Ultimate Level 1

“He’s awake!”

Max blinked a few times, feeling the cold cloth against his face. Looking up he saw Tanila with his head on her lap, trying to slide the wet cloth between his helmet and his cheeks.

“What in the gods was that?” Fowl asked.

“Fowl Hammerfall! Give the man a moment!” Batrire shouted, glaring at the dwarf.

Chuckling, Max groaned as he sat up, storing his helmet and taking the cool cloth and wiping his neck and face.

“It’s ok… he can ask. Sometimes I lose control and give in. That was one of those moments,” Max said. “I feel like I satisfied a longing inside me and should be good for a while. I guess… no, I know, those elves and what they did really pissed me off.”

Max looked at each of them and then turned to see the frown on Tanila’s face.

“I’m tired of people being ugly to others because of what race they are or who they like or whatever. If you’re my friend, your family and I’m going to make sure no one hurts you.”

“Your eyes seemed different,” Cordellia said after a moment. “Like you were possessed. I can’t imagine what that felt like.”

“Maybe I should let go if I could smile like you are after a fight like this,” Fowl muttered as he offered his friend a hand. “Nice work on the boss and storing most of the stuff you hacked off. I can’t imagine what Everett is going to think when you turn that all in.”

Nodding, Max winked at his friend and then began looking around the dungeon.

“Where’s the chest? Don’t tell me Fowl looted it all while I was out.”

Everyone laughed and motioned to the largest chest any of them had seen to date.

The same black stone formed the chest with clear crystal lines. An image of just the Ifrit’s head was on the center of the chest.

“Are you sure Fowl can even look inside? This thing is huge.”

“You may have to lift me up to get a peek, but by the gods, I’m not going to skip getting a look inside.”

“I think you’ve earned this one,” Batrire said as she gave Max a shove on his lower back. “Go open it.”

His smile grew wider and Max jogged quickly to where the chest was, not waiting on the others, and lifted up the lid, getting the first peek inside.

When he saw what waited for them all, his voice failed him.

“That bad?” Fowl asked as Max stood there in silence.

“I’m not sure holy elf tits would do justice for what’s inside,” Max said as he motioned for them to come join him.

Everyone stood around the chest, Fowl almost having to stand on his toes to see inside, and none of them said a word for a good half minute.

“So… that’s impressive.”

Max nodded and smiled at Tanila’s statement.

Inside were two items for each of them. Beyond that were three random items and a black box they all knew from before. Six red crystals larger than the ones they had gotten before waited to be collected as well.

“Two items each… I mean… that’s so rare,” Fowl said quietly.

“Well, forgive me if I go first, but I’m honestly looking forward to seeing what I got.”

Max reached in pulling the necklace out first.

A black metal chain with a pendant shaped in the head of the Ifrit with its horns was joined together. Two large crystal eyes were sunk in the metal.

[ Inspect Necklace ]

*****

Necklace of the Destroyer

+40 Strength, Constitution, Dexterity

Bonded

*****

His eyes widened, and Max almost needed a moment before he put it on.

“That good?” Fowl asked.

Grinning, Max bobbed his head and reached back into the chest.

He pulled a black ring with a rune etched in crystal.

[ Inspect Ring ]

*****

Ring of Casting

+ 40 Intelligence, Wisdom

+ 10% Spell Casting Speed

Bonded

*****

“Ok, we need something better to say when stuff is this good,” Max said as he slid the ring onto his finger. The immediate effect of adding that much intelligence and wisdom was incredible. He could feel the mana pool grow immediately.

“Well, I’m going next!” Fowl exclaimed, getting groans from the others.

Max laughed. As he turned toward his friend, he saw the notification sitting in the corner of his vision.

[ Consume Has Acquired a Bonus ]

[ 15 Strength Consumed ]

[ 15 Constitution Consumed ]

[ Stat Milestone 1 Reached ]

[ Strength of 250 acquired ]

[ Bonus damage granted - 20% melee damage ]

[ Bonus force granted - hits as a being twice normal size ]

[ Stat Milestone 1 Reached ]

[ Constitution of 250 acquired ]

[ Bonus resistance granted - immune to damage from Uncommon grade weapons or spells ]

[ Bonus hit points granted - 50% more hit points ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Would you like to learn [Negate Death Blow]? ]

[ Yes / No ]

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Max stood there, his face blank, and Tanila nudged him.

“That item Fowl got wasn’t that great,”

Shaking his head, Max smiled and nodded.

“I mean, that’s massive, right?”

Grinning, Fowl nodded and reached back into the chest, pulling out a necklace that looked exactly like the one Max had just received.

“Forty to strength, constitution and dexterity?”

Fowl smiled so wide it looked like the dwarf’s beard was absent from the front of his face.

“Same stats as yours!”

“Twinsies!” Max teased as Fowl put the neck on.

“Cordellia you’re up next. Easier that way.”

Nodding at their healer the ranger didn’t wait, reaching in and pulled out another necklace like Max and Fowl had received.

“Meh is that any good on an archer?” Batrire asked as Cordellia looked ready to jump out of her skin upon inspecting it.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “This many hit points and that kind of dexterity is beyond anything else I own… I mean… something like this isn’t till almost near the halfway point!”

“And that’s why we went inside the portal,” Fowl said matter of factly.

Nodding, Cordellia pulled out a black ring that had a crystal rune etched on it and her eyes began to shake upon inspecting it.

“You ok?” Max asked as the archer nodded.

“It's… seventy to dexterity.”

Both warriors let out a whistle and bobbed their heads in appreciation.

“Congrats!” Tanila exclaimed, coming up to the elf who was still in shock and gave her a gentle hug.

“Go ahead, dear,” Fowl said as he motioned at the two elves celebrating the ring.

Batrire popped up on her toes real quickly and reached in pulling out a ring that Max recognized as the same one he had.

“I’ve got that one,” Max said with a wink, earning him a grunt from their healer.

“Forty intelligence and wisdom and a ten percent casting speed bonus?”

Batrire nodded, her eyebrow furling as she considered the fact Max actually had a ring like this.

“Why would… well I guess it makes sense for you to get an item with this kind of stat.”

Grinning, she quickly put it on and reached back inside, pulling out a robe that was whiter than any Max had ever seen.

“Uh… that’s a bit bright,” Fowl said as he saw Batrire holding it out before her. “Like even more than a wedding dress.”

No sooner than he had said those words, Fowl clamped a hand over his mouth before groaning.

“You said it! No takebacks!”

Max glanced at Tanila who was laughing and smiling, obviously aware of something he wasn’t.

“But… but… I didn’t mean–”

“Fowl Hammerfall unless you plan on finding a new way to heal yourself. You better not try to back out of our agreement!”

Max leaned over and nudged Tanila.

“What am I missing?”

Her smile never faded as she motioned at Batrire, who was swishing around in her new robe after having swapped it out with her storage.

“They had an agreement that if Fowl ever said wedding dress without being in a shop or tricked into it, he would have to marry her.”

Frowning, Max glanced at the two dwarves and shook his head.

“I thought they were already married…”

“Not officially,” Batrire said happily. “We’ll have to go to the dwarven capital and he has to marry me. One year from now, he will either have done it on his own accord or I will hire someone to tie him up and drag him before his family.”

Fowl sighed and nodded.

“I did agree, and while I want to be married officially, the thought of returning home has always been hard on me. However, with how far we have progressed, I have no fear that my parents will finally see the value I can bring.”

Batrire nodded, leaned over, grabbed Fowl by the beard and pulled him close, making noises no one wanted to hear for a moment.

“Go ahead and get your gear,” Max teased. “I think they may do that a lot longer than we want.”

Without letting go of Fowl’s beard, Batrire held up her middle finger at Max.

Tanila snickered and reached in, pulling out a ring that Max showed was the same as his. Slipping hers on she reached in again and frowned.

“Seriously… two of the same one?”

“And you’re complaining? That’s twenty percent faster casting speed right there.”

“Yeah, but our famous dwarven tank says, occasionally I hope for a ring with a skill.”

Groaning, Max ignored her and pointed at the chest.

“So I guess I get one of the three items. I’ll take the one we all know we need four of. The other three, you can roll on if no one cares.”

Everyone shrugged, no one wanting to trade the potential of maybe getting an artifact some day with the knowledge a real item could be gained right now.

The black stone came out and Max held it for a moment before storing it with the other, feeling a sense of power growing between the two the moment they got close, even in the dimensional storage.

“Alright, you four can try for the others. It wouldn’t be fair for me to take that and roll.”

No one complained and the first item went to Cordellia, who squealed as she scored a pair of black earrings with an orange-colored crystal set in the middle.

Fowl was the second winner and everyone gave a whistle of appreciation as he held it before him.

It was just slightly shorter and almost as wide as him but had a red hue to it as the back metal appeared to almost be burning.

“Holy elf tits! This thing reflects damage it blocks! Ten percent as fire damage!”

“Does it stack with your thorn aura?” Max asked immediately.

Shrugging, Fowl tapped the shield with his hand and smiled.

“You can try to hit me back at the Faction practice grounds and we can find out.”

Max nodded, knowing they would indeed test out that feature.

Tanila was the last winner and Batrire shrugged when Fowl silently mouthed sorry to her.

“I’m happy she gets something besides a ring.”

Tanila smiled and pulled out a black circlet with red crystals set inside it.

“That is really going to pop with your hair color,” Max stated as he winked.

Rolling her eyes, Tanila stopped halfway through the process, looking cross-eyed for a moment.

“Ten percent fire damage! Maybe I won’t be just an ice princess for my whole life.”

Laughter filled the area they were in as everyone knew she was anything but that.

“Grab those crystals and let’s go,” Fowl said. “I need a shower and want to test out this shield.”

Without waiting, Max collected the crystals, and the chest disappeared, showing the portal for them to leave.

***

“Have you accepted it yet?” Tanila asked as they lay in bed next to each other.

Shaking his head, Max took a deep breath and let it out.

“I wanted to wait till it was just you and me.”

Seeing her smile, he selected yes to the notification still waiting and felt a tearing pain through his entire body. It was as if someone had ripped out his heart and then immediately shoved it back in.

Tanila immediately sat up and was about to get out of bed and call for help when Max grabbed her arm and shook his head.

“I’m fine,” he groaned. “Just hurt terribly.”

“You sure? I can go get Batrire.”

Still shaking his head, he let go of her arm and patted the spot she had just left.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Tanila sat on the spot, waiting to hear what he had acquired.

[ Skill Description - Negate Death Blow ]

*****

Negate Death Blow - Legendary Skill: The user will automatically resist all damage done if it would kill them. This ability may not be activated by the user. It will only activate when the system detects a blow that will kill the holder of the skill. If the damage is continuous it will continue to negate the damage until it stops. Damage prevented may be the last strike when critically injured or a single blow while at full health. There is no limit to the damage prevented. All potential injuries from that single attack will also be negated. Has a cooldown of once every thirty days.

*****

Max’s eyes could barely believe what he was reading.

“Well, what does it do?”

Max saw her eyes mimic his after he finished telling her.

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