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

“I’m to be your guard at night; better if we get along, after all. Besides, Flux trained me. I know what an evil bastard he really is, and how much not getting to wake you up will annoy him!”

“And yet, you still did it,” Flux’s voice came from directly behind her, and she spun, all four arms suddenly brandishing daggers. She froze a second later as Flux stepped out of the trees and nodded to her. “Better. You always did get distracted too easily, but it was better than you could have responded. We will talk about it later.”

“Dammit!” she muttered, slinking back into the shadows. As she was going, I noticed that she no longer limped, and I spoke up quickly.

“Jana, your foot…?”

“Ame fixed it last night. She said you taught her the spell so she could help us all, so thank you again, Lord.”

“No, you don’t need to thank me for that. Ame did it; I’m just glad she managed it, and I’m sorry you had to wait until she learned the spell first.”

“Still, thank you,” came the reply from the night, and I smiled, turning back to Flux.

“Sooo, how bad is this going to be?” I asked him, and the subsonic thrum of his laughter was my only answer, joined a second later by Jana’s. “Crap,” I muttered, shaking my head.

The next half an hour passed in a blur. We started with gentle stretches, which slowly grew faster and more challenging. We moved through a variety of poses, some modified for me with having only two arms, others clearly deliberately chosen to make me shake with exertion.

Once our warmup was complete, we slowly began to pick up the tempo, moving from one position to another, until I was bathed in sweat. I thought I was getting fitter and healthier, not to mention stronger, every day, but this was a struggle even for me, and I’d dumped a fuck ton of points into my agility.

Flux finally called a break and slipped into the water, immersing himself for the shortest two minutes I’d ever experienced while dressed.

Once he drew himself back out, he nodded to me and gestured to two spears waiting on the grass to one side. His lower arms bent around and clasped hands behind his back as the upper ones took up one spear, throwing the second to me. He positioned us both as mirror images of the other and began to teach me a new kata.

We started out with a series of simple sweeps and blocks, many of which I already knew, but as he began to speed up, I started to fall behind, his spear flashing in stabs, ripostes, and sweeps I could barely see, let alone copy.

As the second hour began, he broke the kata up into sections, making me do each move ten times before moving onto the next. It took the full two hours to get it locked into my muscles and mind, but at the end, I finally managed to do a full run though, right before I collapsed panting onto the floor.

“You… are… trying… to… kill… me…” I whispered raggedly as I tried to catch my breath, and I felt the thrum again.

“When I feel you’re ready to move on from the basics, then I’ll start to teach you properly, but for now? A solid base will keep you alive longer than fancy tricks, Jax. Trust me on this.”

“I… do, but… really… did you… have…. to…?”

“Break you? No, but I needed to see what you were made of. A lesser man would have given up long since. From what I can see, your main issues are Stamina and Skill; you lack nothing in the Heart. That, I can work with. a weak man can get stronger, a broken man can heal, a lazy man will be forever lazy until he defeats his own inner demons.”

“Lovely… thanks… for that… fortune cookie… crap…” I groaned, forcing myself to sit up and slowly get to my feet, remembering that walking and gently swinging my arms would aid my recovery.

“Now, we have eight minutes until we are due for the first lessons with your fighters. It will reflect poorly on you to turn up late, wouldn’t you say?”  I glared at him, my breaths still coming in shallow gasps as I remembered where they’d be waiting for us.

“That’s fourteen floors… at least a mile… or two from here…” I whispered, and he laughed.

“Just under three, as the Tower winds. Try to keep up!” And he was off. He didn’t even start with a bastard jog; he just went into a full sprint practically from a standing start.

I groaned and stuck the practice spear into the dark soil, trading it for my naginata before following him. The knowledge of the small book that rested in my Bag of Holding as I ran after him came back to me, and I regretted not giving it to him earlier.

It was a training manual; it covered the basic unarmed kata which the Imperial Legions had used in their special forces, and I wanted everyone in the Tower to master it eventually.

I wanted to learn it, too, but I just knew that giving it to him earlier would have resulted in me being a test dummy.

It took just under twelve minutes to reach the twenty-sixth floor, and when I finally staggered out onto it, wheezing and barely able to walk because I’d pushed myself that hard, I caught Flux bending over, his head in a barrel of fresh water as he drew in the refreshment he needed.

I staggered across to him on wobbly legs and collapsed to the floor, getting an unwanted shower when he finally pulled himself back out and looked down at me, water dripping from him.

“You did well, Jax!” he praised, and I gave him the finger, getting a thrum of amusement from him in return.

“I don’t… get how you… managed to… push yourself that… fast, when you got…