Nevertheless, even though he wondered whether he was in the right place, the young man nodded back in response to his nod, bringing out a thin tablet from under the counter before infusing it with a bit of mana. “Name?”
“Valyr,” said Valyr in response.
“Let me just check if there are any available rooms for you to enter right now.” As the young man nodded, these words came out of his mouth in a nonchalant and slightly disinterested tone. After that, he looked at Valyr. “Unless if you’re here to place a reservation for a pit on a future date.”
“I would like to enter right now.” Valyr shook his head at the man’s final statement, prompting the man to nod in response before continuing to infuse mana into the tablet he was holding, reading through the information that flashed on its surface.
“Alright. We still have a few vacant pits that you could enter at anytime,” said the young man as he looked at Valyr before extending one of his hands out. “One gold coin for entry.”
Nodding in response, Valyr rummaged out a gold coin from the satchel of coins he had and gave it to the young man, who received it and placed it in area under the counter before infusing a bit more of his mana into the thin tablet. After a bit of silence, the young man gave Valyr a reminder. “Although there’s no limit to how long you stay in the pit, mind you that the Experience Pit will be closed one hour before sunset. The staff that’ll be assisting you in your pit shall remind you of the time, so you don’t have to keep track.”
Though the man’s voice was somewhat monotone and made Valyr feel like he was listening to a robot talking, the latter committed the young man’s words to mind while recalling some of the times he had used the Experience Pits in the kingdoms and empires he had visited in his past life.
“Aside from that, there will also be a section of refreshments and stamina potions free of charge in the room you occupy, should you need to take a break,” the young man continued, to which Valyr nodded in response. “Before I tell you which room to head to, can I know what level you’re currently at?”
As the young man looked at him with an expression of inquiry, Valyr went ahead and opened his mouth. “Level 11.”
“Good to know.” The young man nodded after recording the information on the thin tablet he held. “You might not know this, but the Experience Pit currently cannot serve those at the peak of Rank 1 and higher. Only those at Level 24 and below are eligible to enter in the meantime.”
“Speaking of which, don’t forget to give 30% of the experience you obtain from the pit to the staff assisting you,” the young man continued to speak in his nonchalant tone. Though, as he said this, there was a hint of coldness to it. “Mind you that we have people there keeping track of how much experience you earn, so… you know what I mean.”
“Got it.” Although the young man attending to him did not continue his words, Valyr swiftly knew what he was trying to imply, nodding in response.
Though, just as he nodded, it was only then did he finally understand why a portion of the experience he and the others earned from the pits had to be given back to the staff. Wanting to know if his idea was correct, he asked the man, “Am I right to think that the reason why we have to give part of the experience we earn back to the staff is because it allows the capabilities of the Experience Pit to be expanded?”
“Correct.” The young man nodded in response. “At some point, the Experience Pit shall be able to accommodate those at the peak of Rank 1, then those at Rank 2, and so on and so forth.”
As Valyr nodded in understanding, he could not help but think that Clossbay City was able to be as big as it was largely in part due to the Experience Pit and the Combat Training Hall, which allowed the city to have sufficient strength to be able to protect its citizens, and therefore warrant a huge number of people living in one place.
After being told by the young man regarding the room he was assigned to, Valyr thanked the young man before heading through the corridor, only to take a brief glance at the young man sometime later, who had returned to his disinterested demeanor from earlier. Turning his head back to the corridor, he then looked at the signs on the various doors before eventually stopping in front of the door that the young man had told him earlier.
“Here we go. B-4.” Muttering these words, Valyr opened the door and headed inside, instantly being greeted by the sight of a room that looked far more modern that he had initially thought. Most of the floor was covered in white tiles, save for the pit at the center that went down a few meters to make sure even monsters that jumped wouldn’t be able to get out of the pit.
𝒪𝗏𝒍xt.𝓬𝒪𝐌
On one side of the room was a table filled to the brim with snacks, foodstuffs, drinks, as well as a couple types of potions such as rejuvenation and stamina potions. On the other were a few people, all of them sitting down at a bench as they conversed with each other.
Noticing that Valyr had entered the room, the people stopped what they were doing as one of them went towards him. As for the others, they situated themselves around the pit, with some of them on guard duty in the off chance a monster got out, while the others were managing the other aspects of the pit.
“I suppose you’re Valyr?” The person who went towards him asked, being a woman in scholarly clothing.
As Valyr nodded in response to the question, the woman nodded back before opening her mouth once more. “Welcome to the Experience Pit, Valyr. Considering that this is your first time using the pit, let me instruct you on the things you can and cannot do while in here.”
“First off, there is a passage at the far end of the room that directly leads to the pit proper, though we also don’t mind if you directly jump down into the pit.” As the woman said this, she could not help but lightly shake her head. “I don’t recommend doing it unless if one is at a higher level, though.”
“After that, you shall inform us of the number of monsters you would like to face against, as well as the level of the monsters. Once you kill the monster, another monster will swiftly take its place to ensure that your momentum is not lost.” Looking at Valyr, she added, “Since it’s your first time here, I’d recommend fighting against one monster at a time with a three-level disparity for now. But of course, you can adjust it as you see fit.”
“Aside from that, you can take a break at anytime if you feel exhausted. You just have to inform us beforehand by telling us or by giving us a signal.” Taking in a deep breath, the woman’s expression then turned solemn.
“As for the things you cannot do, you cannot force any of the staff to join you in the pit, nor can you force the staff to fight for you in the pit. Only you alone can enter the pit, unless if we deem you to be in an emergency, which rarely occurs in a place like this.”
“Intentional destruction of the pit and the surroundings is also prohibited. We’ve already had our fair share of people who did that in the past.” At this point, the woman let out a light sigh.
“And lastly, no intentional prolonging of the death of monsters in the pits.” As these words came out of the woman’s mouth, Valyr could not help but raise an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering the reason behind it.
Noticing Valyr’s expression, the woman quickly explained. “It messes with the entire system the Experience Pit has in place regarding the replenishment of monsters, which is why we outright prohibit it.”
“Any other questions?” Hearing the woman asked this question, Valyr shook his head in response, informing her and the others that he was ready.
Nodding in response, the woman then led Valyr to the passage that directly led to the center of the pit. Heading through the passage on his own, he eventually ended up at the center of the pit, with the staff that had encircled the pit earlier a few meters above him.
“How many monsters and what level?” Just as he was looking at his surroundings, one of the staff around the pit asked.
In response, a light grin appeared on Valyr’s face as he replied.
“Let’s go with…”