Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (phonics readers .txt) 📕

“Sure. Might prefer them to me own too. Anyway, gonna start now. Beat the traffic, ye know.”

“See you later, old man.”

“Piss off, ye mongrel.”

I put down the tablet and looked at Louie. “What do you think?”

“Why do you keep calling him old man?” He asked his own question instead of answering mine as usual. “Do you know how long dwarfs live?”

“Well, he keeps calling me half-Celt.”

“That’s not an insult, Alex!”

“I know, I know. It just feels right, you know. Insulting him without really meaning it.”

“Bonding, you mean?” Louie asked and his tail wagged his slightly.

“What?” I said, surprised by his comment. “No way. We’re business partners. And once we get to our goal, we’re each going our own way.”

“What about Leo?” he asked.

“You’re right. I’ll call him now.”

“No. I mean what about him once you hit your goal?”

“It’s not just my goal, buddy,” I said and fell on one knee, trying to understand where this was coming from. “It’s so that we can spend more time together. Without having to work, relaxing in a place where it’s always sunny.”

“I know what the weather in Greece is like, Alex,” he replied and barked. “But you’re not answering the question. What about Leo?”

“What about him?” I said and stood up, not wanting to admit that I hadn’t thought about it. “He’ll be able to visit us.”

“I hope he will,” Louie said and retreated to the living room, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

What was this all of a sudden? Why can’t he see I’m doing this for us? For him? We won’t need anyone else for the rest of our lives. No more leaving him in the house alone. No more long boring meetings. Just a lifetime of gaming, music, and working out. The two of us.

I took my phone out of my pocket and called Leo. It was still quite early in the morning, but he was always an early riser.

“Well, well, well…” Leo’s voice echoed from my phone’s speaker. “Alexander MacFie calling me twice in one year. That must be a record of some sort.”

“Good morning, man. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

“Nah, I was up already. Why am I not seeing anything?”

“Man, you and your stupid video calls,” I sighed but turned on my camera all the same.

“Wow, wow, put on some clothes, Mr. Greek god.”

“Sorry, I was working out and—”

“Clearly,” he interrupted me. “What’s up, man?”

“Well, I was wondering if anyone in your family is able to recharge mana.”

“Recharge mana? I swear, man. Every time, it’s something weirder from you. Why do you need someone able to recharge mana?”

Normally I had low tolerance for people answering my questions with questions. But this was Leo and I was actually asking him for a favor so I went along with it.

“I’ve been working with a crafter lately,” I confessed. I had always danced around it in our previous conversations over that last month. “and we might need someone to juice him up in order to craft faster.”

“Look at you, big-shot trader! Can’t keep up with production and want to scale with mana recharging. What’s next? An army of crafters? Dominating national markets?”

“Come on, man. Do you know anyone that can help?”

“Not really, no. I’m not exactly the pride of the clan, you know.”

“Oh, wow. I didn’t know it was like that, man. I’m sorry to hear that. Just know… I’m cool with it. With you, I mean.”

“Do you really think…?” Leo started laughing. “I don’t mean about me being gay, man. Homophobia is an ancient thing in the Apocosmos. I meant about me being a spellcaster. For thousands of years, the DiFiores have been one of the strongest warrior clans in what is now known as Firenze. Hundreds of championships won in Calcio Storico. Spellcasters are a very rare thing in our clan.”

“But I thought classes manifested according to your skills and disposition.”

“Your life choices also play a big role, but that’s beside the point,” he explained. “Nobody treats me differently because I am a mystic. At least, not since I got my class. But still, I’m not a fighter. It is difficult to be different.”

“From my point of view, that makes you all the more special.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. It’s not as bad as it used to be honestly. I used to try and fit into the traditional roles of my family and always felt bad that I had this affinity with magic. I feel much more comfortable in my skin now that I’ve accepted who I am.”

“I haven’t met a lot of your cousins or aunts and uncles, but your family seems cool. Are they okay with it?”

“My mother is very supportive and so’s my older sister. You haven’t met Stella, have you?”

“I haven’t, but you’ve talked highly of her.”

“Well, they’re both very understanding and they’re both strong warriors too so that counts for a lot. My father, however, wasn’t always as good about it. When I was younger, I was even less athletic. Can you believe that?”

Hearing him finally open up to me, I didn’t want to make fun of him. It just didn’t seem right. But just before he was about to continue speaking, it dawned on me.

“You mean your legs were made of cooked spaghetti?” I said mockingly. He needed his friend who always treated him the same, and not pity about his past.

“Close enough,” he replied and his smile broadened. “My father was always pushing me to be more active. Running laps, push-ups, pull-ups. I can barely do a pull-up now!”

“Oh man, that must have sucked. I used to hate physical activity when I was a child. Especially after Super Nintendo came out.”

“I know right? But my father saw the time my starting class would manifest drawing closer and he tried so hard to make sure I got a fighter class. Anyway, as you’d expect, I used to get injured often so I spent a lot of time horizontal. Which is why I started