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

catch your breath, and then we fight.” He regarded me seriously. “I want to see how you do with it; then I can set you some forms and teach you to follow them.”

I nodded gratefully, shaking my arms out and wiping sweat from my forehead to clear my vision before lifting the gladius to show I was ready.

“Already? Good!” Augustus said, and he attacked. Covering the distance between us with his sword low, he stabbed toward my stomach. I’d barely deflected it when his left hook hit my chin and I was sent sprawling on the sand.

I rolled over, spitting blood from a busted lip onto the floor and glaring at him as he stood waiting, a grin on his face.

“Lesson one!” he said cheerfully. “The enemy doesn’t care how they win, just that you don’t!”

I growled and lunged forward, stabbing at his left thigh. He casually smacked the wooden sword aside with his left forearm in a blow that sent my sword wide, bringing my charge up short as the tip of his sword pressed my throat inwards uncomfortably.

“Lesson two. Anger is not your friend,” he said, watching me carefully.

I backed up and started to swing the sword from side to side in a figure of eight, advancing on him again.

He stepped forward, bringing his sword around to catch mine by the guard, deflecting it aside as he moved inside my reach. He blocked my punch and wrapped his arm around mine, locking me in place as he headbutted me, releasing me as I fell backwards onto the sand yet again.

This time, when I hit the floor, I didn’t stop. Instead, I kicked out, sweeping his legs out from under him and rolling over onto him.

I dropped my sword, grabbing his right wrist and punching him hard in the upper left arm, right where the deltoid met the bicep. The strike caused the limb to spasm and weaken momentarily. When I tried to pin his arm with my knee, he twisted, throwing me off, dropping his sword, and going for the grapple.

We rolled, coming to a stop with him up on top, and I twisted, managing to get his right arm and head between my legs. I locked my ankles together behind his head, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling his head down as he grunted, punching me in the thigh and trying to get free.

I grabbed his right arm, locking both of upper limbs around his. By twisting my hips and chest, and pushing his arm out and pulling it down, I was able to lock it so he couldn’t use it. I leaned back, heaving with all my strength and squeezing his neck as hard as I could.

I grinned down at him as he struggled, his face turning purple. Then he forced a grin back at me. I felt my guts go cold as he levered himself to his feet, ignoring the pain of my lock.

He maneuvered himself upright, lifting me into the air, and slammed me to the ground full-force, his weight crashing down atop me. I felt both of us breaking bones.

I grunted, releasing him and coughing blood as a shard of rib punctured my lung. The Centurion roared as his collarbone snapped, but that didn’t stop him from punching me in the face and turning the world black…

A bucket of water across my face brought me back to consciousness, spluttering and swearing as I spat water away, my hands coming up reflexively to touch my… completely healed chest.

I blinked in shock, searching around, and observed Nerin stepping back, a satisfied look on her face and an empty bucket of water in her hands.

Augustus stood behind her, grinning at me as he stepped around her and offered a hand to help me up.

I took it, and was pulled to my feet, shaking my head as Nerin walked off, looking satisfied.

“Well done, Jax,” Augustus said, nodding to me approvingly. “Your grappling technique is different, but effective. You’ll have to show it to me it again at some point, but you let your guard down…” He met my eyes, his tone serious. “Never let your guard down, not even when sparring. If I’d wanted to kill you, that’s when I’d have done it.”

“You’re just full of fucking sunshine, aren’t you?” I muttered, and he grinned.

“Well, lets get all the bad out of the way, then. Your sword skills are shit, but you’re good at fighting, so let’s work on those first.”

We got a drink each, and he started to show me some basic forms. Some of them, I recognized from my first round of training back on earth; others were similar to ones I’d seen on TV. The major difference from what I’d seen elsewhere, was that these were so dedicated to my feet and legs.

Augustus slowly circled me, occasionally stopping me and making me change my stance. Other times, he would kick my thighs or lean in and shove me in the chest. If I was standing correctly, he’d brace against me, or I’d shrug it off, depending on the force. If I was standing wrong, though, I’d hit the floor and have a hell of a bruise to show for it.

I’d noticed people wandering in and sitting in the ‘common’ seats around the arena as we trained, and by late afternoon, as we finished a hasty meal before returning to do some forms, I noticed the area was full.

Easily over a hundred people surrounded us, and I looked at Augustus questioningly. “Ignore them,” he advised. “You’ll have people watching your fights tonight, so this will help you get used to it.”

The hours sped by until early evening, when he told me that we’d done enough, and finally, that at least he wouldn’t be completely embarrassed by my fighting as a Legionnaire now. We’d done hours of shield and sword drills, but by far the most common was the close quarter fighting.

He’d taught me dozens of dirty tricks, from kicking sand in their eyes,