Ultimate Level 1

[Inspect Weapon]

*****

Berserker Spear

+1 Strength, Constitution, Dexterity

25% bonus damage against higher-level enemies

Bonded

*****

“Is that?” Max started and stopped.

Max heard a chuckle from the woman and turned to face her.

“I know many people who would kill to have something like that,” she said, leaning toward him, “especially at your level. The good news is no one can take it from you unless they buy a stone of unbinding.”

The woman held out her hand and Max saw a blue stone with red lines running through it. “These cost a bit and most wouldn’t waste it on a spear like yours.”

“I can’t… those many stats…” Max said, stuttering as he took the information in. “How rare is this?”

Tapping a finger against the counter, the woman slid the stone she had shown him back into a pocket hidden somewhere. “If that wasn’t bound, you could easily get fifty silver from the right noble if their child had the spear skill. It would almost guarantee a faster leveling progression as they were adventuring.”

Sliding his hand along the shaft of the spear, Max shook his head in amazement.

“Someone up there,” the shop owner said as she pointed toward the ceiling, “must like you.”

Gulping, Max nodded and then gave a slight bow. “You sure I don’t owe anything?”

She shook her head and motioned him toward the exit. “Just be safe and promise me you will bring me the next item you need to be identified. I’ll charge you then.”

Grinning, Max waved as he turned toward the exit.

Someone up there either likes me or wants to kill me. I’m not sure who…

“Seth!”

Max saw Faylen waving at him and noticed Brindle and a female elf in robes he hadn’t met before. Jogging toward them, he waved back.

“Sorry, I’m a little late.”

Faylen nodded and motioned to the spear in his hand.

“Get it identified?”

Max nodded and held it out toward her. Faylen put her hands on it and tried to take it from his open palms but couldn’t. She gave a tug with both hands and still, it wouldn’t budge.

“Bonded?” she gasped. “Are you serious?”

The other two elves looked at him, their eyebrows rising after watching the exchange.

“Yeah. I mean, I can’t believe it. The lady at the magic shop told me it was pretty special.”

Max saw her eyes change a little as she stared at the spear and then at him.

“Are you going to share with us what it does?”

“It’s just a point of strength and constitution,” he lied, having already decided not to share the real stats with anyone. “Seems weird for it to be bound, but those are good stats.”

Faylen nodded as she tapped her chin with one finger for a moment.

“You are a peculiar person, Seth. Anyways,” she said, pausing to turn a little and motioned toward the others behind her. “You know Brindle and our healer is Lucia.”

Max waved again and both of them nodded their head at him.

“We will give the dungeon a go and see how we do. I want to see how you handle yourself in a group before we attempt the boss tomorrow. I got a friend who is supposed to come and wants to finally complete that quest.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Faylen explained she would take point as she had both the shield and sword skills, having been blessed by Thuyja, the elven goddess, with two skills. She had asked if he had the shield skill, but he had lied again. Max told her he had practiced a lot with one and felt safer using the spear with a shield.

Portalling into the goblin dungeon, Max was shocked to see that the dungeon was not a cave. This dungeon was made out of worked stones that appeared to be old and disintegrating. Faylen informed him there would be many side rooms, and sometimes more than one group of goblins would attack.

“Remember, there are usually two or three hobgoblins in every pack and sometimes a shaman. We need to get their healer down fast!”

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Max nodded and stayed with the other two as Faylen went ahead and pulled a group to them.

As she came around the corner, she shouted, “Two and three!”

That meant there would be two normal goblins and three hobgoblins.

The moment the first goblin came around the corner, Brindle shot an arrow, striking it in the chest and killing it instantly. Two hobgoblins came around and saw the party, shrieking out something in their language before coming toward them. Both held a sword, and one had a shield.

“Left!” Faylen shouted.

Max nodded, going after the one she told him to. The hallway was a good ten feet wide, and it allowed them some room to work together without being on top of each other.

The hobgoblin with the shield engaged Faylen, swinging its sword, only to have it blocked by her shield as she gave a low swing at its leg. The hobgoblin’s swing had been deflected up, not allowing it to get its shield down in time, suffering a strike that cut its leg off below the knee.

Max wasted no time engaging the other hobgoblin preparing to attack Faylen. Using his reach and the new stats, Max delivered a strike to the hobgoblin’s throat.

He felt surprised at how easily he had controlled that strike.

The last two came around the corner, shouting and holding their swords at the ready.

An arrow flew past Max’s head, hitting the hobgoblin in the right shoulder, causing its arm to become limp and making it drop its sword.

“Forward,” Faylen yelled as she bashed her shield into the face of the hobgoblin that was pitched before her, sending it backward as she stabbed it in the chest.

The goblin found itself stuck in the chest with Max’s spear, and another arrow whizzed by his head, impaling the last hobgoblin in the throat.

It choked as it fell to the ground, blood gurgling from its mouth.

In a matter of seconds, the first group was down, and they stood there, barely breaking a sweat.

“Going to be another one of those runs,” Lucia said from behind Max. “I guess this means I’ll be on trophy duty?”

Faylen and Brindle both laughed, giving her a nod as Faylen motioned to the dead bodies.

“Pull those back near her. I’ll keep bringing them if we can keep killing them like that. That was some impressive skill with your spear.”

Max shrugged as he grabbed the foot of the hobgoblin he had killed first and began to drag it back toward Lucia. “I’m just glad I didn’t screw up.”

“Don’t worry,” Brindle stated as he grabbed the one Faylen had chopped part of its leg off, “Even Faylen will make a mistake now and then, so no one will make too much fun of you if you do.”

Glaring at Brindle, Faylen turned and started down the hallway again. “Be ready. I’ll be back in a minute.”

They had killed four more packs just like the first before they had to move deeper into the dungeon. Max found himself glancing in each side room they walked by.

“Relax, Seth,” Brindle said as he walked behind him. “We have done this place a lot. The money is good, and while the experience isn’t great, it is a lot of fun. The next part is where it gets tricky.”

Faylen pointed to a pack of seven goblins in the large room she had led them to.

“Holy goblin shite, a rare spawn.”

“Rare spawn?” Max asked, looking at Lucia, who had spoken.

“Four hobgoblins, two shamans and a wizard,” Brindle answered. “How long has it been since a wizard showed up?”

“Weeks,” Faylen answered as she waited for Lucia to finish casting a defensive buff on her. “Listen, Seth, this is going to be an ugly fight, and I need to know I can count on you. I’ll draw them all, but I need you to get to the shamans fast. Drop them first, and then get on the wizard. I can handle the other four for a bit, and Brindle will support me, but we need you to get those three. Got it?”

Max adjusted his grip on his spear and nodded.

“Good. Let’s do this.” Faylen replied.

Max almost couldn’t believe how fast the woman moved after she had spoken. She dashed forward, throwing a stone she had pulled out of somewhere at the hobgoblins before running to a corner in the right of the room.

“Go left now,” Brindle said as he moved to a better position to support from.

Max darted left, skirting the outside of the room, running as quickly as he could toward the shamans and wizard.

He saw the hobgoblin wizard’s hand begin to glow blue and as it prepared to cast whatever spell it had prepared, an arrow struck it in the arm, causing the glow to fade and disappear.

The shamans turned, their staves glowing green as they cast heal.

Ten yards. Max was ten yards away when all that happened, and he sprinted toward them. The first shaman Max reached was turned away from him as the wizard squealed and motioned toward Max, but it was too late. He drove his spear through the hobgoblin shaman's back, feeling it come out of the other side. A chill washed over him.

[ 1 Wisdom consumed ]

He had killed that thing with one hit. Max finally realized why he had been able to kill so many of these hobgoblins in one hit. Everything was at a higher level than him. He was level one, and they were not. Every attack was doing extra damage, and Max was a killing machine with the buff Lucia had given, combined with his consumed stats and weapon’s bonuses.

Planting his feet and yanking his spear back, Max saw the wizard preparing to cast something, and he didn’t like how its hands were pointed at him. That same blue glow was surrounding its hands. Driving forward, Max tried to cover the distance before the spell went off. Seven yards seemed so close and so far at the same time.

His Dexterity made him faster than he could believe.

Right as the wizard’s hands had a piece of ice forming, Max struck with his spear, catching it in the right shoulder and causing it to spin, the bolt of ice shooting off to the side and barely missing him.

The shaman shrieked and swung its staff at him, but Max held up his shield, blocking the strike with ease. Shifting his hips, Max thrust his spear into the shaman’s gut. It dropped to the ground when he yanked his spear free. Turning his attention to the wizard, he saw the creature snarling at him. Its robes were red from where his spear had pierced its shoulder.

Max didn’t hesitate. Taking a step, he used everything he had and drove his spear into the wizard's chest, its eyes wide as the spear came out its back.

Pressing down on his spear’s shaft, Max sent the hobgoblin to the ground and moved to the shaman, who was still alive. With a spear through its neck, it died instantly.

Max spun toward his team, seeing Faylen holding off two hobgoblins. The other two hobgoblins were down on the ground and not moving. Arrows peppered the corpses, and one had an arm missing.

Sprinting toward them, Max came up behind the closest of the two and made sure his jab was dead center in the hobgoblin's back. It arched forward as his spear pierced its spinal column, driving to the sternum of its chest.

The last one glanced at the hobgoblin Max had just killed, only to receive a sword across its face, hacking part of its head off and sending it to the floor.

Yanking the spear back, Max started to smile when suddenly he doubled over.

His eyes went wide. A crisp sensation different than the other times flooded his brain.

[ 1 Intelligence Consumed ]

[Consume has successfully learned a skill]contemporary romance

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