Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 388: The Cost to Climb

Max stood at one of the ledges that overlooked the city inside the mountain.

“It’s amazing,” he stated as Tanila stood beside him, nodding.

“Makes you wish you were a dwarf, doesn’t it?”

“No, then I’d be shorter,” Max replied, elbowing his friend. “Still, this is beyond what I had expected.”

Before them was a vast open area, all lit up like the sun, with a clouded section hidden and not in the center of the five-mile-wide area.

“That’s where the tower is,” Batrire said as she pointed to the section that seemed to shimmer in the middle of everything. “It runs up into the mountain and out the top of it.”

Nodding, Max remembered the crude drawing that had done this view no justice. He had seen it as a kid in school, but here he was, standing on one of the twenty floors that were carved around this open section.

Below were buildings, each one also cut from the mountain’s stone and no more than three or four stories tall. This created a puzzle-like view of buildings that stretched out around them.

Like a giant circle, there were stairs and ramps all over the sides, leading to the different floors and sections of the capital.

Near the center where the tower was, a large castle could be seen.

“How do they get the stone to be different colors if it’s all the same rock?” Cordellia asked. “And don’t say it’s magic.”

“Well, it is,” Batrire replied. “Part of it’s magic, and the other part is a special paint, made with magic. When applied, it fuses with the rock, soaking in and becoming one with it. Most houses and buildings below don’t need a new coat for two or three hundred years.”

“And those trees,” Tanila said as she motioned at a few gardens that could be seen around the area they were in. “They seem alive, even though they grow inside a mountain.”

“What can I say? Ockrim loves us,” Fowl answered.

Max ignored the banter and chit-chat. Instead, his mind memorized everything he saw.

This is a very well-planned city. There are twenty floors, and yes, those are the ducts that house the movement of air to keep things fresh and not stale.

And those other ones must be for waste. It makes Peltagow look like… like my hometown compared to the capital. You can feel the very magic within the stone as I can.

There is something inside it. I believe you are right. Whatever Ockrim did when he created this has some mark of his power. Part of it feels like that coin he gave you.

You mentioned how gods create worlds… how they draw power from what they create. I guess this is a small glimpse of the power they possess. We couldn’t even do something like this.

“Max?”

Tanila’s voice saying his name caused him to turn and see her smiling and studying him.

“You ready?”

“I was born ready!”

***

They got a lot of looks from different dwarves and the occasional humans and rare elves as they walked along the sidewalks, each of them snacking from various foods that were being sold on their path to the castle.

Munching on a kabob with goat meat covered in a creamy sauce, Max laughed as some dripped down his chin.

“You need a beard,” Fowl stated as he pointed at his with a greasy finger. “Catches the drippings so you don’t get your outfit dirty!”

Nodding, he stored the piece of food and procured a napkin, wiping off his face before it did just that.

Cordellia muttered, a bright yellow stain on her green shirt.

“Is this why you dwarves have these beards?” their ranger asked. “Because everything we’ve eaten so far seems to threaten to get one dirty with every bite.”

Licking her fingers, Batrire nodded.

“If it ain’t juicy, you shouldn’t put it in your mouth.”

Fowl started to choke, and the three women groaned as Max started to look everywhere but their warrior.

“God, you’re so dirty-minded!’

“You did say it,” Tanila reminded their healer. “Still, I don’t think I’ve ever had to be so careful when eating.”

“But it’s all good!” Fowl declared, having cleared whatever piece had choked him up. “Best of all, you can store these and enjoy them later!”

“How about we grab a drink before we finish this last bit,” Max said as he pointed up ahead where a pair of dwarves were selling flasks of ale outside a shop. “I don’t know about you all, but I need something wet.”

Tanila elbowed him as their warrior started choking again.

***

“Do you have an appointment?”

Sighing, Fowl shook his head.

“For the second time, we do not, but my parents are working for the king! Why do I need an appointment to see my own family?”

The trio of guards outside the southern gate they had arrived at each gave them the same look of who the heck cares as their warrior pleaded his case.

“As you’ve been told already, red band or not, you need an appointment to enter the castle and get access to the crafting areas. If you’ll fill out these forms, we can notify you when that moment arrives.”

Max couldn’t help but admire the three guards, each in a dull brown set of chain armor. Although no weapons were present, they were able to stop the advance of a group of tower climbers with a clipboard of paperwork.

“But—”

“We’ll fill out the forms,” Batrire said, cutting off her man. “How long does it typically take to receive an appointment?”

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The bald-headed guard, who had been busting Fowl’s chops, turned and shrugged at their healer.

“Week? Maybe two?”

“Two weeks?! But we’re supposed to get married!” Fowl exclaimed. “How can I—”

As his friends and the guards argued, Max saw a pair of dwarves in full plate armor who had appeared about a minute ago, standing inside the gate watching them. Each was slightly taller than the usual dwarf, and Max would almost swear he could feel their gaze.

You can sense that can’t you?

Their aura? It’s impressive to feel it from this far. How strong are they?

Obviously, they are in the tower, probably close to the rest of your party, if not stronger. The real question I guess I have is why we can sense their aura. Something feels… different?

You mean, why they have one and we don’t?

Yes. Riniya had one. Igarra had one. No one else we have met seems to have one except the common factor being they had to have completed the tower or perhaps part of it.

So in time, if we continue going through the tower, then we—

Max stopped his train of thought as the aura both dwarves had been giving off vanished. A third dwarf appeared, this one a woman based on her plate armor and the way it hugged her versus the other two. Long black hair was tied in braids, and dark eyes were fixated on him alone.

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She is stronger than them… even if she doesn’t have that presence.

It would appear they can turn it off at a moment’s notice.

“Max, we need to go!”

He had sensed his friends starting to turn and leave, but Fowl’s outburst made him look at his friend.

“Four pages! I have to fill out four pages to see my parents!”

“We’ll be fine,” Max said as he came up next to his friend and retrieved the papers that were getting crumpled. “In the meantime, we can deal with doing the tower, hitting different alehouses and drinking till you pass out, or starting the process of preparing for a wedding. Obviously, I know which of the three I’d vote for, especially since we came here specifically for one of them.”

Huffing, Fowl nodded and slowly began to take deep breaths, letting them in and then out.

“Sorry… I just… after the time with my brothers and sister, all I can think about is finally getting to see my parents and prove to them that what I chose was the right path.”

His shoulders slumped slightly, and Max nodded at the others who had stopped. Putting a hand on his friend’s head, Max gave it a gentle shake.

“No matter what happens, you’re chosen by Ockrim himself,” he informed his friend. “No other dwarf, just you, Fowl Hammerfall. Right now, you’re stronger than most dwarves in this city, and soon, I have no doubt, will be the strongest when all this is said and done.”

Turning his friend slowly, Max looked into his friend’s brown eyes, noticing that they trembled slightly.

“Each of us has hard moments, and you’ve been there for us. None of us will leave you, and we need the warrior that stood there, taking all that damage while a boss killed itself as your skill sent back a portion of the pain you suffered.”

Fowl began to smile and looked up from the stone path they were standing on.

“Now, stop pouting. Go put your arm around that beautiful dwarven healer, and let’s go back to the Faction house.”

Clearing his throat, their warrior nodded and held out his hand, grabbing Max and pulling him into a quick embrace.

“And that’s why you’re going to be my best dwarf at the wedding,” Fowl whispered as they stood there a moment.

“What?!”

Chuckling, Fowl just grinned.

“I was supposed to ask, but I figured why bother? We both know you’ll do fine.”

“I… I’m honored. Really.”

“When you two are done tickling each other’s souls, can we go get a carriage? All this eating has made me tired!” Batrire shouted.

Laughing, Max hefted his friend off the ground and threw him over his shoulder, jogging to where the women were waiting.

“Put me down or I’ll take back what I asked!” howled Fowl.

“You didn’t ask!” Max replied, laughing the entire way.

***

“Hmmm… it appears everything is in order,” declared the tower attendant who sat in their room. “You five will be permitted to access any of the floors one through forty-nine, but you are not allowed to go beyond that, do you understand?”

Each of them nodded, watching as the dwarf without a single hair on his wrinkled, bald head studied them over his rimmed glasses.

“Good, now then, as far as payment, it will be a gold per person for each day spent in the tower. Payment is due upon exiting the tower.”

“And how many floors can we attempt in a day?” Max asked.

Scoffing, the older man’s white eyebrows became one as he frowned. His white beard was getting thin, and those wrinkled lips were pushed so hard together that they made mountains of flesh from force.

“You think you can clear multiple floors in a day?”

“I mean, what if a floor wasn’t worth the time or effort, say a maze or puzzle one and we left, choosing instead to go to a different one?”

Letting his face relax slightly, Bidforo bobbed his head.

“That does make more sense. Still it’s one gold per day. Try as many as you like in that time frame. “Any other questions?”

Everyone glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“Well then, I’ll be leaving you all to it,” the older dwarf stated, rising slowly from the chair he had been sitting in.

“Don’t forget to take that bottle with you,” Fowl said quickly, picking up and handing the alcohol Erwini had given them to gift to Bidforo.

A slight twinkle appeared in the gray eyes, and a tight grin was present only for the second time, the first of which appeared when they poured him a glass.

“You do realize I can’t be bribed?”

“Oh, on Ockrim’s name, it’s not a bribe,” Fowl protested. “Simply trying to make sure my armor doesn’t get too tight, and I know it would be better to remove all temptation.”

“Very well. I appreciate your gift lest it be tossed away,” Bidforo stated. “Now then, Erwini, if you don’t mind, I want to head back home. For some reason, they wanted me to be the one here today.”

“It’s probably because everyone knows you’re not one to trifle with,” the Faction leader stated as she led the older dwarf to the door.

After it closed behind the pair, Max smiled and looked at the party.

“So… who wants to see if we can’t clear a floor or two before dinner?”

Cordellia laughed and shook her head.

“We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?”

“Outside of a rare spawn, I’m pretty certain we can at least do one tower floor. Maybe two,” Max replied.

“I’m game!” Fowl exclaimed. “Besides, I’ve got enough gems saved up to hit level one in the tower after we reset the first ten levels.”

Everyone chuckled and stood.

“Bathroom break first?” their warrior asked.

“Please, I don’t want to hear whining when we’re inside,” Batrire replied.

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