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

“Thank you, man,” I said to him, genuinely grateful at the thought, and Grizz shrugged as though embarrassed.

“It’s an old trick; means that the injured and crippled can be put on horses and make us still look like we’re at full strength,” he said quietly.

“It also means that when a Legionnaire is in a bad way, such as a particularly bad night on the sauce, he can lock the armor and keep upright while he sleeps…” Tang added in a stage whisper from the other side, and I laughed, having a mental image of them doing exactly that when standing at attention on parade or something.

“I should have known,” Yen said, shaking her head as she watched the hole in the barricade, and I heard the shock in Tang’s voice as he asked if she’d really never done it.

There was silence for several seconds before she shrugged and admitted that ‘maybe’ she’d done it… once.

We grinned at each other, and I noted that the majority of the gnomes were flooding back to the ship now, so I took the time to direct them to strip the remaining debris off, including the dead vines and trees, as Arrin approached us slowly.

He looked exhausted, but he’d managed to burn his way through the vast majority of the entrapping plants in the time that we’d done the rest of the jobs, and as Stephanos and Miren joined us, getting their bows ready, and Tang checked his, we all met each other’s eyes, getting grim smiles all around.

SporeMothers were known to be horrific enemies, and they were all aware this fight could be a terrible one, so I took the time to speak up, noting that the gnomes were clearing as fast as they could, while shooting fearful glances at the barricade and hopeful ones at the deck hatches leading below. There was obviously little help coming from that quarter, and it was down to us now.

I passed out the last of the healing potions and mana and stood, waiting until Arrin came to us and sat down heavily on an old box.

“I’ll… be… okay…” he panted, his pale face and red-rimmed eyes showing the drain from working through his Stamina and Mana so fast.

“Rest, mate,” I said firmly. “Drink your potions, catch your breath, and recover. You can join in when they start to break through.”

“You think they’ll break through?” Tang asked me, and I nodded soberly.

“They’re sneaky bastards, but it depends on what’s controlling them. If Arrin never needs to do anything in this fight, I’ll be over the fucking moon,” I said truthfully, peering over the side to where the last of the gnomes were backing away from the pile of fiercely glowing things scattered around the bottom and sides of the barricade.

I waited as the last of them, Giint, predictably, broke away and ran full speed for the side of the ship. Even as he scampered, shadows fell across the hole and the sunlight seemed to dim, a weak haze growing over the far side of the cavern.

A slow darkening of the area was followed by a greater shadow, as a battered old hull slowly descended, blocking out the light for several seconds. It was turned away from us, not able to see the barricade properly as it entered the cavern, and it slowly moved away, circling, and searching.

As it passed, shadows fell across it from above, dappling what little light filtered down now.

Seconds passed as we watched in silence, while Giint gibbered and grunted, hauling himself rapidly up the side of the ship, clearly terrified.

When the little gnome reached the top of the ladder, Grizz reached down and bodily hauled him up over the edge and dumped him onto the deck.

“What did you see, Giint?” I asked him, and he searched around frantically, spotting the rest of his people hiding below decks or in the wheelhouse, watching fearfully out of portholes. He shook his head frantically.

“Not seeeee! Feeeel! Feeeels dark, nastyyyy evilllls!” he gibbered out, then he nodded towards the pulsing, glowing explosives he’d rigged. “Goooo bang nowww?”  he asked hopefully.

“No, not yet,” I said, shaking my head. “We need the ship ready to go, and you’re not to fuck with it, understand? Unless Frederikk says you can, no playing with anything on this goddamn ship!” I said quickly, pointing at him and glaring until I was sure he understood.

“Giiiiint be gooood,” he muttered, then started to slink away, clearly wanting to be off the deck and out of sight when the ‘evil’ arrived.

“Giint…” I called, and he froze, glancing back at me with his head cocked to one side. “…will the explosion push the barricade out, and away from the ship?” I asked slowly, wanting to be very sure of that.

“Baaaang be biiig!” He grinned widely, turned, and ran for the deck hatch. The cover opened just before he reached it, and he jumped, pulling his legs up and basically ‘cannonballing’ out of sight into the lower deck.

I sighed as I grimaced at the others, and we exchanged looks that were a mix of amused, annoyed, and nervous, as we continued to wait.

We could see more ships cutting off the light, passing both overhead and outside in the greater portion of the cavern, but none had spotted us yet, and we were grateful for every second we could get.

Stephanos and Miren had taken up position on the raised wheelhouse’s upper deck, setting out arrows and making their area generally ready for the fight, with their summoned creatures standing alongside them. They’d both offered to have them stand with us, but I preferred to have the squishy archers protected, as Jian, who I’d normally delegate to that, was busy.

Grizz stood on my left, with Yen flanking my right. Arrin still sat catching his breath behind us, and Tang skulked nearby, waiting.

“Did you find anything good in the Vault then, boss?” Grizz asked as we