Morning light has crept on the soil where the large city stands.

The usual scene unfolds; busy streets, open shops, and a gloomy dungeon.

Ashé was still outside the wall.

The shining moon and glittering stars that was once covering him was now replaced with the bright sun and the blue sky.

It was early spring, the refreshing morning wind invigorates the spirits of every living thing outside the activity that bustles inside of Agartha’s walls.

His body was resting on the patches of grass that are now covered in morning dew. Eyes shut in a slumber state.

After Yerin departed, he spent the night staring at the symbol in his hand. He kept looking at the inconceivable stats that he possesses.

For the whole night, the only question that was pestering his mind was how will he improve.

Even though he would brainstorm different solutions on how is he going to push all his stats above zero, he can come up with only one answer:

I can only do what all of the other adventurers has done.

There is no easy way out of his situation. It requires labour to improve ones stats and that is what he is exactly doing.

After the evening filled with resolute, he eventually dozes off under the serene atmosphere.

The eyelids that was covering his eyes slowly rose up. He has finally woken up.

His eyes was still conscious about the symbol on his left hand and the information that it could produce.

He clenches his hand into a fist and looks at the unique mark with determination.

Slowly standing up, he breathes in the fresh air of the cool spring winds.

While he is approaching the city walls entrance, the sound of rustling grass could be heard when his light steps was making contact with the ground.

“Oy! Mr. Guard! I’m outside.”

A few seconds has passed, there was no reply except for a short grunt of someone waking up.

From the very top of the city wall, a head peaks from above Ashé. Because of the distance, in Ashé’s eyes, the familiar head looks like the size of a pebble.

“Oh, it’s you! You’re one crazy kid, you know that?”

The distant voice was barely audible because of the huge gap between the two.

Even though the Guard’s facial features could not be recognized because of the sheer distance between him and Ashé, it was obvious that he was more impressed than surprised seeing Ashé still alive.

Spending the whole night outside the city walls without shelter is very commendable.

After a minute, the Guard finally got down from the top of the wall and is opening the city gate, eventually letting Ashé in.

“Took you long, you find anything good out there?”

The Guard was wearing a friendly face, exuding a relaxed aura. It was not as hostile as last evening

“Not really, I dozed off in that red tree there…”

“Oh yeah? They say that tree was cursed.”

“…Cursed?”

Ashé is bewildered by the Guard’s hearsay.

One of his eyebrows raised and his lips slightly opened, gesturing the Guard to tell more about the rumor.

“Yeah. A famous botanist planted that 12 years ago, I heard that some people still see him around.”

“Why do they say that it’s cursed?”

“Well, some people wanted to chop that down, it’s white trunk would look good as a piece of furniture you know. When people try striking it down with an axe it just exploded.”

Ashé was nodding in agreement, he was not surprised from the reason of the rumors because he too has experienced such things. Just from the leaves itself, setting it on fire results in a catastrophic explosion. Its very fortunate that it doesn’t explode by plucking or crushing its leaves, or else, he would be dead by now.

“I see, well then. Thank you for looking out for me.”

“No problem, stop by anytime.”

After Ashé gave a small wave as farewell, the Guard replied with a slight nod.

He was once again stepping on the stone pavement roads of East Main, heading towards Hudson Street that is just around the corner.

The buzzing sounds of street vendors captivating the passing citizens to buy their products are the usual sights. Different races; different colours, ears, shapes, and sizes could be seen in every direction you face. The thousand sounds of footsteps from the people could be heard. Also, a trotting horse while it carries a carriage on its back are seen in different intervals of each street. For just a small street, you could feel the massive scale of the city. A tourist would be overwhelmed by the amount of people.

The city is so huge that its very easy to get lost inside it, you could say that its a labyrinth itself.

The most impressive characteristic that the City possesses is its multicultural aspects.

Some races have skills or traits that other races could not possess, hence, this is a reason for two different races to cooperate. The people of Agartha may look different, but the bonds that the factions make is as solid as its outer wall.

Ashé was walking down Hudson Street, it was still early morning and the adventurers are only getting ready to buy their supplies for a day of exploring the Dungeon.

He stopped right in front of the Apartment Complex. His hand was resting on top of the doorknob. He was not moving, the hand was only resting on top, it was not turning.

He was in the middle of his thoughts, currently contemplating about his current case about his stats.

Currently, he has 500 qiils in his pocket. Enough for two low-level healing potions and change to spare for a meal.

The gun sheathed on his belt is currently out of ammunition.

The only thing he has is the dagger and the light armour that the Guild has issued him with a loan.

There was nothing he could bring anything else inside his apartment that could help him in the Dungeon. Bringing ammunition for the gun will only hold his stats back.

Finally, he has come up with a decision.

From now on, the gun must not be used. It is to be kept.

A weapon that could completely annihilate a high-level monster even if its only used by a mere level-1 adventurer is an amazing premise, but the drawback of losing stats and abilities makes the adventurer without the gun useless.

Even if a low-level adventurer has the gun, they would still perish if they were completely overwhelmed by monsters.

The gun is still in its prototype stages, it is not suited for head to head battle under the endless barrage of monsters in the Dungeon.

Ashé turns away from the door and starts walking north, towards the Wall.