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

“Jax, we’ve got a problem,” he said simply.

“We always do,” I retorted, and he chuckled.

“That’s true; it’s certainly never boring being with you, but I mean the noble who attacked us. I found him. More to the point, he’s found the Lich’s home. There’s a sealed Vault that he’s trying to get into, and whatever the Goddess wanted us to find, I’ll bet it’s in there…”

“How far is it?” I asked, glancing at Bane and Lydia, then at the gnomes. Half of them still hadn’t come down from whatever hit they’d had. The other half, though… they worked with a speed I couldn’t believe.

The way they pulled sections of the vehicles apart and rebuilt them was like watching a gifted child with Lego.

They added things on, then tore them off, putting them in back to front, adding bits, then revising, as though working to a shared blueprint that was constantly updating.

It was mesmerizing to watch, but I shook myself free and looked to Tang as he responded.

“Ten minutes, maybe a bit more, depending on who comes. That’s at a full run, by the way,” he said, and I nodded.

“Okay then, team! Fall in!” I shouted, and they looked blankly at me. “Gather around, I mean,” I clarified, and they obeyed, as I grumbled about shared history and missing memes.

“Right. Tang found that dickbag noble. The gnomes are going to be at least three quarters of an hour, so I’m going for it. I need some of you to stay here, both to protect our people and the gnomes, and because I don’t trust those assholes.” I nodded toward the group of researchers huddled dejectedly on the far side. “So, we’re down to eight; seems fair that I’ll leave half and take half. Arrin. stay with Bane and keep him as stable as you can. Yen, you’re in charge of the team that will stay. Miren, you’re staying with them, and so is Jian; no!” I raised a quieting hand as they all started to speak up. “No time for fucking arguments! Tang knows the way we need to go, so I need to take him. The only other person here that can do stealth is Yen, so she stays to watch out for others. We need a healer to keep Bane going, so Arrin stays, then both a ranged and close-in fighter, so that’s Miren and Jian. Stephanos, Grizz, you’re with Tang and me, but leave the Golem behind,” I said to Stephanos, aware of how slow the damn thing moved.

I got a chorus of acceptance from them, and I nodded in satisfaction. “Believe me, I don’t like splitting the team either, but we have no choice. The gnomes need time to rebuild the vehicles to carry us all, and we’ve got a chance to both loot one of the Prax’s repositories and find that noble. If anyone knows how to stop Bane’s bleeding, it’ll be him. We can’t miss this chance,” I growled. “Lastly, there’s a dozen healing and three mana potions, right?” I asked Yen, and she nodded.

“Yes, you want them?” she offered, and I shook my head.

“No, give us one healing each, and I’ll take a mana as well. Keep the rest and try to keep the others safe. Hopefully, there will be more of them in the Vault.”

“What about the researchers?” Yen asked me suddenly, and I looked over to her with an angry glower. “They’re not all assholes, as near as I can tell. They were ordered to come and have stayed out of the way, basically,” She clarified quickly.

“Give them the choice; they can come if they can keep up, and they can swear the Oath; otherwise, they can wait for the SporeMothers…” I said grudgingly, and Yen and the others saluted, fists to chests, as we set off, Tang in the lead as we ran down the corridor he’d come from.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We moved as fast as we could, giving up on stealth entirely in favor of speed, with Tang filling us in on the details as we went.

“There were five of them; four soldiers acting as guards to the noble, all wearing good armor‒not the cheap shit the others had on, so need to watch them, they’ll be highly trained if they’re a personal guard‒they were trying to force the Vault open, but judging by the crap piled around it, it’s been sealed a long time. From what I could see, the Lich must have been living next to it.”

“What about the room itself?” I asked as we ran, jumping over scattered rubble and dodging around sections that were clearly flooded. Water down a dark side passage splashed, stirring as something headed away from our approach.

“It’s another large one, circular, with the Vault in the center. There were low walls around it, as though the room used to be more, I don’t know… central?” he attempted to explain, and then shrugged dismissively. “It’s a big dome, though; goes up almost as high as I could see, pitch black above, and a bit of light on the far side. That’s all I can say for sure; couldn’t make more out without giving myself away.”

“That’s fine; we haven’t got time for a sneaky approach, not if we’ve also got to find a way to open the Vault. Grizz, you’re lead on this. Full speed assault, that sound do-able?” I asked, and he grinned.

“Yes, Jax, we train extensively for this,” he said nodding seriously. “Stephanos, you peel off when we arrive, get to the best vantage point you can, and snipe them. Tang, stealth and flank. Use your ranged attacks. Jax and I will storm them full-on. Momentum is key; don’t slow, don’t stop, go all out and storm through any resistance,” He ordered crisply. “You got a Shield-Bash yet, boss?”

“Nope, not one of my options yet,” I admitted, and he snorted.

“Remind me to work on that with you. Do it enough, and you can develop it without that. For now, use