"Where the hell did Odds send me? This place is huuuuuge."

A 'huuuge' came back with the echo.

The stairs stopped on what seemed to be the top of a tower. Square in the form, all in stones graved with pictures of an ancient civilisation of some sort. The tower was so high it was impossible to see her foot, disappearing in the shadow.

The first thing Maximilian did was to test the high, picking a stone on the ground and letting it fall from the tower. It just disappeared in the dark and, even after having wait an all minute, no sound of hitting the ground whatsoever. 

"Okay, no fall is allowed. "

The tower, ten meters on ten, seemed almost little compared to the size of the place he was in. At least he thought so. He couldn't see very far, his only light being the one he made with his fire sphere. Testing, he threw one on his left, like a big baseball, but it went on and on, to finally, hundreds of meters away, hitting a rock wall and disappeared.

He tried the same on the right, for the same result. 

"So it's sure, I'm inside something, or under the ground. One way or another, I've got to get out. Let's advance and we'll see. "

The tower he was on was linked to other towers, sometimes smaller, sometimes taller, by stones bridge without any flange. Sometimes the bridge led to an alcove, an opening inside one of the tower. 

As he entered one of them, Maximilian was surprised to see skeletons, good dozens of them. They seemed to be, if judge by the pieces of armour and weapons in their hands, remnants of soldiers. 

Taking care to not step on one of them, Maximilian advanced in the room. Looking around, his attention was caught by a small chest in a corner. 

"cool, loot. This feels like more and more like an adventure. "

Kneeling in front of the chest, Maximilian opened it. His reward was an empty chest and a new skill, trap detection. 

"trap? Okay, the chest is empty, that suck, but how is it a tr... "

New skill acquired, danger sensing. 

By reflex he rolled on the side, letting the chest be crushed by a mace, handle by a skeleton. Maximilian stood, looking at a dozen skeletons getting up and looking at him.

"I guess you're all looking at me, but I must say without any eyes... "

One of the skeletons advanced, surprisingly quick for a pile of bones. But not nearly quick enough to worry Maximilian, mostly due to his speed and agility stats, making the man's enemy look like they were moving slower. The skeleton,s mace stopped midair, the bone arm caught by Maximilian's hand.

"yeaaaah no, not gonna happen. "

And then he punched it in the crane, pulverising it.

"something to say?"

Thanks to his reflex, he caught the other arm who was coming for his neck. Even without a head, the skeleton body still tried to do his duty. 

"oh... Well, that's annoying... How about that?"

Maximilian kicked the skeleton back before using his blade to cut him in two, the rusty armor and bones being cut like butter by the superior quality blade. 

"So? Done or what?"

to Maximilian exasperation, the upper body reattached himself to the down part before getting up again.

"You're bothering me, and that's a bad idea to bothering me."

Maximilian remarked that even if the body had reattached himself, the crane was still missing. A carnivorous smile appeared on Maximilian's face.

"Oh, cannot repair when it's reduced to dust? In that case..."

Using earth magic to make a big rock, he let it fall on the headless skeleton, literally crushing it underneath. Needless to say, it wasn't moving anymore.

"basic, but if it works..."

Using the same idea, Maximilian crushed the others before they managed to come near him.

After that, he took the time to maximised his two new skills, danger sensing, and trap detection.

"When I think about it, this could have been far worse. Explosion, poison, dart, here it was only skeletons... Lucky I am."

He took a minute to look through the skeleton stuff after having destroyed the rocks, but nothing was worthy of taking. The equipment who wasn't broken by his attack was nonetheless to old and rusty to be any use. Scanning it, it was labeled as junk.

*well, if even the scan spell says it...*

He still found some copper coins in their purse, naturally taking them.

"thanks for the tip."

A set of stairs was going up on the outside of the tower, following her side. Taking it, Maximilian arrived at the top of another tower, from where he had a better view of his surrounding.

From here on and as far as he could see, here and there were put, attached on the walls, small stones lantern in which blue flames were burning. It wasn't very bright, but it showed a bit around. 

"How the hell am I suppose to find the exit in this maze....oh, there it is."

Far away, a little bit down from where he was, Maximilian saw another stone bridge, at least three times the size of the other ones linking the tower together, and four times as long. One end led to stairs going up, the other came from a bigger tower, nearer to him but still quite far away. 

"I will not reach it today, that's a fact. I should advance as much as I can before setting camp."

And like that he continued on his way. The place was clearly old and abandoned from long ago, the dust was a good indication, as well as the state of certain parts of towers or bridge crumbled. 

At one time, Maximilian arrived at another tower. The next one was bigger and the opening where the bridge was leading suggest a room inside. 

"I've been walking for some time now, this could be a good place to rest.... If I manage to reach it."

It wasn't that he had a bad feeling or something, it's just that the bridge leading to the tower had collapsed. Between Maximilian and a possible shelter was now a good ten meters long pit in wich it would be a very bad idea to fall. 

*I could make a new bridge... But I don't know how well it would hold...I could jump, but it's a bit to far... Unless...*

Thinking about it for a minute, Maximilian decided to try something. Stepping back a bit, he went at the centre of the tower he was on right then. Crouching to take momentum, he jumped in the air as high as he could. Even though it was higher than anytime he had jumped in his past life, it wasn't enough, but...

Jumping skill acquired. 

A smile appeared on the man's face. 

"haha, I knew it. I think I'm beginning to catch the idea. "

Maximising this new skill, he tried again, jumping as high as he could.

If you ask him, Maximilian would say he's not a screamer. He doesn't get angry easily and even in the face of danger, the only high noise you would hear from him is a war cry.

But in all honesty, so high when he jumped and seeing he wasn't falling straight, looking at the edge of the tower getting dangerously close, Maximilian couldn't suppress a...

"no, no NO NOOOOOOO!!!"

He landed right at the edge, the tips of his foot not touching the ground. A drop of sweat ran down his cheek. 

"pfiou, that was cl...DAMNED!!!"

Maximilian had just the time to turn around and jumped as the portion of tower he was on crumbled and fall in the darkness. Maximilian was hanging at the edge by a hand, looking down at what could have been his tomb. 

"really dumb idea on this one Max, really dumb."

Pulling himself up, he got back on the tower, brushing the dust away from his coat.

"well, what doesn't kill you makes you brighter. I know for a fact I can't trust the integrity of those constructions... So now..."

Taking momentum once again, he ran a bit and jumped, covering the distance separating him from the tower entrance. 

He landed without a problem, this time, quickly catching on with his new skill. He looked a bit around him, deciding it would Indeed be a good place to be.

He became alerted when his new skill, danger sensing, allowed him to feel killing intent. 

Looking up he saw what was causing this.

In the form, it looked a bit like a lizard, but much, much bigger than normal. Twice the size of an alligator, with dark green scales covering his entire body. 

It tried to jumped on Maximilian from the ceiling he hiding on, but the man jumped a few meters away, easily avoiding him.

Now facing the monster, Maximilian arched an eyebrow, seeing his big head covered by mushrooms.

"what the hell? Scan "

If the skeletons were not worthy of any interest, this creature was a bit stranger. Scanning it, Maximilian took a few seconds to observed what he just learned.

*So, what do we have here... Shroom lizard, level 38, nothing really interes...edible?*

Looking with more attention at the lizard in front of him, the ingredient skill he had allowed him to see what could be taken from the animal. 

"The scale for coat making, the eyes for alchemy, the meat and the mushrooms for a good meal."

The shroom lizard opened his large mouth and emitted a scream you could compare to nails scratching a blackboard.

"oh shut up, I'm gonna eat you, so you better be at peace with yourself."

It seemed the lizard wasn't going down without a fight, or at least what could have been a fight if Maximilian hadn't decapitated the creature in a swift move of his blade. The head of the lizard rolled away as the body fall on the ground.

"quickly done,well done. Now... "

Maximilian though about it a few seconds. He could have called the imps, but there was only one creature, this could be a good way to improve his skills. 

He took out a knife of the Havenbag, beginning to cut the skin of the lizard.

Almost immediately, new skills appeared. 

Ingredients gathering skill , dismember skill and reptilian anatomy knowledge skill was now known to him.

"So killing him and cutting down his flesh made me familiar with his anatomy... Make sense, I suppose..."

After he had maximised the three new skill (reptilian anatomy only required three skill points), he began to cut apart the different useful parts of the beast.

Once the scales, mushrooms, eyes and the meat were taken care of, he pushed the rest out of the room directly in the darkness. Looking at what he had managed to scavenge from the body, he was kinda proud of himself. 

"Okay, I've got something to heat, let's make the camp."

First thing first, he used his aura to scared away all the little insects and other rats who could have been there.

"sorry guys, I claim the place for tonight. "

Once the nuisances were gone, he used earth magic to block the two entrance.

"Even if I have a sensing danger skill, I better be careful. There's certainly things more horrifying than lizard and old moving bones."

As if to respond to him. Maximilian heard, coming from far away, some kind of animal scream. He didn't know what it was, but it sure as hell was big enough to be heard from a distance. 

"Yep, I clearly haven't discovered all this place's wonder... But that will be for tomorrow. "

After he made sure the place was safe, he started unpacking what he would need for the camp.

The place wasn't humid or too cold, but the absence of any sunlight let the place in a need of a good fire for the camp. He didn't have any wood, but Maximilian used fire and earth magic to create what was needed. Earth magic to make a round of stones, and fire magic to create a fire sphere who would last long after he was asleep. 

He took out cooking material to prepare the lizard meat and mushrooms. The only problem, he didn't know how.

"I guess I could try grilling a bit of the meat to try..."

Picking a little piece of meat, he tried to make it grill, only to see it catch fire.

Cooking skill acquired.

Looking at the little-burned piece of food, he sighed as he threw it away. 

"Yeah, that will be a useful skill. "

As soon as he maximised it, something change. It was as if recipes he always knew came back to him, that and the perfect way to cook them. 

"oh, so this kind of meet cannot be grilled, it must be boil in a stew or something like that. Now that I know it, it seems evident... Okay, let's make supper. "

With the help of his new knowledge, he prepared the meat and the mushrooms with a bit of spice from the blue chest he had found earlier. 

Knowing exactly when it was ready, he tasted it...and a single tear fall down his cheek. 

"my god...it's so freaking good... "

You know this feeling? The feeling you have when you do something, and the result is far more fulfilling than what you expect at first? Well, this tear was the effect it had on Maximilian. 

"I wasn't bad at cooking before, but now I don't think any chef in my old world could compare. It makes me wonder what the other creature in this world will taste like. "

And so he was content, to say the least, by the meal. The waterskin provide him with something to drink, even if he regret not having any iced tea, but that was something of the old world he had to forget. 

While eating and digesting, Maximilian took out the second book he had taken from the alchemy treasures chamber.

This one was about alchemy. From beginning to end was potions and poisons, on each one of them were described the effect (some effect different depending on the race used on), and some way to prepare them. For example, the very known health potion had several ways it could be made, even if, as was saying the book, those days only one way was still known. Maximilian scratched his head, seeing the ingredients used today in the potion were the rarest when another way of doing it required more basic ingredients. The catch was to prepare it right. 

Even after he finished his meal, he spent some time reading the book. His assimilation skill permitted him to devour it in one read. It was only after he was done that he laid one the beast skin he had install and closed his eyes for the night.

*What a day...a new world, new friends, and an adventure I just started...thank you Odds*

Away from the man's camp, exactly one floor up, the situation wasn't so comfy for a group of adventurers.

Some men and women, a group of a dozen people were running away from spiders.

You could laugh at that, why running away from one or two little spiders, step on it and it's done.

But when the spiders in question are a couple dozen, with a size varying from half the size to twice the size of a grown man, you don't step on it. When you face this kind of foe, you run. You run fast, and you don't look behind.

One of the adventurers, an overweight man without any hair on his head, wasn't doing well.

At first, his physical condition didn't allow him such effort. Second, he was transporting several bags filled with potions and other stuff that was clearly slowing him down , and what was suppose to happened, happened. One of the spiders made a jump and land on him, biting his neck, immobilizing him in the process.

One of the other adventurer, a human man, saw that but didn't stop, it was already too late for him.

"They got the chemist!!!"

The three people in the front, a human girl, an elf women and a semi-orc lady with green skin looked behind them. The semi-orc shouted an order to the others.

"Quick! To the door! Block it so we can pursue down!!"

As they passed the big doors, they immediately started to close it, but the advanced age of the structure wasn't helping them in the process. One of the spiders try to maintain the door open with her long legs, but the semi-orc lady cut them down with a blade as big as her, making the creature fall down in a shrieking noise. Another gender of the eight legs monster started to spit some little ball of green goo, one of them touching one women adventurer on her side. She fell in a scream as what seemed to be poison started covering her side, emitting a green smoke.

Finally, they manage to close the door, blocking it with everything they could find, old weapons, bones, rocks, anything.

"We mustn't stay here, you two, help her up and we continue forward."

"yes captain!"

Two other adventurers obey with a salute to the semi-orc lady as they each take one arm of the fallen girl and help her advancing.

They quickly pursue their route, knowing perfectly well the door, shaking violently against the spiders assault, wouldn't hold much longer.

As they advance, the semi-orc talked to the little girl between her and the elf women.

"My lady, I don't know if we should still pursue, we've lost more than half our team already, it seems very uncertain we will succeed..."

A little girly voice answered her, clearly shaken by what happened a bit earlier, but still having resolution nonetheless.

"I know Arca, but we don't have any other solution....deep down here, in this nightmarish place reside our last hope."

Looking at her and the elf women, she could see the resolution in the two sets of eyes looking at her.

"We must find the black dragon."