Night quietly descended amidst the continuous bustling and lighthearted chatter of the Loki Familia members.
Within the Loki Familia camp, several magic stone lamps were lit, illuminating the surroundings.
"Dinner is ready!"
At the call of the female members responsible for cooking, everyone in the camp began to sit around the large pots suspended over the campfires. Boiling inside the pots were herbs and nuts harvested from the Dungeon, along with meat-flavored fruits that possessed the taste and texture of actual meat. These nuts and meat-flavored fruits produced by the labyrinth were the food of monsters, but they posed no harm to humans or demi-humans, so they could be boiled and eaten during expeditions.
"Mr. Leon, this is yours."
Line dished out a large bowl for Leon, pressing it into his hands as a mouth-watering aroma wafted into his nose.
"Thank you, Line."
Leon took the bowl, feeling his taste buds instantly awaken, his appetite in an unprecedentedly grand state.
One wouldn't get to eat anything particularly delicious during an expedition; most of the time, they made do with the emergency rations they carried with them. Therefore, this meal could already be considered a rare delicacy over these past few days, making everyone, including Leon, impatient to feast.
Only one person was still stubbornly chewing on a square-shaped emergency ration.
"Miss Ais, are you really not going to eat?"
Lefiya had also scooped a large bowl for Ais, yet she received no positive feedback from Ais.
"I don't need it."
Ais sat right beside Leon. Her gaze was indeed attracted by the delicacy emitting a rich aroma in Lefiya's hands, but she quickly turned her face away, expressing her refusal expressionlessly.
The young girl didn't dislike delicious food—otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen in love with junk food like fried potato puffs.
However, for some unknown reason, she firmly believed that consuming excessive meals would affect her physical condition during battle. Therefore, solely when she was in the Dungeon, especially during an expedition, she would resolutely refuse fine food, eating only the rations she carried to fill her stomach.
Naturally, Leon did not agree with this viewpoint.
"Eating something nutritious will put your body in a better state, right?"
Leon advised Ais, yet it did not bring about Ais's compromise.
"This is fine."
Ais remained completely unmoved, displaying her iron-clad will.
Leon instantly raised an eyebrow, taking the bowl from Lefiya's hands amidst her dumbfounded expression.
"Here."
He scooped a spoonful, feeding it directly to the edge of Ais's mouth.
"..."
Ais's expressionless face revealed a trace of a blush.
"What?!"
Lefiya, on the other hand, was stimulated by this scene to the point of crying out in alarm, losing her voice.
"Pfft!"
"Cough, cough————!"
Every single person around who noticed this side either spat out their water or coughed up their soup.
"What the hell are you doing? Idiot!"
Bete's face twisted in anger. Just as he wanted to slam his bowl down and walk over, a pair of Amazon twin sisters appeared behind him soundlessly. One pinned him down while the other covered his mouth, dragging the obstructionist away with extreme proficiency and naturalness, completely ignoring his struggles.
"Now this is interesting."
"————What on earth are those two playing at?"
"Haha, Ais's face actually turned red. This scene is truly rare."
Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were either amused, helpless, or laughing heartily.
Leon ignored everyone, staring straight at Ais, as if saying, "If you don't eat, I'll keep holding it like this."
Ais, who had originally maintained an expressionless facade, truly wavered this time. Her gaze shifted, her eyes dodging, but in the end, she still pushed back her hair as if giving up, opened her small mouth, and ate the delicacy delivered before her.
"She ate it!"
"She really ate it!"
"Ah! I'm dead!"
A chorus of wails suddenly drifted from the surroundings once more.
Leon still paid no heed to these. Seeing Ais obediently eating, he smiled slightly and began feeding her spoonful by spoonful.
By the time one finished feeding as if no one else was around and the other finished eating with slightly flushed cheeks, the dead silence of the surroundings was finally noticed.
"————What's wrong with all of you?"
Seeing everyone looking over with bloodshot eyes, Ais actually voiced her confusion.
The naturally airheaded doll princess was completely unaware of just how much of a provocation that scene just now was to the surrounding people.
As for Leon, the moment he turned around, he was startled.
A certain elf girl completely disregarded her racial aversion to touch, bringing her face right up to his, staring at him with lifeless eyes. Dark energy seemed to billow behind her, causing her to emit a terrifying voice.
"Let's duel."
"————I refuse."
Only after such a farce did the atmosphere in the camp gradually cool down, no longer so volatile.
Everyone enjoyed this rare delicious meal one by one, concluding their dinner, and then sat there quietly, waiting for the captain to speak.
Finn didn't stand up either, speaking directly just like that.
"According to our predetermined plan, we have successfully arrived at the 50th floor and established a base here. Next, we can finally launch a challenge against the unreached floors."
Hearing Finn's words, some people revealed serious expressions, while others grew excited.
Tiona was one of those who were excited.
"We can finally go to the 59th floor!" The Amazon girl clenched her fists, speaking happily, "Last time, we had clearly already reached the 58th floor, but in the end, we had no way to continue the conquest. I was super frustrated!"
"What is there to be frustrated about?" Tione said with surprising calmness, "Who told us to lose all our physical strength and items in the end, even losing quite a bit of equipment? In that state, there was simply no way to continue conquering the lower floors, right?"
"That may be true, but it's still very frustrating!"
"That was an order issued by the captain. Are you doubting the captain's decision?"
"I didn't say that, did I?"
"You did!"
The two sisters began to bicker, one pouting while the other lost her composure, looking as if she were about to turn dark, scaring the people beside them.
"Two idiots."
Bete was still there fanning the flames, causing the two sisters to shoot him eerie glances.
"I will continue speaking, everyone listen carefully." Finn didn't get angry either, merely speaking calmly, "This time, before launching the conquest of the 59th floor, we need to first complete an adventurer quest."
An adventurer quest, as the name implied, was a task issued to adventurers—namely, hiring capable adventurers to do work for oneself.
Different from the mandatory missions issued by the Guild that must be completed, adventurer quests emphasized mutual consent between both parties. The client would either directly issue a quest to a specific person, requesting them to do work, or post this task in the Guild. The Guild would record the details of the task on parchment, make it into a quest sheet, and post it in places like the bulletin board. As long as they met the client's requirements, any adventurer could accept it.
Completing an adventurer quest allowed one to collect the reward promised in advance by the client, so many adventurers were also willing to accept some adventurer quests to complete, earning some extra cash while adventuring.
This time, the Loki Familia had also accepted an adventurer quest.
"This adventurer quest is a bit troublesome. The content requires collecting a specified amount of spring water from the Cadmus Spring on the 51st floor."
The moment these words came out, the complexions of many people changed on the spot.
"The Cadmus Spring————"
Leon, who had been listening quietly, also had his pupils contract. As if a certain memory had been awakened, his face sank.
So it was already this point in time?
His very first expedition actually just happened to run into this moment?
As Leon thought this in his heart, his gaze also became deep.
The rest of the people weren't like Leon, but their moods also grew heavy all of a sudden.
It couldn't be helped.
The Cadmus Spring was a location situated on the 51st floor. The spring water produced there possessed multiple efficacies; especially when used to craft potions, the effects were simply staggering. It was a material craved by many high-level, potion-crafting type Familias.
As one of the few large factions capable of exploring the region below the 50th floor, it wasn't surprising for the Loki Familia to accept such an adventurer quest. The problem was that the spring water in the Cadmus Spring wasn't that easy to obtain.
"Tsk————"
Bete clicked his tongue explicitly, uttering a sentence.
"Since we have to go fetch that damned broken spring water, it's inevitable that we'll have to face that guy, right?"
Which guy?
"The Mighty Dragon, Cadmus."
Unsure of who it was that muttered this name in a low voice, the atmosphere on the scene became oppressive.
Cadmus—this was a rare species of monster that claimed the vicinity of the spring as its territory, whose numbers were extremely scarce even in a place like the 51st floor.
It was both the guardian of the spring and the consumer of the spring. Once the spring water in the spring reached a certain amount, it would drink it down greedily. Thus, if one wanted to obtain the spring water from the spring, it was bound to encounter it.
Moreover, its strength was unquestionably of the strongest tier within the 51st floor; even if the Floor Bosses of other floors weren't factored in, among all currently discovered monsters, it was a monster that could firmly sit at the top position of the capability chart.
Its strength might perhaps be even greater than the Floor Boss of the 37th floor, Udaeus.
Therefore, adventurers would refer to it as the "Mighty Dragon" with hearts full of awe.
"I intend to dispatch two squads composed of a small number of elites to the 51st floor, heading to two locations of Cadmus Springs respectively, to obtain the specified amount of spring water."
Finn began to assemble the teams like cutting through tangled hemp with a sharp knife.
"The first group will have myself, Gareth, and Bete as the combat forces, with Raul coming along as the supporter."
"The second group will be composed of Ais, Tiona, and Tione, likewise with one more person added as the supporter."
Without any hesitation, Finn dispatched the first-class adventurers within the expedition force, including himself.
Without first-class adventurers serving as combat forces, it was simply impossible to deal with a character like the Mighty Dragon.
Therefore, this roster could be said to be an inevitable result.
"Riveria will stay behind to guard the camp. There always needs to be a Level 6 Familia leader watching over this side."
Finn turned toward the elven royalty, speaking such words.
"————I don't have a problem with that." Riveria knit her beautiful brows, hesitating for a moment before saying, "But is there really no problem with the members of the second group?"
Everyone instantly looked toward Ais, Tiona, and Tione, falling into silence.
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