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

The berserker gave him a confused look.

“Don’t mind him.” Mary sighed wearily. “We’re the Wandering Stumps.”

From the faces of the strangers it was clear that they knew who they were talking to. After all, it wasn’t hard to recognize the insignia depicted on the cloaks, considering how many times it had appeared in the ballads.

“I know.” The berserker nodded.

“I take it you want the rings?”

“That’s right.”

Mary looked at her teammates and put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Something was off here. Blackbeard was breathing heavily, clenching his teeth every time he failed to hold up his shield. Lari would be recovering for a bit longer, and Alice had spent most of her energy on healing. Only Tul, Ash, and her were fit for combat at the moment. However, given the fact that the mage was trying to catch a butterfly at the moment, he was out of the question.

“Why do you need them?” Mary took a step back, hiding her feet behind a stump. Perhaps she could use it as a springboard for her jump.

“Why do you care?” the warlock spat, swinging his sword.

“Fred!” the berserker snarled and the warlock instantly disappeared. “I apologize, it’s been a long journey, we’re all tired and nervous.”

“I got it.”

“As for the rings… We need them for a mission. We’ve been sent here to help one of the mages from the Order, to collect the items that they have requested.”

“Is the pay good?”

The berserker shrugged.

“Will you give us the rings?”

“Give you? For nothing in return?” Mary snickered. “Well, good thing you ain’t a merchant, you wouldn’t last long.”

The berserker just smirked. At that moment, red lightning passed across the warlock’s silver blade. Icy needles erupted from the ground around the sorceress, and the assassin moved deeper into the shadows.

“You see, miss, we honor the Ternite laws. And one of them says that one shouldn’t buy what one can get on their own.”

“So you’re robbing us?” Marry hissed and drew her sword. “Heretics!”

“Hey, hey, no need for name calling. This is just, ah, a different approach to the business. You have what we need. Your team is in no shape to fight. Your defender can’t lift his shield, your swordsman is about to pass out from exhaustion, and your healer is out of juice.”

Mary couldn’t object. She and Tul together couldn’t possibly beat them.

“So, give me the rings,” the berserker said with a grin and nodded in the direction of their cart. “And everything else we might find to our fancy.”

“I have the letter of his Majesty on me,” Mary said. “If I go to any Council, several dozen knights will be on your trail.”

The berserker was first silent but then he burst out laughing.

“You leave us no choice then.” The laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by the whistle of steel being drawn. “Kill them.”

In his opinion, the Stumps posed no danger right now, being in the shape they were in. He’d be bragging about this catch in all the taverns he visited for years to come. He’d make sure that everyone knew that the Songs of Glich weren’t ordinary criminals and that the three hundred gold promised for capturing them was an offensive sum.

The warlock was the first to rush into battle. Using a speed-boosting spell, he leaped at his target, momentarily turning into a blurry shadow. Instead of the clang of steel of whizzing of spells, there was a cry and a thud when he dove headfirst into a tree at full speed. The tree turned out to be stronger than him.

Mary, not paying attention to him, jumped at the berserker, pushing off the stump with great force. She hoped that she’d be able to finish him off quickly. Soaring a good seven feet above the ground, she swung her saber, activating one of her most powerful skills – Comet Fall.

The berserker raised his crossed axes above his head. Steel sang as it struck the enchanted metal. For a big man like him, a blow like that shouldn’t have been too much of an issue, but his right shoulder suddenly ached, as if someone had lit a fire under his skin. He roared like a wounded bear and loosened the grip on his weapons in surprise. Droplets of blood flew into the air as Mary’s blade left a deep cut across his torso.

The sorceress had already finished casting her spell but instead of conjuring up an ice shield and giving the leader of their group time to attack, she dropped her staff to pull up her robes which began to suddenly fall off. The shield shattered into a shower of snowflakes.

“Bastards,” Blackbeard growled, covering Tul as he frantically fired arrow after arrow at the shadow that flickered among the leaves.

The assassin, having found a good angle for a throw, reached behind his back but found nothing – his pouch was empty. The last thing he saw before Tul’s arrow opened his third eye was the idiot mage, twirling the poisoned needles between his fingers.

“Give up,” Mary hissed through gritted teeth.

The berserker roared and charged forward. The pain and blood didn’t hinder him, on the contrary, they gave him power.

Mary was having a hard time dealing with her opponent. Each blow, even if it was the simplest one, threatened to end her. A berserker’s strength lied in their rage, and the stronger the bloodlust, the deadlier their fists and axes became.

While Mary was circling the raging giant, the sorceress finally overcame her shyness. Letting her robes drop, she launched a huge icicle in Alice’s direction, putting an incredible amount of power into the spell.

The glittering projectile, nearly three feet long, had almost reached Alice, who was busy supporting her teammates with spells and buffs, when a