Ultimate Level 1

Max entered the forest, the sun vanishing to the west as he did. Shadows and darkness filled the night, and Max knew he had to make tracks for whoever was following him.

Bending down, he picked up a branch and cast a fire spell on it, igniting it and making a torch as he walked deeper into the woods.

The sounds from the insects and animals brought back memories of when he had first run from home. He was scared, wondering if he might die at any moment. Now that fear was gone. He had no doubt that he would be fine. Whoever followed had no idea about him at all.

Thirty minutes later, he had a fire going that he had made in haste and a stack of wood near it. He pulled out materials from his storage and backpack, making as good of a dummy as possible, and covered it with a blanket, setting the extra spear he had started carrying on the ground next to it.

Jumping into the tree near his fire, he hauled himself up quickly, moving high into the branches and waiting.

It felt like an old game. A game he had forgotten.

How many weeks has it been?

A smile crept across his face as Max considered what he hoped might happen. He would get answers tonight.

The fire was barely burning; three hours had passed, and no one had approached. He knew someone was out there. He heard the shift in the forest. The animals and insects had quieted down a while ago.

Someone was watching.

Waiting.

He almost chuckled. Up in the tree, waiting for hours… now he needed to piss. It was just like old times.

Only orange and red embers remained, white ash clinging to their edges, hiding most of the light the light it gave off.

Through the branches, he saw a faint movement. From the north, someone had begun moving toward his decoy. Max had noticed a glimmer of metal reflecting the light of the campfire.

The person was hunched over only about ten feet from the decoy now.

Would they really cut down a hero without investigating at all? Am I really that big of a threat?

Inside, Max felt something answer. He was that big of a threat. They would do this.

Time was running out, and Max decided to make his move.

Activating stealth, he slowly lowered himself down, hanging from a branch on the back side of the tree and dropping. His stealth wasn’t broken as he landed in the tree's shadow.

Quickly, knowing time was almost up, he moved to stand behind the man. The man was reasonably well built and in standard leather armor. His arms and legs had small cloth strips wrapped around and tied in a knot.

He was trying to be silent…

Getting behind him, Max only had four seconds left as the man stood only a few feet away from his decoy.

Taking his spear from his storage, Max stood tall behind the man and watched him prepare to thrust his sword into the decoy.

“Excuse me,” Max said, startling the man who turned around, his sword swinging.

A smile came over Max’s face as he blocked the attack with his spear and saw the man flash red briefly.

The man leapt backward, cursing as he pulled a second sword out of his storage, and Max pulled his shield out as well.

“Attacking people in the middle of the night? Doesn’t seem like a wise decision.”

The man’s brown eyes glared at him, barely visible by the fire's dim light.

“You should surrender. I am part of the adventurers guild and on official business. Fighting me will result in death or worse.”

The man sneered. He obviously wasn’t happy to have been taken by surprise, and he knew he had just flagged himself for combat.

“Tell me. What could be worse than death?” Max asked as he moved toward the man, getting in range to attack.

The man smiled as he glared. “You may think yourself skilled, but trust me, you are no match for me. I would prefer to not kill you unless I had to Seth Pendal.” The man paused, his smile growing wider for a moment. “Or should I say Max Hoste?”

Max had been prepared for this. Knew the man would say that, trying to get a reaction.

“I’m sorry, who?” Max asked, looking perplexed as he watched the man stare at him.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A slight change came over the man as he saw no reaction from Max at that statement.

“Your friend Caleb came to visit you. I followed him. I know you two talked.”

The man was glaring, his smile gone as he adjusted his grip on his two swords and his feet.

Max started laughing. He stood up a little straighter and stepped back, holding his shield and spear in a slightly less threatening manner as he continued chuckling.

“My friend? Do you mean that backwoods town boy from the inn? I thought he wanted to kiss me or something, the way he drooled over me. He asked me questions, wanting to know if I would let him fight with my party, and even asked for an autograph. I gave him one and then left, needing to put some distance between him and myself.”

“And then, why come out here? Why set a trap?” the man hissed, unsure now what he had gotten himself into.

“I decided to stroll around town and eat a few things. I first saw you following me and wondered if you were like that other boy. After a while, it was evident you were different from him. You disappeared and reappeared. Something felt off. So I knew it was best to find out who you were and why you were following me.”

Max could see the man struggling with the story he had spun. The entire time he walked here and waited, Max had tweaked it in his head. He had figured stealth wouldn’t break if he did it right. Believed the man would attack him as he had. Everything was going how he had hoped.

“So what do we do now?” the man asked, annoyance filling his voice. “I’m still at your mercy.”

Max nodded and smiled. “Forgive me if I’m not the first to lower my weapons. You are the one who followed me. You are the one who attacked me. . Put your weapons away and I’ll listen to what you want to talk about, but don’t think for a moment I won't defend myself.”

A frown formed, and Max could see the man gritting his teeth. “I told you I’m on business for the adventurers–”

“Yes, yes, and I could say I’m on business for the king, but someone attacking me in the forest somehow doesn't make me believe the first words they say to have me disarm myself.”

The man wasn’t happy about being cut off, but he nodded.

“Fine. I will lower my weapons first.”

Max shook his head slightly as he chuckled. “Lower? No, let’s put them away. After you do that, I will do the same.”

“Why the hell would I–”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll take my chance and see what kind of fighter you are. You know who I am and have undoubtedly heard what I have done. If you feel lucky and want to try, then come at me. I’ll be your huckleberry.”

The man’s eyebrows and nose scrunched at that last comment. “My huckleberry?”

“It’s a joke among my party. What matters is you choose how this goes down. Put your swords up, and then I’ll respond in kind. Make any other movements, and I won't hesitate.”

The seconds ticked by as the fire popped once or twice, and finally, the man nodded.

“Very well. I’ll trust in your reputation.”

He slowly stood up, adjusting his stance only slightly as he put his swords into his dimensional storage and then held both hands out, palms up.

“I did what you asked, and now?”

Max stood up straight, giving a slight nod.

He put up his shield and, as he did, said, “Let’s sit by the fire after we put a few logs on it.” He motioned with his free hand, and Max dashed forward the second the man’s head turned.

Every muscle in his body had been ready, and as he came the man was out of position, a fraction of a second too slow as Max’s spear pierced his left hip, shattering the bone and sending the man to the ground.

The man screamed as he fell, trying to pull something out of his storage, but Max didn’t wait, driving his spear into the man’s arm, snapping the bone in it.

A sword clattered against the logs, flying from the man's left hand when Max almost ripped his arm off with that strike.

There was no hesitation as Max smiled, knowing at any moment the man’s life was his. He could kill him, but now wasn’t the time.

Driving the butt of his spear onto the man’s right hand, he heard every bone in it break with a crunch.

Curses and shouts came from the man as he tried to kick and move, unable to fight back as Max rolled him over and put his spear tip on his chest.

“Now,” Max said with a smile that showed every one of his teeth. “Tell me why you are looking for this Max person.”

Max had tied off the wound in the man’s arm and stuffed fabric from the blanket into the man's shattered hip. He had screamed each time, cursing at Max, but none of that mattered.

There were answers to be had.

“So, tell me your name,” Max said, holding up a healing potion before the man’s eyes. “You know what this is; without it, we both know you won’t recover. Wait too long, and you won’t have a chance.”

“You ogre humpin', bas–”

Max stepped on the man’s shattered arm and shook his head, cutting off his curses as the man screamed again.

“Now, we can do this the easy way or the way where you die slowly and painfully. I, however, have no qualms about how I find out why a man would attack me in the forest. Who is this Max you are looking for, and why is he worth killing?”

Anger and hate came from the man’s eyes as he glared at Max. He was taking deep breaths, struggling to control the pain that sent shudders through his body. Each shake made his injuries hurt even more.

“James…” he grunted between his teeth.

“Nice to meet you, James. Now tell me, who is this Max, and why are you looking for him?”

A cough came from James, and he grimaced as his body was wracked with the sensation of pain Max had done to him.

“He’s… unskilled. Escaped…”

Max made a face of confusion as he watched the man struggle to talk.

“An unskilled? That’s not possible, or why would you be following me? No doubt you know of my skill with the spear and shield.”

Nodding, the man moaned as Max barely tapped the tip of his boots against the man’s arm.

“He’s unskilled, I swear!”

“Impossible. If he was unskilled, there was no way I could be him.”

Max bent down, holding his finger a few inches from the hole in the man’s arm. “Let’s make this quick. Explain to me how you could confuse me for an unskilled. If you can’t make me believe something, I will fetch your sword and cut this arm off. Even with the potion you won’t get it back. We both know that.”

The man saw the look in Max’s eyes, and his face went white.

“It’s true! Unskilled have skills! Dangerous ones! We cull them!”

Standing up, Max scratched his chin momentarily and looked at the man with confusion.

“Are you saying every unskilled is like this or just this Max?”

His breathing got worse, and Max knew he wasn’t going to last much longer in this condition.

“Tell you what,” Max said as he uncorked the potion. “I’ll give you a sip, and then we can go from there.”