City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) Jez Cajiao (best color ebook reader txt) 📖

have worn a helmet, mate!” I called out, catching my breath as we started to circle again.

“For my kind, they must be custom built, and are often uncomfortable…” He said dismissively, then crouched, stabbing out with both scimitars angled to strike my right ankle, I managed to block the right one with my shield, but the left bounced off my greaves and staggered me as he sprang up, leaping into the air.

I tried to bring my shield up in time, but his speed was too much, combined with its weight. He landed on it at an awkward angle, pushing me back and forcing me to drop the shield or be pinned beneath it.

He rolled off it, coming to his feet and grinning at me, clearly thinking he had the advantage now. I grinned back at him.

I almost cast a spell, but then I stopped myself, knowing that once I did, the secret was out. Most Legionnaires wouldn’t have access to spells, and for all they knew, I didn’t either… I had to keep them hidden as long as possible for emergencies, which meant…

Thought and action were becoming simultaneous by now, and I sprinted forward, catching him by surprise. I lashed out, deflecting his left sword with my own, while catching his right sword on the metal plates on my forearm. My block stopped the blade enough to only cause a shallow cut to my upper arm.

I barreled into him, jumping into the air and taking him to the ground. As the pair of us rolled, we both released our weapons and resorted to fists.

I grinned, thinking I’d have the advantage now, with my metal gauntlets, until I saw his triumphant grin and felt pain tear through my right leg. I punched him in the face and looked down. Observing the three-inch claws extended from his fingertips, I swore internally.

He released my leg, grabbing my wrist. I grabbed his opposite wrist, turning the fight into a wrestle, while blood ran from both of us.

“Not so wise... to get in close... with a Trigara... no?” he growled, a strange chuffing sound coming from him as he strained. I felt blood streaming from my leg, where his claws had punched through the links of my chainmail, and I glared at him.

“That was my second favorite leg, you dick!” I growled in return. Both of us strained to our feet, pushing with our legs as I felt the weakness in mine…

I grinned and shifted to pulling instead of pushing, and we fell again. I swiftly brought my feet up as high as I could, then kicked out, catching him in the stomach and flipping him over me to crash on his back.

I rolled, then jumped at him as he flexed, flipping himself to his feet, and I took us both down again.

This time, I twisted around faster, locking his left arm and head between my legs and gripping his arm in both of mine. I hauled back as hard as I could, arching my back and squeezing for all I was worth with my legs as I locked my ankles together.

We rolled as he choked, his right hand unsheathing claws that flashed in the torchlight of the arena. He drove them into my left leg over and over, frantically trying to sever an artery or a muscle group. I felt my leg weakening, and I let out a snarl of fury, reaching out with one hand and locking it on my ankles, pulling harder and making damn sure that he couldn’t escape.

“That’s… my third…favorite…LEG!” I shouted, and I popped my hips to the right as hard as I could. The force of the movement was finally enough, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he ran out of air and started to black out.

I saw a flash of silver to my left, and I grinned, releasing my grip on his arm. I grabbed out, cutting my fingers on the blade of one of his scimitars as I hauled it in. Swapping it over to my right hand in order to grip it properly, I unlocked my legs, letting him get some air in.

I leaned back and kicked him in the face, hurling him away from me and making sure he was too stunned to resume the fight. Then I dragged myself over to him and put the tip of the blade to his throat, waiting.

After a few seconds, he came around enough to understand his predicament, first stiffening, then slumping in defeat.

“Why wait, Legion? Finish us; set our soul free to the ether to join our ancestors,” he demanded quietly.

“That what you want?” I asked, huffing as I got my breath back. “Because I’ll be honest, that was a hell of a fight, and I’d rather recruit you.”

“Hah! This one would make a poor Legionnaire…”

“What about a hunter, or a scout?” I whispered. “I need both.”

“Why? Why do you offer this?” he asked, after a long pause in which we both heard the crowd chanting for his death.

“Because you fought well,” I said, shrugging. “I’m not fucking stupid, though… you renounce all Oaths right here and now, and swear to obey me for the next ten years, or I’ll give a little push…” I said, lightly pressing the tip of the blade against his throat.

“I have no Oaths, but many gambling debts. This one likes the shiny gold. They will come for me.”

“Swear fealty to me, and that becomes my problem, not yours.”

There was a long break where he seemed to consider things. Then he slowly reached a hand up to dip his fingers in the blood of his still-weeping cheek. He lifted the bloody tips of his fingers into the air and said slowly and clearly, if only loud enough for me to hear…

“I, Nigret, hunter of the Trigara, second son of Tzuulli the Wise, forswear all Oaths, and swear to the one who holds his blade against my neck. For ten years, I will serve, no more and no less,