Chapter 5: Traveler

Clang* Clang*

A clanging sound sounded in the hall as a human could be seen fighting against the monster, but his attacks were barely putting dents on it, still, the hope was not lost as the area where he was constantly striking was now overflowing with blood.

Just as Neo was about to attack the same spot again, the Hobgoblin put its hand over it, covering the left side of its neck. Neo arched his eyebrow up in surprise but didn't let it get to him as he targeted its right eye, wanting to completely blind it. But the monster moved its head forward, and the sword struck its forehead, again numbing Neo's hand.

"Is it learning?" Neo was puzzled, but this discovery made him wake up as he felt that the longer he dragged the fight, the more danger he'll be in.

"Should I use whirlwind?" Neo thought but then shook his head as the area of effect of the skill was too wide and the skin of the monster was too tough. Even if the attack was infused with mana, he doubted that it'd do much damage.

But he had no other choice as he felt he had dragged the battle for too long and the effect of the potion effect could wear off at any moment.

This was more of a desperate situation now, as he had no other choice. Neo gritted his teeth and tried to be as precise with the skill as he could and activated it next to the left side of the neck which the monster left open when it found that Neo was not targeting it anymore.

"Whirlwind."

The monster felt a danger as Neo activated the whirlwind skill. The hobgoblin tried to cover the area with its massive hand, but Neo was quick as he spun near the wound and struck the exposed area, causing the gash to deepen.

The hobgoblin roared in anger and swung its mace with even more ferocity. Neo, who was still in rotating motion, hurriedly cancelled the skill which he didn't know would work or not, but fortunately it did, and he rushed out of the way.

He was surprised that he could cancel the skill mid-way, and it also saved his mana and stamina by a lot. He became excited when he found that out and now became even more active with his attacks, mixing whirlwind in it from time to time.

Neo continued to target the injured area, using the whirlwind skill to his advantage. He landed several more strikes, causing the hobgoblin to stagger and weaken because of the blood loss. He found that blood loss weakens the enemy on the 8th floor.

After finding that he could finally finish this fight with a fierce roar, Neo unleashed a flurry of strikes upon the hobgoblin, each one connecting with precision and power.

But the hobgoblin was not one to be easily defeated. It countered with a massive swing of its mace, nearly knocking Neo off his feet. Neo staggered, but quickly regained his balance and pressed on, determined to emerge victorious. His eyes flashed with a golden hue as excitement and the thrill of the battle made his mouth arch up without him knowing.

He accumulated injuries as well as he wasn't always able to dodge the huge mace and had to defend, making his bones rattle and some even felt like they cracked or fractured, which made his internal organs shake as blood leaked from his mouth. With a roar, he joined the battle again and struck the hobgoblin on the right side of the neck with the [Whirlwind] because it was protecting its left side with its hand.

As the battle raged on, each combatant exchanged blows with ferocity and skill. Neo continued to attack, never giving the hobgoblin a chance to rest. His target was always the monster's neck and the bloody wounds were all over its neck.

"Oh, no."

Neo felt his strength draining and with a last thrust of his swords, he stabbed his sword which entered from the left side of the neck and came out of the right side as damage appeared.

-1400

Neo fell on the ground, his body devoid of power.

The monster roared in pain one last time before it landed on the ground motionlessly. Breathless and victorious, Neo tried standing but wasn't able to, so he lay there, catching his breath and taking in his hard-won victory.

"Awww!!!"

He roared as he let out all his frustration, and at that moment, the backlash kicked in.

Neo's vision blurred, and his head throbbed as he felt the full force of the potion's backlash. His body convulsed as waves of intense pain wracked through him, causing him to grit his teeth and clench his fists. He felt as if his muscles were being torn apart, and his skin was set ablaze with an agonizing heat invading his body. Every nerve in his body screamed with a burning pain, and he could feel his mind slipping away into the abyss of agony.

For what felt like an eternity, Neo writhed in pain on the ground, his body contorting in ways he never thought was possible. But slowly, the pain began ebbing away, and he gasped for breath, his body drenched in sweat. The backlash has passed, leaving him feeling weak and vulnerable.

He laid his back against the wall as he gasped heavily, his mind still shaken by the pain.

"They sh-should emphasize that the backlash would be this severe." Neo said as he felt his nerves were still sending the receptors the pain signals. It lasted for who knows how long before he regained some movement and could stand up, though shakily. He just sat down again as the effects were still affecting him.

As he couldn't do much at the moment, he opened the log and saw the notifications, but before he could check them, the backlash kicked in.

『 Defeated level 22 Grimor the Hobgoblin.』

『 Collecting the soul of the Grimor the Hobgoblin 』

『 Collecting…』

『 Collection successful.』

『 Strength+8, Stamina+3』

『 Phase four of the Goblin King's Keep successfully cleared. Calculating reward 』

[Name: Ring of Shadow Clone

Description: A silver ring with a small black gemstone in the center, said to be made by a legendary wizard who mastered the art of shadow magic.

Effect: Creates 2 shadow clones of the wearer for 1 minute. Clones have 50% of the wearer's health, strength, and agility. The wearer can switch places with any of the clones. The clones can use basic attacks and skills.

Rarity: Gold

Luck: +20

Durability: 50/50

Special Ability: On a successful switch, the wearer becomes invisible for 5 seconds.

(Can be upgraded)]

Neo sat there, stunned. He looked at the silver ring that appeared before him in a daze. This was absurd. Even if he had not much knowledge about the Dungeons and the items, he knew this much that the ring and the amulet he received before were not something that could be granted easily. Even one of them could be the reward of clearing a C-rank dungeon, but here he got it as a reward for clearing the floor, not even for conquering the dungeon.

『 Teleporting to temporary safe zone in 2 minutes.』

"Wait what?" Neo stood up but regretted as the pain assaulted his head, but he shook it away as moved toward the monster's body to get his swords as he didn't want to end up being weaponless.

He also took the sphere out of the Monster's body and found that this one had a red shade deeper than the one he got before, but he couldn't appreciate the color as his head buzzed with pain, and he collected the spheres that dropped from his pockets when he fought with the Hobgoblin. Usually he put them away before the fight, but this one started abruptly, and he didn't have time to do that.

He collected all the spheres and waited to be teleported away and in the next second; he got teleported away to a temporary safe zone.

As Neo looked around the safe zone, he discovered it was not damp and dull. The ground was covered in soft grass, and there were several large trees providing shade and a cool breeze. In the center of the clearing, there was a small pond with crystal clear water that looked inviting. There were even a few comfortable-looking logs scattered around the area that he could use to rest.

Neo couldn't help but feel grateful for the brief respite from the intense battles he had faced so far in the dungeon. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax for a moment, enjoying the peaceful surroundings. He just wanted to lie down and sleep.

『 With Player's high luck. The traveler event has started.』

『 Player can check the traveler's wares.』

Neo was confused as he looked around, but didn't see anyone other than him in the safe zone.

"Who are you looking for, young man?" he heard a voice coming from next to him and jumped away in surprise as he looked at the potential "Traveler."

The traveler was a tall, lean man in his early 30s with a tanned complexion. He had piercing blue eyes that seemed to glint in the flickering light of the torches in the safe zone. His jet-black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and he wore a wide-brimmed hat to shield his face from the sun.

He was dressed in a long, flowing cloak made of deep green wool, which was fastened at the neck with a gold brooch. Underneath the cloak, he wore a leather jerkin, studded with silver rivets. His breeches were made of brown suede, and his boots were tall, with pointed toes.

He carried a small bag with him which confused Neo as he was expecting a bag as tall as him, filled to the brim with different things.

"I say, young man. It is impolite to stare at someone like that." The traveler said when he saw Neo was still looking at him with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Sorry about that." Neo hurriedly apologized and asked, "Are you Mr. Traveler?"

"In the flesh. Why? do I not look like one?"

"No." Neo answered with honesty, as he really didn't look like one.

"Ouch," the traveler said as he waved his hand and a notification appeared before Neo.

『 Davis, the wandering traveler, is offering to sell his wares to you. Do you agree to trade?.』

Neo looked at the notification and then at Davis in surprise. He really was a traveler.

"Okay, for your honesty. I will answer one question for free. Ask away"

Neo thanked him as his mouth arched up in a smile but didn't ask hurriedly as he had too many questions like why was his mana core filled with lines, what was going on with his absurd experience bar meteoric rise, what was this dungeon, how many floors does this dungeon have and finally how to get out of this damn dungeon?

"Hoo? looks like you've got a lot to ask." The traveler said as he sat down on the log, looking at Neo with an amusing smile.

"Can you read my thoughts?" Neo asked, a little wary of the man as he guessed what he was thinking.

"No, I just figured that out because of the time you are taking to think about which one you should ask."

Neo heaved a sigh of relief but still kept his guard up against him.

"Don't worry, we travelers cannot hurt players. It is in our contract"

"Contract?" Neo blurted out.

"Oh, are you going to use your free quota on that?"

Davis chuckled as he looked at Neo.

Neo shook his head and kept thinking about which one to ask before he put his hand in his pant pocket and it came in contact with the sphere. His eyes lit up as he took it out and asked, "Can you tell me about this?"

"Now this is interesting."

..........

"You are lucky, kid, that I'm a good traveler, otherwise you would have been dead before you knew it after you showed that to me," Davis said as he motioned for him to pass the sphere.

Neo did so but his words still shook him as he didn't understand why such a thing that was found in almost every monster would bring a great disaster to him.

Davis, meanwhile, was scrutinizing the sphere in his hand. Examining its color, and said, "It is full of essence. A miracle if you ask me." He mumbled to himself as he questioned and then answered himself.

After examining the sphere, he asked, "Where did you find this?"

"Do I need to answer that?" Neo asked, hesitating to tell him about it. He didn't know what those spheres were. He started thinking about getting rid of the ones he had at home.

"Oh, being cautious, are we? Anyway, that's a good thing to do. Catch." Davis said as he tossed the sphere toward Neo, who caught it and hesitated for a while before throwing it back toward Davis who caught it back in surprise but knew that Neo did that because he told him how dangerous it was to keep it on him.

"Damn, I feel bad for telling you something like that if you are going to discard a treasure like that. Anyway, I will take it and open the shop area that will be required to exchange this." Davis put it on the grass and said, "So the question that you asked."

"These are called Essence Spheres."

"Essence Spheres?" Neo asked with his eyes narrowed, as he hadn't heard about such a thing before.

"Yes, Essence sphere. This is common knowledge in the middle level of the Tower. But again, from the looks of it, you just stepped into the tower, so you don't know about it. Anyway, we are going off-topic, and I might charge you if you hear something you didn't pay for."

Neo nodded and sat down and waited for Davis to continue not clarifying that they were not in the Tower.

"So, the essence spheres could be considered as rare magical wish boxes that hold the residual essence or life force of the monsters. Each sphere would contain a unique set of attributes based on the monster it was from, such as increased strength or agility, resistance to specific types of damage, or many other things. As for this one." Davis took the sphere in his hand and the sphere melted as a red ball of light came out of it, and he threw it toward Neo, who wasn't able to dodge it in time.

『 You absorbed the Aetherium of goblin shaman and gained +2 intelligence 』

Neo, who jumped back when the red ball, or as the Tower called it Aetherium, entered his body, was now shocked as he suddenly received sudden attributes. He hurriedly opened his status panel to check if it was true or not. He found that was the case, and his intelligence attribute increased by 2.

Neo looked at Davis, who was looking at him, amused as he saw Neo's expression that turned from wariness to shock, then to silly one.

"For thinking about giving me that, I will give you this skill. It is a pretty common skill and can be found in every shop at the middle level."

A notification popped up before Neo.

『 The Traveler is trading the skill: Aether Manipulation.

Accept Reject.』

Looking at the name, Neo accepted it and a new skill appeared in his skills panel, along with Inspect and Whirlwind.

[Skill: Aether Manipulation.

Description: Aether Manipulation is a skill that allows the user to harness the power of Aetherium energy within essence spheres. With this skill, the user can unlock the full potential of essence spheres by manipulating the energy inside it.]

He saw the skill description and then slightly bowed as he said, "Thank you."

Davis waved his hand and said, "It's a pretty common skill. Not even worth putting up for sale."

"Okay, we again got off-topic. These essence spheres are what you'll be using when you are a high rank evolver, as experience required for levelling up is like filling a valley that is as deep as the abyss. And every attribute is worth more than a single city in the most developed kingdom."

He chuckled and said, "You can even get yourself a dragon princess, for the price of the one that you just absorbed."

Neo was stunned as he didn't know that the thing he had was this precious.

"Man, you are getting me off-topic again and again. So, there are different essence spheres. Red means permanent attribute, orange is equipment, yellow is a weapon, green is currency and the last three are something that are long lost. You'll have to find about them yourself as we can't talk about them."

"Oh, one more thing, the more potent they are, the higher the rank of the thing in them will be. The ones that you find in the monsters are dud as their essence gets absorbed by the evolvers to level up, cut open a monster, and you'll find a white sphere in them. But there is an exception to that, like in a tower when a monster reaches its life end naturally and couldn't evolve, then the sphere in them will be full of essence, like the ones in your hand, and no, you can't rear them and make them die a natural death. You cannot cheat the Tower. It knows anything and everything."

" Okay, I think you are satisfied with my service now, but let me give you advice. Don't bring those things up in front of anyone ever again. The next guy you find might not be a saint like me,"

Davis raised his nose up, asking to be praised, but he didn't get any as Neo was lost in thoughts.

He found some holes in what Davis was talking about, like the Essence spheres he got in his home had a white-bluish color to them.

"You talked about the temporary essence sphere. What should their color be?"

"Oh, those! They are white with a little tint of blue in them." Davis answered, not caring that Neo asked an extra question.

Neo nodded as he now knew what those were now. But something was still not clicking right with him as he got these from killing monsters and Davis told him that killing a monster means that the essence would be absorbed by the evolvers. He absorbed the experience, but then why was this essence sphere still filled with Aetherium.

He wanted to ask Davis about it, but something was telling him not to do that. He trusted his guts and didn't ask.

"Thank you for telling me all that."

Davis shook his head and said, "I promised you a question, so I'm only holding my end of the deal. Now, would you like to look at my wares?"

Neo nodded and was about to know where his wares were when a notification popped before him.

『 The Traveler House:

The Sword of Elemental Fury—This blade has been imbued with the power of the elements, allowing the wielder to unleash devastating attacks. (Cost: 500 stat points)

Boots of Elven Swiftness—These enchanted boots grant the wearer incredible speed and agility, making them perfect for quick getaways or chasing down enemies. (Cost: 300 stat points)

The Amulet of Life-Stealing—This amulet drains the life force of enemies, transferring it to the wearer to heal their own wounds. (Cost: 400 stat points)

Ring of Resistance—This ring provides a boost to the wearer's resistance to elements. (Cost: 200 stat points)

The Bow of the Aslo—This bow is perfect for taking down prey from a distance. Its arrows strike with deadly accuracy, making it a favorite among hunters. (Cost: 400 stat points) 』

The things that appeared on the panel dazzled Neo, and he clicked on "The Sword of Elemental Fury."

[Name:Sword of Elemental Fury

Durability: Infinite

Damage: 250,000-300,000

+50% Elemental damage

+200% critical damage

50% chance to stun the target

10% chance to instantly kill the target

Ability: Grants the user the ability to control elemental forces.

Restrictions: None.]

Neo was stunned by the first item that was on display and felt like his feet that were floating above the ground came back to it as he now knew that there was still a mountain beyond a mountain. (Someone stronger than him) He then looked at the cost of it and was puzzled.

"Stat points?"

"Oh, stat points are those that you allocate to your attributes and grow powerful."

'𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦.' Neo said inwardly

"How can I buy with stat points?"

"Just think, from which attribute or attributes, if you want the cost to be deduced from multiple attributes, to deduct the cost and the Tower will do that for you. And remember, all sales are final, so choose carefully."

Neo nodded and scrolled through and stopped at a particular item.

[Name: Battleweave Long coat

Description: A tightly woven coat that seems to shimmer in the light. The fabric is tough and offers some protection against attacks. The sleeves are adorned with runes that glow with an inner light.

Stats: +30 Strength +10 Agility +20 Vitality +5 Intelligence

Special Ability:

➠ Rune Fury: Once per day, the wearer can call upon the power of the runes to boost their strength even further for a short period. The effect lasts for 5 minutes and grants +50 bonus strength. After the effect wears cannot use the ability again for 24 hours. (Cost: 80 stat points).]

Neo looked at it for a while, but shook his head as he couldn't afford it and was about to move forward, but then remembered that he had to clear the dungeon and now the potion effect wore off.

He hesitated for a while before gritting his teeth.

"Mr. Davis, how many stat points does one essence sphere get me?"

Davis looked at Neo in surprise and knew that he had more than one essence sphere and that was his target as well. He cleared his throat and said, "It is difficult to estimate like I said before, if the colour is faint then it'll not be much but you can shop for 300 stat points and let me tell you, the items you are seeing are the low level ones. When you enter the mid-level, look for me and I'll show you what genuine items are."

Neo nodded as he took out the essence sphere which he got from the 4th floor and gave it to Davis as he asked, "How much is this one worth?"

Davis examined the essence sphere for a while, then said, "With this one, you can shop for about 430 stats' points worth of items."

Neo nodded and selected that and it appeared before him, The Battleweave Robe was a long coat-style robe made of a special black fabric that shimmered in the light. The fabric was lightweight and flexible, allowing for ease of movement during combat. The coat had a high collar that could be folded down if desired, and was fastened at the front with ornate silver buttons.

He put on the coat as the battle armor he got as a reward was in tatters now because of his constant fight, so he removed that and draped over this one.

"A pleasant choice. It can be worn over any type of armor and it also looks cool. Oh, and it is made of Osmo-stone so its durability will return after some time. I say you found yourself a good item."

Neo nodded as he scrolled down and bought a utility belt which was used for holding the weapon sheaths and potions.

[Name: Utility Belt

Stats: +5 Agility +3 Strength +2 Intelligence

Allows the wearer to carry an additional small weapon or item.] (Cost: 15 stat points)

Then he changed the boots as well as he found the ones that were better than the ones he had.

[Name: Swiftwind Boots

Stats: Agility +4

Movement speed +10%

Jump height +20%

Stamina Cost Reduction -10%

➠ Dash: Allows the wearer to dash a short distance in any direction, useful for evading attacks or closing the distance to enemies quickly.

Special ability:

➠ Dash of the Wind: Once per day, the wearer can use a burst of wind to move around at an incredible speed for a short duration, allowing them to dodge attacks, escape danger, or quickly close the distance to an opponent.] (Cost: 110 Stat points)

The boots were more expensive than the long coat but it was worth it because had had three extra skills now which he could use and especially the special ability of the boots was a life saving card.

He kept scrolling down until he reached the portion where the potions were being displayed.

"This is a joke, right?"