Ultimate Level 1 - 201 - Dexic (Patreon)

Striding toward him was the woman who always wore gold armor, except at this moment, she wore just standard leather gear. Her hair was back in a small braid behind her, and Max tried to remember if it had always been blond.

Those blue eyes of hers were sprinkling, excited at what she was about to get to do.

“Seth! You have grown!” she exclaimed, delivering a massive slap to his left arm.  “I finally get a chance to meet you after all this time!”

Rubbing his arm, Max grinned and looked up at the woman who stood a head taller than him.  

“I’m still grateful every day for you letting me join you in that swamp and extending an invitation to me to join the Faction,” he replied. “I never realized I had just met one of the greatest members of the Faction that day.”

She rolled her eyes and looked at Tom, who was studying the two of them.

“What do you want us to do? Besides not killing each other?”

Smirking, Tom produced the table and had each of them put their hand on it.  

A shimmer of light came from it, and both glowed yellow for a moment.

“Don’t kill him.  Teach him what it means to fight and show him how a tower climber really is,” Tom replied. He glanced at Max and grinned.  “Go ahead and wear everything you can to help in this fight. She’s going to come hard and fast, and I want you to see how it feels.”

Their trainer turned and clapped his hands.

“Everyone! I expect you to remain quiet for most of the fight, no cheering till it’s done. Healers! Make sure that Seth is not unable to continue.  Do not worry about healing him too much!”

Having given orders to all those gathered, he nodded at Dexis and then wagged a finger at Max.

“This right here is going to be one of the greatest lessons you’ll ever get for free.  Don’t hold back, or you will not learn what true power is.”

He handed Max a small potion and immediately began walking to a different area of the field they were on, choosing to stay away from the rest so he wouldn’t be bothered by the noise they were going to make, no matter what he said.

Max turned to see Dexic already outfitted in her golden armor, tapping her chin as she studied him. Knowing it was a stamina potion, he popped the small top and drank the liquid, smacking his lips at the awful tart taste.

“What weapon do you want to fight with?” she asked.

Groaning inside, Max knew there were few things he could do without showing all of his cards. He was too weak, and even though he knew wearing all of his gear, he might have been able to hold his own against Thomas. Something inside said the same wasn’t true for who he was facing.

“I’ll go sword and shield.”

She nodded, and immediately, a gold kite shield appeared in her hands, with a set of axes emblazoned across the front of it.
“Okay, I have to ask,” Max said as he saw her shield. “Why is everything always gold? Surely your drops from the tower aren’t like that.”

She nodded and smiled under her helm.

“I prefer for everyone to know exactly who my allegiance is to. It does cost money to transform the color, but it has also become a symbol for me. Whenever I encounter another party from a different faction in the tower, they know exactly who is standing before them.”

“Can I ask what floor you are on?”

She paused, and Max almost forgot to listen when a sword he recognized appeared in her hands.

“Forty-seven. I’ll try to make it a little easier for you. Everett told me you found us a crafter who made this, and I can’t wait to use it since he gave it to me today.”

Inside him, the voice spoke, having been silent for days, even though he had expected it to talk for a while.

Before you stands what you must become. Tell me you can feel the power radiating off of her.

Is that what I sense? It’s like… like a mountain waiting to fall upon me.

In time, you will crush that mountain and all others, but we need to work together. Some who hunt you will be like her, and as you are about to find out, you won’t win, especially since you hide your strength.

Pulling out the sword he was borrowing, the stats on it felt so insignificant.  Only offering five strength and nothing else might seem amazing to so many, but he wanted to use his halberd or pull out his new club.

Equipping the shield and sword, he wanted to see what he could possibly do to stand against Dexis.

[ Simple Stat Check]

*****

Max Hoste

18-Year-old Human Male

Level 1

Exp 46/1000

Tower Experience: 7.83%

HP: 2650/2650

MP: 1940/1940

Stamina: 1325/1325

STR: 271

DEX: 219

CON: 265

INT: 194

WIS: 194

Defense of the Dragon - 4.0%

Defense of the Demon - 4.0%

Demon Essence: - 313

*****

Looking at his stats for a moment, Max tried to imagine what she had. Knowing that Dexic now held a sword that gave her seventy-five to both her strength and dexterity meant she was easily above a two hundred one one, if not both.  The rumors said she had over three hundred on three stats, and some said she had even been four hundred on one.  He was about to find out how high her stats were the hard way.

Giving one last nod, Max grinned like a fool.

“Just remember not to kill me in one hit.”

Laughing, Dexic nodded back and moved away some, each soon standing about fifteen yards apart.

“Go!”

The moment Tom shouted, Max didn’t hesitate, rushing toward Dexic as she waited for him, her grin visible through the gap in her helmet.

He came at her, moving his shield and sword as he had many times, choosing to use about sixty percent of his actual stats, knowing how hard and fast to swing.

Each attack he sent was met with a parry or block, and his gold-clad opponent only moved around as he attempted to land a hit.

Her smile grew as he used combo after combo, slamming the shield, sweeping his leg, kicking at her, and more. Even when added a little more speed or a little more power behind an attack, the most recognizable member of their faction rarely had to move at all to stop whatever he did.

Inside, he wanted nothing more than to use a skill and attempt to break through, but doing so would ruin this moment.  He got to test out things his mind knew to try, and even though none of them landed a hit, Dexis only deflected them enough so that he could move to the second, third, and sometimes fourth move of a combination.  

Having reached the limits of what he could come up with and not wanting to reveal more of his hand, Max backed up, realizing he was sweating and she was as cool as a block of ice.

“Not bad,” Dexic said, her smile and all those white teeth it displayed let Max know she was enjoying this moment. “Almost five minutes straight, and I don’t think you repeated the same combo twice.”

She shifted slightly, her stance narrowing just a tad.  He could see how her center of gravity shifted and the way she held her sword next to her larger shield, set just so her eyes could see everything and attack in any direction.

That sudden shift opened his mind to things he hadn’t imagined.

This is what Tom was talking about.

It wasn’t that the creatures in the tower were stupid. Some fought with great skill, but before him was a woman who had spent unimaginable hours honing her craft inside and outside the tower.

“Focus!” she exclaimed. “I’m coming!”

Max was barely able to set himself, adjusting like she did when the warrior in gold came at him.

She moved with speed and grace that defied what one should be able to do in plate armor.  Her feet never lost the perfect balance the position offered as she glided almost along the dirt. Every second, the sword was poised, ready to strike.  Even though she wasn’t coming at him full speed, she was moving with what she believed was his stats or close to it, unsure if Max had held back at all.

Strikes came rapidly, the shield moving at the same time the sword did, two attacks at once, both requiring Max to give up ground, blocking and parrying each.  Combos began to form, and while he felt excited to have the occasional one requiring five or six moves, Dexis soon completed the eleventh attack in a pattern he could only react to because of his Sonar skill.  Each strike was perfectly aimed, and no extra energy or effort was wasted while delivering it.  She used the momentum of each attack to allow for the next, only having to restart if he managed to block a blow with enough force that it wasn’t there.

“Good!” she exclaimed as he stopped a thrust that almost struck his leg, getting his shield there just in time. “Now the fun begins!”

As if someone had turned up the heat in an oven slightly, allowing more air in to increase the temperature, Dexic began to move faster.  It was a gradual increase, not a rapid jump.  She was letting him feel the increase, giving him room to try and figure it out and respond.

The time drew close, and Max had two choices: let himself get hit or show more of his true strength.  They were pushing the boundaries of what one of his level and with good items could do.  He would have to convince Tom that his equipment was better than expected or already believed or that his stats were just that good.  

Knowing that a chance like this might never come again, Max chose to reveal just a little more. Already, his mind was cataloging the lessons of strikes and attacks from earlier. He could recall a few that built off the same first three or four strikes before changing depending on how they were blocked or parried.

The sounds of their weapons and shields colliding rang out across the field, and Max had long ago drowned out the sound of everyone and their reactions. His mind was focused on this moment and only this.

Dexis was almost laughing. If it was even possible, her grin grew wider, and she rushed forward, this time increasing her speed so much that it caught Max off guard. The sword slipped past his, hit his shoulder armor, and bounced off, not leaving a mark.

Glows of heals sent his way washed over him, leaving both Max and Dexic confused.

The golden warrior’s eyes scrunched, and her nose wrinkled as she took a step back, making a space between them. She knew that the tip of the sword should have drawn blood.

As she moved again toward him, Max realized what was wrong.  He knew why he hadn’t been hurt.

The blade snaked forward again, and he did the only thing he could think of: he moved to block it, using more of his speed. At the last moment, before they would connect, he stored his sword and shield, grabbing onto the moving blade with his hands and fighting for control.

He willed the weapon, calling it his, and a heartbeat later, it was stored in his dimensional storage, leaving his opponent stunned and in shock.

Yet that look on her face was gone. Her shield came forward with more power and strength than before, slamming into his chest and sending Max tumbling backward fifteen yards.

Pain lanced through his chest as a few of his ribs had broken, but again, healing quickly came over him, and he got to his feet just in time to see a foot coming at his head.

Reacting, he raised his left arm, trying to move to the right to lessen the impact of the kick, only to find that it didn’t do anything. His arm snapped from the impact and was sent on another journey across the packed dirt.

“Stop!” Tom shouted as Max began to rise, his wounds already healed again from all the healers who had been ready this entire time.

He looked up and saw Dexic’s gold-colored plate glove just a few inches from his face. Her smile was now gone and replaced with a frown.

“Give me my sword back,” she growled as she stood up and lowered her fist.

Nodding, Max rose, changing from his equipment into normal clothes. He then took the sword out of his storage and handed it back to her, hilt first.

Snorting, she yanked it from his hand, inspecting it once before putting it into her storage and changing as he did.

“Everyone go!” Tom shouted as he arrived at the place where the two of them were standing.

“You two! Everett’s office now!”