Ultimate Level 1

“Go for it. It’s your turn,” Max repeated, nudging Fowl, who stood before the lid of the silver chest. Gold-etched carvings of the kemonomimi decorated the sides.

Grinning, Fowl didn’t hesitate and lifted the lid, each of them glancing inside to see what was there.

“Well, I’ll be a troll’s uncle,” Fowl muttered as he saw the items in the dimensional storage of the chest.

A pair of black chain leggings, a crystal-looking ring, a gold armband, and a plate helmet with a red feather on it waited to be claimed. Next to those four items was a necklace, changing shape and color, with it yet to be decided by who won the roll. Four silver tokens with “Kemonomimi Prince” etched on them brought a sigh from Tanila, as they hadn’t gotten to turn in the last boss token they had won.

“That is an interesting helm,” Max muttered as Fowl pulled it out. A grin almost covered the dwarf's entire face as he took off his chain coif and stored it, putting the plate one on. It adjusted some, leaving slits for his eyes to see but covered his whole face otherwise. A massive, one-foot tall, red feather moved every time Fowl shook his head.

“It’s… definitely better than your old helm,” Tanila said, trying not to grin. “The good news is we can’t see your face.”

“Go hump an ogre,” Fowl cursed as he flicked his head back. “I think I look rather gallant.”

Batrire nodded, rolling her eyes as she reached into the chest, claiming her band and slipping it onto her arm.

“Sucks we need to get these identified,” she stated after checking to see if they were already identified.

Tanila took her ring and slipped it on while Max took his chain pants and put them in storage.

“No point trying these on till I know what they do.”

“And the necklace?” Fowl asked, his voice sounding weird from inside the helmet.

“I’ll pass,” Max replied, moving a few steps back from the chest.

“As will I,” Tanila stated.

“Guess it's just you and me, babe,” Fowl said, his voice cheerful, and had his face not been covered Max believed he’d see the dwarf grinning.

“No, you take it. If I win, I don’t want to listen to you pout all night.”

Tanila snorted, knowing Fowl was glaring at her and ignored it.

“Well, I won’t ask twice,” he replied, activating the item. Once the timer ended, he held up a silver necklace with a brown stone set in the middle of it.

“Can’t say how excited I am to get this appraised.”

As they walked back to town, thankful that there was no kemonomimi to fight since the dungeon was cleared, Max considered the options everyone was discussing.

“Do you really think we can leave by tomorrow?” Fowl asked. “I mean, we all know that nothing is keeping us here.”

Tanila motioned at Max with her head, and Fowl grumbled quietly.

“It’s ok. Fowl’s right. We all know the life of an adventurer means we don’t stay in the same spot for long. I can still get one more dungeon run for Aimee and her father before telling them I need to go. They both know to expect it.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s any easier, Seth,” Batrire said as she stroked her beard. “What about Bardunac? Do you want to collect some of the items he has and take them to Peltagow?”

“I think we can trust him. Besides, it might be hard to explain having those items at our level, and would you really want to try and run all over town selling them? Eventually someone would talk, and then the truth that four people sold more rare items than imaginable would cause problems.”

Batrire nodded and just kept walking.

“So what time tomorrow do we go if everything is finished by tonight?” Tanila asked.

“Four hours after sunrise? I can get us a ride, as I don’t want to make that journey on foot.”

Everyone agreed on the time and method for passage. Tomorrow, if everything went okay, would be their last day in Rumstant.

“Aye, it’s done, and I was wondering if you would make it in today,” Bardunac said, smiling as he pulled out a clear vial filled with clear liquid. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s the real deal.”

Max took the vial and pulled the stopper, smelling it and then glancing up at Bardunac. “There isn’t a smell… like none at all.”

The dwarf, who finally had noticeable stubble, laughed as he nodded. “Were you expecting it to glow green and smell like apples?”

Shrugging, Max nodded and put the bottle to his lips. Tipping his head back, he poured the liquid in his mouth, immediately regretting that decision as the taste hit his tongue. There were no words to describe it other than the worst taste in his life. He almost choked as he forced it down his throat and winced as he smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

Bardunac started laughing, pulled a water skin out from his storage, and handed it to Max, who immediately took a long swig from it.

“Yeah… no one wants to know about that before they drink it,” Bardunac admitted, his grin never leaving his lips. “You will be happy to know some of the other elixirs taste far worse.”

“Gah… I mean that taste… what is it?”

The dwarf shrugged, took the vial from Max, and deposited it in a tray. “No clue. Just how the reagents combine together. Now, it will take a moment to kick in, but when it does, you will–”

Bardunac stopped talking when Max’s whole body spasmed suddenly and shook for about five seconds. “Ahh yes… there it is. Now you can check your stats and see how many points it added.”

Grumbling to himself, Max checked and saw that the elixir had given him two more dexterity points.

“Well, the good news is I gained two points. The bad news is I’m not sure I would want to do that again anytime soon.”

“Hah, the jokes on you,” Bardunac replied. “You must wait at least a year before taking another elixir for the same stat. Even if you had two, you could only drink one and get anything from it. The other would just be wasted.”

Still rubbing his tongue against his teeth, Max nodded and blew a raspberry.

“Ok, now for the really bad news,” Max said, watching as the dwarf made a face.

Max finished killing the last orc in the dungeon and, as always continued to banter with Mr. Wright and Aimee while they harvested the orc ears.

Knowing this was the last time they could do the dungeon with him, he stared at the portal down the long hallway from where he was standing.

“What are you thinking, Seth?” Mr. Wright asked. “You seem different today.”

Max nodded and sighed, turning to see them looking at him with a concerned expression.

“We need to kill the boss.”

“Why would we need to kill the boss?” Aimee asked.

Her father looked at Max and cocked his head for a second before starting to slowly nod.

“You’re leaving town. This is our last run, isn’t it?”

Max nodded and saw Aimee’s face go white.

“You’re leaving? Why? I mean…” she paused, trying to fight back the tears that had appeared when she heard the truth.

Max moved to where she was, held out his arms, and waited. She started to cry and turned for a moment, hiding her face as she wiped away the tears.

“Know I don’t want to, but I have to. I can’t tell anymore, but one day, I hope–”

“It’s ok, Seth,” Mr. Wright interrupted. “We owe you more than we can ever repay, and both know you must go. Isn’t that right, dear?”

Aimee nodded but still kept her head turned, wiping the flood of tears that hadn’t stopped yet.

It took a little bit, but once she felt the tears were over she turned, eyes all red, and gave a pained smile at Max. She moved to his open arms and squeezed him as tight as she could.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for everything… for these trips, Darla…”

“You’re welcome,” Max replied, giving her a gentle squeeze and smiling as he saw Mr. Wright nodding at him. “You are an amazing woman and most likely the best baker in your family's business.”

His statement brought some laughter from Aimee as she kept her head against his shoulder.

“Just remember to follow your heart and be the kind person I know you are.”

She nodded and gave him another tight squeeze, secretly wondering if she could stop him from leaving if she didn’t let go.

Lowering his voice so only she could hear, Max whispered, “Listen and don’t react if you can. I have to leave to protect you. People are after me, and I need to move on. I can’t tell you more, but I am grateful the day I stayed with Big D and met you and your dad. Be strong for him.”

He gave her another hug before gently prying her from him and looking at her eyes, ignoring the redness of them.

She couldn’t hold back the surprise at what he had said but nodded. “I’ll never forget this.”

Giving a playful grin, Max winked and then let out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t expect you to. In fact, if you ever have a child, just remember that Seth is a great name.”

She started to laugh and rolled her eyes as her father came over and embraced her.

“Now, if we are all done crying, how about we kill a boss, and you two get a magical item?”

The boss was a joke at his level, and Max understood now why the adventurer’s guild sent in higher-level people to clear them out. It had only taken one thrust of his spear to pierce the orc’s head, killing it instantly.

The treasure box was a fun moment as he let Aimee open it and watched her eyes sparkle when she realized that inside it was a necklace for her. She pulled out the silver necklace with a green gem set in it and held it out for a while, staring at it in disbelief.

“Why a necklace?” her father asked as he reached in and pulled out a matching one.

“I have no clue,” Max replied as he shrugged and pulled out a small knife. “Sometimes I wonder if the dungeon knows the best item you could use or if it is random. The truth is neither of you needs a weapon or armor. A necklace or ring would be best, but since you work with dough, a ring might not be that great.”

Aimee scrunched her face after putting the necklace on. “Why can’t I see what it provides?”

Her dad put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a wink. “We have to get it identified. Don’t worry, we can do that outside.”

She nodded and smiled before noticing the floating time appear above the chest.

“Uh… Seth, is something bad going to happen?”

Laughing, he shook his head no and pointed to where the portal was. “It will kick us out after the timer ends. Most of the time, we just use the portal if we are ready.”

She nodded, then moved to where he was and hugged him. “Thank you again.”

He nodded and didn’t force her to let go. The three stood there, Aimee and Max hugging as her father watched them, and the timer ticked away.

Max waved as the two of them headed out of the adventurers’ hall to find a magical shop to identify their items. He would have offered to have it done here, but the guild frowned upon using their resources for non-adventurers since they gave a discount to adventurers.

Moving to the line where adventurers waited to get their items identified, Max couldn’t help but smile.

He didn’t want to leave, but knowing he had done something right made it a little easier.