Ultimate Level 1 - 191 - Fear the Mage (Patreon)

Max stood at the gate, the guards shifting nervously even though they outnumbered him 5 to one.

Without flinching, he held the package still on his shoulder, thankful that two guards had done as he asked. He had sent some to deliver messages to the Faction house and try to find the rest of his party.

“Someone better have a hell of a good reason for waking me up!”

Max couldn’t help but grin as he heard Captain Vella shouting from behind the closed doors to the guard's area.  

“Sorry if you all get in trouble,” Max said to the guard on his right.  

The poor man was visibly shaking as an awkward smile came from him.

As the large doors swung open and Captain Vella’s eyes met Max’s, the snarl she gave everyone vanished instantly.

“Adventurer Seth… Is that–”

“They are alive.  I won’t lie. It took a lot of effort to ensure that, but he may need a healer.  Where can we take him?”

Vella’s brief moment of shock vanished, and she started barking orders.  

“This way. I know just the place.”

-----

The poor elf was still screaming, and his face looked much worse than it had after a few rounds of Max’s shield.

Captain Vella spit, intentionally hitting the elf in the face.

“How long till you break that seal?” she barked loudly at the two men working on a necklace that held all of the attacker's belongings.

“Maybe another hour? It’s far more complicated than we’ve ever seen.”

Grunting, she turned to Max, who was standing there, arms crossed, his face expressionless.

“Do you want to give it a go? I don’t mind since he was foolish enough to try and kill you?”

Shaking his head, Max studied the elf.  Their eyes were filled with hatred, and the chains that bound him continued to look strained as the elf fought to break free.

“I can’t believe they sent a tower climber after me,” Max said.  “Taking him down took a lot more than I anticipated.”

“You’re crazy,” the captain said as she shook her head. The fact that you are already in the tower seems impossible. It was almost like the other day when I had to clean up a street filled with blood because of you.”

A knock on the door came.

“Come in!”

Vella’s voice boomed, and a guard entered, handing her a note.

Reading it, the captain’s eyes widened and then handed it to Max.

***

I am outside and ready to do what you cannot.  Give me five minutes with them.

Tanila

***

She raised an eyebrow, and Max nodded.

“Five minutes, trust me.”

Hearing the tone of his voice, the captain smiled.

Spinning on her heels, Vella pointed to the two men working on the storage device.

“You two out! Leave that there.”

It took a little bit of effort not to jump when Vella shouted every time, but the people under her had yet to learn that lesson.  They were on their feet in an instant and moving for the door as if an animal was about to eat them.

Moving to where the elf was, Vella slugged the man in the stomach.  He grunted and then spat blood upon her outfit.

“Good luck.  You should have talked while I was here.”

Max and Vella left the elf, whose eyes changed.  Hate was almost gone, and worry was starting to creep in.

-----

“You’re certain you will be fine with him?” Vella asked Tanila.  “I don’t like leaving you in there by yourself.”

Tanila nodded and motioned to Max, who was leaning against the wall by the door.  

“If I need help, he’ll know and be there instantly.  Besides, if I can’t get him to talk, no one can unless you have someone with a skill I believe is outlawed almost everywhere.”

The massive woman shifted and frowned. “I wish sometimes but no, we do not.  The old way of getting information is all I have. As long as you get information I can use, don’t worry about what happens to him.  My superiors won’t care as long as we have results.”

Tanila nodded once.

Max stopped Tanila as she prepared to open the door and leaned in close.  “You certain you want to do this?”

Tanila studied Max’s face.  She could see the concern and worry in his eyes.  He knew what she was about to do, and that scared him more than he was going to say.  The urge to not give in got worse every time.

“I’ll probably have to kill him or have Seth do it if that is still okay.”

Vella nodded, and Max let go of Tanila’s hand, accepting the kiss she had given him on his cheek.

As the door closed, the captain leaned against the opposite wall and studied Max.

“For a man who just let his woman go in there, knowing the elf is a murder, you seem very relaxed.”

Chuckling, Max snorted and shook his head.  “If you think I’m dangerous, you don’t have a clue what that woman can do.”

Vella grinned, her scar making the smile even bigger. “Sounds like my kind of friend.”

-----

Both of them had waited, ignoring the screams that somehow made it through the sound-dampening walls and door.  

Max could sense part of what was going on on the other side. The vibrations of Tanila’s step and the banging of the elf’s feet against the floor told him that whatever was happening, he was glad to be out here in the hallway.

You are right.  The way she will drain his mind.  It is a very painful thing indeed.

Why… why are there skills like that? Like you?

Laughter came and went as it always did. 

Footsteps from the other side moving toward the door, told Max it was over.  

He heard the knock and quickly swung it open. 

Looking composed and as if she had just woken up from a nap, Tanila stepped out of the doorway and motioned to the elf with her head.

“End him.”

Max felt a chill run down his spine from how she had spoken.  Her voice was cold, and there wasn’t an ounce of the woman he knew.  Whatever role she had just played in there wasn’t the elf he had come to know.

Max moved behind her, shutting the door and pulling out a knife.

“You were given a chance. You should have spoken to the Captain.”

The elf’s face was expressionless, and the man stared at the ground. It looked like nothing was left in him. Whatever or whoever he had been five minutes ago was gone.  

Know that those like her are just as strong.  We need to get stronger if we hope to survive and be able to resist them.

Max moved forward and thrusting with the knife at the elf’s heart.

[ Power Strike ]

It was overkill, but he didn’t care.  

A cold wave of power washed over him, and Max was almost surprised.

[ 11 Dexterity Consumed ]

[ Consume has successfully Consumed a skill ]

[ Consumed has Upgraded Archery to Epic ]

Max was barely bothered by the flood of information on how to shoot a bow or crossbow.  Instead, the knowledge he had just gained eleven points from one kill made him put a hand on the shoulder of the dead elf and take a moment.

Pulling the dagger free, he wiped the blood off and turned around.

A few items were on the table, and Max realized Tanila had already opened the man's storage device.

Opening the door, Max motioned for Vella and Tanila to come in.

“Part of me hopes he suffered, but from that strike it doesn’t look like it,” Vella said in a gruff tone.  “Damn zealots.  Always making my life harder around here.”

The Captain turned and froze when she saw that the storage device had been opened.  Her eyes immediately went to Tanila, who nodded.

“Will you tell me?”

Tanila smirked and shook her head.  “Trust me, you don’t want to know.  He opened it for us.  I verified it worked.”

The large woman studied Tanila before putting a hand on Max’s shoulder and shaking her head.  “You’re right.  She’s much tougher than you.”

Laughing, Max moved so that they could all see each other without having to turn their heads constantly.

“So tell us, what did you find out from him?” Max asked.

Taking a deep breath, Tanila let it out and frowned.

“They won’t stop coming.  It may be a while, but someone will try again.  The last attempt on your life wasn’t them, though.”

“LAST ATTEMPT!?” Vella asked, her voice echoing off the walls and making the two of them wince.  “Tell me, have there been more than I already know about?”

“No, you know about all of them.  Apparently, I’ve done a fine job of pissing off most of the people in this world,” Max replied.  “Perhaps being this attractive makes people jealous.”

Both women groaned, and Tanila rolled her eyes.

“I have an idea,” Tanila continued, ignoring Max’s wink at her, “who is behind this. It will be impossible for you to do anything about it, I’m afraid, Captain Vella.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Why can’t I do anything about the person behind it? You do forget that I have an entire kingdom and the power to put out bounties and hire adventurers to my cause if needed.”

Tanila nodded, and her eyes flickered to Max for a moment.  She could see how his eyebrows were scrunched together.

“The problem is I think the person leading this endeavor is one of the children of the King and Queen of the elves.”

Max fought with every ounce of power he had so as not to look dumbstruck, but Vella failed at that moment, her legs going weak for a split second.  

The towering woman buckled slightly, and her mouth opened for a brief second.  Regaining her composure quickly, she coughed and shook her head.

“You’re serious. A child of the elven King and Queen? How… how could you know this?”

“I’ve been around those circles.  There is a daughter who does not like humans and has made problems within her own people even.  She seeks the destruction of both humans and dwarves, though she is content to wage war on one before the other.  The good news is she doesn’t stay in the elven kingdom very often.  The bad news is that it makes finding her… difficult at best.”

Pounding her plated fists together, Vella frowned, her scar causing one of her canine teeth to show.  “So now what? Just go back out there and wait for the next attack?”

“That’s exactly what we’ll do,” Max replied.  “I’m not planning on staying here.  I’ve got to get stronger.”

Vella huffed a few times, obviously frustrated at the news of the possible ring leader and her inability to protect a citizen she was starting to like.

“What about the stuff? You can claim it after we go through it all and look for clues.”

Max shook his head, moving to where Tanila was and grabbing her hand.  He lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it.

“Find a home for it all.  Help a new adventurer or someone poor.  I’d rather know that those items went for good.”

Both Max and Tanila headed for the door, leaving Vella almost sputtering at the situation.  

Before they could get away, Vella stuck her head out into the hallway and shouted at the two of them.

“You know! Before you two showed up, my days and nights were tame. A few drunks, the occasional murder, you know, typical guard work. Now I’ve got potential kingdom espionage, a secret group of idiots trying to even a score, and worse yet, the knowledge that you two are going to be attacked again. I hope you two can’t get sleep tonight, knowing I will be up all night dealing with this!”

Max looked back over his shoulder and saw Vella smiling from ear to ear.

“No worries, Captain! I’m sure we’ll see each other soon enough!”

As they reached the end of the hallway, Tanila saw Max’s face; she couldn’t help but see that he was smirking.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Max said. I just overheard a few new curses I’ll have to share with Fowl later. For a woman in her position, she sure curses worse than any dwarf I’ve ever met.”