Ultimate Level 1 - Chapter 024 - Betrayal (Patreon)

Max read the description once more and then picked up his cup, draining the last of it before setting it down and heading to his room.

Holding his spear in his hands, Max stood in the middle of his room and activated the spell to enchant his spear.  A blue glow surrounded his hands and ran up the shaft of his spear, finally settling on the tip for a moment before disappearing completely.

“Holy dwarf balls,” he muttered as he felt the mana leave his body.

It had only taken two seconds to actually cast and yet it left no evidence that he had done anything to his spear.

[Inspect Weapon]

*****

Berserker Spear

+1 Strength, Constitution, Dexterity

.25 bonus damage against higher-level enemies

Bonded

Enchantment

Ice Enhancement - +3% damage, 10% chance to apply a chill effect upon striking an enemy.  Chill effect lasts twelve seconds and slows enemy by 20%

*****

“Hell yah!” Max exclaimed, raising jabbing his spear into the air and accidentally poking the ceiling with it.

Wood chips flew off, landing on the floor as Max looked up, seeing a noticeable chip he had taken out of the ceiling.

Crap. Peter is going to kill me.

Sighing, he put his spear against the wall next to his other one and began picking up the pieces of the ceiling off the floor.

“Seth, this is Serhmy, one of our old friends.”

Max smiled and held his hand out toward the elf that Faylen had just introduced.

The male elf had white hair tied back in a ponytail and was dressed in solid black leather armor.  His green eyes were still watching him, looking him up and down as if he disapproved somehow.

Finally, the elf took his hand and shook it for just a moment before pulling it back and turning to move behind Lucia.

“Ignore him,” Faylen said as she gave a shrug.  “He has never been talkative or friendly.  Part of being a [Rogue].”

Biting his tongue, Max wanted to say he was a prick but knew that would probably not be appreciated by the group.  Instead, he gave a nod and just flashed one more smile before turning his attention to Faylen.

“So, the boss today?”

She grinned and nodded as she picked her pack up off the ground and put it on her back.

“That is the plan.  We should breeze through the dungeon in no time.”

Max was in shock at how fast they were taking out the goblins with Serhmy assisting.  He would activate a stealth skill and disappear, only visible to Max because of a border that outlined him since they were in the same party.

Once the goblins were fighting him or Faylen, Serhmy would appear behind one of them, usually slicing their neck wide open before engaging another one from behind with his daggers.

“It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?”

“Hell ya!” Max replied to Brindle, who was busy helping him drag the corpses to Lucia to harvest.

“Good thing it only lasts so long and he can’t run with it.”

“Stop sharing my secrets,” Serhmy snapped at Brindle, giving him a scowl that would make a goblin mother proud.

Max saw Faylen even turn and give Brindle a glare while shaking her head no.

Brindle shut up and went back to just moving the dead hobgoblins to Lucia.

Not asking, Max watched Serhmy, always feeling like the elf was giving him the stink eye.

What the hell crawled up that elf’s butt?

In no time they were standing before the orange portal having just killed the last hobgoblin in the pack of eight that had been guarding it.

“Seth, go ahead and portal over but don’t trigger the boss,” Faylen said as she started looting the corpses.  “You can get the timer started for the portal.”

“You sure?” Max asked, a bit surprised.

She nodded and motioned with her head at the others.

“I need to deal with the drama.”

Slowly bobbing his head, Max gave a half-hearted smile and moved to the portal, glad he wouldn’t have to deal with any of that.

As his vision returned, Max couldn’t believe the size of the boss room.  Standing in a small hallway that was ten feet long, at the end of it where the yellow line was, Max saw a room that was sixty feet long and thirty feet wide.  It had the same brick design as the rest of the dungeon and torches were scattered along the walls, casting shadows around the room.  The ceiling was a good fifteen feet tall.

Standing near the yellow line, Max saw the boss in the middle of the room like the kobold boss had been.  It was taller than him by a good foot and had arms and legs that reminded him of the blacksmiths back in town.  It looked physically huge.  It had a double-headed axe on a four-foot shaft resting over its shoulder and was wearing a chain tunic and pants.

“It’s like a fricking hobgoblin boss…” Max muttered to himself.

This thing is way tougher than the kobold boss.

Taking it all in, he noticed the party screen he had pulled up in the corner of his vision change suddenly.  Serhmy’s status bar stopped being grey for a moment, and then the party interface disappeared.

Turning around, Max wondered what had happened to the party.

“You’re a disgrace do you know that?” Serhmy said, his voice sounded pissed as he spoke.  “You humans don’t deserve to walk the same dirt as us.”

“What?” was all Max could get out, confused at what had just happened.

“You fool,” Serhmy laughed for a moment as he pulled his daggers out.  “You have no clue what is about to happen.  You’re going to die.  Just like all the other humans we party with.”

Max’s mind went crazy, trying to absorb what Serhmy was saying.

Other humans, they partied with? This was a…

He cut off his thoughts as Serhmy suddenly vanished from his vision and Max realized what was going to happen.

His mind raced back to what he had seen and what Brindle had said.

He can’t run, and it only lasts so long.  There is a cooldown also!

Left with no choices, Max did the only thing he could think of if he wanted a chance to live.

Backing up quickly, he spun, crossing the yellow line and hearing the goblin boss roar as it turned its attention to Max.

Dashing across the room he aimed for a corner at the far side of the room.  The massive hobgoblin began charging toward him, holding its axe in both hands.

His eyes saw it wasn’t fast but he knew it had to be strong.  Stronger than him.

As it was about to clash with him, Max shifted directions, darting to the left side of the room and barely dodging the swing of the boss's axe aimed at him.

Not wasting a moment, Max ran straight to the corner, giving himself barely any room as he didn’t want to risk giving Serhmy any space to attack him from behind.  As he ran he cast the enchantment on the spear, hoping the slight blue glow of his hands and shaft for a moment were not seen.

The boss lumbered over toward him, its steps thudding against the brick floor.

Holding his shield ready, Max grit his teeth, knowing that no matter what, this strike was going to hurt.

As the axe came down, Max bent his knees, doing his best to prepare for the blow and holding his shield ready to block it.  The force was harder than anything he had ever experienced, knocking his shield down to his shoulder and driving him to his knees.  His arm ached and his shield dented some from the attack.

The memory of Brutus and the kobold boss flashed through his mind as the axe bounced off and the boss began to swing it again.

Driving off the ground, Max thrust with everything he could, sending his spear toward the boss’s midsection.

It didn’t even bother to move, allowing his spear to hit and penetrate a little bit as it struck again, driving Max to the ground once more with another blow from its axe.

Pain lanced through his arm as the axe dug through the metal and a good inch of the blad was cutting into his arm.

The boss roared as it tugged on its axe, trying to free it from the shield and lifted Max back to his feet.

He tried to lift his spear up and prepare to strike again but he couldn’t.  He was standing on his toes as the boss prepared to kick with its leg.

Max saw the chance and as the boss’s leg swung up at him, he aim his spear tip at it, clenching the shaft between his right arm and side, holding on to it as much as possible.

The boss’s front kick caught the tip right above the knee, knocking Max and his spear back as well as freeing its axe from Max’s shield.

It stumbled back a second and prepared to swing again when it glowed yellow and turned, now ignoring Max as it slowly walked toward the room.

Coughing from the pain, Max wasted no time checking his health.  He had lost a third of his hitpoints and his left arm and shield were basically useless.

Watching the boss as is moved around the room, its head scanning the area and sniffing through its snout, Max undid the shield and let it fall to the floor.  Even the clanging of the noise didn’t draw the boss's attention.

Think… his stealth has to be ending in a moment.  The boss will be on him for ten seconds before it turns on me.  The potion!

Max fumbled with his pouch, grabbing the potion and preparing to pull the cork when a dagger struck him in the shoulder, causing him to drop the potion.

Thirty feet away, standing next to the same wall that he was, Serhmy had broken his stealth and attacked him.  A red shimmer appeared around the rogue and Max knew that he had been flagged for attacking another person.

The boss roared, turning to face Serhmy and charged toward him.

Serhmy was running toward Max, and his options were limited.  The [Rogue] would reach him before the boss reached Serhmy.

Yanking the dagger out Max activated his trump card.

[Berserker Activated]

The world turned red. Max felt rage like he had never felt before surge through him.  His eyes were locked on Serhmy and even with his left arm and shoulder were injured none of that suddenly mattered.

He gripped the spear with both hands and ran toward Serhmy as the elf stumbled for a moment, his eyes going wide at the sight before him.

Max’s spear moved faster than his own eyes could keep up with. It lanced forward, catching the rogue as he tried to dodge to the side in the leg, sending him tumbling for a moment.

Serhmy tried to stand and dodge again but the boss had reached him and was swinging at him now.

Trying to roll again, the axe came down, catching both of Serhmy’s legs and slicing them right below the knee.

The elf cried out in pain, but Max didn’t care.  His spear came at him like lighting, piercing the elf as he tumbled on the floor in the chest and in the neck in less than a second.

Max screamed not from pain but from the sensation that overwhelmed him.  His joints felt on fire as the cold sensation tore through him.

[ 35 Hit Points Consumed ]

[ 2 Dexterity Consumed ]

[Consume has successfully consumed two skills. Choose which skill to consume]

[Would you like to learn [Backstab] or [Stealth]]

His body felt alive and as the dexterity was applied, combined with the berserker buff that had now refreshed, Max felt alive.  His arm and shoulder felt no pain.  There was no time to pick a skill, only kill.

His attention shifted to the boss who was lifting its axe from where it had cut off Serhmy’s legs.

There was no fear, no hesitation.  Max was consumed with only one thought.  Rage.

His spear struck the boss's right arm and in a heartbeat, was piercing the other arm as they pulled the axe from the ground.  It roared as a blue glow shimmered over it and Max continued his onslaught.

The boss staggered backward, trying to lift its axe as Max pressed the attack, strike after strike coming, piercing its chainmail as if was paper.  The added strength from the berserker skill gave him the power to ignore it.  After suffering three massive strikes to the chest, the boss dropped the axe, raising its hand to try and stop the spear that was riddling it with holes.

Max never stopped, though, his eyes firmly fixed on the boss, stabbing for center mass.

In seconds, the boss's arms and hands were torn from its body as the spearhead shattered bones and sent flesh flying.  With no defenses left, it took repeated strikes to its heart.  Even as it fell, Max couldn’t stop, moving to where it lay on the ground, driving the spear over and over into its chest and sending blood and bones all around him.

As quickly as it started, the rage ended, leaving Max standing there, panting as he looked down at the gaping hole in the boss's body.

Cold power rushed through him.

[ 2 Strength Consumed ]

[ 20 Stamina Consumed ]

Max began to laugh.  A moment later, he started to cry.

He fell to his knees, ignoring the carnage around him as he continued to laugh and cry for a while.