Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4) by Jez Cajiao (beach books .txt) 📗

and the clutching threads of air wrap gently but firmly around my body as my descent reversed, and I blasted back upwards, glorying in the feel of flight.

I was unsteady, clumsy, and closing on the underside of the hull far too fast, but as I drew back with my sword, I forced more speed from myself, rather than less, while I twisted to the side.

I erupted into the air from below the enemy ship, flipped over into a dive, and blasted straight for the upper deck, where three men stood around the helmsman.

I cut the power to my ability, feeling gravity reach out to grasp me again, and I landed, skidding, and sliding across the deck, before jumping and slamming both feet into the shield of the man on the right, who gaped at me in shock.

I used it as a springboard, leaping backward, all my inertia transferring to him, as he flew back, his waist hitting the railing at the back of the deck and sending him vanishing upside down over the side with a scream.

I spun then, lashing out with my sword, and was amazed by the ease and sudden grace I had with the weapon. The leap in my Dexterity was obviously coming to play as I lopped the hand off a man who pointed towards me, sending it and the mace it grasped flying, before I crouched low into a spin-kick that had a fluidity my old instructors would have praised to their dying day.

My foot connected with the second man’s chin, staggering him, as I straightened up and stabbed out, the tip of the blade punching into the sternum of the helmsman and cleaving his heart in two.

The third and final man on the deck scowled at me in fury, then dove aside, rolling to his feet and counterattacking with blinding speed, even as the deck lurched out of control beneath us, sending the entire crew staggering.

I jumped back, rolling my wrist to bring my sword around and parrying his. He grunted, then stabbed out again, and again, driving me backwards, while he used his shield to deflect my sword. I scrambled backwards, then growled to myself and lunged at him, striking at his blade, driving it down, then swinging low and up, managing to draw the tip of my blade across his upper thigh.

He screeched and… blurred.

As his blood sprayed out, his skin changed, becoming sallow and grey, his face lengthening, and his straw-like blonde hair deepening to black, I slowed momentarily, shocked at the transformation, and he punched out with his shield, driving me back and almost making me lose my sword.

I yanked my shield around, only to have him slam his sword down into it, hard, splitting the outer covering and making me grunt as it dragged my arm down with it.

“You think you can win, human?” The suddenly revealed Drow before me asked in a low, fury-filled hiss. “The Dark Lady has decreed your death; now feel her hatred!” He opened his mouth and drew in a deep breath, glaring at me in spite and triumph, as something black at the back of his throat wriggled into view.

I saw multiple legs thrashing as they dragged a bulbous body forward, and I freaked out. I lashed out hard against his shield, yanking my own up to block his sword, and lunged forwards, bringing my helm down with all the force I could manage.

He was just out of what would have been my range for a headbutt, normally, but he fell nicely inside my new one, with the spiked plumes that now ran down from the crest of my helmet.

I tore a line down the center of his face, tearing apart his nose and shredding his lips, as well as cutting the summoned Spiderkin in his mouth that he’d planned to spit at me into mincemeat, making him scream in horror as his face was torn apart.

I yanked my head back up, still pushed forward, and literally tore the rest of his face apart. As I straightened, he collapsed, mewling, to the floor, and I stabbed down, driving the blade through his throat, and carving a furrow into the wooden deck below.

I spun around, seeing the crew racing for me, and I grinned within the concealment of my helm, turning back, and taking three quick steps, before slashing down twice with my sword, carving great chunks from the wheel and shattering several of the control crystals.

The ship immediately twisted on itself, turning in a tight right-handed spiral, and I kicked off from the deck, soaring away, even as spells and arrows flew in all directions as the crew tried to take me down.

I’d not done enough to destroy the ship, I knew, but maybe…

I screamed as something slammed into my right leg and pain ripped through me. I looked down and saw a large man… no, a large Drow, clinging to me, and grinning up at me, even as he drove another dagger into my left leg, using them as handholds to climb up me.

I slashed down at him with my sword, and he twisted, spinning his body around and leaping to change his grip on the daggers, switching to hanging on behind me, rather than in front.

I kicked feebly at him, notifications flashing for my attention as I felt my legs weakening, and I pushed harder, driving myself up into the air even faster as I flipped over and dove towards our ship, seeing the deck coming up at tremendous speed.

I couldn’t land gently, not now; hell, I’d never be able to stand, not with the damage this fucker had down to me, but… my ‘Cleansing Fire’ spell!

I saw it on the top deck, guttering out, and was amazed as I realized only five minutes could have passed. I focused on it as I tore through the air and reached out, frantically slamming mana into it, and feeling the resistance as I tried to do something I’d never done before.

The spell failed