"Lune, Lune, Lune..."

Inside the Sain Dungeon, everything requires Lune.

Sai Ke kept muttering Lune’s name, his eyes filled with the hunger for money, the desire to get rich overnight had never been so intense.

"Hey, hey, don’t lose your mind." Jockra reminded him, thinking her companion’s current state was like those magicians who got caught up in magic experiments and lost themselves.

A couple of years ago, she had an elder magician acquaintance who went mad and transformed himself into a monster with various creature traits, creating havoc everywhere before meeting his end.

It’s said that the tragedy of her acquaintance is not an isolated case; similar stories can be heard every year.

"I’m fine, perfectly sober, don’t worry." Sai Ke waved his hand, endless fantasies sparkled in his eyes.

If he could take down the demigod Greg of Stoneveil City, wouldn’t he obtain enough Lune to learn all the Combat Skills?

Unfortunately, the likelihood of their strength defeating the legendary demigod was naught, so they ran back to the front of the checkpoint and tried to stealthily hunt lone soldiers, Bat Monsters, wild wolves, and the like.

This made the accumulation of Lune quite inefficient, but it was the best they could manage.

Back when Sain Dungeon first opened, Leon, Steeran, and others had gone through such primitive accumulation stages.

Sai Ke and Jockra differed from Leon and others in that they overturned significantly more often.

So much so that only when the world outside was dusk did they finally accumulate enough to learn "Shattering Step," eagerly seeking out Benar for instruction.

"Then, I shall teach you this Combat Skill,"

Benar said, and upon hearing these words, Sai Ke and Jockra seemed to enter a mystical realm, where they "felt like" they were watching Benar demonstrate the techniques of Shattering Step, repeatedly learning and "seemed" to touch the threshold of using it.

"Dong... Dong..."

The closing bell of Sain Dungeon sounded, awakening the consciousness of Sai Ke and Jockra.

"Ah!"

Sai Ke suddenly exclaimed, endless fatigue surged from within, causing him to collapse on the ground.

Jockra was not much better off but remained somewhat composed, managing to reach a bench in the corner to sit down before gasping for air.

They both looked as if they had been exercising for a long, long time, suddenly exhausted.

However, upon closer inspection, a strange detail could be found—they seemed to have stood still and hadn’t moved at all?

Something was off, something felt off; they indeed felt as though they had learned under Benar for a long time, and time indeed had passed significantly.

Reflecting carefully, Sai Ke found he couldn’t recall exactly what Benar taught; only the general exertion technique for Shattering Step remained, and he had a "War Ash: Shattering Step" in his hand, needing it to rely on War Ash for the technique.

The difference in Benar’s instruction and direct granting of War Ash lay in starting adventurers on the path to mastering Combat Skill without needing War Ash.

Among the Combat Skills produced by Sain Dungeon, many seemed that adventurers could replicate through their moves; indeed, some have, and recently they’ve succeeded.

To master Combat Skills using one’s own strength requires repeatedly releasing and experiencing the Combat Skills through War Ash, the more used, the more one gradually feels how to employ them, with different durations based on one’s insight, and long ones can last extremely long.

This is just the start; mastering it truly requires more practice.

But to start nonetheless surpasses many others.

Benar’s presence saved the effort of the beginning; for the average masses, this already constituted a rare opportunity.

"I... I think I understand how to use Shattering Step..."

Though his body fell into immense fatigue, a smile gradually appeared on Sai Ke’s face, looking at his feet, envisioning a bright future.

Jockra felt similarly; this sensation of gradually mastering a skill from nothing constituted the greatest joy for a seeker, and thus a smile also appeared on her face.

But just then, she suddenly felt someone staring at her and, looking up, saw it was Sai Ke.

The latter displayed a sly expression, as if to say, "How about it? Combat Skills are the best, right?"

Jockra’s facial expression shifted repeatedly, ultimately choosing to turn her head and ignore the annoying fellow.

Though learning Combat Skills is fulfilling, even though Benar taught well, and though...

But I simply think magic is the best; magicians have even established academies!

"Your talent is excellent, and you’ve grasped it well," Benar spoke then, though this remark raised doubts of sincerity, "you probably feel you’ve touched the threshold of using Shattering Step now."

"Thanks to you, I feel I’ve grown stronger." Sai Ke persisted in standing up to express gratitude.

"It’s good to feel it; you must seize the brief time to practice quickly and strive for mastery yourself."

"Brief?"

Sai Ke sharply caught the keyword, what does ’brief’ mean.

Could it be this feeling might vanish?

After questioning, he discovered that the "starting feeling" learned from Benar indeed fades, lasting approximately one or two days.

To maintain this feeling, one could continue it using half the Lune required for buying War Ash!

When adventurers themselves thoroughly master the Combat Skill, they’ll naturally no longer need this "subscription."

Much like at Reyalucaria Magic Academy, adventurers wanting to fully learn magic need time to "grind"; similarly, truly mastering Combat Skills requires genuine time and Lune.

Seems somewhat of a pitfall?

But truthfully, this is faster compared to learning magic at Reyalucaria Magic Academy.

"I’ll certainly work hard to save up Lune! I’ll come back for your guidance!"

Sai Ke clenched his fists secretly and vowed to learn all the combat skills that Benar was teaching now and in the future.

"You have ambition."

Benar looked somewhat gratified; this uncle really seemed to exude a charming masculine aura.

"Combat skills are the proof of warriors fighting with weapons, the most vivid heroic story, conveying the meaning of warriors. That’s why I can’t resist my love for dual swords and combat skills."

He patted Sai Ke’s shoulder again and said, "Make sure to learn combat skills well."

"Yes!"

Yet another person had fallen into Sain’s clutches.

At the same time, in the City Lord’s room of Sain Dungeon.

Gong Qiying looked at Sai Ke, who had already become Benar’s loyal apprentice, without any surprise.

"Seems like the Warrior Country is not as hopeless as Panson said; there are still people who genuinely love combat skills."

He tapped the crystal ball in front of him a few times, and it instantly split into dozens of screens, some of which included adventurers who had come into contact with Benar.

"The first discoverers are already in position. Even those without combat skill talent can’t resist the existence of War Ash; we just have to wait for time to ferment."

He flipped through a notebook and muttered to himself:

"Once the spread of combat skills becomes more widespread, we can proceed with the second-step plan. Oh, I’ll notify the Gladiator later to make sure he’s ready; we still need his assistance for the plan to go forward."

Gong Qiying paused suddenly, thought of something, then said:

"Actually, it seems like if I handle everything myself, there wouldn’t be any major problems."

"..."

"Well, working with everyone makes me feel more alive."

On the other side.

Sain Dungeon hadn’t reached its closing time yet, but Sai Ke and his companions had already come out.

Firstly, because they were exhausted today, with no energy to train combat skills, and secondly, because they wanted to quickly exchange Benar’s intelligence at Tepi’s commerce for rewards.

"Hurry up, hurry up, if someone beats us to it, there’ll be no bonus left." Sai Ke ran ahead, determined to secure the bonus.

"I-I’m just a weak magician..." Jockra struggled to keep up with her magic wand, revealing the frail physical characteristics of magicians.

However, despite their rush, by the time they arrived at the Golden Lion Commerce, they received bad news.

"Sorry, someone has already reported the information you spoke of."

The Dungeon had just opened on the first day, and it was already packed with adventurers here to exchange intelligence for bonuses, with the excitement not inferior to that of Yanor Kingdom.

"How could it be..." Sai Ke seemed petrified, gradually wilting in the wind.

"Sigh, someone did beat us, right?" Jockra sighed, "Let’s head back to the inn and rest well today."

Sai Ke reluctantly accepted reality; it seemed he was still far from financial freedom.

The bonus exchange station at Golden Lion Commerce was directly opened in the adventurer’s guild, so before he left, he habitually glanced at the notice board containing posted commissions, and one commission caught his attention.

[Investigate Missing Wagon]

[Recently, in the southern plains outside Black Stone City, multiple incidents of unknown monsters attacking wagons occurred. Please investigate the truth of the monsters and recover the missing goods. For specifics, please discuss with the commissioner]

[Commissioner...]

"Jockra, look at this," Sai Ke pointed at the commission and said, "Doesn’t it resemble the situation the restaurant owner spoke of this morning?"

While buying Happiness Egg this morning, the restaurant owner mentioned that his wagon was attacked by an unknown monster outside the city.

"It really is..." Jockra glanced quickly and found several similar commissions.

"Is there some monster causing trouble?" She frowned, "Should we take on—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a guild staff member walked over and took down all the commissions related to unknown monster attacks from the notice board.

"What’s going on, are the commissions completed?" Sai Ke asked.

"I’m very sorry, the dangerous level of the unknown monster attack commissions have been upgraded, so the guild will assign adventurers to undertake them, and they will no longer be open for commission from the notice board."

The staff advised, "Please refrain from leaving the city during this period for your safety."

After the staff left, Sai Ke thought back to what they said and muttered to himself, "This matter turns out to be very dangerous..."

"Let’s go, nothing more for us to do." Jockra pulled him along. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

What they had to do next was very simple: go to Sain Dungeon to train combat skills and earn Lune for upgrades every day.

This was pretty much what most adventurers had to do in Sain Dungeon.

This would be a long process.

Meanwhile, the staff on that side were somewhat worried and muttered to themselves:

"When will Mr. Basque return from the Dungeon? He almost messed up this bonus exchange place."

"And General Uffie who went to the Dungeon with him, really wish she’d come back soon."

"I really don’t understand why the guild wants to assign her, a general, to investigate unknown monsters. Do we have that kind of authority?"