Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4)

by Jez Cajiao

  “I… uh…” I tried to interrupt her rant, but she cut me off.

  “That’s why I’ll be watching you closely. One wrong move, a single toe out of line, and I’ll be there!” she snarled, turning on her heel and storming off.

  “What the hell?” I said to the room in general. “I do all that, and I’m the bad guy here?” All I got for long seconds was silence.

  I waited, and when nobody said anything constructive or helpful, I shook my head in disgust.

  “Right load of lions, you lot are,” I grumbled. “Okay, Romanus, I want both cities’ camps watched from now on. I need to go and rest, followed by some new armor, and hopefully I can go kill something with a ridiculous amount of violence. Right now, though, I’m going to hide in my goddamn room from that sadistic bastard Restun for a bit. Augustus, I want you to go speak with Elise and Athena; get me a good sense of the ship’s condition. Romanus, take care of the Legion, and liaise with Barrett. Make sure all of our people are taken care of. Oh, and someone get that shit off my lawn,” I ordered grimly, forcing myself to my feet and gesturing to the corpse of the former Lord Faustus.

  “Lastly, thank you all,” I sighed, forcing a smile and looking around at all of the people present, recognizing that they’d all come running, worrying that I’d been hurt.

  Chapter Nine

  I strode to the ship, grumbling under my breath the entire way, yet unsure why I was so annoyed. I’d actually had a good morning, despite the lack of sexy time with Oracle, and I’d even gotten to strip that ass Barabarattas of his title. Considering what utter weapons-grade wankers the nobility were, that had to have upset him… and then I realized what I was missing.

  I had received no kind of contact from Barabarattas. I’d expected at least a declaration that I was a dickhead or something, but nope, nada.

  “Oracle?” I asked, turning to her as she walked beside me, her arm wrapped around my waist and mine draped across her shoulders making it slightly awkward to walk, as my legs were longer than hers. Still, it was nice, and I was taking the chance to both lean on her slightly, as I was exhausted, and glance down the front of her top as we went.

  Little bonuses.

  “Yes, beloved?” she asked calmly, well aware of the extra weight I was putting on her, and the direction of my gaze.

  “Why haven’t I heard from that pillock, Barabarattas?” I asked, and she sniggered before answering.

  “Oh, that! Well, it’s simple. Only a person of Authority can communicate through declarations, and as he’s no longer a city lord, or even a noble, he doesn’t get to do things like that. It would be like Jay having access to the Great Tower’s screens; never going to happen.”

  “Wait, he won’t have access to the city management functions now? Is that what he was using? Like when I used the Tower’s management facilities?” I asked, grinning.

  “Exactly. He’s been locked out of all those parts of the city, and the City Guard will ‘feel’ that he’s a criminal if they clap eyes on him. Literally. You know how… actually, no, you don’t. Okay then, let’s cover the Guard and their abilities quickly…” Oracle said as we walked up the gangplank into the ship, our escort following along and leading us at the same time.

  “Each member of the guard gains access to a simple Ability once they achieve the class: Guardsman. It grants knowledge of the crimes of outlaws, should they see an outlaw, or should the outlaw not have an Ability to counter them. It’s all very cat and mouse, but some members of both sides actually reserve every point possible, investing them only in those Abilities, as it enables them to do amazing things for their side. Guards can share information, so if a highly skilled Guard used his ability on, say, a murderer, he’d get the details of that person’s crime. Not really specific, but flashes of inspiration, images, a feeling of where bodies might be found; that kind of thing. The criminals might be capable of a similar Ability, and then they would attempt to convince the Guard that this person, or that, didn’t commit the crime. If they’re skilled enough they can make the guard release a murderer that they themselves witnessed, simply by twisting the series of events in the Guard’s mind. It’s a horrifying skill,” she said earnestly.

  “Yeah, we have those where I came from, too.” I grimaced. “Not with ‘Abilities’, although some detectives might come close. And the criminal version we have is called a Lawyer.”

  “Remind me to avoid them if we ever get to your world,” Oracle said firmly.

  “In my world, there’s a saying: What’s the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead lawyer?” I asked her, grinning.

  “I… don’t know?” she asked suspiciously, feeling the amusement in my mind.

  “There are skid marks in front of the dog,” I finished enthusiastically, then sighed at the look on her face. “Imagine a cart, one that goes really, really fast, and no horse, okay…” I started to explain to her, before stopping. “Wait; you can see my damn memories. You know what a car is…”

  “I do. It still seems weird, though. So, in your world, it was okay to kill lawyers?” she asked curiously.

  “Well, no, but generally, everyone wanted to,” I admitted, shrugging dismissively. “They basically make money out of human misery, so while they’re rich, everyone also likes to keep as far away from them as possible.”

  “Hmmmm. I can see there’s a lot of context I’m just not getting… is it important?” She tilted her head questioningly, eyeing me with mild concern.

  “No, not really…” I admitted, shaking my head. I adored her, but in that moment, I was missing having someone with the same life experiences to talk to.

  I loved this new realm; magic was amazing, and the opportunities to lose my mind and seriously hurt people and monsters was actually great. I’d kind of always yearned for this without knowing it. The dreams had been a taste, but each time I woke up, it always came with the pain, new scars, and having to hide all of it, with only the satisfaction of helping people as my reward, or the bone-deep shame of failing them.

  Here, I got to gain from the fights in a much more ‘real’ way. I got to improve myself, to grow, to learn, and explore, and hell, I was finally getting sexy time with a stunningly beautiful woman. All of this was unbelievable, and best of all, I was getting closer to Tommy. I knew it. I’d almost been able to feel him at the end, just before I’d left Himnel. I’d sensed he was close, not in some kind of ‘magically bonded twin sense,’ just… I couldn’t explain it. I had kept looking over my shoulder, expecting him to be there.

  I’d been forced to leave, going ahead with the plan to raid the city, as we needed everything we could lay our hands on, and I knew we couldn’t delay to keep scouring the city. Mal had his people searching high and low, and all they’d found by the end was that he’d been adventuring with a party that had been mostly wiped out. He’d come back to the city briefly, then disappeared again.

  That meant he was still out there, and the injuries and pain in his mana channels that Jenae had sensed had almost certainly been caused by whatever had killed his party.

  The fact that I knew he’d survived, and had then come back out, meant he was probably okay. Probably. I’d asked Gaion to come up with some way to leave a message for him, telling him where I was, but I’d not heard anything back since, and it had all gone sideways in the escape from the city.

  For me, anyway, as I was out cold, rather than leading a triumphant, escaping fleet.

  All this went through my mind as Oracle, my guards, and I walked along the corridors of the ship, before clambering up the final flight of steps and emerging into the corridor that led to the bridge. It was at the far end, with three rooms leading off on the approach. One was the captain’s, one was mine, and I had no clue what the third was originally intended for, as it was ram-packed full of random stolen gear from the stockpile.

  We took the door on the right and entered what had been clearly planned as a stateroom for an admiral or a noble.

  It was large and
square, with no windows; the single room that led off it, presumably intended as personal quarters, had been designed with huge windows that would offer an amazing view as the ship cruised along… if the windows had been fitted.

  Also, if they really were as big as my one look suggested they’d be, it was insane, as it’d provide a hell of a target for anyone attacking the ship.

  For now, I dismissed it, and we all ignored the steady cool breeze that flowed from under the ill-fitting door leading to that room.

  I slumped down into the pile of blankets on the floor that Oracle and I had been sharing and waved my thanks to the Legionnaires, who closed the door and left us alone. A though occurred to me, and I sighed.

  “Bane, you sneaky, creepy bastard, are you in here?” I asked, and I felt the characteristic thrummm of his amusement.

  “I am, Jax. Is this a time you want me to leave?” he asked, and Oracle grinned at me as he became visible.

  “I wish,” I said shaking my head wearily. “I’d love a bit of fun right now, Oracle, but in all honesty, using that power…”

  “I know, and I understand. Don’t worry,” she said soothingly, sitting down next to me. I lifted my head as she shuffled around, sliding her legs into position to allow my head to rest in her lap, where she began to slowly stroke my hair, smiling gently.

  I closed my eyes for a second, just enjoying the feeling and the closeness, before smiling up at her. The next hour or more passed as I rested and recovered, and we all talked of little things, and told stories of our pasts.

  “God, I’d love it if this was all we needed to do for the day… Just relax in here; some sex, some good food, talk some shit with the team over some beers…” I muttered once I felt a bit stronger, closing my eyes and drawing in a deep breath. Then I opened my eyes and stared up at Oracle, and across the room to where Bane crouched.

  “Okay, then. Planning time, I guess. Oracle, you’re basically living in my brain, so I know you know what I’m thinking…” I commented.

  “…but it helps to say it aloud, as then we can all bounce details around?” she finished for me.

  “Yeah, close enough,” I said, letting out a little groan as she worked my scalp. “And Bane, while you don’t live in my brain, you do see more of me than anyone else…”

  “I know, and I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life,” Bane interjected quickly.

  “Ass,” I said, smiling. “I meant you know me well, you prick. I need to figure out what we’re going to do. I know I’d said three days to have a rest and refit here, get things ready to move on, and then head back to the Tower, but does the information from Jenae change that? We need to know everything we can about the Valspar, and knowing that spells and knowledge related to them is hidden somewhere below…” I mused, inspecting the rough burrs and whorls in the wood of the deck above, and hearing the distant clunking and rattling, shouts and thumps of the ship being worked on.

  “It has to,” Oracle said seriously. “We need that information; without it, we can’t be sure that what you did in ripping it out is enough. Where did it come from, after all; can it regrow? Does everyone have them inside, or is it another example of how special you are?”

  “Yeah, I’m ‘special,’ all right…” I grouched. “Try the windows; they’re strawberry flavor…”

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “Nothing; it doesn’t matter,” I said smiling and banishing the stray thought. “Bane, what do you think?”

  “As to the information, Spellbooks, and all of that, yes. When a Goddess says you need something, I tend to think she knows what she’s saying. Add to that, she’s saved your life, and while you’ve had your… disagreements… in the past, you work well together. I doubt she is telling you to get them without a good reason,” Bane said seriously.

  “Okay. How do we do it, though?” I asked. “I mean, I had intended to take Lydia and her squad, a few Legionnaires, and maybe Nerin with me, go exploring, maybe have a little fun as well as raiding the place. Now, it’s a bit more serious… Do I take the entire Legion? Hell, they’re professional monster hunters; maybe I should just send them ahead, stroll through after them…” I said, before shaking my head. “No, no, I can’t do that. Not only would it be cowardly and boring, but I need to improve, to grow stronger, and so does the team.”

  “We do, but we also have a large area to cover,” Bane interjected. “Perhaps use your team as you intended, but split off a significant group of the Legion and send them to the other entrances?”

  “What entrances?” I asked, looking over at him in surprise.

  “There are apparently dozens of entrances into the City; that’s part of what the researchers were doing, mapping out the City and its entrances. I asked around a little earlier, and it seems this is just the top floor of the city, and the least intact area. There are at least three more levels…”

  “Six,” I corrected him, as memories surfaced suddenly. “There were six levels. The third was the largest; if we take the top as floor one and count down from there, floor one was literally the garden level, so that the residents could relax when not at war. The next was a mix of military facilities, and the homes of the nobility. Then three was the main barracks, quarters, and the command center, with four and five being storage, production, and training areas, and six again being military, as that was where the troops would launch from, and the mages would cast the portal or attack spells from.”

  I wandered through the designs. coupled with my fractured memories of a similar city that Amon had visited with Shustic, the amusement She had felt at all the effort mortals had to make to move about her realm, while Amon had appreciated the sheer level of determination and effort his engineers and the Golem King had used to create such a marvel.

  I saw the dreams of Amon, and the meeting he had with the Golem after touring it. I heard fragments of the discussion regarding the City Eternal, which the Golem had sworn to build, a city that would be the shining Jewel of the Empire… then it was gone, the memory instead being filled with the anguished howling of a young boy as he died, alone, being slowly crushed to death by a slab from one of the buildings demolished in the Cataclysm.

  My mind was suddenly filled with them: an elderly woman, her face wreathed in laughter lines, who had once gifted the Emperor’s sixty-third grandchild, Cora, with a small handmade doll, all red and gold, crafted with love and adoration. She died slowly as a Moloch, a carnivorous worm, tore through her insides. No healers had been left alive within hundreds of miles to help.

  I saw them, hundreds, thousands, all in a rush, as Amon poured them out into my mind, the smallest fragment of the loss that had driven him mad. I saw them all dying, the young, the old, the fit and healthy, and the decrepit. I saw Fintin, known as the ‘Lord of Lust and Excess’ amongst his peers, a grossly fat man who had devoted his life to trying every possible food, crushed by a falling pillar, viscera bursting across the floor to be eaten by his tiny white hound. The creature had been all that he loved, and it gorged itself on his entrails before dying weeks later, when all the food and water ran out, trapped in Fintin’s mansion.

  “No!” I heard a shout, and suddenly I was jerked clear, the river of memories yanked away by Oracle. I collapsed back into her embrace, my eyes still streaming tears as I remembered the deaths.

  “What…” I managed to gasp, stunned and shaking my head in denial.

  “You went too deep,” Oracle said softly. “You let him show you his memories of the City, but his mind is fractured, and then they poured out…”

  “That’s what he’s filled with?” I asked aloud, knowing it was true. “No wonder he’s insane… knowing that it was your own children that did that, as well…” I said, feeling the rage burn up from the space where I had Amon contained.

  “Yes, now maybe we should think about something else?” she said quickly, and I nodded in frantic agreement as Bane crouched next to me, reaching out and putting his hand on my shoulder.

&nb
sp; “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, and I nodded more slowly.

  “I am; sorry, mate, didn’t mean to scare you. As Oracle says, best to talk about something else. She’ll explain it to you later, okay?” I asked, and he bowed his head respectfully.

  “Well, on that note, I’ve got good news and bad…” he said, and I felt my heart drop.

  “Go on…”

  “Well, the good news is that there’s something to distract you, coming along the corridor…” Bane said, and I vaguely remembered the feeling of his ‘Worldsense’ washing out from him as the memories took over.

  “And the bad news…?” I asked slowly, as I heard the jingle of armor coming to a halt outside. “Oh, god, no…” I moaned, closing my eyes.

  “Lord Jax, Restun, Centurion Primus, asks to see you?” one of the Legionnaires called, knocking, then leaning in.

  Chapter Ten

  “Seriously? Now?” I muttered to myself, sitting up and wiping the remnants of the tears from my cheeks. “Uh… oh, fuck it,” I grunted, pushing myself to my feet and feeling my legs wobble slightly. “Yes, send him in,” I said. I felt the dip in my mana as Oracle created a fountain of fresh water in the corner of the room. I quickly washed my face in it and stepped back, letting Bane move in.

  As I crossed the room to greet Restun, Bane drew in deep gulps of the water, relaxing as his amphibious nature reveled in it.

  Restun stepped inside and closed the door, looking me over for a long moment before smiling faintly as he clapped his fist to chest, and I returned the salute.

  “Lord Jax, I don’t think it would be wise to exercise today, if you’re truly as tired as you seem, and you still intend on entering the Sunken City later?” he said, and I nodded thankfully, relaxing slightly.

  “I am; my team and I, I mean. We’ll be entering it in a few hours, and I was just discussing that with Oracle and Bane. What’s happening with the other camps?” I asked Restun, and he immediately looked grim.