Ultimate Level 1

Max left the other three as they got their items identified and moved to the counter where his favorite elf was waiting.

Max saw the man grimace as he stepped up to the counter and smiled.

“Adventurer Seth, I cannot tell you how excited I am to see you again.”

The sarcasm of his tone was easy to read but Max didn’t care. They had each just earned two gold and thirteen silver. He was ready to spend it and continue upgrading his gear.

“Oh Aest, I can only imagine how you look forward to our discussions on the best gear at the best price,” Max replied, doing his best to lay it on thick. “Now, if you don’t mind I have some money to spend and want to look at your leather tunics.”

The elf raised his eyebrow, a frown starting to appear as he pulled up his clipboard and flipped through the pages. “Exactly how much are you interested in spending today? Please tell me more than a gold coin.”

Laughing as if such a number was beneath him, Max pulled two gold coins out from his pouch and put them on the counter.

“Maybe a little bit more than these two coins.”

Aest stared at the two gold coins momentarily and then squinted at Max. “You’re serious. You are actually going to spend money and not waste… I mean spend all day just reading what I have in stock?”

Max nodded, tapping each coin with a finger one time and moving them a little closer toward the elf.

“Well, then let me see,” Aest said as he scanned the sheet he had located and pulled from the stack. “You want Strength and Constitution most is that correct?”

“Yup! Two in each would be great.”

The elf choked, clearing his throat a few times and then cocking his head at Max. After a moment of watching him, the elf opened his mouth and closed it for a second. Finally, he spoke. “You do realize that a piece of equipment with a stat of plus two typically goes for at least five gold and having an item with two stats, each with a value of two, would cost at least twelve or more.”

Hearing that Max suddenly considered the statement Winnifred had made back in Windsor Wheel about his bracers.

“Hah, yah I’m just fooling with you. I can’t let you think this is going to be an easy sale.”

Putting on a forced smile, Aest turned back to the sheet and started going down the list.

Max saw the man’s eyes squint a few times as he slid his finger over something and paused.

“How important are looks to you?”

“I’m sorry what?” Max asked. “What do you mean looks?”

Smacking his tongue, the elf rolled his eyes, having already realized that question was wasted on Max as his entire outfit was a hodgepodge of different armor and colors.

“What if I told you I have something that would be perfect for what you want and is within your budget?”

“Something tells me there is a but to that statement.”

Aest nodded, opened his drawer, and began pulling out a piece of armor.

Max stared at it as the elf held it up in his hands. It had one solid piece of brown leather for the tunic and a massive spike coming off the left shoulder guard that appeared to be part of the tunic.

Aest saw Max’s face and sighed. “I know it doesn’t look that great, and this awful brown leather spike on the shoulder looks absolutely hideous. It has one point each to Strength and Constitution like you want, and I could actually sell it to you for less than the asking price since it has been here so long.”

Max smirked, hearing Aest talk about lowering the price when he was already interested in it.

“I’m sorry, how much are we talking?” Max asked.

“They wanted three gold but it has been here for a long time,” Aest said as he set the armor on the counter. “The notes say they will take less, and if I’m honest, this thing looks absolutely horrible. I could sell it for half the asking price. One gold and twenty-five silver. What do you think?”

“Uh…” Max was dumbfounded. He would gladly have paid two gold for this thing and that spike looked fricking awesome.

Aest took Max’s comment and hesitation to mean the worst, having seen this piece of armor sit here for over six months. Not wanting to have it in stock any longer, he got desperate and blurted out, “Fine one gold, and that’s the lowest I can go!”

Without hesitating, Max slid one of the gold coins across the counter and smiled. “I’ll take it!”

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“Great!” exclaimed Aest, chuckling as he took the gold coin and watched Max pick up the leather piece. “Sorry again that I couldn’t go any lower.”

Max nodded, unsure what had just transpired. He put the tunic in his storage and picked up the remaining gold coin off the counter. Looking at it, he smiled and looked at Aest, who was standing there watching Max.

“Let me guess. You want to look at pants now.”

Max nodded and let out a chuckle as Aest groaned and picked up his clipboard, locating the paper with leather pants on it.

Leaving through the doors of the guild hall, Max smiled, knowing he had achieved the impossible. Two deals from Aest in one day. That elf had really wanted to make a sale as he accepted the first price Max had offered. With a new chest piece and a pair of pants, he felt ready to tackle the world.

“I’m not sure what you are asking,” Aimee said, looking in shock at Max, who was leaning against the counter inside the Big Buns bakery.

“What level are you?” Max whispered, glancing around at the other workers to make sure no one was in earshot. “You have been doing this for years. I want to know what level you are. I need to know.”

A frown formed on Aimee’s face as she wiped her hands on her apron, looking at how Max was staring at her. “And what will telling you do?”

Max sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Opening them up, he tried to put on the kindest face the thought he knew. “Aimee, what if I promise you that if you trust me, I will help you in a way you can only dream of.”

She shook her head, even more confused and yet she couldn’t help but believe that he was telling the truth. She held up two fingers and then shrugged when she saw Max’s face scrunch up.

“Well, that makes things interesting for sure. Now, can you get off for an hour or two?”

“Why? I mean, I can, but why?”

Aimee’s eyes lit up when she saw a notification pop up in her view.

“A group invite?”

Max smiled and nodded.

“I want to take you into a dungeon and level you up.”

Her eyes went wide, color disappearing from her face for a moment once she understood what he had just offered her.

“Are you serious?” her voice rising to a high pitch.

“Yes, but only if you can come now. I need to meet my party later.”

Before Max could believe it, Aimee’s apron was off and thrown on the counter as she ran around the counter to stand by Max, smiling from ear to ear.

“Tell my dad I’ll be back in a little bit!” she announced as she followed Max out of the doors. “I need to run an errand!”

Max looked at Aimee, who was standing outside the orc dungeon, looking at her experience bar in amazement.

“Four levels,” she whispered. “Four levels in two hours. I’m level six. I’m level six!”

Her last statement came almost as a shout before Max held his hand up quieting her.

“Why? Why would you do this?”

Max looked at her and smiled.

“I realized the life it would be if I was like you. Busting my rear daily to improve at what I wanted to be and suffering the long road for progress that never seemed to come. Knowing I could be better if there were a way to cheat the system.”

“But why me, Seth? Are you hoping for something from me?”

Max shook his head and chuckled. “No, nothing like that. You owe me nothing. I don’t want you to think you owe me anything. I want to help you because your father helped me. He let me do something I needed to do. So in the coming days, I will bring you back, and we will do these same dungeons over and over until we get you to level ten.”

Tears began to run down Aimee’s face and Max stood there, unsure if he should do anything or just wait.

She didn’t wait, rushing forward and embracing him, pulling him close and squeezing him tightly.

“Thank you Seth Pendal. Thank you so much!”

Max returned her hug and then gently pushed her back.

“Let’s go. I need to get you home so I can meet my party.”

“You did what?” Tanila asked again even though she had heard Max’s answer three times.

“Took a [Baker] into a dungeon and helped her get levels. I am helping her cheat the system.”

Fowl was leaning back in his chair, unable to decide if he wanted to drink the mug he held or continue rotating it in his hands.

“That is incredibly kind, Seth,” Batrire said as she smiled at him in a different way than he had ever seen. “You never cease to amaze me.”

He picked up his mug and drained the rest of the drink, setting it down and just smiling back at Batrire. “I had been told once by a friend that people often paid to get that kind of assistance. I realized that those with money probably do this regularly. Did you know that most professions only get one or two experience points per task they complete? I was told it could take over a year to reach level two.”

All three of them winced at that knowledge.

Fowl took his mug and drained it all in one go and then set it on the table.

“Holy elf tits. One year for one level. That is absurdly slow and seems…” Fowl paused, his eyes going wide as his mouth began to gape. “Sweet dwarven tits! It all makes sense now!”

Everyone waited to hear what Fowl would say next.

“My family. This explains why they talked so little about their levels and... What you have just told me... it only makes sense because of who you are... You don't count, like the rest of us, the gap between when they get experience and when they don't.”

Everyone sat quietly, letting the truth of what Fowl had just said sit there. The sounds of laughter and others talking loudly in the room seemed not to affect the four of them for a few minutes.

“Ok, we need to table this for a moment and remember why we are here,” Tanila said, pounding the table with her hands. “Tonight, we celebrate.”

Max glanced at Fowl and saw him smile at Tanila and nod. “You're right. Gods, you're right.”

He stood up, put two fingers to his lips, and blew a sharp whistle. “Attention patrons of the Grouchy Elf! Tonight, my party celebrates defeating the boss of the lizardman dungeon! A round of ale is on me!”

The inn erupted in a roar of cheering, and in no time, everyone was laughing and enjoying the free alcohol courtesy of Fowl’s coin purse.