The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) by Cajiao, Jez (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

and the door vanished just as Cai tried to knock again, and I had to grin as the usually reserved catman staggered and let out an involuntary yelp of surprise.

“Hi Cai, Ame,” I greeted them, standing up and gesturing for them to come inside. They both entered cautiously, looking around the room with eyes wide in shock, the true wealth of the Great Tower on display.

“I…I never would have believed…”

Ame whispered, slowly turning around, gaping at the book covered shelves, the beautiful carpets and seating, and most of all, the hundreds of Memory Crystals where they lay in their individual niches.

Cai was having a similarly hard time as he attempted to stare everywhere at once. I knew I’d never get anywhere with them in the state they were in now.

“Both of you can have a quick look around before we start. I can see I’m not going to get anything from you until you’ve had that, at least!” I said, returning to my seat and closing the door. I concentrated as a stray thought crossed my mind, and I began looking around the room carefully, until I spotted him. Crouched down, almost invisible against the wall beside a bookcase, was Bane. I’d not seen him enter, and I’d damn well certainly not invited him along to this meeting.

“Bane,” I said flatly, and he straightened up, his reflexive camouflage relaxing as he arose.

“Yes, Jax?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“Bane, you’re a great friend, and a hell of a bodyguard, which I can see already, but you don’t need to be this close all the damn time. I need privacy, and when I call a meeting somewhere like this, unless I invite you, I don’t expect you to be here, okay? We’re in a sealed location in the center of the Great Tower. This is literally the most secure place we have; I don’t need to be guarded here!”

“That’s exactly how I’d want you to feel if I was an assassin.” he said stoically.

“What?” I asked, my train of thought derailed by the assertion, and I paused, letting him continue.

“If I was going to kill you, I’d want you to believe you were in the safest place you could be, so you’d let your guard down and get rid of your bodyguards,” Bane continued, and I shook my head again.

“Okay, look, mate, I’m going to be in here for a while, then I’m going to be in the Tower for the next two days probably: a day, at the least. I don’t need you in here, so please, go explore, relax and pick out quarters, do whatever you want…except guarding me!” I added as I saw him start to return to the corner where he’d been hidden. He stopped and stood there for a long minute and I sighed, giving in a little.

“Look, Bane, seriously, I’m safe here, and even if I wasn’t, you can’t guard me literally around the clock. It’ll drive us both insane. Go explore; if you want to find something useful to do, you could go out and kill something we can add to the food stores, or hell, explore the local area. There could be all sorts of things to find out there; we haven’t explored any of it yet. Just go, okay?” Bane hesitated for a second then clapped a fist in salute and headed to the door. I opened it and let him out, breathing a sigh of relief when the door had fully closed, and I knew I wasn’t being watched over anymore.

“You know he’s right, don’t you?” Ame spoke from right behind me, making me jump.

“Fuck’s sake, Ame! Not you, too,” I said, shaking my head and sitting back down.

“He has a point, though; if an assassin wanted to get to you, this would be ideal. After all, you’ve trapped yourself in here now with me, and how well do you really know me?” she asked, and I grinned back at her.

“I killed a fucking SporeMother alone and cleared this entire Tower before I even met any of you; how well do you really know me?” I asked, forcing my grin to take on a hard edge, and she took a step back, the instinctive fear of creatures she’d heard tales about all her life coming to the fore.

“Exactly,” I said, sitting back in my seat and looking at her. “I try to be nice to people, Ame, and I try to be patient, but remember, I’m the one that fought the creatures from your nightmares. I’m also the one that will do it again. I might act kind, but if I have to, I will fuck up anything that threatens me or my people.” My voice was hard, cold, and Ame stepped back again, aware of the change in the air between us. Before it could grow too intense, I straightened and gestured to the seat across from me, letting a softer smile return to my face. As she stepped between other furniture and took the seat offered, she nodded to me with respect.

“I understand; best to show the steel under the glove sometimes.” It was all she said, but we both understood, and when Cai moved out from between the shelves to join us, I knew he’d witnessed the interaction as well. I felt a touch self-conscious about it, but it needed to be done.

“So, Cai, Ame, we’re going to start a plan today to use the Tower resources properly. There’s a risk to using too many Spell and Skill books in a short time; you both know this, right?” I asked and got a snort from Ame.

“Of course! Everyone knows that,” she said, and I winced as I shook my head.

“Yeah, well, nobody where I came from told me that, so I’ll be clear about this. I used seven Spellbooks, and a handful of skill books, to get to where I am now. When I tried to use another, it backfired, opening a series of