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

“I…” Rory seemed to have difficulty finding the correct words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help with those people in the end.”

“We all did great. But it looked like they were prepared for someone like you,” I said, not wanting him to feel bad about it.

“A low-level human, like you…” Leo started and then looked at me. “No offense.”

“None taken,” I replied.

“…can’t craft level three recipes,” he continued. “Which means that you would have to have had someone else craft them for you. The item they used to take Rory out is pretty expensive and one use only. They went the extra mile to make sure they were protected.”

“Well, it wasn’t enough,” the dwarf said, sticking the end of the long pipe in his mouth again.

“I heard the spellcaster say something before you cut him off, Alex,” Louie said. “He said we’d pay for this once his… Did he mean once somebody found out?”

“The loot we found is troubling me too,” Leo added. “Abyssal armor and soul-taking weapons. It’s not what you’d usually find on a dungeon run, even if the dungeon was created by powerful merchants. And those items were heavily enchanted. Not to be sold. They were enchanted like that because they were used.”

“And then there are these…,” Louie said and nodded at the orb that shined in the middle of the table, next to the thick red book. “Did you see what the book’s about?”

“Don’t you dare try opening it!” Leo warned. “Who knows what kind of—”

“Already did,” Rory said and waved one hand dismissively. “It just won’t open.”

“One day, good dwarf,” Leo said, covering his eyes with his palm, “you’ll need to start practicing caution when it comes to magic items.”

“This way has served me well so far, hasn’t it, boy?” the dwarf said. I’m sure he intended it with some anger, but it was apparent nothing would be able to sour his mood.

“So what are we to do?” I asked, confused. “Continue hiding?”

“No. We won the territory fair and square,” the dwarf said firmly. “We continue working.”

“He’s right,” Leo nodded. “But since these people only knew Alex’s information, he should keep those two items on him at all times. I fear that people will be looking for them.”

“If people are looking for the orb and the book,” I said, “isn’t keeping hold of them the exact opposite of what I’d want to do?”

“We don’t know what the book is yet, but it’s possible others can track it down,” Rory explained. “The orb, however, is an S-grade item.”

“That much I know,” I said, though I was sure another explanation was coming my way.

“All S-grade items provide their owner with protection from divination spells,” he said and then raised a hand to halt me from asking something more before he was finished. “It works even if you’re just holding on to it but can’t actually equip it.”

“I really don’t know if I should be the one taking this loot,” I said, not sure if this would affect the way we divided the rest. “We haven’t even talked about how we’ll share the other things we found.”

“Ye’re keeping both of them, half-Celt. Not only will it make it hard for them to locate you, but it’ll also keep this book away from prying eyes.”

“I’d also strongly suggest you guys hold on to the special pieces of equipment for now,” Leo said. “At least until this whole thing cools off. And I think you should change your last name, Alex.”

“Yes!” Louie exclaimed, jumping up from my lap and barking in excitement. “Alex and Louie Thunder!”

“I guess I should,” I said, thinking it would be useful to have a new name appear in the market right after Abrathion Halciu suddenly disappears from it. “But Thunder is your last name. I don’t want to steal your… thunder.”

“But it’ll show that we’re related,” Louie replied, oblivious to my pun.

“Which might imply that you got the name from me rather than the fact that you aren’t afraid of thunder,” I said, thankful for my quick thinking on this. I certainly didn’t want to be stuck with “Thunder” as my surname.

“You’re right,” Louie said and considered this. “But it’s so good. If not Thunder, then what?”

“Tell you what. Pick a name, any name, and that will be my surname in the Apocosmos from now on.”

“Rage,” Louie said in a monotone voice.

“Rage?” I asked, flustered at how fast he’d found an alternative.

“Ha!” the dwarf roared. “The little one got ye, half-Celt.”

“Alex Rage,” Leo mused with a smile on his face. “I quite like the sound of it.”

“Is this high intelligence stat of yours going to be a problem?” I asked, a bit annoyed by the fact I’d been played but amused all the same.

“Not unless you fight it,” Louie said and wagged his tail playfully.

“Great. Now that that’s out of the way, we can move to the fun part,” Leo changed the subject.

“Just how much did we make?” Louie asked.

“Not counting the gems, the jewelry, and the equipment…” The dwarf pondered over some calculations in his head. “I’d say around seventy million from those briefcases.”

“Seventy fucking million?” I said and felt my jaw physically drop open.

I wanted to shout that we were rich. Seventy million in cash. Even after sharing and without selling the extra loot, we could just retire now. But then I remembered the cost of the item I needed to bind Louie’s soul to mine. The cost of making him immortal for as long as I was alive was high, but we’d made tremendous progress today and I had plans to start dominating the arrow market in New York again pretty soon.

“It was a good day today,” Rory agreed. “All in favor of dividing the loot three ways? One part per household?”

“Fine by me,” Louie replied immediately. “As long as I get my share of bacon.”

“Buddy, you won’t ever miss bacon in your life from now on,” I said to him while