City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

I stared into his eyes as he reached up frantically, his fingers scrabbling on the razor-sharp blade and being sliced to ribbons as he tried to free himself.

I watched as the light left his eyes, and I straightened up slowly. Fury bubbled under the surface as I spoke, my voice full of a cold danger.

“If any of you wants to make a comment about how little the lives of my people are worth... now’s the time.” I pinned the remaining three smugglers with cold, dead eyes. “If you make me deal with you again later, after I’ve already given you chance after chance… I won’t be as calm. I’ll make sure the next one of you fucking suffers!”

Silence filled the room, and I stepped back. Channeling a touch of fire into the naginata so that it glowed white-hot to all but me, I put a boot on Gar’s shoulder, holding his corpse in place while I pulled the blade free.

I turned and walked away from them to stand alone. I drew in deep breaths, concentrating on my heart rate and putting my anger back into the box.

I slowly sank to my knees, then folded my legs beneath me, drawing a deep breath in and setting it free. I repeated my breathing exercises and started at the top of my head, locating each individual muscle I could. Slowly forcing them to relax, one at a time, I moved on, continuing until I reached my toes.

When I opened my eyes again, the cavern remained silent, and I slowly rose to my feet, returning to the group.

I looked around at my squad, Barrett, Bane, and the three scouts from the Legion. “We need to get as much of this gear packed away as possible, and then we’re moving,” I said simply, before turning to the three smugglers. All three had concerned looks on their faces, but strangely, none of them showed any anger toward me.

“I’ve given you all chance after chance. I’ve freed you and asked little in return. For the last time, will one of you lead us to Mal, or do you want us to give you a torch and set you free? I’ve got no interest in playing games with you. I’ll either take an Oath from you, and you can go free, or you can come with me, or I’ll leave you to bleed out here. I have no more time to waste on you.”

“I’ll lead you to Mal,” said Ellen, the caravan master’s granddaughter. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she only looked sad, not angry.

“I’m sorry I killed him,” I said into the silence that followed, and I saw a flash of grief before it was tamped firmly down.

“It was always going to happen,” she said coldly. “Grandfather Gar was a good man, but he…he always had to push. We all warned him, but he hated nobles, and he never could just do as he was told, never mind the deal.”

“Well, I’m still sorry… for your sake,” I repeated. Taking my leave with a respectful nod, I made my way back to the group and approached Fenris.

“Open Storage” I said. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened, so I tried again. “Awaken…Open Storage. Open. Ah, crap…Inventory?” I asked on a whim, and I was rewarded with a new notification that flashed in my list. I sighed and pulled up the notifications, knowing I’d put it off for too long.

You have been acknowledged as a Scion of the Imperial House, confirmed by Emperor Amon before Legionnaires of the Cohortes Praetoria. This act will send ripples across the realm! As the only acknowledged Scion of the Imperial Line, you have been granted full authority to act in the Emperor’s stead in the territory of: Dravith.

Do you wish to declare your Primacy at this time?

Yes/No

Probably better not to, just yet, I decided, and I slid it to the side, moving onto the next one.

Congratulations!

You have cleared ‘The Smuggler’s Path’ and have the prerequisite authority and abilities to claim this hidden location, adding it to your territory as an occupied base. As this location holds less than Ten (10) percent of sentients that are actively hostile to your rule, it can be claimed.

Do you wish to annex this territory now?

Yes/No

Again, probably not a good idea, as I might as well announce my presence in the city with a marching band. I slid it aside as well.

You have accepted three Praetoria of the Dravith Legion into your personal retinue…

Fair enough; that was clearly a personal thing. Moving on…

Do you wish to access the Inventory for the Fenris Model 017 Heavy Automaton?

Yes/No

I read through each of the notifications before reaching the ones I’d probably been looking forward to the most.

Congratulations! You have raised your spell ‘Firebolt’ to its first evolution. You must now pick a path to follow. Will you choose to spread the damage with FIREBALL, or increase it with FLAMESPEAR?

Choose carefully, as this choice cannot be undone.

FIREBALL:

The many times you have changed this spell to incorporate AOE (Area of Effect) damage has had a permanent effect on it. Now you can choose to create everyone’s favorite AOE spell...FIREBALL!

Remember, while a Firebolt might have someone’s name on it, a Fireball is addressed ‘To whom it may concern…’ Concussive effect is tripled within the first five feet of the impact site, dropping by 25% per two feet of distance while radiating outwards. Chance to inflict secondary fire damage is increased to 20%.

FLAMESPEAR:

You’ve thrown Firebolts with such force and aggression that you have a chance to imbue them with additional piercing damage. For every five points of mana injected past the general cost of twenty-five points, you will gain one point of damage and a 1% chance to pierce your target’s armor. Pound that meat!

I read them both, and fuck, I wanted them combined into one! I loved the detonation effect that I got from overcharging my Firebolt, but to add piercing damage? Hell, if I sank another