Ultimate Level 1

It had been a long, fun night, and when Max’s light orb began to flash, he groaned.

“I guess it never matters what you do. Mornings always seem to come early,” Max said aloud as he sat on the edge of his bed and stretched.

He glanced at the dresser and saw a stack of cupcakes sitting where he had set them last night. Aimee had brought some over and left them with Big D. That bald-headed man had hugged him for at least ten seconds until his wife pulled him away and gave Max a long hug of her own.

Both had heard what he had done for Aimee, and Linda informed Max that he would not pay for the next week he stayed here.

Big D had sputtered a little bit when his wife had said that, but a look from her shut him up and he smiled and nodded in agreement.

The coin didn’t really matter anymore. Looking at those cupcakes, Max realized that perhaps whichever god, or whoever had given him his skill, wouldn’t mind if he helped others as he grew stronger.

“You look like an ogre used you to wipe its backside with,” Max teased when he saw the massive bags under Fowl’s eyes and his unbrushed beard. “Did you end up drinking more after I left?”

“Blame that elf,” he groaned, his eyes bloodshot from the obvious lack of sleep. “She made me do it.”

Tanila chuckled and shook her head as she stifled a yawn. “Sure, let's blame the elf, not the ale-loving dwarf.”

Batrire snorted and then turned red as everyone’s attention focused on her and that laugh.

“Ahh, the beautiful sound that I love,” Fowl teased as he yawned, not caring about how loud it was.

As they stood at the quest board, Max pulled out his new chest piece, having kept it a secret, and began to put it on, doing his best to be stealthy about it.

Tanila turned as Max was pushing his head through the top. Unable to control herself, she began to laugh a little.

“What in the god's name is that?”

He had just gotten his head all the way through, and the tunic settled against his shoulders when Max saw Fowl and Batrire both staring at him, each looking confused.

“Uh… Seth. Why is there a leather spike on your shoulder?”

Grinning, Max waved his hand slowly near the spike. “It’s great, isn’t it? I got this for only one gold!”

The three of them exchanged glances and slowly nodded, smiling as best they could.

“I hope it has some really good stats,” Batrire mumbled as she turned back to the quest board.

“It’s not that bad, is it?” Max asked, looking at Tanila and then Fowl.

“Oh no, no, it’s not. You will definitely stand out in a crowd!” Tanila replied, turning to join Batrire.

“Fowl?”

The dwarf smirked and then smacked his lips while making a face that left Max wondering if he was about to pass gas.

“It’s just… not something a dwarf would wear. I think it looks much better on you, and besides, one gold for a good piece of armor is well worth it.”

Realizing his fashion sense did not line up with his team, Max let it go, grunting his displeasure and began to cinch up the tunic.

Halfway through the process, a bell began to ring from outside the adventurer hall.

“Goblin shite!” Batrire cursed as she spun, looking around the massive room.

People were all moving quickly to the sides, leaving a large open area before the doors.

Max glanced around, following his team as they joined the others, trying to finish up what he was doing as he jogged.

“What is going on?”

“Something bad. Stay close,” Fowl told him as they reached where Batrire and Tanila had stopped.

Less than a minute later, four guild attendants, each sporting a massive silver broach on their shoulder, moved into the center of the opening and the room went quiet.

“Adventurers!” a female elf shouted, her voice somehow louder than Max thought it should be. “There is a dungeon that has gone wild. Outside of town to the south, the undead dungeon has reportedly spawned over five thousand undead so far. Please be aware that no one lower than level fifteen should go out to help! Among them are random bosses that are not usually found in the dungeon, so please use caution as you help defend the city from the attack!”

She stopped talking, and a male dwarf moved to the front and held up a hand.

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“Please be careful! Do not risk yourselves if you are not prepared or in a group! We have sent a call to gather a team to clear it. We expect them to be able to arrive in four hours but in the meantime, we need to go out and protect the farms and citizens of the city by keeping the undead away! All those who assist shall be rewarded with bonus points to their rank and increased pay for trophies!”

He took a breath and shouted once more. “Now go! Lives depend on you! Be safe!”

Max turned and saw the other three looking at each other and then at him.

“We doing this?” Fowl asked.

“I’m in,” Max replied without hesitation.

“Gods, I hate you two already,” Tanila said as she nodded.

Batrire just started walking toward the door, her face looked grim as Max and the other two moved to catch up with her.

The jog to the bridge was quick and orderly as those going to help all moved as one. Anyone not going stayed to the side, creating the widest path possible.

Max was shocked to find carts waiting for them on the other side of the bridge. Merchants from all over the city came, some with goods still half unpacked in their carts, loading up as many adventurers as possible before setting a fast pace toward the south gate.

“How often does this happen?”

Fowl looked at the other two and held up one finger. Tanila nodded and Batrire finally did the same after shaking her head from side to side. “About once a month. Maybe six weeks is the longest between them. I guess we are a few days early.”

“And all dungeons do this?”

Fowl shook his head. “This is usually limited to higher level dungeons; fortunately, we don’t see the level twenty-five dungeon do it very often. In the bigger cities, that happens a little more often.”

“And undead. Anything I should know?”

“Your spear is going to be horrible against them. You will need to slash with it more than thrust. A mace or club will do wonders here, and fire is a massive boon.” Fowl paused and turned to look at Tanila, who nodded back for some reason Max wasn’t sure of. “There could be anything from zombies, skeletons, and archers to undead animals. I mean, only the gods know what might be out there.”

“Bosses?”

“That is the bad stuff,” Batrire said, cutting off Fowl, who had just opened his mouth. “We won’t know till we see them, and it is going to be packed out there. If another group is fighting one, it doesn’t matter. Everyone joins in because wild bosses are stronger. Forget about looting, also. If we have time for that, it will only be because Tanila and I are waiting on mana recovery.”

Max heard Fowl grunt.

“What am I missing? Have you three done this before?”

Tanila bit her lip and nodded.

“And?”

Fowl shook his head and saw how Batrire had turned away, not looking at him.

“We lost someone. Before we found you, obviously. It was a level ten dungeon that went wild. We thought we could handle it.” Fowl smacked his lips for a moment and then sighed. “A boss got our friend. It wasn’t anyone's fault, but it happened.”

“And you still want to go?”

“It’s not about wanting. We signed up for this job. We go when the call comes,” Batrire snapped.

Realizing how she had reacted, she closed her eyes, took a quick breath, and then looked at Max. “I’m sorry. It just is what it is.”

“Say no more. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

The rest of the ride had been in silence. The two other groups sharing a cart with them kept to themselves and had not spoken much among themselves either.

As they got to the outskirts of the fields, Max heard one of the other adventurers at the front of the cart curse.

Everyone tried to stand up or lean over the edge of the cart to see what had elicited that response.

“Holy elf tits,” Fowl muttered.

Up ahead were dozens of parties already fighting, and Max could see what looked like a black wave of undead stretching for miles in both directions.

“This is going to be nasty,” someone else stated, and Max could only begin to imagine. The amount of enemies was mind-boggling.

For thirty minutes, they had been taking out low-level zombies. It appeared the first wave of monsters was comprised of hordes of them. None moved fast, but Max was frustrated at how little damage his spear actually did. Even with his ice buff since it appeared, they were immune or resistant to the chill effect. A solid hit would take off half the head, but it required two hits to destroy the skull and actually keep the creature from standing up again.

“Looks like your spear isn’t going to help much against these!” Fowl shouted as he slammed his shield into one zombie while braining another, sending bits of rotten flesh and bones all over.

Groaning to himself, Max knew what Fowl was talking about. No matter how many of these things he killed, none of them ever healed him.

Can consume not work on the undead?

No hitpoints, stamina, or mana were recovered at all. It forced him to fight smarter and not take the risks he had originally, expecting his skill to keep him up.

“Pull back for three!”

Fowl and Max killed their last opponent and jogged back to where Batrire and Tanila rested. Another group that had been waiting near them stepped up, taking a turn at the seemingly never-ending horde.

“Gods, this exp is pitiful too,” Fowl complained as he took a few deep breaths and tried to clean his hammer off. “These barely give a noticeable amount.”

The other team called, and Max and Fowl moved forward again as Tanila and Batrire stood up, preparing to support them.

Max had gotten so bored of the task that he and Fowl had turned it into a game at some point. A game they had been warned would get their arses kicked if either died from it. Batrire didn’t seem to think it was funny when Fowl mentioned that threat carried no weight if they were already dead.

“That’s number seventy-four!”

“Lies,” Fowl shouted back. “You were in the fifties just a few minutes ago!”

Laughing the entire time, all Max could think of was how horrible this was.

Two more groups had come along at some point, filling in gaps between parties and helping to support and take turns as the zombies began to thin out, an end finally noticeable by those tall enough to see over the horde.

“I can see maybe ten more feet of zombies!” Tanila shouted. “You two should be able to see it through their legs!”

“You’re paying for drinks if you keep teasing Seth about his height!” Fowl replied.

Max laughed, enjoying the banter and having lost count of the number of zombies they had slain ages ago. The ones they had killed when they had first arrived had all disappeared, going back to wherever they had come from, he guessed.

After three more rows died, Max heard a shout from nearby.

“SKELETONS!"