Ultimate Level 1 - 197 - Tanila's Other Secret (Patreon)

Fowl returned the yellow band to Thomas and saw the man’s face as he did.

“It saved Tanila’s life, though. For that… I just wish I hadn’t had to use it so soon in our climb.”

Putting his hand on the dwarf’s shoulder, Tom gently squeezed and smiled.

“I used the other two for the same thing. That’s why you had it.  Still, running into a boss with a way to remove taunt so early is… well, uncommon,” their trainer said before chuckling a moment. “Still, with you all, I shouldn’t be surprised by anything.”

Everett nodded as he dug through the desk, pulling out different drawers and then sliding them back in until he finally found the one he wanted.

A small box appeared in his hands, and he opened it, setting three potions Max recognized.

“I can give Tanila, Batrire, and Cordellia each one of these, but if you want a weaker version, go buy one from the Faction shop.  These three, however, are far beyond all those things.  Outside of a boss from the fortieth level, they should stop any one attack.”

“Why would you give us one of those?”

The older man closed the box and put it back in the dimensional storage of the drawer.

“I owe Seth for introducing me to someone.  Let’s just say this should cover that fee.”

Fowl glanced at his friend and gave a single head nod.

“I’ll tell you later,” he muttered.

“Now, two more floors until you reach the first real tower boss.  Any thoughts?”

Everyone looked at Tom and shook their heads.  

“We still need to get there first,” Tanila replied.  “Our biggest need right now is to let a few cooldowns of our abilities end and then move to the next floor.”

Everyone nodded, and since no one seemed interested in saying anything else, Everett excused all of them except Seth.

-----

“How bad was that boss?” Tom asked.  “I could see it in Tanila’s eyes and on Fowl’s face.”

“For a moment, we all thought she was going to die,” he replied, his voice lower than usual.  “It was so angry, and its weapon was massive.  She couldn’t dodge if she had wanted.”

Everett watched the two men talk, waiting till Tom was done with his questions.

“Is it my turn?” the faction leader finally asked when both men were looking at him.

“He’s all yours,” Tom replied, stretching on the couch.

Nodding, Everett pulled the sword Max had made for them and set it on the table.

Forcing his eyes to go wide and leaning upon being surprised at the man showing him the weapon, Max let out a whistle. 

“Is that mine?”

Both men laughed and shook their heads, seemingly amused by that question.

“No! That weapon is far beyond what you should have, but that is why I gave your team those potions.  Would you like to inspect it?”

Raising an eyebrow, Max watched both their faces and then nodded.

He grabbed the sword by the handle, feeling the weight he remembered, and pretended to examine the blade for a moment.  Giving it a quick thrust, he smiled and then finally examined it for himself.

[Inspect Weapon]

*****

Crafted Legendary Sword

+75 Strength, Dexterity

Fire Enchanted - Bonus Fire Damage

Lightning Enchanted - Bonus Lightning Damage

*****

It was his turn to have his mouth almost hit the floor when he realized the stats of what he had created.

“Is… this says seventy-five to two stats,” Max said quietly. “How?”

Both men snorted, and Everett leaned over, holding out his hands and waiting for Max to finally give back the sword.

“The crafter you sent us, Joshua, he made this.  Even our old crafter was skilled, but with two affinities, the stats were so much higher.  This item right here,” Everett said as he gave it a swing while talking, “could mean the difference between life and death for so many.”

Sighing, Max nodded, realizing now the true potential of what he could create.

“Well… now I feel like I should have asked more questions from him and begged for an item.  Though I’m glad he has helped the Faction and apparently made you two happy.”

Tom was still grinning, even though he wasn’t holding the sword. The older man’s eyes never left it until Everett put it away.

“What I wouldn’t have given for a pair of those back in the day.”

Everett nodded and turned his attention back to Max, who was grinning just as much as they were.

“Do you or anyone else in your party need a new weapon? I’m not sure when I can get one made, but I feel it would be a worthwhile investment.”

Frowning, Max wasn’t sure how to answer that question.  

On one hand, if they gave Fowl or him a sword or mace or heck any weapon with stats like that, it would be a major boost in their ability to kill things.  Yet doing so might also ruin them when real problems hit.

“Is it ok if I say no?”

Both men gave him a confused look.

“I mean, that sounds amazing, but what happens if the sword breaks or we somehow are somewhere that weapon can’t be used? Wouldn’t we be so dependent upon it that we might actually be in a worse position when it's gone?”

“Damn, he’s smarter than both of us,” Tom replied with a snort. “Here we were, trying to help him out, and he reminded us why we don’t give starting adventurers really nice equipment.”

Everett bobbed his head, his eyes still blinking rapidly at the knowledge Max was correct and had just turned down a potentially mythic or legendary item.

“Cordellia still doing good?”

“Good change of the subject,” Max said with a wink at the Faction leader.  “She is a great asset, and I think she is finally finding her place.  Just today, she said something that had all of us laughing… well, everyone except Fowl.  I’m not certain you could have picked a better person for us.”

Both men seemed relieved, their shoulders relaxing a little as they sat across the table from him on those soft couches.

“Plans? Track down more killers? Has someone attempted to assassinate you?”

Groaning, Max shook his head.

“Tanila and I plan on staying here for the next few days.  If we do go out, we’ll be careful and travel by carriage.”

“Good.  One last question then,” Tom said.  “How serious are things with you and Tanila? I know that seems like a weird question, but we do have a room that is a little nicer if you two prefer.”

Chuckling, Max shook his head.

“Maybe later. I’ll mention it, and if she says yes, then it's okay, but for now, I’m fine where we are.”

Nodding, Tom stood up and shook hands as Max prepared to leave.

“Be safe, have fun, and don’t go causing any more trouble.”

Nodding, Max moved out the open door, ready to go see Tanila.

-----

Out of breath, Max lay there and chuckled.

“I can run for days, but fifteen minutes seems to wear me out.”

Groaning, Tanila laughed from the other side of the room, getting a few cups of water.

“You’re not planning on leaving me and crafting, are you?”

Shaking his head, Max smiled as she came back with the cups.

“No, but I turned down us getting items that Joshua makes.  Both were surprised, yet if we ended up with a fifty or something in our stats, I’m certain it would make us forget how hard things really are.”

Sighing, Tanila nodded and then took a drink, her green eyes watching Max the whole time.

“So the guy who literally has the easiest way to get stronger doesn’t want to skip ahead?”

Nodding, Max tapped his temple and grinned.

“So let’s compare stats if you want.  No items except that bracelet of yours.”

Talina studied Max and then nodded slowly.

“Why do I feel like I’m not going to like this game?”

[ Simple Base Stat Check]

*****

Max Hoste

18-Year-old Human Male

Level 1

Exp 46/1000

Tower Experience: 6.11%

HP: 1630/1630

MP: 1070/1070

Stamina: 34/815

STR: 163

DEX: 150

CON: 163

INT: 107

WIS: 107

Defense of the Dragon - 3.0%

Defense of the Demon - 3.0%

Demon Essence: - 313

*****

“Now it's your turn.”

Sighing, she nodded and grimaced.

“Twenty, Twenty, forty, one hundred-twenty-one and sixty.”

Max had not realized just the difference between their stats.  Without items or equipment, only her intelligence was higher than his.”

“I can see that look in your eyes,” she groaned. “You’re doing the math and realized just how broken you really are.”

“Fowls are basically the same except swapped out,” Max said, getting a nod from her. “Which is why–”

“You dodge everything, hit harder than anyone, and can take just as much damage almost as Fowl,” she explained, cutting him off. “Your spells were nearing the damage mine did without my familiar to help me out.  Based on the number of points you have, you are over level one hundred and fifty, meaning by the time we hit the fiftieth floor, you will have outscaled everyone.”

“Yet the monsters are still stronger and hit harder than I do,” Max replied.

“Which only means that at the pace the tower monsters continue to grow, you’ll be even further ahead. You’ll be…” Tanila paused, biting her lip just a tad as she winced. “Just like a god.”

She put her finger on his lips when Max started to protest and shook her head.

“I know, don’t complain.  Something tells me you’re going to need it.  Besides that book of yours, you keep and the stats you mark down for each monster, be honest when you answer this question. How would a normal team of five handle what we did today?”

Grimacing, Max couldn’t help but remember how Cordellia had acted the first time they stood outside the fifth-floor boss.  That fear and realization she could die at any moment from a wayward hit sunk in.

“How do the others do it? The ones that are like Dexis, making a run for the fiftieth floor?”

Tapping her chin, Tanila knew the answer but wasn’t sure everything about it was true.

“Next time you talk to Everett, ask him about her group.  See if he will share the number of skills they have and how it is they continue to make it through the tower.  If I’m right, they are basically geared to the max, each having begun with multiple skills from the day they first touched the skill crystal.

“My parents do it by keeping a higher level team rotating through the tower, helping lower level and weaker ones grow stronger.  Like the weapon you fear, there is a shortcut.  They often have to go back to lower levels, fighting stuff they are stronger than, just to learn the needed tactics.  You could accept items from Everett, speeding up our trip through the tower, and just know that eventually, we would need to return to the lower ones, earning back the skill and tactics we are missing.”

“You think we are missing tactics? Outside of today we–”

“I almost died.”

Her words stopped Max in his tracks.  She was right.

“How could we have prevented that, though? Everett said the boss had a skill not usually seen until level thirty?!”

Shrugging, Tanila lay on the bed, setting her cup on the middle of her chest and staring at the paneled ceiling.

“I’m fine taking things slow.  Just look at how long it took us to get together.”

Groaning, Max saw her smirk and leaned over, kissing her before sitting up and finishing his water.

“It’s a good thing my stamina hasn’t fully recovered yet, or I’d do something,” he teased, rolling off the side of the bed and moving to where his pants were resting on the back of a chair.

“What are you about to do?” she asked, sitting up and frowning.

Setting the cup down and holding his hands up in the air, he waved in surrender. 

“Just getting some food. I’m not sure, but I could swear the stomach that growled earlier wasn’t mine.

A pillow was tossed at him, and Max caught it, sending it back at her, and then grabbed his pants, quickly sliding his legs into them.

“You know… if you put the necklace on, stored the pants, and then just had them equipped with all the rest of your clothes, things would go faster, and I wouldn’t lay here wasting away.”

Laughing, Max did as she said, quickly losing all his pants, giving a quick shake, and then equipping all of his clothes again.

“One day, I may forget how actually to put clothes on if I keep doing this,” he said, moving toward the door. “Be back in a couple.”

When the door shut, Tanila grimaced and pulled up her stat sheet.

[ Simple Base Stat Check]

*****

Tanila Gilmenor

73-Year-old Elf Female

Level 55

Exp 175,466 / 2,196,231,656

Tower Experience: 6.13%

HP: 400/400

MP: 1210/1210

Stamina: 57/200

STR: 20

DEX: 20

CON: 40

INT: 121

WIS: 60

Defense of the Dragon - 3.0%

Defense of the Demon - 3.0%

Royalty Suppressed

*****

Waving a hand over her bracelet, it appeared, and with a simple gesture, the room began to light up as she began to radiate with power.

[ Simple Base Stat Check]

*****

Tanila Gilmenor

73-Year-old Elf Female

Level 55

Exp 175,466 / 2,196,231,656

Tower Experience: 6.13%

HP: 800/800

MP: 2420/2420

Stamina: 57/400

STR: 40

DEX: 40

CON: 80

INT: 242

WIS: 120

Defense of the Dragon - 3.0%

Defense of the Demon - 3.0%

Blood of the Elven Line 2x to all Stats

*****

Seeing those numbers made her feel slightly better, but the truth was that she couldn’t reveal herself yet.  When the time came, she would, but until then, she knew what it was like to limit her true potential.

With a wave of her hand, the glow in the room vanished, and she felt her power diminish drastically.