“Put them away, boys. None of us want to see you comparing sizes,” Batrire groaned. She turned to Max, who was smiling, and cocked her head to the side. “You got something better than usual… your smile gives it away.”

Max chuckled and nodded, putting the tooth in storage while Fowl capped out the limits of his by putting in the massive hand that was bigger than him inside.

“Gods,” Fowl cursed. “Can’t I have a moment of joy before you go and ruin all my fun?”

The others laughed as they turned to look at the chest sitting on the burnt dirt in the middle of the clearing. It was massive, made of the same type of metal as the boss’s plate armor, and had a mural of the forest they had just fought in on it. The mural showed the boss they had just defeated standing in the middle of the trees, surrounded by dozens of smaller apes. On the mural were green gems for the tree tops.

“That’s a raid chest,” Tanila said with a sigh. “I guess we should be glad that our newest member isn’t here, or they might come to expect such luck.”

“Bah, you forgot to check your experience, didn’t you?” Fowl asked. We’re a little over halfway to level forty-five!”

Both women checked what Fowl said, and each grinned. Every day was bringing them closer to the tower.

“Ok, so do you want to check out the chest first or hear what I got from the boss?”

“Tell us what you got first,” Fowl replied. “I want to end this on a high note.”

Max nodded and smiled. “So a new message came up, and I guess the evolved version of Consume allows me to get more than just two different stats sometimes. This time–”

“Wait! What?” Fowl interrupted, his face looking like someone had punched him with the grimace he was wearing. “You got three?!”

“Quiet!” Batrire ordered. “If you’d shut up, we’d find out faster!”

Groaning, Fowl motioned with his hand for Max to go on.

“As I was saying, I ended up with three different stats… this thing was stronger, tougher, and faster than me, yet Tanila took it out like it was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing. I didn’t have anything to finish it with. It took everything I had, and I still didn’t kill that thing.”

“Still, I don’t think I could have done that as easily… maybe if I blew all my abilities, but even then…” Max saw Fowl’s eyes bulging, obviously frustrated at Tanila and him going off on a tangent. “Regardless, I got six points each in strength, constitution, and dexterity.”

“Holy mother of elf tits!” Fowl groaned. “Eighteen points in one fight! It’s not fair, Ockrim, I swear!”

Batrire laughed at Fowl’s response but nodded in agreement. “That does seem unfair. Should I even ask what that brings you to?”

“Base stats or with everything?”

Rolling her eyes, Batrire shrugged. “Just tell me everything… I’d rather know what we are working with.”

[Status Check]

*****

Max Hoste

-Year-old Human Male

Level 1

Exp 1/1000

HP: 1100/1100

MP: 560/560

Stamina: 550/550

STR: 107

DEX: 88

CON: 110

INT: 56

WIS: 48

Leather Boots - 1 DEX + 5% Speed Bonus while running

Black Quick Pants - 2 STR/DEX +10% Movement Bonus

Ogre’s Black Tunic - 3 STR/CON/DEX + 10% Magic Resist +10% Attack Damage

Black Bracers - 3 STR/CON +15% Damage decrease slashing/piercing

Belt of the Golem - 4 STR/CON +25% Damage decrease slashing/piercing

Scout Spider Helm - 5 STR/CON/DEX. Invisible State, Grants Minor Poison Resist

Cloak of Spider - 5 Dex. Spider Walk - 5 mins / 24 hour cooldown

Green Ring - 1 DEX

Black Rabbit Ring - 2 DEX

Ring of the Golem Prince - 4 CON +25% magic resist

Black Boss Band - 20% Stat IncreaseThis story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

*****

“Never mind, don’t tell me ever again,” Batrire stated after Max told them his stats.

Fowl was on his knees praying to Ockrim, promising everything if only he could be like Seth.

“I guess that means we should open the chest, right?” Tanila asked.

“We could, but should I accept the skill I got first and see what it does?”

“A SKILL? MOTHER OF OGRE NUTS!” Fowl shouted, shaking his fist at the sky. Max’s dwarven friend turned to look at him, and he saw a tear in his eye. “Tell me it’s something baking related…”

“Uh… not sure, but it’s called Rampage.”

Spitting on the ground, Fowl shook his head. “I'm Sorry, my love. Even if mine’s bigger, I can’t compete with that.”

Batrire chuckled, as did Fowl.

“Go ahead, I’m interested to hear what it does,” Tanila declared.

Max clicked yes. His body began to shake while his eyes closed tightly, a sensation of power and speed filling him.

[ Skill Description - Rampage ]

*****

Rampage - Rare Skill: Activating this ability grants the user three attacks in the time it takes for one normal attack. It may only be used with melee attacks. This ability has a twenty-four-hour cooldown.

*****

“Wow, that’s pretty nice,” Max said as he read the description. I can attack three times instead of once, but it has a twenty-four-hour cooldown.”

“That seems fair,” Fowl said as he rolled his eyes. “Anyway… let’s get to the chest. That way, the rest of us can feel like we are loved.”

Max shrugged and motioned to the chest that was waiting for them. “You want to open it?” he asked as he looked at Fowl.

“Damn right I do!” the dwarf replied as he moved to the chest and pushed the lid open.

Max tried to not chuckle, as the lip of the open chest was almost to Fowl’s armpits.

“Holy mother of Ockrim! He does love me!”

The three of them gathered together and moved to stand next to their suddenly excited dwarf, peering inside the chest to see what would cause him to react in such a way.

Four bottles of liquid, each almost as bright as the sun, rested inside the dimensional storage. Next to them were four black bands with the words “Prince Kong” on them.

“Prince Kong? What is up with all these titles?” Fowl asked, glancing at Tanila.

“Why are you asking me? And it better not be for the reason I think you are.”

Fowl bit his lip and said nothing, catching the glare that Tanila was giving him.

“What are the bottles?” Max asked.

“One of those in a tower is enough to kill someone over. Two would be considered worthy of a legend,” Tanila replied. “Four… I’m pretty certain I’ve never heard of four ever coming at once. Each bottle grants something random. Stats, experience, a skill even… they are worth…”

She glanced at the other two, who were both nodding.

“You could ask your queens for almost anything, and they would give it to you if they didn’t just kill you,” Fowl stated. “The real question is, who will drink theirs first?”

“Why don’t you go first?” Batrire said as she gave Fowl a gentle tap. “That way, if you die, we’ll know it was really poison.”

Fowl chuckled and grabbed one. He held the crystal vial in his hands, the light streaming between his fingers. It was dazzling and difficult to look at, but Max didn’t want to take his eyes off it.

Pulling out the crystal stopper, Fowl’s hands trembled slightly as he lifted the elixir to his lips and drank it quickly.

“Wow, that tasted like… my mother’s famous stew.”

Everyone watched Fowl, waiting to see what would happen.

“How long till it–”

Max stopped talking as Fowl became rigid, rising to his toes and jerking his arms to his side. His mouth flew open, and a ray of light shot out of it for a second.

“Gods, that was… holy elf tits!” Fowl exclaimed as he stared at what everyone knew must have been the notification.

“What did you get?!” Batrire asked, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“Twenty points in constitution, and my armored warrior just got upgraded to epic rank.”

“Holy elf tits, indeed!” Batrire cursed, shaking her head in shock.

“Wow, that’s pretty amazing!” Max exclaimed.

Fowl nodded, smacking his tongue. “I’m not certain that is supposed to happen, though. A skill upgrade and stats… I didn’t know they could do that. That taste in my mouth… it's so weird.”

“Batrire, you’re up,” Tanila said.

Giggling like a child, their healer reached into the chest and pulled out a vial, popping off the top and chugging it like Fowl had every tankard of ale.

A few seconds passed, and she suffered the same fate as Fowl, going rigid and shooting a ray of light from her mouth.

She panted, eyes wide like saucers, looking at her notifications.

“And…” Fowl said, motioning with his hands for her to start speaking.

“Twenty points into wisdom and a new skill,” Batrire said, her voice so low Max almost couldn’t hear her. “Protective Dome… I got Protective Dome at Uncommon rank…”

“SHITE! That’s awesome, baby!” Fowl shouted as he picked up Batrire and twirled her around.

She nodded, still looking at the notification in disbelief.

“You’re up, Tanila.”

Tanila smiled at Max and reached into the chest, pulling out her vial. After inspecting it for a moment, she looked up to Fowl, who was watching her anxiously and laughed.

“Fine, give me a moment,” she said, pulling the top off and drinking hers.

“Honeydew muffins… from the–”

Her words stopped as she went rigid, and light came from her mouth.

She took a moment, panting, and held up a hand to cut Fowl off before he started.

“Twenty in intelligence and I… I also got a new skill,” Tanila stated as she stared at her notification. “This shouldn’t be possible…”

Everyone looked at Tanila, watching the usually calm and level-headed elf stare in disbelief at her notifications.

The air around her grew cold, and Max could tell she was beginning to cast a spell. She moved her hands in the air, drawing a few runes inside a circle, and after thirty seconds, an orb of ice floated in the air next to her.

“What is that?” Max asked, moving closer to touch it.

“It’s an ice elemental familiar… it’s uh…”

Max reached out with a finger, slowly moving it toward the hovering orb. When he touched it, he ripped his finger back, wincing as it froze solid.

“Damn, that hurts!” he exclaimed, seeing that his finger was now a piece of ice.

Tanila, who hadn't been paying attention, looked in horror at Max’s finger as he winced and shook his hand. “I’m sorry! I should have warned you!” she said, moving her hands and dismissing the orb.

“It’s my fault. I should have known better than to touch without asking.”

Fowl chuckled, and Max groaned.

“This is going to suck. Sorry, but don’t look.” Taking a deep breath, Max made a fist, with one frozen finger sticking out past the rest, and swung it down into the edge of the chest. His frozen finger snapped off, and blood began to squirt from the open wound.

[ Regeneration ]

Slowly, before their eyes, the blood flow stopped, and a new finger began to form, stretching out until it was complete, fingernail and all.

[ Regeneration Expired ]

“That was freaky,” Fowl said with a grunt. “I still think we should try and–”

“Don’t say it!” Batrire growled.

“You’re up,” Tanila said, trying to move past what had just happened without any more discussion.

Max nodded and reached into the chest, pulling out the vial. Holding it in his hands, he could feel a warmth that made him feel calm.

Like Tanila, he stared at it for a few seconds until a grunt from Fowl broke him from his thoughts.

“You going to drink it or what?” Fowl asked, tapping his foot anxiously.

“I’m not certain I should,” Max replied, looking at all three of them for a moment. “I don’t need stats like you all do, and while I’m not certain what skill I might get or what upgrade might take place, as I stand here and think about it, one of you needs it more than me.”

Each of the three looked at Max in disbelief. Mouths were open slightly, eyebrows turned upward, faces drawn back.

“What are you saying?” Tanila asked. “You want one of us to have it instead of you? Do you realize what you–”

“I do,” Max said, stopping her from trying to dissuade him. “A while back, I made a mistake and drank an agility elixir. Looking back, I realized one of you should have gotten it. I don’t want to make that same mistake again.”

Each of the three looked at him, still struggling to comprehend what Max was about to do. Kings and queens would give titles and more for one of these elixirs, and their friend was about to give his away to one of them.

“I’ve been thinking about it since I saw what they could do,” Max said, a soft smile on his face. “This would serve the team better if I gave it to one of you. Besides, I already know who I’m giving it to.”