Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 460: Familiar Situations

“That was disappointing,” Tanila said as she watched the carcass of the kraken she had killed on her own sink into the waters.

“And now we’re complaining about how easy that was,” Batrire teased. “Still, you’re right. None of those were as big as that one boss and both you and Cordellia made their life difficult after taking out their eyes.”

“Bah, easy she says,” Fowl muttered as he yanked a segment of a tentacle off his plate armor. “Try getting hugged by one, and then telling me how easy it was.”

As the group joked and teased, Max stored some of the pieces from the Kraken he had killed and considered the path they would have to take to continue their journey deeper.

“You think we’ll see more?”

He nodded at Cordellia as she stood next to him.

“I do. While there is a decent amount of space between the rocks, it’s a great choke point for anything coming through. And I can see a lot of other spots that might be caves or holes like these three came out of.”

“Better eyes than me right now,” she teased. “And… uh… again, sorry about the other day.”

“You’re fine. I my behavior made me looke like an arse also.”

“Hey… I didn’t admit to being one… even if I was,” Cordellia replied. “Still, thank you. I appreciate the fact you are always looking out for us.”

He gave her a grin and held out his fist. “I know you’re not a hugger.”

She groaned and bumped fists before moving to where the other three were.

They did good. Almost too good.

We are in a water floor and many might struggle with the movement restrictions. Those two are well suited for here with her arrows and Tanila’s spells. A different group might not have this kind of success.

True. I guess we’ll find out the hard way.

***

Two hours later, Max cracked his neck and allowed himself to relax a moment.

“So many suction cups,” Fowl muttered as he stood beside him. “I didn’t imagine there would be that many of those things in there.”

“Haha, and yet we did fine. At least we made it through the pass without any problems. Best yet is what is below.”

“You say that, but where do we start? There are so many lights down there… and it stretches on in three directions. How do we decide? Go where the biggest clump is?”

Max had been debating that, unsure how big of a potential city or something else could be down there. Knowing they were still a ways off from whatever lay beneath them, the fact that the three paths of light traveled in a straight line before vanishing from view made the whole thing look even bigger.

“Tough decision?”

He nodded at Tanila’s question as the other three joined him and Fowl. “Our warrior and I were trying to decide where to aim for. Whatever is down there… it’s not like anything we’ve seen before.”

“So it’s not like the merfolk tower floor?” Cordellia asked.

“It is, and it isn’t… the size is what’s different. This is at least ten times bigger. Our biggest problem is that I’d bet gold coins on the portal being in the largest section. Which causes a problem because that means we’re about to go somewhere that is potentially crawling… or swimming, with potential enemies.”

“Well the good news is we’ll fight what we can if need be.”

Batrire’s comment made him feel a little better as no one else seemed bothered by what he had said.

“I guess we’ll head out and aim for an outer edge. “

***

Drawing closer to the lights, the city beneath them started to take shape.

That makes Peltagow and Nalgrun look like farm towns…

You are correct, yet the gnomish city is similar to this.

Massive structures appeared, and shapes swimming around them were visible.

Each recognized the circular structure of the buildings, with smaller ones set near larger ones and tubes connecting them together.

Dark stone was easy to pick out, but they could see glass and metal giving off a reflection with pinks, yellows, greens, and other colors coming from different floors.

Small shapes moved around them like ants climbing over sticks and leaves in a forest.

As they neared the last few miles before they could physically touch a building, three different groups began to approach them.

“Uh… those are… merfolk and something else?” Cordellia asked when the groups got within range.

“She’s right,” Tanila stated. “I recognize the hair and way they move. The other two…”

Max saw it. If he had to guess, the one in the middle was the merfolk, while the one on the right had gold hair and almost milk-white skin. The pack on the left was almost seethrough, and the shapes they had noticed were the reflection of light through their bodies.

“They’re not looking aggressive,” Fowl said as he stayed near the three women. “No weapons that I can see.”

Another minute passed, and the three groups moved about fifty yards from them and stopped.

One of the gold-haired beings, a woman, moved forward and held up both hands.

“Tower climbers, welcome. Your path lies before you. Are you ready to choose?” she asked.

“Choose what?” Max replied.

“Which tribe you shall champion of course. The tournament has been announced, and you must choose a side.”

“To fight?”

The woman shook her head, and he could almost hear the conversations from the ones behind her.

“You shall fight the other two tribes. To pass this floor, your party must win. Lose, and your journey ends here.”

After speaking, she smiled and displayed two rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“It would appear we don’t get much time to decide,” Max said as he looked at the others. “Any thoughts?”

“Well we know the merfolk, and that woman’s grin doesn’t make me want to side with them. I have no clue, but it’s almost impossible to detect the other side with my eyes right now,” Tanila said.

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“I agree.”

Both Cordellia and Batrire nodded after their warrior and mage had spoken.

Turning back toward the three packs, Max moved a little closer.

“We’ll side with the merfolk.”

The two packs on the side laughed, and he watched as the gold-haired group grinned and displayed their teeth, a few of them licking both rows with exceptionally long tongues.

“We will feast tonight,” one said, and then they all departed.

The other group reacted as well, and the very water around them started to almost freeze as they turned and swam away in the opposite direction.

After both of the other races had swam away, the entire group of merfolk moved closer, and all of them bowed.

“We thank you for your willingness to fight for us. May you bring glory and honor and–”

The male who had been speaking froze, and Max followed where his eyes were gazing.

“Those boots! How do you have them?!”

“Jalnig Nuk gave them to me as a gift after defeating him.”

Max’s words caused their eyes to widen, and a woman, shrouded in more leather than the rest, tapped the one who had been speaking and swam past him.

“You defeated Jalnig Nuk?” Her voice seemed doubtful, but her eyes fixed on his boots.

“I did. Is he here?”

“He doesn’t know!”

“How could he? They are not from here!”

“But those boots bear the King’s magic. It must be the truth!”

As the merfolk spoke in their language to each other, Max wanted to laugh.

“I can understand you, and yes, I defeated him. Now, what do I not know?”

If their eyes got any wider, he was confident some might pop out. “The King… he… is not here. We are…” she paused, glancing back at the rest and then frowned. “Come. It is better to take you to our place and tell you what we can. There will not be much time as the tournament has been called for. Soon you all must fight.”

“We all must–”

The woman raised her hand and cut off Cordellia who had moved to join Max. “Come, there is much to discuss.”

***

As they swam through the city, flanked by their escort, the light of the buildings seemed like they were swimming through the stars. Everywhere were the three races, all keeping to themselves.

A great contrast in expressions was shown on the two species they could see.

The gold-haired race all looked excited as their eyes followed the party.

The merfolk, however, didn’t look as cheerful, and Max wondered if they perhaps at least were hopeful of their presence.

Eventually, they were led to a large round building closer to the city's center and ushered into a space where, once they moved through it, all the water vanished.

Bright yellow light came from orbs hanging in the area and various seats were present.

Everyone funneled in after the ones leading them and found a trio of older merfolk sitting on separate chairs near the center of the large round room.

Gasps came as they entered, and the twenty-plus merfolk in various colored cloths bowed slightly and moved to the outer edges.

“You need to go present yourself to the council. They are here to speak to you.”

Max watched as the woman who had guided them took a few steps back.

With a motion of his head, him and his party strode across the room, their boots echoing off the coral floor as they made their way down the occasional step that led to a slightly lower level.

Finally, they stood before the council, two older women and a man.

Each had multiple necklaces and rings on. Their eyes studied the party as it came to them. Bright and colorful sashes decorated their bodies, wrapped around them multiple times to create unique outfits.

Max could feel their eyes on him as he stood slightly before the rest and the frowns and exchanged glances each gave each other after seeing his boots.

“You wear something you should not have, tower climber,” the man said. “We are anxious to hear how you have come across such a thing, but protocol dictates we welcome you first. I am Coburn. The one on my right is Riletta, and the one on my left is Nereid. Thank you for choosing to fight in our place.”

Each of them bent their necks slightly at the party.

“Thank you for the welcome. I am Max, and this is Fowl, Batrire, Tanila, and Cordellia. Honestly, we are a little surprised at how things have suddenly got us fighting in a tournament we know nothing about and how our choice had to be made right then. Still, as I’ve had relations with your kind before and found Jalnig Nuk to be honorable, the decision was easy to side with your people. Now tell me, what have we gotten ourselves into?”

All three of them frowned, and Riletta leaned forward.

“You must fight in a tournament and win. Three of you must fight. Two of you must win. The outcome of that tournament will determine which race shall experience life and which races will experience death.”

“Wait… we’re going to have to fight separately?” Cordellia asked. “What happens if one of us loses?”

“You can concede before a killing blow or dying from an injury. It counts as a loss just as much as dying does. Some consider it cowardly, but each must choose their own path.”

Their archer started to respond and then shut her mouth, almost making bubble sounds as she repeated opening and closing it.

“What do the winners get?” Tanila asked.

“Freedom from this place,” Nereid replied. “To return to our home. Not all of us will go but some. Those who have endured and not fallen.”

“And the losers?”

Coburn frowned at their mage's question.

“It… is not something most would like to hear.”

“We can take it,” Max stated.

“They become food.”

His words silenced everyone as the whole party looked at one another.

“I’m sorry, but you’re saying whoever wins eats the losers?” Fowl asked, shaking his head.

“Not just the losers but also a certain percentage of the population. Each race only gets so much food to tide us over between tower climbers. Then, when the tournament comes, whoever wins is given their normal portion plus ten percent or more of each other's race. The white skin and gold-haired race is the Naiads. They are fierce warriors and have strong magical and physical abilities. Each of them lives for combat and many will often try to make it so their opponent cannot concede. Once that injury has been inflicted, they will begin to eat their opponent to death on the arena floor.”

Max’s stomach churned slightly at the thought of witnessing such a thing.

Coburn saw their reactions and gave them a few seconds before continuing.

“The other race is the Aasaura. They are a very dangerous species and are known for stealth. You probably saw them… or saw parts of them because they intended it to be that way. Had they wished, you would never have known they were there. Each of them has a touch that it is so cold many die from just that one instance. Those strong enough to resist it will then find themselves under assault from invisible weapons.”

“So you’re saying they don’t ever show up? Like they’re always invisible?” Fowl asked.

“Yes,” Nereid replied.

“Holy elf tits,” their warrior muttered.

“This sounds pretty nasty, but we’ll be fine,” Tanila stated, putting a hand on Cordellia’s shoulder. “We got this.”

“If I may, I would like to change the subject. Please tell me how you met our king and acquired something from him. Never in all my time here have I ever seen such a thing.”

“How long have you been here?” Max asked.

Clearing his throat, the merman looked up momentarily before returning his attention to them.

“Four or five thousand years, if I’m right.”

Max handed Fowl and Cordellia a water flask as each started to choke.

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