La fell silent, then glanced nervously side to side, as if avoiding Agares’s gaze.
He clearly wanted to get every boss monster core Agares would obtain on his journey, but he couldn’t exactly force Agares to sell them all.
After all, boss monster cores were proper rewards earned by adventurers—not bugs or exploits.
"What are you going to do with the dark affinity boss monster core?"
"I heard it can enhance my sword, Shadepiercer. That’s why I want it."
"Clear enough, right?"
La nodded. From what he could rember, there was only one dark-affinity boss monster in floors 1 to 50.
Sacrificing one item to secure the rest might be the wisest move he could make right now.
"Alright. You can have it—as long as you promise to sell every other boss monster core," La said.
"You have my word."
The man standing before Agares smiled. Finally, Agares returned to buy sothing equally important: potions.
After fighting from floors 6 to 10, his HP and Mana potion supply had run low.
In his estimation, he would need at least 20 HP and 20 Mana potions to make it through to floor 20. So, Agares continued his shopping.
La heard what he needed and brought out the potions from two different pouches. The transaction began.
[Paynt Successful]
[Item: Potion HP]
[Amount: 20]
[Price: 60 Monster Core]
[Item: Potion Mana]
[Amount: 20]
[Price: 60 Monster Core]
[Total Price: 120 Monster Core]
Agares handed over 120 monster cores to La. A system panel appeared before him, showing his new balance after a full day of spending.
[Item:]
[538x monster core] [-120]
He nodded, confirming the transaction. He stored the potions into his magic pouch and began walking away. But just as he stepped off, sothing stopped him.
"What is it?" La asked.
"Do you have any EXP Elixirs?" Agares turned his head.
"Of course I do. What quality are you looking for?"
"Mid-grade. How much?"
La opened his database panel and swiped through a few pages. It didn’t take him long to find the item.
"One mid-grade EXP Elixir goes for 250 monster cores," he said.
"250, huh?"
"Can you drop it to 200?"
"No can do, Sir. You already used your discount, rember?"
"Tch!"
Agares paused. He patted his magic pouch and pulled out another bag filled with monster cores.
He had enough to buy the mid-grade EXP Elixir—but was it worth it? After all, the dungeon was crawling with monsters that could grant him EXP through regular battle.
"How about it? One mid-grade EXP Elixir gives you 5000 EXP."
"I know."
After a mont of thought, Agares decided. He stepped forward and handed over 250 monster cores to La, accepting the set price.
[Paynt Successful]
[Item: Elixir EXP]
[Amount: 1]
[Price: 250 monster core]
La smiled and handed over the elixir. Agares looked at it closely—it seems exactly like the EXP elixir he had used before.
Agares sat down on a stone bench, holding the elixir in his hand. Without further thought, he popped the cap and drank it. La watched from the front of his shop.
[ 5000exp]
[DING! Congratulations, Agares! You have leveled up]
[DING! Congratulations, Agares! You have advanced to a new stage]
[EXP: 44250/66150] [ 5000]
[Stage: 2] [Peak Knight Stage]
[Level: 1]
[ 20 Attribute Points]
[ 20 Skill Points]
[ 250 Total HP]
[ 250 Total Mana]
[HP and Mana fully restored]
Agares felt a surge of power—purple aura flared around his body for a mont after consuming the elixir and leveling up. The glow faded in re seconds.
The system panel displayed sothing new. The difference between leveling up within stage one and advanced into stage two was imdiately visible.
The required EXP had jumped significantly—but so had the rewards.
Now, attribute and skill points increased by 20 instead of 10, and HP and Mana bonuses were 250 instead of 100.
It was a great gain, but also a tough challenge.
’My path to the highest stage is still long and harsh. With EXP this high... can I really reach the peak and beco the strongest?’ Agares wondered.
But it didn’t stop there. Another panel appeared after the system notification.
[DING! Congratulations, Agares! You have unlocked new features]
[Augnt Core nu unlocked]
[Enhance Equipnt nu unlocked]
’I know what Enhance Equipnt is... but what’s Augnt Core?’Agares thought.
"Nyx."
[Standby Mode Deactivated]
[Do you require sothing, Master?]
"Explain the Augnt Core nu."
[Augnt Core is a feature unlocked at Stage 2. It contains slots where specific items can be inserted to boost attributes, unlock passive skills, increase affinities, or grant new buffs to the host.]
[There are 8 total Augnt Core slots. More slots unlock as your stage increases. The higher the item’s quality, the greater the power boost.]
[Conditions:]
[Stage 2: 2 Slots Unlocked]
[Stage 4: 4 Slots Unlocked]
[Stage 6: 6 Slots Unlocked]
[Stage 8: 8 Slots Unlocked]
[Items compatible with Augnt Core: Gems, Crystals, Shards, and Fragnts]
[Core items cannot be stacked but can be combined before inserted.]
[Core items cannot be removed freely; Disengage Tool required.]
Agares smacked his forehead and exhaled with his eyes shut. La, noticing the strange reaction, asked,
"What’s wrong?"
"I sold a ton of gems earlier."
He shook his head now and then, frustrated at his own mistake. The gems he once thought worthless turned out to be crucial after unlocking Augnt Core.
"Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of gems to ease your regrets."
’He’s such a rchant—always spotting opportunity in my misery,’ Agares grumbled internally, throwing La a bitter glare.
"Hom much?"
The blacksmith shop owner began checking his database. He counted the number of different gem items—ranging from low quality to high. La had them all.
"I’ve got everything you need. You have nothing to worry about, Sir."
At that mont, Agares had 288 monster cores left from his total shopping expenses at that place.
He didn’t know how much La charged for gems, but if the prices were reasonable, he wouldn’t mind buying them.
"Better not rip off just because I need you."
"Don’t worry, Sir. I’m an official dungeon rchant, not a scamr. You have my word."
La just smiled wide. Now Agares needed him—needed the gems he sold. Which ant... the trade continued, and Agares was about to dig even deeper into his pockets.
"Well?"
"Sigh."
"Show the gems. Now."
"With pleasure."
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