Moving Forward

Warrior's Heart: After the tempering of countless years, you have grown into a powerful warrior. The will to fight burns within your heart, leaving you fearless in the face of danger, your battle spirit unending!

Skill effect: Endurance increased by 10%. Stamina consumption when releasing skills reduced by 10%.

What the fuck?

Looking at the effect of this class skill, Lin Mo's eyes instantly lit up. This was truly a pillow arriving just when he was sleepy. He had been worrying about his insufficient physique and severe lack of stamina, and now this special skill called Warrior's Heart increased endurance by 10% and even reduced the stamina cost of using skills.

With that, plus the 2-point physique boost from the Warrior Profession, even if it did not solve the problem, at least he would not start panting after two slashes and turn into a "seconds man."

"Hm?"

Bern, who had been observing their surroundings, suddenly noticed Lin Mo. For some reason, though only half a minute had passed, Lin Mo gave him the feeling that he had suddenly changed.

It was a change that could not be clearly described or explained. It was very subtle, yet it was definitely there.

This sort of thing was not easy to ask about directly, so Bern did not dwell on it for long. He quickly shifted his gaze away and continued observing the Secret Realm before them.

Behind them, that "rift" still existed, but they could no longer touch it.

Just as those bards said, getting in was easy, but getting out was not so simple.

The Secret Realm had already been triggered. To put it in more profound terms, the bodies of creatures from outside were tainted with magic power from two worlds, interfering with the resonance of magic power and causing the passage on this side to temporarily close to them.

The duration of the closure was unknown, but no one had ever been heard of entering a Secret Realm and then leaving through the original entrance.

Even if those two Tattooed Cat Demons from earlier had been allowed to run to the entrance of the Secret Realm, they would not have been able to return.

"Looks like if we want to leave this place, we have to explore this Secret Realm."

Bern walked to the side and tried touching the grayish-blue wall. He was very familiar with this kind of grayish-blue stone brick. Whether in appearance or texture, it was very similar to the walls of Rania City.

"Looks like this should be a small dungeon?"

Cody guessed.

Bern nodded. "That should be right. In that case, we only need to reach the end, and we'll be able to find the exit."

Among all types of Secret Realms, dungeons could be said to be the most common kind. Most bard tales also used them as their model.

They basically all took a form not much different from the scene before their eyes. In these dungeons, monsters and traps often existed, and of course, at the final destination, there would also be corresponding rewards.

A standard sort of danger, and a satisfying reward.

As adventurers, whether they entered of their own will or were forced inside, this was the best type of Secret Realm.

Their luck looked pretty good...

"Then are we setting out now?"

Evan waved the sword in his hand, looking fully prepared to go.

"No rush. Let's rest for a while first."

Bern shook his head. Although it had only been a short time, they had fought just now, and in order to pursue the Tattooed Cat Demons, they had sprinted for some distance. Having just experienced a life-and-death crisis, they also needed time to calm their emotions.

Everything about the situation inside the dungeon was unknown. Before setting off, they still had to adjust themselves to their best condition.

There was no wood here, so they could not start a fire. Bern could only take out some rather hard bread from his bag and eat it with water, salted meat, and dried fruit to fill his stomach.

Lin Mo was about the same and simply ate a little.

Cody did not eat bread, only a bit of dried meat. As the team's assassin, he had to keep his mind at its sharpest in order to scout for traps on the road. Sweet wheat would certainly bring a comfortable sense of happiness, but it would also make people drowsy and slow their reactions.

Evan ate in a hurry, and one could tell at a glance that he had little patience. Miriam, on the other hand, chewed in small bites, sitting not far from Evan and watching him.

It was rare for Evan not to come over and chat with her while eating. Usually, as soon as it was time to rest, he would definitely sidle up beside her and chatter nonstop.

Miriam would always show an impatient look, but in truth, she listened to every word and sentence, occasionally giving a response.

But today's meal was especially quiet, making her feel slightly unused to it.

"Do you really want it that much? The Skill Scroll..."

Miriam suddenly asked in a low voice.

Evan looked at her in some surprise. It was not common for Miriam to take the initiative to talk to him.

Without hesitation, he nodded without even thinking. "Only by learning skills and becoming a professional can I earn more money."

"Actually, I don't really care about the things you talked about."

Miriam held the bread in her hands. Whether it was a beautiful big house, wealth, or fame, she had never cared about any of it. "There's nothing bad about this kind of peaceful life."

Even if they did not become adventurers and simply lived a poor life in the town...

"I know, but wouldn't having them be even better?"

Evan answered casually. The passionate youth carried the warrior dream of his childhood and had walked through many gray, lightless days.

Now that hope was right before his eyes, how could he not be excited?

It was as if he could already see himself handsomely swinging the sword in his hand and splitting a monster in two with a single strike...

Miriam said nothing more and only stuffed the rest of the bread into her mouth.

When she swallowed the food, she touched the wound on her neck that was about to heal.

She did not want to be nothing but a burden, so she practiced archery desperately and eventually joined the team.

But right now, she seemed a little tired.

But there were some things she would never say aloud. She could not possibly stop the dream of the person she loved. If he had not possessed that burning heart, he would never have seen her in the mud back then and pulled her out of that bottomless abyss.

Besides, they had no choice.

If they could not reach the end of the dungeon, they would be trapped here until they died.

After the meal, everyone tacitly rested for a while. Only once they had recovered their energy did they gather together and discuss their next course of action.

The passage before them was not wide, probably only enough for three or four people to walk shoulder to shoulder.

Considering that they might need to fight if something unexpected happened, they simply advanced in a single long line.

Knight Bern took the lead without hesitation. Assassin Cody needed to scout for traps with him, so he walked second. Third was Miriam, followed by Evan, while Lin Mo brought up the rear, ensuring their safety from behind.

Once the order was decided, they set off. Bern held his sword and shield and advanced slowly, every step exceptionally cautious.

Cody focused all his attention on observing the surrounding walls, not daring to miss a single suspicious detail.

"There's a hole in the wall on the right. Careful!"

Following Cody's warning, a few seconds later, an arrow really did shoot out from within, only to be blocked by Bern with his shield.

"There's a crack in the left wall ten meters ahead."

"Above us! Watch out for the rolling log!"

Along the way, there truly were no few traps inside the dungeon. Most were discovered by Cody in advance, and on the rare occasions when something slipped through, Bern, reliable as a city wall, would help everyone withstand the danger.

Overall, for experienced adventurers, these ordinary traps did not pose much of a threat.

The truly dangerous things were still the magical beasts hidden among them.

Since those two Tattooed Cat Demons had come from this Secret Realm, then the magical beasts inside it were probably not as simple as ordinary Goblins...