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

weren’t going to be enough, I had also equipped a dagger on my right hip and one strapped to my left ankle. My razorwire belt had yet to be repaired, so instead, it was looped up and stowed away in my Bag of Spatial Folding. As I checked myself over one last time, I decided that it should be enough.

Everyone else was doing the same, Miren and Stephanos were with Yen and Tang, checking their bows, arrows and generally going over their equipment, swapping spare bowstrings and so on, Jian and Bane were checking their weapons and making sure their blades were sharp, while Grizz checked my armor, Lydia’s, and his own. Arrin was packing mana potions away into his pockets and bag as fast as Legionnaires could hand them over.

After a few more minutes, we were all set, and I turned to where my escort stood next to the ship.

“Well, thanks for your help, Legionnaires,” I said, smiling appreciatively at them. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Sir, we could help further, join you down there…” one offered, but I shook my head.

“No; there are dozens of entrances into the city, and we need to cover as many as possible. Report to your Primus, and he will assign you a position.” I was tempted; I mean, honestly, I was very tempted. These were professional warriors and monster hunters; of course I wanted them to go with us, but the simple truth was that we needed to level, and they’d slow that considerably. I returned their salutes and dismissed them, turning back to where the team stood ready. “I guess it’s time, then,” I said, leading the way across the sodden, muddy grass to an entrance Romanus had pointed out earlier, flanked by its four Legionnaire guards.

The surface was dotted with openings, indicated by grassy mounds and caves, shallow pits and holes, all leading down into the lower levels. The Prax’s upper levels had once been a mixture of garden and marshalling areas, with the occasional structure to break it up. Now it was a grassy tree-covered island, and here and there, it led up or down at odd angles where floors had collapsed into the level below, or buildings had fallen into rubble.

I nodded to the guards, and they saluted, stepping aside as we filed inside the grassy mound.

Bane went first, followed by Tang. I went next ducking inside the dilapidated opening, followed by Arrin, Miren, Jian, and Stephanos, with Yen and Grizz  bringing up the rear. I couldn’t help gazing around as we progressed further into the City, and I wondered at the way the entrance was formed. It really did give the whole ‘spooky cave system’ concept a run for its money.

The passage was misshapen and narrow. The torn metal that had once been a perfectly crafted part of the city was now a sagging, jagged, sharp, heavily overgrown and partially collapsed cave entrance and tunnel instead.

I could hear a constant trickle of water coming from somewhere overhead  as it ran down one wall, and if not for my memories and knowing better, I’d have sworn it was a natural cave.

My DarkVision activated as soon as I’d gone a handful of feet, and the others either activated abilities they had, in the case of Tang and Yen, or attached small magelights to their armor in special holding slots to help them see. The ground was covered with mud and rubble, as were the walls, with fungus and moss creeping up a significant portion of the right side, fighting for primacy. On the left, the signs of something squeezing through and accidentally clearing the gunk off were obvious.

We moved forward slowly until we came to a second choke point in the tunnel, and we had to drop down onto our knees to crawl through. I could hear the disgruntled mutters of my people as the stinking muck squelched its way around their armor and into their clothes.

I sniffed one hand as I paused behind Tang and shook my head, grimacing and hoping it was just rust and muck. Whatever coated the tunnel floor smelled foul. I had visions of generations of animals using it as a toilet and tried not to retch. After a few seconds, Tang started moving again, and a dozen yards further on, the tunnel opened up slightly, allowing us to climb to our feet again.

This became the norm for at least an hour, working our way through to find collapsed sections and maneuvering our way around until we’d reach the next gap wide enough for us to move on. Sometimes we’d find signs of smaller creatures, or of the passage of other adventurers, and occasionally, we’d come across the tracks of something larger, but mainly, it was just us, in the dark, with the stinking muck.

We finally approached a fallen area of tunnel that was almost totally impassible. We had started to consider going back to the surface and trying to find another route, when Bane ‘sensed’ a hidden area.

A thin slab of steel had been placed across a section that looked for all the world like the rest of the tunnel, and behind it was a trail that led deeper into the city. Unfortunately, the overhead clearance was low enough that we all had to crawl again for a while, but as we went, we gradually noted less and less depth to the muck, and we started to hope that we had truly found a way forward.

We paused once we were all through, as the next cavern was more regular in shape, clearly delineated, if filth covered. Walls and a ceiling defined the space, with two other doors leading out. The first, on the left, was choked with debris and mud. Established roots were obvious as we looked it over and quickly dismissed it. The only sign that it had ever been a doorway was the rectangular lintel, the rest of it was so covered and buried.

We moved to investigate the far door, finding that it