Ultimate Level 1
Chapter 483: Max and the Beanstalk

Max couldn’t help but smile as he flew through the air, his Wind Mastery directing his path while the Elemental Essence Mastery allowed him to divert all the rain near him.

Just how big is this stupid beanstalk?

He flew around it in circles, noticing that someone had carved out stairs along the inside. No rain seemed to strike that section, bouncing off the lush green outside.

So with at least a mile or two into the sky, people are climbing up this thing to do what?

Considering the possibilities, he flew upward, trying to see if anyone was coming up or down the giant plant.

The closer Max got to the clouds, the wind began to dissipate, and the rain that fell lessened as the clouds drew tight around the beanstalk. However, each cloud that touched it was whiter and puffier.

Reaching the top, he reached out with his hand.

“What in the gods…”

The soft appearance of the cloud didn’t move at all. Instead, it was just as hard as a stone.

Moving a foot away, he smirked and then punched the outside.

No movement came from the cloud, and his hand sent the shock of being stopped radiating up his arm briefly.

Looking to his right, Max saw the staircase on the stalk and flew toward it, surprised that nothing stopped him from reaching the stairs. Within a few seconds he found himself poking out of the top of the clouds, finding an entirely different world than the one below.

Gigantic buildings, all made of metal, might have been the first thing to surprise him if he had not seen one like this before.

Instead it was the sight of oversized chickens, massive cows, and other animals, all shaped like finely crafted automatons.

“What in the world is this?”

Even though no one was around, his mouth couldn't hold back the shock at what he witnessed. Everything looked at least ten times the size of the normal creature or building he was used to.

If those things are this big… then how big must whatever lives inside the building be?

His intellect helped him calculate just how large the door to the oversized dwelling was. It had to be close to two hundred feet, and the roof had to reach much higher into the perfectly blue sky.

Part of him wanted to keep exploring but the other part, who had promised his allies he wouldn’t, held him back.

Instead, he turned and descended the steps carved into the beanstalk, watching the rain continue falling like liquid sheets on the landscape. Seeing anything was impossible, as the downpour was too thick. With nowhere to go, he summoned his dimensional storage and entered, smiling at them all.

“So… what did you find?” Fowl asked, holding a drink in a hand as he reclined in a chair off to the side.

“I reached the beanstalk, and I went into the clouds–”

“Of course you did,” Cordellia muttered.

“But, I didn’t go any further. I returned and couldn’t see anything as the storm was too strong. So I figured I’d come in here and see if you all wanted to check out the part inside the clouds.”

“The way you’re smiling,” Tanila said as she cocked her head slightly, “makes me wonder what we’re going to find.”

“Only one way to see,” Max replied as he motioned to the steps outside his dimensional space.

He couldn’t help himself, laughing as all four had cursed, seeing the animals grazing on the metallic ground.

“What are they eating? Is that… metal grass?” Fowl asked.

“It appears so,” Max said. “I didn’t go past this point, and I think you can all imagine how hard it was for me not to. Now then, do we want to explore or wait for the storm to stop and then see what we can find out below?”

“You’re thinking about what Chromie said, aren’t you?” Batrire asked.

“I am. If we go in there and find something that looks scary or gets aggressive, we all know it will end in a fight. Judging from the size of things out here, I’d rather not have to have that if we don’t need to. I figure the best option is to figure out what this floor is all about.”

‎ “Like a test?” their warrior asked. “I mean, do you think this is another test?”

“I think they’re all tests,” Max replied. “If I had to guess, everything we face from this point on has to have a reason, and it can’t just be to grind experience. We level up… well you all level up each time we pass a tower floor. We also gain full experience in the tower floor level. We haven’t gotten gems in a while.”

“Which means we can’t farm our tower experience,” Fowl muttered. “Something else we were lied to about.”

Nodding, Max and the rest learned that after they had been judged the floors after level 60 couldn’t be entered again. Now they were all locked out of anything past the 59th.

Something else Everett and the rest really need to know.

“I think we’re forgetting what Chromie told us,” Max said. “We’re being trained for after the tower. Everything has a reason and we can assume nothing. A floor before this with puzzles that required all of us to work together. What purpose could that have? I don’t have a clue, but I know–”

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He stopped talking as the door to the house swung open, a loud boom sounding as a shape appeared.

“Good gods, it’s huge,” Fowl muttered.

Moving out of the doorway was an automaton resembling a giant gnome. In its right hand was a staff of some kind. Blue eyes swept across the area, and then the automaton lifted the staff into the air, a bolt of energy shooting from it into the blue sky. A loud boom came, and then the giant gnome turned, moved back into the house, and closed the door.

“What was that?” Cordellia asked.

“Hopefully not the boss,” Batrire stated. “It could squash us with a step.”

Max frowned, and as the others continued to speak, turned, jogging to the stairs and went down a few, peeking out below the clouds and saw that the storm was gone.

“Uh… guys… I think it changed the weather,” he called out after returning. “You need to see this.”

Everyone followed him to the stairs, moving down them and peering across the land.

Below them, large sections of land were now covered in water, and entire farms were seemingly swept away or submerged. Forests looked like ponds with plants growing out of them from up here.

“Did it cause this? I mean… did it flood the land?” Fowl asked.

“No clue,” Max replied. “But I think we need to check out the city and see what we can find. Someone surely must need help.”

***

Flying over the water, Max was surprised to find that no one was in sight at first. Eventually, as he drew closer to the town, he saw a large collection of boats, all in different shapes and sizes, floating near the stone walls that surrounded the city.

He could see ropes connected to them and the walls.

Without drawing closer, he opened his dimensional storage and showed the others what was below.

“It seems they’re prepared for this,” Tanila stated. “From the looks of the way they are handling this flooding, it must happen often.”

“But why?” Cordellia asked. “I mean… how can they survive like this?”

“Something tells me this is where we come in,” Max said. Let me close this, and I’ll go to the walls. You see the gate and road on the one side that’s above the water. It's probably the best spot for us to show ourselves.”

As they walked along the stone path, the sound of water rushing near them was almost overwhelming. Underneath were giant intake areas, draining the water from one side and sending it down the other side, racing toward a section further away in the valley.

“Definitely not their first time,” Tanila said as she pointed to all the stone aqueducts that helped control the water flow. “They are extremely used to this and prepared for it. I can’t imagine how long it took to build all those things.”

Upon getting within fifty yards of the gate, it began to open and a group of guards in green armor moved toward them.

“Those aren’t people,” Cordellia whispered. “They’re–”

“Greetings!” the closest guard called out, the metallic sound of its voice reaching them. “Champions! You have come to aid us!”

Max saw that he wasn’t the only one in shock at the appearance of the group coming toward them. All five moved with speed and grace that didn’t fit the idea he had in his head.

Robots? Automatons? What kind of creatures are these?

Two were elvish in nature, another two looked humanism and the one that had spoken appeared to be a dwarf judging by the beard it wore.

“Uh… that was a lot of rain,” Max said as the group got close. “Are you expecting us to help with your problem?”

A frown appeared on all five of their faces, making him wonder how their metallic and robotic faces could look so lifelike and filled with emotion.

“Indeed! You are tower climbers, are you not?!” the dwarf exclaimed.

“We are…” Batrire said slowly. “How do you know that?”

All five of the guards started to laugh. “You are bags of flesh. Only bags of flesh come from the tower. Now, come, let us welcome you into our city and tell you what must be done to stop this problem of ours.”

As one, all the guards turned and began to move back toward the city, leaving them standing there behind them.

“I guess we follow?” Fowl asked.

“It appears so,” Max replied.

They quickly caught up behind the guards, who had never turned back to check on them. The five walked in unison.

Only their facial features are different. Each of them are the same size and build. Are these really…

His mind stopped as they got their first glance inside the stone walls.

Every part of the city looked like a normal town, with stone streets and buildings. Metallic dogs, cats, and other small animals were around. The sounds of laughter came from what appeared to be children, each smaller than the five guards who had greeted them.

“What in the gods…” Fowl said.

“I was going to say that,” Batrire muttered.

“Max…”

Shrugging at their archer who was looking at him, he tried to understand what he saw.

“Please do not stop. Our master will want to meet you and welcome you to our home!” the dwarven guard called out. “Please, we should hurry! Time is always a rare thing.”

Shaking his head, Max motioned for everyone to follow but saw that Tanila was looking at the children playing, her brow scrunched up slightly.

“You okay?”

She nodded as she bit her lip.

“They… look… and act like real children,” Tanila whispered. “I mean… just look.”

He saw what she was talking about: a group of children playing tag, screaming and laughing as they darted and weaved around adults and boxes stacked up along a sidewalk.

“Can… can they be alive?”

He shrugged and reached for her hand, squeezing it.

“As we said, the tower is going to blow our minds. I’m certain this isn’t the craziest thing we’ve ever seen.”

Turning a street corner, Max immediately realized he was on the right track.

A large stone building was about a mile away at the end of the street.

On both sides of the street were lamp posts with green banners hanging from each one.

A goblin wearing spectacles and a mechanical top hat, one he recognized from the planet Nimyn had fled to, was displayed in a metallic image.

That is the ugliest goblin I have ever seen… Damnit Bob… you’re missing out.

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