Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 316

The temperature changed the moment he passed through the portal, and it felt like flames were about to engulf him.

Max’s Sonar heard the ringing out of a hammer on metal, and as he blinked twice, his skill told him there was a ten-foot-tall dwarf hammering about thirty yards away on an anvil twice the size he was used to.

“Who’s that!” a feminine voice called out, the sound of the hammering stopping for a moment.

“No one that matters to you mother! Get back to work! We got things to finish!”

The dwarf got back to work, each strike shaping a two-foot section of metal with precision that amazed Max.

“She’s building a shaft that large? How big—”

“No questions, not right now!”

Buwingrid began moving toward a section on the left, where some shimmering walls of something seemed to send off heat waves.

Leading him to it, she passed through, and Max followed, feeling the heat of the room vanish as a cold chill washed over him.

“Everything here is in a dimensional pocket. Don’t touch these chests, or you won’t like what happens. They are all attuned to just me and my mother.”

Nodding, Max watched as she began grabbing a few from the cut-out section of the stone. There were at least fifty chests, each one stacked upon the other, set in a small alcove.

“You have this many? That is… impressive.”

“Is it? I could get more, but then again I have been in this place for hundreds of years.”

Her words almost made him choke at knowing she had been in this section of the city for so long.

This is what I thought then… a trading hub.

Each of those chests, though… for them to work in this space means they are a different kind of power.

Max immediately began to try to imagine how much money all of the chests must have cost. Normal dimensional storage items, he learned, did not work here. The interference of the pockets of dimensional space that this place operated in kept them from working.

People, creatures, and everyone else could not just simply appear here, unless they had a skill far greater than what Igarra had in place around this section of the world. That was why the places in the sky were needed. They served as a portal to this place, then requiring the visitor to get a special band if they flew to cross through a barrier in the sky or ride down one of the elevators that transported people to the surface.

It would appear business has been very good for Buwingrid.

As he and Bob chatted, the dwarf had set multiple chests on a long counter and began opening them, pulling out different materials and setting them along a thirty-foot black stone counter, sometimes fidgeting and ensuring that each thing she pulled out stayed a certain distance from other items.

When she finished, over forty objects rested on the counter, and the woman gave a nod.

“Let’s see what you can do. Inspect all the objects, but do not move them from where they are. Some will not tolerate getting too close to the others.” �

Max didn’t wait, excited at what he was about to see, and moved to the first section where five different blocks of metal were lined up in a row.

Each one seemed to sing its praises to him, and he glanced at Buwingrid while pointing at one.

“Can I hold them?”

After she gave him the go ahead, he began picking them up, feeling the weight of each ingot and letting his skill speak to him.

Without intending to, he began to rearrange them, and chuckled after realizing what he had done.

“These two would be the best for what I want,” Max stated as he touched a white ingot and a purple one. “The last one feels weird… and I don’t think it would be useful for anything I know of, but there is power in it.”

Buwingrid didn’t reply and simply nodded before motioning with her hand to continue his inspection of the items.

Over and over he studied different ones, finding crystal jars filled with liquid that he knew had something in them that might lend aid to his crafting, but he couldn’t understand what they were at all.

Every world has different ingredients for making things. I can sense the power as you can from them, but what they do, I have no idea.

Bob was right, and sitting the jars back down, he smiled and moved on.

When it was all over, Max was impressed with the nine different sections of ingredients the dwarf had put out.

He recognized some of them, and two had surprised him.

One was a power core that was different from any he had seen. It was a legendary grade one, and his skill told him that it would be a potential item to use with the dragon’s tooth.

The other was an elemental essence that contained all the elements. It wasn’t like the other five, which were twice the size and gave off more energy. Instead, it was small, barely the size of a walnut, and gave off almost no light, but within was immense potential.

“I’m impressed,” Buwingrid said as she moved along the counter. “You know your material, and the fact you know what a power core is was surprising. Tell me, do you have any ideas on how much it would cost to make what you desire with all these items you selected?”

“Far more than I own… I do have some skill shards that are of no use to me, but I doubt you would want them as anything but potential trading materials.”

Waving her hand, Buwingrid frowned.

“There are very few skill shards that I would even bother to attempt to touch. You do realize that trying to absorb them without ensuring they are a match for your entity or race is a quick way to die?”

Max nodded.

Oh… I’m well aware of how painful that can be.

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Bob laughed, and Max recalled the first attempt where he tried to absorb a shard Jazzjak had given him from the second battle. The Molting skill shard hadn’t felt great to absorb, requiring Max to plunge it into his chest. Consume hadn’t been able to convert it to a usable skill but had simply absorbed the power as always.

“Well that proves you are smarter than most,” Buwingrid said. “Now then, let’s talk about this weapon and what you can do. I’m familiar with some of the other items that you passed by. While I have power cores, I’m unable to access them, as my world doesn’t use them, and none who have that knowledge want to share it. Are dwarves from your world trained in them?”

“It’s a very secretive skill,” Max replied. “Let’s just say very few know I have it, and most of the dwarves would probably be upset that a human possessed it.”

She snorted as she moved to the jars with liquid inside them.

“Very well, let me share with you what I know, you can tell me about your tricks, and we can find a way to help each other.”

Smiling, Max moved to stand beside her, for once feeling a bit of hope about things to come.

***

“Buwingrid is a woman? Interesting,” Jazzjak muttered between bites. “No one told me that. Forgive me for not knowing.”

“Not your fault,” Max replied as he chewed on the roasted vegetables, trying to figure out the sweet and savory spice the vorpal rabbit had somehow found. “I’m going to be spending some time with her for the next few days. Tell me, how goes the trading?”

Grinning, the white ball of fur set his plate down and dashed out of the dining area and up the stairs. A minute later he returned with two green gems in his hand.

“Two agility stat gems. They’re minor ones with only a ten to twenty bonus to each. I still can’t believe people charge so much for them.”

Jazzjak dropped the pair in Max’s hand, and a sensation of energy flowed through his skin.

Swirls of light moved inside the two-inch gem like a cyclone of energy and power.

“You’re certain those are worth it? I mean… if I’m honest, we lost out some of the value trading all your other shards for those.”

“It is. As you know, stats are important.”

Shrugging, the rabbit hopped back into his chair and grabbed his plate, digging into the barely cooked meat he had left sitting on it.

“I do, but I also know that eventually you’re going to need to find more skills. Those are the real power.”

He has no idea…

***

Sitting on the crystal bench, Max took the knife he had purchased and took a deep breath.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

This always feels so weird… stabbing myself.

Well if you didn’t choke on the gem, you could swallow it…

Yeah… I can’t swallow… sorry…

With one more breath, Max pressed the tip of the blade under his sternum and cut down. The pain was not horrible, but the sensation was weird, feeling skin, tendons, and flesh parting.

Taking the first skill stone, he pressed it in and used his thumb to jam it deeper inside.

[ Regeneration ]

Closing his eyes, he set the knife on the seat next to him and relaxed.

Warmth spread through his body, and the tingling sensation began to get warmer.

Be ready…

Like last time, Bob knew right before the process really started, and two seconds after he had spoken it felt like a mountain slammed into his chest.

Gasping for air, pain surged outward, flooding his veins and running to every inch of flesh he owned.

Even his brain hurt, a throbbing sensation that moved to his eyes.

Though it lasted barely fifteen seconds, it felt like a good ten minutes, yet just as quickly as the moment had gone it was gone.

[ 13 Dexterity Acquired ]

[ Dexterity Gem Absorbed ]

[ Ten minutes till another Gem may be absorbed ]

Taking a deep breath, Max let it out slowly.

[ Base Dexterity Stat Check ]

*****

Dexterity: 498

*****

Of course… just a few points shy.

The gods can’t always love you, can they? In the meantime, tell me, do you plan on fighting before or after you get this weapon you are helping to craft?

I think we need to wait. Every day there are fights, and since it appears beings come as word reaches them of who is fighting, why risk it. Seven more fights, and then we can move to the real power, if you’re correct.

That real power brings more opportunities to die. Do not forget the truth of that. If only you could enter the tower and see what lies inside.

Perhaps… though I’m not certain Igarra would allow that.

When the time came, Max repeated the process with the gem, finally getting the notification he had been hoping for.

[ 18 Dexterity Acquired ]

[ Dexterity Gem Absorbed ]

[ Stat Milestone 2 Reached ]

[ Dexterity of 500 acquired ]

[ Bonus speed and evasion granted - 50% speed increase]

[ Bonus attack speed granted - 50% increase to all attack speeds ]

[ Rest required for final Milestone upgrade ]

Finally…

Well done. You never cease to amaze me, Max, with how you manage to improve. It would appear we are in the best place to rest.

Closing his eyes, Max couldn’t help but smile, as Bob was right.

I’ll trust you to keep an eye out, then, while I sit here.

Trust me, I’ve never stopped watching over you, except for a few times when I couldn’t.

Letting his breathing slow down, Max fell asleep, his mind leaving this world and joining the one where his friends were.

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