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

“Damn…” I muttered, twisting the whip around until I could see the end of it. The thong was made of extremely thin wires that fed into rings, connected in some way that allowed flexibility, yet kept short enough to enable the entire length to remain strong. I tilted and flexed it between my fingers as I tested the of suppleness. “It’s like rope, or leather, but the damn thing’s made out of metal…” I muttered; then my eyes found what I’d been looking for. The tip of the whip was formed like the front of a stingray, displaying a raised projection on either side of the outside and a scalloped edge inside. When I pressed the projections firmly against the ‘body’ of the whip, they clicked and locked tightly to the nearest ring. It took a few minutes of poking and prodding, but eventually I figured out how to open it again, making me suspect it had either not clasped fully when it’d been around my neck, that or I’d been insanely lucky.

“That’s amazing…” I said nodding, and I passed the whip to Grizz, who’d been looking on with clear interest.

“Careful, Lord Jax; that bugger will try to take it home for the wife!” one of the other centurions laughed, and Grizz grinned in response.

“Or someone else’s wife, anyway…” I chimed in.

“Hey, as long as we’re all having fun?” he said with a suggestive wink, and I laughed.

“Then take it with my blessing, mate!” I said. “Just remember, you still need to be able to fight the next morning!”

“Good point!” He nodded seriously, then glanced around and said in an overly casual tone, “So, this deal about having a Healer in the Tower; I heard something about us not having to pay her…?” Laughter rose around the room, and Mistress Nerin threw a cup at Grizz’s head, making him duck, but everyone could see the smile quirking the edges of her mouth.

“You come to me scarred by your sex life and expecting to be set right before your day, and I’ll charge you double, boy!” she called, still trying to hide the smile. I met Augustus’ gaze and saw him grinning back at me.

“The Legion’s always been the same,” he explained to me. “We’re formal and reserved with outsiders, as nobody else can understand who and what we are, but once you get to know us—once you’re one of the Legion—you’ve always got brothers and sisters.”

“Ones who’ll kick your ass and pull you apart for a laugh!” someone said.

“But you love it!” another chimed in, and I sat back, relaxing unconsciously. The feeling of the room wasn’t the same as my old army unit, but damn, it felt good as well. My squad, or more accurately, Lydia’s squad, was mixed in around the room. Some looked stiff and unsure, like Jian, who was blatantly the center of attention between two female Legionnaires, while others loved it. Miren was the youngest of the group, still in her late teens, but I could see some of the Legionnaires eyeing her up. I frowned, feeling protective of her, until I saw the way Lydia was watching them while rubbing the head of her mace warningly.

I couldn’t keep the grin from my face. This room felt like home. I just hoped we could find some trace of Tommy soon, as it’d be ten times harder, once we’d raided the city, to come back and search again.

“Come on, Tommy,” I muttered, my good mood dipping as I worried over him. “Where the hell are you, you shitbag?”

“What was that, Jax?” Augustus asked, me and I shrugged.

“Just thinking aloud. Wondering where that idiot of a brother of mine is…” I said, looking at him.

“I understand,” he said. “A brother or sister is a constant worry. Tell me about him?” I snorted.

“I wouldn’t know where to start. He’s my twin, non-identical though…” I beginning to smile. “He’s the ugly one, born six minutes after me, and I’ve always enjoyed winding my ‘younger’ brother up. He’s a fighter; damn, that lad can fight, but he’s not good on self-control, you know. Constantly chasing something… women, booze, fast cars… not that we had the money for any of them.” I sighed heavily, momentarily distracted as a Lizardman and a pair of halflings entered the arena at the gong, and the crowd started to yell in excitement.

We moved over to huddle around the grate, watching as the halflings kicked the crap out of the Lizardman, while I told Augustus and the rest of the room about Tommy and our early lives. I avoided things they’d not understand as much as possible, including the money rackets, the drug dealers, and the gaming, but I told stories that made people laugh, and for a while, we all relaxed…

…Until one of the halflings hit the Lizardman in the balls with his mace. The entire arena winced and crouched in sympathy as the high-pitched whimper rose. At the sight of a woman that topped out at three feet hammering him there repeatedly, the sound of bones breaking with each impact… we all moved away from the grate, leaving the sadistic little sod to her work.

Finally, the announcer declared the match over and the halflings left the arena, while their opponent’s mangled corpse was dragged out, and the final gong sounded.

My last fight of the day, in the arena at least, was beginning.

Chapter Nineteen

I took my shield and sword again, nodding gratefully at the flurry of words of comfort and encouragement, and I slowly walked out onto the sand again.

I lifted my gaze to skim around the stands. The arena was utterly packed now; the lower tiers revealed people clinging to the bars everywhere, shoving each other aside and staring in, raising a wild cacophony of noise. Some of them shouted encouragement, while others screamed about how they’d see me dead.

I shrugged and moved on, sparing a single glance up to the booths that wreathed the upper section of the arena. I