Ultimate Level 1

All five of them stood next to the chest that had appeared.

None had been as large as this one in all their time in the tower.

Power seemed to radiate from the purple metal, and the embossed depiction of the boss they had fought had both the blob on the top of the etching and the three-headed wolf underneath.

“My hands are shaking,” Fowl stated. “I mean, look at them.”

Everyone saw their warrior holding up a weapon hand and that it was shaking slightly.

“So who opens it?” Cordellia asked.

“Max,” Batrire said. “He did this.”

Glancing at all of them and seeing them nodding, he stepped forward and put his hand on the reward for the boss.

He shoved and then groaned when it didn’t open.

Chuckles came, and all of them quickly moved to where he stood, each with a hand on the lid.

A green shimmer of light appeared for a moment, and then a clicking sound came, causing the lid to open on its own.

Everyone leaned to look inside, eyes widening at what lay within the swirling purple dimensional space.

“There are those elixirs again,” Tanila said quietly.

Silence was her reply as the other four all bobbed their heads slowly.

“Look at the rings for each of us,” Cordellia. “The color is weird.”

“And look at the size of those crystals,” Max added. “Erwini is going to yank her beard out if we give her one.”

Inside were three larger-than-usual clear crystals, and while everyone seemed anxious to inspect the rings, all of them couldn’t take their eyes off the five golden elixirs that each knew granted a skill or more when drunk.

“So… who goes first?” Fowl asked.

Max didn’t wait, reaching in and taking the purple ring. He held it up for everyone to see. A light glow came from the metal band which had no markings. It was smooth to the touch and almost transparent.

“Not what I had meant,” their warrior stated. “Still, what’s it give?”

Ignoring his friend, Max slid the ring on his finger and took a deep breath.

“Let’s find out.”

[ Inspect Ring ]

*****

Ring of the Incorporeal

+ 10% to all stats

Incorporeal Form - The wearer can become incorporeal for 5 seconds, becoming immune to all physical and elemental damage. Psychic attacks are still effective. The wearer can move as normal. When the effect wears off, any object or spell that is within their Incorporeal form will be tested against their body strength. The weaker object will be destroyed. Cooldown 1 Month.

*****

“Uh… yeah… you all just need to get yours and see if they’re the same.”

As one they reached in, collecting the ring that they had just heard was too good to talk about.”

“10%?” Cordellia asked.

“Ogre nuts,” Batrire replied as she bobbed her head.

“This effect… it can be good or bad,” Tanila said. “I mean… provided one is able to get away from whatever is coming at them.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem I see,” Max replied. “Still, the 10% is a boon.”

“And we still have those elixirs,” their warrior said as he tapped the edge of the chest.

“Why don’t you go first?” Tanila said as she patted Cordellia’s arm.

Grinning, their archer reached in and pulled out the elixir that was marked for her. Slowly she pulled the stopper and then drank it all. When the beam of light shot from her mouth and she went rigid for a moment, she almost dropped to her knees afterward. Her hand snaked out and caught the edge of the chest, keeping her upright.

“Cordellia?”

“I’m fine. Thank you, Batrire. I… my bow skill… it got upgraded to legendary!”

“Dear gods,” Fowl said, almost choking. “Legendary!?”

Nodding, their ranger shook her head and smacked her lips.

“That taste… it’s like a perfectly ripe boobou.”

“I do love those,” Tanila stated as she motioned to their healer. “Go ahead.”

Nodding, Batrire reached in and took hers, and put on the same dazzling light show as their ranger had.

She had been careful, making sure to lean against the chest, and it held her up as her legs gave out too.

“Gods, we’re in for a treat!” Fowl exclaimed. “She never goes weak in the knees.”

“Sounds like you’re doing it wrong,” Cordellia teased.

After a few seconds, Batrire rubbed her lips and blinked half a dozen times.

“My heal… it’s legendary as well.”

This is interesting. What are you going to do this time?

As Fowl reached in for his turn, Max knew that Bob was right with that question.

So many of mine are already legendary. Do you think it could actually push something to godly, or would it just choose a random one and increase it?

I’m not certain, but still the growth potential is far beyond what most might imagine. Even you could do well with another skill of that rank.

Provided it’s not Baking.

Laughter echoed in his head as a beam of light shot out from Fowl’s mouth.

He managed to stay upright, and then a few tears started to roll down his cheek.

“Oh, I’m not sure I want to hear this,” Batrire said. “What did you get?”

“My shield skill. It’s legendary!”

He was smiling, and Batrire nodded.

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Max motioned to Tanila, who started to reach into the chest.

“Wait… my weapon got upgraded to legendary as well!”

His voice had been more of a squeak, and everyone turned to see that he was nodding quickly.

“I got two! Two legendary skills!”

“Ogre nuts,” Cordellia muttered as she came over and slapped the dwarf on the arm. “Congrats though, shorty.”

Even in a fog, he simply nodded and smiled as Batrire came and hugged him.

“Two legendary… that’s…”

“Broken,” Max said, finishing Tanila’s statement. “Time to see if the tower loves you.”

Shaking her head, their mage waited a moment, letting them celebrate Fowl’s success. After he seemed placated and everyone was done congratulating him, she took hers and drank it.

Her hands trembled, and the crystal vial fell to the ground.

Max could see her eyes watering, and she frowned, clutching her chest.

“What’s wrong?”

Shaking her head, she said nothing, burying her face against his shoulder and starting to cry.

Silence stretched on for over a minute as Max held her, feeling tears run through his shirt. All that time he held her tight,

When she was able to stop the outburst, she sniffed and wiped her face.

“My… red skill…”

A gasp came from Batrire, and Max nodded.

Pulling her close, he held her for a few more minutes, doing what he could to comfort her.

How bad is that?

For her? I cannot imagine. She is strong, but the power that skill will now have… it would be difficult for me to resist if I had not evolved. Anyone else… they would crumble beneath it. For those without real power… she could walk through a town and render the population into empty shells .

Knowing the truth of what she could do and how Tanila obviously knew that now, he held her just a little tighter.

I guess that will make my decision easier for now.

“Forgive me… it’s just—”

“You don’t need to apologize, dear,” Batrire said, rubbing her friend’s arm. “We can only imagine how you feel. Each of us knows how much you dislike that skill. Even at that rank, it doesn’t change who you are to us.”

“But it does change me,” she whispered. “I can already feel the urge to use it.”

Max lifted her chin with a finger.

“I know you can resist it. The woman I love is stronger than a skill. You taught me that someone can overcome any kind of desire.”

A smile Max knew was forced appeared, and she nodded.

“You need to use yours.”

“No, I can wait.”

“No you can’t,” Tanila replied. “We do this as a team. You know the rules.”

Seeing how determined she looked, Max fought the urge to argue and gave her a quick kiss and then moved to the chest. Taking the elixir out he studied it in his hand.

Here goes nothing.

Drinking it for the first time wasn’t like anything he could have begun to imagine.

Power erupted through his entire being. No amount of sleep or rest ever made him feel as good as he did at this moment.

And the taste in his mouth brought him to a place of peace.

No matter how crazy it seemed, the taste that danced across his tongue right now was one he hadn’t experienced in ages.

“My grandmother’s cookies…”

Even in the midst of all that, the notification that waited for him finally caught his attention.

I do not think the others were given this.

[ Skill Upgrade Granted ]

[ Multiple Skill Available for Upgrade ]

[ Choose One Skill to Upgrade to Legendary ]

[ Armor Crafting ]

[ Regeneration ]

[ Blink ]

[ Alchemy ]

“Max?”

“Uh… So…”

“Dear gods,” Fowl muttered. “Please don’t tell me you got two or more legendary skills.”

Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and let it out.

“I get to choose between four skills to make legendary.”

“Seriously?” Cordellia asked. “Which ones?”

“Armor Crafting, Regeneration, Blink, and Alchemy.”

“Well that’s easy,” their warrior said. “Armor crafting so that you can make us armor too.”

“Why not potions?” Batrire asked. “Imagine the elixirs and things he could create. I mean… perhaps what we just had is craftable.”

As the two dwarves started to discuss which crafting might be better, Max looked at their archer, who just shrugged.

“I’m not one to have an opinion. Honestly, I’m not certain, and part of me doesn’t want to be responsible for what you pick.”

Tanila shrugged as he waited for her to speak.

“Ask Bob. He will probably know best.”

I don’t have to pick right now, do I?

There is nothing that appears you do. Still… I can see three good options. Blink isn’t a bad skill for most. The cooldown is terrible, and perhaps if it was legendary rank, it would be better. However, that means you’re taking a risk on a skill you currently have.

Provided I have souls.

Correct. What is your initial thought?

Max closed his eyes, blocking out the sound of his friends, who continued to seem experts on which skill might serve them better.

Armor Crafting means I might be able to use the dragon scale I was given or any of the other ones we have. Each of those has a lot of potential, and it would be hard to turn down the ability to make armor just as powerful as what the weapons appear to be.

We both know if the ability scales like Weapon Crafting did, then I could help my friends be in a much better position than where we are right now.

And since you are planning on returning to Igarra’s world, it would allow you the chance to make things without having to reveal your hand here. Suddenly crafting legendary armor might cause people to ask questions you don’t want to answer. Especially in a dwarven city.

That brings us to Alchemy. We both know there is potential in the skill, yet most never get it to that level because of how hard it is to progress, let alone the required materials. Would it be possible to craft these elixirs as we go through the tower?

I don’t know and yet… I would be certain there are rumors of stories of alchemists of old who were able to. If that is the case, then it would be simply finding the materials. Similar to your current situation, none of what your Faction has is worthy of the skill you possess because most do not progress far enough into the tower.

Then we have Regeneration. How many times has that skill saved my life?

If I am honest, it may be the greatest skill out of all three choices. Since it became epic, the ability for you to recover was far greater than at rare. This means we are looking at a potentially exponential growth of healing. We both know there are stories of creatures who had this kind of power and the difficulty heroes had of taking them down.

Similar to Igarra… one has to drain them of mana to prevent them from being able to keep healing.

Correct.

Opening his eyes, Max saw all of them patiently standing there.

Smiling, he gave them a quick nod.

“Figured it out?” Fowl asked.

“I did.”

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