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

and what do you think of Tang? He seems to be a sneaky fucker that might be useful in your little group?”

“I think he’s crouching behind your spare chair right now, but that he’ll probably do. We’ve been alternating shifts watching over you, after all,” Bane said. I spun around, staring at the chair as Tang stood up, grinning from ear to ear.

“Fucking hell, man, is there anyone else in here?” I asked in exasperation, and a giggle rose from Oracle, who’d been sat on the other seat, watching me dress. “That’s it!” I said, throwing my hands up. “Unless I’m boinking you, you stay out of my bedroom. You can search it, but then you leave, okay? And to be very, even exceedingly, fucking clear on this, the offer of a decidedly good weinering isn’t open to either of you fuckers…” I said, pointing at Bane and Tang.

“Glad to hear it; not sure what a ‘decidedly good weinering’ is, but I don’t think I want one…” Tang muttered as he strolled out of the room, and I shivered at the thought. Nope, I just didn’t swing that way, and even if I did... man, he was a stealthy fucker. I’d never know if he was hiding and watching me with someone else...

“Hey, Bane, Oracle?” I asked suddenly as a thought came to me. “I’ve got the perception boost from my meridians, yet I never seem to spot things, or at least almost never; what gives?”

“Practice,” Oracle piped up before Bane could answer, and he nodded instead, shutting his mouth with an audible ‘click’. “It means you’ve got a better chance to see things, and when you search, it’ll even outline important details, but if you’re not practicing or consciously looking, it won’t do anything.”

“Damn, now I need to work on that, as well…” I muttered. “When do you get to just stop trying to learn new shit?” I asked rhetorically.

“When you die.” Bane said, completely straight-faced, and I considered explaining rhetorical questions, when I realized the fucker probably knew better than I did, and didn’t give a shit.

“Fuck it,” I muttered, and I gestured to the door, Bane leading the way out as Oracle and I followed.

In the corridor beyond were the chosen few, all ready for our trip, and I couldn’t help but grin. They looked absolutely batshit.

The legionnaires had stripped their easily identified gear off and had donned gear that Mal had found for them, mismatched mercenary clothes with a variety of colors, styles, and weapons.

Augustus even wore a fucking hat that was adorned with an entire peacock’s plumage. I didn’t know much about UnderVerse fashion, but I was certain I hadn’t seen anything like it before.

“Seriously?” I asked, and Soween glanced at me before looking back at him, clearly trying to hold back laughter.

“What? Mal suggested it; says as the Legion lads don’t get to wear ‘normal’ clothes usually, they should make the most of it…”

“Oh, I bet he did…” I muttered, trying to hide my smile.

“What?” Augustus repeated, trying to look up at his hat. “Does it really look that bad?” He asked anxiously.

“Oh no, not at all…” I said, biting down on my laughter as hard as I could. “It’s perfect!”

“Perfect?” he asked, scowling suspiciously.

“Oh yes, definitely…” I assured him. "After all, nobody’s going to look at you and think, ‘That guy’s a Legion Centurion Primus…” I promised.

“Oh, okay then.” Placated, he turned away. With all the bustling noise in the corridor as people prepared to move out, he entirely missed my muttered comment.

“They’ll think he’s lost from an Aussie Pride festival, maybe, but a Legionnaire? Noo….”

We moved through the corridors quickly, the rest of our people saluting us and grinning as we went. We started to slip out, a few at a time, blending into the crowds milling around.

I passed people dressed in all sorts of outfits, from the stylish, to the slutty, to the bloody stupid, but nobody, and I mean nobody, had a hat like Augustus.

People turned in the crowds to watch him go by, and I overheard Grizz whispering to him to ‘Own it.’

It made the entire day worth it.

I absolutely fucking loved the walk through the crowd, looking around and watching the other Legionnaires trying to hide their laughter. One man, a guy who I swore must have been born though a dalliance one winter with a particularly large grizzly bear, was trying so hard to suppress his laughter that he was shaking, tears streaming down his cheeks and mouth constricted into a rictus of amazement.

It took us about ten minutes to pass through the crowds and gather together outside. Looking like we were off to a particularly fucking weird New Year’s Eve party, we split into two parties and casually made our way through the VIP gardens.

Not long after, we emerged outside, mingling with the crowds in the main areas of the Cloudring, and our scouts led both groups forward.

We passed out of the smoke, and into the dimly lit streets of the industrial sector. I secretly reveled in the misty rain that gave the cobblestones a gentle sheen, reflecting the torches that lined the streets. We moved at a faster walk now, passing equal numbers of inebriated people, staggering and shouting, and nightshift workers trudging to their shifts. Occasionally, carriages thundered past. Shouts from the drivers, the crack of whips, and the echoing hooves were the only warning we got.

“This way…” hissed a voice, and I turned my head to see Gaion, dressed in sooty worker’s clothes, gesturing to me. I changed direction, and our other group noticed the change and followed suit.

He led us down an alley, across another dimly lit street, and then paused at the foot of a set of narrow stone stairs leading up to the bridge above us.

“There’s another mob being whipped into a frenzy in the slums,” Gaion said quietly. “Whoever’s behind it already started closing down the other bridges across the river to the merchant’s quarter, so you’d better move