As Alex approached the towering walls of Bell City, he couldn't help but marvel at the sheer size of the place.
Unlike the more modest Dawn City, Bell City was an imposing fortress, with massive stone walls that stretched high into the sky, guarded by dozens of watchtowers.
Even from a distance, Alex could see the glow of magical barriers shimmering faintly in the air—wards meant to protect the city from outside threats.
It was normal: this area of the map had more monster attacks.
Bell City was much more calm than Dawn City.
Maybe that was since he was the first to enter it.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Global Announcement: Player 'FateBreaker' is the first to enter Bell City, and thus has been granted 5 prestige points!]
[Global Announcement: ...]
[Global Announcement: ...]
Alex made his way through the crowded streets, taking in the sights and sounds.
He passed by a marketplace where vendors sold rare ingredients for crafting, exotic pets, and magical items.
One stall was even selling enchanted tattoos, which promised to enhance the wearer's stats permanently, though at a steep cost.
Another shop displayed Runestones, powerful artifacts used by mages to boost their spellcasting abilities.
"Looking for anything special, traveler?" a shopkeeper called out to him as he passed.
Alex shook his head, his eyes scanning the wares.
He wasn't here to shop, not yet at least.
His goal was the dungeon outside the city, but a little exploration couldn't hurt.
He paused as he passed a grand building, its entrance flanked by towering statues of armored warriors.
Above the door, a sign read "The Hall of Heroes".
"Oh, wow," Alex froze in front of it, "It's been... so long."
Curious, Alex stepped inside.
The Hall of Heroes was one of the biggest structures in Bell City.
But in contrary to what you might think, it wasn't a shop, or even a useful structure for the players in that regard.
Instead, inside was just a massive hallway with ten massive statues inside: the heroes.
They were ancient people who had once saved the world from the wrath of the demon king.
Of course, it was so long that they had died since, and a new demon king was elected, but regardless, people in this world respected them.
Alex's face turned cold as he observed each of the giant statues.
He then stopped at the end of the hallway, where the statue of the most powerful hero laid.
"You..." Alex looked at the man's stone face with disgust.
These so-called heroes were supposed to be all dead, but right as the gods descended, they had been revived by someone or something and caused havoc.
These legendary heroes, turning to the dark side, had killed many people.
And even to this day, Alex didn't know how they had been brought back.
Otherwise, he would just slash down with his dagger.
As he moved from room to room, the dungeon's layout became more complex.
After clearing several floors, Alex reached the final chamber before reaching the sixth floor.
[Extraction talent activated: +48 strength, +39 vitality, +12 Spirit, +34 agility.]
[Skills Level-Up: Inferno Tempest (+1), Lightning Bolt (+1), Powerful Slash (+1)]
He did notice something though: when he fought weaker enemies, his extraction ability would start granting him only 1 point in stats.
After hundreds upon hundreds of monsters, though, he leveled up.
[You have leveled up to level 38.]
And also...
[D-Level Advancement Task: Defeat 250 monsters with your undead.] (382/250)
[Advancement Reward: Talent upgraded to Rank D.]
He was yet again surrounded by the dark mist that marked the evolution of his talent.
[Undead Lord talent has been upgraded to D-Rank.]
[C-Level Advancement Task: Defeat 1000 monsters with your undead.] (182/1000)
The difficulty of the tasks was getting higher.
And of course, a talent evolving also meant new perks.
...
[Undead Lord Talent (D-Rank)]
[Max Skeletons: Increased to 15 skeletons (from 10).]
[Stat Scaling: Skeletons now have 30% of Alex's stats (up from 20% at E-Rank).]
[Greater Skeletons: Every five skeleton summoned will be a "Greater Skeleton", possessing enhanced stats.]
[Mana: 500 MP per skeleton summon now, and 5000 for a greater skeleton.]
...
"Expensive!" Alex shrieked.
With this out of the way, Alex finally decided to close down all the panels and continue.
He was at the very end of the fifth floor, and so that could only mean one thing: boss.
Now, standing before the staircase leading down to the sixth floor, Alex felt an unsettling shift in the dungeon's energy.
And suddenly, blocking the path forward, appeared a giant monster.
[Goblin Warlord]
[Level 60 - Elite Boss]
The first 10 floors contained the most basics of monsters, as in the name, so it wasn't that surprising to see a goblin elite.
[Defeat the boss to go forward, otherwise you will be stuck here.]
This was how the [Dark Dungeon] worked so that people didn't just rush forward to the lower levels.