Underworld - Sanctuary: A LitRPG Series, page 9
Rock Giant
Boss Monster
Level: 1011
Health Points: 350,000
Mana Points: 1,200
Strength: 623
Dexterity: 300
Constitution: 3,500
Intelligence: 48
Wisdom: 104
Description: This creature is imbued with toughness.
Creature Observation left me wide eyed. I shared my findings with Travis.
Inching our way into the room, we both froze in place at what we discovered.
The hairs on my magma-less arm stood on end even under my bone plated armor. I had to scramble to catch my breath. An exalted cathedral of dark crystal glowed down at us from on high. The walls were made of the same glistening obsidian as the entrance that the Rock Giant leaned against now. Even with its massive size, at least three times taller than the average man, it sat there like an infant in the tomb’s lap. A pure white marble floor led up to a hill of stairs on which the sleeping giant sat. To either side of the tomb’s doors, which resembled a massive vault, four pillars billowed with magic energy clear up to the immeasurably high ceiling. The left two pillars radiated Wind and Ice Mana, while the two on the right gleamed with Fire and Earth. The Vault itself had a mix of all four elements that flowed from its edges down toward the Rock Giant in a steady stream.
I knew immediately that the Rock Giant would have had to crawl on its hands and knees to enter this room at the size it was now. This was the only entrance into this room. If it couldn’t get in or out, then it was clear the giant must be sustained by the tomb itself. None of the energy here was as dense as Xaphan’s, but it was the only other time I had ever experience the same unending ocean of power. If this creature’s tomb had this much power in death, what kind of monster had it been in life?
Once I’d had a chance to settle my nerves, I laid my hand on Travis’s shoulder and held my finger to my mouth to remind him to remain silent. It was also to remind myself.
He nodded in response, but his eyes wandered away from mine and settled on the marvel before us.
It was approximately two hundred meters across the room to the vault. Great statues of armored warriors from the red skinned race stood at the base of either side of the stairs that were twice as tall as a man.
I let Mana Sight fade from my eyes to look upon the room that was thoroughly lit by the four columns to either side of the vault. Even without access to the magic spectrum, they glowed the same colors to the naked eye as they had through Mana Sight and were accented against the black mirror finish of the tomb’s walls.
Something inside me knew that somehow we had to not only defeat the Rock Giant, but we had to get inside. Something was pulling at me at the edges of my mind.
I don’t remember how long we were there before we headed back to the others, but when we rejoined them, I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s like the dark lord’s Fort Knox,” Travis remarked.
“The what?” Aeris asked, raising a brow.
“You know… Dark lord. Fort Knox,” he responded, taken aback when Aeris just shrugged. “Khan’s battlecruiser, Dracula’s castle, Darth Vader’s obsidian tower?”
“King Piccolo’s Chow Castle?” Aeris offered.
The three of us looked at her dumbfounded.
“How do you know about King Piccolo but not the others?” I asked.
“I grew up watching Dragon Ball.”
I looked at her blankly.
“No food, so we move on?” Chris asked.
Travis and I shook our heads as one.
“It’s a boss monster that is just over level 1,000. There is no way we can pass this up,” Travis insisted.
Chris’s face lit up, then suddenly he was shadow-fencing the air in excitement.
“I think Aeris and I should go. It’s a Rock Giant we’re dealing with,” I said. “It has an insane 350k HP, so if we have to cook the room, I don’t want anyone to get caught in there.”
“That’s more than Russ,” Aeris commented.
I informed her of its low 300 Dexterity and unimpressive 623 Strength. “I’m going to test a few things before we really try to kill it if you don’t mind?” I asked, directing the question to Aeris.
“Oh?”
“There is plenty of room in there, so just fly high and watch my back.” Turning to the others, I added, “Stay at the entrance so that you can watch how it moves and be sure to get the experience. If it gets bad. Be ready to run.”
Everyone agreed to the plan and we headed toward the tomb.
***
I uncast Invisibility on myself and boldly marched toward the base of the stairs that led up to the sleeping giant. I knew the position, if the giant was smart, would work in its favor, but I purposely allowed it the high ground to test the monster’s ability to strategize. It didn’t have the low Intelligence and Wisdom of a golem or elemental, so I expected it to put up a better fight.
I had been able to pull back on the amount of mana per minute I was using for Magma Fist over the course of the last day. Primordial Cat Form had already climbed to level 10, but its progression had slowed to a crawl after that. It looked like I’d have to push the spell a lot further to get it to advance.
Primordial Cat Form
Level: 10
Cost: 91,900 Mana Per Second (18,380 with buffs)
HP: NA (See Magma Manipulation.)
Strength: +5,450, +10% Strength
Dexterity: +5,450, +10% Dexterity
Shapeshifting Mastery
Level 18
Due to your use of multiple forms, you have begun to become more proficient.
You will now change to a different form 9% faster.
Next Level
You will change form 9% faster.
I amped Skeleton Armor all the way up to Bone Titan’s Defense and channeled mana into Skeleton Warrior’s Sword so that it overtook my scepter and grew to take the shape of a man-sized Warhammer with a vicious spike opposite the head. Taking the weapon in two hands, I stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
I left myself 1,000 Mana Per Minute just in case a need arose.
As I came to a stop, the vault that stood at least five stories tall started to glow with power. Mana flooded into the Rock Giant.
The sound of a thousand gears grinding disrupted the peace of the creature that had been buried here. The Rock Giant’s head pitched forward as it started to rouse. Large lids slammed open, revealing brown, eerily human eyes. It found me immediately, as if it had been warned by someone that had been watching.
With Mana Sight at full power, five times my normal perception, I studied the monster as it began to rise. I had hoped to converse with it, but its features were human enough that I recognized the uncontrollable rage that overtook it.
It surprised me by lunging from the top of the steps to try to crush me underneath its enormous form.
I was currently a tank of bone and muscle, but I estimated the giant still weighed at least ten times more than me.
It was strikingly nimble for such a huge creature, but that didn’t mean it was fast. I watched in extreme slow motion brought on by Mana Sight as the creature flew at me. Earth Mana surged into its fist, causing it to expand into a crushing weapon.
Taking a few steps to the side, I waited for its landing.
Its feet spread out so that it could bring its fist down upon me, so I took a few steps back to correct my possession.
Raising my Warhammer overhead, I timed its landing with my attack. I needed to know how this creature compared to the elementals we’d fought before.
Its impact sent a shockwave through the ground, but I had already anticipated it and was launching an attack of my own.
The pick of my Warhammer dug a shallow hole in the Rock Giant’s go-kart-sized foot, which proved it was far harder than the rock of anything we had faced before. It received no damage. With my 990 Strength thanks to Advanced In The Buff I knew my blow would destroy any normal rock. Sure, I could channel a bit more mana into In The Buff and get the 1,000 Strength bonus, but I’d save the surprise that would give for when I finally drained enough stats. Right now, it was unnecessary for what I needed to do.
Holding out my Bone Armor covered Magma Fist, I spread my fingers and mauled at the giant’s foot with an enhanced Flame Thrower. I fed the spell an extra 1,000 MP so I didn’t have to bother messing with how much mana I needed to channel into it.
It began to recognize what I was up to. I was able to bathe its foot in Flame Thrower for a full second before it found me. I heaved my Warhammer up and drove a crippling blow into a different spot on the same foot.
-1,323 HP
My weapon’s pick bit much deeper into the monster’s armored skin, but it wasn’t even one percent of its 350k HP. At least I knew I could damage it.
There was an angry rumble that came from the giant, as well as a deep brown liquid staining the tip of my Warhammer… It bled.
I jumped back as I recovered from my attack to evade another Earth Mana enhanced stone fist.
Mana streamed from the tomb’s vault through the air and began to fill the Rock Giant, healing it.
I grinned from ear to ear. Through Creature Observation I watched as it restored about 100 HP a second. With a sigh, I remembered that we didn’t have any time to spare, otherwise I’d have used the big guy to power level my spells for a while.
Now that I had figured out that the creature’s rock armor was much better than the Earth Elementals’, I could move on to what I really wanted to test. Magma.
Bone armor receded from my magma-covered arm, revealing nothing but the charged rock that made up my hand.
I was right-handed, so having Magma Fist covering my left hand and forearm probably wasn’t the most efficient use of the spell, but my high Strength and Dexterity made up for what I once had lacked in coordination in my off hand.
Forgoing trying to bring its fist down on my head, the giant lifted its leg and tried to stomp me into the ground.
I darted to the side, then pounced at the same foot as it landed. Reaching back, I swung with all of my weight, striking the monster’s ankle with an overhand left. The impact jarred my entire body, but the igneous rock that was my fist remained solid.
No damage was done to my enemy, but it was a thing that had to be tested. Now I knew that Magma Fist was something I could utilize in melee combat.
I fled back, jumping from the giant’s foot. It had anticipated my attack of the same leg and had tried to grab me in response. It seemed the creature really was smarter than the mindless Earth Elementals with their basic attack patterns.
I retreated a little further as my weapon dissolved, leaving my scepter in my hand. I inventoried it and pulled up my spell information.
Rhyolitic Magma
Spell cost – 500,000 MP (100,000 MP with bonuses.)
When I had cast it to seal our escape from Lady Contessa and her Wargs, metric tons of magma had streamed out of my palm. If I was to use less mana for the spell, it should provide me with a more manageable amount of magma to work with. I didn’t know how much less effective it would become as I got further away from the primary spell, but it was time to find out.
Since it had poured out of me instead of shot out, I was also questioning its use as a projectile. With both hands held out before me aiming for the Rock Giant that was now lumbering my way, I cast Rhyolitic Magma from both hands. I limited the mana channeled to each hand to 1,000.
To my amazement, glowing magma shot out of both hands with the speed and velocity of Alpha Bolt. The amount of force it had taken to push out rivers of magma must have been tremendous for one hundredth of the mana of the primary spell to cause such an effect.
An even greater question was answered. The Magma Bolt that shot out of my right hand was about the size of a golf ball, but the one that came from my Magma Fist was the size of a bowling ball! Having just my hand transformed using Primordial Cat Form had greatly increased my proficiency with a spell of the same element.
The weight of what this could mean was tremendous. It was possible that through Shapeshifting I could gain one hundred percent proficiency with every element. Perhaps even the Dark Magic alignment. That also meant that my Light Magic spells would likely be weaker when I was transformed. Although, if I ever learned a Blue Magic spell of the Light Alignment it would likely be more powerful than normal.
A thunderous laugh rolled over me as the giant neared for his next attack. He was mocking my spells that had just struck him. Both casts of Magma Bolt had cooled excessively as they shot through the air and bounced off of the huge rock-man like pebbles against concrete.
I snorted. The giant had no idea that I could dual cast Rhyolitic Magma right now and melt him from existence in just a matter of seconds. Might as well have fun with it.
Its mouth curled up into a cruel smirk, revealing bone crunching flat teeth. Its mana built up in both hands. In one, instead of an enlarged fist, a boulder grew, which it threw at point-blank range.
I jumped up, high into the air so that any shattering rock from the impact would fly clear.
It was already following up its first attack with a right cross to knock me from the air, when my magma hand reached out to defy it.
5,000 MP enlarged my Magma Bolt into a glowing sphere the size of the giant’s foot. It pummeled the Rock Giant directly in the face, caking it in melted rock like an enormous water balloon. Its head rocked back and sent it crashing to the floor. The distance, plus the giant’s own momentum, had worked in my favor.
-1,100 HP
-8,018 HP
-3,675 HP
-2,711 HP
-1,022 HP
Landing nearby, I watched its HP get eaten away through Creature Observation as the rock of its face melted. This time, the larger mass of magma hadn’t hardened too quickly.
Mana streamed from the vault to heal the giant once again. It would take just under three minutes for it to be restored to full health.
Even if I used 5,000 MP Magma Bolts, it seemed my magma would cool too quickly for me to easily defeat the Rock Giant.
With it down for the moment, I fired off two more 5,000 MP Magma Bolts to its ribs, one after the other to the same spot.
-1,299 HP
-8,007 HP
-12,144 HP
-9,812 HP
-6,010 HP
-2,733 HP
-932 HP
The monster grabbed at its side and rolled away from me, but the harm was already done. The damage stacked! The longer I could keep the magma from cooling, the more damage it would do.
An idea came to mind when I saw it was down and being nice and submissive.
“Aeris! Cool its legs!” I cried as I aimed a 10,000 MP Magma Bolt at its ankles.
“Got it!” she called.
The magma spewed out of me instead of shooting like a projectile. It piled up over the ankles and feet of the Rock Giant and smothered them in liquid rock.
Over 50,000 damage was given to the mob over a few seconds.
A heavy Gust pressed down from above.
I ran back a number of meters to stay clear of the fumes. I had learned my lesson and I wanted nothing to do with them. A dump truck’s worth of magma had been poured out on its feet, which would normally take quite a while to cool, but the wind from Aeris was not some slight breeze.
The giant tried to roll back to its stomach to push itself up, but it found itself pinned to the floor. Not to be underestimated, it arched its back, putting all its weight into jerking free from the solidifying rock.
Aeris intensified the pressure as the mob started to struggle.
When the giant got to its stomach, it found it had a worse problem than before. Its feet had also been welded together.
With 10,000 MP I cast Magma again. Considering its firehose type application of molten rock, I named it Magma Bath. Four more times I cast the spell, drenching the mob in Magma and creating a heaping pond of the stuff to drown the monster in. Despite the tomb’s desire to heal it, the Rock Giant was out of hope. The magma was not cooling quickly enough to prevent it from taking additional damage. It dissolved into the molten rock.
Force Learn was cast as its life energy leaked from its body. Jackpot!
You have learned the Blue Magic Form: Rock Giant!
You have learned the Blue Magic Stone Skin
Level 1
Cost: 500 Mana Per Minute (100 with bonuses.)
-50% Dexterity
Your skin is transformed into a layer of hardened rock.
Despite the debuff, with Stone Skin and Bone Titan’s Defense cast over it, I speculated that my survivability had skyrocketed once again.
You have learned the Blue Magic Hammer Fist
Level 1
Cost: 250 Mana Per Minute (50 with Bonuses.)
This spell enlarges your fists and turns them to stone.
Warning: Without enough Strength, this will greatly slow your hand speed.
If I had seriously been considering using Magma Fist in melee combat, this spell had just taken its place. Instead of Magma Fist’s 2,500 Mana Per Minute with bonuses, this spell cost a fraction of that. Magma Fist’s real strength, enhancing my Magma spell’s power, was not something that could be so easily replaced though.
You have learned the Blue Magic Boulder Throw
Level 1
Cost: 400 per boulder
A boulder forms in your hand and its weight is momentarily as light as a pebble.
Note: As soon as it’s thrown, its weight is restored.
I finally had an Earth Magic attack spell! By unlocking Earth Magic spells under Blue Magic, that also meant I had access to Earth Magic Forms!
Rock Giant Form
Level: 1
Cost: 2,500 Mana Per Minute (500 with bonuses.)
