Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4) by Jez Cajiao (free ebooks for android .TXT) 📕

The lowest level was a collection of a dozen smaller living quarters and access to the hold, a large storage area that reached from the bottom of the hull, just above the bilges, to the deck above, and as we stepped out, we saw the devastation caused by the gnomes randomly throwing in gear.

What looked like dozens, if not hundreds, of crates were shattered, and the pungent smell let us know that at least some of the boxes had held foodstuffs that had since rotted away, not to mention the shining, reflected light from a pool of liquid seeping out of some barrels that made my ass clench. I just knew it was oil of some kind, and prayed it wasn’t flammable.

Grizz pointed to a ladder to one side, and I led the way back up to the deck. It was awkward, climbing with only one hand, especially considering the fact that I needed to be quick. I managed by stepping up, pausing, and letting go to grab the next rung up before I could fall off, then repeated the process again and again.

It took me longer than normal to climb, but after a few minutes, I was back on the deck, seeing only the raised wheelhouse remaining to search.

I grumbled to myself as I headed to it, snagging a gnome that sprinted past with her arms full of clothing, and I spoke quickly again before releasing her.

“Find Frederikk and send him to find me,” I ordered, figuring if there was one good thing about being a lord, it was that wherever I was, was the place to be, so it was Frederikk’s problem to figure out where I was, not for me to wait around for him.

We entered the wheelhouse, finding, again, that the gnomes were ingeniously different to more modern, human and dwarven designs.

The long, wide room was well-appointed, with charts hanging neatly on one wall. Several artfully crafted desks and chairs were scattered around the room and against the wall opposite to the maps, with a comfortable central chair surrounded by the ship’s controls, and a large bed bolted against the back wall. There was also a door at the back of the room, which appeared more imposing and solid than the others so far.

I pushed that door open as well, thankful that it, at least, wasn’t stuck or warped too badly, and finally found what I was looking for.

This next room was small but cozy, with a simple single bed against one wall, a wardrobe against the other, and a single small porthole that would give light normally.

Underneath the porthole, though, was a triple row of recesses, and they held the manastones I’d been expecting.

Most were dull and fractured, but here and there were ones that still glimmered with power, making me think their systems had been deactivated or disabled long ago that they’d not drained the stones, despite the long years of silence.

I started pulling new stones out of my bag, while Grizz removed the dead ones, moving from left to right. We began slotting them in as fast as we could, and with each stone that slid in, a shift in the air could be felt. The larger, more powerful stones brought an almost electric feeling of ozone to the air, as smaller ones made the fingers tingle occasionally.

It took less than a minute, but once they were all in place, we stood hesitantly, waiting for something else to happen, even as a low tingle built steadily.

We looked at each other awkwardly, then heard the outside door being shouldered open, and I remembered Grizz closing it, for some reason.

We stepped out and found Frederikk standing next to the controls, looking forlorn. He reached out slowly, hesitantly, and stroked the smooth, once well-oiled wood of the console, before sighing and letting his hand drop.

“You called for me?” he asked quietly, his voice filled with the weight of his years and the terrible sights he’d seen, somehow reinforced by being in the bridge of his old ship once again.

“Yeah, I haven’t a clue what the hell to do here,” I admitted, gesturing back at the stones in the wall and around the cabin. “This is totally different to the Airships I’ve flown on before, and I have no idea where to start. Were you a pilot, or….?” I asked him, and he snorted a laugh out.

“Me? Pilot the Interesting Endeavor? Never in a million years would they let the likes of me fly her. I was an engineer, a worker, not one of the fancy ones, not one who was let loose one something like this…”

“Well, now’s your chance,” I said smiling, but the smile slipped from my face as he shook his head.

“No. I was never good enough to fly her, and I’ll not start now. I’ll not bring shame on my house,” Frederikk insisted, and I resisted the urge to pick him up and shake him violently by the throat.

“What’s the problem here?” I asked in as calm a voice as I could manage. “You wanted to fly her; now you get your chance, so…”

“I was named an engineer, lordling!” he snapped back at me. “I was judged good enough to maintain and to adjust the systems; never to create, never to control!”

“You made a fucking train that you just rammed through a goddamn wall and nearly killed me! You were controlling that!” I spat.

“I made a child’s plaything compared to this ship! I was honored when I was given my place aboard, and my first act on her after all these years won’t be to refuse my captain and the Master of Flight’s direction! You’re not a gnome; you don’t understand!”

“Then make me understand!” I roared at him, gesturing behind me. “We replaced the crystals, now it’s just the fucking controls. You said you were on the ship before and you could fix her! You have to know how to fly it to be able to fix it!”

“You