As both Valyr and Wells entered the unassuming building that housed the Experience Pits, the disinterested young man manning the counter instantly went ahead and opened his mouth to ask the usual question he would ask to those that entered the building.
However, just as the young man was about to do so, the words got stuck in his throat as he recalled Valyr entering the Experience Pit around a month ago. Taking into consideration the newfound reputation Valyr had entered after standing victorious in a life and death duel, the young man put a bit more energy into his voice as his tone became somewhat more cordial.
"Welcome. I suppose you're planning to book an Experience Pit?"
Unfortunately, the indifference in the young man's voice still couldn't be removed.
"Can we get two Experience Pits? One for me, and one for my friend." Recalling how the young man behind the counter treated him the first time he arrived at the building, Valyr was already expecting such a question from the man. Though, the tone the young man used in his questioning briefly intrigued him.
"Let me check." Nodding in response, the young man took out a thin tablet under the counter before infusing it with a bit of his mana. Staring at the tablet's surface for a while, with the glow from the mana dyeing his face a faint light blue, the young man eventually placed the tablet on the counter as he looked at both Valyr and Wells with another nod.
"We have two vacant rooms available," said the young man to Valyr. "Are you two planning to use it right away, or are you two planning to reserve the rooms for a future date?"
"We're going to use it now," replied Valyr, prompting the young man to extend his hand out as he waited for the payment from the two. Continuing to remain silent all this time, Wells watched as his friend rummaged two gold coins out of his pocket before giving it to the young man.
Though he was quite surprised as to why such a place warranted the payment of a gold coin for a room, it did not take long for him to find out the answer to his question as he listened to the young man's next words.
"The rooms you'll be occupying are B-1 and B-2." Grabbing the thin tablet from the counter, the young man infused a bit more mana into it as he eventually told Valyr and Wells the rooms they've booked. "Note that you can use the Experience Pits for as long as you want, though you'll be asked to leave an hour before sunset."
"Is this your first time using an Experience Pit?" As these words came out of the young man's mouth, he shifted his gaze towards Wells, who could only nod in response. Nodding back, the young man continued. "Since that's the case, I must inform you that each Experience Pit is equipped with refreshments and stamina potions, should you ever need to take a break from grinding XP."
"Aside from that, a few staff members would accompany you in the room as they would make sure that the amount of XP you gain from the Experience Pit is as high as possible, while making sure that you're as safe as possible." The young man let out a soft sigh, faintly wondering when he would ever stop saying these words to newcomers to the Experience Pit.
"With that in mind, you can adjust the level of the monsters you face against to as high as you can go or as low as you want it to be. Then again, the generally recommended level disparity for beginners is around three levels above your current level. Of course, if you think you can handle stronger monsters, or perhaps more monsters at once, you can always ask the staff to increase the monsters' levels or the number of monsters you're fighting at once at any time."
"Speaking of levels…" Seeing that the young man was somewhat done in giving Wells a quick overview of how the Experience Pit worked, Valyr decided to ask the young man a question that popped up in his mind after he recalled one thing the young man had mentioned to him roughly a month ago. "What's the highest level monster available for me to face? Is it still the peak of Rank 1?"
"The Experience Pit already has monsters beyond that level." The young man softly shook his head. "However, you can only face up against Level 35 monsters at most, which puts the monsters solidly in the middle of Rank 2. Though, from another perspective, these monsters could also be considered at the latter stages of Rank 2."
"I see." Nodding in understanding, Valyr and Wells then made their way to where their rooms, with the young man shouting before the two could fully disappear from the former's field of vision that they had to give 30% of the XP they earned to the staff after they were done grinding XP.
Naturally, Wells looked at Valyr after that and asked if the man's words were true. After all, this was his first time using something like the Experience Pit, so he wasn't sure if the young man said those words because he thought Wells was easily fooled.
Letting out a chuckle in response, Valyr told Wells that the young man's words were indeed true, informing the latter that this was an ironclad rule enforced by the Experience Fit in order to make sure that stronger and stronger monsters could be added to the Experience Pit to fight against.
After that, he also told Wells that by the Experience Pit doing something like this, they would be able to cater to them and make sure they earned the optimal amount of XP, even though they would already be at a higher level in the future.
At that point, Wells had no complaints regarding the giving of XP to the staff, a determined expression appearing on his face by the time the two of them found their respective rooms. Seeing that the two rooms were adjacent to one another, the two did not really think too much on which person got what room, with Valyr taking B-2, while Wells entered B-1.
…
Taking only a few steps into the room he had chosen, it was quickly apparent to Valyr that a lot about the rooms had changed. For one, the decor that surrounded the entire room had become more lavish than before, accompanying the modern feeling the rooms gave off the previous time he went into an Experience Pit.
Even the refreshments and potions that were available for him to consume had been improved, with all of the refreshments laid out on the tables giving him the feeling that they would instantly replenish part of his stamina, though not to the extent of an actual stamina potion.
Speaking of potions, the stamina and various rejuvenation potions available for his consumption had also increased in quality, giving him the feeling that they were incredibly close to being classified as Lesser grade rejuvenation potions, perhaps even being actual Lesser grade potions themselves. Nevertheless, with a quick scan of [Analysis], he swiftly found out that the potions were only infinitesimally close to being considered as such.
'And to think they were still able to keep the price of a single room to one gold coin.' Feeling somewhat amazed by that fact, he then shifted his gaze to the staff that would be tending to him while he made use of the Experience Pit, finding all of them biding their time through their own various ways.
Watching the staff do what they were already doing for a while, Valyr quickly noticed that the aura emanating from each of the staff was significantly stronger than it was before, eliciting a slight smile to appear on his face as he thought that he had helped contribute to the strengthening of the staff that would take care of him today.
'Well, if there's one thing that doesn't change, it's got to be the pit.' Though most of the things within the room he booked had changed since the time he last used an Experience Pit, the pit that he fought monsters in last time hadn't changed even one bit, spanning a few meters below the ground to ensure that any monster he fought against wouldn't be able to get out.
Taking in a deep breath to compose himself, Valyr then retrieved the True Tideblood Spear from behind his back before making his way to the passage that led to the pit, prompting the staff to finally focus their attention on Valyr. Within seconds, the staff got into their respective positions, with some being allocated towards guard duty, some towards the difficulty control of the monsters Valyr would fight against in the pit, and some being allocated towards other aspects of the pit.
Sometime later, a man in his late twenties wearing clean clothes that gave off a scholarly vibe appeared beside Valyr, introducing himself to Valyr as he gave the latter a respectful bow. "We've been informed that you have used the Experience Pit before, so I shall skip all of the explanations that usually came with using the pit for the first time."
"With that in mind, what monster level would you like to start off with?"
"Monster level…" As this phrase lingered within Valyr's mind, an expression of panic eventually crept up on his face as he inwardly cursed himself for forgetting something that would effectively allow him to earn more XP from the pit.
His Half Wyvern Armor.
