Garrett glanced over the bracelet that he got from Otris. It was made of some sort of metal that was colored brown with three ornate red jewels embedded into it. Each of them were glowing gently. There weren't any other markings or engravings within it. It seemed really basic, like a bangle or something cheap. He looked down at his sword and shield. Otris did say that he could upgrade the sword to function as a bow, so there is a possibility that this magical bracelet could be upgraded as well. Still, what magical abilities could this bracelet provide?

There has to be a way to test and figure this out. Perhaps if he could find Zerat in this timeline, or another companion who uses magic. It was a bit strange to him. Out of all his companions that he had encountered so far, none of them were your typical spellcaster like most media depicted. How does casting magic in this world even work?

"Is that... the best... you got?"

A familiar voice brought Garrett out of his thoughts. Quickly, he rushed to the scene of the voice to find a large leopard man, covered in blood and bruises, fighting off a large group of goblins. With no doubt in his mind, this was Min-Tul. His sword already drawn, he slashed away at the nearest goblins, a few of them dropping Helioxene and one dropping a small chest, though this one was blue.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help!" Garrett shouted as he hacked away at another goblin. Within a few moments, he found himself back-to-back with Min-Tul.

"I don't know who you are, Illima, but thank you for your aid," Min-Tul said, like the warrior he is. He slammed his fist into a goblin's skull, crushing it beneath his might. "Watch out for their blades. A deep cut from that, and I can't save you. I ran out of antidotes."

'...Wait, so... there's poison on these blades?' Garrett thought as he hacked away at the goblins. '...Definitely can't mess around, even if they are weak...'

Garrett used his shield to knock away the goblins weaponry while finishing the job with his sword. Occasionally, he turned to see how Min-Tul was doing, who was steadily amassing his own pile of corpses. After a few minutes of fighting, the last goblin fell to the floor, dropping an orb of Helioxene. Garrett took a sigh of relief before going around and gathering the Helioxene, as well as a few chests that had dropped. Before he opened them, he was curious about the daggers the goblins were using. He knelt down and picked up one of the daggers by the hilt. Immediately, he recoiled from the scent of it.

"Nasty stuff, right?" Min-Tul said as he picked up the dagger. He tossed it with some others that he had gathered in a pile before calmly opening up a small leather pouch. He poured some liquid all over the daggers. "They use whatever they can find. Dirt, blood, vomit, urine, feces, rotting meat, whatever to coat their blades. Creates a sickening poison on them."

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"I didn't think goblins were that smart," Garrett said as he wiped his hand on the ground.

"Everyone always underestimates them," Min-Tul said in a serious tone. "But, they're like any creature here in Asuria, just trying to survive. This is how they do it." He finished pouring the liquid and began to gather up the daggers before handing one to Garrett. "They're still decent daggers. Just need a good cleaning." Garrett nodded and stuck the dagger into his bag.

'...At least this time with a bag on... Min-Tul won't be too suspicious of me down here...'

Now, Garrett's attention was on the chests that he had picked up. "Wow, no way," Min-Tul said as he picked up one of the chests. "I've heard of these, but I've never actually seen one in real life before. Personally, I thought they were just stories to get adventures to care about small fry monsters."

"Oh, these?" Garrett said, feigning some ignorance. "I've heard of them, but I'm curious what kind of information an Anikind would know about them." Garrett gritted his teeth as he hoped that was the right species name for whatever Min-Tul was. He briefly remembered Vanessa mentioning the name when he brought up Min-Tul before.

"Well, we call them God Chests," Min-Tul said, handing back the chest to Garrett. "They say they're a gift of the gods rewarding adventurers for killing monsters. Occasionally, they drop these chests that have random items in them. They'll only open for the person who finished off the monster, which is why adventurers usually compete to see who actually kills it."

"What's with the colors of them?" Garrett asked, looking down at his small collection of chests. There were two brown ones, a green one, and a blue one.

"That represents how powerful or useful the item inside will be," Min-Tul began to explain. "Browns are the most common and are usually junk that gets sold or used in desperate times. Next up are green chests, which have a bit stronger things hiding within them. Blue ones have some decent items and red ones have great items inside. Then, there are the golden and black chests. Legend has it that golden ones have incredible items inside. I'm talking stuff that could do serious damage. Rumor has it though they would only be dropped by killing one of the Elemental Lords. Finally, there are the black chests. What's inside of these ranges from common trash to incredible treasures, but, it'll cost you to open them."

"Cost what?" Garrett asked, trying to process the different rarities of these chests.

"It's different every time. Every black chest has written on it what it costs to open it. Most adventurers stay away from the risk, but those that do open them aren't always sure the risk was worth it," Min-Tul says, finishing his explanation. "So, what's inside of them?" Almost immediately, Min-Tul's attitude shifted from a brave and fierce warrior, educated about different facets of adventuring, to a cat excited for a new toy to be revealed.

Garrett decided to open them up in increasing rarity. The two brown ones had a simple shortsword and a few arrows for a bow. The green chest had a potion of green liquid that Min-Tul identified as an antidote bottle. As Garrett opened up the blue chest, the item inside was neither an item or a weapon. Instead, the chest exploded, sending shrapnel all around the room. Min-Tul and Garrett were both blown back by the force of it.

"AH! What gives?" Garrett asked, clutching his gut. Thankfully, all his parts were still there and attached to him. He took a deep breath as the explosion had knocked the air out of his lungs, though he still keeled over in pain.

"That's never happened before," Min-Tul groaned as he laid on the ground. "I guess some chests are trapped."

"Oh, wait, you two are still alive."