Ultimate Level 1

“What the hell was that?” Max asked himself out loud when a blue billowing cloud of dust washed over him, continuing past him through the forest.

Glancing around him, he finished cutting off the ears of the two goblins he killed.

God, I love this shield!

It was well worth all the scrapes he had acquired yesterday while killing goblins. Playfully kissing the lip of his metal shield, he thought about Sherry and how proud she seemed when she handed it to him. Like her spear, it was a solid piece of equipment. It deflected every attack easily, leaving no real mark, and provided a much sturdier defense.

For two days, he had been farming goblins.

Stuffing the freshly cut ears into his pouch, he leaned back, stretched, and sighed.

“Finally finished…”

With those last two goblin ears, he had enough to finish the ten-goblin quest.

Looking up at the sun trying to peek through the canopy, Max felt he should head out to the fields and see what that blue cloud had been.

Three adventurers making their way through the grassy field back toward camp stopped and gave him a weird look as Max jogged toward them.

He saw the way they eyed him and stopped about twenty yards away.

“You don’t know?” called out the female dwarven warrior who stood before the other two in her group.

Shaking his head, Max shrugged.

“First time experiencing that, but I’m also new to this area.”

He saw the smirk, even with her blond beard and the distance between them.

“I couldn’t guess,” she replied, a frown on her face now. “You realize most people aren’t excited to see a random person running up to them after a dungeon clear, right?”

Groaning, Max rubbed his face with his hand while shaking his head.

“That’s right. I had forgotten about it,” he called out. “Sorry if I scared you all.”

The two behind the dwarven warrior snickered, and Max saw both men eyeing him up and down.

“I won’t bother you anymore. I just wanted to know what it was before going any further toward the dungeon.”

The dwarf nodded while she adjusted her stance.

“No point now. There won’t be any more goblins till tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. You do remember it takes a full day before any goblins respawn?”

Nodding as he did, Max turned toward town.

“Yeah, I just had considered looking for some mushrooms, but I think I’ll pass,” he called out as he began to jog back toward town. “Thanks again!”

He heard a scoff and someone saying newbie behind his back, but he didn’t care.

I really need to find someone to teach me more about this. One day, I’m going to stick my foot in my mouth and not be able to fix it.

Sherry had not been free when he had dropped off the two small metal daggers at the blacksmith shop. After grabbing some more dried meat and a few pieces of bread, Max found himself back in the guild hall waiting for Greta.

She had been kind each time he waited for her, amused that he was content sometimes to wait ten or twenty minutes while she assisted someone else.

“Seems you beat the rush,” she said while she counted his items and made marks on the quest sheet. “News reached us a little bit ago that the goblin dungeon had reset. You know you could go to the west more and find the Kobold dungeon. Odds are, with another person or two, you might even be able to take down the boss after a few attempts.”

Max stood there smiling, nodding as if everything she said was common sense.

“I honestly have no idea who to group with, and besides, that would mean sharing the profit from each hunt.”

Greta began to cough a few times, choking on his statement.

“You are either brave or stupid… or perhaps both,” she finally replied. “Money is great, but death can strike one unprepared and alone. Please tell me you are at least carrying a healing potion or two.”

Max nodded even though he was lying through his teeth.

“Yeah. That's why it’s hard to group. Those things are so expensive!” he exclaimed. “Ten silver coins for one. And those aren’t even the best ones.”

Max turned when he noticed a few people nearby had reacted to his outburst. A few nodded. He wasn’t sure if they were agreeing with him, but the truth was it would take over two days of solo farming these goblins for one single potion.

If I didn’t have the skill I have, I doubt it would be possible at all.

A sigh caught his attention, and he turned back, noticing Greta scratching her bearded chin for a moment.

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“You still have those rocks?”

He felt his face scrunch as he slowly nodded.

“Eight of them now. Why?”

She kept scratching her chin as she tapped the wooden tray she always had him put his trophies on.

“Let me see them all. Perhaps I can help thistime,” she whispered. “I cannot do this often, but with the goblin dungeon down for a day, different quests will be offered. I might get you a better one even if it is harder.”

Reaching down to his backpack by his feet, Max pulled out the pouch that held the stones and slowly emptied it on the tray. He watched Greta as they spilled out, bouncing slightly against the wood.

She nodded and picked up the tray with all the stones and his goblin ears.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

He watched as she hurried past the middlemen standing at the counter behind her. Instead, she headed over to a window far at the back wall where most of the assistants never went.

An older man, wearing a leather cap and glasses, looked up from some ledger he was reading and glanced at the tray and then at Greta. After a moment, he leaned forward, and Max saw the man looking at him. He tried to smile, but the man had only glanced at him for a second before turning his attention to the tray.

He picked up the stones, one at a time, inspecting them for a second before setting them back down.

Straining to see what was going on, Max noticed the man sigh and shake his head no.

Greta made some motions and pointed at Max again before tapping the tray.

After another thirty seconds of Greta talking, the older man removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on the bridge of his nose.

I hope she isn’t going to get in trouble for me…

Having been on the receiving end of a few looks like that in his time, Max could only imagine what the older man was telling her.

Finally, he saw the man slip her a piece of paper before shooing her off with his hand and turning back to the book he had been reading when she came to his window.

When Greta turned around, Max saw the smile on her face and flashed her a matching one.

She stopped at one of the middle tables and handed the tray and piece of paper, which elicited a shocked reaction from the male elven attendant as his jaw dropped. He glanced at Greta and then at the old man at the window, who was nodding and waving his hand to get it over with.

The elven man reached into a drawer, pulled out two small health potions, and set them on a different wooden tray.

Greta almost skipped as she moved toward him, carrying the potions.

“How did you do that?” Max asked as she set the tray on the counter, most of her teeth showing from the wide smile she wore.

“Oh, you know,” she said with a slight shrug. “I just convinced the vice-master that you were going to take care of a quest tomorrow, and you would need a few health potions to ensure we didn’t lose such a promising adventurer.”

He felt his left eye twitch, something it hadn’t done in a while.

“Uh… did we agree on me doing a quest?”

Nodding, she placed both potions before him on the counter and a quest sheet.

“This quest,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone, “will be the final payment for both potions. You should be fine taking out twenty kobolds, but know that you won't earn anything extra for doing this quest.”

“Twenty kobolds!” Max almost hissed. “That is a ton!”

She nodded and pointed at the two potions.

“And that is twenty silvers worth of potions. Would you be content spending a day or two killing kobolds, learning to fight against a different creature and coming out much farther ahead on the trade? Oh, and did I mention this quest will count for double the usual quest points?”

Max tapped his fingers against the counter, weighing what she was saying.

Twenty silvers worth of potions and a backup for healing… plus they might have loot…

“Do I still get paid for killing kobolds? Like for bringing their ears back?”

Greta flashed a smile and nodded. "It is only ten coppers each, but you can figure out the math.”

A grin began to appear on his face as Max nodded. A moment later, a toothy smile ran from ear to ear.

“Why, Miss Greta, if I didn’t know better, I would think you might like me.”

Her cheeks immediately went red, matching the color of her beard as she reached out and yanked on a braid without realizing she had done it till afterward.

“No!” she said, louder than she had anticipated. “I mean… I just want to ensure we don’t lose such a valuable adventurer. Anything else wouldn’t be appropriate at all.”

Pausing momentarily, Max nodded and gave another smile and a slight bow.

“Well, I appreciate you looking after me. I will do my best not to fail you.”

She nodded, trying to hide her emberrasment, and motioned for him to take his items.

“Be safe out there, Adventurer Seth. I’ll be here when it is time to turn in your quest.”

Carefully picking up the healing potions, Max wrapped them in a cloth and put them in his hip pouch.

“Then I will see you once I finish this quest,” Max stated as he bowed once more and picked up his backpack, turning to leave.

As he walked away, he looked over his shoulder and caught her watching him as he strode off, causing her to blush once more before motioning to one of the many groups of adventurers returning to town with the goblin dungeon reset.

I can’t wait for tomorrow…

The inn was stuffed to the gills, matching its name as everyone who had wanted to be out adventuring felt it wasn’t worth trying to make it to the kobold area with half the day gone. The Stuffed Goblin staff was scrambling to keep up with orders as more people wanted extra alcohol and food as they had nothing else to do.

“Got room for a few other adventurers?”

Spinning in his chair, Max saw the same elven woman from the guild hall the other day, along with a male elf who carried a bow.

“Sure!” Max exclaimed, moving over some and pointing to the three other chairs at the table he was hogging in the corner of the room. “It is a bit crowded, for sure. I thought you were staying somewhere else. What brings you two down here?”

Faylen nodded as she sat down, and her counterpart held up two fingers, waiting for a server to notice and acknowledge him before sitting down.

“We are, but we are going around the different inns to see if anyone is interested in joining us in the goblin dungeon once it is back up. We were getting close to the boss, but there was a larger group that came in and cleared it. You interested?”

Max tried not to look awestruck, so he grabbed his cup and took a drink while he considered that request.

“I might be in a few days. I have a quest I need to complete first for the guild before I can take that on.”

He turned to her male partner and held out his hand.

“Seth.”

The man grabbed his hand quickly and shook it with some excitement as he smiled.

“Brindle. A pleasure to meet you, Seth.”

“We have a third person, but she is back at our place resting. Being a healer takes a bit more out of her than us,” Faylen explained as she watched the people in the giant room laughing and sharing stories. “She would probably have enjoyed meeting you had she known you were here. How have things been with your questing and hunting?”

With a small sigh, Max shared some of the details of the previous days, explaining the goblins he had faced and how it had been a decent fight.

“Now tell me, what is the actual dungeon like?” he asked, his eyes twinkling in the light of the inn.

A pair of glasses were set down on the table, and before she spoke, Faylen took a long drink and smiled at him.

“Everything you have faced fighting goblins in the woods or fields is nothing compared to the non-stop rush of monsters coming at you. When you have three or four hobgoblins attacking you, and it comes down to tactics and your party, it is hard to explain just how exciting it can be.”

Max could see how worked up she was, and Brindle sat there bobbing his head in agreement as he emptied his cup.

After listening to their stories, Max knew he couldn’t wait to be a part of that.

“Ok, let’s say next week, in five days, we form up if you still want me!”

“Sounds great, Seth! I’ll check in the night before and make sure we are good to go. After that, we can practice a few group tactics as we make our way to the goblin dungeon and then give the entrance a test before trying to reach the boss. Sound good?”

Nodding, Max drank the last of his drink before wiping his mouth and giving a thumbs up.

“I can’t wait!”