Ultimate Level 1

“Incoming!”

Max cursed to himself after shouting to everyone that another group of five ogres was headed toward them.

He and Fowl were already doing their best to stay on opposite sides of their more fragile party members.

Tanila had managed to get the three of them up into the air, but then some ogres started tossing weapons at them, requiring the trio to stay on the ground.

“Ice Storm!”

Tanila’s spell went off, blanketing an area and taking out three ogres rather quickly, but the others that had been heading toward it immediately turned and came at them in a different direction.

Swapping his halberd for his bow, Max sent an empower shot, taking out one ogre that got close to their flanks, immediately getting back to his halberd and racing toward the approaching pair.

“Taunting in seven!”

A fireball began to appear above Tanila, and Max kept his attention on the two he was dealing with.

As Max engaged the pair, another set of two hurled their weapons at Batrire from the same area he had just killed, one with his bow.

Without turning around, he summoned a wall of stone, blocking both axes as they collided with it, keeping Batrire safe.

[ Power Strike ]

One attack cut through both of his victims, freeing Max up to race toward the two that separated from each other, sprinting for the women.

***

“Okay, surely we all know something is wrong,” Fowl said as he sat on a chair he pulled from his storage. “We just killed eighty of those things non stop and honestly I’m uncertain what it was, but none of those ogres seemed interested in me except the one time I taunted. Maybe I need a bow if I’m going to be more helpful.”

Cordellia chuckled and shook her head.

“That would be worth paying to see, but I’m not sure we can afford to waste arrows on you.”

Their warrior gave her the middle finger.

Max ignored the needed banter, slowly scanning the area that surrounded them.

“You’re concerned about something. What is it?”

Max nodded and finished his attempts to see where more might come from before facing Tanila.

“It’s like we’re fighting people and not monsters. You can tell that, right?”

Frowning, she bobbed her head.

“There are monsters in the tower that are smart and fight like a normal person would. Why not send in a rogue to take out a healer or mage while the party is engaged with the tanks? Splitting up, attacking from all sides, throwing their weapons… It's all stuff that comes from advanced tactics and thinking about what you’re facing. As we've mentioned, they aren’t talking at all. No shouts, no yells, no nothing.”

“Can they have some form of internal communication?” Batrire asked. “I mean, we both know it’s something some monsters have. Pack mentality and mind. Not this early, usually in the tower, but then again, who are we to say that anything comes too early now?”

“That wouldn’t be good,” Cordellia said. “If we’re facing a pack mind this early, I’m really not wanting to know what else is going to be coming on the next floors.”

Max felt Cordellia coming to where he was standing and peering off in the direction he was.

“You’re thinking of something, so tell us what the solution is.”

Grinning, Max pointed at the stone cliffs.

“We need to remove some of our weak points, and that means we fight near the cliffs. If we are there, they cannot surround us on all sides. We can focus on one hundred and eighty degrees of possible attack points.”

Everyone knew he was right and began putting up the items they had brought out while resting.

“I guess the only bad part is we gotta fight to get there,” Fowl said.

Max nodded and shrugged.

“Wouldn’t be a tower floor I’d want to be on without a little bit of fighting.”

***

Over a hundred corpses lay on the ground near the base of the cliffs.

Max realized the trek there would be more dangerous than just picking everyone up and running for it. Countless packs had chased while others ran off, gathering more ogres.

“I’m ready to go home,” Fowl muttered as he rinsed off the blood that had gotten in his beard. “This stuff isn’t fun now.”

“But it was easier to defend,” Batrire replied. “With you two keeping the front and back secure, these lovely elves took care of the rest.”

Tanila grinned and accepted the water skin Max handed her.

“The ogres pulled back, it appeared, waiting to see if I was going to run out of mana. I’m not sure I can recall hearing about tower monsters that do that,” their mage said. “If it wasn’t for the fact you never seem to run out and my regeneration is so high, they might have beat a normal party.”

While everyone chatted about some ideas, Max moved closer to the rising cliffs, touching the stone with his fingers.

“What are you thinking? Planning on climbing it?”

Shaking his head, Max retrieved a pick-axe he had put in his storage ages ago and set his feet. Swinging the tool, Max was surprised when the tip punctured into the rock almost to the haft. Wrenching it free, chunks of stone fell to the dirt at his feet.

“Are you looking for ore?” Fowl asked, cocking an eyebrow as he backed up a few feet.

“No, in case we need to spend the night I want to see how easily it might be to build a cave for us to camp in.”

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Chuckling, the dwarf nodded and moved a little bit to the side of Max, pulled out a pick-axe he also had stored and the two of them got to work.

***

“That’s not bad for thirty minutes of work,” Batrire said.

Ten feet of rock had been moved as the two of them had hewed the stone from the cliff with almost ease. Between both of their strengths, each of them made what would have taken most normal men at least a day if not two.

“Well, now we know that an hour or so of work will give us something deep enough to hide in if need be. That said, I’m ready to get back to clearing the dungeon if you all are.”

***

Ten miles of constant fight ensued, and finally, the group saw the portal about half a mile away.

“Almost done with this mess,” Fowl muttered as the last ogre died to Cordellia’s arrows. “How many more packs do you think we’ll fight?”

Max stretched as he stared at the open field before them and knew their ranger had joined him.

“We could run past them if you don’t want to fight,” she said. “Honestly, we’ve made good experience, and the red gems have been plentiful.”

Max nodded and agreed that fighting wasn’t as important as getting to the next floor.

“Okay, you all, Cordellia suggested we just run for the portal. Any complaints?”

“Did she say we run, or you carry us and run?” Batrire asked.

“I’ll be fine on my own, but Seth really needs to carry you and the other two. These are fast, but not faster than both of us.”

Fowl sighed but moved without another complaint to where Tanila and Batrire were, holding his arms out as always.

“Nothing like getting carried around everywhere we go,” their dwarven warrior stated.

***

“A hive mind isn’t that common,” Tom said as the group ate dinner at the usual table in the Faction dining area. “Maybe in the forties you’ll see a few floors or just smarter foes. Some creatures will still at least use communication techniques, but not talking at all isn’t something I have heard one of our members facing.”

“Well, the good news is we could have dug into the side of the cliffs if spending the night had been required. I’m just glad I grabbed everything on your list.”

Tom smiled at Max’s statement.

“You’d be surprised how often tools like a shovel, a pick-axe, and a lot of rope can be used. I actually took a group the other day to the first floor and practiced scaling walls with rope, stone walls, and pylons. It was slow but doable. I think that’s a great technique for our new and old members to learn. People used to scale with just rope and pylons, but this way is much faster.”

“Well, tomorrow we’ll see what the next tower floor holds,” Cordellia said as she pushed a list toward their trainer. “We got a lot of stuff to turn in again, but we stopped harvesting after the first hundred. It seemed like a waste, but I was pretty positive you didn’t want a thousand ogre testicles.”

Laughing, Tom shook his head as he held up his hands.

“No, please don’t. I’m pretty sure we are single-handedly destroying that market on the alchemy side.”

Groaning, Max stood as he picked up his empty plate and cup and took Tanila’s who was finished as well.

“If that’s all you need, I’m actually going to turn in early tonight.”

An eyebrow raised and Tom bobbed his head.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just tired. Been burning the candle at both ends lately and with only three floors till the tower boss I want to make sure I’m ready for all of them.”

***

“Oh, that smell,” Fowl said as he moved next to Max. “A swamp without a sky? What kind of evil is the tower doing?”

Max nodded, already having felt his nose suffer the assault of stagnant water, decaying flesh, and other rot.

The tower floor was about a quarter of a mile wide and enclosed in a cave with mold and fungus that glowed green along the stone. Each tree had the same color of fungus and some moss that cast a reflection off the brown, murky water.

“What kind of creatures are we facing?” Tanila asked as she tried to peer through the wall of trees that had only about fifteen feet between each one.

“I have no idea, and if you can’t tell, then I’m guessing Cordellia can’t either. The worst is that water we’ll be walking through.”

“Not the monsters?” their ranger asked.

Snorting, Max shook his head.

“I hate having wet feet for this long.”

***

The water rose to almost Fowl and Max’s knees, causing each step to make noise as they listened to the sound of insects buzzing around in the tower floor. Each tree was gnarled and had branches only about fifteen feet above the water, and their roots made tripping hazards underneath the murky covering.

A roar and then another came from up ahead, and everyone formed up with Max and Fowl slightly off to the sides and in the front while the other three stayed behind them.

“Trolls!” Cordellia shouted when she saw the first twelve-foot-tall creature run into view. Its skin was black, and the green light from the moss and fungus shimmered from either the sweat, water or slime that covered its hide.

“Two more!” Max called out as he immediately cast a flame enchant on his axe.

Right after he prepared a fireball, sensing Tanila do the same while Cordellia held her shot.

Water sprayed like a geyser as the three trolls moved swiftly through the muck, their speed faster than everyone but Max’s and Cordellia.

As the trolls came running, their large clubs with spikes dripped with some black goop, being flung everywhere from their pace. The first troll raced to the right, forcing Max to send his fireball and move to intercept.

It howled as the ball of fire ignited its skin, diving into the water, rolling and coming up a moment later.

Cordellia’s fire arrow struck the troll as it rose from the water, causing it to roll again. It came up once more from the wet relief, with the arrow now pulled free.

“They’re smart!” Fowl shouted as he moved to intercept the one coming at the left flank.

Tanila’s fireball raced past the middle opening at the third troll, billowing over its skin and causing the creature to stumble before falling into the water and repeating its ally moves.

“Give me a moment!”

Max’s speed didn’t catch the troll off guard, and even as it moved to stand up, its club came to block his attack.

The axe blade forced the weapon and the troll’s hand into the water, and he immediately drove the tip into the creature’s throat.

The fire enchantment burnt, and the opening he had made failed to heal as the troll tried to fling itself backward, moving away from Max.

Following up his thrust, Max swung again and again, hacking off the left arm at the elbow, taking off the leg at the knee. When the creature was missing both arms, he spun and turned back toward the others, knowing the fight wasn’t going the way they hoped.

Tanila had used her ice prison, stopping the troll Fowl had moved to engage and was sending another fireball at the weakened troll. The creature would douse the flames each time she or Cordellia ignited it.

By the time Max got to it and finished it off, the troll could barely move, having had so much muscle and flesh destroyed by their mage’s fire.

A cold sensation filled him and Max smiled as he ran towards the imprisoned troll.

[ Consume has Consumed a Higher Rank Skill ]

[ Regeneration - Rare has been upgraded to Regeneration - Epic ]

Grinning, Max cut down the imprisoned one before finishing off the one he had left immobilized.

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