Ultimate Level 1

Waking up that next day Max felt better than he could remember in a long time. A weight had been lifted that he had feared would always drag him down. The slight twinge of fear that said he was a fool for sharing with his party was easy to ignore, having seen the looks on their faces and how they reacted.

There was no point in worrying about what he couldn’t change. He realized that now.

Max sat by their usual meeting spot in the adventurers' hall, sitting on one of the chairs and reading more of the book Sam had given him. He still had another forty-five minutes before they would arrive, as he had eaten on the way here.

A cloak sat in his storage, purchased this morning from the guild shop, giving one more point of strength and constitution. Their talk yesterday made him realize that he needed more stats until he could find other monsters to gain them from.

Laughter drifted across the hall near him, and he looked up, seeing a four-person party he recognized. They were all above level twenty-five and had held off a different section of the undead horde that had attacked the town.

We are still waiting on our payment for that… five days till they say it will be ready…

Ignoring the thought about payment from the hall, Max studied their outfits. Their warriors were dressed in chainmail, obviously prepared to go into the dungeon of their choice today, and the healer and mage they had with them wore jewelry and armbands that Max knew were providing stats.

Three humans and an elf seemed strange for just a moment until Max considered what people thought about him being in his party.

Max realized something as they moved in his direction, heading to the hallways that would take them to their destination.

He stood up, put his book away, and moved to intercept them.

The warrior and mage in front both looked at him with a confused expression as he stood in their path, smiling and giving a small wave.

“Can we help you?” the warrior asked.

“You’re Aldric, right?”

The warrior nodded, running a hand through his blond hair as he smiled. “And you are Seth Pendal, if I am correct. That bald head sure stands out.”

“You mean that armor spike on his shoulder,” the other warrior in their party stated as she walked up next to Aldric.”

Max smiled as he rubbed his bald head. “It is a fashion statement. Perhaps if I had hair like yours, I wouldn’t cut it.”

The other members of the party all laughed suddenly as Aldric smirked and shook his head.

“So what can we do for you, Seth?”

Taking a quick breath, Max blurted out what he was thinking. “Any chance I could accompany you real quick in the dungeon you are about to do and help kill a few of the monsters? I want to see how my spear handles things and if I'm going to need to upgrade it.”

The four of them looked at each other, and he saw them shaking their heads. A few smiles and nods came as Aldric faced him and nodded.

“You aren’t looking at doing the whole dungeon? Just like two or three packs?”

“Yup! I just want to test things out. I’d stay back and protect your healer and mage until you told me to come up and make the killing blow.”

Two snorts and a sigh came from the other three as Aldric rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Normally, I’d say no, but since we heard about what you did against that shade, I think we can trust you with that task.”

“Thank you,” Max exclaimed, quickly bowing toward the group and pulling his pack out of his storage. “I’m just going to leave a note for my party real quick. It shouldn’t take more than an hour, right?”

“Seth!”

Max had been waiting, knowing the call would come soon, as he watched the fight play out. Two lizards as tall as a horse were fighting against the group. Each was covered in hard scales with jagged spikes along their back and tail.

He sprinted forward as Aldric shifted, keeping the beast's attention on him as it stumbled. They had hacked at its face and one leg, removing its ability to maneuver. The other lizard was rooted, hissing as it waited to attack.

His shield was in his storage, freeing up both hands to drive his spear into the blood-covered eye on the side of the head he attacked. His spear pierced through the socket, smashing into the bone and puncturing its brain.

The lizard thrashed, its head going wild like a horse bucking. Max was flung up and down as it did this for about five seconds before going still.

As he wrenched his spear back, his body almost locked up, the cold rush of power filling every part of his muscles and chest.

[ 3 Strength Consumed ]

[ 3 Constitution Consumed ]

“Back!” Aldric shouted rushing towards the second lizard.

Max nodded, his first step a stumble as his body adjusted to the rapid increase in stats.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Three! I got six stats total!

He ran back to stand next to the mage, who was casting an ice bolt at the lizard the two warriors were now engaged with. He smiled and nodded, focusing on the creature as Max pulled his shield out, ensuring he was ready if something happened.

Four minutes later, Aldric shouted again, and Max came forward to claim his kill.

[ 3 Constitution Consumed ]

[ 2 Dexterity Consumed ]

He did his best not to stumble as he pulled his spear free again, smiling as Aldric moved over and gave him a thump on his shoulder.

“Not bad! I was concerned it might take a few strikes, but your placement is amazing!”

“Lots of practice,” Max replied, grinning from ear to ear. “Though part of me wonders if I should have not gone for the eye and tried to see if I could pierce its scales.”

“Maybe on the next one, you can do that. You did well, and I know both Rasam and Paf enjoy having someone back there to protect them.”

Max watched as Aldric got to helping the party cut different parts of the lizard off and storing them in their dimensional storage. He showed Max the parts of the scales that could be sold to armor merchants and the talons that would be useful for alchemists.

“Where did you learn all this?” Max asked as he took a turn sawing off a foot with Aldric's saw.

“The hard way,” he answered. Chuckles came from the other members of the party after he said that. “They don't teach you everything in the guild hall, but someone was kind enough to show me a few things. So, I’m happy to pass it on to you. Just make sure to do the same.”

Max nodded, got the foot cut off, and handed it to Aldric.

“You keep it,” he said with a smile. “Go visit one of the alchemists in town and see what they offer. Then leave and visit another.” He winked as he smiled. “You will learn that some pay more than others. Don’t always take the price of the first shop.”

Another pack of two fell almost precisely the same way, except on both; Max went for the loose scales behind the creature's head when he came in for the kill. Both times, it took five thrusts to pierce it and kill the beast.

[ 3 Strength Consumed ]

[ 2 Constitution Consumed ]

[ 1 Strength Consumed ]

[ 1 Dexterity Consumed ]

“Alright. One more pack, and we will send you back to the portal,” Cerla, the female warrior, said as Aldric moved ahead to pull the two they saw near some rocks.

Max nodded and returned to stand near Rasam and Paf, readying his shield.

He looked at the zone, the rocky surface and boulders everywhere unlike anything he had ever seen before. The land was barren, with no shrubs or trees. Just endless boulders and enormous piles of rocks as they moved through a cavern that was over a hundred yards wide.

“FOUR!”

Max’s attention snapped back to the direction Aldric was coming from as he heard the warrior yell again.

“Burrowers!”

“Elf tits!” Raf exclaimed, and Max glanced at their healer.

“What does that mean?”

“You will need to fight and protect us! Be ready!”

Max nodded, bending his knees and trying to prepare for what might happen.

Behind Aldric were two lizards like the ones he had killed four times now, but Max also saw something moving behind them.

There is something under the rocks…

“Burrowers means they are in the ground?”

“Yes!” Raf snapped, ignoring Max as he focused on the incoming battle. “Be ready!”

Aldric was almost back to Cerla, and Max could see the look on his face. Max nodded and let Aldric know he would protect the two he stood beside.

“Twenty seconds!”

Rasam had ensnared one of the giant lizards, stopping its charge immediately as roots much thicker than Tanila’s broke through the rocky ground and held it fast.

Aldric charged, attacking the other giant lizard and holding his shield up to block its tail that whipped at him.

Cerla watched the two movements in the ground, cracks forming and rocks trickling like a natural water spring. She ran to the closest one and jumped to stand where the line was forming. A smaller lizard sprung up from the ground, its entire body covered in two-foot spikes that popped into place. They had been lying against its body until it came out of the earth and now it looked like a porcupine.

Realizing what he needed to do, Max moved toward the ripple in the ground that was approaching where he and the other two were.

Standing in its way, he felt the ground move and jumped back a step like Cerla had as the lizard burst from the ground, rocks pelting his shield and armor.

It was as tall as him, and he realized that this thing was faster than he was.

The lizard lunged toward him, driving its body and those spikes at him, using its weight and mass to force Max back as he blocked with his shield, skidding across the rocky surface.

Planting his feet a little better, Max pivoted his hips, bringing his shield up again as the lizard lept up in the air, curling itself into a ball of spikes.

It landed on top of him, but Max realized he was stronger than this lizard and drove with his legs, pushing the creature off him and back toward the ground.

As it spun in the air, preparing to land, Max drove his spear with his hips, thrusting it and securing a glancing strike that penetrated a scale.

A hiss came as the lizard landed, giving a small shriek before it whipped its spiked-covered tail at him. Max moved his shield to block, only to find the creature alter its path at the last second, sliding under his shield and scoring a gash across his leg.

Biting back the pain, Max thrust his spear, willing to trade an injury for one attack, and caught the creature in the back right leg near the joint where the scales and skin seemed weaker.

Max was right, as his spear pierced that skin fold, going deeper than he had expected.

His newfound strength, combined with his gear and the buff Raf had given the group, had him driving further with his weight, his body and shield slamming into all those spikes as his spear tore through its hindquarters.

The lizard shrieked, jerking as it tried to move, but Max’s spear had it skewered. Unable to do more than shift in place, it was stuck as Max began to lift with his arms.

Its tail whipped toward Max again, but Max ignored it, allowing his shield to block the attack. The tip of a tail spike raked his left arm, leaving a gash, but it wasn’t deep enough to worry about.

Remembering what he had done to the ogre, Max planted his feet and ripped his spear upward. The sounds of flesh tearing and bone popping filled his ears as the lizard hissed in pain.

He couldn’t tear the scales or skin, but after that one attempt, the lizard's tail dropped to the ground, no longer moving.

Yanking his spear out, Max took two steps back to assess what he had accomplished.

The lizard thrashed, its back right leg not working as its back left leg tried to push itself around.

I broke part of its spine…

With the favor of the battle shifting his way, Max attacked, thrusting his spear over and over at the head of the lizard who tried to swing it out of the way, but the lack of mobility had hampered it. Its scales were not as tough as its larger brethren, and the speed it relied upon was gone with its back leg not working.

Blood flew as Max pierced its neck and body half a dozen times before he finally felt the cold rush hit him.

[ 2 Dexterity Consumed ]

[ 47 Hit Points Consumed ]

He staggered a moment and then looked up at the battle around him. Things were looking bad.