Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1)
Page 24
“I found it,” I said.
“What?” asked a half-asleep Rory from the mattress he was already lying on. “What did ye find?”
“The quest item.”
“Good for ye,” he replied.
“Sleep tight, old man,” I said, more determined than ever. “We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
“What’re ye yapping about, lad?” he asked. Louie stirred as well.
“We start crafting again.”
“We what?” the dwarf said, surprised.
“You what?” Louie added.
“I need money. A lot of it.”
“Ye mean we’re back in business?” the dwarf asked, trying to hold back his excitement, but failing.
“Damn right we are!” I exclaimed and Louie barked in excitement.
“Hells yeah, lad. I knew ye had it in ye. What about those fuckers ye’re hiding from?”
“We’re not hiding anymore.”
“Do ye mean what I think ye mean, half-Celt?”
“What does he mean?” Louie asked, confused. “What do you mean, Alex?”
“We’re taking those bastards down.”
15
Mercenary Man
“Good morning, Alex,” Leo said on the other end of the call. “The early bird gets the worm, eh? Did you sleep on what we talked about last night?”
“I did. Leo, I need your help.”
A few moments of silence followed my statement before Leo replied. “Anything you need, man,” he said in a more serious tone.
“The people who attacked me, I need to know where I can find them,” I explained. “I need to know how many there are, when they’re all there, and when would be the best time to pay them a visit.”
“Yes! That’s the spirit,” he said excitedly. “At last, you get it. You eat or you get eaten. I’m so happy this didn’t break you and you’ll be taking them out.”
“Wait, so, you’re fine with it?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? They attacked you and you were lucky to survive. Who knows how many people they did the same to before they got to you? Who knows how many people didn’t live to run away?”
“You’re fine with me killing them?”
“You’re still clinging on to the norms of Cosmos society. There are no police officers to call in the Apocosmos. No judicial system will ever burden themselves with things like this, especially since there’s not a lot of money involved. It is a pretty straightforward matter. Of course I’m fine with us killing them.”
“It’s going to be me and Rory,” I said, not wanting to involve him any more than having him gather intel for me. “There’s no reason for you to be involved.”
“How little you know of the DiFiores… They hurt my friend. That’s enough provocation for my whole clan to come down on them. These thugs probably wouldn’t have attacked you if they’d known you were affiliated with my clan.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have thought he was exaggerating to get me to believe him. But the more I discovered about his family, the more plausible all these things seemed.
“Well, the times of me denying your help are long gone, man,” I said, feeling a small slither of happiness that I could say yes to someone offering aid. “If you want to help, you’re in. Can you get the information about them?”
“Already have,” he replied. “We can do it tonight.”
His words hit me like a truck. Deciding to move against them was one thing, but actually putting a countdown on it was completely different. I suddenly felt stressed but excited all the same. I was going to get my revenge. And we’d be able to live happily ever after.
“Okay. Meet us at Rory’s place tonight,” I said. “I had an order delivered some time ago so we’ll be equipped. Are you good on equipment?”
“I’m fine for equipment, though I’d like to get someone for buffs.”
“Don’t bring any more people in on this, Leo,” I warned him.
“No, no. I’m not bringing anyone. I’m not even telling my family. We’ll hire someone to buff us just before we leave. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
“As you wish. See you later then?”
He paused. “Alex? I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to bring Louie with you.”
“What? No way!” I said, surprised he’d even suggest it, and then I lowered my voice so that Louie wouldn’t hear what I was saying. “It’s going to be too dangerous. I’m not going to put him in a situation like this. What if something happens to him?”
“You have to understand that he’s not just your dog anymore.” Leo tried reasoning with me. “He’s his own person with a personality and reasoning. He’s not going to sit back and wait for you to deal with the problem. Especially since he got a spellcaster class. You might not have told me what happened on that day with the fairy but Louie did.”
I stayed silent as I recalled the moment before Louie got his class.
“His exact words were that he wants to save you,” Leo continued, “and that he wants to be with you at all times. To help you through all of your difficulties. Why would you take that away from him? How would he live with himself if something were to happen to you and he wasn’t there to do his best to prevent it?”
This final statement hit home harder than any of his reasoning. I knew damn well how it felt to live with this type of regret. The helplessness and despair of the what-ifs that came with loss. If there was a possibility that something might happen to me, he’d never forgive himself for not pushing harder to come with us. I’d never do that to him.
“You’re right,” I said finally. “I need to learn how to live with that. But I need you to promise me one thing.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“If it comes to the point where you need to make a decision,” I said, more certain about it than anything else in my life. “Between saving me or him, you’re picking him.”
“Of course. He’s cute and fluffy and you’re always grumpy. And even though it’s not your fault, you’re damn ugly too.”
“I’m serious, Leo,” I repeated.
“Okay, okay. I promise,” he said with a sigh. “But there’s no way we’re reaching that point. We’ll be perfectly fine. You don’t need to worry.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m gonna do some more shopping now. See you tonight?”
“Yep. Ciao, ragazzo!”
As I put down the phone, I noticed Louie was now next to my feet, staring at me. I hadn’t noticed him move to that spot, so there was no way of knowing how much he had heard. However, the look in his eyes told me it was more than enough.
“Thank you. For understanding,” he said and buried his face between my ankles.
I immediately fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around him in an embrace that would never have ended if the dwarf hadn’t come back into the apartment from his extra-dimensional workshop. Normally, when his door on the wall opened, there was no sound coming out from the other side. This time, however, a very familiar song was playing: “Lord of the Blacksmiths” by Falconer.
“You listened to my music?” I asked, surprised.
“Only a couple of songs and they were shite,” he said. “But then I took a look at the titles. Turns out this one’s not bad actually.”
“Soundtrack to your life?” I asked jokingly.
“Soundtrack?” the dwarf said, confused. “What are ye yapping about, lad? We got business to do.”
“I bought top-tier equipment for me and Louie. I assumed you’re all set in that department already?” I asked.
“I’m equipped well enough, lad,” he said. “And I doubt ye can afford top C-grade equipment anyway. Much less enchanted stuff.”
“You can enchant equipment?” Louie asked.
“Not just me,” the dwarf explained. “Ye need enchantment stones or enchantment scrolls. There are those for weapons and different ones for armor and accessories.”
“So can you imbue elements into your piec
es?” I asked, interested to see what advantage this might give us. “Like, can we get resistance to fire damage or even immunity to it? Or perhaps my sword can deal fire damage as well?”
“What ye’re describing is something completely different. Only smiths can imbue equipment with those kinds of effects. Enchantments will give yer weapon a bonus in Physical and Magic Attack, while yer armor and accessories will earn a bonus in Physical and Magic Defense. The bonus ye get from each enchantment isn’t very big, but it piles up… especially since the bonus doubles or even triples once ye cross the safe enchanting threshold.”
“You’re gonna make me ask what that is?” I said, acting frustrated. “It’s clear that I have no idea what you’re talking about. Okay…What’s the safe enchanting threshold?”
“The stones and scrolls used for enchanting are made of Dark-Energy-distilled mana,” he started, completely disregarding my comment. “Once the enchantment is successful, this mana is permanently infused into the item, giving it an increment—like plus one to its name—and the permanent bonus. But no item can be enchanted indefinitely. If the mana exceeds the item’s enchantment capacity, it’ll break into pieces.”
“It’d explode?”
“Of course not, lad!” the dwarf replied with a laugh. “Life’s not one of yer movies. The mana will be absorbed to the Dark Energy and ye’ll be left with the raw materials that make up the item ye just destroyed. However, all items can be safely enchanted up to a certain point. This is what’s called the safe enchantment threshold.”
“And do you know the threshold?” asked Louie.
“Aye, it’s no secret,” he replied. “You can safely enchant everything up to +3, or +4 for one-piece armor.”
“And after that you run the risk of destroying the item you’re attempting to enchant?”
“Aye again. And the higher ye gamble, the worse yer chances are that the item’s gonna be able to keep the enchantment.”
“Then why do it?” Louie asked, puzzled.
“Because of the thrill of the gamble,” I replied, recognizing this exact pattern from MMORPGs.
“And because ye can show them off,” the dwarf added. “Enchanted items have a certain glow and color. The more enchanted they are, the brighter they glow.”
“Do you have enchanted items, Rory?” Louie asked.
“I do, but none of them over the safe point,” he replied. “Gambling’s not a luxury I can afford at the moment. However, I used to have a +12 axe years ago. It had the most beautiful blue glow I had ever seen. Not completely solid, but beautiful. And it was a damn fine axe too. D grade, but better than most C grades in terms of damage.”
“Should we enchant our equipment too, Alex?” Louie asked.
“You mean the stuff we just bought?”
“Yes. Until the safe point. Not more,” he added.
“Ye can’t enchant E-grade items, boys,” Rory interjected. “Ye have to wait until ye get to level 20 and buy yer first piece of D-grade equipment.”
“Well that makes the decision easier, doesn’t it?” I said, and Louie simply nodded.
As we dropped the issue of enchanting, I had a completely unrelated epiphany given Louie’s closer involvement in tonight’s events.
“Louie. I just thought about it. What do you say we get you some heavy armor? You’ll be much more protected.”
“That isn’t how it works, half-Celt,” the dwarf interjected.
“He’s right, Alex,” Louie confirmed. “It doesn’t work like that. Here, let me show you the first two passive skills I got once I became a mage and you’ll see what we’re talking about.”
Before I had time to react, a small flashing icon appeared on the periphery of my vision. I mentally clicked on it and two skill windows appeared.
Name: Mana Recovery
Level: 1
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: Only active when wearing spellcaster-type armor.
Description : The fabric of spellcaster-type armor enables the smoother flow of mana from the Dark Energy to the wearer’s body, making it easier for them to recover it. MP Recovery is increased significantly.
Name: Mana Movement
Level: 1
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: Only active when wearing spellcaster-type armor.
Description : The fabric of spellcaster-type armor enables mana circulation over its whole surface. This mana can assist and boost the wearer’s movements. Speed and Magic Attack Speed are increased significantly.
“And it’s not only that,” Louie added. “Wearing different types of armor acts more like a penalty, since this is the norm for spellcasters.
“I see,” I replied, a bit disappointed that what I thought was an epiphany was ultimately already taken care of by the Dark Energy rules. “In that case, it’s good that we got robes for you.”
“That’s great,” Louie replied. “I just wish we could have gained a few more levels.”
“Ye don’t need to worry little one,” Rory said, the big grin still not having faded from his face. “Ye’ll barely get the chance to heal me. I’ll make short work of them. I just hope yer Italian friend won’t take them out before I reach them.”
“Don’t think you’ll just rush in through the front door and kill everything in there,” I said, a bit worried that the dwarf’s foolhardiness would have him take the situation into his own hands. “Once we meet with Leo, we’ll need to plan according to his intel.”
“Human, I often take offense at yer insulting remarks because I keep forgetting ye’re new to this world. Dwarfs always plan. Remember that.”
“I will,” I said and offered a smile as reconciliation, excuse, or whatever would soothe his ego. We needed to be on the best terms for tonight.
A few minutes after midnight, I received a message from Leo.
Waiting for you in a black van ragazzi.
“Leo’s waiting for us downstairs,” I said and glanced at the fully equipped Louie and Rory to see the consolidated view of their stats screens. “You guys ready?”
Name: Rory Battleforge
Race: Dwarf
Class: Mastersmith
Level: 43
HP : 3033/3033
MP: 547/547
XP : 85.51%
STR: 39
DEX: 29
CON: 45
INT: 20
WIS: 10
MEN: 27
Physical Attack: 254
Physical Defense: 556
Accuracy: 80
Critical: 43
Attack Speed: 413
Magic Attack: 85
Magic Defense: 413
Evasion: 67
Speed: 125
Casting Speed: 203
HP Regen. : 16.1/minute
MP Regen. : 3.9/minute
Name: Louie Thunder
Race: Dog (Corgi)
Class: Mage
Level: 5
HP : 160/160
MP: 243/243
XP : 13.26%
STR: 22
DEX: 21
CON: 27
INT: 41
WIS: 20
MEN: 39
Physical Attack: 17
Physical Defense: 111
Accuracy: 37
Critical: 40
Attack Speed: 328
Magic Attack: 36
Magic Defense: 136
Evasion: 32
Speed: 121
Casting Speed: 333
HP Regen. : 2.2/minute
MP Regen. : 1.6/minute
While Louie looked as normal as ever, with the exception of his peculiar hat and all the additional jingles, Rory looked like a m
edieval war machine. He was clad in shining full plate armor that looked reddish under the dim light of the room. His long war hammer looked even more deadly than the time he’d literally crushed a skull with it. In his other hand he was now holding a heavy shield, coated in the same red metal as his armor.
Seeing the difference in their stats, I wondered if we’d be of any use in today’s raid alongside Rory and Leo. The difference was even more apparent since Louie was a spellcaster while Rory was a melee fighter, but I had no doubt my stats would look just as bad compared to the dwarven beast.
Name: Alexander MacFie
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Level: 4
HP : 183/183
MP: 59/59
XP : 84.61%
STR: 40
DEX: 30
CON: 43
INT: 21
WIS: 11
MEN: 25
Physical Attack: 42
Physical Defense: 162
Accuracy: 36
Critical: 88
Attack Speed: 357
Magic Attack: 11
Magic Defense: 116
Evasion: 36
Speed: 126
Casting Speed: 213
HP Regen. : 3.2/minute
MP Regen. : 1.1/minute
Just as I thought. The only thing I was beating him at in terms of battle stats was Critical, but that would make little difference since our Physical Attack stats were so vastly different. Regardless, there was absolutely no way I’d let him deal with this alone. This was our business and these people had a problem with me above all. I wouldn’t let somebody else take care of my problems for me.
“Let’s go,” Louie said and barked excitedly.
“Ye gonna keep staring at us, half-Celt? Let’s get this over with. We need to start the money-making engines again.”
“You’re right. Let’s get moving. Tonight, we end this.”