Extension

by Vladislav Kamenskiy

  Chapter 17

  "What are we going to do next?" Rina clung to the hole into the fence.

  “We’re lucky that Alex threw an explosion at the neighboring fence and we don’t have to go back to the public house. The most important is that our tenant is alive." Trix whispered.

  “I think Skull will kill Mary now and we will finally get rid of her,” Rina said happily.

  “I don't want it to happen,” Trix shook her head. "I still didn't realize what love is."

  “This is probably some kind of another useless feeling,” Rina waved away.

  "Alex, where are you?" Skull shouted angrily. "Come here and fight, or I'll kill your girlfriend!"

  'I'm not his..." Mary coughed but still found the strength to continue. "I'm not his girlfriend, stupid beast."

  "Alex, come here!" Skull shouted again, and then went up to Mary quickly and hit her under the ribs. “Did someone let you speak?” He said, looking at her suffering. “Alex, I think you heard about me and understand that I'm not bluffing,” Skull looked around the square, hoping to see Alex. Then he stared at Mary. "Where is he?"

  “I don't know,” Mary whimpered. "He threw me here and ran away."

  “Stupid bitch,” Skull shook his head. "Guard! Close her in prison," he ordered, and some guards came immediately and grabbed Mary. "Alex, if you don't come to the palace by tomorrow evening, I will kill your girlfriend very slowly and painfully! Make an alert and order all the guards to go and read it aloud," Skull ordered, turned around and walked towards the palace slowly. "Close the gate! He's still inside. We'll wait..."

  "They go away,” Rina whispered happily.

  “Come on, let's find Alex,” Trix suggested and climbed over the fence.

  “We should probably wait a little,” Rina said, looking around cautiously.

  "We need to help him as soon as possible!" Trix said confidently and carefully examined the nearest fence. "I don't see him... There!"

  "What?" Rina looked at her friend blankly.

  “Some boards are broken,” Trix explained. "He's there, let's go!" She climbed over the fence.

  “I am going around,” Rina frowned at the high fence and went to the public house.

  "Are you alive?" Trix rushed to Alex. “Drink it,” Trix poured a healing pot into his mouth.

  "Mary... Run..." Alex moaned. "Where am I? What happened?"

  “We're behind the fence, not far from the public house,” Trix gave Alex another healing pot. “You chose the wrong pot..."

  "Where are others?" Alex drank another healing pot and looked around.

  “Skull took Mary and went away,” Trix said.

  "Come here." Rina came out to them. "There is another entrance to the public house, so we can eat."

  “I want to drink something,” Alex stood up, rubbed his wounded hip and went to the door.

  "Will we look for Mary now?" Trix decided to ask.

  "Now I just want to get drunk,” Alex said irritably. "Barman, wine!" Alex shouted at the entrance and sit at the first table.

  “I saw drunk people before, while I was waiting for the tenant, they always behaved foolishly,” Trix looked at Alex accusingly.

  "This is exactly what I need!" Alex shouted nervously. “Wine will give me strength to do something stupid."

  "Don't tell me that you are going to save her," Rina frowned. “She is nnow with Skull and we cannot fight with him."

  “You don’t need to fight,” Alex shrugged his shoulders and smiled happily, when he saw wine. "Do you want?" He filled his cup and started drinking.

  “We are a team,” Trix looked at Alex confusedly. "Or do you have another cunning plan?"

  "There is no plan!" Alex shook his head and began to fill the cup again. "You have helped me a lot, and I don't want you to die. However, death isn't so awful for you."

  “I definitely don’t want to fight with Skull,” Rina nodded. "But unfortunately, you are a tenant and you can command."

  “This is why now you're not my assistants,” Alex said. "You can do what you want."

  “Do you want us to go back to your public house?” Rina clarified.

  "I want you to do what you want, consider it as an order." Alex said.

  "What do you mean?" Trix was shocked.

  “Well,” Alex put away the empty cup and took a jug of red wine. "Rina, you say that you don’t want to fight with Skull. You want to complete quests, play in a casino or go to a brothel."

  “That's right,” Rina nodded. "What is a brothel?"

  "Do you remember the game we played? When we were naked..."

  "Of course, we remember,” Trix nodded. "Unfortunately, we didn't play it again."

  “You can play this game in a brothel if only you have money,” Alex decided not to waste time and started drinking from the jug. "You are now free and you can do what you want, you can hire your team and complete quests."

  “But we need money to do it,” Rina said.

  “Of course,” Alex nodded and put lots of coins and crystals on the table. “Trix, count them.”

  “Two thousand and hundred coins,” Trix quickly sorted coins and crystals.

  “Well,” Alex set the jug aside and divided money. “Thousand coins for each of you.”

  “It’s so unusual to have money,” Rina put money into the pocket and stood up.

  “What are you going to do first?” Alex asked with interest.

  “I will go to the brothel,” Rina answered.

  “Great choice!” Drunk Alex shouted. “Don’t spend all the money immediately.” Alex winked. “Finally!” He shouted, having seen the barman with a new jug of wine. He stood up quickly, took the jug and started drinking. “Trix, why are you still here?”

  “I want to help you to save Mary,” Trix helped Alex to sit down.

  “She doesn’t love me!” Alex screamed disappointedly. “You didn’t hear our last conversation. You don’t need to go with me, because you won’t understand what love is. She doesn’t love me.”

  “But I heard that she said you should run away and shouldn’t fight with Skull,” Trix looked at Alex. “She cares about you.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Alex waved away. “Anyway, we will die in the battle. I don’t want Skull to kill somebody else.”

  “We can drink strengthening pots and attack suddenly...” Trix started explaining her plan.

  “We don’t have any pots left,” Alex whimpered. “All of them are broken.”

  “I have one strengthening and one universal pot,” Trix took out two bottles.

  “Your pot won’t make me strong,” Alex shook his head. “And we have no money to buy new pots, and there is no time to complete quests either.”

  “If you spend all the money, you can buy one pot,” Trix suggested.

  “Did Mary really tell I should run away?” Alex asked hopefully.

  “Yes,” Trix lied calmly and thought that it wasn't so hard.

  “Okay, let's go,” Alex tried to get up and fell to the floor. “Help...”

  “One moment,” Trix helped Alex and pulled him to the exit.

  “I'll kill that bastard, now I'm strong...” Alex mumbled and waved his free hand as if it was a sword, but as soon as he breathed the fresh air outside, he fell on his knees and vomited. “Shit happens,” Alex sat down, leaning his back against the wall of the public house. “Trix, bring me some water and give me a couple of minutes,” Alex asked, his voice sounded sober.

  “Wait a second,” the girl nodded and came with a jug with cool water in a moment.

  “Thank you,” Alex nodded, took a small sip and shook his head. “Do you think we have a chance?”

  “Come on, I remember where the shop is and can easily find it again,” Trix said confidently.

  “Yeah," Alex mumbled, drank more water and stood up.

  “How are you?” Trix looked at Alex questioningly.

  “I feel well,” Alex took some steps. “It is strange. As if he didn’t drink at all.”

/>   “I'm glad you're better,” Trix said. “Will we go?”

  “Perhaps,” Alex nodded. “Lead me if you believe that a simple warrior like me can kill a strong magician.”

  “I think we will succeed,” Trix said confidently. “This way,” she turned to a street that went down.

  “I like your optimistic mood,” Alex mumbled skeptically.

  “I remembered something from the times, when I was sitting in the public house,” Trix explained. “I heard that there is a balance of classes.”

  "And how will this help us?" Alex was intrigued and he caught up with Trix.

  “The magician kills the alchemist, the alchemist kills the warrior, the warrior kills the magician,” Trix said quickly.

  “If everything is so simple, why Skull is still alive and any warrior hasn't killed him?” Alex asked.

  “He goes everywhere with his alchemist, and she probably kills all the warriors,” Trix suggested.

  “So she will kill me too,” Alex sighed sadly.

  "You can call out Skull, and if he doesn't agree, call him a coward!" Trix suggested.

  “I'm not sure that it will work, but on the other hand...” Alex thought. "I don’t have much choice."

  “There's a shop over there,” Trix pointed forward.

  “We arrived quickly, maybe this isn't the right shop,” Alex doubted.

  “We went the other way, so we got faster,” Trix explained. "The tradesman is calling us already."

  “He hardly sees us,” Alex muttered uncertainly. "We are standing on the side street in the shade."

  “He waved again, he's probably inviting customers,” Trix suggested.

  “He is throwing something,” Alex guessed, looked closer and saw a small bucket a little far from the tradesman.

  “Now I see it too,” Trix nodded. "He throws pebbles into the bucket... Why is he doing it?" She looked at Alex blankly.

  “He's probably bored,” Alex shrugged his shoulders. "What were you doing while waiting for the tenant?"

  “Nothing,” Trix shook her head, and looked again at the strange tradesman. "He's probably making a new pot."

  "Don't you know what "boring" means?" Alex clarified and looked at the tradesman attentively. He threw another stone, missed and seemed to be annoyed. He expressed lots of emotions.

  "He behaves strangely,” Trix said worriedly. "Let's look for another shop."

  "Well, firstly, it is already getting dark, and I don’t want to hang out at night in an unknown city, secondly, he behaves strangely if he's a NPS..."

  “Do you mean that he’s a tenant?” Trix guessed.

  “I’m sure,” Alex smiled. “Let’s go.”

  “What do you want to buy?” The tradesman stood up quickly, when he saw Alex and Trix approaching him.

  “We won’t buy anything,” Alex shook his head. “We don’t have money, so we will probably kill you and take what we need.”

  "What an outrage!" The tradesman shouted and hid behind the counter. “I will call the guard right now, they will seize you and lock up in the palace."

  "Alex, run!" Trix shouted frightenedly and looked around.

  “Look at them,” the tradesman pointed at the guards, who were sitting fifty meters near the crossroad. "They will arrest you."

  “Call them,” Alex shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Alex, they’ll catch us. Even if we fight them, there will be a noise and Skull will come here, so we won't be able to attack him unexpectedly,” Trix said in alarm. “Alex, why aren't we running away?”

  “Let him call the guard,” Alex repeated and looked at the tradesman insolently.

  “I'll scream,” the tradesman looked at Alex and then showed his disappointment. "Can we talk inside?" he suddenly suggested. His voice changed. He opened the door and invited them to come in. "I will give you everything."

  “You agreed so quickly,” Alex muttered thoughtfully. "Trix, do you think we can trust him?"

  “I don't know,” Trix answered. "He looks very strange. Alchemists usually carry lots of pots with them, and he has only one..." Trix pointed at a bottle, which was changing its colour.

  “I keep all the potions inside the shop,” he answered.

  “I always carry my sword with me,” Alex looked thoughtfully at the bottle. "Trix, what about your bow?"

  “It's always with me,” the girl shook her head.

  "Do you remember Mary's friends and their conversation in the forest?" Alex asked unexpectedly.

  “Someone promised everyone will have a legendary weapon, he said that there is one weapon for every class and he knows how to get it. And then we killed them." Trix said.

  “Do you think this bottle looks like the legendary weapon?” Alex asked loudly to see tradesman's reaction.

  “Let's just go inside the shop and discuss everything,” the alchemist suggested frightenedly and looked down. "I am a peaceful man and I don't like conflicts."

  “If you were so kind, you could hardly got the legendary weapon,” Alex said. "You couldn't get it for well behavior."

  "What do you suggest?" The alchemist asked coldly and looked at Alec sharply.

  “I will go with you. Trix, run to the guards,” Alex ordered and pushed her.

  "But why?" Trix took some steps, obeying the order, but then she stopped and looked at Alex blankly.

  “You will wait for me for an hour. If I don’t go out, ask the guards to lead you to the palace. There you should tell Skull about this strange alchemist." Alex explained.

  “You're sly enough,” the alchemist put the hands in the pockets. “Well, it looks like it's your day today,” he turned and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the doorway.

  “Trix, don't try to save me if something goes wrong,” Alex went up to the girl and took her hand. "Thank you for everything. If I didn't come to you, it would mean that I'm dead. Just do what I ask you for, and then do what you want."

  “I'll do everything,” Trix nodded.

  "Alex, I'm waiting!" The tradesman called.

  "One minute." Alex shouted and went inside the shop quickly.

  Chapter 18

  "Where are you?" Alex drew his sword and stepped into the dark room.

  “Get away from the door,” the alchemist said. “There are no windows here, and I cannot make light in the complete darkness."

  “I can wait outside,” Alex suggested and closed his eyes immediately because of bright light.

  “Come in,” the alchemist put a bottle of liquid on the small table and sat down on a chair. "Sit down, let's talk," he pointed at the same chair near the table.

  “Wait,” Alex looked around warily. There were cabinets and shelves all around, completely clogged with bottles of various colors and sizes, a small round table stood in the middle of the room, and a single bed next to the wall.

  “You can sit by the door, so you can escape," the Alchemist chuckled. "But I won't do any harm to you."

  "It won't help anyway, yeah?" Alex said gloomily, hid the sword and sat at the table opposite the alchemist.

  “Who knows,” the alchemist smiled slyly. -"You move very fast, you’re probably upgrading agility, so you definitely have chances."

  "What is your name and level? How long have you been here?" Alex decided to start an ordinary conversation.

  “My name is Ince, I’m at sixty-third level, and I have been here for a very long time,” the alchemist answered quickly.

  "How long?: Alex looked at the alchemist distrustfully.

  “About a thousand years,” Ince shrugged his shoulders.

  "You're lying. That's a bad decision to lie at the beginning of conversation." Alex shook his head. "Even Skull isn't at such a high level."

  “Give me your hand,” Ince said.

  “Only without tricks,” Alex warned and clenched the fist.

  "I offer you to join my group,” Ince said quickly, and a gray cloud appeared over his hand. “Agree, idiot,” the alchemist hurr
ied him up.

  “I agree,” Alex said and saw Ince's level and equipment.

  “You're well upgraded,” the alchemist looked at Alex appreciatively.

  "Are we a team now?" Alex asked.

  “No, of course." Ince smiled. "I dismiss the team." He shouted.

  “I understood little,” Alex whispered.

  "Have you seen the level?" Ince asked coldly.

  "Yeah. Are you from the distant past?" Alex was interested. "I know that time goes faster here. So you're probably from the times when people lived in the caves and hunted for mammoths?"

  “No, such times never existed,” Ince said.

  “I was good at school and I know exactly what happened before,” Alex said confidently. "Firstly, the Earth was hot, then different animals appeared on it, dinosaurs..." Alex thought for a second. "Then as a result of evolution, modern animals appeared, and then humans...“

  "It's said that when we found a planet with a habitable atmosphere, we were very happy,” Ince smiled sadly and closed his eyes. "Initial observation showed the presence of a super-aggressive environment, formed as a result of thousands years of evolution. Ninety percent of everything that flew, crawled, or floated was dangerous for people. More than a hundred nuclear attacks were carried out on the planet, which destroyed all life on earth and in the air and dropped the Active Bacteria into the ocean, which destroyed everything except water. Fifty years later, the climate normalized, the radiation background became normal, and there was flora and fauna suitable for human beings. At first, the planet was supposed to be used as a resort, but then many rare chemical elements were found on it, they decided to turn it into a mine and the colonization began. For about fifty years everything went well, and then they attacked..."

  "Who? Aliens?" Alex asked sarcastically. "Were they some horrible creatures?"

  “There are no aliens and creatures. The attack was from the inside, so we didn't understand right away," Ince explained.

  "What do you mean?" Alex clarified.

  "It all started when two technicians began to argue and shout at each other, and then one pushed the other..." Ince sighed and repeated. "Just pushed. An emergency commission was immediately set up to investigate the incident..."