A large, red essence shot out from the monster's corpse...
"Congratulations to the player for absorbing the lesser demon essence during the tutorial. +2 constitution"
I searched through the remains of the demon, and 55 red stones were added to my counter, making a total of 328 stones. I didn't know what I could get from the merchant for them, but I don't think it was a bad brand...
The only two items he carried with him were a medallion that emitted unknown magic and a strange key...
I went down the stairs; I hadn't really noticed how many floors I had been climbing. When I arrived at the merchant's office, he was pacing like a locked cat, turning from top to bottom and looking askance at the door where I had just appeared.
The merchant was a humanoid; I would have called him human if it weren't for his bluish skin and the fact that he had one extra finger on each hand; otherwise, he was the spitting image of a movie magician, tunic, beard, pointed hat and face. Crazy or clueless...
"A nap on the way?" Wow, I thought they had killed you in there... "He asked, not without some sarcasm.
"Nah.... I took the time to recover a little before deciding to go down." I replied in the same joking tone, revealing little to nothing of what had really happened.
"Anyway, let's get down to business. Did you get the stone?" He stated more than asked.
"Yes, don't worry, I haven't gotten many, but I have them with me." I lied.
"It's okay from here on to spend it or keep one; it's up to you, here are the rates and the things you can exchange the gems for…" he took out a small scroll with pretty calligraphy…
"Are the things I can get the same when I go up to the other two tests?" I looked at the parchment, which was quite short and concise...
"Of course not; the greater the risk, the greater the reward. You can continue buying small things, of course, but you will have a better range to choose from." I couldn't tell you if I was happy or not for giving that information...
I took a deep breath, quieting my thoughts. If the list was not complete and the stones were the same, why spend them now? I still wanted to see what he could offer me...
Common items and weapons: 5 stones...
Basic Healing Potion: 10 stones...
Potions of protection against the elements: 15 stones...
Common skills: 20 stones...
"Buff, everything is very expensive; I don't need new equipment, and I don't have enough for potions." I lied again, making a sad face...
"You can always sell me the scrap and negotiate a little." More than a conversation, it seemed like a game of cat and mouse and he enjoyed it.
"In that case, I better wait and sell it to you all together."
"Are you sure you don't want a healing potion? I can let you have it for 8 stones because it's your...?"
"Nothing, nothing; are the conditions the same in the next test, the same type of stone?"
"The conditions are the same and the stones are practically the same; only the energy signature changes, but they are not better or worse than the others."
"Any clue on the next test...?"
"If you want information, it will cost you 2 stones; if you want quality information, it will cost you 5 stones"
Although I knew that he would steal stones from me, it wasn't exactly what I was missing... I took out the five stones and left them on the table. Although I was not a great actor, I tried to make a face that it hurt me to part with them...
"The monsters on this staircase are immune to all magic except cold, water and death. You can always kill them with physical attacks, but they are not soft like the pixies, I warn you…"
The information was really worth it to me, which was a cheater's price, since it saved me the unnecessary suffering of trial and error.
I went out into the hallway and continued until I found the next door. The room on the other side was exactly the same, with the desk and the door behind it with its slot.
I inserted my silver coin and found some stairs leading down... With the damage restriction of the rest of the magic, this left me without my best damage abilities: lightning and air. Without ice magic, I only had the resource of water, which was limited since extracting water from the environment took time or using the water inside my skin...
I had gotten used to refilling it from time to time, condensing the environment, but I couldn't get more from a skin of 20 bullets, and that's assuming they didn't dodge them...
I still resisted using death magic, but I was at a dead end. If I wanted to pass the whole test, I would have to adapt...
The best description of the creature would be an eyeless imp, 70 centimeters tall, red skin, horns, a tail, and wings. It carried no weapons; it simply flew in the middle of the room, leaving a trail of fire in its wake...
Just to verify that the information was reliable, I tried to push him with a current of air, but he didn't even flinch, as if it wasn't the thing with him; he just snapped his fingers, and several small fireballs flew in my direction... I opened a rift, and I avoided them. Upon appearing near the creature, a series of small explosions echoed in the room... I tried to reach it with my spear, but its mobility and small size floating in the air prevented me...
In the end, it turned into chasing a fly around the room; if I followed it, it would fly away and throw the small bombs at me; if, by chance, it was cornered, it would transform into a flame and disappear, reappearing in the fire of one of the torches that was in the room. The room, and if any of my magic or tricks especially bothered him, the imp would discharge a beam of fire at me...
The combat was a draw, neither he hurt me nor I him... tired of the game of cat and mouse, I changed strategy and cast my wind magic to extinguish the oxygen that fed the torches. At least I couldn't run from flame to flame anymore...
Angry, he began to launch his fire rays in a crazy sequence... the problem was that they didn't have more than 4 meters of range... this time it was me who kept me at a distance... He cornered me against one of the walls of the room... when I could already notice the stone behind me, I levitated and began to fly towards it, dodging its fire rays as I approached...
"You didn't expect this, right…"
He tried to back away but it was too late, my spear went through his shoulder leaving him skewered, I flew towards the opposite wall with the monster controlled and unable to escape. I slammed his body against the wall and began to hit him with the edge of my shield... one hit... two hits... five hits... it took him more than eleven hits to die... It was true that they were hard on all the small things they were... he didn't drop a single stone but I expected it...
First note reduce his mobility first of all...
The second imp was surprised when instead of attacking him the first thing I did was extinguish the torches, he launched his bombs but just like before I was no longer there, at the same time that he reappeared I threw the contents of the wineskin into the air and more than 20 Water bullets passed through his body, giving him a quick and effective death...
He needed to have the skin full before advancing, which ended up making me lose a lot of time after the fight...
Controlling two imps at the same time was not a problem either, and the attack with the 10 water bullets on each one did not guarantee killing them, although it did leave them very battered for them to do a decent fight...
When three imps began to arrive at the same time, things became quite complicated... Distributing the bullets hurt them but many still had the strength to continue launching their explosions and rays, while I finished off one the others attacked... it is true that I ended up with all of them but in larger groups they would be a problem... These groups of three also left the surprise of starting to leave gems... one per group...
If I only knew how to activate the water magic of my spear, everything would be much easier. There were no buttons, words, mechanisms or anything to activate... I tried using my willpower to activate it, but nothing happened. … On the other hand, when I infused it with water magic, a jet of pressurized water came out of the tip, leaving a cut in the opposite wall. But more important than that, I had created water from nothing... which gave me more ammunition, and with more ammunition, advancing would not be so difficult.
I burst into the next room, throwing the stream of water in front of me with my spear, which hit a poor imp, at the same time that the torches went out and I jumped into a crevice to avoid the bombs that the creatures were already launching. More than 30 bullets hit each of the bodies...
Maybe at this rate I wouldn't have to use my death energy... or so I thought at the time...
The one who had a feeling that it would be the last group of five imps had died... Would I have to play with his older brothers now?