This Kind of Thing Is Best Enjoyed in Small Doses

"Xiao Lan, I heard your strength seems to have increased, is that true?"

At Sithran's home, the members of the Morning Wind Squad were gathered. They had all rushed over in a hurry after hearing that Sithran had been troubled by roadside thugs.

Seeing that the person in question was unharmed, and even radiant, everyone was clearly relieved.

Sithran gave a reassuring smile. She was also happy to see everyone come to care about her.

"I just went and healed that thug, then beat him up again. He does have quite a lot of strength," Shuen asked, "It should be about on par with yours, but bystanders said you killed him in an instant. What's going on?"

"Actually, I encountered something magical in the Sain Underground City."

Sithran recounted her experiences in the underground city. As expected, everyone looked astonished after hearing it.

Summoning Finger Medicine? Allies and enemy fighters? Hound's Step? Bonfires and leveling up by the bonfire?

One unheard-of thing after another opened their eyes.

"What does the Summoning Finger Medicine look like? Is the person who helped you alive?"

"I'm more curious about the bonfire you mentioned."

"Right, right, killing monsters gives you, uh, what's that word again, 'leveling up' on the 'panel'? What even is a panel?"

As Sithran had predicted, everyone was most interested in the bonfire.

For Adventurers, strength was everything. Now that something that could quickly make them stronger had appeared, everyone would pay close attention.

"It's like this: after killing monsters, you get souls, and you use those souls at the bonfire to level up."

"Souls!?" the mage Aili's expression changed. "Getting stronger using souls is a blasphemous act only Necromancers do."

"Oh, these souls aren't the same as the souls you're thinking of," Sithran didn't know how to explain it, so she simply said, "Just tell me if you'll use this bonfire or not."

"...I will."

"Then that's that."

She stood up and clapped her hands. "Just talking about it is useless. Tomorrow, I'll take you there to see it with your own eyes."

The next day, everyone arrived at the entrance of the Sain Underground City early in the morning.

The surface buildings of the Sain Underground City were a ruined, collapsed ancient city. It wasn't large and was already covered in vines and moss, making one wonder what had happened there in the past, why the ancient city was destroyed, and where the residents had gone.

Now, due to the arrival of large numbers of Adventurers, the ancient city was bustling with activity. Some merchants had even spent money to repair houses and build shops inside. The foot traffic here was greater than in the commercial streets of Bed City. Even some small vendors unrelated to the underground city came here to set up stalls, incidentally attracting nearby residents.

Many idle people liked to gather here, commenting on the Adventurers entering and exiting the underground city. Thus, people with business acumen opened taverns nearby, and their businesses thrived.

Under the morning sun, the lost ancient city once again exuded vibrant life.

"Is it just me, or does it feel like more people have come here?" Aili looked around, feeling that the crowd had indeed grown.

"Most of them are miners," Danya said. "Count Philip sent double the miners, which is barely keeping the Bloodstone output level with before the mutations."

"Doesn't that mean you're losing money?" Shuen said.

"No," Sithran shook her head. "Every few days, a miner brings out rare Purple Bloodstone. Just a small piece can cover House of Bede's investment."

"Oh," Shuen nodded, though it was unclear if he truly understood.

The number of miners had doubled, but the number of adventurers hadn't increased much compared to before. This was because the drastically increased difficulty of Sain Underground City had deterred a large group, while new adventurers rushing in from other places filled the void. With the decrease of "clumsy players" and the influx of "pro players," the number of adventurers in the future was bound to increase.

The only way into Sain Underground City in the entire ancient city was actually a portal at the end of the city. To enter, one had to queue, and attention had to be paid to the time interval between each person's entry.

If the entry time was within two minutes, they could explore the underground city together. If it was outside two minutes, they wouldn't meet and would explore separately, without affecting each other.

Queuing was the most disgusting thing life forced one to endure, even more disgusting than the poisonous swamps of Sain Underground City.

After a long and tedious wait, the Morning Wind Squad finally got their wish and entered the underground city.

Sithran was already very familiar with the routes in the upper levels. She led everyone through the Swamp Area at high speed. When they reached the Blighttown area, she took down the large shield she carried on her back.

Shuen's mouth twitched. "Although I've wanted to ask what you're carrying that big shield for, you're not... going to use it here, are you?"

"Why not?"

Sithran shrugged, set up her shield and spear, and walked at the very front alone, fighting monsters while not forgetting to look back and say, "Want to give it a try? I guarantee you'll fall in love with them."

Shuen hesitated and refused.

Danya and Aili, needless to say, had even lower strength.

However, people's minds can change.

After watching Sithran's few battles, Shuen suddenly said, "How about... let me try?"

Sithran remembered what Gong Qiying had once said, and smiled, "You want to learn? I'll teach you."

A moment later.

"Shield poking is so fun!"

A while later, the adventurers defeated the Giant Cursed Frog and lit the Bonfire. With Sithran, an "old hand" who had cleared it once, leading the way, they only sustained some injuries and no one died.

However, there was no shortage of frights.

The various disgusting traps with all sorts of twisted tastes caused the mental power of everyone present to erupt as if one or two people had died!

And the shield stab wasn't a universal solution; when faced with something they couldn't solve, they still had to honestly switch back to their previously used weapons.

As soon as they sat down by the bonfire, the other three immediately started exclaiming. They finally understood what the so-called status panel looked like.

The last time Sithran came, Gong Qiying had her fight monsters for almost the entire duration, which was how he managed to accumulate a few thousand souls.

But this time, with more people, and everyone having killed monsters, the amount of souls obtained was naturally divided. Danya and Aili got a few hundred, while Shuen had over two thousand.

Danya said, "I need over four hundred souls to level up."

"Huh? I only need two hundred," Aili said in surprise.

"..." Shuen was silent for a moment. "I need over a thousand to level up."

The initial stats on everyone's panel were all 1, but it seemed that the amount of souls required to level up varied for different people.

It was probably the stronger individuals who needed more souls to level up!

The Giant Cursed Frog also dropped an item, [Giant Cursed Frog's Soul], this time, but there was only one.

After a discussion, everyone decided to let Shuen have it, as he had contributed the most in the fight.

Sithran, on the other hand, discovered that she could no longer use [Giant Cursed Frog's Soul] to enhance her physique at the bonfire. She could only crush it into souls for leveling up. It seemed that special effects had a limit for everyone.

"Strength, I feel strength surging through me."

Shuen poured all his souls into Strength and immediately became excited, shouting "Oh oh oh!" With a golden special effect, he could transform into a Super Saiyan.

Danya leveled up Agility once, and Aili leveled up Intelligence once. A single level increase wasn't very obvious, but the growth in their strength still brought them both pleasant surprises.

"With this, becoming a Gold Adventurer won't be a problem!" Aili's eyes were full of longing for the future.

"That's not necessarily true. Once others find out about this place, their leveling speed might even be faster than ours," Sithran said.

Danya pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Besides you, has anyone else discovered this place?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard of anyone clearing this floor yet. What's wrong?"

"I think,"

Danya stared intently at the bonfire and slowly said:

"It's best to enjoy this kind of thing on a small scale."

Being shot full of holes by the Repeating Crossbow Ratmen of Shamen Village brought back painful memories of Anor Londo.

And who did Yin Tiger learn that fast-and-slow sword technique from? Even Morgott wasn't this outrageous, damn it!