Love the art style. This project reminds me of 'tavern of spear', their doing something similar and they get around the leveling being a slog issue by having fetch quest to supply a merchant in exchange for gold. While fetch quests aren't the most engaging it does give some motivation to grind a bit when necessary also the fact the merchant flirts a lot so getting on his good side's a bonus. link if you want to try their public build for some ideas or just to see how they're handling problems you mite come across: https://www.patreon.com/CaroZalt/overview