Ultimate Level 1 - 190 - Tower Items Stats (Patreon)

Clearing his throat, Tom held up five fingers.

“Tower floor number ten is where you finally move past the max stat points of fifteen per item given. Sometimes, items have all the stat points equal. Other times, they don't. So, seeing a ring with, say, five to strength, dexterity, and constitution before level ten would be a gift from the gods. Understand?”

Max nodded, writing down the information.

“From Floor ten to twenty, it typically goes up to twenty-five total stat points.  Again, that means this same ring now has a bonus of seven for those three stats.  Levels twenty to thirty play by a different set of rules.  Now, items can have up to fifty total stat points and often feature three or four stats, the number of which is shared between them. So you might have a ring that gives ten to three stats or even fifteen to three stats.  Likewise, you might have a ring that gives ten or twelve to four different stats.”

Nodding, Max continued to keep his head down, focused on the paper he was writing on and trying not to show his surprise at the stats of the items the tower had been giving them.

“Level thirty to forty plays by a smaller gain, now going from fifty to seventy points.  Rules don’t change, though typically, items feature three or four stats. This puts that sword the crafter you sent us at an item in the thirty and forty range.  While one might have preferred just three stats, it is still phenomenal on many levels.”

Shifting in his seat, Tom waited until Max stopped writing. When Max looked up and showed he was done, Tom still had one finger standing.

“Tower level forty to fifty start breaking the rules we have come to expect.  You can now have a hundred points worth of stats, but you can see the rare item with only two stats sharing that number or all five stats sharing.  Imagine two stats with fifty points each in them.  That kind of item is a huge gain.”

“And after level fifty?” Max asked as he finished writing down the last few things.

“He never gives up, does he?” Everett asked, chuckling for a moment.

“No, he doesn’t,” Tom replied.  “Honestly, the rumors are far-fetched, and the legends of an item after that tower level make it impossible to tell if one is real or not.  Some say there are rings with a hundred points in a single stat.  Heck, I remember hearing a rumor about someone who had made it into the ninety-second floor and had a weapon with two stats, both at one hundred.  All those are good, but nobody believes in them.  Besides, we all chase the elusive item with percentage increases.  A ring, necklace, bracelet, or even an earring with a five or ten percent bonus to base stats is able to get someone killed.”

“When do those drop?” 

Everett and Tom groaned.

“Seth, it's random, but if you see one before the twenty-fifth floor, don’t tell anyone.  Not even your own team. Okay?”

Nodding, Max shut his journal and put it into storage.

“Well, if you two are done laughing at me, I need to go shower and then join the rest of my party.”

“One more second,” Everett said, holding his hand out to stop Max as he started to rise.  “I need you to listen to me and know that I’m being serious.”

Max sat back down and gave the older man his full attention.

“Don’t rush too fast. Your team is doing things most cannot fathom.  Even clearing the first five levels as fast as you have is beyond what most would believe.  Hopefully, you five aren’t sharing that knowledge with others because it will get you noticed by a lot of people quickly.  The tower is dangerous because it is addictive.  A successful raid, one easy floor, and one unprepared moment can cost you your life.  You’re going to be sharing the later floors with other groups.  It’s not just the monsters and creatures you have to worry about.  When one can spend a week or two weeks on a tower floor, it’s not a big deal for some to kill people.  They can wait out the flag for fighting.  That is why we give out those rings and keep track of where our teams are.”

Everett’s hand suddenly held a large pouch and tossed it to Max.

“Go celebrate with your friends, not too much you get drunk and run your mouths, but go live.  Have a life outside the tower.  Take it from this old guy and the one sitting next to me.  There is more to this world than just leveling up and getting better gear.  Ask yourself why you push so much.  Let that answer guide you.”

Max nodded as he hefted the coins, feeling their weight before putting the bag into storage.

“Understood. I’ll see what I can do about emptying the casks of a few ale houses.”

Both men laughed and nodded, standing as Max did.  

“Enjoy the next few days, have some fun, and take care of your mage,” Tom said, patting Max on the back as he walked toward the door.

-----

“We betting if he listens?” Tom asked after the door shut.

“No… because I want to believe he will, but we both know that their group is focused.”

Nodding, Tom moved to the couch, plopped down, closed his eyes, and rubbed them as he moaned.  “What would you give to be in that group?”

Everett didn’t reply, and Tom turned to see the older man staring at the closed door.

“Everett?”

The Faction leader grunted and moved toward the couch.  “Nothing.  I don’t have balls the size of everyone in that party.  Even now, I suspect Cordellia’s are bigger than mine.”

Tom started to howl with laughter, nodding that his old friend was probably right.

-----

The whole group of five celebrated quietly at their old inn, introducing Cordellia to Alexander and enjoying a night of good food, drinks, and fond memories.  

Their archer was blown away by how friendly they were with Alexander, but after learning about the assassination attempt on Max and how he had survived it, she understood that, again, this group treated everyone differently than the ones she had always been part of.

After a few hours of food and fun, they made their way back through town, choosing to walk instead of taking a carriage.  The streets were active, people moving along the sidewalks, laughing and talking loudly.

It was as if a note had gone out, telling the city that on a random night during the week, people needed to live and celebrate life.  Max walked beside Tanila, holding her hand, ignoring the occasional glances he got from an elf or human, surprised to see the two of them like that.

“Does it bother you?” Cordellia asked as they stood on a corner of a street, waiting for a few carriages to pass.

“No, should it?” 

Max’s reply caught Cordellia off guard, and she took a moment to consider what her own question must have meant.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to imply something was wrong.  Just I never noticed how many people seem to have an opinion about that subject.”

Tanila smiled and kissed Max on the cheek, winking at him and showing that she didn’t care either.

“People are always going to have problems with something.  I choose to not worry about their opinion.  I can let it bog me down, or I can choose to enjoy life with the woman I love.”

Even in the limited light that came mainly from the lamposts all along the streets, Tanila’s face turned red for just a moment.

“You two, stop that mess,” Fowl growled from behind. “I don’t want to hear about how I’m never romantic or proclaim my love in public.”

“We know that’s not true,” Max replied, looking over his shoulder.

His hand reacted faster than the blink of an eye.  His shield was up, and the sound of something impacting it echoed on the corner they stood.

“Protect her!”

Max was already moving, running in the direction of the bolt he had sensed in his sonar.  Since it had upgraded, it had taken a few hours, but now it was second nature.  There was now a fifty-yard bubble around him, constantly flooding his mind with information about the world.  He could block out some things like the noises of the horses and the conversations of people around him that Max didn’t care about.  When the bolt entered his area of detection, his body reacted, sensing the danger and moving without him having to think about it.

Tanila had started to rush after him, but Max could sense that Fowl managed to grab a hold of her and keep her from following.

[Demonic Teleport]

When Max touched down on the rooftop on the other side of the street, it made a crunching sound. He ran in a straight line for the spot the shot had come from. A building taller than the rest was ahead, and it had a wider-than-expected area along the top roof. Max wasn’t sure what the building was. It looked like a school of some kind, yet he knew the corner the bolt had been fired from.

Sprinting across the roofs, when he leaped across a street, another bolt came, and Max’s shield once more moved into the path of a bolt.

Someone sure doesn’t want to give up!

Laughter began to come from inside his head, and Max tried to ignore it, knowing now wasn’t the time to have a conversation with his skill.

Movement caught Max’s eye as a figure dropped down from the corner, running away. His eyes tracked the fleeing person, and as he came across the last house, preparing to leap toward the next building across the street, Max almost tripped.

Someone was still hiding at the corner of the building.  A faint difference in the aura told him that this person wasn’t just stealthed but had a crossbow and was flagged for attacking someone.

They’re working in pairs… 

Realizing that someone was actively still hunting him and choosing to be smarter almost felt good.

I’m worth this much effort… 

The cooldown on Demonic Teleportation was almost over and Max slowed to a stop on the building next to the one the person was hiding.  He raised his hand like he was staring off at the person who had run away.

A grin formed on Max’s face, and the laughter inside his head came again.

Making a step like he was going to drop to the ground, Max teleported behind the stealthed person, slamming their head into the stone wall they were crouching next to.

The loud crack of stones breaking might have signaled the end of someone’s life or awareness but not for his attacker.  They reached out, grabbing at his hands and tried to defend themselves. Excited that there was still fight within his attacker convinced Max to try harder, grabbing their head and yanking it back, bashing their face in with his shield.

A blade appeared in the attacker’s left hand, and Max moved with a speed his opponent either wasn’t prepared for or was too slow from the two blows to their head.

His attacker sneered, and Max could see the features of the elf attacking him. Blocking the attempted strike, Max snapped the man's wrist by holding his wrist hostage and slamming his shield onto it.

The dagger fell to the roof with a clatter against the stones they were fighting on.  He howled in pain, and Max didn’t give the elf another chance, repeating the process with his other wrist.

“You messed up,” Max said, growling in the elf’s face as he bashed their head into the shield multiple times until his attacker was unconscious.  

Pulling his new favorite rope out, Max quickly bound the elf, withdrawing a blanket and wrapping him inside it as well.

We could kill him… think of the possibilities…

Max laughed, shaking his head as he tied the man up again.

“Don’t worry, his time will come,” Max said out loud. 

Together, Max and his skill laughed as he started running along the top of houses at night, headed toward a place where he knew answers might be found.