Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 166: First Chest in the Tower

Chapter 166: First Chest in the Tower

They all turned to the chest, admiring how it was red like the scales of the rare spawn they had just defeated. Decorating the outside of the chest was a massive lizardman, its scales resembling the gems they collected from the normal creatures they killed.

“Any idea what’s inside?” Max asked Cordellia.

She shook her head and grinned, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “You have no idea how excited I am right now.”

Fowl started to chuckle, but stopped when Batrire’s staff bonked him on the helm.

“I’m sorry… her voice… it’s just so high…”

“Batrire, do you mind if I kick Fowl somewhere to see if his voice can match mine?” Cordellia asked.

“Be my guest,” Batrire replied.

“Woah, now ladies! There's no need to get ugly!” Fowl protested, putting a hand down over his manhood and taking a step back.

Coughing, Max got their attention and pointed to the chest. “Cordellia, since it’s your first one, you can open it.”

She glanced at Max and the group, all smiling at her, each nodding. “You’re sure? I can?!”

“Welcome to the team,” Max replied, motioning for her to move forward.

Cordellia rushed over, not waiting to see if they were joking or giving them a chance to change their minds, and flung the box open.

“Hairy dwarf balls…” she muttered, her jaw going slack.

Max and the others quickly moved to see what might cause the woman to speak about such wonderful things.

“Damn, she’s right,” Fowl muttered in agreement, staring into the swirling purple storage.

“Is this common?” Cordellia asked. “I mean… a chest like this.”

Coughing to clear his throat, Max shrugged and flashed her a grin. “We have seen a few of these, but not many. I guess the real question is, are you ready to see what that is?”

Inside were five items along with a massive yellow crystal. A red bow, a red hammer, two sets of red earrings, and a pair of red-scaled boots waited to be claimed.

The archer’s hand trembled as she reached in and touched the bow, which immediately appeared in her hand. Cordellia pulled it back, admiring the length and thickness of it, and then her eyes went wide.

“Holy elf tits! It’s already identified!”

The group of four started to chuckle and grinned as Cordellia stared wide-eyed at her new bow.

“Going to share the stats or keep it a secret?” Tanila asked.

“Do you all do that?”

“Sometimes,” their mage replied with a shrug. “You can keep it a secret. It’s yours, and we don’t want you to feel like you have to tell us everything.”

Running her right hand along the bow, Cordellia was too busy admiring it to talk more.

“Guess that means I’m next,” Fowl said as he reached in and grabbed the mace. It was a four-sided mace. Each side had a two-inch spike, and there was a spike on top as well.

“I’d curse,” Fowl muttered, “but it seems unfair to do so… five strength and constitution and a bleed effect.”

“Damn, that’s nice!” Max exclaimed, slapping his dwarven friend on the back. “It’s a little longer, too, which is great with your short arms.”

“Aye, it never hurts to have a few more inches,” Fowl replied with a grin.

Both women groaned as they moved together, each taking a set of earrings from the chest. Both pairs were simple red studs, yet Max could see Batrire and Tanila’s reactions when they identified them.

“You two are staring awfully hard. Care to share?”

Batrire shook her head and grinned. “Not yet, maybe later. We’ll see if you can figure out what they do later.”

Max cocked his head but said nothing, nodding and waiting to see what Tanila was going to do.

“Batrire’s right… I’m going to hold off sharing this time.”

Not wasting any more time, Max took the yellow crystal and stored it, knowing it might help Everett feel better after the event from yesterday. He then claimed his boots from the chest and admired their feel as he watched it vanish into nothing.

[Inspect Boots]

*****

Boots of Strength

+10 Strength

Bonded

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A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Wow…” Max said, trying to wrap his head around the number he saw as he considered what he was holding in his hands.

“Oh, goblin shite,” Fowl muttered. “If he’s using that tone of voice, it’s got to be broken.”

Max turned to stare at Cordellia, who was watching him. After a moment, he finally shook his head and frowned. “I’m going to ask a question, and I need an answer.”

The archer shifted slightly under Max’s gaze and gave a quick nod.

“What are the stats for most items in the tower? At what point do they increase, and how high can they go?”

Cordellia grimaced as she tried to figure out how to answer that question. “Are you saying from normal bosses or ones like what we just killed?”

“Say both?”

“The bow I was using… it was one I got from the Faction. Tom and Everett gave it to me to help be more of a contribution to your team,” Cordellia stated. “It had five dexterity on it, and to say I was ecstatic would be an understatement… the bow I just got…” She trailed off, still struggling to form words for something that seemed unbelievable.

“So your new bow is somewhere between an eight and a ten, with a possible bonus?” Max asked, grinning.

Her eyes went wide, jaw going slack for a moment before she nodded.

“Goblin shite,” Fowl cursed. “I knew he had something good.”

“How… how do you know?” Cordellia asked, oblivious to Fowl’s words.

“Remember, everything we say here is private and a secret,” Max said as he held up his boots. “These have no added perks besides giving me a plus ten to my strength.”

“Holy elf tits!” Batrire shouted, glancing at Max and then at Cordellia, who now seemed less in shock about what she was holding in her hands.

“You’re serious?” Tanila asked, knowing Max wasn’t lying but still needing to verify his statement.

Max nodded, a slight smirk on his face, as he kept his attention on their new archer.

“It has a bonus of eight to dexterity and a ten percent penetration bonus,” Cordellia said softly. “Something like this wouldn’t normally appear until after the twentieth floor, and even then… maybe not until the boss on the twenty-ninth floor. A bow like this… it should last until nearing the fortieth floor if what I’ve heard is true.”

Smiling, Max removed his old boots and began slipping on the new ones, immediately feeling their effects.

“Damn, that feels amazing,” Max stated, pulling out a backpack and placing his old boots in it.

Everyone was watching him, smiling as he stood up and stored his backpack.

“Please, I’m just saying.”

Batrire and Tanila laughed. Both started putting their earrings on while Max moved to collect the small gems that had dropped.

“Pri… Tanila, can I ask a question?”

Sighing, their mage nodded and turned to give Cordellia her full attention. “Go ahead.”

“How?”

“How what?” Tanila replied, grinning as she made the woman squirm a little.

“These drops… those spawns… it would take…” Struggling with her words, Cordellia finally got out what she was thinking. “Getting stuff like this would take a god's blessing.”

Bobbing her head, Tanila shrugged as she finished placing the second earring. “If you believe that then the real question is, if the gods are doing this and you are part of it, can they trust you with the task they have given us?”

Cordellia winced at that question, dealing with what Tanila figured was the real crux of the problem.

“Everett wants you to share things you learn, doesn’t he?”

Slowly, the ranger nodded.

“We are fine with that. We just don’t want everything about us shared. So you have a role in all this. Obviously, the gods are going to give you the same chance to be part of whatever task they have for us. You don’t have to choose to obey one and not the other. I’m always here if you’re not certain what to share.”

The taller elf sighed of relief as she watched Tanila treat her in a way she never anticipated one of the royal line doing. Dealing with that knowledge was hard enough, and seeing what had just happened left Cordellia obligations battling her desire to serve the elven line.

“Thank you,” Cordellia said, slightly bowing her head. “I swear I will always protect you and those you deem worthy of your friendship.”

Tanila moved forward and gently squeezed the archer on one of her arms.

Cordellia flinched for a moment before she relaxed and smiled.

“If you two are done playing nice,” Fowl called out, breaking the moment of bonding between the two of them, “it’s time to keep moving on.”

“He’s a bit of an arse, isn’t he?” Cordellia asked as they turned to move where the other three were waiting.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Tanila replied with a chuckle. “Give him time, though. He’s like the brother you wish you had, but don’t want coming over for dinner.”

Both elves laughed at a joke only the two of them would understand.

“You’re certain you want the first watch?”

Max nodded at Cordellia and pointed to the tent where everyone would be. “I’ve done it many times, and you need some rest. We got at least another day before we can hope to clear this floor.”

“Do you think someone might attack us? We should be safe from monsters.”

Shrugging, Max glanced around the small area near a stone cliff they setup camp against. The stone rose at least seventy meters, providing a safe spot for them to rest.

Not arguing anymore, Cordellia moved into the tent with the others while Max pulled out a stone he had picked up and set it down. He had positioned himself so that his Sonar skill encompassed the tent and the stone cliff.

Sitting down, Max decided to check how much of a difference his upgraded stats made.

[Skill Description - Power Strike]

*****

Power Strike - Epic Skill: The user's next melee attack will multiply their strength by 200% and inflict a critical injury. The skill has a thirty-minute cooldown between uses.

*****

[Skill Description - Armored Warrior]

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Armored Warrior - Epic Skill: When activated, the user's body will be covered in magical armor twice as strong as their current equipment for fifteen seconds. Resistances provided by equipment will also be doubled. Constitution is doubled for durability, and bonus hit points are consumed first. The ability cooldown is twenty-four hours.

*****

Damn… that is huge…

Max tried to imagine what a thirty-minute cooldown would be like on his Power Strike.

At Godly rank, would it be less than fifteen minutes?

Looking up at the dark sky with amazement at how the tower's first floor mimicked the time outside, Max tried to focus his mind on what the group had experienced today. Knowing whatever some god had done to the dungeons appeared to be working in the tower left Max concerned about how Cordellia would handle it. The improvement in gear was beyond anything he had imagined, and the only thing that concerned him was how strong that rare spawn had been.

Even with my boosted strength, that thing was way tougher than the other lizardmen. Not one of them had given me a single point of stats. This begs the question: How much stronger are these bosses and rare spawns going to get?

There were two spots to check tomorrow as they crossed the floor, hoping the other two rare spawns Everett had mentioned would be there. With no idea what they might run into, Max couldn’t help but smile.

Either way, he was going to get stronger here faster than he had imagined.