Ultimate Level 1

Max’s mind ran through everything he could possibly say.

What will they believe?

He was still twenty yards off and the men had not moved from where they were frozen.

Glancing down at himself he saw the blood that covered almost every inch of him. He found a small clean spot on the palm of his left hand and rubbed above his eyes as he felt liquid of some sort running down his head. Looking down in the moonlight he saw red on the now dirty spot and a few flecks of what he guessed was bone.

Before he was ten yards out from the men Roan finally moved toward him, calling out as he ran, “Get some water and cloth!”

Two of the men who were standing to the side took off, one running into a cart as he couldn’t take his eyes off Max.

Max felt bad for letting out a chuckle as the man held his shoulder and then ran back into the circle of wagons.

“What in the god's name was that?” Roan called out moving until he was in front of Max. “How in the twin moons did you do that?”

Looking past Roan, Max saw Dexter and the other warrior slowly coming toward him. The look in their eyes told him both men were still struggling to believe what they had seen.

“I can’t say,” Max finally replied as Roan looked at him in disbelief. “I had to use a potion and I will expect you to pay for that but just know I’m not at liberty to say anymore.”

Max stood there, chest out and doing his best to appear as confident as possible. He had learned people liked to believe in things since partying with Brutus and the others. It was better if he let Roan and them come to their own conclusion.

“I only ask that you limit the number of people you tell.”

“What… why… I mean…” Roan stuttered and stumbled over words as he pointed toward the pile of corpses behind Max. He took a deep breath and finally shook his head. “Do you have any idea what I just saw?”

“A warrior defending your caravan from some wolves. It was a difficult battle, but with the use of a healing potion, I managed to survive.”

Roan turned his eyes back to Max and saw how the warrior he just witnessed doing what he considered impossible looked at him.

“Ogre balls,” he groaned as Roan rubbed his face with his massive hand for a moment. “Boy, you could drink for free with a story like that, and you don’t want anyone to know. I mean, I could get a statue bui–”

“No. Please don’t. I would prefer no one know I did this. There are reasons for my request, and if you tell others, my mission may suffer.”

Roan paused, his mouth still open as he listened to what Max had said.

“Let it go, Roan.”

The caravan leader turned and saw Dexter shaking his head, a different light was in his eyes as he stared at Max.

“You heard him. You saw what he did. Let it go.”

Another grunt came from Roan before he finally held his hands up in frustration and mumbled some curse about goblins and ogres that Max couldn’t quite hear.

“Fine. I will gladly reimburse you for the potion, and you have a claim to all those pelts. We can–”

“I don’t need them. You can take them and pay me half of what they are worth,” Max said, leaning against his bloody spear as he stared at Roan. “Again, I don’t need people knowing I had any part of this.”

A different side of Roan took over when Max had said he only needed fifty percent of their value. The man chuckled, his large chest beginning to shake as he started to laugh harder. After he settled down, he spit on his hand and held it out to Max.

“You were never here.”

Max nodded, laughing inside because he felt Roan was about to get the worst part of this handshake and spit in his hand, clasping the large hand tightly, feeling the blood and spit mixing.

Roan realized what had just happened and pulled his hand back, making a face of disgust at the mess now on his palm.

“Where the hell is that water?!” he roared as he turned to face the other three workers behind him. “You heard the man. Get to work on those pelts. Felix will reward us if we can manage not to ruin them.”

As the three nodded and smiled, they began jogging toward camp to retrieve what they would need to accomplish that task.

“And don’t ruin that ghost pelt! That thing is worth…” Roan stopped, and Max saw the man’s shoulders wince a little. “A fair amount.”

Max laughed out loud, watching Roan shake his head from side to side.

“Messed up on that one, didn’t you?”

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“I did,” Roan replied, turning to give Max a wink. “Still, we both will make a good profit, and I’m alive and no one got hurt. The gods must love us all.”

Max nodded and then saw the men coming with the water and clean cloths.

What I wouldn’t give for a bath.

It had taken a while, but Max had finally cleaned off most of his body. As much as he hated it, he was wearing the chest piece and leather leggings that Serhmy had in his temporal storage. They were longer than he needed, and Max had to cinch the pants tight, but for now, they would work.

After cleaning up and sitting on one of the logs, Max saw Dexter approaching. The man sat down across from him and stared.

A few minutes passed, and Max couldn’t take it any longer.

“Just ask already.”

Dexter shook his head.

“What you did. I’ve seen something similar to that once. Something that made me give up adventuring,” the man replied slowly. His eyes were more focused, not looking away like they had been earlier this evening. “I realized I would never be like that warrior and I gave up. I didn’t think anyone else could be like her. I was wrong.”

“I knew something had happened by how you were acting. Why do you have this job if you don’t want to fight?”

“Food? Money? Is there a better answer? No one usually bothers people on this road. Most trade isn’t worth stealing and shipments like ours are hard to sell without someone questioning where it came from. No money is transported. It is all handled by banks. The risk is almost none.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a life.”

Max paused after he said that.

Hadn’t I wanted to be just a baker? Living a safe life and just baking things?

Thinking about those thoughts, Max missed what Dexter said.

“Seth?”

Blinking his eyes, Max looked at Dexter and sighed. “Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts for a moment about what I wanted to be and am now.”

“Is it worth it? The life you have now? Even with the risk?”

Laughing, Max nodded, giving one of the biggest smiles he had worn in the last few days.

“I cannot imagine a different life. Part of what makes it exciting is that I might die. I can’t imagine just being content to sit through each day and not live.”

Dexter winced when Max replied. He sat there, looking at his feet for a moment before finally looking Max in the eyes.

“I prayed the gods would send me a sign. For a long time. I think they just did.”

Dexter stood up and extended his hand to Max. Rising to his feet, Max gripped it and gave the man a solid handshake.

“I’ll pray they watch over you. After tonight, I finally feel like I can actually live again.”

Turning away after the handshake ended, Dexter walked away with the only smile Max had ever seen him show.

Dear gods… or whoever. I swear I didn’t sign up for this.

Grunting, Max sat down, confused at the concept of something being orchestrated like this. Why would someone send him?

After everyone had finished skinning the wolves and collecting their pelts, exhaustion took over, and Max slept, tossing in his sleep as he dreamed about being used by the gods. When he woke up to the smell of meat cooking, he saw Roan sitting on the logs around the fire, smiling from ear to ear.

“What has you so happy?” Max asked as he sat down and let out a yawn a second later. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile like that since last night when you realized how much money you are going to make.”

Roan nodded and leaned forward, flipping over all of the slabs of meat he had cooking in the pans sitting over the coals.

“I’ll ignore the fact I’m not allowed to mention the events of last night but when we get to town, I will need you to accompany me to the warehouse so I can get you the money we owe. Besides that, whatever happened last night has done something to my men. Dexter is no longer walking around like a broken man. He told me that after a few more weeks, he will be quitting and getting back into adventuring.”

Holding out the metal fork with which he had just finished turning all the cuts of meat, Roan pointed it at Max.

“I know that has something to do with what you did. For years, that man has been by my side and I cannot wait to see him actually doing something with the skill the gods gave him.”

Roan turned and motioned to two of the men who were feeding the horses some grain.

“Those two knuckleheads both told me that they want to actually do something of value with their life,” the large man stated before breaking out into laughter. “Those two… men who did nothing but spend every copper they made on drinks when we got to town.”

Roan shook his head for a second before turning his attention to the meat again.

“Seth, I will admit I wasn’t happy to have you here on this trip at first, but now I am grateful to the gods you were. My team and I would all be dead if you hadn't.”

Having made sure the meat wasn’t going to burn, Roan let out a sigh as he leaned back on the log.

“I haven’t been to a temple in years. I can’t even remember how long it has been since I gave an actual offering.” Roan scratched the bristling hair on his chin and smiled. “Now I think I owe someone at least that. Do you agree?”

Max coughed and shrugged.

What the hell am I supposed to say…

“I uh… I visited the temple in Windsor Wheel a few days before we left and gave a silver. It seemed to work for me, I guess.”

Roan nodded, checking the meat once more as he did.

“Well, who cares? All I know is we are alive, and things are going better than they ever have.”

Lifting a piece of meat out of a pan, he held it out on the fork toward Max.

“Try it.”

Watching the juices drip from the browned meat, Max leaned over and snatched it with his fingers, rolling it between them as the heat from it reminded him it had just come off the fire. He tore off a quick bite and chewed open-mouthed, sucking in air and trying to savor the flavor.

“That is pretty good!” he announced after swallowing the bite. “What is it?”

Roan grinned and motioned toward the trees.

“Wolf. Ghost wolf at that.”

Max groaned for a second, knowing that Roan had intentionally not told him until after taking a bite. Still it tasted amazing and was just what he needed.

Tossing the small piece he was juggling into his mouth, he savored the flavor a little bit more.

This really needs a sauce and some fresh vegetables, grilled with some…

Forcing himself to laugh, Max stood up and pointed at the trees.

“I’ll be back. Need to take a piss, but I want more of that meat.”

Roan nodded and gave a toothy grin.

“Eat all you want. I harvested the whole thing last night!”