For the next few days, Ruofeng and Xin Mu didn't rush into the Dungeon. Though they were practically penniless and relied entirely on the goddess to support them, Zhang Ruofeng wasn't about to recklessly venture into the Dungeon without understanding the condition of his body. So for the next few days, he and Xin Mu focused on various basic training exercises. Xin Mu even made a target and hung it from a tree. Since Zhang Ruofeng already knew all about her hobby, she no longer tried to hide it. She honestly didn't care much what anyone besides him thought of her. And after observing the people of this world for the past few days, Xin Mu had noticed that they didn't seem to place much importance on gender. Perhaps it was because the gods included both men and women, so women here held a status more or less equal to men.
Besides, this was a city on the front lines of a war between worlds, and there were plenty of female adventurers, including Amazons and dwarf women. Women weren't treated as delicate beings who needed special care here; at times, they were even more uninhibited than men. Over the past few days, they often saw scantily clad Amazon adventurers passing through the streets. Most of them strode along in large groups, making quite a spectacle.
Still, while taking a few days off to get used to an era without the internet or electrical appliances, the two of them had also been observing their surroundings. Zhang Ruofeng did most of the observing and analysis, but Xin Mu sometimes offered a woman's perspective on things he might easily miss or fail to examine closely enough. After all, as a rookie adventurer, if Zhang Ruofeng stared too intently at the adventurers passing by and got into a confrontation with someone hot-tempered, it would hardly be worth it.
After a few days of observing and listening to Xin Mu's observations, Zhang Ruofeng had discovered several very interesting things.
First, the strongest Familias in this era were the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia. The Odin Familia and the Amaterasu Familia were somewhat weaker, as was the Familia of the goddess Freya, whom he knew well. It seemed that ancient Main Gods like the Jade Emperor and Shakyamuni didn't exist in this world. Of the Eastern Main Gods he knew, the only one he'd found was Yama.
Second, dwarves made up a much higher proportion of blacksmiths than other races. It seemed the dwarves lived up to their reputation in mythology as a people who dwelled underground and were closely connected to minerals. They seemed to be a cut above when it came to forging weapons and armor.
Third, the elves' most distinctive feature was their pointed ears. Their hair wasn't uniformly golden; it came in all sorts of colors. But the purer the bloodline, the richer the color seemed to be, with pure green and pure gold apparently being the most prestigious. Elves were very clannish. Even within the same Familia, they generally didn't walk alongside others. They were particularly hostile toward members of other races of the opposite sex, and somewhat less so toward those of the same sex. Still, very few elves had good relationships with other races. Since adventurers tended to wear their feelings on their faces, this was fairly easy to observe.
Fourth, the Main Gods were incredibly casual, and most of them had no distinguishing features. Apart from the fact that most were handsome or beautiful, Zhang Ruofeng could only tell they were gods from their wise eyes and teasing manner of speech. Since their own goddess was far too curious about the unknown, Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu did their best to avoid the gods these past few days, just in case. But sometimes even a kindly old man selling potatoes turned out to be a god of agriculture. Zhang Ruofeng guessed it wouldn't be long before everyone knew that he and Xin Mu were from another world.
Fifth, although the Guild had a Main God, none of its members had levels. They had no God's Blessing. This was meant to show that the Guild was impartial and didn't interfere in the way other Familias operated.
Seventh, people died every day in this city, a major hub for adventurers. As a result, two types of businesses flourished most: bars and restaurants, where nearly every night drunken adventurers could be seen staggering through the streets, and the Pleasure District. Its overall revenue was said to surpass that of the bars, and it was also home to nearly fifty percent of the city's Amazons. It was the place elves hated most.
Eighth, bars were a great place to gather information. Buy a male adventurer a drink, and he'd usually be happy to tell you about his adventures. They exaggerated plenty, but Zhang Ruofeng, who knew next to nothing about this world, still learned a lot from their stories. The Pleasure District was absolutely off-limits. The goddess and Xin Mu had both warned him that if he dared set foot there, he'd wake up the next morning as a eunuch.
Ninth, and most importantly, the various Familias weren't all on the same side. There was no shortage of competition and hatred between them. Vendettas and plots played out here every day. The Guild would step in and punish anyone who openly started a war, but conspiracies and assassinations that the Guild couldn't judge were its biggest headache.
Could I use this to my advantage? Zhang Ruofeng began to consider the possibilities. His own goddess and Evan were friends, and they helped each other in all sorts of ways. The friendly and hostile relationships between the various factions were also easy to find out. The ones he really needed to watch out for were adventurers who deliberately started trouble or staged accidents in the Dungeon. They were the most unpredictable factor.
"Basically, we can't afford any of it." Xin Mu and Zhang Ruofeng were browsing a street lined with weapon forges. The strings of zeroes on the price tags made their eyes swim. A simple right arm guard made of rough copper was worth 000 Faris. There was no point even considering it; Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu didn't have that kind of money. A set of throwing knives with blood grooves cost 8000 Faris. Zhang Ruofeng felt the 00 coins in his pocket and grew deeply melancholy.
"We'll update your status tonight. Tomorrow, we're going to the Dungeon," Zhang Ruofeng told Xin Mu. After nearly a week of adjusting and observing, the two had gained some understanding of this unfamiliar world. Their biggest problem now was that they had no money. Going to the Dungeon had become an urgent necessity.
"Oh? You two are going to the Dungeon?" The goddess was still enjoying her daily routine, but Xin Mu and Zhang Ruofeng couldn't wait any longer. It was miserable to have the ability to earn money and still be unable to buy the things you wanted. Besides, their ultimate goal was to conquer the Dungeon. Neither had brought it up directly with the other, but they both knew that if there was any chance of returning home, they absolutely wouldn't give it up.
"Then let's update your statuses first." The goddess smiled faintly at the serious pair. "But I've actually been meaning to tell you this from the start, Ruofeng. Your and Xin Mu's training to adapt to your changed bodies may have been pointless."
"Why?" Zhang Ruofeng asked, confused. To see how his abilities had changed, he'd been training hard these past few days. Even Xin Mu, a well-behaved girl who hardly ever exercised strenuously, had been testing the limits of her body alongside him. He didn't think their training could have been pointless.
"I've been watching you train: sprinting, dodging, long-distance running, even push-ups. Right?" the goddess said, suddenly listing their exercises. Zhang Ruofeng could only nod. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with them.
"Then did you and Xin Mu push yourselves to your limits every day?" the goddess asked calmly.
"Could it be..." Zhang Ruofeng frowned. "Fura, do you mean that even this kind of basic training can improve our abilities?"
"Although the improvement you can gain this way, without adventuring in the Dungeon, is very, very small, most adventurers can't count on training alone to raise their abilities. But you have a skill called 'Knowledge of the Otherworld Adventurer,' and even you don't know what kind of skill it is. So I can't guarantee that you haven't improved." After she finished speaking, the goddess dripped her blood onto Zhang Ruofeng and then copied his stats onto a sheet of paper and handed it to him.
"This..." Zhang Ruofeng really hadn't expected it. "Strength: H1, Agility: I99, Dexterity: I98, Endurance: I100. Everything except endurance has increased so much, but my magic is still 0."
If even training like this could raise his abilities by so much, Zhang Ruofeng realized that testing himself through those exercises might truly have been pointless.
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