First Acquaintance with the Clan Cadre

Lying on the green lawn, feeling the breeze brush against him.

If not for experiencing it firsthand, who would have imagined that such a beautiful scene could exist within the eerie and terrifying Dungeon?

Half an hour passed quickly. Shirou Emiya rose from the grass, stood still to stretch his limbs, and assessed his condition.

"It looks like I've mostly recovered! As expected, exploring the Dungeon is impossible without Elixirs."

Shirou Emiya's stamina and mental energy had been restored by the Elixir, but the wounds on his body, though the bleeding had stopped, could not heal completely in just half an hour.

Still, Shirou Emiya didn't mind. No matter how bad his condition was, could it be worse than when he fought Angelica?

Thinking this, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but touch his hair. The strand of white at his forehead showed no sign of recovering.

Even though his body had been nursed back to health during his time in Orario, that one lock remained stubbornly unchanged.

"Forget it, now's not the time to think about other things!"

Shouldering his backpack and projecting the Twin Swords, Shirou Emiya headed toward the passage leading to the 17th Floor.

This was his adventure. He had to complete it perfectly.

With that, he charged straight in.

Thirteenth Floor.

Punching the monster in front of her into ash without using a weapon, Tiona relentlessly cleared the creatures before her.

Unlike Shirou Emiya, who was sprinting full speed against the clock, the main force of the Loki Familia advanced leisurely through the middle floors like a casual stroll.

The reason for this, aside from their lack of urgency, was that several problem children in the group had been spurred into a frenzy by Shirou Emiya's heroic display, slaughtering everything in sight.

The vanguard was too busy fighting monsters to focus on traveling—that was why their progress was so slow.

"Can't these guys give me a break?"

Watching the four problem children—Ais, Bete, Tiona, and Tione—charging around wildly, the most worried of them all, Riveria, sighed while pressing a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Don't be upset, Riveria. It's only natural. After seeing a fight like that, it's not just the four of them—even I feel a bit itchy, wanting to get some action!"

Finn, the captain, wasn't angry. He comforted Riveria while watching the four fight with a light chuckle.

"No, you'd better not. If even you, the captain, can't hold back and charge in, these guys will only get more reckless!"

Riveria quickly urged Finn to drop the idea. As the captain, he had to set an example.

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I'm standing right here, aren't I?"

Finn had long since passed the stage of youthful impulsiveness. As the captain of the Loki Familia, he was quite steady.

"But what do you think of that adventurer from earlier?"

Finn's expression turned serious. As the Familia's captain, his mind couldn't help but wander.

"Judging by his movements, he's probably just stepped into LV.2. But with stats like that, making it to the 16th Floor—aside from Skills and Magic, it's mostly technique."

As adventurers who had lived through the Dark Age, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were all top-tier in combat skill.

Yet from Shirou Emiya, they could see techniques that rivaled their own.

Moreover, those were techniques for fighting people, not monsters—different from Ais and the others' monster-slaying style. Though he hid it well, Finn could still pick up on a hint of something suspicious.

Because of this, Finn couldn't help but grow wary.

Could this sudden combat prodigy be a secret agent trained by the Dark Faction?

Riveria understood Finn's doubts—she had thought the same at first. But now, she had a new question.

"If he were a genius secretly trained by the Dark Faction, his actions today would be far too conspicuous!"

On their way back from the 16th Floor, they had run into adventurers from other Familias.

From them, Riveria learned that this adventurer hadn't just appeared before them by chance. From the 13th Floor to the 15th Floor, many adventurers were talking about his deeds.

Especially his ability to fire attacks comparable to Magic Swords—it left people utterly stunned.

There were too many witnesses. That didn't fit the Dark Faction's methods.

Finn nodded slightly and dropped the topic.

After all, no matter how talented the other party was, he was only LV.2. The future pillar of the Loki Familia, the Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein, was already LV.5!

If he wanted to catch up to Ais, he still had a long way to go!

"Thinking like this might be too greedy, but if only that kid were a member of our Familia..."

Hearing Finn's sigh, Riveria couldn't help but smile. "That really is a greedy thought."

The two exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

"What are the Captain and Riveria laughing about?"

Having finished her fight, Tiona looked at Finn and Riveria in confusion, while Ais beside her tilted her head, equally puzzled.

"Ahem, nothing."

Seeing the problem children return, Riveria quickly stifled her laughter and put on a serious face.

Finn, meanwhile, smoothly changed the subject.

"How is it? Feeling better now? If you're done, we need to keep moving!"

"All good, all good. We're officially heading back now."

Knowing they were in the wrong, the foursome didn't dare ask any more questions and returned to the front to clear the path.

Soon, their group passed through the Thirteenth Floor and reached the passage leading to the Twelfth Floor.

Just as Finn and the others were about to enter the Twelfth Floor, a sudden explosion caught their attention.

Boom!

That familiar sound instantly brought a tall, upright figure to everyone's minds.

Ais, who had been walking at the very front, immediately changed direction and headed back.

Seeing this, the rest of the group turned around one after another.

Not long after, that red figure once again appeared before their eyes.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Facing the surging tide of monsters, Shirou Emiya, now close to reaching the upper floors, no longer held back his magical power. Three consecutive blasts of Illusionary Collapse instantly cleared the surrounding monsters.

Then, riding the explosions and the storm, he closed the distance to the Loki Familia in an instant.

"Yo, young man!"

Finn, extremely curious about this boy's origins and surprised by the coincidence of meeting him again, took the initiative to greet him.

Hearing Finn's call, Shirou Emiya finally looked over.

Earlier, because there were still monsters behind him, Shirou Emiya hadn't moved toward crowded areas.

After all, according to the unwritten rules of the Dungeon, you don't approach others during battle without their permission—it could easily cause misunderstandings.

The tactic of using others to draw aggro from monsters you've attracted, known as Monster Baiting, never goes out of style.

As the saying goes: I don't have to outrun the monsters—I just have to outrun you!

So Shirou Emiya had been avoiding crowds the whole time. It wasn't until Finn called out that he noticed them.

Staring at the flag planted in the center of the group, Shirou Emiya was a bit dumbfounded.

Wasn't that his own Familia's flag? Had one of their big shots returned?

He quickly approached, walking up to Finn under the wary gazes of the group.

"Excuse me, are you Captain Finn of the Loki Familia?"

"That's right, I am. And you are?"

Finn was genuinely caught off guard that this suspected genius of the Dark Faction had come over to talk to him on his own.

Seeing that it really was Finn, Shirou Emiya smiled excitedly and said, "Captain, nice to meet you. I'm a new member of the Familia. My name is Shirou Emiya!"

"What? You're a rookie in our Loki Familia?"

Finn and Riveria exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

Though they had entertained the thought before, it was just a fleeting idea. Who knew it would actually turn out to be true?

What was this? A miracle?

Stunned by the news, the Loki Familia members were all left speechless. Even the usually composed Riveria asked excitedly, "You're really a rookie? Then how did you end up all the way on the Sixteenth Floor?"

Hearing Riveria's question, Shirou Emiya scratched the back of his head and replied a little sheepishly, "I did officially become an adventurer in the Loki Familia while you seniors were away on the expedition. As for going down to the Sixteenth Floor... that was for an adventure!"

"It was the Great Deed I needed to reach LV.2. I went down to the Seventeenth Floor and came back. I call it A Small Expedition."

"Huh???"

The Loki Familia members were instantly stunned into shouting.