UL1 - Book 11 - Chapter 98

“We’re halfway there,” Max stated, pointing at the display their helper had before them. “Only one hundred and fifty years remain before we’re faced with the reality of our protection being gone.”

“Still we’re in a better spot than I thought we might be,” Rakonath said. “Even with the Divine Points that we have spent on acquiring a few new skills and upgrading others, we have a much better chance of survival than before.”

“Survival?” Cordellia scoffed. “Why do you talk about it like that?”

“Because that is what we’re working towards,” Sog said. “Right now we’re trying to claw our way out of the hole we’re in and be able to face whatever is already up there, looking for something weak to eat. You of all people should know how dangerous it is to be weak.”

Max watched their ranger’s face turn red and as Batrire started to open her mouth, Cordellia held up a hand, stopping her.

“I do know,” Cordellia growled. “And yet for the last forty years or so, we have done nothing but train and practice. Tell me, Sog’thollech, how have the last fights in the training area gone?”

“Would you two stop comparing sizes?” Fowl groaned. “We’re not here to talk about who’s stronger or better. If you two want to act like this, I’m going to go back to my people and invest more time with them.”

Max chuckled, sensing everyone looking at him.

“Something funny?” their warrior asked, frowning.

“Yes,” Max replied, sweeping his hand out and motioning at them all. “You’re all moody lately. For the last two or three years it’s been constant bickering and bemoaning. I’ve tried to stay out of most of the problems but lately some of you have been… grumpy.”

A cough from their helper stopped the retort that it appeared both their ranger and warrior were about to give.

“Max is right, please stop,” Jazzjak said. “You all are in the part of this where I believe Tanaila said… the honeymoon is over.”

Their mage nodded and smiled, causing the vorpal rabbit to grin.

“Now then, we need to discuss the final half of your safety period, and all of you need to consider what path you want to take. The six of you have between one hundred and ninety-five million or two hundred million DP… give or take a few hundred thousand.”

“So much and not near enough,” Batrire sighed. “We could easily buy tier 4 if we wanted to right now.” 

“But then we wouldn’t have anything to wager if a fight worth betting on came up,” Tanila said. “Besides, there isn’t anything pressing right now that demands we move to the next tier.”

Which includes us. Still knowing we are almost at two billion DP is impressive.

Yet we’re far from the amount we’ll need to reach tier six. Without a major influx of DP well beyond what seems impossible, we’ll still be over fourteen and a half billion DP short. There’s no way to close that gap in the coming years.

Stop worrying about that number and focus on what we’re here to discuss. 

Max glanced at his dragon and nodded once, seeing Rakonath shake his head slightly.

“That is correct,” Jazzjak said, motioning at Tanila. “We’re going to try and save as many points as possible and hope for a good return on the matches that appear as well as consider spending some more points on upgrading a few other skills and abilities.”

“So we’re just throwing in the towel on the whole reaching the fifth tier?” Fowl asked. “I mean, I knew it was an idea, but I didn’t realize we’re actually doing it.”

“The possibility of you all reaching that tier before protection ends is… highly unlikely,” their helper admitted. “I’ve run the numbers and unless something unusual happens, you're not going to be close.”

“He must not know Max,” Cordellia joked.

A few chuckles came and their helper shook his head, rubbing his eyes for a moment. “It’s beyond that. Can it happen? Sure. Is the possibility of it happening likely? Not really.”

“Kind of like me getting to tier six,” Max stated. “The numbers just keep going up.”

“Isn’t that like our whole life?” Sog asked, grinning. “Always trying to get stronger?”

“It is, but this one is different,” Max replied. “We’re facing a wall and I didn’t really consider how big this was going to be. I mean, I knew but always thought we’d overcome it somehow.”

“And there’s no other way to cheat?” Batrire asked.

“None that I am aware of,” Jazzjak stated. “And if we can, for one moment, not get sidetracked, I can finish my original point of all this.” When no one interrupted him, he continued. “You’re going to have to consider upgrading a skill to tier 1. Each of you needs to have one that will benefit you the most.  For Fowl, obviously, that’s his thorn aura. Tanila is most likely her elemental magic. The rest of you… It’s a bit harder to nail down.” Jazzjak swiped his tablet and a single line appeared.

*****

Tier 1 Upgrade Cost:  25,000,000 DP

*****

“This is why I can’t ever seem to get ahead,” Fowl muttered.

“Don’t forget, none of you have spent any points on upgrading stats either,” Jazzjak said, ignoring their warrior. “In a fight, your advantage comes from your race and the tower items. Other races, like Rakonath, are often not allowed to wear equipment or use items like you all can. Each being has its own perks to help even out the stats to a degree. And from what I’ve seen, your gear is above most of the others. But… there is always this option for down the road.”

Once more, his furry fingers danced across the tablet and the display before everyone changed.

*****

Tier 1 Weapon or Item Upgrade Cost:  50,000,000 - 100,000,000 DP 

*****

“Holy elf tits,” Batrire gasped. “That’s a big number.”

Max had already seen the numbers and reacted the same way. 

I still can’t believe he is trying to convince them to spend points on that. None of them needs to do that at this level.

That’s not true. One good item could make the difference if they are forced to fight.

I’ll beg to argue again as you know I feel their best bet it to focus on skills. 

But–

A cough came and Max stopped his conversation with Bob, turning to look at his wife. 

“You going to tell them what your thoughts are?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Max pointed at their helper. “No. Bob and I don’t agree and I’m not going to be spending any points on my gear right now, even though I’ve considered seeing what it might do.”

“Wait, so we don’t know what it will do?” Sog asked.

Jazzjak’s padded fist smacked against the wooden table, drawing everyone's attention. “I’m trying to tell you, but none of you will give me a moment!” he exclaimed. Clearing his throat, he straightened his suit jacket before continuing. “Each item is unique. The item's power determines the cost. Some like Fowl’s hammer would most likely not be eligible for an upgrade because it is… unique. He would probably have to do a tier two upgrade and I don’t want to show those, as you can barely handle these costs.”

Their helper had a gold ring appear between his fingers. “Something like this might be thought of as a small item and thus cheaper to upgrade, but the truth is, size doesn’t matter.”

Chuckles came from Fowl and Sog, while Batrire and Cordellia both rolled their eyes.

Glaring, the vorpal rabbit continued. The ring disappeared and a shield Max had lent him appeared in his hands. It was taller than him by a good foot and Jazzjak leaned it against the table. “As I was saying… this shield isn’t anything special. Just a bonus of fifty in three stats. Upgrading this one would cost the least but its final numbers would be less than a higher quality item.”

A piece of yellow fabric that shimmered appeared in their helper's hands, and all of them sat forward. 

“Is that what the other gods were wearing?”

Scoffing, Jazzjak shook his head. “I wish, but no. This just looks like it.  What i wanted to talk about is why they wear it. Each god will reach a point where their power is great enough to emit an aura of some kind. Similar to what you all acquired when reaching the 60th floor in the tower. But this aura is well beyond that. These garments were made to dampen that effect.  When a god is in full battle equipment and prepared to fight, it is said that some of the stronger ones can crush weaker ones with their aura alone.”

“I’ve felt it,” Max stated. “Back at Windsor Wheel. When Ockrim came, expecting trouble, it was hard to breathe.”

“So when do we get that kind of power?” Sog asked. 

“Not for a while,” Jazzjak replied, storing the fabric. “But you’ll need to upgrade part of your equipment to reach a certain threshold before that happens.”

“Wait? What?” Fowl said. “We have to spend points to upgrade gear to acquire the other?”

Jazzjak shrugged and nodded. “Don’t ask me, I didn’t make the rules, I just share them.”

A few others grunted.

The constant cost of godhood doesn’t stop. It seems they have done everything possible to put things in place that will slow down and drain one's points.  It’s rather ingenious in many ways. Almost like a tax, just for being a god.

Which brings us back to the whole balancing act. Spend, save, and spend again.

All while trying to stay alive.

Jazzjak started passing papers around, and Max took the one offered to him.

“I’ve written down some ideas on what you might consider purchasing or upgrading based on the information you’ve shared with me.  I do believe that some of you will have to wait until the very end of the protection period to upgrade, as you’ll not have enough points for advancing and upgrading right now either. But as far as the skills, that’s one you could do if you desired.”

Max tried not to grin as he stared at Jazzjak’s notes.

It seems our helper thinks resistance is one of our strongest abilities to consider upgrading. Though I can’t argue against that idea. Poison resistance kept us alive in some pretty bad spots. Now that we have Ice Resistance at T1, we’re in a good place to consider some of the others.

Or you could do the Fowl route and try to train them for a cheaper price.

Hard pass… you and I both have seen how slow that is going for him. Besides, no one here can cast most of the spells we’d need to train. I guess I’m just stuck depending on you to keep me above the curve.

So I’m tasked with doing the heavy lifting. Some things never change.

“What did you get?” Max asked as he leaned to peek at Tanila’s paper. 

“Oh, just the usual… offensive spells and Mage Blink. Though if I’m honest, I’d be interested to know what the T1 version of that spell might offer.”

“Perhaps you’d finally be able to stay ahead of Rakonath,” Max teased.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No… I don’t think even then. Unfortunately, he’s too much like you.”

“Hey!” Rakonath exclaimed. “That’s not nice. I at least have hair.” As he spoke, the dragon flicked his head, silver hair shifting slightly.

The sound of everyone laughing filled the room, lightening the mood for a moment.