Ash. The Legends of the Nameless World. Progression Gamelit Story by Kirill Klevanski (ink book reader .txt) 📕

Ash deftly caught the bag thrown to him and nodded in gratitude. Inside it were several crackers and salted meat, an ideal meal for someone who usually ate whatever leftovers he could steal from other tables.

As he bit into a piece of well-salted jerky, he looked around, Helmer’s words still buzzing in his mind. He had no doubt that he’d make it to the end. However, no one knew that he had embarked on this adventure not just because of the princess, but because of a personal matter. Question was, would this be his last journey?

“Messenger!” Lari exclaimed happily.

“You’ll read it later,” Mary said, tossing a coin into the chest cavity of the mechanical pigeon. “Let’s see now…” She flipped through pages with headlines concerning economy and politics, stopping at the news about scandals and fights. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. No one dared put a bun in her mouth to shut her up. “The Mad Lions have laid siege to Ereweng Castle,” she read.

Silence ensued. Wars between Guilds weren’t uncommon. Quite the contrary. After all, it was the fastest way to earn coin, fame, and respect.

“First Esh, then Vane, and now Eric is stealing coin from people,” Blackbeard listed, counting on his fingers. “It seems to me that something ain’t right here.”

“Don’t forget to add the princess’s illness to that,” Mary added thoughtfully. “And we’ve been warned about the storm… Do you really think that something’s coming?”

“Perhaps.” Tul nodded, reflexively adjusting his belt.

“Listen,” Mary whispered with a strange smile and twinkle in her eyes. “The witch queen, Rihannon, of the Nerst realm, has sent a dozen of her knights to aid a well-known band of bounty hunters. She seems eager to help the lovely band of misfits in their difficult task of catching Esh.”

Ash shuddered and muttered something unintelligible. The Stumps, ignoring him, burst out laughing. Everyone knew the story in which the most wanted wizard managed to spend the night first with the queen’s daughter and then with the queen herself. For that, Rihannon wanted to impale Esh’s head on a stake, helping anyone who can prove that they’re after him.

“Rumors lie,” Ash muttered under his breath, while the others were having fun, cracking vulgar but witty jokes. “I didn’t sleep with her daughter. Why, she’s as terrible as any other woman!”

“And―”

“Quiet!” Tul interrupted, looking irritated. Picking up his bow, he pulled the string until it creaked, placing an adamantium arrow on it. “Ready,” he whispered.

Mary’s sword glowed red. Lari, holding his blade high, crouched slightly, eyes and ears following even the slightest rustling of the grass. Blackbeard stood in front, shield up and ax at the ready. Turquoise waves began to radiate from him, covering the entire squad. Alice and Ash stood behind them all.

“Winged Death!”

There was a sharp whistle of an arrow being shot. The Stumps followed it with their gazes as it disappeared in the depths of the woods. It flew through a tall oak tree that shot out of the ground, piercing seven other trees behind it. It stopped at the ninth, having sunk into its trunk up to its plumage.

The shadow that they had seen between the trees was gone. Winged Death was one of the strongest skills in the arsenal of Ternite hunters. Coupled with a charmed arrow, there was no way that it could be dodged.

An unpleasant, hoarse voice sounded through the crackling and the rustling of trees and grass. Before the group appeared a druid clad in a robe made of tree bark and rotten leaves. With his knotty fingers, he clutched a staff adorned with a fox’s skull. His wrinkled face, yellowed nails, and white hair that reached to his waist reeked of black magic. This thing might’ve once been a druid, but now it served this cursed forest, bearing the same mark of corruption and death on its soul as everything around it.

“Get ready!”

The druid stretched his green lips in a wide grin, revealing a row of sparse, rotten teeth. He then plunged his staff into the ground. Thick roots emerged from the soil and immediately rushed toward the Stumps. Lari darted forward, blades flashing turquoise.

“Star of the Lagoon!” he shouted and then disappeared.

A moment later, several blue lines appeared in the air, forming the shape of a star, each crossing one of the nearby roots. When Lari reappeared behind the druid, the wooden serpents fell to the ground with a thud.

Turning around, he plunged his blades into the druid’s back. The latter turned into a pile of rotten leaves with a loud pop. Green lightning hit Lari in the chest, sending him back a couple of steps.

“Alice!” Mary shouted.

The young girl nodded and ran to Lari, who, thank the Gods, ended up landing behind Blackbeard. Crouching by him, she cast a spell and touched the wound with her wand. The burn disappeared in a flash of golden light. Lari leaped to his feet, ready for the next round, complaining how he’d have to repair his armor once this was all over.

“I hate mages,” he mumbled and then smiled guiltily when he saw the frowns on Alice and Ash’s faces.

“Pull yourself together,” Mary hissed. “Blackbeard, shield.”

“Aye. Dragon’s Wing!”

The turquoise light took the form of a dragon wing that covered the entire squad. Green lightning struck at it relentlessly, but Blackbeard held on, giving his companions a chance to come up with a strategy.

“He’s… strong,” he muttered, swinging his ax.

Mary was about to share her plan with the rest of the group when the druid jumped out of the ground in front of Blackbeard. The soil parted like the jaws of some animal and the damned thing flew out of it like a cork from a Champaign bottle. He swung his staff and hit the shield, turning the wing into mist.

“Needle!” Mary shouted and