Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 402: Legendary Skill Choice

“I’m going to choose Regeneration. The skill is so strong, and it has allowed us to not have to worry about Batrire using her heals on me. While I thought about Armor Crafting, I can ask someone else to help make armor for you all. Besides, if things get so bad, I can always find an armor crafter and kill them, right?”

He grinned as both dwarves frowned.

“Seriously?” Fowl asked.

“He’s kidding, you fool,” Batrire said as she elbowed him.

“While I can maybe find a creature in the tower with this kind of skill, the problem is I have no idea when that might happen and having faced a dragon that took forever to kill because she could regenerate, I had to wear her out, eventually draining her mana reserves dry.”

“So you’d be unkillable?” Cordellia asked.

“No, but I’d be harder to kill,” Max replied. “There are still lots of ways to kill me, one of which is simply removing my head. But I wasn’t able to do that against a giant dragon.”

“So choose it, and tell us what the improved skill looks like,” their ranger stated.

Fighting back the urge to smirk, Max nodded.

[ Regeneration Selected ]

[ Regeneration has been Upgraded to Legendary ]

[Skill Description - Regeneration ]

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Regeneration - Legendary Skill: This skill allows the user to regain lost hit points at the cost of Mana. 1000 Hit Points may be recovered each second at the cost of one Mana. At this rank, the skill may regrow a lost body part or organ at the cost of twenty Mana. Limb regeneration speed is tenfold. The skill can regenerate partial head loss provided 1/10th of the head still remains. The skill automatically engages if the user is unconscious unless no Mana points are available.

*****

Even he couldn’t help but blink his eyes repeatedly as he reread the description.

It appears that was the wise choice .

“So…”

“I made the right decision,” Max answered. “I… I can regenerate 1000 HP a second.”

“Holy elf tits,” Batrire cursed. “Per second!?”

Nodding, Max tried to really consider what that meant.

Tanila squeezed his arm and smiled.

“I’m just glad that means you’ll be safer when you do stupid stuff.”

“And boy does he,” their warrior muttered.

He could see how Tanila’s eyes seemed ready to burst again, the welling of wetness, and knew they needed to head out.

“Let’s grab the crystals and return. We can rest and then figure out what we’ll do tomorrow.”

***

“I’ll be fine,” Tanila said. “Stop worrying about me.”

Max frowned but nodded, not wanting to push the subject any more and knowing she wasn’t going to budge on the decision.

“Alright. Then we leave in twenty,” he informed everyone as they sat in the living area of the quarters Erwini had given them at the Faction house. “We’ve got three more floors before the boss and only so many days till the wedding.”

“Bah, stop reminding me,” Fowl said as he rose off the couch. “I got another bill delivered this morning. Someone tell me how flowers cost so much gold.”

“Do you love me?”

Their warrior turned and saw Batrire fluttering her eyelashes at him, a smile beaming through her beard.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Then stop complaining and pay for those flowers, or so help me I’ll rip the short hairs off you tonight!”

Gone was the simple, replaced with a gaze that might have given the last boss a run for its money.

Max felt his lips pull back as he watched his friend bob his head and move quickly toward the door.

“I think you scared him,” Cordellia said after Fowl had left the room.

“Of course I did. Only the weird dwarves like that kind of treatment.”

***

“I feel like we’re rushing,” Fowl muttered as he scrounged through the remains of the mechanical spiders that had been the size of a single-story house. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like being ready to beat the 58th floor, but are you sure this pace is the right one?”

Max cleared his throat and glanced back at the three women who were collecting the clear gems scattered along the metal floor.

“You know the pain of trying to protect and lead the group. Both of us can see how Tanila is still trying to handle the pain of what that elixir did to her. Unlike the rest of us, she feels cursed by that twist of the gods.”

His friend nodded and frowned, glancing back at the trio.

“Still, I hate watching you kill everything so easily. I mean… not much has changed in all our time together, but you completely obliterate everything you hit with a weapon or spell.”

“You did fine when I brought a few for you all to practice on.”

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Scoffing, Fowl shook his head.

“We were babysat, and you know it. Not once were we in any real danger. If things went sideways at all, you would have taken out those two spiders in a single hit. Knowing that makes us not give everything even when we try. It’s not the same.”

He is right, and you know it.

Bob’s occasional comment about this path mimicked his friends.

Time is our enemy, and you know that. After we finish this next boss, we can take a moment and recover. A few days off before the wedding will give Tanila the time she needs to work through whatever it is she won’t share.

I’m telling you to be careful around her. Don’t push her to open up or share so much. She knows you care, and I know that is why you are trying so hard, but when you struggled with the hunger and power I offered, none of them could make you choose the right path. Even Tanila stood there, silently acting as an anchor for you, simply giving you a safe space to return to.

Closing his eyes, Max rubbed them and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before slowly releasing it.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to be the friend you’ve always been to me.”

Opening his eyes, he smiled at Fowl.

“No, you’ve been perfect. I’m just rushing in again. Every time I think we’re doing fine, something happens, and I get scared. Honestly, I’m scared about what happens after you two get married. Then comes what happens with Tanila and the baby and how this skill affects her. On top of all that, I feel a thread is now pulling me to Rakonath. If it wasn’t for the fact I really don’t need to sleep that much, I’m certain I’d be worthless.”

His friend stored the mechanical leg that was longer than him and then came over, giving Max a playful punch.

“You’re still my brother, and that means no matter what, I’m here for you.”

Chuckling, Max smiled and nodded.

“I always wanted a brother. Even if he had to be shorter and hairier.”

***

“So let me get this straight. Are you five actually about to attempt the boss on the 59th floor?”

Max nodded at Fudumod, who couldn’t stop shaking his head.

“And you’re serious about the fact everything you have faced so far has been robotic in nature? Like those pictures I showed you?”

“I did let you see the leg from yesterday. Why would you ask that?”

The dwarf gave Max and then the others a hard stare, frowning the entire time.

“After you showed me that, I went to the castle and spoke with a few of the dwarves who kept records of anything we knew about the tower and the later floors. They have come to the conclusion that something is wrong, as what you are facing isn’t something you should be dealing with yet.”

“That’s nothing new,” Cordellia whispered to Tanila.

“What?”

“Nothing! Just talking with our mage!”

Fudumod’s frown turned into a grimace.

“I would caution you about what may be beyond this next portal. You do have a recall stone, correct?”

“We do,” Max replied. “Are you able to tell us what we are about to face?”

“Not specifically, but based on what you showed me and what I have been able to find out, it will most likely be another creation like the ones you have faced but far worse. There have been rumors of magical barriers which prevent physical and magical damage. Some launch barrages of magic our warriors who survived had never seen, giant arrow-like things that explode with fire and metal, like a dwarven barrel bomb but even more powerful. Only two records were preserved, and each one was a different creature. One was said to be a large wolf or dog. The other was a bear. Both parties lost members before their member with the gem could shatter it.”

Each of them glanced at the other, all aware of what they had faced before and the problem that came from mechanical bosses.

“I’m good,” Fowl said as he cracked his neck with his hands. “It won’t be the first one.”

“You’ve faced another!?”

“We did,” Max replied. “It wasn’t a fun fight, so I think we have some knowledge of what we are dealing with. Most are weak to lightning, even if the other elements aren’t effective on them.”

Snorting, Fudumod pulled out a notebook and started writing in it.

“We appreciate the advice and warning,” Batrire said. “Still, our options are limited. The time it would take to wait for the floor to respawn would be, what, ten days?”

“About that, I believe it is at this level. Occasionally it’s been up to fifteen.”

Pulling out a journal, Max wrote down that information and then stored it.

“Good to know it increased apparently as the floor numbers do. Still, are we all good?”

Everyone gave a thumbs-up, with Tanila being the last one to do so.

“Then if no one else has anything to do before we head inside, I’ll go first,” Max stated.

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“Just be safe,” the older dwarf warned them. “We’ve got a wedding planned, and no one wants to replace that with something else.”

Fowl started to scowl, and their healer reached out and stopped him as he began to open his mouth.

“We appreciate the concern,” Batrire said. “No worries. Ockrim himself is watching over us, and I know that means we will succeed.”

Giving their warrior a gentle shove, she moved him toward the portal.

Motioning at the other two, Max quickly caught up and reached the portal first, waiting for all four to arrive.

“I’ll go in. Count to ten and then come.”

Touching the shimmering portal, he felt power flowing through it, stronger than before, and then the option to select the 59th floor appeared.

Selecting it, the world around him shifted, and he found himself in a circular shaft with wires set inside a patchwork metal wall. Beneath him was a platform and it only took a moment to realize he was on a lift of some kind.

Looking upward, he saw an opening with light streaming in from fifty feet above him. The sounds of shouting and cheering were bouncing off the opening.

His stomach tightened as he realized there wasn’t a portal to leave anywhere in the ten-yard-wide area where he was standing.

Soon Fowl appeared, and then the others joined him.

“What in the gods is this?” their warrior asked.

“And what is that sound?”

Max was about to respond to their ranger when the cacophony of noise suddenly shut off, and a single one came forth.

“MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! IT IS TIME TO SEE IF OUR CHAMPION CAN WIN AGAIN!”

A roar twice as loud as before came after those words.

“What was that?”

Glancing at the others, Max realized they could not understand what he had easily heard.

My skill?

Yes.

So that means…

We’re apparently fighting another race in the tower.

‎