The Gradually Changing Situation

By this time, the earth was probably already entering dusk, and night was about to fall.

The Loki Familia members quickly set up their tents, gradually perfecting the campsite.

One of the tents, which was particularly large and surrounded by a curtain, had already been erected with flags bearing faction emblems, and the flags with clown designs were fluttering in the wind.

Leo, like the other members of the group, was carrying equipment and setting up tents, while greeting people who kept passing by.

"How are things going on your end, Leo?"

"Are you alright? Do you need any help?"

"Let me teach you a little trick. You can set up your tent like this, it'll be much easier."

"Dinner's almost ready, I'll help you out."

Whenever the group members see Leo, they immediately come up to him and chat. Those who are free will also lend him a hand so that he can complete his work more quickly.

Leo didn't refuse, mingling with the others, laughing and doing things, completely immersed in the group.

When he finished his work, someone else approached him with a smile.

"You're quite popular, Leo. Everyone's trying to talk to you."

17

The person who said this was, of course, Tiona.

The little Amazonian angel, with his hands behind his back, hopped closer and brought his face right up to Leo's, laughing at him up close.

"It seems you're gradually gaining recognition from others, not bad."

Tione stood beside her younger sister, arms crossed, watching Leo with a half-smile on her face.

Ais followed behind the Amazon twins.

The girl remained silent as always, not speaking immediately, but looking at Leo with concern.

Leo smiled slightly at the girl, then looked at the twins in front of him.

"After all, we've fought side by side; how bad could things get?"

Leo did not deny his popularity and recognition.

In fact, ever since he single-handedly killed the floor master Goliath in front of everyone and thus advanced to Lv.3, many people in the Familia have changed their attitude towards him.

Although he didn't have a bad relationship with everyone in the past, and senior members of the familia such as Raul had taken good care of him, otherwise they wouldn't have prepared a gift for him when he first entered the Dungeon, at that time, in their eyes, Leo was just a weak junior. To put it nicely, he needed their care; to put it bluntly, he wasn't qualified to be on equal footing with them.

Most of the male members, in particular, had long harbored resentment towards Leo, this junior of unknown origin, for getting so close to the Doll Princess in their household. While they wouldn't say they were extremely hostile towards him, their attitude was certainly unfriendly.

However, ever since Leo began to show his talent, especially after demonstrating his ability to single-handedly kill a level 4 floor master at level 2, many members of his familia have changed their opinion of him.

They began to take Leo seriously, regarding Leo as an equal. Many even belatedly realized that they might not even be as good as Leo, so they began to let go of their resentment and, as if stimulated, entered a state of intense competition.

Thanks to this, even if they didn't say it explicitly, Leo knew that many people were more accepting of his close relationship with Ais.

He proved to everyone that he was no longer the weak and helpless trainee member who could only handle logistics, but an adventurer who could even solo the floor master.

If someone like him doesn't deserve to be by Ais's side, then who does?

Therefore, the number of people who are dissatisfied with his good relationship with Ais has greatly decreased. Only envy and jealousy remain, which sometimes make them put on a sour face.

Then, during this expedition, Leo's performance also won over many people.

During this long expedition that lasted six or seven days, Leo faithfully stayed in the position of the rear guard Mage, not only displaying magical firepower that others could not match and a beautiful magical control ability, but also saving countless people with this skill.

Putting aside everything else, just consider the Great Wilderness before reaching the 50th Floor. The expeditionary force was attacked by a huge horde of monsters. The vanguard warriors were almost overwhelmed by the massive and powerful monsters. Some of the monsters that escaped even broke through the defenses of the middle guards and reached the rear guard position, launching an attack on the Mage and supporters.

As a result, Leo completely erupted in this sudden attack, abandoning even his incantation and instantly summoning countless dazzling meteors that danced across the entire battlefield.

Countless meteors streaked erratically, some falling from the sky and crashing to the ground, blasting away large numbers of monsters, while others, as if alive, bypassed their companions, striking monsters that were about to attack others, killing countless monsters on the spot and saving all those who were attacked.

This powerful magical attack and magical show completely won over all of Loki Familia.

In addition, Leo's performance throughout the journey has been equally outstanding and remarkable, leaving many people in awe of his abilities, which has created this scene.

It can only be said that relationships built on shared experiences are indeed different and easily foster deeper bonds.

That's exactly the case with Leo now; he's gaining more and more recognition within his clan, enough to make many people show him goodwill.

Certainly----

"Isn't that wolf still ignoring you?"

Tiona stuck out her tongue at Bete Loga, who was setting up a tent and looked utterly bored.

Luckily, they weren't seen, otherwise these two would definitely have started arguing again.

Tione, however, had a different opinion.

"That stupid wolf still has that sour face, but haven't you noticed he hasn't come looking for trouble?" Tione, surprisingly composed and reliable when it came to matters outside of the Prum leader, said pointedly, "Others don't get that treatment."

Leo also glanced in Bete Loga's direction.

During the expedition, he saw many times that the werewolf had berated his team members, and the werewolf had given them a thorough and merciless scolding.

These people either made some basic mistakes in the battle, almost causing the defense line to collapse, or they suddenly encountered danger and almost lost their lives.

At this point, Bete Loga would often step forward and give those people a severe dressing-down, using the most offensive and hurtful language imaginable.

Even Raul was scolded. His face turned white, and he curled up into a ball with his head down, almost as if he wanted to burrow into the ground.

Under such circumstances, it was indeed strange that Leo, a so-called nobody who had always been looked down upon by Bete Loga, was not bothered even once during this expedition.

Leo, however, was fully aware of this and knew why Bete Loga would do such a thing.

This unlikable werewolf, despite his many insults, has actually helped almost everyone he's ever insulted.

When someone makes a mistake that almost causes the defense to collapse, it is Bete Loga who immediately rushes forward to fill the gap. Bete Loga is also the one who saves those who suddenly encounter danger and almost lose their lives.

This werewolf may be rude and annoying, but if anything goes wrong or anyone is in danger, he's always the first to rush in.

This actually explains a lot of things.

Unfortunately, little angel Tiona couldn't see any of this.

"He just hasn't found an opportunity yet. If he had, Leo would have been given a real dressing down." Tiona, without any hesitation, hugged Leo's arm and said innocently, "You'd better watch out for that guy, Leo. He's definitely looking for a chance to ambush you."

Leo didn't respond to that, but glanced at Ais out of the corner of his eye and noticed that she was staring at his hand, which was being held by Tiona.

Leo felt inexplicably guilty about this, coughed lightly, and subtly broke free from Tiona.

"Where are Lefiya Viridis and Lefiya? I haven't seen them."

Upon hearing this, Tiona didn't think much of it and smiled as she spoke.

They're cooking!

Tiona pointed in a direction, and Leo looked in that direction.

There, a large pot was placed over a campfire, and Lefiya Viridis, Lefiya, and other girls were around it, adding ingredients and stirring it occasionally with utensils, clearly enjoying the process of cooking.

At this moment, Ais finally mustered up her courage and walked over.

"Are you alright?"

The girl didn't care at all whether Leo was popular or not, nor was she surprised by whether he had gained recognition or not. She was just checking on Leo's condition to see if he had any problems.

"Of course not." Leo shook his head and smiled, "With you all protecting me, I'm perfectly safe."

This isn't flattery; it's the truth.

With Leo's level 3 strength, he completely lost the ability to fight monsters in close combat after arriving at the deeper levels.

Monsters of level 4 are everywhere here, and even level 5 monsters are common. If Leo were to attack with his sword, he probably wouldn't even be able to break through their defenses, and might even get killed with a single punch.

Here, he is Mage who can only function under the protection of his clan members; only his outstanding magical firepower can be effective.

Without the protection of his clan members, he simply couldn't have survived fighting in a place like this.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for Leo.

Because every monster here is stronger than him, he gains a massive amount of experience points for each one he defeats, and he probably has accumulated quite a few high-level experience points for achieving great feats.

When facing a stronger opponent, a group of weaker individuals can cooperate and join forces to defeat the enemy, thereby gaining high-level experience points for leveling up.

Even if the experience points gained at this time are distributed among everyone in the team, it is still the best way for the weak to defeat the strong, and it is much safer than adventuring alone.

Most adventurers actually hone their skills in this way, gradually accumulating high-level experience points to level up.

Those who, like Leo before them, defeat strong opponents in one-on-one battles and thus level up are actually in the minority.

At this moment, Leo wondered if he would be able to level up again after returning from this expedition.

He was looking forward to it.