Extension

by Vladislav Kamenskiy

  “What are you going to do then?” Trix asked.

  “I will sit here and throw stones into the water.” Alex replied sadly, looking for the next stone.

  “No, that’s a bad plan.” Trix shook his head.

  “No! That’s the best plan. We will sit and wait for Skull to come and kill us.” Alex realized that there were no stones near him, so he laid on the grass and started looking at the blue sky. “Mary said that a friend is looking for her. She offered me to go with her, but I think he’s not only a friend.”

  “To be honest, I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Trix interrupted him. “But I think it’s the worst plan. Mary knows you not for a long time, you just need to spend more time together.” Trix suggested. She saw that Alex wanted to say something, but she continued speaking quickly. “You told us about choice. As I understand, you’ve chosen Mary, but because of different obstacles, you’ve given up and don’t even try to fight for her.”

  “In my opinion, that’s really good for Alex,” Rina got into the conversation. “Mary just stopped your development. And to be honest, I don’t understand why you are sad.”

  “Because you’re not a real person.” Alex shook his head.

  “She just played you up!” Rina shouted. “She ran away immediately then! Just try to understand it. Trix, say something…”

  “I think we should help him to be with Mary,” Trix disagreed. “Alex taught us a lot and we should help him now.”

  “Why?” Rina was surprised.

  “We will see their relations and learn something.” Trix explained. “It’s like an upgrading of a skill.”

  “That’s a bad skill.” Rina disagreed.

  “You’re right, Rina.” Alex said thoughtfully. “Love is often just suffering and pain, but only love can make people better, do something brave or stupid.”

  “Do you understand that returning Mary is stupid?” Rina clarified.

  “Yeap,” Alex nodded. “But we will try to do it. When I was young, I loved one girl but lost the chance to be with her. Then I lived just ordinary, calm life. It didn’t make me suffer, but I also wasn’t happy. Now I realized that I will better die, than live such a life. Trix, could we find them in the forest?”

  “Of course,” Trix nodded. “Mary is a healing magician, she has two assistants, a warrior and a battle magician. Their agility is low, so they will move slowly and noisily. But there is one problem.”

  “What?” Alex stood up quickly and took the sword.

  “We should leave Rina here, because we won’t catch them up with her.” Trix explained.

  “It’s too dangerous!” Rina shouted. “You cannot go to the forest without me, knowing that there are lots of teams.”

  “I'm ready to take the risk,” Alex said confidently. “Trix and I will go, and you will wait here,” and Alex ran towards the forest.

  “Let's go quickly,” Trix caught up with Alex and touched him. "Quick step on broken ground is much better. The speed is almost the same, but there is less noise, so I will hear Mary's group."

  “I want to be with her so much that I've forgotten everything,” Alex said apologetically.

  “I hardly caught up with you, I don’t understand anything,” Trix mumbled. "Which characteristics do you upgrade?"

  "Well, look. There are basic characteristics: strength (responsible for damage from ordinary weapons), agility (attack speed, running, reaction), vitality (number of lives and endurance), intelligence (adds damage to skills that require energy) and energy (amount of energy). They increase when the level is upgraded. Also, when you receive a higher level, you got one skill point, with which you can upgrade any characteristic. Coach said me about those skill points and I used all of them on upgrading agility."

  "Why?" Trix was amazed. "Even I upgrade agility and strength every other time."

  “We didn’t have armor at that time, and I decided that there’s no point in upgrading vitality, because if someone gets me, he will kill me right away,” Alex explained.

  “What about damage?” Trix reminded.

  “I’m upgrading the same skill all the time, which gives an ordinary attack magical fire damage,” Alex explained.

  "Only one?" Trix was again surprised.

  “Yes,” Alex nodded. "I haven’t considered any additional magical energy or other skills yet."

  “But the greater the skill level is, the more magical energy it requires." Trix said.

  “You’re right,” Alex nodded.

  “In such case, you can use it...” Trix began.

  “Three times, then I run out of energy.” Alex interrupted her.

  “What are the advantages of such upgrading?” Trix asked.

  “I wasn’t thinking about it before and now it’s too late,” Alex said honestly. “Now I can kill the enemy quickly or die quickly.”

  “The archers usually upgrade like that, because we have an outfighting battle and it’s difficult to reach us,” Trix explained.

  “Well, I cause more damage than any archer,” Alex boasted. “I just need to hit fast and accurately.”

  “Okay, I get it. Now be quiet,” Trix whispered and went into the forest.

  “What is it?” Alex started whispering too.

  “We’re only twenty minutes away, but I can already hear the voices ahead and I think I see the fire,” Trix answered and walked into the thickness of the forest.

  “I don't see anything,” Alex whispered, after staring at the evening forest for a minute. “And why should they stop?”

  “They only walked for about an hour and are hardly tired,” Trix nodded.

  “This may be another group,” Alex suggested.

  “I'm sure Mary is there, but...” Trix listened again.

  “What?” Alex asked impatiently.

  “There are many voices,” Trix explained.

  “Then we will sneak up, look around and then do something,” Alex decided.

  Ten minutes later, Alex saw a light ahead of them, and after a quarter of an hour they were laying in bushes around the small clearing. There was a fire in the center of the cleaning, and a small kettle guggled above it. . About a dozen of people gathered around the fire, but only three of them were speaking.

  “Alex is a good man, he helped me, he will help you too!” Mary shouted nervously. “Jose, tell him something!”

  “I agree with Greg,” brown-skinned, hazel-eyed man with long dark hair said.

  “Of course, I’m right,” deep-chested man grey beard, who was sitting near him, said. “We need new weapon for one affair.”

  “Jose, why have you called him?” Mary asked angrily.

  “I came here with an attractive offer,” Greg smiled. He looked like a huge grey gorilla. “I know about the legendary weapon quest.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Mary waved away.

  “This quest really exists and he’s told me everything about it,” Jose said and toyed the bowstring nervously.

  “Alex is a new chief of Grink,” Greg said. “We need equipment to complete quest. Therefore, we will kill Alex, take his equipment and complete the legendary weapon quest. Just imagine, you will have magical staff like Skull!”

  “Alex helped me a lot and I don’t want to kill him.” Mary said furiously. “Jose, we’ve gone through many problems together, you were always honest and fair...”

  “And what’s now?” Greg interrupted. “He’s hiding in the forest without food and equipment.”

  “I will talk to Alex and he will allow you to come to Grink and help to complete quest,” Mary suggested.

  “What if there is an ambush?” Greg doubted. “Why on earth will he help us? We need equipment today!” He roared and looked at Jose.

  “Mary, he’s right.” Jose said quietly and lowered his head.

  “I’m fed up with it,” Mary shouted and stood up quickly. “I’m going away.”

  “Are you going to your new boyfriend?” Greg said angrily. “Jose, did you hear her? While
you were eating grass here, she was fucking with her new boyfriend, he was helping her with quests. But then she annoyed him and he kicked her away.”

  “No, you’re lying!” Mary yelled.

  “You will deny everything now.” Greg shook his head, jumped to Mary and hit her on face. “Group, let’s attack!” Greg commanded and they attacked Mary’s assistants. Archer died immediately. Warrior was beating off with an ax, dodged arrows, but it seemed they she would die quickly.

  “Jose, help!” Mary touched her injured cheek and started crying.

  “I have a new friend now,” he said and turned his back on her.

  “You’ve made a right choice,” Greg smiled and took the chain mail off, having naked his wide chest with grey hair. Then he stripped off the trousers. “Come here, bitch!” He pulled her hair and took her to the fire.

  “Now I will show you how true men fuck.”

  “Nooo,” Mary was screaming. “Jose!”

  “Jose will watch us fucking,” Greg grinned. “I like being looked at. Oh, I haven’t fucked a real girl for a long time.”

  “Trix, let’s start,” Alex couldn’t wait more. “Shoot at him.”

  “There are lots of assistants.” Trix whispered. “We should come here with Rina...”

  “Shoot!” Alex shouted, jumped out of bushes and ran to the fire with a sword in his hands.

  Alex understood that he should hurry, he killed an assistant, who jumped towards him, with one blow, spending one third of his energy. Then he jumped to Jose. Jose has a bow in his hand, but he was only taking an arrow from his quiver. Alex made a chop from bottom to top, again spending a third of the energy. Jose fell on the grass with a torn stomach, but Alex didn’t even look at him. Greg was still ten meters away. He was clearly strong, experienced and had high level, but at that moment he was completely naked. Trix shot at the back and an arrow easily pierced him. Greg roared, let Mary go, picked up an ax from the ground and rushed towards Alex. His vitality is high and one arrow was clearly not enough for him. The second arrow stabbed him in the chest, Greg stumbled, tried to hit Alex with an ax. Alex dodged at the last moment and chopped him directly into the heart, wasting the last third of the energy. Greg screamed and fell, but Alex wasn’t even looking at him.

  “Mary, how are you?” He took her hand and pulled her off to the forest. “Run away, I will keep them.”

  “What?” Mary looked at him without any understanding.

  “Run!” Alex looked around and realized that they wouldn’t attack him. Greg’s and Jose’s assistants started gathering their equipment and went into the forest. “Where are they going?” Alex mumbled.

  “They will come back to public house, because their tenants died.” Trix explained. “Their is no need in fighting now.”

  “Okay,” Alex hid the sword and hugged Mary tight. “Sorry I’ve been getting there for so long.” Mary was crying.

  “I thought it would be better,” Mary said, she was crying, tapping on his chest.

  “Forget it,” Alex said, running his fingers through her hair. “Do you believe me now? I was always telling truth, I love you!”

  “Yes,” Mary mumbled.

  “Don’t leave me,” Alex asked hopefully.

  “I will never leave you.” Mary whispered.

  Chapter 16

  “What do you mean?” Ale looked at Mary angrily and put the empty bowl away. “Do you think we can be friends?”

  “Well…” Mary lowered his head and continued eating warm meal.

  “Have you heard it?” Alex stood up. “She suggested that we can be friends!” He looked around the public house’s hall, looking for support, but nobody paid attention to him, so he sit down disappointedly. “Should I recall you what happened yesterday?” Alex asked ironically. “I risked my life, saved you, you told that you would never leave me, we kissed, came here, had sex, woke up together and went for a breakfast. And now you tell me that we can be just friends!” Alex looked at her attentively.

  “I was shocked,” Mary explained, making excuses. “I wanted to break the tension.”

  “Oh, she was shocked!” Alex yelled irritably. “Do you think that I attack such strong enemies and risk my life every day?”

  “Your equipment was better and you attacked immediately, there was no risk,” Mary answered coldly.

  “Well, forget it,” Alex waved away. “I have a new question. What do you mean by “being friends”? Will we watch football together or talk about the weather? How would that go?”

  “We can carry out quests together,” Mary suggested.

  “I can complete any quest myself,” Alex said confidently.

  “Even legendary weapon quest?” Mary wondered.

  "Do you know where it starts?" Alex asked quickly.

  “Unfortunately, no,” Mary said sadly and lowered her head. “We won't fight Skull without it."

  “I know what to do,” Alex said confidently. "I am pretty sure that we can start that quest in the capital."

  "Have you forgotten that Skull is the King there?" Mary reminded.

  “I have a plan,” Alex explained vaguely.

  "And what if I refuse?" Mary asked quietly.

  “I love you so much,” Alex took her hand and, catching her thoughtful look, continued. "I will get you this weapon even if you refuse."

  "We'll do next," Mary got her hand out. "I will go with you to the capital and help as much as I can, but I still need to think about our relationships."

  “Okay,” Alex nodded happily. "Believe me, you won't regret."

  “You killed previous Grink's chief yesterday. Don't you think that Skull is looking for him now?"

  “I hope not — but in general, you are right,” Alex nodded. “We need to get to the capital as quickly as possible. So I will buy horses for us, we will be there by midday," Alex explained and stood up.

  "Will we go to the capital right now?" Mary mumbled distractedly.

  “I'm waiting for you with your assistant outside," Alex shouted and ran out of the public house, slamming the door loudly.

  "It's beautiful," Mary looked at the snow white horse that Alex bought for her.

  “I'm happy you like her,” Alex smiled and gave her the reins.

  "Will you help me climb?" Mary mumbled uncertainly, she looked at the horse with admiration and fear. "And what if I cannot ride it? Or what if it starts running anywhere else?"

  “The groom said that all the horses are calm and obedient,” Alex said. "Come on," he easily sat her in the saddle.

  "Wow!" Mary grabbed the reins.

  “Hold the belt like a steering wheel in a car,” Alex explained and showed how to do it. "When you press with two legs, the horse goes. When you pull back, it stops."

  "Do you know how to ride horses?" Mary was surprised.

  “The groom explained the basics, and when I tried it, the knowledge seemed to come by itself,” Alex said.

  "Can I call her Manya?" Mary asked and stroked the snow white mane.

  “But this is a horse,” Alex grinned.

  "I have already chosen a name and will call him Manya!" Mary said stubbornly.

  "Okay, it doesn't matter," Alex got up on his grey horse and looked around. All the assistants were already in the saddles. “We're going slowly at first, until Mary gets used, then we will ride quickly,” Alex ordered and led his horse to the gate.

  "Will we ride along the road?" Mary caught up with Alex quickly.

  “We need to get to the city as soon as possible, and if Skull somehow found out that Grock is dead and decided to set up a trap for us, then we would die anyway,” Alex explained.

  “Do you mean that if you see Skull now, you won't even fight with him, you will give up?” Mary said in mocking tone.

  “I will fight and play for time, you will run away,” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “It's the most important for me to save you."

  “Well, I hope we won't meet him,” Mary mumbled.

  “Me too,” Alex nodded. "I s
ee you have already got used to riding."

  “Yeah,” Mary nodded happily and got ahead Alex.

  "Then catch up with me!" Alex shouted and made the horse gallop.

  "No!" Mary caught up with Alex and shouted to him. "Now you should catch up with me!" And easily outran him.

  "Why have you bought her the horse, which costs three times like ours?" Trix asked uncomprehendingly.

  “I wanted to surprise her,” Alex said perplexedly.

  “If she continues riding at such a speed, she will fly into the bushes at the first turn and break her bones. We have only one healer,” Trix explained.

  "Damn! Mary, wait!" Alex shouted and rushed after the girl, who was shouting happily.

  "Try and catch!" Mary shouted enthusiastically.

  “Why are you worrying about her?” Rina asked Trix. "She makes a lot of harm, it will be good for us if she breaks something."

  “Alex loves her, but I still don’t really understand what it means and I want to figure it out,” Trix explained. "But I cannot do it without Mary..."

  “You spend a lot of effort on a goal that won't give any profit,” Rina shook her head. "This is stupid and only people do it."

  “This means I’m on the right way and soon I will understand...” Trix didn't finish the sentence.

  "What will you understand?" Rina asked.

  “I don't know yet, but I think it will change my life,” Trix suggested.

  “Yeah, for the worse,” Rina hemmed.

  “Probably,” Trix agreed.

  “Suit yourself,” Rina waved her hand and spurred her horse.

  "Where are you going?" Trix wondered. "You said you didn't want to help Mary."

  "That's right, but I'm worrying about Alex. If he dies, we will have to return to the public house and wait for the next tenant,” Rina shouted, turning her head back.

  “That's good that I persuaded Alex to buy you,” Trix stroked her horse, which wasn't so beautiful, but its riding abilities were the same as Mary's horse. Trix squeezed his legs, and the horse galloped. She outran Rina in ten seconds and caught up with Alex in a minute. "I will stop her!" She rushed forward, seeing only Mary on a white horse. “The speed depends not only on the horse, but also on the rider,” Trix remembered the words of the groom. Trix's agility was very high, and she had no doubt that she was riding better, she would catch up with her sooner or later. “It would be better to do it sooner” Trix thought and focused on riding the horse. Trix caught up with Mary and helped her stop the horse twenty minutes later.