Berserker: A LitRPG Urban Fantasy Adventure (Apocosmos Book 1) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (books for 20 year olds txt) 📗

of the night, with the only light coming from luminescent fungi on the ground and down the sides of trees.

I wasn’t able to see Louie, but there were little luminescent paw-prints on the ground. He must have inadvertently stepped on some of the fungi, and thank fuck he had because I don’t know how I would have been able to follow him otherwise. The forest was thick with trees I didn’t recognize. Their branches hung heavy, resembling willow trees, but their foliage was a thick vibrant green.

As I ran through the forest, cutting small branches with my swords, I was sure I saw more than a couple of snakes slithering about, though thankfully no other predators. The two yandirs I’d fought proved to be easier opponents but I had the feeling that those two were only scouting for a much larger pack. I just hoped the pack’s lair wasn’t somewhere in here and that Louie wouldn’t bump into them on his own. Just as my thoughts were getting darker…

A bark!

“Louie! I’m coming, boy!” I screamed at the top of my lungs and sprinted even faster.

Why did he run away? The smell had been very intense—it still was. But never before had he behaved like this. Then again, never before had I used a key on a fucking wall, and run around chasing birthday presents in the Apocosmos. First, I was almost killed by a damn cobra and now Louie was missing. As much as I liked Leo, he was much more of a hot mess in this world. And that’s not to mention him dragging me into dangers I never should have been part of. It was high time I started to distance myself from him completely.

“Where are you, boy?” I shouted and heard another bark in reply.

I followed the sound and was soon standing in the middle of a clearing, which was much brighter than the path I’d taken due to the high density of shining fungi. Louie was sitting on the ground in front of me, yet he didn’t turn to acknowledge my presence. And he wasn’t alone. At least a score of yandirs had now been alerted to my presence and were swinging their tails expectantly. Worst of all, right in the middle of them, directly in front of Louie, was a yellow-and-purple-striped tiger. Its fur gleamed as it moved its paws, lazily circling around Louie.

Name : Great Forest Tiger

Type : Beast

Level : 6

Disposition : Passive

HP : 94/94

Physical Attack : 13

Magic Attack : 6

Speed : 100

Attack Range : Melee

XP : 212

Description : Great Forest Tigers are regal but vicious beasts. As cubs, they are forced to battle their siblings until only one of them is left. The survivor is then ostracized by the rest of the pride until they reach adulthood.

The tiger purred at Louie and rubbed its massive head along his body, easily shifting him to the side. Louie looked like he was having fun and apparently so was the tiger. But how long would it be before the tiger became hungry? It looked like the giant cat was the leader of the yandir pack, and I doubted it would choose one of its own for its next meal.

“Louie? Come here, buddy,” I said as quietly as I could manage, not wanting to disturb the tiger.

Louie, however, wasn’t in a hurry to leave this place. In fact, he didn’t seem interested in leaving at all. As much as I hated the idea of getting closer to the creature, there was only one thing I could do. I stood up straight and puffed out my chest as much as possible. My body was muscular enough to put most of the Instagram gym-bros to shame. Likes and comments just can’t motivate you to lift weights for three hours every day the way that venting does. I had no doubt that the beast before me would rip me to shreds if it felt it could take me down. And I wasn’t going to leave Louie here. I took one small step after another, synchronizing them so that I would reach my dog when the tiger was the furthest away from me on its circle.

Walking forward with my chest puffed out didn’t provoke any reaction from the giant cat, but as soon as I knelt to pick Louie up, I suddenly became acquainted with the biggest fangs I had ever seen.

“I am not leaving without him,” I said calmly, and the tiger simply licked its whiskers in response, taking a step forward.

Before I had time to react, the tiger had swiped its huge claws down my forearm. Three deep scratches immediately started to pour blood and I was forced to set down the completely unharmed Louie on the ground again.

“That’s enough, you stupid cat,” I said and brought my swords up in front of me.

I tried to push Louie back with the side of my foot while maintaining my stance. He didn’t offer any resistance but neither did he pay me any heed. There was something about this tiger that made Louie act as if he’d been hypnotized. Well, if Louie wouldn’t follow me, and the tiger wouldn’t let me take him away, then I could only see one way out of this. Cutting down the leader of the pack.

I took a step forward and unleashed Mighty Slash on the tiger, which was alert but not fast enough to avoid it. My right sword left a red stripe down the tiger’s body, almost parallel to the purple ones on its fur. The beast growled and jumped back, bearing its teeth and slowing bending its knees. A few of the yandirs jumped forward to flank me but their leader roared, forcing them back. This was a duel.

The tiger waved its tail from one side to the other while slowly walking in circles, trying to catch me on the wrong footing. I kept my distance and matched its steps in order to counter-attack if it decided to leap