In Wade's opinion, instead of calling it [Kindred], they might as well rename it [Usable Heroes].
After all, based on the description, these adventurers he could summon were essentially hero-type units with built-in group-buff talents.
Any creature that had ever entered the dungeon could be counted as Kindred.
During battles against other dungeons, he could summon them. The important part was that the Kindred weren't the real people—they were simulated constructs.
Their combat strength, weapons, tools—everything depended on what they used and showed while they were inside the dungeon. Their talents also varied based on their performance.
"So what in the world did Leon go through…?"
Wade recalled Leon's portrait, which looked like he'd suffered a complete mental breakdown, and felt strangely conflicted.
He refused to admit he was the one who ruined Leon. Absolutely not.
But then he saw Leon's talent Beating Frenzy, and Wade fell silent.
For the first time… he felt the tiniest twinge of guilt.
Best to look at the other Kindred instead.
In every battle, the number of Kindred he could summon was limited—determined by the dungeon levels on both sides. Also, the same Kindred couldn't be summoned twice.
Each Kindred transformed into a unique talent based on their personal traits. These talents varied in number and effect, and all were group-oriented.
The stronger their bond with the dungeon, the stronger their performance. Once their bond exceeded twenty, they could show their original strength; beyond that point, the higher the bond, the stronger they became.
As he examined the list, Wade suddenly noticed something shocking—
Darrick, who usually hovered around D+ or D++ strength, could jump all the way to C+ thanks to his increased bond!
What was the difference between this and strapping him to a rocket!?
Thankfully, this boost only applied when Darrick was summoned as Kindred.
What surprised Wade even more was that Darrick had the highest bond of all—the man's bond value was fifty-five, even higher than Leon's.
There were many ways to raise bond—even small things counted. But overall, there were two main methods:
1. Recognition of the dungeon.
Whether it was appreciating the story, liking the monsters, admiring the traps, or even having some masochist think, "It feels great to be killed by monsters"—as long as they sincerely felt the dungeon was "good," their bond increased.
2. Dying.
Death raised bond like a pity system—the more you died, the higher it went.
Thankfully, adventurer deaths didn't trigger disease outbreaks, or the entire city would've collapsed by now.
However, relying on death alone meant bond increases usually stalled around twenty.
Those miners who came every day died far more often than adventurers, yet their bonds stayed low.
Darrick, on the other hand, had both frequent deaths and deep affection for Sein, making him the first person to break fifty.
Wade suddenly had a doubt.
"Besides the group buffs—which are kind of useful—they're still weaker than just summoning a B-rank monster."
Group buffs could even be replaced by spells anyway.
The description also mentioned that Kindred dealt bonus damage against dungeon constructs. Maybe that was the intended reason to persuade him to use them?
They were tasteless to use but wasteful to discard. Fortunately, summoning Kindred didn't require Mana, so in a life-or-death situation he could pull them out to see what happened.
He realized the biggest use of this mode was actually checking who liked Sein Dungeon the most. That part was unexpectedly satisfying.
He could even give preferential treatment to high-bond adventurers. For example—
Letting them die a few more times.
"…Yeah, I'm definitely a little evil," Wade said with a laugh.
He continued scrolling through the long Kindred list, checking everyone's bizarre talents. Even someone who had only visited once appeared with a unique talent—but honestly, most low-bond talents looked like filler.
Some effects were even identical but disguised with different names!
Just like those reskinned hill trolls in God of War.
But then something clicked.
Kindred might not be that useful for him, since he could summon monsters freely…
But for other dungeon masters?
Not every dungeon master had his huge monster reserves, nor the ability to unlock new ones as their Authority rose.
Normally, to add a new monster type, a dungeon master had to personally study it until they fully understood it before recreating it in their dungeon.
Wade didn't know how long that learning process took, but it was obviously time-consuming.
He, however, had the luxury of switching to new monster systems every day—mass spawning, elite bruisers, even strange things like Scarlet Rot. Most dungeon masters, for efficiency, specialized in one unified monster system.
For example, Dungeon used insects. Others might specialize in undead, orcs, goblins, and so on.
So for other dungeons, Kindred were incredibly valuable.
Now Wade was curious what Kindred Hive Nest Dungeon would produce—probably demons.
Sein humans versus Hive Nest demons… it felt strangely destined.
"To raise bonds, I need to put more effort into building the dungeon."
He had to make adventurers explore Sein with a smile.
And honestly, he'd already achieved that. Look—someone was currently being chased and beaten by a pack of Ghrus in the swamp, suffering both physically and mentally.
When he died, he would definitely die with a smile.
A smile of liberation still counted as a smile.
With some time to spare, Wade connected to his outside avatar and visited the Bedford's library—just pay money and enter.
He flipped through books containing dungeon information and confirmed his earlier thoughts: other dungeons really did use unified monster systems.
The advantage was maximizing each monster's strengths.
The disadvantage was becoming easier to counter and strategize against.
At that moment, Wade understood how unfairly powerful his own monster variety was. Other dungeon masters would probably call him a stinking rich bastard.
Having so many monster options meant he could always throw out something new—difficult to counter.
In dungeon-versus-dungeon battles, he could confidently say:
"The advantage is mine."
"Sir, we're closing," a librarian approached.
"Alright."
Wade borrowed several books, though two were non-circulating, so he'd have to return tomorrow to read them.
(***)
The next day.
He planned to check the dungeon briefly before returning to the library, but the moment he checked—
He realized something was wrong.
There were even fewer adventurers entering than yesterday.
For a moment he wondered if Count Philip had resurrected to issue another insane decree.
His instincts screamed that something big had happened.
Sure enough—when he arrived in the city, soldiers were gathering outside the walls, their expressions grim.
Not just soldiers—there was also a group of unfamiliar mercenaries, all broad-shouldered and imposing.
Adventurers stood beside them. Their formation was looser, but they looked much healthier than the soldiers.
He even spotted familiar faces—Stella, the Fire Priest, Roger.
Darrick wasn't here; he was still challenging the Abyss Watchers.
The air was thick with the scent of war.
Count Charon climbed the newly repaired walls and shouted to the troops:
"Val City has been overtaken by demons. It has fallen into demonic hands!"
"Brave soldiers, march! Exterminate the demons!"
The soldiers roared in response—their morale didn't look bad.
Watching all this, Wade felt… this was way too sudden.
Yesterday had been peaceful. Why were they marching on Val City today?
And where did Charon even get the information that Val had fallen?
As he wondered, he prepared to blend into the crowd to watch the fun at Val—
But in that moment, Sein sent him a message.
[Received a rescue request from Val Dungeon.]
"Val Dungeon?"
Wade frowned even harder.
Where did a dungeon near Val City come from?