and the bulls being around level 300. Both of which would easily kill them guys.

I had already sent a message to the churches that owe me several favours and they are sending over some paladins and priests for training as well. They will come in a month so first we need to finish these guys' training first.

It was very fortunate that Viv has some group skills that increase the abilities of those around me. That would at least keep the death count down at least.

“Enchant Arms X, Enchant Legs X, Enchant Defence X.”

Viv used those three spells on the army.

Enchant Arms X: Increase Strength by 12%

Enchant Legs X: Increase Agility by 20%

Enchant Defence X: Increase Defence by 20%

These three spells aren't that powerful compared to what priests can do but they do cost less mana as well as the fact that Viv is also powerful in other departments as well.

“Holy Barrier!”

Increase Army Defence by 30%

A golden light covered the army as well with also increased their defence. Now they were at least ready to face some wolves in here.

“Arrrrrrrrooooooooo!!!”

One wolf appeared. It was grey in colour as well as having blood red eyes and fangs that stuck out of its mouth even when it was closed. It was the size of two men. Not that powerful I guess compared to me who was over level 350 here.

However the men in turn who were 50 levels below it were scared shitless.

“Front line shield-spear formation, shift into 5 lines. Shields at the front, spears behind and everyone else prepare to rotate in when the time comes!”

In contray to the fact they were scared beyond doubt, they actually did to my command quicker than I expected. Was it due to my high leadership stats?

Bang!

The large wolf charged straight into our formation hitting the shield head on. The ones closest to the wolf crumpled quickly to the pressure.

“Spears attack!”

From line behind the shield line stabbed into the wolf causing some damage to it making it step back a bit before attacking again.

“Fire arrows!”

Around 10 of the army were archers. With my words 10 arrows instantly were shot at the wolf all of them hitting its overly large face.

“Goooooooorrrrrrrrrrraaaa!!!!”

The wolf now angry spat out fire from its mouth. It wasn't that bad but the army's morale dropped again. I sighed and fired some Holy Spells at it to keep it from completely consuming the army while Viv fired some low levelled spells at it to distract its aggro from the those who were injured by the wolf.

A hour passed and the wolf died being stabbed countless times until it died. This battle took too long and the army only gained a bit of experience.

Time to step up the game to make sure these men are my slaves....soldiers.

“From now on, if you slack off even a bit, I will personally throw you and let wolves eat you alive!”

Army is in fear of you, command over them increase

Oh~ What a nice message to see.

Seeing this message I ordered the small army of 100 to advance deeper into the dungeon where we faced the second wolf for the day. It was of similar size to the first wolf and thanks to the fact that they have already experienced facing one of these guys before, they only took a fraction of the time to kill it.

“Good! Keep on advancing!” I laughed and made the army face another few wolves before stopping for a break.

Taking out cooking utensils, I got some of the wolf meat that was collected and boiled it in with some other ingredients to make soup for the entire army. What? This isn't like me? I DO have the cooking skill you know.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Because of the wolves being large, I could even use their bones in the soup as well which allowed me to serve 100 men at once though it took a few hours to even cook for them.

Made fine tasting food from horrible tasting wolf!

Cooking skill gained experience

Hmm....it turned out better than I expected. At least the taste is fine now.

“Commander....” one person looked at the green-brown soup without tasting it. It seems like they are a bit unwilling to eat something that they found disgusting and killed.

“If you don't drink then I will stick a sword down your throat instead” I said in a kind manner to the person in question.

In an instant, 100 men immediately started to eat the soups to regain their lost strength from the few battles we had.

“What the....”

“This is actually tasty!”

Well it seems morale increased a bit now for the first time today.

“Of course it's tasty, when have I ever poison someone intentionally with bad food?” I said out with confidence.

“Umm...remember when you started cooking and forced Eden to stomach everything you made? He almost died a few times” said Viv looking nervous at the thought. The other men stopped their eating and focused on those words.

I shrugged it off and replied, “At least it was better than Risene's first attempt with food. Eden actually got poisoned with that.”

Speaking of Risene....wasn't she part of that group now? I thought all her revenge on Eden faded away with time but I guess I was wrong. Eden will probably want to take care of her on his own. Well I rather not kill a person who I got so along with.....with some exceptions.

I started eating my portion of the food I made as well.

Ate fine tasting wolf soup

- Vitality increase by 13

- Stamina increased by 8

After quickly eating, I continued to lead the army deeper and deeper into this dungeon.

Part 4 – Into Hell

Well it was time for me to start by training as well now.....

Let's see....I rather not attack the undead pigmen things since they gather in the hundreds and attack all at the same time if I provoke them in any way....the worm thing I faced before was really large and was in a lava river.....so all I have are those black skeleton things then.

Well I guess it isn't that bad.

But first I need to see of what extent my magic was useful in this place.

Fire Formation ? Ball Form ? Fireball

I decided to make a small fireball first.

“Fireball”

I quickly formed and shot out the fireball that was the suppose to be the size of a small ball you can hold in your hand.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

You took 31 754 damage

Ow ow ow.

What the...the fire ball turned out to be extremely large instead....what was going on? I thought my magic didn't work properly in this place.

Hmm...what about Ice Magic then?

Ice Formation ? Bolt Form ? Ice Bolt

I decided to form a ice bolt the same size as the small fireball that was suppose to appear from before as well.

“Ice Bolt!”

Plop~

Instead what formed was a small piece of ice that was less than 10 times smaller than what I envisioned the ice bolt to be. And it melted into water in a second and in the next second turned into steam which disappeared....

Was it because this place had more fire affinity than ice affinity to the extremes?

I pulled out the message that described the effects this had on my magic.

Fire Magic will increase in size and power by x5 ranks

Earth magic will increase in size and power by x5 ranks

Ice Magic will decrease in size and power by x8 ranks

Water Magic will decrease in size and power by x7 ranks

Looks like fire and earth magic is a lot more powerful in this place but in comparison, Ice and Water magic is out of the count....I guess the other elements are fine in this place as well then.

But.....using fire magic could be bad for me in this place since....well explosions....

I wonder what will happen if I try to use Earth magic then?

Earth Formation ? Wall form ? Earth Wall

“Earth Wall.”

I said not exactly determining where it was going to form but I wanted only 1 wall to appear.

Bang!

Immediately in front of me was a wall of high quality which would be pretty difficult to break even for me.....a high quality Earth Wall? All my previous ones were pretty much breakable and yet somewhat durable as well.

Hmm...but I suppose this has a down side with the monsters here having a high resistance to both Fire and Earth magic at the same time...though Earth Magic isn't that offence orientated but fire magic is.

I guess I try my luck first against one of those black skeletons then.

I made my way pass the undead pigmen things and there was a lone black skeleton waiting. It held a light grey sword in its hand and was a head taller than me.

It noticed me and rattled its way to me attacking with its sword.

Damn its quick!

“Dance of Water!”

Dance of Water is now active

Dodging the first slash, I continued to keep my distance dodging left and right with the occasional parry or block with my sword. I summoned some golden swords to fire at the black skeleton but it smashed to pieces more easily than I thought it would.

After another few minutes of this, the black skeleton managed to hit and break my left arm while I was blocking.

Shit, damn you!

“Crimson Lance!”

Red Aura covered my sword into the shape of a lance twice its size.

“Burst Strike!”

I charged into the black skeleton and impaled the sword into it, letting loose my red aura into it at the same time in an explosion of aura.

Bang!

I leaped back when the skeleton in that state trying to couturier attack on the ground.

Fire Formation ? Tower Form ? Fire Tower

“Fire Tower!”

I unleashed a fire tower at the black skeleton which was several times larger and more powerful than I expected. However from the flames of my spell came charging out the black skeleton with only a few burns on it.

Clang!

My sword met with its in a power push with me being dragged backwards grinning my feet into the ground.

“Garden of Eden!” I shouted in a last desperate attempt.

Garden of Eden is now active

25K worth of mana was instantly consumed as immediately I made magic arrows and other magic related spells appear and blast this black skeleton into pieces. How all it did was cause small cracks in it and I was eventually overwhelmed and on the floor with little hope left.

“Ice Glacier!” I shouted imagining a new spell.

From in front of me came Ice, lots of ice as it pushed and impaled the black skeleton several times and encased it in ice before shattering with it as well.

“Huff....Huff....”

That was close....too close....wait did I just use an ice spell?

I checked my mana and it was down 30K with just that spell. Normally such a spell would only take at most a few thousand mana but this one easily costed more than anything else I casted. Was it because this place restricted Ice and Water spells to the point that it cost this much?

But that spell was very effective....

I guess I can just recover my mana and slowly grind experience using this method.

Part 5 – One Group Boss Battle

In the deepest part of the dungeon laid a boss monster. It was a being of deep red skin and had the head of a bull with horns but also had grey fur that covered its entire body. It was 4 metres tall with a body filled with entirely muscle. A being that was worthy of being called a Boss Monster.

“I am the ruler of this cave, The ruler of wolves and bulls, Decay! Are you an enemy?”

An intense amount of fighting spirit was directed to us.

“Commander even if we got stronger....this is too much for us.”

Even though this army of 100 in a month managed to level up 50 times to an average of level 200, this boss monster was something even stronger than the Bulls that are around level 300 and was a Boss Monster which naturally had higher amount of health and damage compared to other mobs.

They also usually had some special feature or a powerful attack as well in this case would be its abnormal body design.

Seeing the fear of the men I commanded since a month ago reminded me of the beginning of the month where they were even afraid of a weak wolf.

“Fine, I take point. Everyone else get in half-moon formation and make sure you back away if you feel there is something wrong. Viv will make sure none of you are critically injured.”

“Commander....”

The mood of the 100 men army increased as I stood in front of the creature called Decay.

“Fortunately we are here to kill you!”

With a smile I drew my sword and ran to strike first. Striking downwards, Decay blocked it using its thick muscles in its arms. Following my charge the spear-men went ahead and poked it at the sides, reason why I'm using these wordings is that it was literally like pokes compared to the damaged they caused with 10 men at once.

Decay tried to sweep to the side with its arms however I quickly stopped it.

“Flash Slash!”

“Rooooooar!!!”

Cutting its skin Decay roared in pain as I quickly backed away to dodge the incoming attacks.

“Shields Front!”

10 men charged forward with shields to block the swings while the other attacked Decay from all sides. The men continued to attack once and back away to let Decay attack baiting him in for a wide swing so they can attack again.

However this was not without risks of course. Decay while being a large strong creature, was also quite fast as well. Several times did some men were sent flying through the air.

Decay swiped at once of the shield-men in an odd way. The impact pushed the person in the air where Decay smashed him away.

Bang!

Viv promptly caught the person who was blasted away with one of his roots but that person was out for the count.  

The battle continued for hours with both sides being pushed back and forth similar to be tug and pull competition. Eventually I couldn't hold back anymore.

“Divine Beast Shift!”

Divine Beast Shift is now active

Markings of the Divine Beast appeared on my body as I charged straight to Decay and started to continuously attack and attack until Decay was beaten down.

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!!”

“Its coming this way!”

“Get out of the way!”

Decay let out one last roar before turning red and charging at the army.

“...that disrupt this balance. Strike Roots!”

In an instant, several roots appeared and pierced the body of Decay which was being stabbed by the sharp roots over and over again until it eventually died in agony.

Killed the Beast Leader Decay

- You have levelled up x3

- You gained 5 Fighting Spirit

- You gained 2 Strength

The battle ended and we met our goal of levelling these guys up 50 levels. However I think some of them may be...a bit loose in the thanks to this month.

Part 6 – The Nether

It had been few months since I ended up in this place. While training on the black skeletons and other beasts that were in this place, I decided to also explore the place and make sure I at least don't get lost.

Because of this in this month, I gained a total of 10 levels from facing creatures that were possibly over a 100 hundred levels above me. The reason for this 'slow' progress was that I had to individually kill each of those black skeleton and it takes an intense battle each time that risks my life. I actually died a few times as well which did not help.

With the rate I was going I would gain a total of 36 levels when a year passed but considering the slower rate of levelling up the closer you get to level 400 which means this number would be a lot lower than it could be.

Plus I only get around a few percentage of experience every time I kill those black skeletons. I haven't even tried to face those undead pigmen since if I do I have to deal with 100 of them at a time.

The Nether

A hell-like dimension in which not many have escaped from. Home to many creatures which made this land their homes, it is filled with hostile and unique creatures that have great strength. Filled with an incredible amount of lava and heat, there is almost no water to speak of. There is a legend that you can come from and to this world with the over-world with material that came from material similar to The Nether.

It is said that the exiled from the over-world came here and build a great black fortress for their last stand against the end.

Through the hours of walking and walking near lava with little water to speak, I eventually ended up in what seems to be the centre of this place. I found that this place was actually called 'The Nether' if you believe me. That's what the game said at least.

In the centre was a large black fortress that looked man-made. Countless creatures swarmed in that place.

It was a Nether Fortress.

Continue Misfortune?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 5000~

- Well this was a fun experience for all three of them

- Yes, this is THE nether. Just changed a bit....reasons next chapter

- Yeah...finished half of chapter 4 yesterday but didn't even write one bit today....actually actually I did. It was the final equipment set the 3 will have in this series.