Chapter 69:Floor Boss Part 2

[You have killed a Hobgoblin and gained 50 EPs]

[You have killed a Floor Boss, which was around for many years.]

[Now, you will be able to summon the Hobgoblin once in a day to fight for you until its death or you run out of your MP.]

The Hobgoblin gave out a final roar and fell down. Suddenly, its body started to glitter like pearls and turned to sand before vanishing in a non-existent wind. What was left behind was a big antique treasure box.

Me, Urt, and Sepi just stood there with our mouths agape.

“What happened?” I asked confusedly, not understating anything that happened a few seconds ago. The corpse suddenly shined like a diamond before getting blown away by the wind leaving behind a wooden treasure box.

“Lord, that Hobgoblin was carrying that box all along!?” Sepi asked as he inspected the box from a distance.

“That shouldn’t be the case.” I was speechless and answered unsurely. “It must be here because we killed the thing. You know, magic and all.” In the end, I decided to chuck everything that I couldn’t understand with magic.

“Lord, look, there’s a hidden door there!” Urt alerted me after finding a metal trap-door behind the hearth with no fire. There was a metal ring attached to the door and a chain connected to the ring. I was surprised and felt excited about the prospect of exploring a hidden room guarded by a hidden boss. My instinct told me that there has to be something good down there.

“Alright, we will go there. Before that, let’s see what’s in the box.” I walked towards the box and slightly touched the edges. The texture of the material was smooth and pristine, like how a wooden surface would feel.

Gulping a mouthful of air in nervousness, I looked at Urt and Sepi before unstrapping the leather bind that kept it shut. Ever so slowly, I opened the door while exercising caution of any hidden traps.

The smell of ancient wood permeated into my nostrils, making me gag at the foul odor. A rolled-up yellow paper was lying inconspicuously inside the box. The paper looked like it had seen better days. Its surface was littered with brown spots.

Feeling a bit of trepidation, as my fingers touched the paper, suddenly, it shined brightly as a notification popped up on my eye.

[You have found a skill scroll.]

[You are about to learn ‘Bloody Shield’]

[Bloody Shield(passive)]

With every drop of blood you drew from your enemies, DEF increases by 5 points for 40 seconds. It stacks up to 100 times.

The skill’s definition matches the Hobgoblin’s racial skill, as explained by Cathie that day. The ability that made the Hobgoblin a difficult opponent to fight was laying before my eyes. But I knew this ability was not mine to get. I was neither a close-ranged fighter, nor do I have an explosive skill that could draw blood.

My eyes landed on a giddy looking Sepi and cold and detached Urt. They were more suited for the skill. Especially this Urt. This skill was tailormade for him. Together with his Puncture, he would be an absolute deadly foe on a battlefield.

I tossed the scroll at him. “Here, you learn this ability.” And only then did I realized a fact, can a monster learn a skill from a skill scroll? Thankfully, the answer came soon when the scroll shined on his hands and disappeared into nothingness after a moment.

“Lord, I have learned a new ability. It will make me more durable on the battlefield.” Urt announced after a few seconds of closing his eyes. There was a zeal in his eyes when he looked at me, positively giving me goosebumps.

“That’s good.” I nodded at him and nearly laughed after seeing Sepi’s pig ears dropping flat to his head. I shook my head and tried to suppress a chuckle threatening to leak out. I faced him and said, “Don’t you worry, Sepi. The next thing we get will be yours to keep.”

“Thank you, Lord.” Sepi smiled as his ears became erect. Patting his chest, “I will work harder.” He announced.

“Good.” I nodded at him and proceeded towards the hidden-door. There was some secret hidden there, and I wanted to know what.

Urt did the honors of pulling the chain strap. The door was pulled open, revealing a set of winding stairs that went down. On the walls, bright crystals were providing dim light. But we didn’t need it. We monsters were born with night vision. Even without light, we can still see everything.

As we alighted the winding stairs, our sixth sense went haywire. We felt danger approaching from somewhere. However, we didn’t stop our advance. I activated my Infrared Vision and looked everywhere for any signs of danger.

And, very soon, I found the source.

Some of the stairs were shining brightly in red color. It means something was down there, which had a heat source. From my past experience, anything related to magic tends to emit heat. Even the magic itself gives out some heat. A word came into my mind.

Traps!

They were hidden traps, which will activate the moment someone steps on them.

“Urt, stop there!” I shouted just in time to stop Urt from standing on one of those ‘red’ stairs. Seeing him stop, I sighed in relief before giving the stairs a look. There were more than a few tens of stairs left before we reach the floor. And from hereon, every fourth stair has a trap hidden.

“Skip that stair,” I said to a confused looking goblin general who was wondering why he was stopped by his lord so suddenly. “There were traps hidden there.” I further explained myself.

“Traps?” Sepi made a face that made me want to bang my head against a wall. I could already predict what would be his follow up question.

“What’s a trap, lord?” I knew it.

“Traps are devices set up in place to capture or kill a target.” Urt explained. Goblin, as known for their morbid creativity, were masters of poisons and traps. How could Urt not know about them? He even had a skill dedicated to that.

“Oh!” Sepi nodded in understanding. He understood having a device to do that. Unlike Logier with his rigid way of thinking, Sepi was more flexible. Perhaps, it had something to do with his relatively young age.

We avoided the stairs that contained the traps and reached the floor.

[Intruders! You shall not pass!]

“A kobold!?” Sepi’s shout brought me back from the daze. What waiting for us after we crossed the trap was a humanoid creature with a dog head, holding a large claymore. The creature, or Kobold as claimed by Sepi, wore ancient armor covering every part of its body, save for its head.

It didn’t talk much and attacked us right away. Urt was first to engage it. He wanted to try out his new skill and the new battle tactics he developed from watching the Hobgoblin fight. His spear and the kobold’s claymore flashed as they collided against each other many times in a single second.

The kobold turned out to be a better warrior than the Hobgoblin as it easily matched against a frenzied Urt in his battle mode. However, in the end, the goblin general proved itself to be deserving of the title when his spear penetrated through the kobold’s chest, claiming its life for good.

After it died, a box appeared again. However, this time, instead of a skill scroll, we got a set of equipment.

[Kobold’s Claymore][Grade: C]

[ATK +20][AGI -7]

[Passive: Every fifth strike will deal an additional 20(+40%of total ATK) as magic damage.]

“You can have it, Sepi.” Sepi had his eyes on this sword ever since he saw the kobold held it. I knew he wanted it, so I didn’t skimp on gifting it away. Again, as a powerful weapon, it would be a shame if no one uses it.

After the short episode, we finally arrived in a small room with a floating key in the middle. The kobold was guarding this room. And when I touched the key, a notification popped into my eyes.

[You have obtained one of the three keys to open the door to the Core Room.]

[Collect two more keys to gain access to the Core Room.]