Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

mana in their body. A chilling effect prevents them from moving freely until the crystal's mana becomes inert.

"You're not going anywhere," Louie said and bared his teeth. "I knew there was something wrong with Leo. Using different weapons, speaking differently. But then you healed your ankle and threw me off the scent."

The shifter moved back as she unsheathed her sword and we approached her, weapons in hand.

"There's nowhere to go," I said angrily.

Her eyes were darting from side to side, trying to find a way out. So focused was she on her task, that she was taken completely by surprise when her back hit the wall.

"End of the line, ye---" Rory started but was interrupted by the clatter of the woman's sword and shield hitting the ground.

"You got me," she said. "I won't fight back."

"Then ye better start talking, or I'm gonna make sure ye won't be able to run away," Rory said and pointed his war hammer at her legs again. "For sure this time."

"No," Louie interjected before she said anything. "First you unequip everything you're wearing, put them all in your inventory bag, and then pass it to us."

"I wanna see your stats fall," I agreed, and scanned her.

Name: Viki Anthur

Race: Doppelgänger

Class: Iron Knight

Level: 33

HP : 1156/1332

MP: 341/358

XP : 26.68%

STR: 40

DEX: 30

CON: 43

INT: 21

WIS: 11

MEN: 25

Physical Attack: 119

Physical Defense: 408

Accuracy: 65

Critical: 88

Attack Speed: 416

Magic Attack: 41

Magic Defense: 289

Evasion: 57

Speed: 101

Casting Speed: 213

HP Regen. : 9.9/minute

MP Regen. : 3.0/minute

Her defense stats were extremely high--more than four hundred on Physical Defense and almost three hundred against spells. That's why she was using sword and shield while posing as Leo. I'd assumed Leo wanted to switch to a more defensive fighting style after he got captured, but I never made the connection. Not even when he repeatedly avoided situations where he'd have to cast spells. Still, I couldn't have known...

The woman took her time taking off her jewelry, her boots, and gloves, making them disappear in her extra-dimensional inventory one by one, all the while looking at us like a caged beast. Once she'd removed her armor and was left wearing a long leather one-piece, she threw her backpack down in front of me. I quickly glanced at her stats again and was satisfied to see both of her defense values were now reduced to around one hundred.

"What about that thick ring ye're wearing?" Rory asked.

"This only holds a self-healing spell, and if you try taking my mother's ring, you'll wish you'd stayed home crafting, dwarf."

"Why ye little--" He stepped toward her again.

"It's fine, Rory," I said and nodded at him to hold his attack while I inspected the woman's inventory. "It looks like it's all here."

Name: Giantsblood Sword +2

Type: One-Handed Sword

Rarity: D Grade

Physical Attack: 70

Magic Attack: 45

Special Ability: -

Attack Speed: Fast

Durability : 276/420

Weight: 1490st.

Description : This sword is forged from the iron found in the blood of giants. Iron is much less concentrated in the blood of giantkin, meaning that at least sixty giants were killed and drenched of their blood in the creation of this sword. For this reason, the sword provides an additional 60% bonus to damage against all giantkin creatures.

Name: Treated Bone Shield +1

Type: Shield

Rarity: D Grade

Physical Defense: 145

Evasion: -8

Durability : 535/710

Weight: 1320st.

Description : This shield was created from a solid slab of a giant's skull. The shield was reinforced with steel injections before being heat-treated.

This woman really hated giants. The only giant I'd ever seen was the one we ran away from on Mount Palm and it was a terrifying opponent, which made her even more of a threat to us.

I glanced at the rest of her belongings in the bag. Most of them were heavy armor equipment and jewelry enchanted for magical defense, along with a couple of potions. This didn't seem like the inventory of an adventurer at all. Before she'd put her equipment in there, she must only have had some potions, which hinted at her coming here with a specific purpose in mind.

"It's all in here," I reassured Rory, "but nothing more. You're here on a mission, aren't you?"

The woman didn't say anything, but her bottom lip twitched momentarily. I wasn't sure if it was because she was holding her anger or because I was correct in my assumption, but I didn't see any other choice other than doubling down on that line of questioning.

"You're one of Abrathion's dogs," I said.

She spat at me. "I'm nobody's dog."

"Then why did you take the form of our friend?" Louie asked.

"I was..." She took a few moments to think. "I was a failsafe for your trade."

"You mean, he wanted the deal to go wrong?" I asked.

"He wanted the book," she continued. "He still does. He sent his men to make the trade without even them knowing I wasn't the actual hostage."

"A Xanatos gambit," Louie muttered.

"A what now?" Rory asked.

"A plan for which all foreseeable outcomes would be considered a win for Abrathion," Louie explained. "If the deal happened, he'd get the book. If we fought instead of trading the book with Leo and got killed, he'd still get the book back--"

"And if we killed them all, the doppelgänger would get the book from me and return it to him," I finished his argument.

The woman nodded.

"Bet ye didn't expect we'd come across a sphinx, did ye, slime?" Rory said, with a wide grin.

"What Abrathion didn't expect was you, Rory," Louie interjected.

"What of me?" the dwarf asked.

"If you hadn't joined us in the human's apartment," the doppelgänger continued, "I would just have run off with the book. He and the dog alone wouldn't be able to hold me.

"So you stuck with us until you'd get a chance at the book without Rory around?" I asked.

"I wasn't expecting to be dragged into such a great mess," she replied. "It's nothing personal. I just want the--"

"This is personal," I said, taking a step forward. "He's