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

it spun toward us and stepped between us and Jian, the golden disc above its head flaring and growing brighter. Tiny lightning bolts seemed to crackle across its surface.

“Stop…” mumbled Jian, and the creature whipped its head around to look at him. “Don’t… it’s okay… friends…” Jian mumbled again, shaking his head and clearly trying to wake himself up. The demon twisted back to glare at us briefly before straightening from the half hunch it’d dropped into, as the light dimmed, and the disc seemed to grow… less. It faded but also seemed to be both smaller and less reflective in a second, and the demon stepped back to stand only a half-step ahead of Jian and to his right, flexing its claws nervously.

We came to a halt, eyeing each other warily as Jian reached out and rested a hand on the demon’s shoulder, clearly bracing himself as he shook his head.

“Sorry, Jax…” he said weakly. “I just… I just need a minute, okay?” Miren stepped in and ignored the glare from the demon as she put her arm around Jian’s waist in order to help him to stand.

She whispered to him for a couple of seconds, while the demon glared around at us all. Finally, I sighed, stepping forward, deliberately trying not to appear threatening as I spoke to the demon directly.

“Do you have a name?” I asked it, and it continued to glare at me, a low growl starting in its throat.

“Uh… Jax?” Grizz interjected, and I tilted my head to him, showing I was listening while watching the demon still. “That’s a demon, okay? They’re generally not known for being sparkling conversationalists…”

“Yeah, well, since I came to this realm, I’ve gotten drunk with dwarves and cat people, flown on ships in the sky and met people as weird as you, mate. No way to know if a demon can talk or not without asking.”

“I can speak your language, whelp,” the demon growled out, and I met its eyes challengingly.

“Whelp?” I snarled, straightening my shoulders and stepping forward. “Really, you want to go there?” I prepared to summon a spell, and my naginata started to glow again.

“No!” Oracle and Jian said in concert.

“No, please don’t kill him, Lord Jax,” Jian said quickly, and Oracle smiled at the demon as it glanced from its Warlock to me. “He’s new here, and he doesn’t understand yet. I’ll explain things to him,” Jian reassured me, and I nodded to him, before sparing another cold stare for the demon, then turning and walking back towards the gnome.

“How strong are demons?” I asked Oracle from where she sat on my shoulder, and she shrugged prettily.

“Depends; give me a second…” she said, looking back at him and half-closing her eyes.

“Master! The wisp is…” the demon snapped out, light crackling across his disc again as it pointed at Oracle, and Jian stepped between him and us, frantically speaking to the creature in a low voice.

“Oops…” Oracle said, before sharing the information with me. “I didn’t think he’d sense that… might be useful, after all…”

Ty’Baronn, Second Spur of the UnSouled.

The demon Ty’Baronn is a lesser Balun Warrior, and while skilled in using their claws and fighting hand to hand, the Balun Warriors are better known for their formidable beam attack: they channel the life force of their prey into a single, powerful blast of energy that can rival the heat of the sun for a short time. Balun Warriors that do not use this ability, and instead store the life essences of lesser creatures, will eventually evolve into higher demonic forms.

Weaknesses: Unknown

Resistances: All Demons enjoy resistances to fire attacks -25% damage

Critical Weaknesses: Unknown

HP: Unknown

Mana: Unknown

Stamina: Unknown

“What might be useful?” I asked her.

“That he can sense magic being directed at him. Well, possibly, we didn’t really get much information on him, though, did we?” she said annoyed.

“Not really, and why did you tell me to stop before? You sounded concerned.”

“Well, it’s got a beam weapon of some kind; we’ve got no idea what it does or how fast it can fire, plus Jian literally just formed a pact with it? Maybe a little early to decide if you’re going to kill it? Hmmm?”

“I wasn’t…” I started to protest, and Oracle just snorted at me.

“Jax, it’s me. I know how irritated you get, and the way you both looked at each other? It was never going to end well. Just do us both a favor and look at my boobs; that’ll make you happy, and it keeps everyone else alive, hmmm?” she purred, shaking her head and talking to me as though I was a simpleton or a child. I growled under my breath but still sneaked a look at her chest as I walked, before realizing that part had been a trap as she started to giggle.

“I’m totally playing with those later…” I whispered to her, and she grinned at me as we both dismissed the demon from our minds, finally reaching the gnome and inspecting what he was doing.

Bane was still present, and was now visible, seated atop a piece of wreckage nearby, while Tang was further up the corridor, looking over the mobile shield. With no imminent threat, I leaned against the wall and pulled up the notifications that had been frantically pulsing for my attention.

Congratulations!

You have practiced enough to raise your Meditation skill to its first evolution! Through combining several different methods into one, you have shown an understanding that is beyond your years. Continue to practice and learn to increase this skill further. You must now pick a path to follow. Will you choose to widen your boost with RESOUNDING GAINS, or increase the speed of your mana recovery with FOCUS?

Choose carefully, as this choice cannot be undone.

RESOUNDING GAINS:

The constant changes you’ve forced your body to undergo, mixed with your newly discovered ability to draw and compress mana, have resulted in an entirely new level of meditation. Now when you meditate, for each level of compression you achieve, you will gain one point