Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 450: Off to the Races

Chapter 450 - Off to the Races

Let’s do it!

Faster than an arrow from a bow, Max sped toward the boss, his weapon out.

As he moved, it took on the shape of a long, two-handed sword, providing him with maximum cutting space.

Once again, he easily dodged the spells that had started coming toward him, large chunks of ice flying through the air and crashing into the mountain.

Bob controlled their movements, finding a little more room above the current horde of giants. They raced in the direction of the giant they figured had to be the floor boss.

Shouts and roars from all around called out for his death, and the look of rage on the giant’s weathered skin and white-bearded faces left no doubt they weren’t going to parlay as the previous floor.

The tip of his weapon made contact with the expanding blue dome, and the impact caused it to shatter at the spot he struck. Pieces of magical energy cascaded down from where they had been broken off onto the tents and enemies below.

[ Status Effect Resisted ]

As a few pieces of whatever magic had been contained within that barrier touched him, a slight shiver of cold made it through his resistance, yet Max barely noticed it beyond a feeling of cold water being dumped on him.

Instead his eyes were locked on his opponent as it lifted a twenty-foot two-handed axe and prepared to swing at him.

He smiled, able to gauge just how slow this thing was compared to him. Its weapon moved with the same speed as if he were dueling against Tom or Dexic, and neither one was a threat to him.

Bob adjusted their angle and the speed of their approach. They came in too fast for the boss to react and as he was close to it, he summoned his dimensional vault and willed the door open.

[ Power Strike ]

[ Magical Strike ]

He wanted to see just what kind of difference was between the two of them, not wanting to go completely all out.

Like an arrow to the bullseye, his sword found the unprotected spot on the giants neck, and he swung, plunging it deep inside.

Bob once again adjusted everything, flying a tight circle around the boss as his sword stayed inside, cutting it cleanly off and causing it to topple to toward the ground below.

Another shiver of cold came, and Max turned to see his friends peering down from his dimensional vault.

That went about how I expected it might. These things are still vastly beneath us.

We did hit it with a good amount of force and power. Besides that circle you did left all of that momentum focused in the middle.

A chuckle came from inside his head, and Max raced to where the vault was, scanning the area near him and spotting a portal about fifty yards away in the true center of this camp, nothing near it for about twenty yards on every side.

“Did you get anything?!”

“Gods, yes! Experience and a cold breeze up my armor!” Fowl shouted back. “A little warning next time! I almost fell!”

Seeing the smiles on his friends’ faces, Max nodded and motioned for them to back up.

“I’ll close it, and then we’ll drop down real quick to the edge of that portal, and then you can come out!”

All of them quickly took a step back, and Max felt Bob summoning a few wind blades as well as a wall, stopping a trio of ice shards headed at him.

With his vault dismissed, he moved to where the portal was and felt the sensation of passing over a circle like the previous floor.

Its power radiated from under the cover of snow and he quickly moved to other side, summoning his vault once more and preparing to protect his friends from anything that came his way.

Without hesitating, they all moved forward, crossing the ring.

A few more spells came at them as cries and roars echoed around them, but as the ice struck the space above the crystal ring, each of them vanished into nothing instantly.

Outside the crystal circle was an army of giants, roaring and shouting but none able to pass the barrier that protected them.

“That’s pretty convenient,” Cordellia said as she looked at the surrounding camp. “How many are there?”

“A thousand. Maybe more,” Max replied, dismissing his vault as he stepped back over the ring and turned his attention at the giant he had killed that had toppled over.

“What are you waiting for?” Fowl asked.

“That might have been a floor boss. I’m waiting to see if–”

As if on cue, the body began to start to fade, and he sensed another shape taking form behind him.

Spinning around he laughed and pointed at the chest which was made of ice, a depiction of the camp and the one he killed etched along the outer edge.

“Holy–”

“We know,” Batrire said, shoving their warrior and stopping his normal phrase. “Still, I might agree with you on that.”

Each of them gazed at the eight-foot-long chest four feet high, all knowing how rare it was for one this big.

“So, you did that up there hoping we might get credit for the kill?” Tanila asked.

Winking at her, Max shrugged.

“I’m still not sure how the tower handles my dimensional vault. I doubted you would get any credit if you were sealed up inside so I figured it was time to test it.”

“And since we got experience…”

He nodded at the woman he loved and moved to where the chest was, lifting the lid up and letting out a low whistle.

“Everett is going to love this.”

As one they all joined him, seeing the four large blue crystals that awaited inside.

“How much power are in those?” Batrire asked.

“I can’t describe it other than a lot… perhaps not double the clear ones but at least half again as much.”

“Who cares about Everett,” Cordellia said as she pointed at the five items in the chest. “I wana know what those are.”

Motioning for her to go first, Max watched their archer reach inside, taking a blue pair of earrings that looked like a tiny ice shard.

Her hand trembled a few moments after she held it, and then her smile showed every one of her teeth.

“Gods, I’ve missed getting rewards with you,” she said, winking at him. “This is… crazy.”

Max and the rest reached in, Tanila and Batrire getting a pair of earrings similar to hers while Fowl and him got a ring.

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Inspect Ring

*****

Ring of Ice Nobility

+10% to all stats

+30% to Ice and cold magic

*****

It’s not bonded… and it’s this strong…

Which is a good sign in some ways. Perhaps this is simply just the kind of loot that the tower normally gives.

“Is this 10% for all of you as well?” Fowl asked as he admired the ring on his finger.

Nods came and Max quickly scooped up the four crystals and pointed at the portal.

“Not to sound funny, but let’s discuss these on the other floor. We’re technically wasting time acting like this.”

A snort from their healer was all she gave as she took off toward the portal, everyone else quickly following her lead.

So much for warriors first.

***

The smell of smoke was overwhelming, and when Max’s eyes allowed him to see he couldn’t help but frown.

“Underground. We’re underground,” Fowl said.

“How do you know?”

Their warrior tapped his head as he looked at Cordellia.

“I’m a dwarf. We know when we’re underground.”

Their archer rolled her eyes, and Max took a few steps forward as the others remained where they were.

He could feel a dampness in the air, and the floor was muddy, squelching under Max’s boots. Yellow moss grew along the tunnel walls, giving off a decent amount of light, running all along the surface of the thirty-yard-wide area.

“We have a portal behind us,” Batrire called out. “What’s the plan?”

A few yards ahead, Max could sense what he was looking for and moved to the crystal circle that was around them.

Touching it, he felt the same jolt as before.

[ Tower Floor 62 Reached ]

[ Completion of Tower Floor 61 Achieved ]

[ Full Level of Tower Experience Granted ]

[ Calculating Results of Previous Floor ]

[ … ]

[ … ]

[ Results Totaled ]

[ Time Spent on Floor is within Top 10 ]

[ Number of Kills on Floor is in bottom 99% ]

[ Calculating Rewards ]

[ Rewards for Achieving Top 10 Fastest Time ]

[ Full Level Experience Granted & Skill Gem ]

[ Error - Experience denied ]

[ No Replacement given for lost experience ]

[ Determining Skill Gem based on current skills ]

[ Current Skills are varied. Special Gem Given ]

[ Skill Gem Granted - Epic Rank - Random Skill Granted upon use ]

“What the heck?” Max said out loud as the skill gem that appeared fell into the wet floor, making a squelching noise.

“What’s wrong?” Tanila asked as she moved to where he was.

“We were in the top ten this time on speed and not the top three. Just what other groups out there can go faster?”

“And on kills?”

“See for yourself,” he told her, motioning to the ring before grabbing and storing the gem.

Their mage grunted as a shard appeared before her.

“Seriously? The bottom 99%? Does that mean we were supposed to kill everything?”

As the others got their reward and each of them saw the same notification, Max couldn’t help but frown.

What kind of other teams could be doing this? I mean… it would have to be a team right?

There is no way I can answer that question, but I’m also smart enough to know there are beings far more powerful than us. You and I both knew the one who came to Igarra’s world and challenged you would have been impossible to defeat at our current power. We also don’t know how many worlds this tower connects to.

But could there really be someone faster than us?

Obviously there is.

Unable to help it Max groaned, and when he saw everyone looking at him, he tapped his head.

“Private conversation. Sorry.”

“Tell Bob I said hi,” Fowl said before crushing the gem in his hand.

A matching groan came from within, and Max knew his skill hated it when anyone but him used that name.

“Well, it’s not as good but I’ll take it,” their warrior said with a shrug. “Sword Mastery. I guess all I need now are two more melee skills and I can be special like you.”

“Wizards step,” Tanila said with a grin. “A small teleport like yours.”

“Single person buffs for 5% stats,” Batrire stated. “Can only be on one person at a time though.”

“Bah, and all I got was an invisible shot,” Corellia declared. “Can’t see it coming.”

Shaking his head, Max knew some of those were better than others, and wondered if the lower ranking is what potentially determined the skills that were given.

“So now what?” their mage asked. “We doing another floor or…”

As everyone looked at him, Max shrugged.

“Part of me wants to keep going. The other part of me wants to return home, take a shower and then pay a visit to Dagon.”

“He says that so casually,” Fowl muttered. “Just going to stroll up to the dwarven king and be like hey buddy, I got some questions and need answers. ”

Chuckles came as Fowl acted out while he spoke.

“So you’re saying you want to stay here when I go?”

“Bah, don’t make me tell your sister stories about you.”

Grinning, Max pointed at the portal.

“Then let’s go home. I’m ready to get a few answers before we do this again.”

***

“You’ve returned.”

Even before his eyes saw the speaker, Max knew that the person approaching him was Vella.

“Indeed I have. Tell me, Vella, have you been waiting for me this entire time?”

The look on her face cut off his attempt at being funny.

“Yes. We need to talk.” freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Sighing, Max motioned at his friends.

“They can come. That way you’ll have less to explain later.”

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