Watched by Freya from the Start!

"Tell us everything you know~"

Loki spoke, but her expression turned serious. Clearly, she understood the implications behind this.

"This newcomer named Cao Ye arrived in Orario a month ago. He was staying at an inn in the Third District, but the owner of that inn has now gone missing."

At that, Finn lowered his head slightly, while everyone else wore different expressions.

No one present was an idiot. Cao Ye had been taken away by Freya, and then the owner of the inn where he had stayed vanished. Anyone would know something was fishy.

"That woman is getting more and more brazen."

Murdering someone openly in Orario was strictly forbidden. If discovered, the punishment would be severe.

However, such things were extremely difficult to prove. As a result, incidents like this constantly occurred in Orario's darkness, and most of them could not be dealt with.

Still, being as blatantly reckless as Freya—leaving behind a trail that could be uncovered with a simple investigation—was something only a powerful Familia like the Freya Familia would dare to do.

"There is one more important matter. Before joining the Freya Familia, this Cao Ye had already been exploring the Dungeon for over half a month, and his strength improved rapidly."

"Hm? You mean he fought Dungeon monsters without a blessing?"

"If nothing unexpected happened, then yes. There are no other records of him in the Guild."

Finn's tone turned serious as he spoke. He had spent a favor to obtain this information. After all, as a neutral organization, the Guild did not disclose registration records to outsiders.

Dwarves and Elves Clash!

In Orario, adventurers unquestionably held the highest status. Everyone acknowledged this.

That was because only those who joined a god's Familia and received a blessing could grow stronger and gain the qualifications to enter the Dungeon and fight the monsters within.

Although there were no restrictions on entering the Dungeon, ordinary people had far too little chance of surviving if they went inside.

Not to mention surviving without a blessing while entering the Dungeon continuously for half a month. Once might have been luck, but over half a month could not be explained away by luck.

"Finn, can you confirm it?"

"I can. Raul knows someone in the Third District. That person saw Cao Ye before and claimed that he once saw Cao Ye return covered in wounds. Judging by how he looked, he never expected Cao Ye to survive."

"It seems Freya has discovered a precious gem."

As Loki spoke, a trace of envy flashed through her eyes, along with a faint hint of concern.

Although the Loki Familia was developing well, it was ultimately still somewhat inferior to the Freya Familia, especially in terms of its strongest fighters. Her Familia did not even have a single Level 7.

The previous era of Orario had been its golden age. There had even been Level 7, Level 8, and Level 9 adventurers.

Thus, Loki understood better than anyone how enormous the gap between Level 7 and Level 6 truly was. It had always been one of her greatest worries.

As an evil god, Loki had never been a kindhearted person. She knew that she and Freya could coexist peacefully now only because the gap between their forces was not yet too great.

If the Freya Familia were to produce a second Level 7 in the future, or even a new Level 8, she had no doubt that Freya would make a move against her.

After all, that was exactly what Loki herself had done in the past. She had joined forces with Freya to bring down the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, then climbed to the top herself.

If given the chance, Freya would naturally recreate that scene. Of course, Loki would do the same in her place.

After all, who would not want to stand alone at the top? Peaceful coexistence was merely what remained when nothing could be changed.

"I also have some information. I learned a few things about Cao Ye from a junior at the Guild."

"What things?"

"This Cao Ye has a very laid-back personality and does whatever he wants. According to her description, he spends no more than half a day in the Dungeon each day—sometimes not even a third of a day."

"Hm?"

The others were stunned by Riveria's words.

Finn in particular was taken aback. As an old rival of the Freya Familia, he knew very well how intense the internal competition within that Familia was. Every one of them was like a madman, desperately pushing themselves to grow stronger.

If the Loki Familia was a warm and harmonious family, then the Freya Familia was a fiercely competitive corporation—a Familia where internal competition had been taken to the extreme.

"And Freya allows that?"

"I'm not sure. But he wanders around Orario every day and often visits the Hostess of Fertility. He also spends money lavishly, so he probably isn't short on funds."

"This is truly strange. If he really is talented, would Freya let him waste his time like that?"

If he truly was talented, such behavior would be wasting his potential.

Then again, Freya was not that kind of person. Otherwise, the Battlefield Wilderness would not exist. It was the cruelest training method for a Familia in all of Orario.

"Oh, and he should be living in Babel Tower. That can be confirmed—he comes down from Babel Tower every day and returns there at night."

At that moment, Finn added another detail, nearly causing Loki's brain to overheat.

He even lived in Babel Tower. Forget ordinary people—even the number of gods permitted to live there was limited. If he were just some kid with no potential, how could he possibly be allowed to stay there?

Loki had a headache. There was still too little information, and what they had was too scattered and chaotic to judge properly.

"I really don't understand what you're all discussing. If you want to know what kind of guy this kid is, why not just go meet him? What can you possibly figure out by sitting here talking in circles?"

Gareth, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke, fully displaying a dwarf's blunt nature.

His words immediately plunged the room into silence.

Loki, Finn, and Riveria exchanged glances, each wondering what the others were thinking.

"You make it sound so easy. Who is supposed to approach him? He belongs to the Freya Familia. If we go to him recklessly, do you think the Freya Familia won't read too much into it?"

"So we should just keep discussing it here? What will that accomplish?"

"Then tell me, who should approach him? You? Or should I go?"

"Are you looking for trouble, you irritating elf?"

"Shut up, you dwarf who speaks without thinking!"

As their tones grew increasingly heated, the atmosphere changed instantly. They had been discussing what to do about Cao Ye, yet it had somehow turned into an internal conflict.

Both Riveria and Gareth had lost their tempers.

They had been comrades for many years, people who could entrust their backs to one another in the Dungeon, but that did not mean they had no disagreements.

On the contrary, proud elves and overbearing dwarves had looked down on one another for countless years.

Although they belonged to the same Familia and had worked together for many years, they still had plenty of friction in daily life. Things were already much better now than before.

"Alright, alright, you two, calm down~"

Finn hurriedly interrupted them. Over the years, it was hardly rare for Gareth and Riveria's disagreements to escalate from arguments into fights.

Although they knew their limits and would not go too far, they could not act as recklessly as they had in the past now that they were the family's elders.

"Hmph!"

After glancing at Finn, Gareth took a step back and stopped confronting Riveria.

Riveria also suppressed her emotions and calmed down, returning to her usual noble elven demeanor.

Looking at his two old friends, Finn could only sigh helplessly. After all these years, why are their tempers still like this?

"This Cao Ye has a good relationship with an old friend of mine."

"Your old friend?"

"That's right. Edward~"

"Oh, Edward. But how did he come to know Cao Ye?"

"I don't know either. I saw them by chance when I went to drink with him before."

Although the dwarven owner was only Level 3, having a sizable stall inside Babel Tower was not something an ordinary person could achieve.

Monster Feast, Minotaurs Attack!

Clang—

With a crisp impact, a sword pierced through a half-orc's body and nailed it to the wall.

Then, with a bang, the half-orc instantly burst apart and turned into a cloud of black smoke that vanished, leaving only a pale purple magic stone lying quietly on the ground.

There were quite a few similar scenes around him.

"It's useful, but it really burns through money~"

Cao Ye opened the gate to Imaginary Space and stored away all the weapons and magic stones before speaking slowly.

Still, when you had an ability like this, not using it felt wrong. It was like buying the latest Fruit phone when you were in school—could you really resist using it?

He glanced at the longsword in his hand. Its blade already showed obvious wear. Even if it was not badly damaged yet, its lifespan was already counting down.

After cleaning up the area, Cao Ye looked straight ahead.

He was currently on the sixteenth floor of the Dungeon. As long as he passed through the passageway ahead, he would reach the seventeenth floor.

That was Cao Ye's task for the day: explore the seventeenth floor of the Dungeon.

The seventeenth floor was the room of the Floor Boss and the only path leading to the safe zone on the eighteenth floor.

Floor Bosses, also known as Solitary Kings of the Labyrinth, were monsters that had existed since ancient times. Only one existed at a time, and it moved alone only on the floor where it was born. Such monsters were called [Floor Bosses].

[Floor Bosses] generally possessed strength roughly two levels higher than other monsters on the same floor, and their respawn cycles were not fixed.

Although the standard for judging their strength was the same as for adventurers, Floor Bosses often possessed enormous bodies, powerful special abilities, and equipment. They were far more dangerous than adventurers of the same level and usually required a group to defeat.

Like Goliath, the Floor Boss of the seventeenth floor. Its potential strength was around Level 4. For most adventurers, it was an unbeatable disaster. Encountering it meant death or serious injury.

Tap—tap—tap—

Unlike the cavern-like environment of the previous floors, the seventeenth floor was brightly lit, with many crystals embedded throughout the surroundings.

In addition, there was an incomparably massive crystal wall. It was said that Goliath was born from within that wall. Cao Ye did not know whether that was true. Although he had watched the anime, he had only been watching it, and he did not remember everything clearly now.

"Wow~"

Walking through the passageway on the seventeenth floor, Cao Ye stared at the gigantic crystal wall before him, unable to describe the shock in his heart.

Sure enough, seeing it with his own eyes was completely different from seeing it in an anime. Such a miracle of supernatural craftsmanship would definitely have been turned into a tourist attraction in his old world.

Crack—

Boom—boom—boom—

Suddenly, sounds rang out from the surrounding walls.

Cao Ye instinctively looked over. One hollow after another appeared in the walls, and upright Minotaurs emerged from within them.

Minotaurs were monsters with potential strength at Level 2. With so many appearing at once, this was clearly not normal.

"A Monster Feast, huh~"

Cao Ye was somewhat surprised by the sight, but his expression soon turned cold.

A Monster Feast was a rare special occurrence in the Dungeon. A large number of monsters would be born all at once, forming a horde. To adventurers, it was undoubtedly a disaster.

Roar—

The moment one Minotaur was born, it let out an angry roar.

Since Cao Ye was the only person here, he naturally became their target.

Cao Ye roughly counted them. There were about thirteen or fourteen Minotaurs. He was only Level 1, and now he had to face so many Level 2 monsters. This was no small challenge.

Awooo—

Amid a series of roars, the Minotaurs charged toward Cao Ye at high speed.

Cao Ye did not dare let his guard down in the slightest. A rift tore open beside him, and a pitch-black longsword emerged from it. Ottar had given it to him early that morning.

The Black Sword was second-class equipment. In Orario, even some Level 3 and Level 4 adventurers could not necessarily afford one.

Bang—

The foremost Minotaur had already charged at him. Cao Ye retreated, evading its attack. Though it was a Minotaur, its fighting style was still extremely savage.

Slash—

Cao Ye immediately swung the Black Sword down in a slash, but the effect was minimal.

The Minotaur's body was incredibly tough. Cao Ye's attack merely cut open a small wound, not even enough to count as a real injury.

As a Level 2 monster, the Minotaur's defense was far greater than that of the monsters he had faced before.