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

and our best chance of living long enough to accomplish that is if we have protection… and you did promise me blueprints in exchange for worship…”

“I offered access to the Starscape, Jax, not direct support, but go on…” she corrected me, and I grinned at the flames.

“A magma forge,” I said quickly. “Apparently, we need one for the kind of armor my Legion armorers want to make, and…” I was cut off by the sound of Jenae’s laughter floating around the room.

“Oh, Jax… yes, I bet they did ask for one!” Jenae chuckled. “Did they ask for anything else? A solid Arcanium hammer and anvil set, perhaps? A pet Greater Dragon?”

“Ah…” I said slowly. “I take it that’s kinda a big ask…”

“Jax, a basic magma forge could be doable, at a serious investment of effort, mind you, but it’s the kind of thing the Tower might have boasted only at the height of its power. Hmmmm… actually, now that I’m looking, the Dravith Tower did have one… I wonder…” Her voice faded away as she thought.

“While a full magma forge is, yes, a hell of a reach, we could possibly work towards it. It’ll take longer to build than a regular forge, if we do it this way, but you do have a few blueprints coming… ‘average’ quality only, though... maybe we start with a few of the basics, but make sure they’re upgradable. Perhaps we’d design the entire facility to be upgradable… hmmm, that would be a challenge, even with your Tower’s facilities…”

“Okay, what about the blueprints, and the Starscape? I should have a load of mana saved up to draw against, and Marks of Favor, right?”

“You do, with forty-one Marks of my Favor, and you were earning around thirteen hundred mana towards unlocking the Constellation of Secrets. It’s been eleven days, or nearly, since you brought the Tower and its citizens to my worship. Some have donated more than the minimum; some, in fact, have donated far, far more, and your total stands at eighteen thousand, four hundred and eleven points now, which is almost enough to unlock two of the stars. Have you considered which you wish to work on?”

“Okay, the six areas, as I remember them, were ‘Enhanced Construction, Magical Research, Crafting, Governance, Personal Enhancement, and Exploration’, right?” I asked, and she made a noise of agreement. “Considering that almost all of this, the raid on the city, the attacks on the Stockpile, was all to get people and stores to repair the Tower… yes, I wanted to find Tommy, but he’s… well, knowing him, he’s probably partying somewhere right now with a girl on each knee, so I’ll come back to him. Besides, with all the announcements that keep going out, he’s probably looking for me already. I wouldn’t be surprised to find the bugger back at the Tower when we get there, at this rate,” I grunted consideringly. “So, all of this was for the Tower, which means that my best choice is probably to double down on that.” I pulled the Constellation of Secrets up and stared at it again, the black twinkling void hanging before me, with the grey and dead stars that led off from the single red star in the center all gently pulsing, flowing from grey and dead to gently glimmering, then sinking back into quiescence. I took a deep breath, and feeling Jenae’s attention on me, I mentally reached out and selected ‘Enhanced Construction’.

There was a pause when nothing seemed to happen, but then the star began to slowly glow, as the others dimmed again. A tiny fireball from the red star reached out and sparked toward the flare of fire that rose from the dead star. The two traveled the distance between them as if flying hundreds of thousands of miles, and then they hit, each slamming into the other and creating a great bloom of fire.

As it died away, both ends, the slowly brightening star, and the dull red star at the center, began to grow in brightness. The red star slowly developed flickers and pulses of yellow that danced across it, while the other grew brighter, until it was glimmering a steady blue-white in radiance.

Once the connection was fully established, I got a new notification, and I felt the changes growing.

Congratulations! You have unlocked ‘Enhanced Construction’ from the Constellation of Secrets. All facilities in which you have an involvement in creating, repairing, or upgrading will now be completed 5% faster and gain 5% capacity.

You have gained access to the following specializations, which will unlock further options: Magical Construction, Mundane Construction, or Warfare, and you have received a bonus Rare blueprint:

Greater Glasshouse:

The Greater Glasshouse is a structure that can be expanded upon, adding more and more wings as the need increases. This building permits the growth of seasonal foodstuffs, despite the outside conditions.

Construction materials required (per wing):

100 steel ingots

350 Copper ingots

250 Glass panels

15 Orichalcum ingots

12 Manastones (average or higher in size)

420 Units of wood/ 210 Units of stone (as desired)

Note: This structure requires a constant influx of mana to remain operational year-round, depending on the climate that is desired inside. Cost ranges from 1-1000 mana per day, per wing.

The star shifted, three small planets rising into view and spinning slowly. One glittered as it spun, a thousand colors and more shifting and drawing my eye, and as I stared, I seemed to fall down towards it, beginning to comprehend the myriad possibilities of Magical Construction. I saw fantastical Towers and knew I was viewing what the Great Tower had once looked like, and could again, clad in shining marble, reflecting the sun, pennants streaming in warm breezes as children played in pools on its balconies. I saw the living, beating heart of the Tower, drawing in ambient mana and releasing… something… into the air. I saw the people breathing it in and growing stronger, healthier.

I saw the people of the Tower, tall and strong, and I knew instinctively that they were all blessed by