Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 189: Rewards For Winning

“I… I got two skills…” Cordellia whispered. “Two skills… both rare grade.”

Fowl let out a whoop and held out a hand for a high five.

Max leaned over and took care of him since their archer was still in amazement and unable to process what had just happened.

“What skills are they, dear?” Batrire asked, moving up next to their newest member and gently squeezing her arm.

Glancing down at Batrire, Cordellia nodded slowly. “I got Elemental Shot and Poison Arrow.”

“Those are really good!” Tanila exclaimed. “Congrats Cordellia!”

The elf nodded and turned, staring at the group again and shaking her head slowly.

“Why? I mean, I think I know why, but why? Each of you knows what one of those is worth. You could have easily–”

“Killed you? Taken it? Forced you to hand it over?” Max asked, interrupting Cordellia.

Batrire squeezed the confused archer’s arm again and laughed. “You know the answer, yet I think you’re too afraid to say it, so I will. You’re part of our family. You are new to all this, but we don’t care. Seth said it already. Without you, we probably would have turned tail and ran.”

Cordellia nodded and tried to let go of the doubt in her heart. Max could tell that somewhere inside, she kept a story hidden. Each of them had one.

“How about this?” Max asked. “From now on, if you feel you’re not worthy of an item, we’ll discuss it as a group, and if we vote that you are, you can’t complain when we make you take it.”

Chuckles rang out from the group, and Cordellia smiled and bobbed her head.

“Okay, now it’s time for the rest of us!” Fowl stated loudly as he moved to the chest and reached in, grabbing the bracelet that was meant for him.

He pulled back a very thin tan bracelet, less than a quarter inch wide and maybe that in thickness. A worm was etched around it, just like the one they had just fought. The detail was amazing, even with the tiny amount of space given for it.

“Holy goblin nuts,” Fowl muttered as he slipped it on.

“Going to share those stats?” Batrire asked as Fowl started to smile.

“Maybe later,” he replied, winking at her. “Now, take your item and see if you want to share first.”

Huffing, Batrire frowned and reached over the edge, pulling back her hand with a tan ring, matching Fowls in size and design. Slipping it onto her finger, it adjusted, her eyes widened, and she started to laugh.

“Seriously,” Tanila said immediately. “I want to know what I’m missing!”

Batrire motioned to the chest with her head. “Find out.”

Max and Cordellia watched as Tanila mimicked Batrire almost exactly. The moment Tanila slipped the ring on her finger, Max was certain her face would break from how big her smile was.

“I guess you’ll need to be the one to share,” Cordellia said with a groan. “Are they always like this?”

Max shook his head and reached in, pulling the bracelet out and grinned. “Not often but it has to be good if they are.”

Slipping the bracelet over his wrist, Max felt the power that entered his body.

[Inspect Bracelet]

*****

Ring of the Minor Sand Worm

• 10 Strength, Constitution
• Minor Acid Resistance

Bonded

*****

Max couldn’t help but laugh. Sure, the stats were nice, but the fact that everyone had watched him almost dissolve until nothing but bones remained made him understand what was funny now.

“It’s because I’m guessing each of their items also has a Minor Acid Resistance effect,” Max informed Cordellia, who immediately started chuckling now that she understood the joke.

“Hopefully, that will keep ya from looking like that again,” Fowl teased. “Now then, what are we going to do about the last two items? I don’t need a chest for a while.”

Tanila and Batrire both shook their heads.

“I guess it means you and me,” Max said as he motioned to the chest. “Pick one, and I’ll take the other.”

Cordellia started to open her mouth but stopped when she saw Tanila begin to frown. Instead, she smiled and reached in, tapping one of the changing items before pulling her hand out.

Thirty seconds later, she held a tan-colored piece of leather with extra padding. The padding looked a little like the outside of the wurm's body, yet it was flexible.

“I’m not going to lie, that is ugly as can be, but at least it doesn’t have a massive spike in the shoulder.”

Cordellia frowned as the other four all laughed at Fowl’s comment.

“Back in my days when fashion didn’t matter and all I cared about was stats,” Max said.

“Wait, you care about fashion?” Cordellia asked, rewarded with more laughter from the group.

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Max ignored her comment and leaned over, touching the last item before retrieving the larger yellow gems to give to Everett.

When the timer ended, and a piece of tan armor appeared in his hands, Max took a moment to study it.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tanila asked, moving closer to the rest of the group.

The chest faded away, allowing them easier access to Max as he held out the chest piece.

“It is! Those are tiny loops of the worm's protective scales. Quickly tell me what it offers!”

Max laughed as he stored the armor, and it immediately appeared on his chest.

“Ew, that’s ugly,” Fowl declared as he waved his hands.

[Inspect Bracelet]

*****

Ringed Chest of the Sand Worm’s Skin

• 10 Strength, Constitution
• 10% Magic Resist
• 20% Crushing Damage Bonus

Bonded

*****

“Wow… that’s kind of nice. Definitely going to keep that over my old one.”

“What do you usually do with your old gear?” Cordellia asked.

“I’ve donated a lot of it. Actually, I gave away any I could. I found someone who worked with new adventurers and wanted to give them a leg up.”

Their archer glanced at the others, who nodded.

“Wow, now I feel bad for selling my gear.”

“Don’t feel bad,” Tanila said. “He does that, not the rest of us. For some reason, our resident human has a heart two times bigger than anyone else, unlike our dwarf warrior, who has a heart two times too small.”

“Bah, you're all a bunch of meanies,” Fowl protested while pointing at the tower portal that had appeared. “Let’s go home. My whole body is sweating from all the sun I’ve gotten.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, ready to return and rest.

With three days off for all of the cooldowns to reset, Max was already planning on what he was going to do.

“So no one wants to tell me the best way to kill a wurm besides some fishing strategy?” Everett asked, scowling at the group.

The team sat on the couches, smiling as Max demonstrated for the Faction leader once again how to drag items through the sand.

“Once it opens up, blast the inside of its mouth. Use the pillars for distance and just keep repeating. Honestly, though, if you had something explosive, you could probably kill it a lot easier.”

Tom shook his head, chuckling at the thought of seeing that in action. “It’s a smart move, actually, and you know it. Now I’m glad I continued to give Seth all the rope he kept asking for.”

Nodding, Max pointed at the four large gems sitting on the tiny coffee table. “Are boss gems going to always be that size?”

Everett nodded, his scowl gone as his eyes feasted upon the quantity they had brought back. “Usually, it’s only one or two, occasionally a rare three. So you bringing back four is incredible!”

Max tried to not laugh as Tom and Everett took their seats on the couch across from him. The others had all gone to shower and change. Max didn’t want to mention that he felt about as clean as possible, having received new skin all over.

“So you passed your first test,” Tom said, tapping his fingers on the arm of the couch. “How did Cordellia do?”

“She was amazing,” Max replied. “Honestly, I don’t think we could have gotten a better person for our team. She knows her stuff and has held her own. It was because of her that we beat the boss today.”

Leaning forward, Everett studied Max’s face and tried to fight back a frown. “You’re serious. I can tell by your tone and that grin of yours.”

Max nodded and pointed at Tom. “You were right. It was our first real test. Knowing that what was inside that area of rocks could possibly kill us all was the first real gut check. Having Cordellia there made us realize just how scared most tower climbers must be.”

Max pulled out a map he had sketched and was going to give to Everett when he left. Tapping the area where they moved through the mountain and into the bowl, Max frowned.

“Once we dropped in, there wouldn’t be a time to really turn back. Sure, we could make our way out, but it would be hard and dangerous, especially if the boss was chasing us. The real problem was commitment. Tanila and I knew if we quit, Cordellia would break. She was tired of always giving in. You could see she was almost done before it even started. That spurred us on not to give in to that fear.

“Whose to say we would ever find a boss we felt ready for? How many months or years would we grind out, trying to get stronger? That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Factions only have so many groups that make it so far before they give up. That’s why level fifty-one of the tower is the breaking point.”

The two older men looked at each other and smiled.

“Is that what Tanila told you?” Tom asked.

“Not specifically, but I see that now. It all makes sense,” Max replied. “For the Golden Axe Faction to actually have a tower climbing group that makes it past level fifty-one would be a major milestone. I’m guessing you two are the last group to make it that far.”

Tom and Everett’s faces betrayed them with the smallest flinches and eye twitches. Max started to laugh and pointed at them as he shook his head.

“My poker face isn’t any good anymore, is it?” Everett asked, finally allowing himself to grin. “You’re right. We were part of a group that made it to level fifty-one. For a year, we tried to farm there and progress, but the truth is that the monsters and creatures in the tower become exponentially harder after the fiftieth floor.”

Everett stood up and moved to his desk. After a minute, he was on his way back, holding the dagger that Max’s alter ego, Joshua, had made.

“Do you know what this is?”

“A dagger?”

Tom laughed, and Everett handed it to Max. “Inspect it.”

Holding the dagger in his hand, Max made sure to give it an appreciative look.

[Inspect Weapon]

*****

Legendary Frost Dagger

• 17 Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence
• 30% Donus Damage From Ice Essence
• 15% Ice Resistance

Bonded

*****

Max whistled, his eyebrows lifting as his head shook slightly.

“Wow… that’s so overpowered.”

Looking up, Max saw Everett smiling, his hand outstretched, waiting for the dagger.

“Oh, I can’t keep this?”

Laughing, Everett shook his head and grinned. “You don't have enough gold or earned enough for something like this. An item like this isn’t common, and we can trade or sell this for more than you realize.”

“So what floor in the tower dropped that?” Max asked, returning the weapon to Everett.

“It’s not from the tower, Seth. That crafter you sent us made this,” Tom replied.

“Holy elf tits,” Max cursed, looking at the two of them, doing his best to win an award for acting. “You’re serious?”

Each of them nodded, and Everett sat down on the couch.

“You really didn’t know?”

Max shook his head, still pretending to be blown away by the news. “He mentioned being able to craft epic items and wanting a place to practice. But legendary… What else can we make?”

Tom laughed and gestured with his finger at the three of them. “We can’t make anything. There are some items the people in our faction could use, and if this is an indication of the quality of the items made, hopefully, we can outfit a few of our members in the coming days and weeks.”

Max sighed and nodded. “One last question. What are the typical stat bonuses given from item drops in the tower?”

Everett’s left eyebrow rose, and the man studied Max’s face intently. “Why do you ask?”

“I’ve got a few items I’d like to see upgraded and want to know what I might hope for.”

Everett turned to Tom and nodded at him.

“Ok, let’s discuss numbers,” his advisor said.