I am an Eldritch Entity-Chapter 144: A clue which might confirm something

Eryndor glanced in the direction Valentina had pointed in.

Indeed, beyond the branches and different obstacles, he could see a large building in the distance.

It was common knowledge by now how Support Shrines looked, it was all written in the tournament website.

He looked at all the corpses and then at his own teammates. No one had gotten hurt.

Maybe this was really not a trap at all. These beasts are too weak and uncoordinated to pose a threat even if I was alone.

It might really be a random encounter. He didn't think Co-founder Morris would place such a worthless trap.

"Let's check it out before heading towards Paulina."

He spoke. Valentina and Edward both nodded, having the same idea in mind.

Those last four Wolcrats smelled so bad. I think the smell has stuck onto me as well.

Ugh, it smells like rotten eggs.

He looked at Edward who seemed to have a cleaning spell, and also carried deodorant in his bag.

"I never thought a deodorant would come in handy in a tournament."

He commented.

Valentina chipped in as well.

"Same. Unless that Support Shrine somehow has some facility to get cleaned, miscellaneous spells and objects like these would prove to be far more useful than expected."

Edward sprayed himself generously before passing it on to Eryndor. He also proceeded to use a water based spell to clean his weapon thoroughly.

Eryndor used the deodorant while passing his spiked mace to Edward.

"Please spray my weapon too. Also, as a Mage, don't you find these miscellaneous spell models taxing?"

Edward caught the mace and shook his head.

"Nope. For such weak and simple spells, the burden is really not as much as everyone thinks. Not to mention I only have a couple more. Rest of my spells are battle oriented."

Valentina took the deodorant passed by Eryndor and sprayed it on herself while replying.

"Must be nice to have a researcher as your dad if you've taken the path of a Mage."

Edward only shrugged lightly with a smile. He definitely couldn't deny the influence of his dad on his path.

As they gradually got closer to the Support Shrine, they could witness how big it was.

The main building was big, cube shaped with a conical hat-like structure on top of it. On each of its four sides were humongous gates which read 'Support Shrine 9' on their pillars.

Just as he pondered where to enter after passing through the gate, a gap appeared, allowing all three of them to step inside.

They immediately entered an air conditioned room, with multiple screens on the walls around them. The room also had a few sofas.

Judging from the size of the room, Eryndor instantly knew there must be more such rooms in case different teams arrived at the Support Shrine at the same time.

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"Let's not waste time, every moment spent here a few of our points are deducted."

Eryndor told them, and approached the screen.

Support Shrines offered a lot of comfort. You could deduce that just based on the air conditioning and the sofas.

Eryndor had no doubt that one would also be able to exchange for entertainment and all kinds of food in here.

But all of it came at a price.

Even if one didn't use the exchange option, just staying in the room cost you your points.

All three of them began browsing through the different lists, scanning if there was anything which would be needed for the team.

Valentina pointed at something.

"Hey look, there seems to be a teleporting option. It's expensive though, like twenty thousand points for a single person to teleport.

"It only teleports from one Support Shrine to another, and doesn't consider the distance.

"Which means that even if you want to teleport to the nearest Support Shrine, it will cost twenty thousand, and same if you want to teleport to one which is further away."

Eryndor clicked his tongue. "Could've considered it if it wasn't so unreasonably expensive."

It was to be mentioned that he barely had ten thousand points.

Edward pointed out from the other end of the room, a separate screen being displayed in front of him.

"I mean, it's just the first day. This tournament is going to last for two weeks. By the end of it, I think twenty thousand won't be considered expensive for a teleport."

Eryndor nodded.

"Fair point. But why do you think this teleport option exists at all? I mean yes, people do need to gather and work together.

"Being spread out is going to be a problem after all once more and more people realize that eliminating others is more beneficial than earning points through other methods.

"But still, could teleportation be only for running away or meeting with teammates?"

Valentina glanced at him. "What do you have in mind?"

Eryndor narrowed his eyes.

"I think there might be something like treasure drops, or beast drops. You get my point.

"Being successful in claiming it might get you loads of points, at least large enough that it would be more lucrative than eliminating others.

"Only in that way would everyone use the teleport option."

Valentina whispered after listening to his guess. "People would want to gather there at the earliest."

"That's a good guess, Eryndor." Edward appreciated.

"It would be such a mayhem if Eryndor's guess actually comes true." Valentina smiled.

"Definitely." Eryndor shrugged, and continued looking through the list.

"It looks like a map is the only worthwhile option for now in the beginning."

Edward spoke out after a few moments of silence. Eryndor nodded, he was of the same mind.

So far, there was nothing which could be of benefit to them. At least not immediately.

"Do you think we should exchange for a map of an area around ourselves or add onto the explored regions of tundra since we'll be living there more?"

According to the price mentioned for the map, it was currently impossible to buy the map of the entire secret realm even if all of their team members pooled together their points.

So they could only choose for the Support Shrine to give them a map of a specific region.

Just assume there was a square filled with clouds. The price to get the entire cloud cleared away was astronomical.

So they were instead going to have the Support Shrine only clear away clouds in a certain region. It was like unlocking more and more parts of the map in a game.

"Adding onto the tundra would be better. I don't think we'll return here anytime soon.

"Even my guess I told y'all about, if the beast or treasure is dropped in these lands, it should only occur in the end phase, we'll have plenty of time till then to get the entire map."

For the next few minutes, Edward and Eryndor cooperated with Paulina to have the Support Shrine unlock more parts of the map in the tundra region.

They needed her support because currently, she best knew the region.

She could give more valuable insights like, where is there more likely to be a river? Where would stronger beasts more likely gather? Are there any parts which should be avoided?

After completing the task, Eryndor spoke to Valentina.

"What're you up to? Found anything good?"

She only chuckled slightly.

"Not really, I am just having fun going through the most expensive things. There was an option to filter things so I clicked on it.

"I must say, the prices of some of these are outrageous."

Eryndor raised his eyebrows, and stood beside her, glancing at her screen and looking through the exchange list alongside her.

As she kept scrolling, Eryndor suddenly saw something.

"Wait, wait, scroll up, scroll up."

Valentina didn't know what he wanted but scrolled up.

"Tap at this." He pointed at an image of an item.

[Radish of mental stability]

[Image]

[Stabilizes the mind in variety of ways, including but not limited to -

Helps with mental clarity in battle – Consuming it helps warriors resist fear, confusion, or mind-altering effects, allowing them to stay focused in chaotic fights.

Resistance against mind control – Protects against charm spells, illusions, and psychic intrusions, making it valuable for diplomats, spies, and adventurers facing mental magic.

Aiding meditation – Helps practitioners maintain a focused state while using their practice techniques.

Calming the berserk & possessed – Can be used to stabilize those suffering from berserker rages, after effects of possession, or insanity.]

[Extend for more properties.]

"Do you want this? I don't think this is worth it. You'll find many others with similar effects, but far cheaper prices.

"This thing is expensive, probably not because of its effects but the rarity in this secret realm."

Eryndor looked at her. "How do you know?"

She shrugged.

"Guessing. I mean, yea, this is the only option with those effects which can be found in this secret realm. If you find this, you could exchange for a lot of points too.

"The other items with similar effects aren't from this secret realm. They are there in the list for us to use, and they are way cheaper.

"But still, it is expensive even if you consider the above points. Can you guess anything else apart from rarity?"

Eryndor shook his head and fell into thoughts.

That Radish of mental stability is purple in color.

That flash of purple I saw before the Wolcrats began digging, could it be this Radish those four Wolcrats ate?

Is that why they gained a semblance of clarity? Its properties do indeed say that it helps with insanity after all.

Eryndor took a few steps away from her and sat down on the sofa while continuing his train of thought.

He had found a great lead to finally confirm one of his previous guesses.

He just needed one more piece of information, or rather, confirmation.