Underworld - Book 4 - Chapter 19

We traveled for miles in the opposite direction of Sanctuary at an incredible pace. It wasn’t just for a few hours, but we first intended it to last for only two days—that eventually turned into five. There was a very specific landmark we were looking for in the northeast where we would end our quest to lead the enemy away, but we weren’t taking a straight path to it. We covered hundreds of miles while zigzagging through to every possible dead end.

Random mobs appeared here and there, but it remained strangely noneventful. If we saw something we thought Lydia might want, we grabbed it, but took little time for anything else. It made me realize how big the Underworld really was. Traveling for days without ever running into a single creature was a real possibility if you were careful and stayed away from the larger caverns.

All the while, Aeris and I reached for the limits of our forms and abilities, only to push and stretch them as far as we could. Fire Incubus was only the beginning for me. It reached level 100 by day two, only to leave me scratching my head. It underwent a transformation of its own, but I’d been expecting more.

Crimson Incubus Form

Level: 2

Cost: 1,000 Mana Per Second (200 with buffs)

Strength: +1,000, +100% Strength

Dexterity: +1,000, +100% Dexterity

Constitution: +1,000, +100% Constitution

Special Abilities: Impenetrable Skin (Passive), Fire Breather, Enraged 

Improved Impenetrable Skin: A Passive skill where your mana bonds with your skin to form a powerful armor.

Fire Breather: At will, you are able to exhale flames with your breath. 

Enraged: At the expense of mana, you are able to boost your Dexterity and Strength.

Next Level:

Not Applicable

I found myself staring at the last section that indicated what would happen when the form leveled. All that it said was, not applicable… When it had reached level 2, which took an entire hour, nothing about the form had changed either. The +1,000 was an upgrade from Fire Incubus Form’s original +500, but it seemed Crimson Incubus Form would remain +1,000 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution and never increase. At least, not until it reached level 100.

The only other thing that had changed when the form evolved was that Impenetrable Skin had upgraded to Improved Impenetrable Skin. The difference to the naked eye while I was transformed was that my skin turned a slightly darker shade of red and it gave me a reflective sheen making me look like a polished ruby. I moved on from leveling it—happy with its current offerings.

Even if I was a tad disappointed with the Form’s evolution, it was still leveling which gave me hope for an even better evolution in the future. It was far from the only thing I had to power level. We remained away from Sanctuary longer than we had originally intended because my experimentation early on offered far more promise than I’d been expecting.

We stopped periodically, but our work never ended. I worked on my Light Magic Buffs and my other Forms.

Shapeshifting Mastery

Level 100

Due to your use of multiple forms, you have begun to become more proficient.

The spell casting rate of Shapeshifting is cut in half.

Max Level

My mastery maxed out quickly as my lesser forms also maxed. I’d left most of my Forms at level 10 the last time I’d seriously power leveled them. With Master Mind Buff, I was able to brute force my way through the highest levels.

Blue and Green Slime were the first two Forms other than Fire Incubus to reach level 100. When the first reach 100, it didn’t evolve, but when the second one also reached level 100 a third new Form became available to me. It was interesting enough that I leveled it as well. All three Forms combined took me two hours to max out. The last Form had been worth all the work.

Silver Slime

Level: 100

Cost: 5,000 Mana Per Minute (1,000 with buffs)

50% Physical Damage Reduction

50% Magic Damage Reduction

Special Abilities: Slime Body, Invincible

Slime Body: During transformation, your body and equipment are transformed into a state of slime. You can harden and throw your slime at will to defend and attack. 

Note: Physical and magical abilities remain at your disposal but may lose effectiveness if they rely on a different body type.

Invincible: At the expensive of losing the ability to move and cast spells, you are able to soften your body to a state where almost no damage is taken. You are 99% Immune to all damage types. If your slime body is cut, diced, squished, pounded, or blown to squishy bits, you will have to gather 80% of your slime together before you’re able to return to your true form.

Cost: 100,000 Mana Per Second (20,000 with buffs)

Note: Invincibility auto-expires if 90% of your body is separated by any means. In a state of super softening you take no damage for being reduced to little bits, but the slime in which your life force remains returns to the typical Silver Slime state of being.

It was quick enough to level on its own and its Invincible ability was incredible, but not without a few big drawbacks. First, I wouldn’t be completely invincible. One percent of damage would still get through. That might sound like nitpicking, but it wasn’t wererats I was worried about. It would also leave my body in an extremely malleable state. Sure I could take a lot of damage, but a toddler could waddle up and grab a handful of slime from my face with little effort and throw it across the room. 

Its best use seemed to be in a situation where I was about to be disintegrated. Boom—I blow up and then an hour later, after my attacker has left, I could blob around the rubble and slurp up my slime particles until I find enough that I can return to normal. That might not sound difficult, but I wasn’t a cute little slime, but one that weighed just as much as I did in my human form. Collecting 200 lbs. worth of slime particles wasn’t the best of times. It was a very situational ability and twelve hundred times more expensive than the form itself. Still, this ultimate ability of the Slime Forms could actually be of use. There was also the possibility of finding additional Slimes out there other than Blue and Green that might open up other advanced types of Slime Forms in the future.

Fire Imp brought with it an interesting, but mostly useless discovery. At level 100, it unlocked Fire Incubus Form which—of course—I already had. It didn’t add anything to Crimson Incubus, but it gave me access to Fire Imp, Fire Incubus, and Crimson Incubus Forms which I could switch between at will. Fire Imp and Incubus were also maxed, so they would only have their natural drawback, if any.

What I considered my last lesser form, Rock Giant didn’t bring with it any evolutions when it reached its max level.

Rock Giant Form

Level: 100

Cost: 1,000 Mana Per Minute (200 with bonuses.)

Constitution: +500

+200% Constitution

No Dexterity Penalty

Special Abilities: Stone Skin, Hammer Fist, Boulder Throw

Caster’s Height and Mass are doubled.

Stone Skin – Passive

Max Level:

What maxing it did was remove the Dexterity penalty and turned me in to a massive Constitution monster. My HP shot up over 660,000 to 997,016. In some situations, it could make me more Invincible than even Silver Slime. I only wished that I’d had it already when I’d first faced The Belly. Bashing thousands of mobs as a giant, mobile rock-man just sounded like a good time.

My remaining forms didn’t max out as the lesser ones did. I’d gained two new Forms in the last week or so. Livisht, which I renamed to Scorc, didn’t level like the others. Just like my Bat Form that I’d stolen from Lord Darius, it had a basic cost to cast and I could take its form, but it didn’t have the ability to advance. Its main benefit was to make me look as disturbing as possible while its scorpion stinger had a Piercing Strike ability with 100 poison damage over 10 seconds and Numb Muscle. Just as it sounded, Numb Muscle left whatever muscle my scorpion stinger hit in a numbed state. Underwater Treasure Serpent Form could only be cast underwater, which didn’t make a lot of sense since I had fought them on land, so I didn’t even bother with it. Werewolf, Hell Hound, and Minotaur Forms didn’t cost much more than the others, but once I reached level 95, they slowed to a crawl. If I spend an extra week working on them I could have probably maxed them all, but I’d already found something that was far better than what their possible evolutions could offer—at least in the short term.

Werewolf Form now gave me +1,000 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution and the Intelligence and Wisdom debuffs were removed around level 50. It didn’t scale as well as Incubus or Minotaur did, but the regeneration rate was even better than my Light Surgeon Form. Hell Hound also didn’t scale that well, but the addition of almost 2,000 Dexterity, Turn Up the Heat, and running on all fours was an exceptional Traveling Form that I could sustain indefinitely. I hoped both would evolve when they reached level 100 and make them even more useful.

My Minotaur Form was the only other one that scaled with my stats and was starting to give Crimson Incubus From a run for its money.

Minotaur Form

Level: 95

Cost: 5,750 Mana Per Minute (1,150 with buffs)

Strength: +1 for every Character Level, +95% Strength

Dexterity: +1 for every Character Level, +95% Dexterity

Constitution: +1 for every Character Level, +95% Constitution

Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Wild Bull

Magic Resistance: 

Level 1

5% Damage Resistance to every School of Magic 

Wild Bull: Pushes past any mind-affecting status effects and allow you to continue your attack.

Note: This puts you in a state of auto attack if you lose consciousness. Target picked at random. If you regain consciousness the attack stops immediately.

Next Level:

Cost: 5,600 Mana Per Minute (1,120 with buffs)

+1% Strength

+1% Dexterity

+1% Constitution

Stats weren’t Crimson Incubus Form’s only benefit though. Also, I needed to level up Magic Resistance, Minotaur Form’s Special Ability it unique, but that would have to wait. Not forever, because the +1 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution for every character level made it scale better than anything I had—even Primordial Cat Form. When it did reach level 100, if it never evolved, once I was a high enough character level, it would likely still become the foundation for my Ultimate Form. The scaling was that overpowered.

I’d only experienced the highest density of mana a couple times since entering the Underworld. Lord Darius had had it. The Head Mistress and Xaphan had it. And Mistress Nava had it. Through Mana Sight, it appeared liquid in form and of the richest possible quality. The difference between those monsters hadn’t been in mana quality, but in quantity. It was in a small cavern that Aeris and I had reached through a side tunnel where I tasted such quality for the first time. All my work with my Forms and Light Magic Buffs had led to this moment. I pushed everything to the pinnacle of what I was capable of and found myself enraptured in its essence.

On the other side of the room, a tight sphere of air spun in upon itself so quickly that it made it look as solid as physical silver. It was Aeris in Wisp Form combating the aura of my current state. The heat and fumes didn’t phase her even if they were deadly for anyone still human. 

She’d been using my auras while I was leveling my Forms for her own experimentation. Her mastery of wind had surpassed what I’d have originally considered what nature was capable of. She could compress herself into a solid state or spread herself so thin she was like the air itself. She could create heat through rapid motion or cool the room with a gentle breeze. Her Wisp Form was incredible.

I’d tried to use Force Learn to acquire her True Forms for my own, but I found it impossible. It left me wondering if they were unavailable because she was originally human—or, despite her True Forms, if was she actually still considered to be one? Either way, hers were the first forms that I wasn’t able to steal. There were also the Skeleton and Zombies ‘Forms’ from the Head Mistress’s Dungeon, but they were considered summons which I also couldn’t steal.

It was a real shame, because in some ways her current abilities now surpassed my own. That didn’t mean she’d be able to defeat Mistress Nava. But, in my current state, at max power, there was a sliver of hope.

I finished my calculations for how long I could last in this state and cut the supply of mana. I slowly reverted to my human form, before immediately transforming to Light Mage. It fully cut off my overwhelming Light Magic presence for the first time since we set out to draw Mistress Nava away from Sanctuary.

Aeris appeared before me still in her Wisp Form. She exited her spinning maneuver so quickly that the room shook. She did seem to notice. I’d also grown accustomed to the blasts from her constant breaking of the sound barrier.

She was staring at me, or through me, and was quiet for a lot time. I didn’t say anything either because my transformation had left me just as shaky.

I was the first one to break the silence. “Do you think it will be enough?”

Shaking her head, she found it difficult to answer but eventually found her voice. “I don’t know.”

“When we fight Mistress Nava, I don’t think the others should be anywhere near the fight. I don’t want to hurt them.”

“Agreed. What if it’s not enough?”

“We have one final weapon, if we can build it...”

A grin came to her face and fled just as quickly as it arrived. “Then let’s go home.”

We contacted Richard and gave him the news. The landmark cavern we’d been looking for was only about a mile away. We’d poked our heads in to see a couple hundred mobs in the area, but nothing of high enough level to go after. There were a few areas like this that I’d been keeping track of that I’d inform Richard about for his maps—and Mel in the case he wanted to send some of his minions out for some quick experience. I’d promised him I’d look out for a place he could do some additional hunting. There were four mini-belly’s that he could take advantage of now. The only draw back was that at least two of them were near the end of the trail we’d created for Mistress Nava. At least his Dark Magic wouldn’t draw the same kind of attention mine would.

Before heading out, we contacted Master Khaba one final time and got an update. There was still no sign of Mistress Nava or any scouts she might have sent.

Traveling as a Light Mage restricted me to my feet, but the 100% running buff made me nearly as fast as Hell Hound at full power. The fact that I was running on two legs was even more impressive. A final spell that I had maxed was also helping me keep my balance. Tail Regrowth had changed. 

Tail Equilibrium

Full manipulation of your tail is now at your disposal. Materials available depend upon your race and what is physically available inside your body. As long as it is a part of your person, you can use any material in your experimentation to develop the perfect waggle.

I’d ended up sticking with a tail that was six feet long because it seemed to be the best for balance when it actually had any weight. In my Light Mage state, I just let it take on the characteristics of light, making it weightless and giving me a Light Tentacle of sorts that I imagined would be as powerful as a Lightsaber if I focused enough mana.

As we ran, I lashed at the side of the cave. Without any additional mana, it bounced against the rock like a beam of light. Cranking up the amount of mana, I soon came to a precise measure. Just like Laser, right around 5,000 Mana Per Minute hit the sweet spot.

Lashing the wall again, this time my tail sunk into it like a blow torch to a bar of dark chocolate.

Noticing I’d slowed down, Aeris appeared over me, observed my tail slashing into the wall, and sent a burst of wind smacking into my rear end to propel me forward with a jerk. 

She sung at me in her high pitched whistle. “Hurry up slow poke. Training’s over. I want some freshly cooked food. Don’t make me push you all the way home.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” I said, making a face.

She responded by sticking out an airy little tongue before laughing and sending another burst of wind—this one to the back of my head.

Wide eyed, I launched myself at her, only to be left in her dust. Chasing her was a sure way to grow in humility fast, but I did so anyway since she always got a kick out of it. We were both as giddy as a couple of school kids heading home for some chocolate ice cream. Chocolate, my friend. I miss you… 

Note to self. If there are cocoa beans in the Underworld, I need to find them, plant them, and create mountains of chocolate. With large quantities of chocolate and bacon, even Mistress Nava couldn’t stay angry. If only that were true.