Ultimate Level 1 - Chapter 199: The Power of Your Name

“You are the first group we’ve encountered,” Max told the elves as they drew closer. “We are part of the Golden Axe Faction. This is Fowl, our main warrior. Batrire, our healer; Tanila, our mage; Cordellia, our ranger, and I have a bow as well.”

“And you are?” the healer asked.

“Seth Pendal.”

Both mages and their warrior frowned and narrowed their eyes, but the healer simply nodded.

“We are from the Enlightened Souls Faction,” the woman said, giving a small bow. “I am Ikkanya. This is Klaern, our warrior, and Lorsan, our archer. Rainelius and Finnea are our mages. Tell me, do you wish to abide by the Tower pact?”

“We do,” Tanila replied, moving to stand next to Max. “We can party if you desire, help if needed, or we can change our direction and seek to exit ourselves.”

Ikkanya’s eyebrow fluttered just barely for a moment at Tanila’s words.

“You’re not here to farm experience?”

Shaking her head, Tanila smiled.

“We are just passing through. While the experience is good, this place isn’t much of a threat.”

Max wasn’t sure what Tanila was doing, but he kept silent. His eyes watched each of the elves, noticing their slight ticks at every word she spoke.

“I see,” Ikkanya replied. “Well, then I guess we would best be served to go our own way as we are after experience. Finding the portal to leave would only cut that short. Do you have an idea which direction you will head?”

Tanila’s voice was different and it became apparent she wasn’t happy with how the healer was speaking. Gone was the softness he had grown accustomed to. Now, it was edgy and almost felt like borderline threatening.

“We’ll move back to where we were, far enough away we could hear your ent explode, and stay to the south of you. Perhaps we shall find the edge of the floor and follow it around.”

Giving a slight nod of her head, Ikkanya made a gesture with her hands, and all the elves at her party copied it. Tanila and Cordellia likewise made the same motion.

“I wish you and yours a safe journey. May you be blessed by the blood of our king.”

Tanila nodded and turned, motioning for the rest to join her.

Fowl took the lead as they walked, and Max was grateful for the sonar range as he focused as much as possible on the group they were walking away from. He could hear Tanila’s heart beating fast and knew she wasn’t happy.

“We need to go and fast,” Tanila said as she whirled around, making sure no one was following her.

“She’s right. They are not fans of you, Seth. How they reacted when you said your name made me think a fight might break out.”

“I did pick up that they weren’t happy to meet me. Think they are zealots?”

Frowning, Tanila shook her head.

“If they were, I doubt we would have gotten far before a few spells were sent our way. However, that does not mean they might not consider a few other actions. They could attack us from behind, hoping to earn points with those who are in the Faction and part of that group. They might leave, going to tell the same people in the faction where we are, giving them a chance to possibly find us in here and kill us without witnesses. Or they may just continue hunting, eventually carrying back information about us to the others.”

The scowl on her face ruined her beauty, but Max wasn’t sure how they were supposed to respond.

“We need to hunt and move fast,” Cordellia said during the moment of silence. We zig-zag and sometimes keep zigging, working in the southwest direction. That is our best chance to find the portal at some point and reduce the risk of being followed.”

“Except for the damn noise,” Fowl muttered. “Any way to prevent that?”

“Kill the ent first, I’m guessing, before all the fae die. Otherwise, no.”

Tanila nodded that Max’s guess was most likely right.

“Then we move,” Fowl said, turning quickly and holding his shield and weapon ready.

Even when they were tired and felt a break was needed, no one really relaxed. It took almost seven more hours before they found the exit, and upon taking it, they finally felt a breath of relief.

Once in the carriage on the way back to the Faction, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“I haven’t been that tense in a long time,” Cordellia said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my people, but some of them have huge sticks up their arse.”

“Don’t feel bad. There are just as many dwarves with boots up their arses as elves with trees up theirs,” Fowl stated.

“I didn’t say trees!”

“No, but you should have,” replied their resident joker.

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Groaning, Cordellia turned her attention away from the dwarf she was sitting next to. She stared at the wall of the carriage for a moment before getting bored and returning her attention to the others.

“Tomorrow, we can do the next level since we didn’t use any high cooldowns. The experience was ok, but the gems were way low.”

Their range snorted, shaking her head at Max as she pulled a sack of yellow gems out and set it on her lap.

“One of these might have been filled with a normal group, but I believe we have three.”

Sheepishly grinning, Max bobbed his head. “Perhaps I was comparing it to the last floor of the tower.”

“Or the werewolf one!” Fowl exclaimed.

Max felt Tanila’s head leaning against his shoulder, and her hand reached out and grabbed his.

“Sorry,” she muttered quietly. “I wasn’t going to stand there and let her talk to us like that.”

“She was very rude indeed!”

Max looked at Cordellia, who had agreed with Tanila, and thought back to that moment.

“The tone of her voice?”

“Yes! It was awful. I had half a mind to–” Tanila caught herself and stopped. “No… that wouldn’t have been good. I’m just glad it appears we made it out of there without any problems.”

No one wanted to chat much, and after a quick meal, everyone retired to their rooms.

Max resisted the urge to ask questions but it was obvious Tanila was upset about the exchange of words she had with the elven healer. The whole race was a weird bunch to understand but it made sense. Not every human was kind or enjoyed a good laugh. Some could be just as much of an arse as the next. It bothered him when he saw people treating others disrespectfully and the memory of the arena often played out in his head, knowing the queens were commanding people like.

Dwarves had their own moments, causing problems, while others were jovial all the time.

“I love you.”

Tanila rolled over and looked at Max. She saw his small smile, and his eyes focused on her.

“I know,” she replied with a wink before moving closer and kissing him.

“Go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another day, and the good news is I will get to spend it with you.”

Reaching out, she stroked his cheek and couldn’t help but smile when he ran his fingers through her unbraided hair. Knowing he liked it that way, played with it, and occasionally brushed it for her was one of the joys she never truly told him how much it meant.

“Are you always this happy? I mean, every day, you seem ready to risk death and face the unknown. How do you do it?”

Moving his hand, Max used the back of his finger, gently stroking her cheek.

“Because, as I just told you, I get to do it with you. In case you’ve missed it, since joining this part, I’ve been extremely happy, and we both know it’s not because of Fowl.”

Unable to help herself, Tanila laughed, letting go of the angst of that day, and smiled as Max had her roll over and pulled her close.

“Sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

“Gods, I want to beat you,” Tanila said as she finally was able to stop coughing.

A huge green cloud of poison surrounded them, and none of her spells could stop the potions the snakemen threw at them.

Using a shield or wall only caused it to break higher, somehow still tracking the original target.

“What did I do?” Max asked as he hacked off a few tails from the nine-foot-tall creatures. They were longer than that, but their hooded face was wide with scales and two massive yellow eyes when standing upright. They were faster than expected, and each carried two swords.

“I remember you saying last night ‘Tomorrow will be a better day,’ but somehow this doesn’t seem better than yesterday!”

Cordellia grunted in agreement as the three of them all stood there, scratching their skin furiously. Fowl had long stopped complaining. His armor could come off instantly, but he knew the dangers of starting to scratch.

“I’m not sure I can be blamed for the tower giving us these creatures to fight,” Max replied. “I mean giant snake men with dimensional storage and potions of itchy poison?”

Batrire glared at Max and again took the time, starting with herself to cure the poison.

“The worst is having to wait for this cloud to disappear. Do you have any idea how hard it is to cast when you can’t stop scratching yourself?”

Saying nothing, Max turned and continued harvesting the snakes for parts.

“You know the real secret?” Fowl whispered as he handed Max a tail. “Just imagine how bad your balls once itched, and none of the rest really matters.”

Shaking his head, Max couldn’t help but smack his mouth and almost gag.

“I really could have done without that knowledge.”

“Hey! You try walking around in a suit of metal armor every day, all day. Stuff sweats.”

Holding his hand up for Fowl to stop talking, he saw his friend grinning, knowing it would only get worse.

“The good news is they aren’t that strong.”

With the itching gone, a sigh came from the back three, and Max smiled and turned, pointing at the large structure across the sand.

The tower floor was a massive area filled with sand that was flat with no rises like the other one. Heat waves radiated off it, and Fowl and Max continually swapped out their armor for much lighter and more breathable equipment before each fight. With his sonar skill, nothing but the snakes were here, and even in the packs of six or seven, Cordellia and he could kill two usually before they made it to the group while Tanila took out another. Before the close range combat took place, the fight was already decided.

The three women stood near the ice familiar, thankful for the cold emanating from it.

“How much further do you think we have?” Fowl asked as he sipped from his water supply.

“Two? Three hours?”

Groaning, the dwarf spilled some of the water over his head and sighed.

“It’s been almost four hours, and I feel like I’m baking.”

“Then we better hurry,” Max said, pulling a bow out and moving toward the object far away.

No boss was in sight as they approached the large stone pyramid. Massive steps, each three feet tall, led to the top of the three hundred-foot-tall object. Everyone groaned and complained as they made their way up carefully, unsure if a trap might spring or monsters might suddenly appear.

When everyone was covered in sweat and praying never to see a staircase again, they reached the top, breaking out in a cheer as the portal waited about ten feet from the last step.

Making sure no traps were around, Max motioned for everyone to hurry up and go through the portal.

Sitting in the carriage, Tanila kept the ice familiar out, filling the space with a coolness that everyone found heavenly.

“Now that I know we can do this, we’ll need a bigger coach soon, so we don’t have to worry about someone bumping into this thing and getting hurt.”

Max nodded at their mage’s words, keeping his eyes closed and enjoying the cold. He had no idea how long it had been since all he could think about was wanting to strip off his clothes and sit in a tub of cold water.

“You know the best thing?” Max asked, not bothering to wait or open his eyes. “Tomorrow, we face the next tower boss.”