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

aches that were always left behind after a healing; despite knowing I was fully healed, I always felt like I should be limping or whatever.

“Those crazy little bastards did it,” Jian said in amazement, pointing to a gently flashing crystal. “That’s the ship’s mana reserve… and it’s climbing.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” I said, clapping him on the back and grinning. “Well done, Jian, and you too, Tenandra! Fantastic work!”

They both smiled at me, until Oracle moved over to stand by my side and held out her hand, palm up next to Tenandra.

“Well done, Jian! And welcome to the team… Tenandra… let’s quickly get each other up to date on… things…”  Oracle said, her voice clear and sweet, yet carrying an undeniable threat, much the same as an entire carrier group does when it asks a tugboat to ‘please move aside.’ It’s a request, but unspoken is the knowledge that they both share. ‘You can move,’ it says, ‘or you can be crushed… I’m only asking to be nice…’

“Uh… maybe we should go somewhere else?” Jian asked me quickly, and Oracle fixed us both with a sunny smile.

“That’s a great idea; I’ll be right out to join you…” she chimed sweetly, and I nodded.

“Fine, but don’t be long with this. Bane and Tang; hell, half the crew needs our help…” I muttered, making sure she understood just how dog-tired and on the edge we all were. Oracle smiled at me again, and I felt a sense of reassurance and soothing love flow though the bond, making me smile at Oracle’s possessiveness as I moved to the door, forcing it open and stepping out into the fresh air.

“You forgot this…” Jian said quietly, passing me my helm, and I put it into my bag with a quiet thanks.

I walked out to where the others stood, looking out over the side of the ship. We stood for long minutes, all in silent contemplation, until Lydia spoke up.

“He was a good man… despite how much he stroked his wood.” We all smiled unthinkingly at that, memories of our conversations around the fire as we traveled, about how often he’d oil and rub the Drow bow he used.

Stephanos used to comment that it was simple courtesy, looking after the weapon that protected him, but we all ribbed him mercilessly about it, especially because it let us ignore the fact that, for most of citizens of the Tower and the continent, touching a bow like that was akin to touching ten times more gold than they’d ever earn in their lifetimes.

“You remember the fight to free Oracle?” I asked the group. “The first time he fired that damn bow, and he fell in love with it on the spot.”

“And how much he played up to the group that it was ‘his’… but he asked me quietly if I wanted it and offered to wait for another one…” Miren said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

The others all spoke up, and for a while, we forgot our pain and laughed, as Stephanos lived again in our hearts.

Chapter Thirty-Six

The rest of the day was spent in a blur of healing those who were injured and stabilizing those who needed more in-depth work, like Tang and Bane, before meditating and getting ready for the real healing to begin.

There was also a substantial effort required for carrying out basic repairs on the ship and making sure none of the gnomes fell off the side, as they were all too stoned to walk straight.

I’d agreed when Frederikk had come to me, asking for a bonus, ostensibly for the entire group, but I’d been fine with it.

At this rate, we only had enough ‘stash’ for a few more days, but I was hoping things would calm down for a few weeks, at least, and hopefully, knowing the ingredients as I did, we could figure out how to make more for them. I’d started to get used to their ways, after all.

Once Oracle was finished with her conversation with Tenandra, Jian and I were invited back into the wheelhouse, and while he took up his newly-accustomed station at the helm, I moved to the back of the room to start work on Tang, who was now laid on the captain’s bed against the rear wall.

Laid across the bed would be more accurate, I decided as I looked down on him, half curled up, as he was over six foot, and the average gnome was around three feet tall. His legs were folded up uncomfortably, and his neck was at an angle that I just knew was going to leave him in pain, but it was better than the floor, I reflected.

Oracle looked him over and muttered to herself as she used our new ‘Greater Examination’ spell in combination with our usual ‘Battlefield Triage’ spell.

“He’s healing well,” she said eventually. “I think one more round of healing, and rooting out the last of the mold from inside him, and he should wake up. He’s lucky you didn’t just heal him and leave it at that, though; the infection would have been a nightmare to clean up later…”

“I nearly did,” I admitted. “I was rushing and didn’t realize how bad it was at first, but then… well, I nearly did.”

“Then let’s fix it, shall we?” Oracle said with a wide, sunny smile.

“Let’s,” I said nodding and settling down next to Oracle. “I’ll work on the meditation; you work on the healing,” I offered, and she agreed, sitting in my lap, and reaching out to rest her hand on Tang’s forehead.

I sensed the weaves of magic she created as I slipped deeper into my meditation, visualizing the box around me. I activated ‘Peace,’ and the air around me began to twirl in a faint zephyr that sent Oracle’s hair swaying gently.

I worked on it for the next twenty minutes, occasionally losing focus as I sensed the faint tracings of the weaves Oracle used. The fire here, that burned away the mold and fragments of wood