Cadmus's Spring

The 50th Floor was a safe floor where monsters didn't spawn.

There were quite a few safe floors like this in the dungeon. While it wasn't guaranteed that no monsters would appear, fewer monsters were coming from other floors, so staying on a safe floor reduced the chances of sudden accidents or attacks. That was why these safe floors became the preferred resting areas for adventurers in the dungeon.

The Loki Familia occupied a cliff on the 50th Floor, which was easily guarded and hard to attack, making it their camp.

The camp had been mostly set up, and the familia members had finished their busy tasks, gathering around the campfire for a meal.

A large pot sat on the fire in the center of the camp, and everyone gathered around it, relaxing and chatting while eating.

Riezel sat in a corner, holding a bowl of soup. Before he could take more than a few sips, a helpless expression appeared on his face.

"Hum! Hum! Now let's see where you're going to run." Tiona sat to his left, looking like she had caught him, wearing a smug expression.

"Seriously, I just got scolded by Captain." Tione, sitting on Tiona's side, was a bit annoyed, chewing on wild fruits to satisfy her hunger and frustration.

"..."

Ais sat on the right, not holding soup or wild fruits, just munching on her rations, looking like she wasn't getting much nutrition.

As for Lefiya, she had already broken.

"Aahh... Sitting between Mr. Riezel and Miss Ais..."

The Elf sandwiched between Riezel and Ais seemed inexplicably happy, with a blush of happiness on her face.

Looking at this scene, Riezel looked around.

Sure enough, many people cast envious and jealous glances at him, even Bete was grinning angrily, seemingly eager to deliver divine punishment to him, who was surrounded by the land of warmth and tenderness.

'...Let's just ignore it.' Riezel could only bury himself in his soup, pretending he didn't see anything.

When everyone had eaten their fill, Finn, as the leader of the expedition party, finally spoke up.

"I'll say a few words first."

His voice captured everyone's attention.

"Firstly, thanks for your hard work, everyone." Finn, with a smile rarely seen since entering the dungeon, continued. "We've safely reached the 50th Floor this time, without any casualties or losses. This alone is worth celebrating. But, the real test is still in front of us."

He toned down his smile a bit.

"Our goal has never been reaching the 50th Floor, but rather the unexplored territory—59th Floor."

This was a floor Loki Familia had yet to conquer.

The highest floor Loki Familia had reached was the 58th. Therefore, exploring and conquering the 59th Floor became the familia's primary objective.

"No doubt, the floor we're about to reach is an area untouched by many familia in Orario, not even Freya Familia has entered the 59th Floor."

Finn's words echoed in everyone's ears, causing them to hold their breath.

"If our familia can successfully reach the 59th Floor, exploring this unknown territory, regardless of the loot, our reputation alone will make us famous throughout Orario, etching our names into history."

For large familia like Loki Familia, dungeon exploration was no longer just about gaining wealth and power; fame was also essential.

With enough fame, Loki Familia could continue to grow, attracting more adventurers to join and gaining more convenience and benefits from the Guild and the city. This solidified the familia's unshakable position in Orario.

Therefore, at Loki Familia's level, the need was no longer just operational funds for survival, as smaller familia required, but rather fame and glory.

For the sake of fame and glory, even certain benefits could be sacrificed as a price.

In this context, reaching the 59th Floor became Loki Familia's top priority.

"However, before heading to the 59th Floor, we need to complete a commission." Finn changed the topic. "I need to send a few elites to the 51st Floor to collect a specified amount of water from Cadmus's Spring."

As soon as his words fell, the expressions of many present members changed.

"Seriously? Are we going to mess with that troublesome Cadmus's Spring?" Tiona, sitting on Riezel's side, groaned.

Ais also raised her head, looking at Finn seriously.

Riezel's mind was filled with information about Cadmus's Spring.

It was a very rare geyser scattered on the 51st Floor. The water collected from this geyser could be used to make very valuable potions.

In the business type familia, especially those focused on medicine or alchemy, there was a demand for this type of spring water.

Well-known medicinal familia, especially those with a reputation, had a high demand for this water, which could only be collected from super-deep floors. To meet this demand, Loki Familia, as an exploration-type familia capable of reaching the 51st Floor, had received this kind of task more than once to collect a specified amount of spring water.

Such tasks were typically referred to as adventurer commissions.

Familia without the strength to reach specific floors and gather their own materials often issue adventurer commissions to more powerful familia. They offer a certain reward in return for the familia collecting materials for them.

This time, Loki Familia received such a commission.

However, this was by no means an easy task.

"Cadmus's Spring has a guardian." Finn said with a serious tone.

"Cadmus, nicknamed the 'Strong Dragon', is a dragon species monster. The spring water from Cadmus's Spring is basically this monster's possession, and it swallows up most of it every time it erupts."

In other words, to obtain the water from Cadmus's Spring, they had to face this dragon. The classification level of this dragon was Level 6.

It was a rare species specialized in strength. If talking about 'STR (Strength)' alone, Cadmus exceeded even the 37th Floor's floor boss, Udaeus.

This was why most familiar members' expressions changed color at the mention of it. Even Tiona couldn't help but groan, while Ais became serious.

Of course, if that was the only issue, this commission wouldn't be too troublesome.

After all, Udaeus had been defeated by Loki Familia countless times before, and with the familia's strength, there was no need to fear a single dragon, right?

The problem was, this time, Finn planned to send out only a few elites.

"A limited amount of water can be collected from one Cadmus's Spring. To reach the specified amount, we have to go to two different geysers."

"We've been in the dungeon for two weeks already, and our supplies are running low. Considering that, after completing this adventurer commission, we still need to go to the 59th Floor and the return journey will take at least five or six days, we can't spend too much time on the adventurer commission to avoid depleting our supplies."

"Therefore, we need to split into two parties, head to the two geysers simultaneously, to improve efficiency, and shorten the time. Also, since the location of the geysers can't accommodate too many people, it's better to have fewer people. This way, the operation will be more convenient."

Finn explained, laying out each consideration.

"First-class adventurers will be the main priority of this commission, with only a few of them being dispatched, while the rest will stay back at the camp."

Finn began selecting the commission's participants. Naturally, the first to be considered were the top executives and executives. Since the priority was on first-class adventurers, they couldn't escape.

"Gareth, Bete, and I will form one party, and bring in a Level 4 as a supporter."

"Ais, Tiona, Tione, you three will be in a party together, and find a reliable supporter as well."

"Riveria will stay at the camp, responsible for defending it."

As Finn made his arrangements, the participants nodded in succession. However, Bete, with a frown, voiced his concerns.

"Oy, oy, is it okay not to have a Level 6 in the second party?"

Facing a Level 6 dragon species monster stronger than the 37th Floor's floor boss, it was indeed worrisome that the second party didn't have a Level 6 member. 

Finn, however, seemed to have considered this thoroughly.

"Are you okay with this, Ais?" Finn, ignoring Bete's complaint, turned to Ais and calmly asked.

"No problem." Ais replied with an expressionless face, leaving Bete speechless.

Everyone knew why Finn specifically asked Ais. It was because her strength was no less than that of Level 6. With her Level 5 status and Ariel, she could undoubtedly display power comparable to Level 6.

With Ais in the second party, even facing a strong dragon wouldn't pose too much of a problem.

Riezel, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed something fishy.

'Is Captain grouping them like this to toughen up the familia executive's capabilities?

The Level 5 executives were destined to be the backbone of the familia. Whether it was Ais or the Amazoness sisters, they were all still young, not even eighteen yet. At this age, in Riezel's previous life, they wouldn't even have finished high school yet.

To give these future backbones of the familia as much training as possible and develop their independent act capabilities, Finn deliberately arranged for these three girls to form a party.

As for Bete, who was also a Level 5, his age was already twenty-two and had experienced much more than others, so he didn't need much worrying about.

The only problem was that relying solely on these three girls to act, even if they were strong, was a bit concerning in terms of their approach to situations.

After all, these three weren't the type to calmly handle emergencies and make proper arrangements and decisions. Having only these three in action was bound to lead to some unexpected events.

"Then..." Finn turned his head to Riezel. "Riezel, go with them."

With those words, everyone's attention once again focused on Riezel.

"Me?" Riezel was taken aback.

"Yup." Finn nodded with a faint smile. "Since what we need is the 'strength' of first-class adventurers, with your strength, do you think you can escape this commission?"

Everyone understood the implied meaning in Finn's words. His point was straightforward. Like Ais, he believed that Riezel already possessed strength not inferior to Level 5.

It wasn't just Finn who thought so. After discussions among familia's top executives, such as Riveria and Gareth, they unanimously agreed that Riezel now had strength comparable to Level 5.

Therefore, this time, Finn not only wanted to train Ais, Tiona, and Tione but also to focus on training Riezel.