Ultimate Level 1

“Seth!”

The squeal that came from the purple-haired girl as she raced around the counter and flung her arms around him filled the bakery.

Patrons had moved aside as she bolted past them.

Laughing, he caught her and spun her around, the two of them grinning like fools.

Max laughed even louder when he heard their ranger and mage talking.

“Isn’t that a little strange?” Cordellia asked. “I mean… it’s awfully friendly.”

“She’s like a sister to him, and besides, she doesn’t like him like that.”

“You’ve gotten bigger,” Aimee declared after he sat her down. “And no ugly arse brown spike off your shoulder either.”

“Thank the gods, no,” Tanila said as she moved forward and gave the young baker a hug. “I’ve managed to help him learn how to dress.”

Aimee’s head cocked to the side as she eyed Max, and the grin both he and Tanila were showing.

“You? And her?”

When he nodded, she squealed even louder and grabbed them both, giving them each a hug.

“Oh, that makes me so happy! Someone finally managed to tame him!”

“What the hell is all this—”

The sound of a metal pan hitting the floor as Baker Wright saw who his daughter was hugging made everyone in the working area freeze.

“Seth!? My gods, boy, you’ve grown!”

Just like his daughter, he came around with a speed that might surprise many, his large frame almost smashing one employee into the counter as he sprinted to the same spot Aimee had been occupying and engulfed Max in a hug.

“Gods, it’s been too long! The stories! Are they true?”

Max could feel the eyes of everyone inside the shop looking at them as he was tossed around for a few seconds in the embrace of the shop owner.

“I’d like to hear which stories you’re talking about before I say yes,” Max replied as he patted the large man’s shoulders. “How about you set me down, and I’ll go across the street and see if Big D is around, and we can talk there?”

Without waiting, the baker dropped Max and spun around, taking his apron off in the same move.

“Alissa, you’re in charge! Someone clean up my mess! I’ll be back at some point!”

With those words said, he started ushering Max and the rest out the door.

***

“My gods, boy… someone has been feeding you finally,” Big D said with a toothy grin. “You’ve put on a lot of muscle, even if you’ve not gained any height.”

Linda gave her husband a wallop to his arm and frowned.

“Ignore him. He’s just a moody old bastard! Now sit! Introduce us to your friends, and then tell us what in the world you have been up to! The rumors… they’re… they’re as big as those buns on that gaudy sign across the street.”

***

At some point word had quickly spread through the town that the famed Seth Pendal was in town and staying at the Two-Headed Ogre.

Most of the tavern was filled until Linda had closed the door to anyone else.

None had spoken outside of a few cheers and applause as Max and the others shared what they had been doing and the success they had experienced since last they had been there.

After they admitted to having reached the fifty-first floor in the tower and successfully killing a few mobs, the inn burst into cheers and applause.

“You’ve gone and gotten all famous,” Aimee said as she leaned up against her dad’s chest. “I’m surprised you returned and came to see us.”

“Please… I needed to make sure my favorite baker was doing okay.”

“Aww—”

“And that his daughter wasn’t too much of a pain.”

Big D and Baker Wright both burst into laughter as Aimee shot Max a scowl and gave him the finger.

“Tell me, boy, what are you doing now?” the tavern owner asked.

“Well, I have somewhere I need to go and wanted to stop and see a few people who made my life better along the way. After that we’ve decided to go to the dwarven capital for a bit. Some of my friends need to see their family.”

A sputter and spray of ale came from Fowl, who coughed at that news.

“What?! No one told me this!”

“Oh did I forget?” Max replied with a grin. “I was just thinking someone had promised to marry someone, and if we managed to—”

“WHAT?!”

Batrire’s face went bright red as she stared at Max and then snapped her head at Fowl, whose eyes were about as wide as his mug.

“Is he serious?”

Waving his hand in the air, the dwarven warrior tried to escape but was trapped in the booth.

“I don’t know anything about this! I swear! I mean…”

No one spoke as Fowl glanced between Max and Batrire a few times.

“Listen… just give it to her. I know you have it.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Though his lips were moving, no noise came as the dwarf tried to manage the surprise of what his friend had just done to him.

“You have what?”

Sighing, Fowl shook his head for a few seconds.

“One day, Max… one day, I’ll get you back for this, I swear.”

“Max?” Aimee asked, her face bunched up as she glanced at the target of Fowl’s comment.

“My real name. One I haven’t used for different reasons but will be in the coming days. Now forget about me. My best friend here is about to do something we’ve all been waiting on.”

Clearing his throat a few times while glaring at Max, Fowl took a deep breath and then a small gold box appeared in his hand.

“Batrire, my love—”

“I already said yes!” she exclaimed. “Stop with the goblin shite, take out that ring, and put it on my finger!”

Everyone chuckled as the healer held out her hand, glaring at the dwarf, who wasn’t expecting her to be acting like this.

“But… fine… I had it all worked out… where I was going to ask and everything,” he complained while opening the lid and pulling out the ring Max had seen before.

It was a gold ring, covered in dwarven runes, and had a single ruby set in it.

As he slid it on the trembling hand of the woman he loved, Fowl smiled.

“A ruby to match your fiery personality and warm heart.”

“Bah! Don’t sweet talk me! You’ll get some tonight regardless, you big oaf!”

With those words said, Batrire leaned in close and grabbed Fowl’s beard, pulling him close and proceeding to make noises that would make most people’s stomach roll.

“Uh… save it for somewhere private?” Cordellia pleaded. “There are children present.”

“Now I gotta give drinks to the whole bar,” Big D announced as he stood from his chair, earning a cheer from everyone present.

With that job done, Max winked at Tanila, who shook her head at him slightly, smirking the entire time.

***

“Sam, if I didn’t know any better your beard has gotten whiter.”

“And if I wasn’t a fool, I’d know you’re not here just to compliment me and then ask for a kiss,” replied the old dwarven bookseller. “Now tell me, my boy. Besides my good looks and amazing hair, what brings you back to my place?”

Clapping a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder, Max motioned to a door upstairs.

“I need to give you a few things and ask a few questions but nothing you want to have said down here.”

Cocking his head slightly, Sam chewed on his lip before nodding.

“Fine, let’s go, but don’t expect me to put out. I’m not that kind of dwarf.”

As the door closed and Max watched Sam activate some runes he had recognized along the doorframe, he began pulling out books and setting them down on the small table in the office area.

“You don’t waste time, do you? Rumor has it you’ve cleared the tower in record time to the fiftieth stage, and yet here you are, in my shop. Now tell me what did you bring for me?”

Shrugging, Max continued to pull dozens of books out of his storage, many he had taken from Igarra’s place. A few he had read and, with his newest skill, found there was so much outside the world he knew of.

“You won’t believe half of what I tell you, so instead I’m going to just give you some things and let you sort them out. I made a promise also to return those,” Max stated as he pointed at the books Sam had given him before he left. “So let’s consider this part a bonus for being a friend.”

Picking up one of the books that were bound in metal covers, the dwarf’s white eyebrows came together as he tried to read the symbols and letters inside.

“I don’t know this language. Where is it from?” Sam asked. “I mean… none of this looks like anything I have ever studied, and as you can tell by the color of my beard, I’ve studied a lot.”

“A different world.”

The dwarf’s eyes left the pages he had been turning and focused on Max, who was grinning, pulling out more books and increasing the stack on the wooden table.

“You’re telling the truth. I can sense it… but how?”

“Secrets, Sam. Some things aren’t worth sharing, and you don’t want to be privy to that knowledge yet. Maybe in time, when I’m stronger.”

Chuckling, the bookseller put the metal-bound tome on the table and picked up another.

“Weak… says the boy who somehow finished eight levels in a single day.”

Still grinning, Max waited for the dwarf to inspect a dozen more before a new journal appeared in his hand.

“This, my friend, is a gift. I wrote down the basics to translate most of these volumes into elder dwarvish. I figure less people would know that language and you most likely do.”

“Because I’m old?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Max fired back. “Besides, you’ll thank me once you manage to read what I have. Now then, a few more gifts for my favorite ancient dwarf before I need to return to my friends.”

Moving a stack of books from Igarra over, Max pointed at two notebooks.

“These are copies of the current abilities, stats, and some other useful knowledge about creatures I’ve faced in the tower up to the fortieth floor.”

Picking up one, he flipped through it till he found the page he was looking for.

“Here is some stuff about the gorgon I faced with my friends—”

“So it was true? The gorgon and saving the other two members?”

Seeing the shocked look on Sam’s face, Max nodded and then smiled when the dwarf pulled a book from storage and began flipping through it, quickly writing notes after finding whatever page he had been looking for.

“As I was saying, I’ve tried to list what skills I think they have as well as potential levels they should appear in the tower.”

Glancing up from his book, Sam saw that Max’s finger pointed to the number forty-five.

“But you faced it before I thought.”

“We did… Now that leads me to the real reason I’m here, besides gifting you with immeasurable wealth and knowledge.”

Closing his book and setting it down, Max’s face changed from the jovial mood to a frown.

“I need to know why the tower might make what I face harder than others and why the loot we get is more powerful as well.”

Sam’s eyes widened at that question and comment.

“You’re saying the items you get are better than most? How do you know that?”

“It’s no secret the stats one typically gains based on the tower level. Ours are often two to four times that.”

Pounding his chest a few times, Sam coughed as he seemed to have choked on something.

“Two or four times… that’s…” Pausing, his eyes began to scan open space, and then a worn-out book with barely any leather left on it for a cover appeared in his hand.

“I… think there might be something in here, but if what you’re saying is true… then we are dealing with something not known about in thousands of years.”

“Then perhaps we should start reading,” Max replied. “I, for one, need to figure out how and why this is happening.”

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