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

I dispatched two fast scouts to look the location over, and they found that it is not as uninhabited as we had hoped. There are two camps present, presumably one from Himnel and one from Narkolt, judging from the flags their ships fly. Both have an Airship on standby. The camps are ringed with stakes and what appear to be defensive positions, but it’s unclear if this is to defend against each other, or the Sunken Cities’ inhabitants. The scouts also made preliminary maps of the upper city and marked the best landing areas. I gave the orders that we were to land as soon as possible, the larger ships at least, with the scouts staying high and watching out for anything heading our way.” Romanus cleared his throat uncomfortably before going on.

“The Engineers are aware they’ll have a short period of time to enact any repairs and essentially do any work that they can to improve the ships while we’re grounded before we set off again. There’s also the matter of that smuggler called Mal, who is evidently in command of a ship called the Falcon. He said that you’d given orders that the next destination after this was to be the Great Tower of Dravith, and Maniple Primus Augustus vouched for that. Is this still the aim?” Romanus asked carefully.

“It is; is there a problem with this?” I asked, eying the Legionnaire.

“Not to the final destination, my lord, no, but the smuggler had said that we were to stop for no more than a single day launching north-east, and then swinging around to head for the Tower, staying out of sight of the land and any following ships. I would request we stay grounded longer, however. Several days docked on the Sunken City would enable us to search it more thoroughly, enact greater repairs and upgrades to the ships, and possibly even make the Battleship into a weapon in fact, as well as name?”

“Sounds reasonable,” I agreed. “Surely there won’t be much to loot from the city, though. I mean, it’s been here for a damn long time, right?”

“Yes and no, my lord…”

“Jax,” I interrupted. “For the love of the gods, Romanus, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. From here on out, just call me Jax, please. In public, fair enough, call me ‘Lord’ and all that, be formal when it’s needed, but in private, please don’t. It’s easier on all of us.”

“Very well, Jax. Augustus explained that you prefer informality, but as we’ve yet to get a measure for each other… well, it seemed prudent to err on the side of caution.”

“Yup, understand that, but seriously, Jax is fine. And as to my decisions, if you think I’m making a mistake, speak up. I might not agree, or I might even tell you to get fucked, but I will listen, I promise that. I want to hear your advice, not have you blow sunshine up my arse, okay?” I said, meeting the eyes of every person in the small group, waiting for nods and verbal acknowledgement before moving on. “You were saying, Romanus?”

“Yes, thank you. So, getting back to the Sunken City; do you know much of its past?” the Centurion Primus asked, continuing when I shook my head. “The Sunken City was discovered, at least as far as we can find in  historical records, around a hundred years ago, along with the first of the crude Airships. Gnome-built, I’ll stress. We, as in the rest of the races, have had Airships for about thirty years now. It’s long been believed that the gnomes found the secret to the Airships aboard either this crashed flying city, or in a Vault somewhere in the mountains. This Sunken City’s true location was kept from most of the realm by the gnomes until about twenty years ago, when too many sailors had learned of it for it to remain hidden any longer. The gnomes had apparently looted most of the upper floors by the time the cities of Himnel and Narkolt sent their forces to search the place. The lack of any real loot and the high concentration of Specters, not to mention standard undead creatures, meant it was abandoned as quickly as it was found. Once Airships became more commonplace in the cities, researchers begged, borrowed, and stole enough to get out here, and it was when those first crude Airships reached the Sunken City that true exploration began. It is heavily overgrown with various plant life, and the surrounding shoals are extremely hazardous to waterbound vessels. This means that a small group of researchers is stationed on the leeward side of the city from Himnel, while a small group from Narkolt has set up camp on the windward side, with a squad of soldiers protecting each.” He smiled ruefully, shaking his head. “Not that I think they’ll want to mess with a force this large, of course.”

“Probably not!” I agreed, grinning.

“As I’d mentioned, when the City was discovered, it was covered with plant life and surrounded by these shoals… it was initially assumed to be a small island, from what the gnomes have told us. Due to the misconception, it went largely ignored, until the Airships spotted a pattern to its shape and landed. Several abandoned camps were found, and finally, a known pirate ship that had been beached in a small bay was unearthed, arousing suspicions that at least one pirate had been using it to store their ill-gotten gains. That, of course, led to a race to search the island, which is how they found the truth of the Sunken City. The top floor has been thoroughly mapped out and stripped bare, but the lower you go, as I’ve heard it, the more difficult it becomes, with creatures nesting, collapsed and flooded levels, and a variety of guardians.”

“What kind of guardians?” I asked, sitting forward quickly.

“There is a variety, unfortunately; mainly Spirits known as Revenants or Specters. They are believed to be