Розділ 10

When Tad finally got home, it was well past midnight. Mom was still at the job she’d taken, and Liam was fast asleep on the couch. Was he waiting for Tad? The TV was still on, and there were bags of chips and other snacks scattered around the room. There was a plate of untouched food on the dining table—the exact spot where Tad usually sat. Had Liam made it for him? That seemed odd. Liam rarely talked to Tad. Tad tiptoed past his brother, grabbed the plate of food, and headed up the stairs to his room. Waking Liam up would mean getting questions Tad didn’t want to answer. And Liam was just like other boys—regular. Tad never knew how to handle him. Better to slip in unnoticed and save the questions for later.

Thad paused in front of the mirror that hung in his room. For a moment he didn't recognize the man staring back at him. His usual long, unkempt black hair was gone—dissolved by acid, burned by fire. Only wisps of hair remained, next to a smooth scalp. The soot blackened his face. Thad took off Gruff's oversized shirt and looked down at his alien body. His arms were thick, his torso chubby. He had never been fat in his life, but here he was. The extra constitution had increased his maximum health as radically as his waistline. It had only been three days since his rebirth, but he truly felt like a different person. A new person.

He had left home the previous morning, still at level one. Nobody. But now he had risen to level eight. In the chaos after the boss fight, he had not had time to review the changes in his stats. In a word, Thad had brought the information before his eyes.

*Tad Harrington
---
Rank: Civilian
Level: 8 (Maximum level! Soldier Challenge available!)
Health: 110/110
Mana: 39/42
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 11
Magic: 21
Courage: 5
Charisma: -9
1 unread notification!*
Tad blinked, rereading one line over and over. "Maximum level with rank-up challenge available." Whatever the challenge was, it would be dangerous. He had earned everything so far on his own, except for the level-up program, which itself was free. No... that wasn't true.

He paid with pain.

*What would you give for power?*

The words echoed in his head like the whispers of a ghost. Thad doubted that the leveling program was free either. He just didn't know the price yet. If he died in the dungeon, the price would be his life.

A gloomy thought.

Thad ignored the rank-up challenge and clicked on the unread message at the bottom first. It had appeared while he was floating in the fog, but he didn't have time to open it.

*Congratulations on completing your first quest! Choose your reward:---

Shining Longsword of Sient

Fang of Recast

Marywell Titanium Hook

Wander's Maple Wand

Tidwell's Ruby Shield

Hugs Titan*

Are these items? Not all of them seemed like them. Thad tried clicking on each one to see additional characteristics, but a confirmation window appeared before him.

*Do you accept the "Shining Longsword of Sient" as a quest reward?*

No! Tad slammed the no button with a sigh of relief, reading the items on the list over and over again. The four items seemed obvious, but the names attached to them made Tad think twice. Sient, Merivell, Wander, and Tidwell! All of them famous Creator-ranked fighters, members of Charles Tidwell's original team that tried to shut down Titan. All of them dead now. If these items really belonged to their namesakes, they were rare and most likely powerful.

What about the other two? Titan's Embrace and Fang of Recast? One is a dungeon, the other is a world-famous monster that almost destroyed a planet. Why are they on the list? And what are these items, or are they even items? Titan's Embrace sounded more like a permanent buff or spell than an item.

Seeing the list left him with more questions than answers. As eager as he was to accept the reward and potentially receive a huge boost in strength, he didn't want to choose the wrong item. Sighing, he closed the reward window. He needed time to think. As the window closed, an electronic bell rang in his head, and more text appeared before him.

*New quest available!*

Tad opened the quest.

*Clear the dungeon as the sole survivor!*

Тад завмер, ледь не приголомшений підтекстом квесту. Дихання перехопило. Він міг придумати лише один прийнятний спосіб виконати цей квест. Увійти в підземелля самотужки й пройти його без допомоги. Але для цього йому треба бути сильним. Набагато сильнішим, ніж зараз. Альтернативи були надто похмурими, щоб про них думати. Дозволити всім померти чи вбити їх самому. По спині побігли мурашки від цієї думки. Невже його програма підвищення рівня намагалася змусити його вбивати людей? Якби морально збанкрутіла особа мала ті самі інструкції, то після бою з босом просто повбиває всіх. Що за гидота в дуплі Титана ця програма підвищення рівня? І чому обрала саме його? По шкірі Тада побігли мурашки. Він відчував, ніби за ним стежать. Тисяча шпильок тиснула на спину, але коли озирнувся, щоб зустріти їхній погляд, — нічого не було.

Він нікого не вб’є. Не заради винагороди за квест. У крайньому разі — для самооборони. Але не для виконання якоїсь дурної квесту, яку міг би виконати сам, якби був сильнішим. Тад закрив вікно квесту й подивився на рядок у характеристиках, що турбував його найбільше.

*Рівень: 8 (Максимальний рівень! Доступне солдатське випробування!)*

Він уже досяг максимального рівня. Максимального рівня для цивільних. Поки Тад не підвищить ранг, він не зможе прогресувати. Не зможе набирати очки характеристик і ставати сильнішим. А що, якщо цей квест такий же неможливий, як квест єдиного вцілілого? Звичайно, немає підземелля, яке він міг би очистити самотужки. Не на цьому рівні. Він не думав, що так швидко зіткнеться з випробуванням на підвищення рангу.