The red in his vision faded and Max found himself standing next to an orc whose face was nothing more than red and green flesh with bones pointing in different directions. He saw the massive wound in its chest created, he realized, by his shield was dripping blood from it.
His hand was covered in gore and yet it didn’t hurt at all. He didn’t hurt at all.
A moment passed and then he saw the notifications waiting on him.
[ 1 Constitution Consumed ]
[ 53 Hit Points Consumed ]
[ 1 Intelligence Consumed ]
[ 2 Wisdom Consumed ]
[ 21 Hit Points Consumed ]
[ 15 Mana Points Consumed ]
His breathing slowed down as he stared at those messages.
He hated using his trump card, but it saved his life. The amount he had healed was the most ever, and he wondered how badly he must have been injured.
Checking himself over he felt the back of his armor flapping and cursed.
Taking it off, he found it was split from shoulder to the middle of his back.
How close had I been to being paralyzed?
Letting out a shudder, he put it back on and fetched the cloak from the backpack, tying it in place. A cut like that would mean questions he didn’t want to answer.
Still, he was in shock. He had managed to survive, and by how the creatures looked, it had been brutal how he had fought them.
The fear of not knowing what happened left him. He had survived and gotten stronger.
In one day, he had grown by nine points. All thanks to his skill.
“Holy dwarf balls,” he muttered as he glanced around the room once more. “Someone has anger issues, for sure.”
Laughing at his own joke, Max began harvesting ears from the two orcs that still had them. One orc had no ears, its entire head having been smashed to a pulp.
The caster orc had nothing but a bracelet as its staff was snapped in half.
Better than nothing I guess.
Putting everything in his pack, Max made his way back to the entrance of the dungeon.
The male receptionist stood there, looking at Max and at the quests he was turning in. Glancing at Max’s adventurer token, the elf let out a cough.
“Can you give me a moment?”
Max nodded, and the elf moved back, taking the quests sheets and token with him and finding one of the workers stationed at the tables behind the counter.
I swear, why can’t any of this ever be easy?
A few minutes passed, and the man returned, smiling and holding out a new adventurer token with Max’s fake name on it.
“Congratulations Seth Pendal. You have reached E rank. I must say your speed in doing it is quite impressive.”
Smiling, Max gave a nod to his head and took the token the man held out for him. It was made of silver and had his new name on it.
They must have used magic to do that over there.
“Sorry if I had you concerned. I wanted to make sure my math was right, and you hit the new rank right on the dot.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“I was worried I had done something wrong,” Max replied as he pointed to the ears on the tray. “I knew a few of them were messed up and was worried you might not accept them.”
Chuckling, the elf shook his head and bent over to write a few more notes on some paperwork for a few seconds.
“Everything looks in order. Since this was your first time completing those quests, and you were an F rank when you did, you have made out quite well. I can give you fifty silver coins or a gold coin. Which would you prefer?”
Max gasped and looked at the man before scratching his chin. “You sure that is right? I mean, a whole gold coin?”
“Yes, you completed two level ten quests and they carry a large bonus for them. Most would be envious and think that someone might have given you the ears just to earn points, but we verified you had entered the dungeon. As such, the maximum bonus was given as well as the reward for the items you turned in. Were you aware the bracelet you had is from a rare spawn?”
Trying to hide his surprise, Max shook his head no. “It was the first time I had seen one. Wasn’t a fun fight, that was for sure.”
A snort escaped from his attendant and the man looked horrified when he realized what he had done. Max waved it off and grinned as the elf let out a small sigh.
“That was one of the bigger rewards. That bracelet carries a value of twenty-five silver.”
“Seriously?” Max asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.
“They only spawn perhaps every one hundred attempts. If they are able to fully enhance the party they are with, those orcs can be almost impossible to take down.”
“That's why we always target the casters first.”
Smiling, the man nodded and realized Max had forgotten his original question. “So one gold coin or fifty silver ones?”
“Fifty silver, please.”
He nodded as he pulled out a drawer and brought out a single small pouch and handed it to Max.
“Congratulations on the rank up and the amazing find!”
Taking the bag, Max nodded and quickly put it in his storage before turning and walking toward the exit.
He was tired and hungry but more than anything, he felt like the world was full of possibilities.
Directions were easy, as usually, they all included the statement, ‘Follow the main road so many streets, and turn right or left.’ There were twelve main streets that ran from the center of the city to the outer walls. Off of them were sections that held the inns, magic shops, blacksmiths, and other businesses that kept adventures going.
Max first found a leather armor shop, replacing his current set, which was well worn, and buying one extra set. The prices were twice what it had cost in Windsor Wheel, and the merchant had been totally against any real haggling. In the end, he had the money to spare and bought two complete sets of armor and a new pair of boots.
Another stop got him two sets of clothes that weren’t armor as he had realized wearing armor every day left him smelling like a goblin's arse.
He chuckled, thinking of that analogy. Having never smelled a goblin's arse, he wondered who had actually done it to have a point of reference.
With those things done, Max found a general store and stocked up on dried meat and fruit as well as some water skins that cost a little bit more but were supposed to turn dirty water clean after a few hours. Everything ended up in his backpack in temporal storage. Having that ability spoiled him.
There was no need to always walk down the street looking like he was about to get in some great battle. No massive backpack was required to be carried, again causing his back to smell awful at the end of the day.
With those things done, all that was left was finding a place to stay.
He had walked past a lot of inns, seeing what might call to him. Each place had some awe-inspiring name, hoping to stand out above the rest.
The Fat Dwarf, the Shaved Elf, the Flaming Dragon, and his least favorite, the Short Guy.
Nothing tickled his fancy until he found an inn right across the street from a baking business. The Two-Headed Orc didn’t look any different than the others on the outside, but the smell across the road was all Max needed.
Moving to the counter at the bar inside the inn, Max saw a skinny older man lifting up a cask of ale and putting it in the empty spot on the rack along the wall.
After putting the cask in place, the man turned around, spotting Max at the bar. He gave a large grin and then reached up and tapped his bald head. “I see you are a fellow believer in the greatness of no hair.”
Snorting, Max nodded, reached up without thinking, and rubbed the hairless skin on his scalp.
“Names Dick, but most people call me Big D. Never been sure why but tell me what I can do for you?”
“You do the room and meal package?”
“That I do! One night is twenty-five copper. One week is only three silvers and features the freshest bread in town!”
Trying not to choke, Max realized now that everything in town must be twice as expensive as it was in Windsor Wheel.
“Any discount for a week?”
The older man scratched his bald head and glanced past Max at the main room, which was over half full even at this time of day. “For one week, no, but for two weeks, I can give it to you for five silver and twenty-five copper.”
Money shouldn’t really be a problem, but still, this seems overpriced…
“Unless you want to bunk with others, it’s always private,” the man stated, pausing a moment as he turned and poured two drinks and set them on the counter. Max saw an older brown-haired woman with a little silver streak in her hair grab the drinks and give him a wink. “Don’t mind that old hag. She’s just my wife, and if she tells you to do something, do it.”
Big D leaned across the bar and motioned for Max to come close. “You’re not one to cause problems, are you?”
Max shook his head and noticed the man’s eyebrows return to their normal position after having come together a moment ago.
“Good!” he announced, banging his hand on the counter. “Fill out this form, put your coins on it, and I’ll get Linda to get you all taken care of.”
Sitting on his bed, Max appreciated that the room was slightly larger than the one back at Peter’s place. It even had a window as the older man asked if he was okay with more stairs. Being up high was fine by him.
Looking at the plate of food Linda had brought up with her, he devoured it, amazed at the meat's seasoning and the vegetables' freshness. The bread was as tasty as Big D had promised. A golden crust on the outside, just hard enough to need him to tear a little, while the white inside was soft and light. He might have even smelled the bread a few times, bringing back fond memories he thought he had forgotten.
Putting the plate on the small dresser, Max pulled out the paper he had gotten from Dawn when she had shown him the adventurers' guild. Unfolding it and laying it on his bed, Max glanced down at the map of the city from an aerial view.
It showed ten dots on the map in the area of the guild house. Each one stood for a dungeon, with a number by it and the name of what was inside.
Outside the city walls on the map were seven more dots, again with numbers that corresponded to the appropriate level needed as well as what was in that dungeon.
He had soloed a good chunk of that level ten orc dungeon but knew he would run into problems with another pack of three. His berserker skill had saved him but the damage to his armor showed him how close he had come to dying.
Frustrated, he realized what this meant.
I can still die if I’m not careful.
He started laughing suddenly after that thought.
Exhausted, he grabbed the map and quickly folded it, tossing it to the floor as he flopped down on his bed.
In less than a minute, he was asleep.