Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 387: Meeting a New Leader

“We’ve been expecting you,” Erwini declared as she greeted the five of them. “Everett sent a message and told me to be prepared. Beyond that, he just laughed.”

Fowl and Batrire started to chuckle while Max moved to shake the red-headed dwarven leader of the Golden Axe faction in Nalgrun.

“We’ll try to behave for you. Still, we appreciate you giving us a place to stay while we’re in town.”

“Bah,” she said with a huff. “Your team has everyone in the Faction talking, and the truth is our members here are champing at the bit to meet you and hopefully train with you. Now take a seat, and let’s chat. I’ve got some questions, and no doubt you five have some as well.”

Following the dwarven woman, Max had already been surprised at how minimal her office was even compared to Everett’s. A simple stone desk was in the same place, and a trio of couches around a small table with a pair of chairs were waiting for them at the end of the room. A few bookshelves and some decorations lined the stone walls, but beyond that, no real treasures or art were hanging.

“I can see you’re thinking something,” Erwini said as she waited by the couch. “Is something wrong with my office?”

“No… it’s just… simple?”

“What he means,” Batrire interjected, “is that compared to Everett’s, you don’t have anything on your walls.”

A grin appeared, and the dwarf gently tugged on both of her red braids, smoothing out her beard.

“That’s because I don’t want people to know what I have. Occasionally if I feel the need, I may display a few things to help a guest know what I’ve accomplished, but from what I know about you, they wouldn’t be anything in comparison.”

“Such as?” Fowl asked as he plopped down on the red cushioned couch, letting out a soft moan as he sank into it. “Gods, this thing is amazing!”

“Only the best,” the Faction leader stated as she procured some cups and a bottle of alcohol from her storage. “Now sit, and let me start if you don’t mind.”

“All business,” Tanila whispered to Max as she snuggled next to him on one of the couches. “But Fowl is right. This thing is comfortable.”

Erwini began handing out the glass cups, each containing only a finger of the caramel-colored liquid, and after everyone had theirs, she raised hers.

“May our axes never become dull.”

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Everyone nodded and raised theirs, draining the cups in a single gulp.

“Ohh… that’s the good stuff,” their warrior declared as he sat the cup on the wooden table. “How I’ve missed the taste of home.”

“Bah, like you ever enjoyed the good stuff when we lived here,” Batrire argued. “You could barely afford the alcohol my father served, let alone this.”

A few chuckles came, and after sitting in her chair, Erwini took a moment to study them all.

“You’re here for a wedding, and I believe you’re trying to climb the tower?”

“We are,” their healer replied. “His parents are somewhere in the capital. It appears they won a crafting contest early this year, and the king brought them here to craft. Any ideas where they might be?”

Max noticed only the slightest twitch of her cheek as the Faction leader nodded slowly.

“I have heard of three families that have been brought to his personal crafting forge inside the castle. If they are like the rest, they will be living there now and have a personal residence and a team under them. To hear that they are one of those… makes me wonder what else I’m missing.”

“Lots,” Cordellia muttered as she twisted the glass in her hand. “We still need to find out who we need to talk to about climbing the tower.”

“That won’t be a problem. I can have a representative here to conduct an interview. Your armbands will make things easier, and the biggest problem right now is the increased security inside the capital. No one knows why it is like this, but we don’t argue. As you two know, the king’s word is law.”

Both dwarves nodded, and Max saw them looking at him. Fowl’s eyebrows scrunched together, and he gave a slight head signal.

“The tower… If we wanted to climb past the 50th floor. How hard would that be to happen?”

“Legally? To use a kind way of saying it… you’re screwed.”

Their warrior snorted.

“And an unkind way?” he asked.

Erwini smirked at Fowl.

“You know I’m not one to use that kind of language often, but you’d have about as much luck as pleasing a full-grown dragon with what you’re probably packing.”

Cordellia snorted and began coughing, while Tanila started turning almost the same red shade as Fowl.

“She’s right, dear,” Batrire said, giving him a gentle elbow. “Now stop trying to be ugly and let the woman talk.”

Huffing, Fowl crossed his arms and frowned.

Grinning like a cat who caught a mouse, Erwini tapped her stubby fingers together.

“You can try to break the rules. Some have done it in the past. I don’t know how, but supposedly, the king can sense when someone does. Or perhaps it’s just luck? No one knows, but those caught haven’t ever enjoyed the punishment.”

“Can we get permission?”

The faction leader turned to Max, who hadn’t reacted at all to the last bit of conversation.

She shook her head slowly and then, after a moment, stopped and shrugged.

“It’s technically possible to ask, but you’ll not want to do that with the one they send. You’ll need to meet with an advisor of the king, and after that you can potentially take your request to him. Of course Fowl or Batrire will need to be the one to make the request, as you’re not a citizen here.”

“She means a dwarf,” Fowl stated.

“I know,” Max replied, never taking his eyes off the green pair the Faction leader was watching him with. “But she’s hiding something. I’m guessing she doesn’t have to bluff as often as Everett did.”

Snorting, Erwini just smiled.

“You’re as good as he warned me,” she muttered. “The truth is, you can break the rules if what I hear about you is true, but the problem is the consequences. Unless you want to get into a fight with the King’s Guard, you wouldn’t risk such a thing. But if the rumors are true and you’re as strong as they say you are… perhaps they might not force the issue.”

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“Bah, you’re saying he could take the King’s Guard?”

Erwini bobbed her head one time at Fowl’s question.

“Impossible,” Batrire said. “The stories—”

“Aren’t anything from what I’ve learned and what little Everett would share. The fact that he didn’t share more and that the council wouldn’t give up any real details tells me that Max… that is the name you’re going by, right?”

“It is.”

“Then, Max is far stronger than I’ve been told. For someone to solo clear a tower floor is one thing. To do it in under an hour… well… that’s a mighty feat. To do four tower floors in just a few…”

“It was more than a few,” Max replied. “But I can see where this is going. What do you want to ask?”

Holding up a hand, she waved it as if to surrender.

“I’m not looking for what your stats are or the skills you possess. I want to know more about how long you will stay.”

“For the materials?”

She grinned and nodded.

“And that’s the mind I was warned about,” she replied. “Everett told me that you have brought a lot of growth to the Faction house. Even the council has sung your praises. I’ve been permitted to open up some items from the crafting vault if you’re willing to stay and help us grow for a bit.”

“What kind of growth are you wanting?” Tanila asked, shifting in her seat and leaning forward slightly.

“The crystals that drop. We could use some to help our members with their skills. I’d assume you could most likely farm the purple ones. I would gladly share what we have with you if you were willing.”

Max felt everyone looking at him, and he studied their faces one at a time.

“We talked about farming and resetting.”

“Resetting? As in all your tower experience?! You haven’t done that yet?!”

Erwini’s outburst seemed a bit out of place as her chair scooted backward a few inches.

“Not yet, but we had discussed it. The time just hadn’t ever been there.”

“I… you’re…”

Blinking rapidly, the Faction leader tried to look at all of them, her mouth moving and words not coming out.

“Yes, we’re strong,” Fowl answered. “No we won’t tell you, but we’re going to beat the tower as a team. You can count on it.”

Clamping her mouth shut, Erwini leaned back in her chair and silently sat there for a moment.

“Beating it? He was serious.”

“Everett?” Max asked.

Bobbing her head, the Faction leader slowly tugged on her red beard braids.

“Does that seem like something you didn’t expect would happen?”

“No one expects it to happen,” she replied. “I mean… You’re Seth Pendal, the great warrior of Peltagow who has done the impossible, and yet most still don’t believe you’ll truly attempt the tower. To do so is… suicide.”

“Because it hasn’t been done in so long, or because no one will talk about how it works?” Tanila asked.

“Because everyone who attempts it dies!”

Her outburst echoed off the stone walls, and the carpeted floor area did little to dampen the noise.

“Forgive me,” she muttered, pulling out the bottle of alcohol again. “That was uncalled for.”

“No, you’re fine,” Max replied. “You asked, and we answered. As you can tell, we are prepared for what is coming next. I don’t want to get in trouble, and if fighting past the 50th floor isn’t allowed, we won’t go against the king or his proclamation, as I don’t want my two friends to be banished from their own home. Instead, we’ll farm the tower and do what we can to maximize our tower experience. But, since you did ask…”

As he spoke, Max began summoning different crystals from the tower, setting down a yellow, green, red, orange, and purple one on the stone table.

“I have a few that I can give you right now, and I would love to see the crafting materials you are allowed to share.”

Erwini’s hand trembled, and more liquid than before fell into the glass, a little spilling onto the table before she caught herself, eyes fixated on the crystals.

“You… have those? Does Everett know?”

“He does, and there are more that I could possibly trade as well,” he replied, holding two more purple crystals in his hands.

The slightest groan escaped the Faction leader’s lips, and Fowl laughed.

“You best be careful, Max or you’ll break her like you did Everett.”

Scowling, the dwarf shook her head and drank the entire cup, ignoring that there was over twice as much as before.

“I’m going to have nothing to craft with or trade, but now I understand why Everett told me to make that offer. Do you want to put those away or leave them for me?”

“You can have these,” Max said as he put the other two purple crystals on the table by the others. “I think right now we’d rather just get to our rooms, unwind, and then start the process of finding Fowl’s parents.”

Clearing her throat, Erwini nodded and stood, holding out five keys.

“I’ll show you to your room. It’s actually a suite, similar to one Everett said you had for a while at his place. Hopefully, you five will be okay with that.”

“Oh, we like spending time with each other,” Batrire said as she stood. “Unlike my real family, I like these people.”

***

The five of them sat on the furniture, each enjoying being able to lounge around in comfortable clothes without having to dress up.

“You know, I think she would do anything Max asked,” Cordellia teased. “The way she eyed him after he showed off his crystals…”

“His crystals.” Fowl giggled slightly. “And I’m blamed for bad word choices.”

Clearing her throat, Tanila frowned at the pair, ignoring Max’s smile.

“We need to be careful, even more so,” their mage stated. “Word will spread, and once it does, I’m certain it will make us a target somehow.”

“How so?” Batrire asked. “You know there are no elf-only Factions in Nalgrun. What are the odds we’ll run into any fanatics here?”

“She’s not talking about them,” Max replied. “Tanila’s thinking about how we’re going to be perceived and the potential problem once people discover who we are and the wedding that is supposed to take place.”

“Oh… well, dwarves aren’t like that,” their healer stated. “We have a few who will try to butter you up and earn points, but most won’t get involved with the day-to-day going of that.”

“But how many might try to show up to a wedding of a dwarf couple that are both past the 50th floor of the tower?”

Wincing, Batrire understood what Tanila had just asked.

“Yeah… that might be a problem… how much gold do we still have?”

Fowl sat up and looked at Max, a bit of drool almost coming from his mouth.

“Enough,” he replied. “I mean… how much do you need for this wedding?”

Clearing her throat, their healer shrugged and grinned as she played with her beard.

“An unlimited budget… hmmm, what kind of princess wedding could I have?”

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