Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4) Jez Cajiao (top ten books of all time TXT) 📖

“Bah,” he said, shaking his head. “They had no choice.”

“No, they didn’t…” I replied, my mind filled with fragments of memories. Of wheeling clouds and dragonfire, screams of pain and roars of triumph, thousands of bolts being lofted into the air and soaring past, as Amon and Shustic dove under them. Dragonfire flashing out to destroy defenses…. “But that’s what happens when you invade your neighbors.”

“The records show it was in self-defense! The island of Reshi was plotting to attack, so we simply did it first,” he cried, shaking a fist at me.

“Really? Because the Emperor couldn’t find any evidence of that,” I said calmly. “Look. You’ve got a choice here. You want to be left here, to be trapped on the Prax when the SporeMothers arrive? Be my guest. We’re leaving, and as the only way you can make it to your ship is if we clear the way for you, you must choose quickly.”

“What SporeMother?” The elder growled, and I smiled coldly.

“The one that the Goddess Jenae warned us about. Some assholes are flying it here in the fleet that is heading our way. I don’t have time to fuck about, so let’s make this as clear as possible. I have the mana to heal one or two of you right now. That’s it. Those I heal, like Giint, will probably go through all of their leveling at once. He was unconscious for hours. We have six hours before the fleet arrives, so I’m not doing that for anyone, as I’d have no mana, and they’d need to be carried. You want to come, you swear the Oath now. If not, I’m leaving you here,” I stated flatly, before starting forward to Giint.

He stood, looking from me to the elder, and the rest of the group remained in stunned silence. Clearly, he’d been expecting that I would wave my hand and make them all well again.

“Giint, I’m sorry,” I said apologetically, looking down at him. “I’d planned on healing any I could, and using the Manastones to power my magic, if I could figure out how, but that choice has been taken from us, I’m afraid. Do you know the way out of here, to the undead, I mean?” He nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I’d been worrying we’d waste time finding out how to get there.” I straightened up and took a deep breath, my grip tightening on my naginata as I faced the Elder and the small group that stood around him, arguing.

“Elder, I wish there were more time, as I desperately need you, and your people. I am Jax, Scion of the Empire and Lord of Dravith. I give you my Oath that I intend you and your people no ill will, but I can’t waste time here convincing you of the truth of what I say. We’re leaving. If you want to come with us, then I ask that you strip this place of anything we can use in the war effort and bring it to the ship. You have to get there no later than five hours from now, as I can’t imagine that the ship will just start up for the first time without problems.” I paused, forcing mana into my Oath, and seeing the look on the Elder’s face as he registered it.

“I… see… You have seen that we are not what we once were,” he said, gesturing to the group that surrounded him. “The eldest were high enough leveled already that we staved off the worst of the effects of the spells and poisoning, but we are none of us what we should be. We exiled the most unstable to the Badunka Riders, and many more actively roamed the streets, fighting and… feeding… off of each other. Those that are left, well…the youngest are unstable at best, and several are actively rabid, attacking any that come close. You ask us to leave them to their fate?” he said, his voice cold and pain filling his gaze.

“No. If you would bring any others, you can, but…!” I said, holding up one hand to stop him from speaking. “They must be restrained; if they attack me or mine, they die. I cannot afford to take the risks right now; thousands of lives are at stake. Those who want to come either swear the Oath, or they are restrained and watched over by those that have sworn. That, or they stay here.”

“You leave us little choice,” he growled, and I snorted out a laugh.

“Man, I’ve given you lots of choices; you just don’t like them! Here…” I said, and I concentrated, grunting as I pushed out the Oath to the group before me. It’d become easier, much easier than it was before. Back at the Tower, I’d needed to draw on its mana to do this, even for smaller groups, but as I grew more proficient, Oracle and I had found we didn’t need to use a hammer; a scalpel was enough. It cost me ten mana per person to perform the Oath, and five to offer it, so if they all took me up on it, it’d cost me twenty-six times fifteen mana, or three hundred and ninety mana.

Unlike when I activated the Legion Oath, or when I’d taken Amon’s Oaths as my own, this was because, with that small amount from me, the Oath was being sworn by the other person… so it could use their mana!

When we’d done it back in the Tower, I’d basically paid the mana debt for them, and it was only when I was unconscious and Oracle had tried to give the Oath out, not thinking about it, that she’d realized the truth. It was one of many things she’d told me over the last few days in idle conversation, mainly as we laid in each other’s arms on a night.

At five hundred and forty points, my manapool was high enough now that I