Extension

by Vladislav Kamenskiy

  "Are you kidding?" Alex interrupted him. "Did he just push somebody?"

  “Yes, that's right,” Ince said. "It was a different time, we didn't know what anger or violence is. The commission didn’t decide anything, but after interviewing local workers, I learned that they heard some strange "voices" at the station, which made them do bad things. The station was closed and scientists came there to study everything. In some years they found out that there is another space or dimension around our planet. I'm sorry, it was a long time ago and I don’t remember the details, but I think you understood me."

  “I didn't understand anything at all,” Alex shook his head.

  “The dimension was inhabited by creatures that offered new opportunities,” Ince ignored Alex. "The research team received permission to contact and found a solution soon, but some workers died."

  "Couldn't design a safe device?" Alex was surprised. "You had a highly developed civilization."

  “It wasn't a device,” Ince sighed. "They discovered a special gene, which was driven into the person and can take creatures into our world."

  "It means I'm right about the creatures!" Alex was delighted.

  “They have no body, we cannot see or touch them,” Ince shook his head.

  “Then what is the benefit from them?” Alex asked.

  “They promised people superpower and it wasn't a lie,” Ince said jealously.

  "Is it like Superman?" Alex smiled ironically. "Strength, agility, ability to fly..."

  “Yes, that's right,” Ince said. “But these are basic skills, the list is much larger and more interesting, but all this required energy. People gives this energy, when they feel happiness or grief. As you understand, it is much easier to make people feel sad..." Ince stumbled. "The first cases of intentional violence began five years later. Then people started doing bad things more and more often..."

  “You had high technology,” Alex remembered. "You can drop some bombs on..."

  "Where?" Ince asked.

  “On the bad one's," Alex shrugged his shoulders.

  "Scientists announced that they didn't know what to do. These super people settled all over the world, they had children who already had this new gene. They got promotion quickly, occupied high posts in the colony thanks to their abilities, however, they didn't manage to get to other planets." Ince smiled.

  "Why being a super person is bad?" Alex was surprised. "You said that you can get energy from positive feelings, which means doing good deeds all the time."

  “At that time there was no hunger, diseases, poverty,” Ince bent three fingers and waved his hand. "It was difficult to make somebody happy, but everyone wanted to get energy quickly. Creatures controlled people's mind, so people with this gene didn't want to be an Avatar. Then it turned out that this gene gives the ability to get and use energy without the creature..."

  “What happened next?” Alex asked.

  “There were too many people, who wanted to use energy. Then fights between Avatars and Mutants appeared. We called Mutants those, who had a gene without a creature,” Ince turned a little and looked towards the open door. “Your friend is still there, she is curious and was listening to us all the time. Come in! Don’t be afraid! There is enough space for three.”

  “I can hear everything perfectly from here,” Trix said. “Continue and don’t pay attention to me.”

  “Your assistant is behaving very strangely,” Ince looked at Alex distrustfully.

  “You said the planet was just a colony,” Alex recalled. “Why did nobody come here to help?”

  “When they understood what was going on here, they simply disconnected the teleportation tool, so the colony was cut off from the entire civilized world. They simply stood us up. A few years later something happened with the climate and the weather became worse at times...” Ince looked irritably at Alex, who raised his hand.

  “You still had technologies, which you could use,” Alex quickly clarified.

  “We had both the technology and the engineers who were familiar with the equipment, but there were no parts and materials to assemble and replace worn-out components,” Ince explained. “Instead of solving the problems that arose together, the Avatars and the Mutants started a war, so we lost all the technologies and fell back into the Iron Age,” Ince said.

  “Have you made this world?” Alex asked suddenly.

  “It was too complicated task for us,” Ince shook his head.

  “How did the war end?” Alex asked impatiently.

  “I don't know,” Ince shrugged his shoulders. “I died and got here. Of course, a lot of people got here after me, but I understood nothing from their stories. I think everything has been changing so quickly that I couldn’t link the information together.”

  “Were you one of these?” Alex looked at him distrustfully.

  “It doesn't matter anymore,” Ince said. “This world differs from that one, so we are relatively equal.”

  “Then why did you tell me this? How will it help me to kill Skull?” Alex asked irritably.

  “It's boring here, I don’t have somebody to speak with,” Ince growled sadly.

  “Then I will try to entertain you!” Alex shouted angrily. “You will give me your best pots, and I will go and fight Skull, but if you decide to deceive me and give bad pots, so that I lose, Trix will tell Skull about you.”

  “Pots won’t help you,” Ince looked at Alex thoughtfully. “You will still lose the battle taking into account your level and equipment.”

  “Trix told me that warrior kills magician,” Alex muttered confusedly. “If I die, then you will die. Skull will come here, believe me.”

  “Warrior kills magician with the same equipment and level,” Ince grinned. “Okay, I'll help you. Skull has the Legendary Black Staff, so you need the Legendary sword...”

  “I do not have time to complete quests! He will kill Mary!” Alex shouted impatiently shouted and looked blankly at Ince, who stood up, turned his back on him and went somewhere. “Wait, don't leave!” Alex yelled frightenedly.

  “I'm not leaving,” he pushed the bed aside and climbed into the hole under it. “Take it,” Ince came out after a minute and threw a small sword in a leather sheath on the table. “It’s yours.”

  “Is that what I think?” Alex took the gift gently and pulled the sword out of its sheath. The comfortable handle was covered with snake skin, and the blade was made from some transparent material that turned red almost immediately. “What happened?” Alex put the sword back in the sheath.

  “The sword knows what skill you upgrade and hits with a similar attack,” Ince explained. “You have weapons, but this isn’t enough. Now you need to get higher level. Take a risk.”

  “I am ready to fight even with a pack of wild dogs to save Mary!” Alex shouted courageously.

  “What dogs?” Ince looked blankly at Alex.

  “Well, I mean completing quest,” Alex shrugged his shoulders.

  “There is no quest that could upgrade you to Level twelve at one.” Ince smiled. “There’s a prison in the palace…”

  "They probably keep Mary there!" Alex nodded.

  "Don't worry," Ince winced and continued. “There are still some prisoners. You should kill them."

  “Why should I kill them?” Alex mumbled confusedly.

  “The previous King, Gunther, is there. And there also is...” Ince tried to recall the name. "Well, I don't remember his name, but he won the final battle with Skull in the first tournament..."

  “Why didn't he kill them?” Alex was surprised.

  “There's no logic in his actions, so don't try to look for it,” Ince shrugged his shoulders. "He probably likes torturing these people, so that they are waiting for death for a long time. You'll kill both of them. Then you upgrade energy three times and Magic Immunity twice, call Skull out in a duel and kill him."

  “What if he doesn't want to fight with me and his guards will attack?” Alex doubted.

  “Skull likes killing p
eople, the guards only bring the victim to him,” Ince said. “I have one more advice for you: don't drink strengthening pot."

  "Why?" Alex asked suspiciously. “Do you want me to lose?"

  "No, of course," Ince sighed heavily. "Skull will see that you drank a pot and will be on alert."

  “Well, well, how can I go to prison and don't meet Skull?” Alex asked.

  “I don't know,” Ince answered. "I told you everything I know."

  “Give me three pots, one strengthening and two bursting,” Alex thought a little. Alchemist put three bottles in front of him immediately. “Thank you,” Alex nodded, took all the pots and left the shop.

  "Do you have a plan?" Trix asked immediately.

  "Yeah. Take it," he gave the girl two bursting pots. "Go and set fire to the public house."

  "Why should I do it?" Trix looked blankly at the two bottles of red liquid.

  “I hope Skull will leave the palace and go there,” Alex put the bottles into her hands. "Set fire and run away."

  "What about you?" The girl looked at Alex.

  “Don't think about me,” Alex said. "You wanted to go to the gaming house. Go and have fun."

  “But I’ll lose, you said it’s better not to go there,” Trix recalled.

  “But you’ll have fun, Rina is now swinging from the chandelier, you also deserve a rest,” Alex nodded, turned and went towards the palace.

  “Deserve a rest.” Trix mumbled displeasedly. “What if I don’t want to go to the gaming house?” The girl looked thoughtfully at the bottles and walked towards the square quickly. “Skull often set fire to our public house. What if I start liking it?” Trix thought. When she reached the public house, she opened the door and threw two bottles inside the room. Then she heard an explosion, thick black smoke poured through the windows. "How can somebody like it?" Trix looked at the burning house and remembered Skull. She did the same and felt only anger. "It's all because of you!" Trix screamed, turning to the palace. "I will help Alex, because I also hate Skull!" She shouted angrily. She felt something new. “I should hurry," the girl thought and ran towards the palace.

  “Come on,” Alex heard the explosion, saw black smoke and was overwatching the entrance. Finally, the Skull came out of a big door with a dozen of guards and his alchemist.

  "Three of you must stay and guard the gate. The rest should follow me!" He ordered briefly and headed towards the public house quickly.

  “Well, there are only three guards,” Alex whispered happily, opened the bottle with the strengthening pot and drank it at one gulp. “If Ince gave me poisoning pot, I would die right now,” Alex thought sadly, got the shivers, but he felt strength immediately, which gave him confidence, so he jumped ahead. The first guard died before he could understand something, the second began to turn around, but got a quick fatal blow, so even his heavy armor didn't save him, because the legendary sword easily killed him, the third managed to pull out the sword and open his mouth to call for help, but Alex chopped his head and he fell. “If only the pot could give strength for a long time,” Alex mumbled and went to the headless guard to take his armor. Having changed clothes and taken the helmet of another guard, Alex came in and looked around. There was the big hall and two doors. He opened one of them randomly and got into the next hall. “Well, where should I go now?” Alex looked around nervously and noticed three more doors. Having wandered around for some minutes, Alex realized that the palace was huge and he wasted time, but he should find the prison as soon as possible. "Fuck!" Alex swore, entering the next small hall, when he saw two guards there.

  "What are you doing here?" The guards looked at Alex suspiciously.

  “Skull ordered me to come here, we should tighten security,” Alex said.

  “Okay,” the second guard nodded, and both of the guards went synchronously to the small door.

  "I'm lucky today," Alex thought happily and followed the guards. Five minutes later, they went out into the yard, opened a heavy iron door and went downstairs.

  "What are you doing here?" The guard, who was sitting behind the door, looked at them anxiously.

  “Skull ordered me to check the presence of all the prisoners and report, so open the door quickly!” Alex ordered. “Stay near the door,” Alex turned to the other two guardsmen, they nodded and turned to the stairs.

  “Now we have only three prisoners,” the guard said and opened a heavy door. “Please,” he pointed at the long dark hall.

  "Lead me there. Start with those who have been here a long time,” Alex ordered.

  “There,” the guard took a burning torch from the wall and walked down the hall, jingling the keys. “This prisoner is called archer,” he opened one of the doors and pointed at the absolutely naked and thin man, who giggled sometimes.

  "Leave the room!" Alex ordered. “I will check him,” Alex waited until the guard left, pulled out his sword and killed the prisoner quickly. “He was waiting for death” Alex thought, and his level upgraded. “Show the next one,” Alex nodded to the guard encouragedly.

  “This prisoner is the previous King,” the guard said, opening the next door.

  "Who gave them such names?" Alex asked.

  “Skull, of course,” the guard answered quickly.

  “Wait outside the door,” Alex ordered, entered the cell and saw a gray-haired old ma, who lowered his head.

  "Who are you?" The old man looked at him, and Alex noticed that he had no eyes.

  “I should kill you,” Alex answered sadly.

  “Are you Skull's person?” The old man asked.

  “No, I want to kill him,” Alex shook his head, but realized that his opponent wouldn't notice it anyway and took his sword.

  "Do it!" The old man grinned. "I have been waiting for death for a long time."

  “Okay,” Alex took the sword more comfortably and quickly hit him in the heart.

  “Thank you,” Alex stood with his eyes closed and upgraded his energy and magic shield. “There is enough energy for three hits and ten seconds of the shield,” Alex muttered thoughtfully and left the cell. "Who is next?" He asked the guard, showing his anxiety.

  “A girl, Skull hasn't come up with a name for her yet. Please, come here,” the guard opened the next door.

  “Thank you,” Alex nodded, hit him with a sword, ran into the cell quickly and found Mary there. She was sleeping.

  "Who is there? " She whispered frightenedly.

  "Mary, get up. I'm so happy you're alive. I behaved badly. Get up, we need to run away,” Alex said quickly and dragged the sleepy girl to the exit.

  "Alex, I'm sorry for yelling at you near the public house," Mary whimpered. "I like you, I just was shocked and said what I shouldn't say..."

  “We'll talk about it later,” Alex led Mary into the yard, where two guards were waiting for them. "Skull ordered to lead her to him!" Alex shouted. "Lead us out of the palace, and then I will lead her to Skull."

  “Follow me,” the guard said. They weren't embarrassed with such change of plan.

  “Now return to your post,” Alex realized that he was in the very first hall and it’s time to make away with them.

  “It was easy,” Mary mumbled, looking at the guards. "Is this brilliant plan yours?"

  “That's not all,” Alex smiled. "Skull is now near the public house, I want to attack him suddenly and kill."

  "Let's run away," Mary took his head. "He's too strong."

  “Everything changed, so I have some chances,” Alex explained vaguely, opened the huge front door and saw Skull.

  "Why should I wait for so long?" Skull said in a joking tone. “Alex, did you seriously think that a fire in the public house could distract me?” He looked at crying Mary.

  "Let's fight!" Alex shouted in a trembling voice. "Fair fight, one to one."

  “Of course,” Skull rubbed his hands. “I haven’t killed anyone for a long time,” Skull pushed his alchemist and she gave him a bottle of pink liquid.

  "That's unfair!" Alex rebelled
, when Skull started drinking the pot.

  “The strengthening pot will work for a minute,” Skull dropped the empty bottle and wiped the sweat. “If you don't attack during this time, I will order all the guards to attack you. My alchemist and I will also join the battle. What do you choose?"

  “Mary, if I die, try to escape,” Alex whispered to the girl and turned to the enemy. Alex took his sword. Skull nodded encouragingly and smiled. Alex made a protective shield and ran towards him. Skull shot two fireballs, but the shield protected Alex. Then Skull made a lightning shield around him, Alex ran through it and hit Skull with a sword in the heart. This should be a fatal blow, but pot upgraded Skull's reaction, so he dodged, Alex injured only Skull's shoulder. Skull realized that magic isn't enough too win the battle and hit the floor with a fireball. After the explosion they landed at the different sides of the room.

  "When did you manage to get such a high level?" Skull felt an awful pain.

  “I killed your prisoners!” Alex shouted, stood up and shook his head. "And I will kill you too!" He gathered his last strength and threw his sword at Skull.

  “Oh, what a pity,” Skull watched calmly how a sword crashed into the lightning shield and fell on the pavement. “I will be killing you for a very long time, starting right now. Your girlfriend will return to the prison," He shot a lightning at Alex.

  "Nooooo," Alex fell in a fit caused by an electric discharge.

  “I will torture her for a long time,” Skull removed the lightning shield, raised his sword and went to Alex. “I will cut you into small pieces and...” His eyes rolled and he fell down with an arrow in his back.

  “I decided to help you,” Trix came out from the corner of a neighboring house and looked at the guards and the alchemist anxiously.

  “I’m going to the public house to wait for the next tenant,” the alchemist said, as if nothing had happened, and went towards the square. The guards just silently entered the palace.

  “Alex, take this, it’s the last one,” Trix handed Alex a healing pot.

  “Thank you,” Alex quickly drank the red liquid and looked at the girl gratefully. “I thought I would die.” “You must hurry!” Mary ran to Alex and helped him to get up.