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

“All I’m saying is…” he continued, seemingly not having taken offense to what I’d just said. “Today, after work, come to my place and I can show you the options. What kind of protections you can have here, how safe you’d be in Europe, the costs. All those things. Then you’ll be able to make an educated decision. Perhaps you’d fancy one of our apartments in Firenze.”

“Come on, Alex,” Louie said, and he pushed my shin with his nose. “It’s the least we can do.”

“Okay, sure,” I said reluctantly, though I was still worried about one aspect of getting to Leo’s. “Is it safe for us to go downtown though?”

“I’ll send a car to pick you up,” Leo said, putting my mind at ease. “Once you’re in the car, you’ll be completely safe from prying eyes. Both physical and magical.”

“In that case, what time should we be ready?” I said as we reached the end of our little walk.

“The car will be downstairs around seven. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” Louie confirmed before I had the chance to say anything, so I simply nodded.

“Alright then. See you both tonight.”

“See you,” I said. Louie barked twice instead, since a passerby was too close for him to speak.

The evening at Leo’s place was interesting to say the least—from the moment the blacked-out SUV picked me up until the moment it dropped me back at Rory’s place. Leo showed me ways I could ward my residence, or rather employ others to do it for me, without burning all of my savings. It wasn’t a cheap service at all since only spellcasters who had upgraded their class twice had access to these spells, but since his family had worked extensively with some of them, he’d be able to recommend me as a client.

The most exciting part of our night, however, was browsing through the real-estate holdings of the DiFiore family in Europe. Not only did they own apartments and even houses in most European capitals, but they also owned whole acres of land in prime tourist hotspots like Mykonos, Ibiza, Calabria, and Nice. I wasn’t interested in any of the party islands of course, but the idea of living in a beach house in Greece had been part of my plan all along. These weren’t villas, and I’d still have to find a job to sustain us, but having the option couldn’t hurt. And Louie, who loved nothing more than sunbathing and bacon, would be so happy there.

For all the fascinating information I gained at Leo’s apartment that evening, nothing would come close to the revelation I had later that night when I returned to Rory’s place. The light was on as always and I could hear the dwarf singing even before I put the key on the door. His voice was loud and low and even though I couldn’t understand the words, it sounded like a very sad song.

“Is he celebrating with his apprentice?” Louie asked as we reached the entrance.

“Doesn’t sound like celebrating,” I replied and turned the key.

Rory’s apprentice was nowhere to be seen, which made the singing to himself all the weirder. The dwarf was sitting on the one chair, holding a half-empty glass in his hand. Another glass, filled to the brim, was on the table next to a bottle of whiskey.

“Hey, Rory,” I said and Louie rushed over to him.

“Evening, half-Celt,” he said and brought his free hand low to pet Louie. “Who’s a good boy, huh?”

“Is this glass for me?” I asked, moving my hand toward the filled glass of whiskey. Gods knew how much I needed a drink right now.

With an agility I had not seen before from him, he swung the hand he was petting Louie with and slapped my outstretched fingers away from the glass.

“Don’t touch it!” he growled.

He was clearly drunk, but I had never expected him to be violent. Perhaps I needed to reconsider.

“It’s not for ye to drink,” he said, in a calmer tone now. “It isn’t for anyone to drink. Get another glass if ye want some.”

There were no other glasses in the apartment, or anything else at all really, as Rory knew well, but in any case I had suddenly lost my appetite for alcohol. Not just because he had slapped my hand away from it, but because this didn’t seem like the dwarf I knew at all.

“I’m good,” I said and sat on the couch. “What’s the occasion then? Are you celebrating something?”

“Aye.”

“Well, what are you celebrating?”

“Birthday,” he said and took another large sip.

“Oh, I didn’t know. Happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday,” Louie added while Rory refilled his glass with the dark brown liquid.

“How old are you then, old man?”

“It’s not my birthday.”

“Then whose birthday are you celebrating?”

The dwarf paused as if to consider the question for a moment. “Someone I loved.”

Well, fuck. This couldn’t be good. Using past tense. I knew that feeling. I used to celebrate those birthdays too.

“How old would your loved one be today?”

“Nine.”

14

Eyes of the beast

“I was born just over a century ago in the realm of Domhain,” Rory said, his eyes distant. “In the greatest hall of the whole realm. The Adamant Hall under the Battleforge banner.”

“You had your own hall?” asked Louie.

“Aye, little one,” he said and a smile formed on his lips. “I was… I am the seventy-fifth king of the Adamant Hall, Lord of the Battleforge clan, and a member of the great dwarven council.”

This guy is a king?

Sure, he looked grand and powerful, but that was because he was ridiculously muscular and covered with scars. He didn’t look majestic at all.

“I was crowned when I was still in me forties and devoted meself to our clan for more than half a century, as is the duty of new kings. Until I met Mariel. The most beautiful woman I had ever laid me eyes upon, and the strongest puncher too. She could send yer teeth flying, I tell ye that, half-Celt.”

I smiled at his description but