City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

Touching the Essence Core fills you with Peace and a need to help others, to grant them strength and serenity.

Rarity

Magical

Durability

Charge:

Highly Rare

Yes

77/100

N/A

“Damn.” I muttered, studying the small marble that rested in the palm of my hand. It glowed with a steady golden light, silvery strands slowly passing from one side to the other, fading and rising to the surface as though through a river of gold. The core had been carefully wrapped in silvery wire, and tiny onyx flecks were arranged in concentric circles around it. “Nerin, I’d never steal this from you, and I swear I’ll do all I can to help you unlock it, if that’s what you want to do, but seriously, if you ever, EVER decide to part with it, I’ll take it. You have no idea how important this is.” I handed it back to her, watching longingly as she slipped it under the fabric of her dress again.

Nerin took her leave, moving back to Grizz and starting to work on his healing again. I laid back, feeling an odd mix of excitement and the need to sleep, the adrenaline rush of two major fights already having taken their toll. I forced myself to relax as much as possible until Augustus ordered us all up, and began warming up again.

It was time for round three.

We walked out slowly into the Arena, wondering what we’d face this time, spreading out into our customary formation. Lydia and myself advanced at the front, Arrin behind and between us, with Miren and Stephanos flanking either side, facing outward. Bane, as always, vanished into stealth as quickly as we walked onto the sands.

“Okay, people, it’s some kind of a beast or monster, but that’s all we know, so be ready…” I said, watching as many doors at once as I could.

After a long moment, in which I tuned out the droning of the announcer, the door to our far left slowly opened and our opponent strode out onto the sand to join us, radiating confidence.

“What the hell?” I muttered at the sight of a solitary elderly man, wrapped in thick black and red robes and using a staff as a walking support. He took a handful of steps before coming to a halt as I belatedly used ‘Examine’ on him. We all eyed him warily as he began to pull bones from the various pouches around his waist, dumping them onto the floor in piles.

Lich Veriman, Apprentice to the Arch Lich Ghastool.

The Arch Lich Ghastool has rarely been seen in recent years, causing many to believe, in error, that it had finally died. Ghastool was an Elven High Necromancer who sold his soul to Nimon in the years following the Cataclysm, in exchange for the knowledge of Lichdom. After centuries of brooding, the lich finally took an apprentice, Veriman, sending it out into the world to secure more subjects for its experiments.

Weaknesses: 25% weakness to Fire; crushing attacks inflict double damage, due to brittle bones.

Resistances: The undead nature of this creature reduces the effectiveness of slashing and piercing weapons.

Level: 27

HP: Unknown

Mana: Unknown

“Fuck me!” I muttered, my jaw dropping for a second. I swallowed and forced myself out of the confusion. The damn thing was only level twenty-seven? “Okay, people, it’s a Lich. Fuck me how it qualifies as a ‘beast,’ but we’ll deal with that later. It’s level twenty-seven and…”

The Lich started snarling and spitting out words in a language I didn’t understand, the sounds rising and falling, some clear and reminiscent of Latin, others sounding like nothing a living throat should ever produce.

“Fuck; hit him hard!” I snarled, starting across the sand with Lydia by my side. Arrows flashed overhead and hammered into a magical shield that flared into existence around the robed figure. The strikes made him flinch, but he continued to cast his spell, undeterred.

As we sprinted forward, a Firebolt blasted between us, hitting the shield and bursting. Flames rushed across it before dissipating, and I shouted, “Again, hit him again!” I was well aware of how much damage a Mage could do, given the time to build a powerful spell.

Another volley of arrows impacted the shimmering boundary, followed by another Firebolt, plus a Fireball from Oracle. The shield glowed a dull red for a second before it faded from sight, and I knew instinctively that it had been a close thing; it’d nearly failed! I grinned, knowing how good my naginata was at dealing with Mage shields, and I dug down deeper, pushing myself.

I pounded across the sand, brandishing my naginata and lugging my huge, new, insanely heavy shield. I could hear my breathing echoing in my helmet, the cold strain in my breathing as I closed the distance, and my field of vision narrowed to the Lich.

I was determined to fuck him up so badly, aiming for the point between his neck and upper chest. I was going to slam my naginata through that spot, right… there.

As Lydia and I closed in, with her trailing me by a few meters due to her heavier armor and lower stats, the ground shook and the Lich lifted into the air, cackling as he finished his incantation.

The bones which he’d so liberally strewn about, and which had shaken and vibrated during the chant, now moved, slamming together, and I finally realized what it must look like for others when I reconstructed and altered Bob.

The bones shifted as though dragged by a giant’s hands, locking together and becoming tied in place by an ominous purple-red mist that seemed to take the place of muscles and ligaments to hold the entire form together.

The Lich was floating now, standing on a single platform of solid bone that transported it effortlessly through the air as it cackled and waved its arms, manipulating the skeletal form growing between us.

Long bones joined together, becoming two legs, connected to either side of a thick spine that ran down into a tail that curled and flicked at the end. The chest morphed into existence quickly