Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 390: The First 2.5%

Three days flew by quickly, and the boss on the fifth floor was a three-headed undead variation of the twynhart. Even with Max killing it, no skills had been acquired.

Only two yellow crystals had been their reward for such a kill.

Now, on the seventh floor, Max smiled as everyone held out their hands, a yellow gem gently pinched between their fingers.

“Ready?”

“Gods, yes!” exclaimed Fowl.

“For once, our warrior is right,” Cordellia added, still bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

“Then let’s do this,” Max said.

All five crushed the tiny object, a swirl of yellow-colored energy wrapping around their fingers, quickly absorbing through their skin.

Each sighed, and they all grinned as they stood in a dark forest, tall trees towering over them.

“It did,” Batrire said. “Almost as if it was something completely different. Like more power than usual.”

“Holy goblin nuts!” Fowl shouted. “Look at your stats!”

[ Status Check ]

*****

Max Hoste

19-Year-old Human Male

Level 1

Exp 453/1000

Tower Experience: 51.68%

STR: 1123+1831

DEX: 1101+1780

CON: 1047+1721

INT: 1018+1626

WIS: 1005+1607

Defense of the Dragon - 25%

Defense of the Demon - 25%

Demon Essence: - 1682

World Champion: - 20% Stat Increase

Bloodline: - 20% of the required 100% unlocked

Tower Stat Bonus: - 2.5%

*****

It’s crazy… to think that 30+ stats were earned just by a few days of quickly grinding monsters any of us can easily solo.

Imagine what the stat increase will be like when you achieve the same effect from the other floors.

Chuckling to himself, Max watched his friends, and their eyes seemed to light up as each of them scanned their status screens.

Resetting ten levels of experience at a time was the best solution. I’m glad we could stop Fowl before he did all 50 levels of tower experience.

Perhaps one day he will invest a few points in intelligence, though I’m not certain he can afford as many as he might need. Perhaps this 2.5% will do for now.

“Why are you laughing?”

Coughing twice to stop himself, Max waved his had dismissively at Cordellia.

“Oh, I am just thinking about Fowl and how he almost gave up all his experience. Bob mentioned how the small addition of 2.5% to his intelligence might just help him be smart enough to prevent such a mistake again.”

A finger rose on their warrior’s hand as everyone began laughing, their voices and the sound of amusement carrying across the darkness of the tower floor they were in.

Off in the distance, a howl and a screech called out in reply.

“I guess we’re done farming?” Batrire asked. “We want to head back to the Faction and reset ourselves?”

“Or we could do the boss on the ninth floor real quick and then head back,” Max replied.

“I do like loot.”

“Hey, that’s my line!” Fowl quipped.

“I guess it’s settled,” their mage stated. “Lead on, oh warrior, with the improved intelligence stat.”

***

[ Skill Consumed is of Lower Rank of Current Skill ]

[ Power stored for future use ]

[ Skill Consumed is of Lower Rank of Current Skill ]

[ Power stored for future use ]

Like a skilled butcher, Max continued to hack off pieces from the corpse of the twenty-foot-tall werewolf he had beheaded in a single attack.

Near him, Fowl and Cordellia were grabbing the pieces he had freed from the main body and quickly storing them.

“Seems a bit underwhelming,” their dwarven warrior complained. “I mean, you didn’t even activate a skill.”

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“Yeah… I was a bit surprised as well,” Max stated as he glanced down at the rest of the body that was starting to dissolve. “Still, we got all of its appendages and its head. I’m sure Erwini will be happy about that.”

“She might faint if you pull the head out just right,” Batrire called out. “Watching that thing bounce along this stone floor was almost comical for a moment.”

“Anything?” Tanila asked when she got near him.

“No. Everything was a lower rank.”

Nodding, she motioned to where a chest had appeared on the altar that sat in the middle of the clearing.

“Definitely anticlimactic,” their mage muttered. “Still, we can’t complain.”

Their ranger jogged to where the chest was and opened the black metal lid.

“Goblin nuts! Crystals again!”

“No loot?” Fowl asked as he moved to join her.

“No… seems the tower doesn’t love Max after all.”

Ignoring their jokes, their resident bald human retrieved the two yellow crystals and watched as the chest disappeared and a portal winked into being.

“Who knew we had two loot whores?”

“Hey now!” Fowl replied, wagging a finger at him. “Don’t be calling me a whore!”

“What about me?”

“He can call you whatever he wants,” their warrior called out, already moving toward the portal.

“Come back here you hairy… dwarf!”

Batrire sighed as she watched the pair disappear through the glowing blue exit and then turned to where Max and Tanila stood.

“He’s grown up a little, hasn’t he?”

“He has,” Max replied. “Both of us commented on that since we arrived. Right now I think he’s just hiding behind the frustration and anxiety of his parents and waiting to see them. Getting to do what we’re doing is good for him.”

“I’ll say. Knowing I got a free 2.5% boost to my stats for a few days of safe grinding is enough to make anyone smile.”

Nodding, Max motioned to the portal.

“You better get out there and check on him. Only Ockrim knows if he’ll have all his teeth by the time you do.”

“Bah, I know you really want me to leave you both alone!” their healer stated as she moved across the worked stone ground. “Still, enjoy yourselves!”

“He will!” Tanila called out.

“Oh really?” Max asked with a grin.

“You better!”

***

Clearing her throat for a third time, Erwini scratched her chin, apparently tired of how many times she had yanked on her beard.

“Almost a whole body… I… damn that old man,” she muttered.

Looking away from the boss’s arms, legs, and head, the Faction leader spun on her heel, her green eyes almost dancing in the light.

“You have easily done what was asked, and so now it’s my turn. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the vault with the reagents and you can look through them.”

“The vault?” Max asked. “Everett only allowed us inside his once.”

Bobbing her head twice, the dwarf snapped her finger, and the pair of dwarves who had been almost drooling over the items laid out on the table and floor pulled out some knives and donned leather aprons.

“You all can follow me. They will handle the next part, and most don’t wish to watch what will happen.”

After moving through a few different hallways and down a couple of stairs, Erwini stopped before a section of a hallway and waved her hand before a brick.

Runes began to shimmer and appear, and soon, a doorway appeared. She flashed a grin at the party and pushed against the wall, opening up into a room that had been hidden behind it.

A small shimmering barrier stood at the entrance.

“You have a dimensional pocket?”

Gone was her smile, and both eyebrows came together as Erwini looked at him.

“You know what this is? I mean… I shouldn’t be surprised, but few would know what that barrier is unless they have seen one before. And you specifically said that Everett took you to his. How?”

“It was a giant metal door, thicker than a dwarf.”

She chuckled and shook her head.

“That wouldn’t be the real vault, just the lesser one. Most likely then he has the vault for the council set in a place like this. It would make sense as they have a few things even they won’t want people to know about.”

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Max tried not to curse.

“I guess some secrets can’t be shared, and this was one of those Everett felt at the time he couldn’t.”

Her frown grew for a moment, and then she grunted.

“I guess I’ll just have to tease him about this. Regardless, let’s get inside so I can shut this door.”

Leading the way, Max grinned as a few gasps came after she passed through, her body seeming to shift and change the moment she did.

“What—”

“Just go inside,” Max told Cordellia, who was standing there, about to ask a question he couldn’t answer. “It’s safe, trust me.”

“So many secrets,” Tanila whispered. “One day, you’ll have to stop forgetting everything you have failed to share.”

“Bah, hopefully, we can return soon to the other place,” Max informed her as they let everyone else go first. Then I can show you rather than simply telling you.”

Smiling, she nodded and moved through, leaving him the last one in the hallway.

It’s different and yet the same. You can sense it.

This one isn’t as strong as the one back at Buwingrid’s forge. Because of our world?

Who knows. For now, let’s see if these dwarves have anything of value we can use.

Nodding at no one but himself, Max moved through the portal, finding himself in a thirty-by-thirty-foot room that was lined with different chests and shelves along the walls.

In the middle was a single stone table, and a familiar sensation washed over him.

“You okay?”

Erwini’s question caught him off-guard, and he saw her puzzled look.

“Just not what I had imagined,” he lied. “Perhaps I thought it would be… bigger?”

“Bah, you and every man are always worried about size!”

A chortle came from Fowl, who went quiet when Max sensed Batrire elbow the dwarf.

“Now then, the wall on your right has chests with reagents. Feel free to inspect them and see if you can find something you like. Just leave it inside and let me know. Trying to take it out yourself might not be the best plan if you wish to keep your hand.”

“Booby-trapped chests?” Fowl asked.

“What kind of Faction would we be if we couldn’t protect our items? Beyond a room that most couldn’t find, even if one did, they wouldn’t like the few traps we have in here. This brings me to my reminder again: Don’t try to take anything. Only a few of us in the Faction have access, and I don’t want to have to clean up blood in here.”

With her sharp instructions heard, Max moved to the wall and began to open the chests one at a time. Most were filled with various organized items, and the first few were designed for leather working. Up next were three chests filled with alchemy items.

We could start to make some stuff… though I’m not certain I want to do that right now.

Unless you’re feeling the need to use the ogre testicles for something, it’s not a good use of your time. Even now, you know that perhaps you could make one or two elixirs with a single point or two of a stat.

Humming to himself, he continued inspecting each chest and froze when he tried to open one.

It was a white metal chest that seemed to vibrate with power. His trap-detection skill had stopped him, not giving off a red glow but warning him of something.

“Erwini?” he asked, pointing at it with his hand.

“Oh, yeah, that one! Give me a second!”

She moved quickly to where it sat on a stone shelf and lifted it, carrying it to the table and then hesitated a moment before lifting the lid.

“Wait… why didn’t you open this one?”

“Call it a tower climber’s intuition. It’s different from the others not just in the color of the metal but also seems to give off a… an aura.”

“I have no doubt that is because of what’s inside,” she muttered as the dwarf peered in for herself. “You can’t have this… it would take a lot more before I might consider giving this to anyone. A lot more.”

Moving to where she stood, Max crowded next to her and glanced inside, his eyes widening at what was so precious.

We need that.

Yes… yes we do.

“What’s in the box?” Fowl asked.

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