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

first man tried to put up a fight, but it was over in seconds. Augustus calmly left the arena as people shouted and cheered.

I turned to gape at Mal, stunned by the causal skill shown, and he grinned at me, gesturing for me to follow him as he led us out of the room, down the corridor, and into another room, located on the far side of the corridor from the arena.

The space was decorated in deep reds and gold trim, furnished with a private bar and several couches. Expensive-looking bottles glittered on the shelves, while a dozen bottles of beer laid chilling in a bucket of ice.

I gazed around, sinking gratefully into a chair. I was still surprised at just how tired and aching I was.

“What’s this, then? Your personal bar?” I asked Mal, and he grinned, pulling a bottle of beer free to throw to me. I caught it and popped the top, taking a swig as he offered beers to the Legionnaires and the rest of the group.

The Legionnaires refused, two taking up station outside the door, and two inside, while Mal rolled his eyes at me.

“You can have a beer, guys,” I said to them, and I noticed the look that passed between them. “I won’t tell Augustus, if you don’t…” I said, grinning, and saw the edges of their mouths quirking.

“We’ll take turns on watch outside, sir, and thank you,” Grizz accepted. He slipped out, sending in one of the men to get a beer and drink it first, clearly planning on being able to enjoy his own, rather than rushing it.

I grinned as I noticed Miren having her beer taken away by Lydia and being handed a fruit drink instead.

“I’m old enough!” Miren complained in a whisper that carried across the room, making her go red as Lydia growled that she wasn’t getting beers after ‘last time’ until she could learn to control herself.

“So, you’ve finally woken up, then,” Mal said, taking a swig from his bottle and looking at me.

“Yeah, sorry I was out so long,” I replied, feeling guilty as all hell. I’d literally rocked up, turned his world upside down, and then had a nap, leaving him to fix things…

“Nerin explained it. Whatever that ‘Valspar’ was, it sounds like it was pretty evil shit.” He nodded to me, his expression uneasy.

“Yeah, it wasn’t nice,” I agreed, shrugging.

“You really rammed your hand into yourself up to the elbow and tore it out, though?” he asked incredulously. “I didn’t think that kind of thing was even physically possible.”

“It probably isn’t; I used magic at the same time,” I said, feeling uncomfortable at the looks the Legionnaires were giving me.

“Yeah, I heard your hand was glowing…” Mal muttered, still staring at me.

“Guess so. I don’t remember much of it, okay? So… what have I missed?” I asked, only to have my mind almost blown out of my ears by Oracle’s excited shout.

“JAX!” she screamed in my head, “YOU’RE AWAKE!”

“And deaf, too!” I responded to her, a note of sarcasm in my projection. She paused, then went on at a much lower volume.

“Well, it’s about time! I’ll bring the engineers up to meet you now; are you in the red room?” “The red room?” I asked aloud, unsure. Mal snorted as Soween laughed.

“You’re talking to Oracle, aren’t you?” Soween said, and I nodded. “She loves this room, for some reason. She was having most of her meetings in it, until we told her about the view from the ground for the fights. She’s a bloodthirsty one, that girl.”

“Yeah, the red room.” I replied, getting a sense of happiness mixed with a feeling of patience before she cut off the connection.

“Ah, Oracle and some people are coming up here, I guess,” I explained bemusedly.

“We’ll watch out for her, sir,”  said one of the Legionnaires standing inside. He finished his beer and elbowed his companion, who did the same. They efficiently swapped over with Grizz and the other Legionnaire outside, filling them in as they passed. Grizz took a beer, passing the other to his companion, and they took up station on either side of the door again.

“So, what have you missed…” Mal drawled, shifting to get himself more comfortable on his seat. “Well, we’ve had meetings with some of the families of the crew, or Barrett has, anyway. He also ran into Joya, who’s apparently his ex… she was a caravan guard for me, currently workin' as a bouncer here, so that was fuckin' hilarious. She’s over six foot, and he’s about an inch off being declared a dwarf, rather than a human. Must have carried a stepladder around with him everywhere, is my guess,” Mal said, rubbing his head and taking a long draw on his beer. “Your Oracle has been meetin' people from the shipyards and their families, and she’s been workin' with Mistress Nerin to heal them. Seems there’s a lot of 'em think she’s one step from a Goddess now, and it’s a damn small step… These are people who’ve been crippled, spendin' their lives beggin', as they couldn’t afford healers, and then ‘boom. She strolls in, asks them to swear to you, and heals them. Nerin has been doin' the ones Oracle couldn’t, and rackin' up quite the bill…”

“Bill?” I asked, and he nodded.

“Seems her shop was ransacked pretty thoroughly when it was left open, so she’s been runnin' a constant total for the work she’s been doin' for you. Hope your pockets are deep.”

“Ah…” I muttered, swallowing hard, then taking a swig from my beer as he considered me shrewdly.

“Yeah, I guessed you’d been bluffin' about the gold.” He shrugged. “That’s why I wanted the fights, I’ve been bettin' pretty heavily on them, and that’s bringin' in a nice little extra. Not enough to make me forget the rest of what you owe me, but enough that I’ll survive if things go sideways.”

“And the plans for the raid?” I asked him, and he grinned.

“That’s comin' together nicely, even if only