Ultimate Level 1

Merla stood up and smiled, giving a slight bow that was returned.

“Master Tang Mu, visiting you again is a pleasure and honor.”

The man came to stand near them and extended a hand to Merla, and when she took it he gave it a slight kiss on top.

“Now tell me, who are these two young men that appear ready to devour a cow that their need is so great?”

Smiling, Merla motioned to Max and Fowl, introducing them.

“They require your assistance, and I promise you that what they have to offer will be even greater than what they request.”

The older man’s brown eyes locked onto Max and Fowl momentarily. He cocked his head as his body shook from side to side. His red outfit seemed to sway with him.

“I am intrigued, of that I can promise. I will admit I am swamped, but you have never disappointed me in the past with your visits. So please, if you three will follow me, let us go somewhere we can discuss this more.”

The young man bowed his head as the four of them entered the first door. It closed behind them, and a hiss of air came from somewhere in the room before another door down the hallway opened.

“Please don’t touch anything you see. I am working on many projects, and none of them would benefit from a random bodily fluid.”

As they entered the massive room Max ran into Fowl, who had stopped, staring at the rows of counters. Each was covered with something bubbling or over a flame, liquid running through various tubes, and more.

“This is way more than what Bardunac had going,” Fowl whispered. “And this place, it's immaculate.”

The sound of wind blowing rose toward the ceiling, and a few weird-looking windows shook slightly as the air went through them.

“Keep moving, please,” Tang Mu said as he directed them toward a room off to the side with a huge glass window looking into the area they were now in.

Once inside, the door shut, and again, the air hissed before a table rose up from the floor. Moving to the opposite side, Tang Mu smiled and tapped the glass top. “Put what you have here and tell me what you need.”

Fowl looked at Merla, who nodded. Then, he pulled the massive tip of the tail with the stinger that sprayed the green poison out of storage. As Fowl put it on the table, Max could see the older man doing his best to remain calm, but his pupils went wide, and Max’s sonar skill could hear his heart beating faster. A lot faster.

He raised his hand to his mouth, stroking his long mustache, and grimaced.

“Tell me what you need from this.”

“Their healer was poisoned by the scorpion who had three tails, and this is the one that did it. Now she is near death because the poison transferred to her when she healed this dwarf next to me. You can create a potion to do that if I remember your boast many years ago.”

Max could hear the change in Merla’s tone as she spoke, the slight challenge to his ability and skill.

“You always seem to try to goad me into these things,” the alchemist said, pulling a pair of rubber gloves and a thin, long metal spike from his storage. He then pulled out a small wooden rack of glass tubes. He gently scraped the tip of the boss’s stinger, and a few drops of the green poison came out.

Fowl gasped, realizing he had carelessly touched the thing, not expecting any more to come out.

“Good reaction,” Tang Mu said with a chuckle. “A pair of gloves is valuable when dealing with dangerous creature’s remains.”

Carefully, with a precision that showed the years of practice he must have, Tang Mu drew more poison out and transferred it to his containers.

Once three of the tubes each had a little green ooze he pulled out a set of four jars with different liquids and mixed a single one with each of the tubes.

Colors began to appear, and the man wiggled his lip, his mustache dancing to the beat of the movement.

“I can do it, but it will take time, and I will need to make sure I have all the necessary supplies.”

“How long are you thinking?” Fowl asked, smiling to hear the alchemist could do it.

“Three weeks. I am currently–”

“We need it sooner,” Merla said, cutting him off and her voice no longer having the kind tone she from before.

Tang Mu scowled and looked up from the tubes at the elven woman, who had crossed her arms and was glaring at him.

“What would you have me do? Push back all the other orders waiting on me?”

“I would ask that. You and I know nothing is more pressing than saving the life of one who defeated this creature.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Snorting, the man’s mustache flew outward, and he shook his head.

“Do you understand how much this will cost?”

“How much?” Max asked, moving to stand by Merla and mimicking her posture.

Putting the items back into storage, Tang Mu rolled his eyes. “Provided I already have everything I need and don’t need to go shopping, at least two hundred and fifty gold.”

Merla shook her head and frowned. “Tang Mu…”

He grimaced and shook his head. “Fine, two hundred, but that is the lowest I can go. Even if I kept this entire piece of the beast as payment, you would still owe me at least one hundred and fifty gold.”

“And what would be the time frame on this?”

Tang Mu scowled, moving from the table to peer into his lab through the window. He remained silent a moment, saying nothing.

A minute passed as everyone remained quiet, waiting for the man’s response.

“Fine, ten days. I can have it ready in ten days.”

“Five.”

Tang Mu spun on his heel and shook his head. “Eight! It will take eight days!

Leaning on the edge of the table while making sure to stay clear of the scorpion's tale, Merla shook her head no. “Six days. A healer's life is in danger, and you know how I feel about healers.”

Growling for at least ten seconds, the man appeared ready to stomp his feet. He pointed a finger at Merla and wagged it.

“Seven, and that is the best I can do! And I will need one hundred gold now!”contemporary romance

Merla turned and looked at Max.

Max nodded. Doing the math in his head, he knew they would be over thirty gold short of the fifty required, but they would have a week to figure that out.

Moving toward the empty end of the glass table, Max began to pull out bags of gold coins, placing four of them on the table.

“Gods, did he really just pull out all those coins? What is he a walking bank?”

Merla chuckled as she shrugged. “I haven’t carried that kind of money on me ever.”

“Damn adventurers,” Tang Mu muttered as he moved over and opened each of the bags before putting them in his storage. “Ever heard of a banknote?”

Max shrugged and smiled. “Perhaps I don’t trust banks.”

The man laughed and nodded. “Smarter than most, I see. I can have it ready in seven days. I will have it delivered to where Merla tells me, and my assistant will administer it. Anything else?”

Merla moved close to where Tang Mu was, gave his top knot a gentle tug, and smiled before bending over and kissing the smaller man's balding head. “I have nothing. I will remember this and count it towards one of the favors you owe.”

The man turned red, grimacing and scowling. He cursed in a language Max wasn’t familiar with as Merla laughed.

“You three need to go before I change my mind,” he said playfully. “I’m going to have to send some letters and upset a few other clients.”

Fowl pointed at the piece of the scorpion on the table. “Want me to leave it there?”

Furrowing his eyebrows, the man nodded. “I don’t want you touching it again. Yes, yes. You three can go. Merla knows the way out.”

“Thank you again, sir,” Max said, giving a slight bow and receiving a wave of the alchemist's hand.

Merla led them out of the room and back toward the door they had entered.

“You three going to be able to come up with the rest?”

Max glanced at Fowl, who shrugged and nodded. “We will figure out a way.”

She nodded, appearing to want to say more but deciding not to.

“Good. I will update you as I know more. Now go get your other friend, and you three get some rest. You can visit if you want, but it won’t do you three any good to sit around for a week worrying.”

Sitting in their booth, the absence of Batrire made it hard to find things to talk about.

Alexander asked what had happened, well aware that something was wrong. When he heard the news, he offered his condolences and gave a gold coin to Fowl. They had protested, but Alexander wouldn’t listen.

“A friend is more important than money. Besides, I have no doubt you four will stay with me for a long time, and I can eventually earn that back.”

They had laughed as he winked at them, each knowing he wasn’t actually worried about that.

Max sat there trying to figure out how they would make money.

“Merla said we could sell all of the stuff you harvested and would probably be fine, but something tells me those items would be worth more than selling for the price we would get.”

Fowl nodded, and even Tanila agreed with that statement.

“I’m still holding onto both remaining stingers, the claws, and a bunch of the armor carapace we…” Fowl’s eyes went wide as he stopped talking. “Holy elf tits, I forgot to tell you about the chest.”

Max realized that they had been so busy dealing with Batrire and everything else that none had even mentioned the chest.

“What did you all get?”

Fowl grinned and then pulled out a massive chest piece that looked like a combination of the carapace of the scorpion they had fought and metal. “I got this. I still need to identify it.”

Max turned to Tanila, who pulled out a wand that looked like someone had taken a tail from the boss, shrunk it, twisted it, and put a small bulb on the end.

“That thing looks…”

Tanila winced and nodded. “Like a stinger, I know… it’s ugly as can be, and we also need to get them identified.”

“Was that it?” Max asked, glancing between the two of them.

“No,” Fowl said with a slight chuckle. “Perhaps later you can – OW!”

Tanila grinned and shook her head at Fowl, who cursed under his breath.

Max had seen Tanila’s foot catch Fowl in the shin.

“I got an ankle bracelet. It also needs to be identified, and no, I won’t show it off on my ankle.” She glared at Fowl, who was nursing his shin.

“What about you, Seth?”

Max turned to Fowl and looked at him. “What about me?”

“The boss… did you…”

Max realized he had indeed gotten something and never checked.

“Crap, I got so distracted, I… one second.”

[ 73 Hit Points Consumed ]

[ 4 Strength Consumed ]

[ 3 Constitution Consumed ]

[Consume has successfully Consumed a skill]

[ Skill does not match beings body type ]

[ Consume is adjusting skill ]

[Consume has successfully consumed two skills. Choose which skill to consume]

[Would you like to learn [Resist Poison] or [Armored Warrior]

Max stared at the two options, unsure what they would give.

done.co