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

from the dispersing crowd and heard their oaths of delighted surprise.

Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Endurance and Strength stats by one point each. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.

Congratulations!

Through dedicated training with a skilled instructor, you have increased your Unarmed skill. Continue to train and learn to increase this further…

Congratulations!

Through dedicated training with a skilled instructor, you have increased your Spear wielding skill by two points. Spears are a subset of Staffs, and as such, your staff wielding skill has increased slightly. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.

Those notifications had made me smile again; increasing skills always cheered me up.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, I summoned my stat sheet and read it over, my heart finally coming down from its frantic rhythm to a more normal one as I examined my levels.

Name Jax

Titles: Strategos: 5% boost to damage resistance. Fortifier: 5% boost to defensive structure integrity, Chosen of Jenae

Class: Spellsword > Justicar

Renown: Unknown

Level: 13

Progress: 116,530/120,000

Patron: Jenae, Goddess of Fire and Exploration

Points to Distribute: 0

Meridian Points to Invest: 0

Stat

Current points

Description

Effect

Progress to next level

Agility

39

Governs dodge and movement.

Average speed + 290% (+10% increase in darkness, -20% in daylight)

36/100

Charisma

12

Governs likely success to charm, seduce, or threaten

Success chance +20%

2/100

Constitution

30

Governs health and health regeneration

HP+380, regen 23pts per 600s (+10% regen due to soul bond, -20hp, each point invested now worth 20hp)

17/100

Dexterity

19

Governs ability with weapons and crafting success

+ 9% chance to wield weapon successfully, + 8% chance of crafting success

60/100

Endurance

23

Governs stamina and stamina regeneration

STM +130, regen 13pts per 30s

13/100

Intelligence

26

Governs base mana and number of spells able to be learned

+140 mana, spell capacity: 13 spells (-20mp due to soul bond)

43/100

Luck

17

Governs overall chance of bonuses

+7% chance of success in area luck affects

99/100

Perception

24

Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden items

+140% ranged damage, +24% chance to spot traps/hidden items

72/100

Strength

22

Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity

+12 damage with melee weapons, +120% carrying capacity

22/100

Wisdom

29 (23)

Governs mana regeneration and memory

+190% mana recovery, 2.9ppm, 190% more likely to remember things

98/100

I was about to pull up my skills sheet next, when a cough drew my attention. I dismissed the page and looked around, finding Barrett and Oren standing nearby, clearly waiting for me, while Ame berated someone within hearing distance.

“What’s up?” I asked, and Barrett gestured to the people as they were split up into individual groups by Bane, Flux, and Cheena.

“I wanted to confirm that what we’d planned before was okay; you remember, the training schedule we were talking about?”

“Yes, sorry, mate; I approve. The only concern I had was the healers, and Ame agreed to go out with the groups, so that’s fine. I’d suggest you have the hunters work from a set location that they all agree on, then split off to hunt. That way, they can bring back anything they catch to that location, and Ame and the fighters can be waiting there, in case they’re needed. They’ll be close by, but far enough back that the hunters can get some experience as well. Does that work?”

“Yes, that makes sense. One more thing, though… we need to talk about Himnel, and the people we left there. You were talking about a trip to get supplies and to try to get our families out. Each day we delay means that things will get worse for our families. Not all of us can afford to wait; I…”

“I know it’s not ideal…”

“No, Jax; please, listen to me,” Barrett pleaded, shaking his head as he interrupted me. I stopped and frowned, gesturing for him to continue.

“Look, some of the crew’s families, hell, some of our closest friends and the people who we’d most like to recruit, they can’t afford for us to wait much longer. When we talked about it, I thought it was just two of my friends, and I figured it was better to wait until we had a proper plan, rather than risk it. I figured they’d be able to survive. I’ve asked around, though, and a lot of our people are in the same boat. At least a third of the people that we’re most wanting to recruit are the ones that will be in the shit, now that Oren’s and Decin’s ships are ‘missing’. People relied on us, on our wages, on us being able to get cheap food on our trips…when word spreads that we’re gone, whether it’s because people think we’re dead, or whatever, our families are going to spread out. They’re going to need to go looking for work in places they wouldn’t normally consider. The mines, the Arena, the Pits… some will end up taking contracts for adventuring, and then they’ll never come back. As it is, our people will be scared, wondering where we are. Another day or two, and they’ll be getting frantic. We don’t have the weeks and months it’ll take to do this properly, Jax. Do you understand?”

“I think so; how long?” I asked, my mind going into overdrive. I’d wanted to get things set up here first, get the Tower running better, maybe take Decin’s ship out for a trip to Isabella’s village and recruit some more first…

“Literally a few days. I’ve also asked around, and without including the Engineers and Shipyard rats and their families, there’s nearly three hundred people that we’d be looking at trying to get out of the city.”

“Fuck!” I cursed, running my fingers through my hair, and glaring at him. “Seriously, man; three fucking hundred? Plus, the Engineers and their families, so it’ll jump to what, three fifty, four hundred? How the hell am I supposed to get them out of there? Plus, how the fuck would we feed them? I bet none of them are hunters or anything useful like that!”

“No, but they’re a cross section of a city, Jax. Some are crafters, guards, cooks, and cleaners. Two of those who’d want to come are hookers, and they’re some of the nicest people I know, so…”

“I’m not gonna look down on someone for being a hooker,