They decided to not linger at the boss room and head to a decently clean empty room.
Now that the floor ruler has been defeated, all traces of the kobolds' activity in the floor have disappeared. No bones were scattered all around the place, the claw marks were nowhere to be seen, and the furniture that was shattered or destroyed have disappeared completely without a trace, leaving a strangely empty and quiet place.
The only thing of interest was the red barrier, and now that they have the key, the hologram of a keyhole could be seen floating on its center.
A quick check-up with Dylan and Charles' limited knowledge revealed that luckily, Henrietta was just asleep, most likely from her own exhaustion. Her shallow wounds have all disappeared under the influence of the potion, and her breathing sounded even, an indication that she was in a dreamless sleep.
Charles took a quick glance at the sigil and saw the remaining time.
[Time remaining: 11 day, 8 hours, 21 minutes]
He raised one eyebrow. The battle had taken far longer than he had expected.
"What's the matter?" Dylan suddenly asked. It seems that he noticed Charles staring at the time. "Worried about the quest?"
"Well, yeah. I know, getting more allies would be better in the long run, but…"
"Don't disparage yourself for that, we are rather close to halfway there, anyway," Dylan shrugged and said, "Besides, I do like this arrangement, in a way."
"I see."
"Anyway, that aside…" Dylan opened his inventory and pulled out the Free Basic Skill Choice item he had obtained. "What do you plan to get with this?"
The item looked like an ebony-colored wooden cube with blue, vein-like lines on it, similar to the wooden effigies that welcomed them into the game before. Dylan played with his cube absentmindedly, waiting for Charles to answer.
"Well, can't know if we don't see what we could choose," Charles replied and shrugged.
Suddenly, there was a clicking sound from Dylan's cube, and a light was projected from it. Charles and Henrietta was unable to see anything but the light, but Dylan notified them soon after.
"Hey, you should check this out, Charles, there's a lot!"
Curious, Charles took out his own cube and fiddled around with it until something clicked, and a light emerged from it. At the same time, a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
[Choose the skill you would like to learn]
[Construct Summoning]
[Boreas Trance]
[Phoenix Trance]
[Sylph Trance]
[Thunderbird Trance]
[Weapon Infusion]
[…]
The list of skill extended into the hundreds. From the a cursory glance, Charles was able to tell that the basic skills are shown regardless of what class each person has. The curious Henrietta decided to lean in and look as well, eyes scanning the skill names one by one.
"Weapon Infusion is useless; the trances are not for you, the construct are…" Henrietta muttered next to Charles, her voice too low.
"I won't tell you to get specific skills this time, just remember not to get the niche ones. The trances, for example, are basically fine-tuned to magic user classes. Meanwhile, weapon infusion is useless for you. There are beast tamer specific skills, but then again, it's nothing you can't get with other means and these cubes are the best to get something outside your classes. Choose wisely," she warned.
Charles kept on searching through the hundreds of skills, before finally stopping on three that looked important.
[Stone Skin]
[Warrior Skill]
[A basic body endurance enhancement that creates a layer of rocks upon the user's body. Consumes 1 Beast Energy per minute.]
[Flame Barrier]
[Ranged Skill]
[Creates a thin barrier made of fire around the user's body. User will not feel the heat effects, while any thrown weapon or attacks made from within will be enhanced with heat effect. Consumes 2 Beast Energy per minute]
[Anima Mirror]
[Mage Skill]
[Creates a doppelganger by infusing an object with magic. Can be controlled with the mind, and useful to redirect attacks, as the magic attracts the attention of less intelligent opponents, and doppelganger will disappear in 5 minutes or after taking sufficient damage. Consumes 10 Beast Energy per use]
The [Stone Skin] was more for brute force battles, while the [Flame Barrier] seemed to be more for those whose attacks involve staying away from the heat of the battle. [Anima Mirror] seemed to be more of a tanking skill, yet it could be useful for other things considering the control part.
"That is a decent pick, it can be used both offensively and defensively," Henrietta glanced at the details and gave an approving nod. Charles nodded as well, and picked up the skill.
[Would you like to take the Anima Mirror?]
[Yes]
As soon as Charles confirmed his choice, the cube turned into dust, and another notification appeared.
[You have obtained the skill [Anima Mirror]!]
Dylan chose to take a skill called [Weapon Infusion], while Charles opened the shop again, ordering a [Healing Potion] from it. Now that he had taken a better look at the shop, there was almost everything in it, ranging from weapons, armor, consumables, one time use items, and so on. Some more mundane pleasures, such as food and drinks, were also there.
"Oh whoa, so there were food here," Charles mused, more to himself, "If I knew, I wouldn't have gone on a survival mode."
"I mean, they cost points, can't blame you for being apprehensive," Dylan shrugged, "Besides, the world's food is edible, and this is for the luxury of being able to eat what you want, most likely."
"Shh, wait, she's waking up." Henrietta said, and right as she turned her head, Nora started to stir.