Underworld - Level Up or Die: A LitRPG Series

  Underworld

  Level Up or Die!

  Book 1

  By Apollos Thorne

  Copyright © 2017 by Apollos Thorne

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Beta Readers

  Florian Cadwe Avril

  Augustus Blackmer

  Aquele Cara

  Jeff Dunton

  Ezben Gerardo

  Cory Grimes

  Kegan Hall

  Lucas A Luvith

  William Lyon

  Nathan Aaron Mayes

  Don Miller

  Jay Taylor

  Tao Roung Wong

  Thank you guys!

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Kidnapped

  Chapter 2 – Goodbye Ranch Dressing

  Character Sheet

  Chapter 3 – Home Base, Bread, and Some Pain

  Chapter 4 – To Hit an Imp in the Face

  Chapter 5 - Regrouping

  Chapter 6 – Going Solo

  Chapter 7 – The Head Mistress

  Chapter 8 – Stress Relief

  Chapter 9 – Getting Started

  Chapter 10 – Lydia

  Chapter 11 – Power Leveling

  Chapter 12- Returning From a Sleepless Hunt

  Character Sheet

  Chapter 13 – Wind Magic

  Chapter 14 – The First Boss Monster

  Chapter 15 – Magic Books

  Chapter 16 - Flee

  Chapter 17 – Theft From My Would Be Killers

  Chapter 18 - Curiosity Killed the Human?

  Chapter 19 – A Master’s Duel

  Chapter 20 – Loot!

  Chapter 21 – A Succubus’s Reward

  Chapter 22 – Much Needed Nap

  Chapter 23 – Planning for the Long Term

  Chapter 24 - Study

  Chapter 25 - Construction

  Thanks for reading!

  Character Sheet

  Stat Bonuses

  Talents

  General Magic

  Light Magic

  Blue Magic

  Prologue

  Her mistress’s throne room was decked out just like the pillowed dungeon you would imagine a millennia-old succubus would have. Fabrics and cushions in gaudy reds, purples, and gold warmed up the gray stone walls and floors as much as could be hoped for. What was missing were the hypnotic tones and trance-inducing beat that would be common except on special occasions.

  A pearl white throne with blood red fabric was graced by a modestly dressed lady. Her purple Victorian gown had full-length sleeves and didn’t even leave any leg or cleavage for the imagination. The odd fashion statement by the otherwise lusty, full-lipped succubus wasn’t lost on the Lich.

  “Mistress Lilith. If I may be so bold, why are you dressed so…”

  “Elegantly?” she interrupted, challenging his resolve, even though she had no doubt expected him to ask.

  Having second thoughts, she answered the question on his mind. “Yes, yes.” She sighed. “It certainly must be odd to see one of my kind dressed so finely, let alone wearing so much clothing in the first place. After a thousand years I’m tired of males of every race ogling me. How would you feel after daily having every man’s lecherous eyes feasting upon you?”

  The Lich couldn’t help himself. A full belly laugh erupted from his skeletal frame. “Forgive me, Head Mistress,” he said immediately, knowing he had crossed the line.

  Obviously not happy with him, she demanded, as a threatening cold energy resonated from her, “What’s so funny?!”

  “You capture and leech the life out of the men who you are accusing of being lecherous. Not only that, you are the queen of leeches. That is why I agreed to our deal.”

  He could tell she was still upset, but her pride had been invoked. He had wisely stroked her ego enough to hopefully save himself from a headache later restoring their working relationship. Their deal, after all, could grant them both great power.

  “And it’s the fact that I have grown tired of the act that has led me to our agreement. Leeching energy through magic is a much cleaner and more refined way of growing more powerful.”

  “On that, we both agree. You do look lovely. It will make our meetings easier to manage.”

  She nodded at his compliment but picked up on the last part of his statement. “Easier to manage?”

  Perhaps he shouldn’t have gone as far as he did. She wasn’t a lady in a gown after all, but the ruler of all succubi in the west and likely the most powerful one in existence. He had best remember that, even if she no longer desired to round up and feast upon men in the same way that came naturally to her.

  “Yes, Mistress. In this attire, I can enjoy your presence, while not undertaking too many distractions.”

  With a raised brow she pushed him a little further. “So my race’s normal dressing habits would distract you. A Lich? How so? You have no flesh.”

  “Very true, which gives me immunity to some of your more persuasive abilities, but I was and still am a man.”

  “Noted.”

  Though she didn’t show any indication that this new bit of information affected her, he knew that she would test him later. How foolish had he been? It was time for a change of topic.

  “If I may, I have some news that I think might please you.”

  For the first time, a grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Oh yes, please. How is our little project coming?”

  “Everything is prepared. We begin tonight!”

  With a thought, the shadow-cloaked, skeletal lich turned into a hunchbacked old man in a servant’s attire.

  Chapter 1 - Kidnapped

  Ranch dressing! It’s a magically delicious concoction that should be put on everything. Steak. Burgers. Sandwiches. Chicken. More Chicken. Anything with bacon! Bacon? The two most wonderful things in the world… ranch dressing and bacon!

  Well not quite, but I, Elorion, am a gamer. Food and gaming go well together, so dreaming about food while logged in on my favorite VR gaming chair was a great way to prepare myself for my next meal. It also helped pass the time while I was grinding or doing repetitive boring stuff to level up my game character. The sacrifice was often fierce, but with enough bacon, anything was possible!

  Unleashed hellfire on another Minotaur Sentry; seasoned fries dipped in ranch dressing! Lightning strike from heaven empowering my hammer to forge some epic magic weapons; bacon pizza with extra bacon! Spamming ‘ITEMS FOR SALE’ in the town square; ranch dressing and applesauce! Eh, wait… Well. I’d try it.

  Okay, I'd had enough. I needed food. Logging out, it took a moment before my VR headset gave me the red light that I was safe to take it off.

  As I pulled the full VR helmet off of my head, I saw the ugliest flying lizard in the history of the world hovering a foot from my face. My first reaction was to scream like a macholess girly man, and scream I did!

  No, wait. It was not a lizard because its snout was human in shape and its skin was green-gray in color.

  “Now that’s the sound I expect a fat lazy human to make! Congratulations! You have passed the test!”

  Test? Why hadn’t I hit this flying, obnoxious, turtle-headed thing in the face yet?

  Instead of reacting as I should, all that came out of me as I faced a cre
ature that shouldn’t exist is, “Uh.”

  “I’m not an uh. I’m an imp. My job is to kidnap you. So come along.”

  “You can talk?” I asked dumbly, completely missing what the creature just said about kidnapping.

  “No, I can’t. You have just wasted your life playing so many video games that you have gone insane. I don't really exist. You are just seeing things. Oh and by the way.” He lifted his hand and pointed a single finger at me, then said, “Bind.”

  A dim gray light extended from his finger. It was quick but slow enough that it could be seen with the naked eye. He was a foot from me so there was no dodging it. Whatever it was.

  My arms shot to my chest, one over the other, and my heels clashed together. Something like an ethereal rope bound me and I suddenly found myself fallen off my chair, flapping around like a caffeinated walrus. There was no way of loosening what had bound me.

  “Time for your first lesson. You are a weak creature, only level 31. Fairly impressive I suppose for someone so young who is also so lazy, but humans normally get to between level 40 and 70 in their lifetime. That is incredibly low in the realm of the underworld. This binding spell is also fairly weak in general, but mine is a high level because I get to capture losers like you for coin. Anyways, the point of the story is that you are weak and useless right now. You will be given an opportunity to level up and hopefully, in time, you will be able to break this spell in mere moments. For now, you go where I want.”

  I tried to speak, but the binding spell had also covered my mouth. Note to self. Next time you see an imp, punch it in the face. Who was he calling fat and lazy? I played soccer and ran track, but it was summer so it was the offseason. Besides I still worked out… sometimes. Fine, I’d gained fifteen pounds. I did plan on getting in shape for my senior year in high school. My mom kept reminding me that she wasn't going to cook for me forever.

  With a mix of panic and focus, I forced myself to examine my situation. When the imp said another command and I was suddenly floating, I gave him another round of walrus aerobics. The next thing I knew the imp whispered something and blew in my face.

  My eyes began to blur and I felt woozy. I was about to lose consciousness and I hadn't even gotten my snack!

  Chapter 2 – Goodbye Ranch Dressing

  I awoke leaning back against a cold stone wall. The first thing I noticed was how hungry I was. Hadn't I been getting up to get a snack?

  The room was one of shadows. To either side of me were other people, both guys and girls, about twenty of us all together. Everyone was starting to come to. They wore simple, uniform gray pants and long-sleeved shirts. Their shoes were leather that reminded me of moccasins, except they were laced up the middle. Wait...

  Looking down I saw I had identical clothing on. Remembering the shelless turtle with wings, I turned my head, frantically searching the shallow room for my kidnapper. I really needed to punch an imp in the face right now. He must have violated me by stripping me and changing my clothes.

  I heard someone enter the room before I saw them. Movement came from the darkest area on the far side, which I assumed was an open doorway. To its side, I could barely make out ranks of equipment on tables with an inclining face that was nearly the length of the wall. Was this a torture chamber as well?

  “Welcome to my labyrinth!” came the most seductive of voices. “You have been handpicked from the human race to be energy sources for your beloved Head Mistress Lilith.”

  The voice belonged to an extremely beautiful and extravagantly dressed woman. To her side was a hunched over man in a butler’s suit.

  Energy sources? You've watched too many sci-fi movies, lady. Where's the food?

  With the raising of his hand and the whisper of his lips, the hunched man produced a large glowing globe that shone softly but somehow filled the room.

  “You see, I brought you here so that you can make something of yourselves. Each and every one of you spends the majority of their time trying to escape their current existence through video games. Here in my labyrinth, the games you spend so much time playing will become your reality. You will get to level up in real life as you fight monsters, find items, and most of all, try to survive.”

  The solemn moment was quickly broken by a chorus of outrage from my fellow captives. The only thing that anyone had heard was ‘energy sources’. Now everyone was on their feet demanding to go back home.

  I stayed sitting, taken aback by what was said, processing each word. My interest was piqued even if it made me feel dirty for even considering it.

  Stepping forward, Mr. Ten-Thousand-Wrinkles-for-a-Face, the butler, responded. His voice didn’t match his appearance. He sounded like a young man in his prime. “Your outrage is not unexpected, but let me help persuade you. Head Mistress, if you please.”

  “This is a magic that has taken half a century to develop,” she said. Swirling masses of darkness the size of small ropes came from her palm and wrapped themselves together into a ball. “Branding.”

  At her word, the dark magic shot out toward all of the captives in the room including myself. It was too difficult to see with the limited light in the room, so when it strung itself around my neck there was little I could do to stop it. The dark rope tightened and turned into a black hot coal. The sudden searing of skin sent electricity up and down my spine; my fists clenched.

  Thankfully I had still been sitting so when I fell, it didn't knock me out.

  “The pain is necessary to bind you to the Head Mistress for the collecting of the energy that naturally escapes your body through normal activity. This will not take your energy directly from you. It is an energy catch of sorts. Even low-level creatures like yourselves are constantly leaking energy. As you level up the amount will only grow. It doesn’t matter where you are in the Underworld; just like your internet, this excess energy is already being sent to us through a network of magic.

  “Furthermore, you are now marked by her Grace. If she wishes to locate you it is as simple as a thought.”

  I joined the sighs and complaints of my fellow captives with clenched teeth.

  “Escape is not possible unless you want to flee to your death. Here—” He motioned with his hands to the surrounding room. “—is your only place of safety. Monsters await if you leave this new home that I have prepared for you.”

  Suddenly the wrinkly man clapped his hands together before him and a pop-up window the size of a normal sheet of paper shot up in front of me. From the immediate silence, everyone else had the same window that came up in front of them as well.

  “This is your status screen. Your branding does not come without gifts. The ability to access your leveling system is something that few humans have had access to for nearly a thousand years. Anything under level 100 is considered what you would call newbies in the underworld. Most humans don’t reach level 100 in a single lifetime. I know you are used to starting a game at level 1, but that wouldn’t be realistic. It doesn’t take into context the different stages of a human’s life. All of you are around level 25-35.”

  Character Sheet

  Name: Elorion Edwards

  Characteristics: Gamer, Athletic, Lives with Parents, Waiter at Cheap Restaurant, Meat Lover, Connoisseur of Ranch Dressing, Unknown Future.

  Race: Human

  Age: 17

  Level: 31

  Health Points: 590

  Mana Points: 190

  Endurance: 400

  Attributes:

  Strength: 47

  Dexterity: 58

  Constitution: 59

  Intelligence: 38

  Wisdom: 30

  I was blown away. The screen looked like old worn parchment. My level really was 31. As an ex-soccer player my stats reflected my athletic career with a higher Constitution and Dexterity, but how did I compare to others?

  “This is you. You have all played games, so you know what each of these categories means. Your stats and levels will vary. Normally, humans have a base of 10 attribu
te points for each category and get about 5 attribute points to spend per level, but if you train, you can gain attribute points without leveling up.

  “Look closely at your levels and stats. You are all rather pathetic, but each of you was chosen because of your love of Role Playing Games and surprisingly high potential. To help with this, our beloved Mistress here is going to grant you a few gifts. You will now receive a rush of insight, or experience as you call it. Even with this help, it is likely some of you will die today.”

  With a nod of her head, the lady with deep red hair and purple dress lifted her hand and blue strands of light shot out like a spider’s web, striking each of us in the head.

  A chime went off in my head and the words Level Up in see-through yellow floated up quickly from the floor and disappeared just above my head. It was nothing compared to the rush of clarity that seemed to flood my mind.

  Without hesitation, I looked to my status screen and my level read 38! I now had 35 attribute points to spend however I so desired. 7 levels! Not bad!

  Just moments ago, the people I was sitting next to were contemplating a rebellion. Now they were all carefully examining their screens, completely oblivious to how easily they had been distracted from their anger.

  There were a few exceptions. One girl still sat against the wall hugging her knees, a guy was obviously distracted by the Mistress’s womanly qualities and a couple of girls were huddled in the back holding each other. Oh, and a redheaded guy still had his head propped against the wall and was sleeping.

  “Now I would highly recommend that you allow me to finish before you spend your points…”

  A maniacal laugh interrupted. “Too late!”

  An already large guy with a crew cut who reminded me of your typical football lineman started pumping his finger against his screen that was ethereal to me, but very clear to him. Before my eyes, he began to grow. Not only did he get slightly taller, but his muscle mass increased almost 50% before our eyes.