Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 424: Different Systems, Different Rules

Chapter 424 - Different Systems, Different Rules

Max sat across from Jazzjak and Quilazmore as the pair looked at different tablets, each writing something down on the paper he had given them.

“You’re certain you want me to help handle this?” Everett asked as he glanced through the lists the pair had already given them. “And tell me why I’m not allowed to have one of those.”

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Ignoring the request for a tablet like the duo had, Max nodded.

“You’ve been trading materials and supplies far longer than I have, and while you’ve helped me learn through practice, I have other things I must take care of. Getting an understanding of what everything is worth and used for, as well as rarity and trade value, is one of your specialties. That is why you gladly let me raid the Faction vault and all the elemental cores I took and help me secure some from other factions.”

A grin appeared on the older man as he flipped a page and started scanning the next one.

“They were begging me for what you offered. When word got out that I had a dragon scale to trade, they came to me. Even better was how they were happy to keep it a secret.”

“And if they ever found out that you have hundreds more…”

Everett laughed and shrugged.

“I’d have a few upset Faction leaders, but they’d still gladly trade again. No one else has the materials we do, which puts us in a powerful position to control the market and seek out what you’re looking for.”

“Which is exactly why you’re here now,” Max replied. “You have a mind for this, and I need to understand everything in the vault and what has been gifted or is being offered. All the tokens we have earned are worth something, and I’m not sure how to best use them or trade them across all the worlds we now have access to.”

Pulling the purple elixir he had acquired from Jazzjak, Max slid it over to his friend.

“Inspect it.”

A coughing fit came as Everett’s hands trembled momentarily as he held the item that both knew would be worth a fortune on their world.

“20%... that’s… broken.”

Nodding, Max took it from his friend and stored it.

“And if there are more items like this, and we can get our hands on them, how much help could they be as we climb the tower? Even better is the skill shards I hope work for us.”

A hiss came from Quilazmore, and his face looked more pained than usual.

“You need to rethink that idea,” the dark elf stated. “I did some research and what you want to do with your friends might not be… good.”

“Because it won’t work?”

Shaking his head, Quilazmore pushed the tablet aside and, after two seconds, placed two large crystals with etchings on them.

His skill allowed him to read them, and Max immediately wanted to reach out and take both.

“Earth and Water?”

“You said you needed these. Neither are very strong compared to what I’ve seen you display, but they are some of our best. They are only a Rare rank but you said it didn’t matter.”

“Can I?”

The dark elf nodded and slid them across. Max picked up the water one, holding a dark blue crystal, surprised at how heavy it was—not that weight mattered to him.

“Why is this so heavy?”

Jazzjak pointed at the earth one.

“Pick that one up,” the vorpal rabbit told him.

With his left hand, he grabbed the dark brown crystal and could immediately sense the difference between the two. Based on its weight, it was almost as if the earth shard was hollow.

“Wow… it’s like… night and day.”

“How hard is it to carry water in your hands? Dirt is much easier, and for whatever reason, water is the heaviest. Now, back to Quilazmore's words, we asked some questions and did some research with low-level shards.

“Not all those who attempted to absorb them from other worlds had success, and those who did only were of a high level of power. I’m not sure how strong your companions are compared to them.”

“What my fluffy friend here is not coming right out and saying is that not everyone can learn skills from our world without problems. I could take the youngest one in our world and give them a shard, just as he has done with the crazed pack of wildlings he calls his children.”

Two large teeth appeared as Jazzjak snarled yet the dark elf ignored him.

“I myself have given both of my children a shard as well. Could we give them more than one? Yes but it would cause multiple problems that I doubt we want to discuss the reason why. They are young and need to learn to control one at a time. I could easily absorb those two crystals and gain those powers, but that wouldn’t benefit me because I would be using up the limited number of skill slots I have.”

“You have limits?”

“We each have different limits,” Quilazmore stated as he pointed at Jazzjak. “It’s common knowledge here that different races have different limits and that some races do better with different skills. It is also one of the reasons why you often see some of our strongest warriors being women. For whatever reason, they can often absorb and have better control over some offensive abilities.”

“Don’t get me started on my wife,” the vorpal rabbit muttered.

Clearing his throat, Quilazmore continued.

“Only in this circle will I reveal my limits and how many slots I have left. One of the greatest secrets we keep is how many skills we possess and how many more we can acquire. Not knowing what someone has, or what they can do, provides you a limited amount of protection. Hearing that someone has all their skill slots filled is a warning unless they are foolish to show all their cards… like many thought you did in the arena.”

“But I never revealed all my secrets,” Max replied with a grin.

“Which is why Igarra was very cautious with you. She honestly believed the tower would grind you to nothing, and if you reached the end, you would find yourself weak and vulnerable, which would be an easy meal for the dragon that awaited you.

“I… I have five skills and three more slots. Now, tell me what skills you think I have.”

Frowning, he considered all the things the dark elf did before and realized he had only seen one.

“Just that teleportation thing you do around the property and arena.”

All of his sharp teeth were on display as Quilazmore smiled.

“Ask my partner if he knows any of my other skills.”

Jazzjak let out a low grumble and shook his head, one of his ears flopping to the side as he did.

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“Only that one. He is very protective of revealing them. Which is very smart.”

“You have a transformation skill of some kind,” Max stated.

Both pink eyes widened, and Quilazmore laughed.

“You… say that so easily… and I… I showed that when I killed Aimee, didn’t I?”

“At first, I wasn’t sure if that was a racial thing or something else, but I guessed, and it turned out that I was right.”

Pounding the table with his furry hand only caused the dark elf beside him to laugh harder.

“Bah, now I feel stupid for saying yes… still I have four skills and two spots left. For whatever reason, my race is not given more than six, while his allows them eight. Some of the others can have up to ten but most cannot afford them.”

“And Igarra?”

“No one knows,” Quilazmore replied. “Dragons are a tricky thing. Rumors swirl that a dragon might have twenty to fifty skills on some worlds. Some of the oldest ones are rumored to have a hundred. It is why most don’t ever mess with or anger them.”

Nodding, Max turned his attention back to the shards he was holding and crushed the water one.

Dark, blue liquid poured out of the crystal and began to cover his entire hand and arm up to his shoulder. For a moment, it stayed there, shifting slightly as he bent his arm and waggled his fingers.

With a deep blue glow, it all shimmered, and then a cold sensation came as his skin seemed to suck it in.

[ Skill Acquired - Water Mastery - Rare ]

Frowning he flexed his arm a little and waited.

No combination of skills… what gives?

Well, at least we didn’t get an error this time. Perhaps the system acknowledges that you are not different from others in this world. Ask them.

“Do this world’s system combine skills if you get enough of them?”

Narrowing his eyes, Jazzjak glanced at Max and then at Quilazmore who had turned to look at him.

“As in freeing up slots somehow while keeping all the skills?”

“Yeah,” Max replied. “On our world, if you get four melee weapon skills, it turns into Melee Weapon Mastery. Or if you manage to acquire four elemental skills, it turns into Elemental Magic Mastery. Each gives you access to the four you had before as well as any you didn’t have.”

Coughing, Quilazmore shook his head.

“That would be amazing! If we could do that and free up our slots, I am certain everyone would become a master of everything!”

“Provided they could afford the shards,” Jazzjak stated. “Still I am not certain anyone has ever tried that before.”

Max sensed the hand coming and didn’t dodge it when Everett slapped his arm.

“That’s what you have! I knew it! I didn’t believe it, but I knew it!”

Laughing as the older man’s nose flared out and his eyes narrowed, he couldn’t help but be amused that his skill had been discovered.

“I do have that… though I was certain I had mentioned it at some point.”

Shaking his head, Everett frowned.

“Not to me you didn’t. Still, it makes so much sense now. How you were able to do everything you did. I… considered it a few times but always thought it would be impossible.”

“Is this a big thing on your world?” Jazzjak asked.

“Very much so… for one to get that skill… it is usually the last one they acquire unless the gods were kind upon choosing day, or they were lucky, and a skill shard dropped in the tower. It’s been a while and even Max here hasn’t…”

Everett stopped talking when he saw the change in Max’s expression.

“You… one dropped? When? What!?”

“Recently, I didn’t take it, and that’s not my secret to share,” he replied. “Still it’s the only one we’ve ever seen, and it came from a boss's chest.”

Huffing, the older man leaned back in his chair and crossed both arms.

“Gods… so not fair.”

“So do you want to try and see if they combine?” Quilazmore asked. “I could give you weak skill crystals of the others. I think you said you wanted a metal one as well.”

Crushing the brown crystal, Max watched as brown dirt ran up his arm as it had with the water one, forming a protective barrier before it was absorbed.

He winced, the pain of acquiring this one being at least ten times as unpleasant.

[ Skill Acquired - Earth Mastery - Rare ]

“Okay, let’s try a metal one.”

Quilazmore stood and a glowing disc appeared near him on the floor.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

***

The crystal in his hand seemed so small compared to the last two. It was barely the size of his thumb and if one wasn’t looking they might have considered it nothing more than a piece of dull, grey metal.

“I guess this means it’s the only one you’re lacking?” Everett asked.

“We’ve seen him use the other three,” Jazzjak stated. “In matches, which is why Kazrak designed the arena the way it was.”

Nodding, Max flipped the crystal over a few times and then crushed it between both hands, surprised to see that it covered only his right one with a metal barrier, almost like a glove.

He fell to his knees, grateful for the nearby table and allowed him to brace himself as the shimmering metal liquid vanished into his hand. Unlike the others, it then seemed to race up his arm and into his chest.

The other three were hovering and he waved them off after a second.

[ Skill Acquired - Earth Mastery - Common ]

[ All Six Elemental Mastery Skills Acquired ]

[ Combining ]

[ Error - Elemental Mastery already acquired ]

[ Skills do not match ]

[ Consume is attempting to adjust ]

[ … ]

[ ... ]

[ Skill Acquisition successfully adjusted ]

[ Skill Acquired - Elemental Essence Mastery Acquired ]

[ Determining Rank ]

[ … ]

[ … ]

[ Elemental Essence Mastery - Rare ]

Blinking a few times, Max cleared his throat and smiled.

“I’m not certain if this will work for all of you, but… I just caused all six of them to merge into one.”

In one of the rare moments of excitement ever witnessed, Max watched as Jazzjak and Quilazmore embraced each other and started jumping up and down.

“Never a dull moment with you,” Everett muttered. “Still… why would I ever think it would be.”

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