Within Faen's consciousness, the once-dim, multicolored starlight icon now showed the faintest sliver of brightness along its edge.
That was right.
His cheat required magic stones to charge.
Once the energy filled completely, he would be able to perform another summon.
He left the remaining magic stones untouched.
They still needed money to live. They had a completely useless goddess to support—one who could do nothing but eat cake. They also urgently needed to replace his weapon and equipment. All of that required funds.
Fortunately, the drop rate of these special monsters was quite good.
Aside from magic stones, they had obtained a large amount of slime fluids of various types and several Hilichurl masks.
Faen guessed these were valuable materials. As long as they were appraised by the Guild, they should fetch a respectable sum.
After organizing their loot, the two began their return to the surface.
...
As they retraced their path from the second floor back toward the entrance of the first floor, a party approached from the opposite direction.
It was a group whose presence alone demanded attention.
At the front walked an elegant High Elf.
Beside her was a golden-haired, golden-eyed girl with a doll-like beauty. Two loud Amazon sisters followed, along with a silver-haired werewolf wearing an impatient expression, and a slightly nervous elf girl trailing at the rear.
Faen's pupils shrank instantly.
Loki Familia.
Ais Wallenstein.
He recognized Orario's top-tier powerhouses at a glance.
As the two parties passed each other, the silver-haired werewolf, Bete Loga—suddenly stopped. He turned sharply, his sharp gaze locking onto Faen's back. His nose twitched instinctively.
"What's wrong, Bete? Someone you know?"
Riveria noticed the anomaly and asked calmly.
"…Yeah."
Bete frowned deeply, confusion written across his face.
"How the hell… did he become an adventurer?"
In his memory, that human kid from the Far North wasn't able to receive a god's Falna for some special reason.
"Huh?!"
Tiona gasped dramatically.
"Wait, what? Is he your friend? No way—you having a friend? That's impossible."
"Shut up, you stupid Amazon!"
Bete instantly flared up, clearly hitting a sore spot.
"Who're you calling stupid, you stupid wolf?!"
Tiona shot back without hesitation.
The two immediately began grappling, turning the already cramped corridor into even greater chaos.
"P-Please stop fighting, Miss Tiona! Mr. Bete!"
Lefiya tried desperately to intervene.
Riveria let out a weary sigh and pressed her temple again.
She knew bringing this group out would never be simple.
---
In the crowded corridor, Faen did not turn around.
But he could clearly feel it—
A sharp, wolf-like gaze was fixed on his back, filled with shock, confusion, and scrutiny.
It had to be Bete Loga.
He recognized him.
Faen's mind flashed back to a farewell five years ago, beneath a sky heavy with falling snow.
Bete had been born in a beastman tribe in the Far North. That tribe had frequent trade interactions with Faen's village.
Because of a fight with other beastman children, the two had unexpectedly formed a decent friendship.
Later, a dragon that escaped from Dragon Valley annihilated Bete's tribe.
The surviving Bete left his homeland, burdened with blood-soaked vengeance, heading to Orario in search of strength.
Five years ago, when Faen was eleven, sixteen-year-old Bete returned.
By then, he had already gained some reputation as an adventurer. Alone, he slew the dragon that had occupied his homeland and completed his revenge.
Afterward, covered in blood, he found Faen and invited him to Orario.
"That backwater place has nothing for you. Come with me, Faen. Orario is where you belong."
Faen still remembered his answer.
"I can't receive a god's Falna. Even if I went to Orario, I'd just be useless—unable to fight, unable to survive."
Now, five years had passed.
At sixteen, he had finally stepped onto the path of an adventurer—but only as a newly registered Level 1 rookie.
And Bete, now twenty-one, was already a Level 5 First-Class Adventurer—an executive of the strongest Familia in the city, Loki Familia. His alias, "Fierce Wolf," echoed throughout Orario.
The gap between them was vast—like the damn sky and earth.
When the oppressive gaze behind him finally faded as Loki Familia moved farther away, Faen quietly let out a breath and continued forward with Robin.
...
Once they exited Babel Tower and returned beneath the sunlight, Faen felt the heavy sensation of being watched by the Dungeon fade away.
The effect of his skill [The Abyss That Gazes Back] had ended.
That meant no new special monsters would be born in the Dungeon—aside from the Fire Slimes and Hilichurls that had already spawned but not yet been eliminated.
This development caused no small trouble for the expectant Loki Familia.
"Strange… what's going on?"
Tiona swung her massive twin blades, Urga, and kicked a stone in boredom.
"Didn't the Guild say the new monsters were everywhere? We've been searching for ages and only ran into a handful."
"It is odd," Riveria agreed, frowning.
"Based on the rookies' descriptions, the appearance rate should have been extremely high. But now it feels more like… the aftermath of a 'monster feast.'"
Ais said nothing. She quietly split open a Fire Slime she had just slain, examining the red gel and magic stone within. Thoughtfulness flickered in her golden eyes.
The highly anticipated investigation mission ultimately ended in frustration and disappointment among Loki Familia's core members.
---
Meanwhile, Faen and Robin headed directly back to the Guild.
As they pushed open the doors, they immediately saw Eina pacing anxiously near the reception area.
"Mr. Faen! Miss Robin!"
The moment she saw them, she cried out in relief. The tension she had been holding finally eased.
She hurried over, her beautiful brows tightly knitted with lingering fear.
"You're finally back! Something happened in the Dungeon. You're both new adventurers and hadn't come out—I was so worried I almost commissioned other adventurers to go down and look for you."
===================
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