"Huh." This was the only sound Valyr could utter at the very moment he had gotten a better look of what was in the room he had entered as he scratched his head in slight confusion.
Though the room looked like it mostly served the purpose of brief respite, there existed five pedestals at the center of the room, equally spaced apart, with items on them. As Valyr looked at the items that the pedestals were displaying, he quickly noticed the aura all of them were exuding, leading him to believe that this room was a shop of sorts.
However, just as he was about to move towards the pedestals to get a closer look, a barrier had manifested in front of him out of nowhere, barring him from getting within a meter of the pedestals before him. At this point, Valyr could not help but feel somewhat annoyed, only for that annoyance to disappear as the disembodied voice resounded throughout the room.
"I must congratulate you once more for being able to come this far, human," the voice said. "Though you may not be the destined one, your laudable efforts still need to be rewarded."
"In front of you are five pedestals, each of them containing items that may serve you to help you out during the final battle, as well as your future endeavors." Hearing these words come from the disembodied voice, Valyr could not help but ask after that if the next room beyond this was the room where final boss resided, to which the disembodied voice confirmed.
Though he felt a hint of pressure from the answer, Valyr placed those thoughts at the back of his head, continuing to listen to the disembodied voice's words in the meantime.
"However, to be able to obtain these items, you must exchange a corresponding amount of Dungeon Key Fragments," the voice said, making Valyr raise his eyebrow in curiosity. "If you have collected Dungeon Key Fragments in the previous rooms, this is their main purpose. To be exchanged for the items you see in front of you."
"But as you are not the destined one for this dungeon, you may only gain access to the pedestals in front of you if you agree to the condition that you shall not talk about the being you fought against in the previous room." Though Valyr had a feeling that the disembodied voice was purposefully making him use his Dungeon Key Fragments in this place so he wouldn't find the secret passage the dungeon possibly contained, the disembodied voice continued talking nevertheless.
"If you accept, not only shall you be able to exchange your Dungeon Key Fragments for the items on the pedestal, I shall also give you a few extra Dungeon Key Fragments to be used for purchase." Since there was no con to accepting the oath, as well as the fact that he had already accepted a similar oath earlier, it was no surprise that Valyr had agreed to the disembodied voice's words, prompting five glass shards to appear before him not long after.
While picking up the five Dungeon Key Fragments he had obtained from the disembodied voice, the barrier surrounding the five pedestals disappeared, finally allowing Valyr to move closer to them and get a closer look.
However, just before he did so, he decided to ask the disembodied voice the question that plagued his mind earlier in the room after Eir's, hoping that the latter would respond. "Just before I take a look at these items, I was just wondering… am I talking to a real being? Are you alive?"
"Your question shall be answered as long as you head to the next room." As a reply, the disembodied voice gave him a cryptic response, which Valyr was naturally unsatisfied with. Asking the same question a couple more times, only to receive the same answer, Valyr decided to give up asking and focus on what was in front of him.
Looking through the items that were on display on the five pedestals, Valyr went ahead and used [Analysis] on each and every one of them, with each item leaving him feeling with great awe as he wondered if the prices attached to them were correct.
"You're telling me… I could either get a Rare grade sword for one Dungeon Key Fragment, a set of vials of Intermediate Reinforcement Elixir for two, an Uncommon+ grade skill for three, an Epic+ grade chestplate for four…"
"…or this special item for five Dungeon Key Fragments." Though all of the items in the four previous pedestals piqued a bit of his interest, only the item on the rightmost pedestal caught his attention. After all, unlike the items on the four previous pedestals, which would give him immense benefit in the long run, this final item only showed its effects in the final dungeon room.
Yet for some reason, Valyr felt like the price of five Dungeon Key Fragments for this item was far too cheap in his opinion.
Ding!
[Goblin Suppressing Incense] (Special Item)
Rarity: Epic
A special item that greatly reduces the strength of goblins once lit. Manufactured to combat against the goblins of the Astarto Goblin Den, this incense reduces the maximum HP of the final boss by 99%.
"So, if I take into consideration the types of mini-bosses I've fought against thus far, the final boss is not only an incredibly strong goblin that has multiple lives and has the ability to grow stronger…"
"It also has an insanely large health pool," Valyr muttered to himself, unhesitatingly exchange all five Dungeon Key Fragments he had obtained from the disembodied voice to obtain the item on the rightmost pedestal.
Placing the Goblin Suppressing Incense in the bag he carried, he then looked at the four remaining items still on the pedestals as he remembered that he still had three more Dungeon Key Fragments. However, after pondering over it for a while, he decided not to spend any of his remaining fragments at all, still hoping that the fragments would allow him to gain access to a secret passage.
"Considering that all of these remaining items are things that I can only use once I've reached Level 30 at the very least, having other people know that I have something like this would definitely invite malicious intent, especially since I'm still quite low-leveled." Making up his mind, Valyr walked past the four remaining pedestals as he proceeded through the door, feeling a hint of trepidation, as well as expectation towards what kind of challenging mechanic he might encounter while fighting the boss in the final room.
Though he had his ideas regarding what kind of mechanics he might encounter in this final room, none of them prepared him for when he had actually entered it. Standing at the center of the room was neither a goblin specializing in magic like Eir, nor a goblin with great physical strength like Nak.
Instead, it was a normal common goblin.
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