Max pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the two skill choices.
Fowl and Tanila scrunched their faces and shook their heads, neither knowing what the armored warrior offered.
“I know this will give you something,” Tanila whispered as she pointed at the words ‘poison resist.” Glancing around the room, she leaned closer. “At the final rank, you are basically immune to any of that.”
“The other is nothing I have heard of,” Fowl added. “I know what I have, and there are lists of things available at later levels once in the tower, but that… I’m not sure.”
Max nodded, looking at both options and trying to decide which might be best. Not having to worry about poison as much would be a blessing, especially when they entered dungeons and towers where more monsters relied upon it. The other seemed helpful, but the use might be limited if it was a skill, like his evasion, that had a cooldown.
“Which do you bet on? I mean, if one is constant and the other is an ability?”
Max watched as his two friends took a moment to consider the options. Everyone knew the power of a well-timed ability. It could often change the outcome of a battle depending upon what it was. When it was on cooldown, though, it provided nothing.
A passive ability was a huge boon, always being there, but if one wasn’t fighting something it helped against, it too provided no benefits.
“We know what we will be facing in the coming dungeons. That one would definitely provide help against those, the other…” Fowl’s voice trailed off as someone walked by their booth, laughing as they carried two tankards of ale. “The other is an unknown.”
Max groaned quietly. Fowl was right. One was unknown, and that created a lot of questions.
“Is poison resistance a skill someone can pick up?”
Tanila nodded slowly. “I can, but it’s limited. Rogues and maybe a few other classes, but it is rare. One would have to really want it to spend…” Tanila’s eyes widened and she stopped, pulling a book from her storage and quickly flipping through the pages.
Max and Fowl watched her as she thumbed through the pages, finally coming to the section she was searching for, and quickly skimmed the elvish text. Two pages later, she held her finger on a line.
“Here… you can get skill stones inside the tower; some provide resistances. It is one of the ways adventurers can overcome the things they face.”
“That means the other is what was changed for me.”
Tanila nodded, closing the book and putting it up.
“I think it makes the choice an easy one?” Fowl asked.
Max nodded. If getting a resistance skill was possible in the tower, then the other was something special from that rare boss, and not taking it seemed foolish.
Do you have an opinion on this?
Max waited, not sure if he wanted an answer or not. Nothing came, so he made the choice.
Preparing for a jolt or some body-altering effect, Max felt nothing when he selected Armored Warrior.
[Skill Description - Armored Warrior]
Armored Warrior - Rare Skill: When activated, the user's body will be covered in magical armor twice as strong as their current equipment for ten seconds. Resistances provided by equipment will also be doubled. Constitution is doubled for durability and bonus hit points are consumed first. The ability cool down is seventy-two hours.
Max smiled, realizing he had been right in picking this one.
Taking the same piece of paper, he quickly jotted down what it provided, and when Fowl whistled slowly, he knew it had been the right choice.
“Imagine if you are wearing plate armor,” Fowl said. “That kind of bonus would be beyond anything I can imagine. That isn’t counting the hitpoint gain either.”
She took the paper from Max and read it momentarily before lighting it on fire with a flick of her finger.
Max almost protested but realized it wasn’t needed and just smiled since he could have done the same.
“You probably should consider getting some plate armor,” Tanila pointed out. “There will be times when your protection would be better suited.”
“How would that impact everything else? I mean, wouldn’t it limit mobility?”
Fowl shook his head as he laughed. “Not if you get the good stuff. Magical equipment isn’t like that crappy gear most people start off with. It isn’t limited like that. You need to go shoppi–”
“No money,” Tanila said, cutting Fowl off. “We don’t have the money for that right now.”
Grimacing, Fowl sighed. “Well, tomorrow we can try to earn some. There have to be things we can farm for money. What about quests we can do?”
“Not without a healer. I won’t risk you two without a healer.”
Everyone agreed their options were limited. Find a new healer and do dungeons where they could complete quests and grind out materials or hope to do enough low-level dungeons to make up the difference. Even if they could earn three gold a day between the three of them, they still wouldn’t have enough in seven days.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Max lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. The others had already called it a night, and he knew what he was going to do.
“What level are you?”
Max stared at the man behind the table and sighed. He had glanced at the charts multiple times, reading the potential payouts based on levels, and knew he had to go with the level thirty bracket. The gold wasn’t the best, but Max knew how much money he could make.
“I’m level thirty, sir.”
“Show me your stats, son. No skills or items needed, just your level and stats.”
Following the prompts, Max put his hand on the silver tablet and waited.
18-Year-old Human Male
The coliseum worker nodded, looking at the display that showed up.
“So you can fight in the thirty through thirty-five bracket. Winning a fight by submission is ten gold. Winning a fight by killing them is twenty gold. If you win and want to go again, you can. Any questions?”
Max shook his head. He had read the rules and knew what to expect.
“I can bet on myself, right?”
The worker, as well as a few people around him, all chuckled.
“You can, and most do.”
A different tablet was given to Max.
“Sign on the bottom there, and know that if you don’t show up, a five gold fee will be charged to you.” The man leaned his arms on the table and glared at Max. “Don’t make us come find you to collect.”
Max nodded, quickly read the last few lines on the contract, and signed it.
“Remember, only bring weapons and armor you are willing to lose if you die. Anything else should be left with a friend, a loved one, or in the vault underneath the Colosseum. Be here an hour before the evening's first battle starts.”
Max turned and left, moving through the crowd of fighters, all signing up for a chance to earn money and fame. He was surprised by how many were actually there, willing to risk death like he was.
As he walked down the street toward the guild hall the three of them were going to meet up at, Max had gotten about a hundred yards when he felt a presence he knew far too well coming up from behind him.
Frowning, he turned and saw Tanila hurrying toward him.
Her hand struck his face. He saw it coming and knew ten ways to dodge, deflect, stop, or more, yet he took it. It didn’t hurt and barely stung, but that she felt the need to do it crushed him.
Another hand came, and he closed his eyes, prepared for the hit. It never connected, stopping a few inches away.
“You think so little of us that you would do this?”
Her voice was a growl, and as people walked along the road, a bubble formed around them, giving the two of them all the room they might need.
“It’s not that. I can–”
“Die? Expose yourself?” she hissed quietly. “Ruin everything we have done? What?!”
“One night, one fight. We both know I am going to win. There is no risk of me dying.”
Tanila saw the look in Max’s eyes. The strength behind them and the belief that he was absolutely correct.
She shook her head and then tapped his chest.
“What about dying here? What if… if you give in?”
Max frowned. He had considered that, but the positive outweighed any potential negative in his mind. There was no downside. He might gain a skill or some stats, but he didn’t believe for a moment that one death would result in any corruption of his soul.
“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Talina crossed her arms, and Max saw her shaking with anger and frustration. “You promise? Don’t you remember what you said about… Gah… men.”
She flicked her braid behind her shoulder and stormed off, leaving Max to watch her walk toward the guild hall he had been headed for.
As she walked away, he swore he heard laughter from inside him. A voice that was amused at either what he was about to do or what he believed he knew.
Unable to stop himself, Max shuddered. He had just signed up for something he couldn’t back out of.
Fowl hadn’t said a word.
When Tanila told him what Max had done, Fowl nodded once and then moved toward the ogre dungeon. Max couldn't take the suspense as they prepared to fight these creatures. It was killing him.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Max asked before Fowl went to aggro the first group of ogres.
Pausing, the dwarf turned, his eyes peering out through the slits of his helm.
“What do you want me to say? I understand. I considered it myself. I know why you did it and why I didn’t. Tanila and I both know you could win the entire thing. What scares us is if you do.”
Max felt those eyes burning into him.
“Tell me our choices! How else can we help Batrire? Take out a loan? Sell our gear? Try to farm enough without adding a new healer and dealing with our group's problems? Find another casino?”
Fowl shrugged. “I don’t have an answer, Seth. All I know is that Batrire wouldn’t like it. She lost her brother, and if you go through with this… if you lose yourself to save her, she may not want to be saved.”
Fowl glanced back at the ogres and then turned to look at Max.
He shook his head, put his weapon and shield into storage, and then put his helm away.
“I’ll be there tonight to watch you. I’ll cheer for you. I just cannot be happy about this. You do what you must, and I don’t think I can waste time here. If you win, none of this matters.”
Fowl turned and moved back toward the glowing blue portal. A few yards from it, he turned and looked at Max. “I’m headed to Ockrim’s temple. It’s been too long since I’ve prayed to him.”
Max watched as Fowl left the dungeon and then turned to see Talina staring at him. Her face showed every bit of her displeasure. How she stood with her shoulders cocked, hip jutting out. Her frown and the way her eyes looked down at him.
“I don’t say this often enough and for many reasons, but I need you to listen to me.”
Tanila moved to Max. Stood just a foot from him and touched his cheek.
“Max, you are our family. I care for you in ways I can’t explain and am afraid to consider. Do not lose the man we love.”
A small, pained smile appeared before she turned and left him alone in the dungeon.
Angry and upset, Max did the only thing he could think of at that moment.
Sweating, angry, and upset, Max ignored all the corpses of the ogres he had killed. The entire first floor was wiped clean, and he hadn’t used a single skill.
Perfect… we are ready for tonight…
Max nodded. He was ready.