This is the Land of Mist, where monsters have evolved from Goblins to Infant Dragons — marking our entry into the Dungeon's middle levels.
As Adam expected, the monsters' strength had increased dramatically, growing exponentially.
After easily defeating another Infant Dragon, he checked his adventurer card and sighed at finding no increase in experience points.
This was his tenth kill, yet the Infant Dragon — despite being far stronger than a Giant Toad — hadn't yielded any experience points.
The Dungeon couldn't help him level up. His plan to exploit the system for quick leveling had failed.
Why was this happening? He had developed a theory.
In the Parallel world, adventurers leveled up by absorbing soul fragments from defeated monsters, which converted into experience points.
Since he wasn't gaining experience points, he must not be receiving the monsters' soul fragments. Perhaps these low-level monsters lacked "souls" entirely — merely following Mother Dungeon's commands like machines, only dropping magic stones and materials when defeated.
No, there was also the matter of receiving "great feats" alongside the Falna after defeating powerful enemies.
But this raised another question before him. Whether to join a Familia.
Adam was firmly against joining a Familia, seeing more drawbacks than benefits.
'In any community, you must contribute before receiving rewards' — this was an established principle across all worlds.
While the common people of this world viewed joining a Familia and becoming an Adventurer as the only path forward, Adam had other options. With his ability to travel between worlds, he could simply leave for places where growing stronger was easier.
Take the Parallel World, for instance — leveling up there was straightforward, provided you had the money.
Moreover, joining a Familia meant submitting to the Gods. Every aspect of advancement — status updates, rank progression, path choices — would require their approval.
Most crucially, joining a Familia risked exposing his world-traveling ability.
While benevolent gods who treated their Familia members like family might be acceptable, joining under malevolent deities like Apollo, Freya, or Soma — who viewed their children as disposable pawns — could lead to dire consequences.
This concern about gods' treatment of their Familia members was what ultimately drove his decision.
"Well, let's get out of here first, this place feels oppressive and unpleasant." His mounting frustration led him to seek fresh air instead of dwelling on these thoughts.
With no experience points to gain, remaining here served no purpose. After a brief rest, he began his ascent.
Given his capabilities, only reaching the 12th Floor seemed slow progress. However, testing his theories had consumed nearly the entire night in the Dungeon.
Upon his return, he found the early-rising Adventurers already arriving for their explorations.
The sun had just risen as Adam emerged from the Dungeon.
Morning light gleamed along the streets, casting a bright glow. While other adventurers were starting their day, Adam was ready for rest.
"Time to find somewhere to sleep." He thought.
His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he'd barely eaten since yesterday and had spent all night in the Dungeon.
To his disappointment, most taverns weren't open this early.
Then he remembered another problem — his dwindling funds. He'd need to visit the Adventurers' Guild first to exchange his magic stones for Valis.
At the Guild, he found a single staff member on duty, likely there to serve night explorers like himself.
Magic Stones were categorized into three tiers by size, selling for V$10,000, V$1,000, or V$100 each.
Adam exchanged just a quarter of his night's haul.
Even that modest portion earned him V$100,000!
"Oh, not a bad haul."
Satisfied, Adam tucked away his coin purse and headed out.
By now, the streets were bathed in full daylight and coming alive with activity. Adventurers strode purposefully to and fro, while merchants and customers emerged from their homes to start the day.
However, taverns still weren't open. Discouraged, Adam could only nibble on some dry rations to tide himself over.
He found a modest inn and rented a room. Though somewhat expensive at V$1,500 per day, the 8-square-meter space offered perfect solitude — no neighbors on either side. This suited him well, as the presence of strangers always left him feeling watched.
Pulling out a magic stone from his pocket, he examined it carefully. Despite containing traces of magical power, he couldn't harness or absorb its energy. Even attempts to use it as a magic-casting consumable proved futile.
After numerous failed attempts to extract the magic power, he finally gave up.
With his average luck stat, he hadn't received any dropped materials — no protagonist's fortune for him, not a single item drop! This made him wonder if Aqua's blessing had worn off.
"Alright, time to sleep. I'll deal with everything else after I wake up."
When he woke, night had fallen. Hunger had roused him from his slumber.
"Did I sleep that long?" Adam rubbed his throbbing head, feeling worse for wear.
Using the 〔Perception〕 skill all night had taken its toll — even someone of his power found it challenging to maintain while exploring the deeper levels alone.
Still, using 〔Perception〕 to detect dangers was only prudent, or so he told himself.
He remained in bed until his head cleared — or rather, until his hunger became unbearable.
"Well, time to eat." He dressed quickly and headed out.
Orario's nightlife pulsed with energy, its streets alive with crowds flowing like water.
Unlike the Parallel World, Orario had its own unique atmosphere.
Adam wanted to explore and take it all in.
Street vendors called out their wares as he moved from stall to stall, spending money and eating continuously until he'd sampled food from the entire street.
"Ah." Though not quite satisfied, he patted his belly and headed straight for the next street.
After going hungry for a whole day, Adam's appetite was far from sated!
Then he spotted a bustling tavern.
The Hostess of Fertility!
T/N: If you want more chapters , check out my Visit NovelHub for more amazing novels and chapters.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.Visit NovelHub for more amazing novels and chapters.com/collection/770985