"Hermes Familia"

Dungeon, 18th Floor.

At this time, the 18th Floor, like the ground floor, is in the "daytime" period.

The crystal clusters in the dome formed a blue sky, casting down light and illuminating the entire circular floor, making the Under Resort as beautiful as ever.

Leo and Ais traversed floors 10-17 in less than an hour. Although they saved time by using the vertical caves in the middle floors, they still arrived safely. They passed through the southern forests and grasslands, reached the western lakeside, and finally arrived at the island in the lake. They walked up the cliffs and entered Rivira Town, which they had visited many times recently.

As mentioned earlier, the dilapidated town has now been completely restored. Stalls line the streets one after another, and wooden shops have sprung up one after another. With the terrain and everything else repaired by the Dungeon itself, the entire town is as if nothing had ever happened, completely restored to its original appearance, allowing adventurers to enjoy the bustling town scene.

Let's go to the tavern first.

Leo said something to Ais beside him, and she nodded silently in response.

The tavern he mentioned was located in the north of the town, on a side road near the Crystal Street formed by a long, narrow crystal canyon, inside a cave with a large opening in the rough rock wall, a place known to only a very few people.

Even the crystal light from the dome couldn't penetrate there; it was narrow and rather dark. The shop was called "Golden Cellar Pavilion." There was only a sign at the entrance of the cave with a red arrow pointing diagonally downwards. You could only reach it by walking down the wooden steps that were set up inside the cave.

According to the man in black, the helpers he had provided for the two of them were waiting for them here.

After a series of twists and turns, Leo and Ais finally found the location, descended the unbuilt stairs, entered the cave, and finally stepped into the underground tavern, which had no doors or partitions.

The most striking feature of this underground tavern is a crystal pillar emitting a yellow light that grows in the center of the ravine.

The 18th Floor was filled with white and blue crystals, but the citrine was a first for Leo and Ais, who were new to the place. They couldn't help but look at it several times before they began to look around.

The tavern space that came into view was neither too big nor too small. It was entirely surrounded by exposed black rock walls, and several tables and chairs were placed inside. Magic Stone lamps were installed on the ceiling and walls, providing lighting along with yellow crystals.

To Leo and Ais's surprise, despite its remote location and the fact that few people knew of its existence, the tavern was not deserted at all; instead, it was full of customers.

Some were gambling at the tables, some were drinking and chatting, some were playing cards, and some were arm wrestling with Magic Stone of varying sizes as chips, filling all five tables except for the bar in the corner of the tavern.

Inside the long bar, besides a liquor cabinet filled with bottles of various colors, there was only a dwarf owner and an orc girl.

"Well?"

Before Leo could react to seeing the orc girl, Ais was surprised.

"Miss Lulune?"

Ais called out the other person's name.

"Huh?" The orc girl turned her head when she heard Ais's voice, and then exclaimed in surprise, "[Sword Princess]? And Leo Eligos? What are you doing here?"

This person is Lulune Louis, a member of the Hermes Familia, who was commissioned by the man in black to receive the Jewel Fetus Lulune this floor as the recipient. She was then pursued by the mysterious woman and was eventually rescued by the appearance of Leo, Ais, and others.

The other party clearly did not expect to see Leo and Ais here again, Ais also did not expect to see the other party here again.

Only Leo glanced at the other person, smiled, and said something.

"You actually dared to come back to this floor?"

That expression clearly implied that the other person had developed a psychological aversion to the place and was afraid to come back.

"Hahaha----" Lulune chuckled dryly, then her smile turned bitter. She said, "I don't want to come back either, but what can I do? What adventurer doesn't stop here for supplies?"

Ais opened her mouth, about to say something, but Leo spoke first.

"While the Hermes Familia isn't immune to venturing into Dungeon, your family's operations are quite diverse, and the attack only occurred ten days ago. Unless there's a specific reason, a member of the Hermes Familia shouldn't be entering the Dungeon so soon, right?"

Leo, in a playful tone, exposed Lulune's lie.

"If I'm not mistaken, you didn't come here as an adventurer this time, but rather, like last time, you've been commissioned again."

Upon hearing this, Lulune's expression froze.

Seeing this, Ais immediately understood what was going on.

"----Are you the helper mentioned by the mysterious client?"

Ais cast another surprised glance at Lulune.

Upon seeing this, Lulune's stiff face couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.

"You... you know the client?" Lulune asked in surprise, as if she had just realized something. "Could it be that you are the saviors the client mentioned?"

These words immediately caused a huge commotion in the surrounding area.

The people who had been drinking, chatting, gambling, and playing cards all stopped what they were doing, stood up, and stared at Leo and Ais, freezing the atmosphere in the room.

This caused Ais to instinctively grip the Desperate at her waist.

Only Leo remained calm, watching without doing anything.

Under these circumstances, a person walked over.

She was a female adventurer wearing a pure white cloak and boot-shaped sandals decorated with golden wings, with a belt around her waist from which hung a short sword and several leather suits.

The woman had striking shoulder-length light blue hair with a strand dyed white, and blue eyes that matched her hair color. She also wore silver glasses. Her appearance was neat and delicate, giving her an intellectual and intelligent air.

"I never expected that the people we were waiting for here would be the famous [Sword Princess] and the monster rookie. I don't know whether to be happy or not."

The other party said this.

Leo's scrutinizing gaze began to shift to the other person, and even Ais stared intently at her.

Both of them recognized the person in front of them.

"Who are you----"

Ais's tone even carried a hint of surprise.

"[The Perseus]----"

Yes.

The female adventurer before them was none other than Asfi, one of the few in Orario to possess the title of "Perseus," a rare master of magical artifacts and the leader of the Hermes Familia.

Although she is only a Level 4, Level 2 adventurer, and claims to be only Level 2, her reputation is comparable to that of the top Level 1 adventurers in the city.

She has invented countless potions and items through the development of her "mysterious" ability, including but not limited to potions that can block curses and abnormal status effects, harps whose timbre can attract specific monsters, and quill pens that do not require ink. These magical items are best-selling products throughout Orario and are extremely rare.

Therefore, her fame was in no way inferior to Ais's, Ais recognized her almost immediately.

Just call me Asfi, [Sword Princess].

9

Asfi pushed up her glasses, responded to Ais first, and then looked at Leo.

"I've heard so much about this person. I've heard that the Loki Familia recently produced a monster rookie who has grown into a first-class adventurer at an incredible speed. Today I've finally met him."

As she spoke, Asfi extended her hand to Leo and shook his hand.

"Just call me Leo." Leo responded to Asfi with the same words, glanced around at the people looking at them, and said, "It seems that the man in black has prepared more than just Lulune Louis as our helper."

Even the leader of the Hermes Familia has personally appeared here, so it's easy to guess the identities of the people around him.

Undoubtedly, they were all members of Hermes Familia.

The helpers that the men in black had prepared for Leo and Ais were the entire Hermes Familia.

"I really wanted to refuse." Asfi seemed upset at the mention of the matter, as if she had been through a lot. She sighed, "But there's nothing I can do. Our members are already involved, and they have something on us."

Under the command of the Chief God, many members of the Hermes Familia lied about their ranks.

If this matter is exposed, the entire clan will definitely be punished, and the faction's rank will rise sharply, causing the taxes paid to the guild to skyrocket.

The man in black is from the guild; before entrusting the matter to the Hermes Spring Familia, he must have already seized control of their lifeline.

Adding to what had happened before, Asfi had no choice but to involve her clan members in this matter.

"Thankfully, knowing that you were the ones who came to my rescue, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

Asfi's expression did relax slightly.

Although the number of these two people in front of them is far less than that of their side, their quality is much higher.

One is Leo Eligos, who has recently gained widespread fame and made a name for himself. He has even single-handedly defeated the floor master and teamed up with his companion to defeat Udaeus. He is now a first-level adventurer.

One is Ais Wallenstein, who has been famous for a long time and was renowned worldwide as early as seven or eight years ago. She possesses both strength and beauty and is known as the strongest female swordsman in the city. Now, she has also reached a higher level and become even stronger.

The two were Lv.5 and Lv.6 respectively, and their combat strength far surpassed that of any member of the Hermes Familia.

With two first-tier adventurers assisting them, the Hermes Familia shouldn't be under so much pressure, right?