Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (ebook offline reader txt) 📗

suitable way to respond, he smiled a disturbingly wide grin and patted me on my back several times, each time harder than the last.

"Ye're a good lad, half-Celt," he finally said. "I told ye. Ye don't know it, but ye've got a heart of adamant."

"Then it's a plan," Louie said. "Now all we need to know is Abrathion's location."

"There is a little problem with that," Viki remarked. "Abrathion's dungeon isn't bound to a specific location. Once inside, I know some of its layout but the entrance could be anywhere in the city."

"How are we supposed to find it then?" I asked.

"Perhaps it's time to speak to Leo's family," Louie suggested. "They probably have both the means and the resources to save him."

"That would not be a good idea," Viki replied. "They're keeping your friend alive and treating him well because they want me to continue looking like him, so I can deceive you."

"You mean you can't--" I started.

"Taking the form of the dead is sacrilege," she said. "If he died, I would return to my previous form. And if Abrathion hears that the DiFiore clan is mobilizing, he will know I have failed. There would be nothing stopping him from taking it out on Leo."

"How would he even know?" I asked.

"He's keeping tabs on them. He'd know as soon as the clan moves in numbers."

"Well, we could tell them to be careful," I thought out loud. "What am I even saying? They'll know what to do better than us."

"You think Abrathion wouldn't catch that?" she practically shouted now. "Are you willing to take that risk for your friend? Because I'm not taking it for Yelena. I agreed to help you and I made a deal with you, not that Roman clan. For all I know they don't give a damn about my wife."

"And if Abrathion did find out we're on to him, he'd kill them both and make their bodies disappear, so that he won't be hunted down," Louie added.

"Exactly," Viki agreed. "Anyway, I have another lead we can follow. My orders were that once I retrieved the artifact from you guys, I would meet with a member of his street crew. That person would then take me to him."

"We're not giving the book away, Viki," I said, a bit frustrated that she would propose that.

"I don't think I'll need it to make them believe I've got it," she replied. "It's not my first job after all. But I cannot have you guys with me. You will need to follow me and once the contact reveals the location, we take him out and infiltrate the dungeon."

"Okay," I agreed. "Do you call him, or how does that work?"

"No calls. Abrathion is paranoid like that. We get two windows for meeting every day. Once every twelve hours, he comes to central park."

"Seriously?" I said and looked out the window. "Down there? Abrathion's lackey is out there every day and has no idea I'm here?"

"This place is pretty heavily warded, so unless they knew your face, it wouldn't matter if they walked by you."

"Okay, sounds simple enough." Rory brought us back to the matter at hand. "How much time till the next window for meeting this person?"

"A bit more than ten hours," she replied.

"Do you know anything about the book, Viki?" Louie asked.

"I don't know what it does or even who it is for. All I know is that he really wants it and he wants it fast."

"Wait, so it's not Abrathion who wants to get his hands on it?" I asked.

"He does, but not to keep it for himself. He has received massive funds from a client to fetch it, and apparently the client isn't very happy with all the delays. That's why I was sent to take care of things."

What can this thing be that so many people want it, and aren't hesitating to kill in order to get it?

"In that case, what can you tell us about the layout of the dungeon?" Louie asked.

"I never got the complete view of it, but I can tell you what I know so far," she said and picked up a piece of paper and a pen from the nearby coffee table. "The place looks like a laboratory. There's an operating theater, dormitories, a mess hall, a few rooms with alchemical, crafting, and other experimental equipment," she explained as she noted each room on the makeshift map.

"Alright. Do ye know where they keep their prisoners?" Rory asked, inspecting the crude layout of the dungeon.

"I was taken to this room right here to study the DiFiore man so that I'd be more accurate in copying him," she said and circled one of the small rectangles she had drawn, "I think he should still be there."

"What about your wife?" Louie asked as he levitated above the table to see the map from above.

"I don't know for sure," the woman said, "but there are two identical doors next to the one leading to Leonardo's cell. I would say they are keeping her behind one of them."

"What about the people in there?" Rory asked. "Any really high-level ones?"

"None quite as high as you, but there are a lot of them. We definitely can't take them on by just rushing in."

"Alright, everyone memorize this map," I said, while I considered our next steps. "Is there absolutely no way you can reach your contact now? I don't want Leo to stay one minute longer than he needs to in that place."

"I can't reach him outside of the arranged meeting times, and I'd argue that this isn't the best time to infiltrate the dungeon either," she replied. "They're less active during the daytime."

"Besides, ye need to rest," Rory added. "Ye all need to be at a hundred percent."

"In that case, please take these back," I said, and removed her equipment from my inventory. "Let's hope you're not going to need them."

"I'll have a quick look at whether I can find any buffers available for tomorrow," Louie suggested.

"You don't need to do