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

“If only it was that simple,” Leo replied. “The person who created this dungeon and allows monsters to manifest in it has absolute control over them. It’s unlikely we’d be able to get to the person in charge without going through them first. The best strategy would be to go through each room and clean them out.”

“That way, we won’t have a bunch of monsters ganging up on us when we’re taking down the boss man,” Rory added.

“And what happens once we take him out?” Louie asked. “Does the place just disappear? Are we thrown out of the building or what?”

“Not much happens,” Leo responded. “After about an hour or so, the plane collapses. Actually, ‘collapses’ is a pretty powerful word. Nothing changes in the Cosmos really. The layers just stop existing, along with anything that was stored in there and any monsters that had manifested.”

“Which means we’d better hurry if we want to get the loot, half-Celt,” Rory added and rubbed his hands together. “I bet me pipe that all of their gold and valuables will be stored in there.”

“That’s right,” Leo agreed. “An alternative would be to keep them alive, but that always carries its risks.”

“No, let’s not get too greedy. That’s what got us where we are today in the first place,” I said. “We’re going in there to finish it.”

“About that,” Leo said and looked at me. “Rory and I have been in the Apocosmos for quite some time and are used to it. Louie has been part of the Apocosmos for practically his whole conscious life, so this is more normal for him as well. How are you handling the fact that we’re going in there with the sole purpose of killing those people, Alex?”

This was a question I’d been trying to avoid thinking about too much. I kept telling myself that this was a different world, with different rules. I tried thinking about how they’d attacked us, the fact that this was a zero-sum game, and that our lives were at stake here, but I just couldn’t bring myself to accept the fact we were going in there with the intent to murder.

“I don’t like it,” I finally said, “but it is what it is. I’m not going to let my feelings stand in the way of what we set out to do. I’ll trust my logic and do my part.”

“Fair enough, lad,” the dwarf said in what sounded almost like a sympathetic tone. “Are we ready then?”

“A couple more things,” Leo added. “Rory, I suppose you’ve got your own healing potions?”

“Aye,” he replied. “Need some?”

“I’m well-stocked,” Leo responded and now turned his head to face Louie and myself. “I suppose you also bought inventory bags of your own?”

“We did,” Louie replied as I nodded.

“Louie, I’d suggest you focus on healing,” Leo continued. “I’ll also heal every now and then, but just to be safe, I brought a couple of potions for each of you.”

He reached into the air in front of him, his hand disappearing into a thin line of purple light and when he retracted it, he was holding four corked red potions in long thin test tubes between his fingers.

Item : Lesser Healing Potion

Type : Consumable - Potion

Durability : 20/20

Rarity : E Grade

Weight : 4st.

Description : A magic potion which, upon consumption, restores a small amount of HP over time. The effect of the potion lasts 15 seconds.

“Thanks, man,” I said and put two of the potions into my inventory the same way Leo had taken them out of his.

“Thank you,” Louie said and let out an excited bark as he levitated the remaining vials into his own extra-dimensional bag.

“Now one last thing,” Leo said. “I’ve arranged for us to meet with a buffer before we enter.”

“Leonardo, lad!” Rory exclaimed. “I like yer thinking. What kind of buffer are we talking about?”

“A level 41 Amplificationist. Just to be clear, we will be meeting this person on our way there. He’ll cast his buffs on all of us and we’ll head straight to the dungeon afterward without him.”

“Is it a good idea to include more people in this?” the ever-cautious Louie asked.

“I’ve worked with this person before. He’s discreet and professional. He doesn’t scan, he doesn’t ask questions. He simply provides his services and that’s it. As long as he gets paid, he doesn’t care what four individuals might do, all buffed up in the middle of the night.”

“So is this like a buffs-for-sale service?” I asked, surprised at the ingenuity of the business model.

“Exactly. I couldn’t find a higher-level buffer I could trust at such short notice, but at least he’s already upgraded his class a second time.”

“That’s great, Leo,” Louie reassured him. “How much time will we have afterward?”

“Twenty minutes until the boons start expiring. We won’t need more than thirty seconds to reach the warehouse, but we’ll need to move fast if we want to make the most of it.”

“Each layer has a corridor that leads to the next one, with three closed rooms on each side,” Rory said looking at the schematics. “We should have enough time to clear all three layers before our buffs run out.”

Leo nodded and we felt the car slow down, pulling up next at the curb outside of a local 24/7 burger joint. Just outside the restaurant, a dark figure dressed in blue jeans and a black leather jacket was leaning against the wall. When Leo lowered the window, the figure started walking toward us and I could see it was a man with dark curly hair, a bushy beard, and wild thick sideburns.

“Mr. DiFiore,” the man said as he reached the car and leaned on the windowsill. “Shall we proceed?”

There was something different about this man. His characteristics were rough, almost primal. His hands were the only part of him that was visible under his clothes, but even there he was extremely hairy, and the way he looked at us reminded me of