Ultimate Level 1

After a few minutes, Tanila sat up and poked Max in the chest.

“Fine, listen, but don’t talk unless I ask you to. I need to tell you something because I won’t be able to hide it at some point anymore.”

Max nodded and pretended to lock his lips.

Groaning, she motioned over her hidden bracelet and slipped it off after it appeared.

Immediately, her hair and eyes turned gold. Light began to radiate from her around the room.

“It takes a lot of power to keep this hidden,” Tanila said as she watched Max smile at her softly. “The bracelet does more than just hide my appearance. It does a lot more than that. Part of it keeps me from overwhelming any elf I come across. Being in my presence or any of the other in my father's bloodline, will find themselves struggling to resist commands or instructions. At first, it might be possible if they are strong enough, but with enough time, it is easy to break down someone's will.”

Spinning the bracelet around her finger, she watched Max for a reaction and didn’t see one that scared her.

“Cordellia would never argue with me and would submit to anything I said if I adventured like this. Had I revealed my true self to those elves we encountered on that forest floor, they would not have liked the attitude the one had taken with me. You remember the assassin?”

Max nodded.

“I didn’t have to use my red skill on him. This alone is all I needed. There are ways to force things from elves when I am like this. The problem is what is left sometimes after I do so.”

She stared off above the back of the chair for a moment, considering her next words.

“I imagine it to be similar and yet different from when your skill takes you over. Can you fight it, or does it get to do whatever it wants?”

After not talking, she groaned and tapped his forehead.

“You can speak.”

Winking, he smirked for a second.

“Yes and no. It was like I watched a few times, unable to do anything but watch. Now… well, that’s a story I can share after you finish with yours.”

Her golden eyebrow raised questionably, but Tanila nodded.

“When I’m like this, my stats are also much higher. Unlike your kind… or even the dwarves… I get a bonus to everything.”

She poked Max in the chest as he sat there, gently squeezing her leg when she stopped talking again.

“Sorry… it’s a lot. All of my stats are doubled.”

Coughing a few times, Max’s eyes went wide as his mouth opened slightly.

“Double…” he whispered.

“So my real power is like this, but it comes with a cost.”

Slipping the bracelet back on, Tanila’s hair shifted back to red, and her eyes became green again.

“The longer I’m in that form, the harder it is for me to resist it. My mother…… she cannot imagine hiding her true self. For the sake of the kingdom, my father hid his for so long; thus, he can change only when needed, but he found the problem with glowing like that was how the other leaders reacted. No one likes looking at what many have called an angel… or a devil, depending on who you ask.

“My mother never cared and didn’t want to hide who she is. That is why some of my siblings are a bit more… hateful of the other races. She feels we have to hide for their sake instead of revealing who Thuyja meant for us to be.”

Grabbing Max’s hand, she intertwined her fingers with his.

“I’m afraid what will come one day when my parents learn about you. That is another reason why I keep this hidden. When you finally do meet them, you must be strong enough to stand before them and not bow to them.”

Max nodded and kissed her fingers.

“Are you going to talk or ask questions?” she asked, frowning at him.

“You said not to, so I kept quiet.”

She groaned and kissed his fingers back.

“Fine, now tell me what it was you hadn’t told me yet.”

Groaning, Max took a deep breath and filled her in on how his skill had changed.

Everyone groaned as they ate lunch, tired and worn out more than a dungeon run after the first four hours spent with Tom. He once again found new ways to improve their training.

Tanila especially hated how the man had used their knowledge of walls to propel people upward, making her bounce a special metal ball tied down with chains upward after summing a wall beneath it and then hitting it with a magic spell.

It made sense, but the mana drain and concentration required were intense.

Batrire had run out of mana multiple times as Max and Fowl were assaulted by half a dozen attackers each, working on blocking and parrying while their healer got a workout trying to juggle both of their lives.

All the bruises were gone from Cordellia’s face now. Batrire had been allowed to heal her after Tom had people throwing stuff at her while she had to make a certain number of shots within those same small targets. She quickly learned that there was a ringer with the throwing skill that Tom had paid off to hit her every so often.

“I won’t lie,” Fowl said, putting his empty cup down. “Days like today make me long for a tower floor where I only get beat by two or three things.”

Batrire chuckled and nodded.

“I’m just glad we can get back into the tower and away from this torture,” Cordellia muttered. “Tom better not put that same guy against me again, or so help me, I’ll shoot both of them.”

Max finished the last bite of his food and stood up.

“I need to go downstairs and do some work. Are we good for breakfast at the start of the day?”

Everyone nodded and waved, no longer worried about Max and how he always had something to do.”

The final touches of Fowl’s new hammer were almost done, and Tanila arrived near the tail end of it.

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It was three feet long, but the weight would be minimal when swung. It was perfectly balanced. One side had a massive hook spike, while the other had a slightly wider hammer section. It would help their warrior out when he fought multiple different creatures. One for bashing and the other for piercing.

Dwarven runes had been crafted on both the blue metal of the head and along the bone shaft.

Max had confused Everett with his choices from the possible materials, but both skills had directed him in the selection that resulted in the weapon he was about to complete.

“Is that it?” Tanila asked quietly.

Max nodded, and Everett, who had been in the room for the last hour, watched on with amazement.

The item in his hand had cost everything Max had built up payment-wise, but Fowl needed it in so many ways. It was worth the twenty-plus items he would have to craft before he could make a request like this again.

“A vampire heart, locked in a core,” Max replied as he held the red ball that pulsed with a heartbeat.

“How?”

Everett shook his head.

“It’s been in the material list for years. No one ever wanted to use it or felt it could be used. Apparently, Seth believes he can do something no one else can.”

Max ignored the two and studied the lines and runes again.

You’re certain this will work?

I cannot see any other way to make this more successful than killing someone with a godly-tier weapon crafting ability and taking their skill.

Grumbling to himself, Max shook his head and then closed his eyes for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, he let it out and then began the work.

Casting dark magic, Max made sure it was focused at the point of the core touching the hammerhead. Each of the runes began to glow as the core came in contact with them. Shifting between black and red, they pulsed from the power that was joining with the metal. Hidden at the center of the metal hammer was a tooth from an actual vampire. The heart inside the core beat faster, sensing the presence of its own almost and yearning to join with it.

Everyone held their breath as Max spun the hammer in his special vice, allowing him access to every inch of metal without needing to do anything but turn it.

Careful!

The skill warned him as a buildup of magic formed in one rune. Max almost moved the core too fast from the spot, resulting in feedback that would have destroyed this enchantment. Sweat dripped from his forehead, not because of heat but because of what this had taken.

Slowly, steadily, retrace that one. Good… now track the line and connect it to the last part. Be ready when I say to infuse more magic.

Max struggled to believe this was the same skill that had fought him tooth and nail to lose control and give in to the bloodlust. It had evolved and changed not just in its power or desire but was somehow different. There was an intelligence behind it. A life that had realized only one path right now existed to power, and it would only come from Max’s heart.

Now! Flood it with magic!

The orb was on the last rune, one he didn’t recognize but felt power coming from. Like so many things he hadn’t learned yet about crafting, the rune matched something inside him—a power and hunger, a thirst for more.

The red and black glow of magic swirled like a vortex, funneling down a never-ending tube of thirst.

Be ready to stop… it is almost done… now!

Cutting the flow of mana and magic, the orb went dark, turning into ash as the power of his spell casting ended.

A hum came from the weapon, and Max saw the notification.

[ 25 Experience ]

[ * Legendary Hammer Created ]

Max was surprised by both the experience he acquired and by the message he saw.

What is that?

Something more powerful than anything you will find for a long time… I must rest, and you must feed me more. My time here is done for a while.

With that, the voice was gone, and Max wished he could just call it Bob, but he knew it would never accept that name.

“What is that?” Everett asked, his voice unable to hide the awe he felt.

[Inspect Hammer]

*****

* Legendary Vamperic Hammer

+ 100 Strength, Constitution

+ 50 Dexterity

Vampiric Touch

* May Evolve

*****

Max would have dropped the hammer had it not still been in the vice. His eyes couldn’t believe what he had made or what he held in his hands.

“Seth?”

Smacking, Max shook his head and then looked at Everett.

“I need you to do me a favor. Go get Fowl.”

“But didn’t you say you didn’t want him to know you made this for him?”

Max nodded, took the hammer, and slowly spun it around in his hand.

“Do you trust me?”

Everett’s head moved back quickly, and the man blinked a few times but slowly nodded.

“I just let you use all of that stuff. How can you ask that question?”

He saw the look on their Faction leader's face, frustration, hurt, and surprise. The tone at which Everett had just spoken conveyed all that as well.

“I’m going to show you this when he is here. You’ll understand once that moment takes place. I won’t even share it with Tanila until Fowl has gotten a chance to see it for himself. To do so would… it wouldn’t be right.”

Frowning, Everett shook his head.

“Sometimes I think we forget who is in charge, but then I know when I get back with that dwarf, I’ll find out you were right and have to complain to Tom about it.”

“I wouldn’t,” Max replied quietly. “You’ll know why in just a few minutes.”

Frowning, Everett grunted and then turned, leaving Tanila and Max alone.

“You going to tell me?”

Shaking his head, Max sighed. “I mean what I say. Trust me.”

Fowl’s hands gave out, and the hammer fell to the floor, clanging against the stone.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks as the dwarf looked at Max, who had just handed him the weapon.

“I… You…”

Bending down, Max picked up the hammer and held it out to his friend.

“You dropped something. I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t just leave it lying around. There’s even a loop on the bottom if you need to slip your hand through so that doesn’t happen again.”

Shaking his head and blinking through the tears, Fowl’s hands were shaking as Max pressed the grip into his friend’s hand and closed it around.

“Now, don’t drop it again, or I might give it to Tanila and let her join me on the front line.”

Coughing and laughing, Fowl nodded and held the hammer to his face, inspecting the runes and the dwarven language Max had inscribed.

“You wrote this like a dwarf would,” Fowl muttered, tears flowing as he read what had been written.

*****

For the only warrior I know who is strong enough to carry a family through sheer will and humor.

May your weapon always strike true and never break Fowl Hammerfall.

H.E.T.

*****

“What does the HET stand for?” Fowl asked as he used his left hand to wipe away more of the liquid escaping from his eyes.

“Oh, that’s easy, it's Holy Elf Tits,” Max said with a wink.

Roaring with laughter, Fowl gave the weapon a small swing before storing it and bull-rushing Max, picking him up and bear-hugging him.

“No matter what Batrire says, whatever child we have first is named after you!”

Bending down, Max hugged him back and quietly whispered into the dwarf’s ear.

“Only share the stats.”

Tanila and Everett were waiting patiently, though the pained look of wanting to smile and laugh with both men was there. Each was desperate to know what the weapon provided.

When Everett heard the stats, the older man almost fell to the ground, thankful for the table that caught him.

Max produced a water skin for the Faction leader as he helped him stand up. The man waved it off and pulled a metal flask from his inventory. He took a hit and offered it to everyone else. Only Fowl took a drink before handing it back while smacking his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

“Those stats… their…”

“It needs to be kept secret,” Max stated. “I don’t want a riot to be caused, and this is one I’m not certain I’ll be able to replicate at any time. Everything for that item was perfect. Perhaps another will come along, and I can make it for whoever you deem fit.”

Clearing his throat a few more times, Everett took a second sip of his drink and nodded, then put the cap on and stored it.

“How about we all just agree it gives fifty to the first three stats? Still broken but not… ungodly.”

Everyone nodded, and Max smiled as he held Tanila’s hand, watching Fowl almost skip out of the room.

With the door closed, Everett leaned against the table and shook his head.

“Why in the gods would someone be able to make something like that… a seed of fear began to grow in the Faction leader's mind.

“If all of them are equipped like that, who could stop them?”

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