After several days of long travel, Dan Feng, Roxy, and Etrill finally successfully arrived in the Sanakia Kingdom.
This country was the destination they had agreed upon beforehand for replenishing supplies.
Upon first arriving here, Dan Feng and Roxy couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised by the state of this country.
Compared to Millishion, where they had stayed before, this place could truly be described as worlds apart.
The bustling prosperity of Millishion formed a stark contrast with the sparsely populated Sanakia.
Standing at the city gate, Roxy curiously looked left and right.
However, she didn't see the lively scene of endless traffic she had imagined; instead, it was all desolation.
"There are so few people." Roxy couldn't help but sigh.
The bard Etrill beside her heard her words and smiled as she explained, "Mm-hmm, this is actually normal."
"Among these three nearby countries, the national power of the Sanakia Kingdom is relatively weak, while the Shirone Kingdom and Kikka Kingdom are both a bit more prosperous than Sanakia."
Roxy nodded thoughtfully, but she still felt some doubt in her heart.
She recalled that back in Millishion, she had read a book in Dan Feng's room, and the description of the Sanakia Kingdom in that book was completely different from the scene before her eyes.
"But what I read in the book wasn't like this." Roxy said.
Etrill smiled understandingly and replied, "The Sanakia Kingdom of the past was certainly prosperous, but with the passage of time, it has gradually fallen into decline."
As they chatted, the three stepped into the Sanakia Kingdom.
Just from the surface, it was clear—the city gate didn't even have a single guard, showing just how decayed it was.
Although this kingdom had already declined greatly, there were still some people living inside, and buying supplies and such was still possible.
After buying the supplies, the three didn't stop for a moment and prepared to set off again. They had no plans to rest a night in the Sanakia Kingdom. Looking at the decayed scene, it was estimated that even finding an inn would be difficult.
When the three came out, Dan Feng glanced at the bard and then said, "Weren't you coming here?"
At this point, the bard said embarrassedly, "At the time, seeing you all here, I figured you were most likely heading this way, but actually, I wanted to go to the Shirone Kingdom."
Dan Feng: ...
Roxy: ...
With no choice, Dan Feng and Roxy couldn't drive her away, so they could only let her follow.
...
After several more days, the three finally arrived in the Shirone Kingdom.
The Shirone Kingdom was a vassal state of the Dragon King Kingdom. Although it couldn't be called prosperous, there were clearly far more people than in the Sanakia Kingdom—at the very least, there were guards at the city gate.
Even though they had food to eat, the continuous rushing was still very exhausting.
So the first thing the three did after entering the Shirone Kingdom was head to a restaurant for a good meal.
Then they went to find an inn to rest.
Dan Feng and Roxy planned to stay in the Shirone Kingdom for a while first, then head to the Asura Kingdom afterward.
As for Etrill, she expressed that she wanted to go to the Asura Kingdom with them.
Back in the inn room, Dan Feng felt exhausted all over.
Although he was always full of energy, constantly rushing like this would eventually lead to complete fatigue. Right now, he just wanted to take a bath and then sleep soundly.
Dan Feng, fresh from his bath, lay on the bed. He stared at the panel stuck at 29%, sinking into deep thought.
Honestly, this felt even worse than being stuck at five eidolon or something.
But there was nothing he could do about the progress bar. Now he felt that reading books increased it too slowly—the last 1% increase was only after seeing the different situation in Sanakia Kingdom compared to the book.
He also knew he couldn't keep relying on knowledge learned from books; he needed to truly go see the places where that knowledge was applied.
As he thought, sleepiness surged over Dan Feng like a tide, and he slowly closed his eyes.
The next morning.
Dan Feng and Roxy came to the adventurers' guild in the Shirone Kingdom. The purpose of their visit this time was to see what quests on the Central Continent were like.
As soon as they arrived at the adventurers' guild in the Shirone Kingdom, they could see that there were quite a lot of people here.
"What's going on?" An adventurer who didn't know the reason looked at the crowded adventurers' guild and voiced his confusion.
"Ah? You don't know? The king of the Shirone Kingdom is looking for a powerful mage to be a teacher for the prince." A person who had just squeezed out from inside said this.
"Ah? Which prince?"
"I don't know about that."
Dan Feng and Roxy listened to the discussions around them but didn't pay much attention to the matter. They went straight to the quest board to look at the quests.
Dan Feng looked at the quests and thought to himself that the quests in the Shirone Kingdom were really too low-level, weren't they?
Only many S-rank quests hung quietly on the quest board, untouched by anyone.
Unfortunately, Dan Feng and Roxy's adventurer ranks hadn't reached S-rank, so they couldn't accept S-rank quests.
To accept S-rank quests, they had to form an adventurer party.
So Dan Feng and Roxy went to the adventurers' guild counter, handed over their adventurer cards to the staff, and explained that they wanted to form an adventurer party.
"Alright, may I ask what your party name will be?" The staff member asked the two in front of her with a smile and a gentle tone, displaying an extremely good service attitude.
Roxy hesitated a little. Her gaze unconsciously turned toward Dan Feng beside her, seemingly seeking his opinion.
However, Dan Feng was also looking at her. After their eyes met, the atmosphere became slightly awkward.
After a moment of silence, Dan Feng suddenly had an idea and casually said, "Then let's call it water."
This name sounded simple and casual, but it at least gave the staff something to write down. The name wasn't important—what mattered was being able to accept quests.
The staff quickly wrote down this party name on a piece of paper and officially registered the two as an adventurer party.
Immediately after, they returned to the quest board, took down an S-rank quest that looked relatively easy.
"We want to accept this S-rank quest." Dan Feng placed the quest sheet on the table, looking at the staff to have her complete the registration.
However, after just glancing at the quest sheet, the staff showed a slightly apologetic smile and explained, "I'm very sorry, but this kind of S-rank quest has special requirements. The party must include an S-rank adventurer."
Dan Feng was surprised upon hearing this and asked puzzledly, "But I remember that adventurer parties can directly accept quests one rank higher, right? Why can't they for S-rank?"
The staff patiently explained, "S-rank quests are usually extremely dangerous with very high difficulty, so to ensure the task can be completed smoothly, we must require an S-rank adventurer in the party. This maximizes risk reduction and protects the safety of all adventurers."
Dan Feng and Roxy had no choice but to put the quest sheet back.
They now understood the quest situation in the Shirone Kingdom and realized that S-rank quests required an S-rank adventurer to accept them.