Keeping in mind that a single misstep may lead to his untimely death, Valyr walked through the path he had chosen at a leisurely pace, his gaze focused on the node that he would step on sometime later. Taking note that the number of goblins on the node before him only amounted to three, he then shifted his gaze towards the other nodes, shaking his head as their numbers were at least double.
Although the mechanics of the second room were different from the room from earlier, Valyr could not help but think that both of the rooms were testing a similar thing from him.
His common sense.
In the first room, the area was split into two sections: the high and low section. With two ramps connecting both sections together, it was common sense for one to lure the enemies to the high section, tiring the enemies out while also reducing the area for possible attacks at the same time.
As for the room Valyr was currently in, common sense dictated that he should take the path to the door at the end that would pose the least amount of resistance to him. Naturally, there was a small part of him that wondered what would happen if he chose the path that posed the greatest amount of resistance, thinking that some of the players in his past life definitely would’ve chosen to head that route since doing so meant obtaining special rewards.
However, with how mundane the previous room was, the chances of special rewards appearing from such a foolish choice in this room were definitely slim to none. With that in mind, Valyr continued to walk through the path he chose, finally coming face to face with the first round of monsters he would fight against.
“[Analysis].” As he charged towards one of the goblins on the somewhat spacious node, a light blue haze appeared around Valyr’s eyes. Wanting to see if the monsters he was currently facing differed from the ones in the previous room, he obtained his answer not long after as a status screen appeared in his mind.
Ding!
————
[Goblin (Elite)] (Level 14)
HP: 350/350
Stats: 29 VIT, 35 STR, 29 AGI, 20 DEX, 18 INT, 18 WIS, 18 PER, 18 LUK
Remarks: Proceed with caution, especially if there’s a lot of them.
————
“Basically one level higher than the ones in the previous room.” With his question answered, Valyr thrust his spear onto the nearest goblin’s chest at full strength, sending it flying as it fell into the bottomless chasm beneath them with a horrified shriek.
Ding!
[With a 1 level disparity between the user and the opponent, the amount of experience obtained shall be reduced by 20%.]
[You have slain a Level 14 Goblin (Elite). You have gained 433 XP.]
Witnessing one of their comrades fall off the node and into the abyss beneath them, the remaining two goblins on the node charged at Valyr with all their might, not wanting to be the next one to experience a similar kind of fate. Unfortunately, being the one that had the superior stats, Valyr went ahead and did the same thing to the two, sending them flying off the node as they fell to the chasm, eventually being enveloped by its darkness.
Receiving two notification sounds after the two goblins had fallen into the chasm, Valyr inwardly nodded before proceeding forward on the only path beyond the node, taking a look at how many nodes he would have to stop on before he was able to proceed to the next room.
Thankfully, with his [Gambler’s Deceiving Eyes] boosting his PER, he was able to see that he still had three more nodes to stop on before reaching the next room, with all nodes leading towards the final node that barred him from reaching the next door.
Taking note of the aura of the sole goblin that stood on the final node, Valyr continued through the next three nodes, finding the ordeal quite simple to complete as all he had to do was push the goblins off the nodes and into the chasm below. Even with the fact that each subsequent node had two more goblins compared to the previous one, he found the journey towards the final node slightly relaxing, if not therapeutic.
Nevertheless, that all changed when he stepped on the final node, coming face to face with the only goblin on the node.
Compared to the goblins he had fought against earlier, which all stood at a stature slightly more than half his height, the goblin before him reached up to his chin, sporting a height most teenagers had. Aside from that, the goblin’s body was more plump than most goblins, its body giving off a feeling that a decent amount of strength was contained in it.
As the goblin took notice of Valyr and positioned itself in a way that it was ready to battle, Valyr went ahead and identified the goblin before him using [Analysis], his eyebrows raising up in slight surprise as he dodged the slash the goblin made with the crude blade it wielded.
“A mini-boss at the second room?” Valyr could not help but mutter, retaliating against the goblin’s attack with a thrust of his spear towards its chest.
Ding!
————
[Goblin (Uncommon Elite)] (Level 15)
HP: 500/500
Stats: 39 VIT, 47 STR, 39 AGI, 26 DEX, 23 INT, 23 WIS, 23 PER, 23 LUK𝑜𝒱𝓵xt.𝒞𝑶𝓜
Remarks: You might end up losing if you don’t be careful.
————
Seeing that his attack had landed, which took off a decent chunk of the goblin’s health, Valyr took in a few deep breaths before dashing towards the goblin. In response to the move, the goblin dashed as well, heading towards Valyr at a slightly faster speed.
Naturally, with the knowledge of the stats of the goblin before him, Valyr knew not to take the goblin’s attacks lightly, given that the monster in front of him surpassed him in both strength and agility. With that, rather than utilizing the momentum from the dash in his attack, he abruptly stopped in front of the charging goblin, prompting the latter to also come to an abrupt halt as he swiftly sent out a [Strong Pierce] towards its chest.
Bang!
‘-743!!’
Ding!
As a couple notifications popped up in Valyr’s mind, the goblin’s eyes widened in incredulity as it looked at Valyr’s face for a bit, only to shift its gaze soon after towards the grievous injury on its chest. Just as it was about to look back at the man that had ended its life, the vigor in the goblin’s eyes swiftly disappeared, its body turning limp as Valyr retracted his spear.
Letting out a light sigh of relief, Valyr then went ahead and searched through the goblin’s corpse, recalling the Dungeon Key Fragment he had found in the previous room. Fortunately, he had found the fragment tucked away in one of the pockets on the goblin’s clothes within minutes, keeping the second fragment in his bag as the door before him slowly opened with a creak.
While making his way to the next room, Valyr could not help but ponder if the goblin he had just fought against was a true mini-boss or not. “Although it has the stats of a mini-boss, the fact that it’s alone is quite peculiar. After all, every mini-boss I’ve encountered back then had at least one minion accompanying it.”
Pondering over it for a bit more, he could not help but come to a somewhat grim conclusion. “Perhaps this is a warning, telling me that the mini-boss I might face sooner or later is stronger than what I would initially think.”
Eventually, while he was still pondering over the entire matter, Valyr had arrived at the third room, coming face to face with a goblin donning an attire similar to that of a well-established mage. Around the goblin were four smaller goblins in shabbier, yet similar attires, their expressions that of worship towards the larger goblin.
Realizing he had arrived at the third room, Valyr swiftly used [Analysis] on the large goblin, reading through its status screen the very instant it appeared. Though the large goblin’s stats made him realize that he was up against a true mini-boss, it also made him realize that the goblin he fought earlier was not a mini-boss.
Slapping himself on the head through his armor, he let out a light sigh as he looked at the screen before him once more, realizing he had forgotten one more tidbit that separated mini-bosses and bosses from normal monsters.
“I forgot the system tells us whether we’re up against a boss or not.”