Ultimate Level 1

“I can’t believe we made it out of there alive,” Tanila stated as they left the castle in the carriage Dagon had picked out for them. “I mean, he’s paying for a wedding fit for a royal family member. Not only that but he is allowing us to go past the 50th floor in the tower and going to let you have access to his forge.”

“How is that barely making it out of there alive?” Max asked.

“Just earlier, I was almost certain we were about to fight the king and his guards. Had that happened…”

Her voice trailed off, and her face started to pucker up like she was sucking on a lemon.

“Yeah… that was a bit tense,” Fowl said. “Still, I’m grateful to each of you for standing with us there. Who knew he was going to do that?”

“We should have known,” Batrire replied. “I should have known… I could sense something was wrong when we were told he would be meeting us. No dwarf ever gets that kind of treatment without the king getting what he wants.”

“Yet he didn’t. Ockrim must love us for things to play out like they did.”

Max smiled at his friend, who never lost his faith in the dwarven god.

“So what’s the plan?” Cordellia asked. “We got a month till a wedding, a tower that needs climbing, and permission to go above and beyond the 50th floor. Are we ready for this?”

***

“Good luck today, and be safe.”

Max nodded at Fudumod as he waved.

The dwarf had informed them a week ago they were free to attempt any floor but to just let him know when they were going to attempt the harder ones.

Today they had decided it would be the first day.

“Hopefully we’ll see you soon,” Fowl said, getting a staff to the back.

“Don’t talk like that!” Batrire exclaimed. “Gods, not even in the tower and already sounding like things are going to go wrong.”

Ignoring the bantering pair, Max touched the shimmering portal and selected the 51st floor.

His eyes began to work, and the gentle breeze he felt blowing against his skin was pleasant. The scent he had smelled and the sounds of the waves had informed him beforehand what was in store.

“Bah, a water floor? Really?”

Fowl’s complaint came as the others appeared next to him.

“Ug… I just got my beard waxed,” Batrire muttered.

“We’re not quitting,” Cordellia stated. “We’ve waited so long to attempt this again. Besides, I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I’m really ready for some real experience.”

And I need more power. It has been far too long.

“Alright,” Max called out, his weapon and shield in hand. “I’ll scout. Let’s see what we got and go from there.”

Everyone got ready as Batrire cast her buff.

Before them was a large ocean, gentle waves crashing against the white sand over and over.

“Looks like it’s going to be underwater,” Fowl said as Max prepared to head into the crystal-blue water. “You think we’ll see more mermaids or mermen or whatever?”

Shrugging, all he could do was smile and tap his boot with the butt of his weapon.

“Only one way to find out.”

***

“Hurry up and kill it!” Max shouted.

“I’m trying!” Cordellia yelled at him, arrows moving through water only because of the magical nature of her bow.

Dozens of fish all larger than Max, each with a mouth full of sharp jagged teeth, were floating upside down, blood discoloring the water as three more came at the party.

Max was near the group as Fowl tried to get between the fish and the team.

Thin ice and stone spears sped through the water, impaling the fish as they approached.

Each attack was effective, especially considering the underwater environment they were in, yet none were strong enough to one-shot these fish.

Still, Max didn’t do anything unless he had to, watching the team fight off the fish he pulled to them.

You are making them work for this.

We both know that they couldn’t do this floor on their own, and I’m not sure even with Dexic they could complete this. Look at how many hits it takes for each of them.

Of course your boots kind of make this a bit of a joke.

Smiling to himself, Max knew Bob was right. Each of his attacks were like normal, and he could move through the water in any direction as if he was on land.

“Taunting!”

Fowl’s skill activated, and the trio of fish that were going to swim past him turned and chomped onto the metal-clad warrior.

More blood filled the water as they injured themselves, holes from the arrows and spears adding to the bloody mess.

“A little help?”

“No. You need to do this,” Max replied, ignoring the grunt from their archer in response to her question.

When all three were dead, and they collected the gems that had dropped, Max watched the four, who all still seemed a bit frustrated.

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“Don’t get me wrong, I understand why you’re making us do this,” Tanila said, “but it is taking forever without you doing as much as usual.”

“Which is the problem,” Max replied. “You all need to be able to do things without me. Not that I plan on suddenly vanishing again, but if you want to be the adventurers we claim to be, I can’t just run us through every tower floor and not make sure you are all ready for what comes next.”

“He’s right,” Fowl muttered. “This wasn’t fun, but we survived. I mean… it hurt but not as bad as I was afraid it might. And both of you have really improved on your abilities and skills in the water.”

Hearing their warriors praise them, the duo who had done most of the work seemed to relax slightly.

“Gods, I hate it when I can’t tell if he put points in intelligence,” Batrire teased.

Rolling his eyes, Fowl turned to look in the direction Max had been taking them.

“How many more?”

“Let’s get three or four more packs, and after that I can do the rest. Still, you’ve improved. A lot.”

“Only because I had to. Thank you for helping me remember that.”

Giving his friend a gentle shove sent him moving through the water.

“Bah, stop that,” Fowl grunted. “It’s almost as bad as being on ice.”

***

“I’m impressed,” Fudumod said. “You managed to defeat the 51st floor in a single day? Should I ask how bad it was?”

“Only if you want me to put some sand down your pants,” Cordellia replied with a scowl. “Gods I hate water floors.”

The dwarf winced and shook his head.

“No, I think I’ll pass. I don’t need help chafing. Still… it’s an impressive feat to say the least. Finishing any floor that fast, let alone this one, isn’t something any could really hope for. How much stronger were they?”

Max motioned to Fowl and the others, not having an answer that would be worth giving.

“It’s hard to say,” their mage replied. “Being in water makes all the spells and attacks harder to do as much damage. Add to the extra armor and damage they seem to do, it creates a few other problems. For… another group, they might find this one worth passing on.”

Chuckling, Fudumod nodded. “You say that as if it’s not an insult to other groups, and yet I know you don’t mean it that way.”

“She’s right,” Max said. “Those things were dangerous, and in a pack it could get out of hand fast. They would swarm a mage, healer, and ranger quickly. Without heavy armor to handle their bites, one would be chomped to bits quickly.”

“I see… Well, thank you for that information. There will be many who will be grateful for that advice.”

Turning back to his book, Fudumod seemed to suddenly not care that they were standing close to him.

“I guess we can go home and get a shower?” Cordellia asked.

“Yes please… all of us smell like fish,” Batrire replied. “Fowl especially.”

***

It took eight days to grind out the experience in the twenties for all of them to achieve the third 2.5% permanent bonus on top of the levels.

Max shook his head as he watched Tanila crush the last red gem. She sighed as the red aura of magic washed over her fingers and into her body.

“What’s wrong?”

Forcing a smile, he shrugged.

“Nothing, just admiring how beautiful you look.”

A groan came from Fowl, who tossed a pair of ogre testicles in his bag.

“Oh yeah, she looks amazing, standing there, getting all the attention while I’m over here, knee deep in this mess harvesting these things for Erwini.”

“But you’re the closest one to their midsection,” Batrire replied with a grin. “I mean… besides, you also have the most practice out of all of us.”

Giving the woman he was engaged to the middle finger, he trudged over to the last one and began working on retrieving its privates.

“Red ogres… that seems so weird,” Cordellia stated with a tsk of her tongue. “I mean… I’ve heard of them but never seen them. The tower sure is strange in how it gives different things to different people.”

“I’m just glad we’ve seen other groups,” Tanila said as she moved to where Max was. “It’s nice knowing there are other groups facing similar things.”

“Makes the grinding a little bit slower,” their ranger replied. “Still, you’re right. For a while the tower seemed so barren and empty when we were in Peltagow.”

I can sense what you’re thinking. Do you think she is changing?

How you do that scares me sometimes… still I’m not sure. Have you noticed how much she has changed each time the power for the level fills up? Is it just me, or am I wrong?

Based on what I can recall from your memories, she has acted more… excited each time. Of course the others have been a little more excited as well. Perhaps it isn’t just her, and you’re overly focused on how she is doing.

Regardless, you need to focus on tomorrow. We’ll be taking on the next floor in the dungeon, and you need to see how your team does against stronger opponents. We both know that the 51st floor played against their strengths. If you find another floor like that, it might be worth just doing all the work to prevent any potential unnecessary risks.

That’s what I like about you, Bob… you seem to actually care for my friends.

A weird sensation like a chill went through him, and no reply came.

“Max?”

Tanila’s voice made him shake his head, seeing her looking at him with a perplexed look.

“Sorry… talking with Bob.”

“Ahh. Anything we need to know?”

“Just that tomorrow is a big day, and we need to be ready. He feels if the floor is another one like yesterday I might be better off doing all the hard work and us not taking risks since it plays against our weaknesses.”

“But wouldn’t that prevent us from getting better at fighting when we are weak?”

Max gave Fowl a side-eye glance and shook his head.

“That is probably one of the smartest things you’ve said all day.”

“Bah, you know where you can shove it,” their warrior exclaimed. “I’m just saying, while I didn’t enjoy the water floor, it was good to see how we handled it without you. Sure, we couldn’t have done it, but it gave us real practice in a situation where I never worried about their lives because you were there.”

“Almost like we were training with Tom,” Cordellia added.

Groaning, Max glared at their ranger.

“Please don’t say I’m like Tom… I’m nothing like him.”

“Bah, get over yerself,” Fowl muttered. “Both of you want to help us get better, and each of you makes it painful when we have to learn new things.”

Tanila was chuckling, and Max saw the grin that even Batrire was hiding.

“Forget it. Let’s finish this floor and then head to the Faction. I’ve got a date with a forge.”

“The other love of his life,” Tanila muttered. “If only he wanted to…” She stopped talking, and her face turned red.

“I can finish that statement if you want,” their warrior teased.

“Fowl Hammerfall! Don’t you dare!” Batrire shouted.

Thankful that everyone was distracted for a moment, Max tried to understand the feeling he felt inside.

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