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

the fact that she, barely half the size of Arrin, was holding up better in the same armor than Arrin was. That, of course, led to comments about Stamina, and as we all took up station at the bottom of the stairs, squinting out through a doorway into a corridor that opened into the darkness, Grizz and the rest started picking on Arrin and commenting on the shame he must feel.

The fact that Miren was half elven and had racial traits of increased Stamina, Strength, and Agility was conveniently glossed over.

Arrin, huffing and gripping his side as he tried to catch his breath, pulled out a magelight and charged it before passing it to Grizz and leaning against the wall, panting and giving everyone the finger.

Grizz looked to me, and I nodded my head toward the corridor. He took two steps down, hauled back, and threw it like a professional baseball player, sending the small gem hurtling down the darkened tunnel.

It hit the ground once, twice, then a third time, before bouncing off a section of fallen wall and coming to a stop, its light reflecting off a puddle it’d fallen into.

We all held our breath, watching down the corridor and listening as the rumbling grew louder. Soon, I started to pick out differences in the sound, as more and more tones and noises grew distinct.

“There’s at least a dozen of them,” Bane called to us from somewhere in the darkness, and I grunted, realizing the stealthy bastard had vanished again. As I looked around, I realized with annoyance at my own lack of observance, so had Tang.

That left Grizz, Lydia, and me in the center of the doorway, spaced out slightly, but still feeling like we might bump into each other with every movement. Jian, Yen, and Arrin had taken up positions behind us, and Miren and Stephanos behind them.

“This is so not the right weapon for this…” Lydia muttered, hefting her mace and shifting her shield to the side, trying to get the base set right.

“Tell me about it,” Grizz said. “I can’t get a decent swing in here. Hey, boss, fancy swapping?” he asked me jokingly, and I snorted.

“Not my fault you two can’t pick real gear…” I said, my voice dying away as the first of the enemies rumbled into sight.

It was… weird.

It was composed of a single large wheel, which was hollow, and seated inside of it was a small figure… a figure with eyes that glowed.

It opened its mouth at the sight of us huddled in the doorway, and screeched a single long cry, brandishing a weapon that looked to be a cudgel made of wood with spikes all over it.

The wheel immediately picked up speed, blurring toward us, bouncing and clattering across fallen sections of wall and floor, while I focused and used ‘Examine’.

Gnome Badunka Rider

The role of Badunka Rider was once a position of power and respect in Gnomish society, but centuries of isolation have changed that. Now, the Badunka rider is the lowest of the low, permitted food, water, and territory only if they can deliver fresh meat and salvage.

The Gnomish Badunka Riders have found a way to infuse themselves with the essence of Stone, granting them a terrible solidity… for so long as their mana lasts.

Weaknesses: Water, Air, and Death magics do 25% more damage.

Resistances: Earth magics used against this creature will heal it.

Level: 13

HP: 1410 (30)

Stamina 40/40

Mana: 411/500

“Shit!” I cursed. “It’s a gnome ‘Badunka’ rider, whatever the hell that is, but it’s got crazy health; over fourteen hundred, with an insane mana pool as well! Earth magic heals it, water, air, and death work better against it…”

“Great, well, I’ve got fuck-all of those!” Yen growled, and I winced, reaching into the one pouch I’d kept with me that was still almost full. I tugged out two of the three ‘Darkbolt’ Spells and tossed them over my shoulder to her and Arrin.

“Keep them for later; no time to use them now,” I ordered, even as voices lifted from the right, further down the corridor, as the first rider closed the distance.

“Keep one for me…” I heard Tang call, and I winced again, nodding. It made more sense to ensure everyone would be able to do a little magic, after all, and I should have thought about it before the beginning of another skirmish.

The Badunka rider took a deep breath and wailed again, its voice echoing weirdly off the walls and roof as it closed the distance.

As soon as the gnome passed Tang, he struck, lashing out with his sword. It slammed into the tiny figure, who continued to scream until that point, when it suddenly changed from a solid, ongoing cry into a screech of pain. The creature’s arm flailed wildly about in the air with the wooden cudgel until it was snapped back, throwing the gyroscope it was riding into an uncontrolled diversion. It screeched in pain and fury, then hit the wall, bouncing off and tumbling end over end. Sparks and parts went flying as it dissolved into a mass of tumbling, flaming wreckage.

By the time it skidded to a halt, less than four feet from the doorway to the stairs, it was unrecognizable as the strange device it had been mere seconds before, but even as we gaped in shock at the damage, it started to move.

A metal panel, laid halfway across the rider, was suddenly and violently shoved aside, as the gnome straightened and dragged herself out of the wreck. She, and it was clearly a ‘she’ now, with the sides of her head shaved and her remaining hair woven with tiny rings, glared at us, her gaze moving from one to another as she shook her arm out, and the blood stopped flowing from it.

She didn’t look to be in any pain as a grey-white, rough textured stone seemed to build up around the wound, bubbling over and covering it. Instead, she seemed to grow more and more angry as she looked from the wreck