Underworld - Book 8 - Chapter 29 - part a

It had been nice traveling from vein to vein with mostly just Aeris by my side. Now that we were back in Matriarch Crown, there was no way Sergeant Valls was going to allow that. And after we let Master Mather know what we were thinking, Virginie found out and soon Ronja, the vampire socialite that had helped us with our outfits for the Head Mistress’s party was coming. As was Sister Nava. We decided to bring Jasmine and Degima along with us. Where were we headed? The monster stables.

That was not what they called them. For one, there were a lot of competing businesses that collected and sold monsters. These were specifically the non-sentient kind. Most places were either called terrariums, or places where land monsters were kept, or aviaries, for flying monsters. I also heard the term zoo thrown around in a general sense. And honestly, I would’ve preferred an actual zoo where the animals weren’t being stored to be sold. Such monsters would probably be more relaxed, which would make it easier for me to steal their essence.

 When we saw Ronja again, the answer to a question I hadn’t been asking was soundly revealed. Instead of silver hair, now hers was jet black. Just like ladies on the surface, succubi dyed their hair. Well, considering Nava’s pedicure spell, it might be something similar.

The grey-green-eyed succubus didn’t hesitate to march up to us and get in our space. She took our appearance personal. Giving Aeris a hug, she drew back just a step to take her in. My wife was wearing a crystal blue dress that was simple in design.

Reaching out, the succubus repositioned Aeris’s hair behind her ears, then longingly sighed.

Then she turned and looked at me, sighing shortly as if unimpressed. A rapid pattering of feet later, her face was in mine when she asked, “When was the last time you thought about what you’re wearing?”

Glancing down, I examined my plain grey long-sleeved shirt and shrugged. I’d decided to not go around bare-chested even if I got to wear plated arm guards. I had to take off most equipment if I changed my forms anyway. At least into non-humanoid forms. “Hey. I’ve been changing my clothes.”

“Imps remember to change the clothes. I asked you if you’ve thought about what you’re wearing.”

I stopped her before she got started. “I plan on learning new shapeshifting forms today. That means I might be transforming into something large. I don’t want to have to remove clothing each time I try out a new form.”

She snickered as if she thought I was making a joke. After seeing my reaction, she stiffened. “Your serious?”

She accused me of being lazy.

I accused her of being right.

“How have you handled your clothing in the past if you were using your blue magic forms often? Did you walk around the Dungeon Level naked?”

It was my turn to snicker. We were in Aeris’s courtyard, so it’s not like there were a lot of strangers around. Still, I glanced at Nava, then Jasmine. Not to mention the level 75,000 succubus right in front of me.

Whatever.

 I quickly took off my shirt and summoned my Skeletal Armor just over my upper body.

“Are you part orc?” she gibed. “I’m assuming you can manipulate how it forms?”

“I can…”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“It seems like you’re going to get your way about wearing armor.”

She proceeded to describe for me how I was supposed to change my armor and make it look. Soon, I was raising up a changing room out of earth to remove my pants and summon my Skeletal Armor over the rest of me.

“You fear being seen?” Ronja said, making even more of a show of laughing this time.

“Some sights are reserved for my wife alone.”

“You’re strange, light mage.”

“Your entire race is strange, succubus.”

She drew silent for a long moment, before asking, “Do you think that’s true?”

Everything Lilith had revealed about how the succubi were made came flooding back. My initial reaction was complicated. Racism on the surface world was ridiculous. Differences in skin tone didn’t make one more or less human. But a succubus was actually a different race. Wasn’t it?

They had been half elves. There were mostly the human-elf variety, but I learned there were also fae-elves and dwarf-elves. All of them were considered half elves and had been transformed by the vampire’s magic. Should they be considered magically infected, then? As if they had some kind of disease?

It was like they’d been forcibly transformed by an outside source. I imagined being changed into my Dark Incubus Form with the Hyperactive skill activated against my will. I may grow used to it, but that did not sound like a good time. What had happened to the succubi was far worse. Aspects of their nature had changed. Their natural desires were quite literally perverted. And their appetites…

Even though I wanted to be kind, I also didn’t want to hide what I was thinking. And strange was not the word I would’ve used, but… “I do.”

Pursing her lips up in thought, she commented, “I see.”

Our little conversation didn’t faze her. She guided me in reshaping my armor. In the end, I looked like a guy wearing a bone wetsuit that only added some thickness to the shoulders and hips. From there, she added a few well place spikes from my elbows and shoulders. Then we worked a few minutes on turning the skeletal ribs covering my chest and back into overlapping scales. I normally didn’t smooth out my skeletal armor or give it a polish, but by the time I was done following her instruction, I had to admit, “You’re kind of good at this.”

“And that only makes you kind of right,” she said matter-of-factly.

Even though I wouldn’t say it out loud, I had to give her design a name and save it for later. Despite the off-white color, the armor looked like glossy pearl steel. It was something no orc would be seen in.

I glanced in Aeris’s direction, then gave her a mischievous grin.

“What are you up to?” she asked curiously.

Holding up my hand with several rings on my fingers of varying metals, I considered the possibilities. There was no way I’d practiced enough with the earth element to be able to create functional armor with it, but coating my skeletal armor would be no problem.

Even though palladium was lighter while also being harder, likely making for better armor, I went with platinum for its white-glossy shine, and it didn’t tarnish. Not that either consideration mattered. This was entirely for cosmetic appeal.

I went ahead and transformed my body from the neck down into earth incubus. Then I called on One with the Earth and used the platinum ring I was wearing as a conduit. A few seconds later, I made the old knight in shining armor stereotype look dull. Platinum technically reflected less light than silver, but to the human eye it was much brighter.

This changed things. I needed to completely redo my naming scheme. Not only did I have a new polished skeletal armor, I had platinum and…

I gave my ring hand another glance and smirked. A few seconds later my armor was covered in gold. I was about to do the most obnoxiously geeky pose I could think of but found Aeris frowning. Not the sad kind. She looked thoughtful, but I didn’t want to push it.

I tried out the other metals I had quick access to. They all looked good. I found I like the less gaudy iron than the others, though. Gold, platinum, palladium, and even silver and aluminum were too showy for me. Even polished iron looked practical, and manly.

Master Mather had made sure I got a great variety of rings. This included several kind of steel and alloys. There were some Underworld specific materials, but they didn’t offer the same reflectivity as natural earth metals—all of which the Underworld made use of.

Fira, Blizzar, Quazium, and Aeronium were technically metals once smelted. They could be used in their pure state or they could be mixed with other metals to make alloys. I still had difficulty considering them their own metals though. The reason was because they simply seemed to be the merging of mana with a natural metal.

Quazium somehow bonded with iron from what I read. I had yet to dig into how it worked at the atomic level. Since it was rich in earth mana, it was one of the strongest metals one could find. Depending on how it was heat treated, it could also be the most durable. Its magical properties were limited though.

Blizzar was ice mana merged with copper. It was surprisingly durable—and able to hold an edge—but still lacked compared to Quazium. It could be used to make potent magic weapons, though.

As for Fira, I thought it would be Tungsten, but fire mana actually merged naturally with Titanium. It was often considered the best elemental steel for the creation of magic weapons that need strength and durability.

Aeronium was the oddest of the bunch. Wind mana rarely merged with metal, but that might be because cesium was the metal it was compatible with. Cesium, even when stable, reacted violently with the air and water. There were also forms of it that were radioactive. It was naturally found in small amounts and combined with other minerals. Wind mana, of all things, when merged with it, made it non-reactive and non-radioactive. It’s a soft metal but could also be used to create some of the most potent magic weapons.

There were other things like orbulist-alloy Russ had played with during our early days in the Underworld. It was anything but reflective, though.

As I went through the possibilities it was like inspiration fell as Comet the Frog from above. I’d been focusing on metals because they were some of the most reflective substances, but that wasn’t all I had. I’d ruled it out early because it simply didn’t reflect a lot of light even though it could have a glassy finish. I pulled out an obsidian ring.

Before I was covered with volcanic glass, I knew this would be a favorite of mine. Oh how wrong I was. This wasn’t a favorite. This was my new Obsidian Skeleton Armor.

I lifted my arms to watch how they glistened in the light. Running my fingers over the shingled rib plates, I silently mouthed flattering words as if my armor had ears and it needed to be satisfied.

“I think he likes it,” my wife announced with a chuckle.

“Why am I not surprised?” Nava scoffed.

I mostly ignored them, but when I was about to pull out my top-of-the-line Spell Emulator to test how the tank’s jade would look as armor when Shamash annoyingly did his job and interrupted me. “We have limited time.”

Was I dejected? I laugh in derision at the very thought. I’d just undergone my greatest transformation yet. I was the Obsidian Skeletal Overlord with a sunny complexion. Should I transform to a vampire then? I certainly didn’t look the part. Nor did I have the temperament. It was a badly kept secret that every paladin and virtuous knight was jealous of the dark side because they got to wear the best colors. It didn’t matter what side you were on. Everyone warrior wanted to look menacing and dangerous.

We weren’t exactly trying to hide who we were now that we would be shopping with our entourage.

I gave Sergeant Valls a glance. He stood there impassively. If only Russ, Travis, and the rest of my anti-harem were present. They would understand how I felt.

Instead of changing my face, I did the next best thing and summoned Skeleton General’s Helm. Of course, Obsidian was quick to wrap over it.

Turning to Aeris, I patted my head.

She looked excited to return to her mount, but noticing Ronja and Nava, she gave me a subtle shake of her head. Pulling at her dress covering her hips, she made obvious her objection.

It would be awkward if she were wearing a dress. We were probably far too modest for the succubi, but it wasn’t something I was ashamed of. Principles mean nothing if you let go of them the moment they aren’t popular. Either that or they were never principles at all.

How should Aeris and Elorion of the Succubi travel to market? We borrowed our stylist’s party-sized flying chariot.