CHAPTER 52: 052 JUST LET US TAKE A QUICK LOOK.

This expedition proved to be exceedingly beneficial for Reiger.

Previously, the highest floor he reached was the 17th.

There, he encountered the floor master Goliath, and after a life-and-death struggle, he successfully advanced to Lv. 4.

Since then, although Reiger would enter the underground city every day, due to the need for same-day return, he would only descend to around the 20th floor at most; anything beyond that was uncharted territory for him.

Therefore, in these two weeks, as Reiger followed the Loki Clan’s expedition team deeper into the underground city, he also witnessed many unheard-of wonders.

For example, from the 19th to the 24th floor, the region known as "Big Tree Maze," resembling an underground forest.

For example, from the 25th to the 27th floor, the region dubbed "Water Mysterious City," known as a water paradise.

And for example, the wilderness regions that one would occasionally encounter from the 30th floor downwards.

Such bizarre and spectacular sights, if one had not seen them with their own eyes, would be unbelievable to exist within the underground city.

Reiger knew about the existence of these spectacles through his understanding of the original work, but knowing they exist and seeing them firsthand felt completely different.

The astonishment and shock that came from within made it not an exaggeration to say it was an eye-opening experience.

Of course, compared to the scenery of the underground city, what truly benefited Reiger greatly were the countless monsters he fought along the way.

The guild managing the city has basically divided the floors of the underground city, which have been opened so far, into several levels of difficulty.

From the 1st to the 12th floor are the upper floors, where the resident monsters are basically classified as Lv. 1.

From the 13th to the 24th floor are the middle floors, where the resident monsters are basically classified as Lv. 2.

From the 25th to the 36th floor are the lower floors, where the resident monsters are basically classified as Lv. 3.

And starting from the 37th floor are the deep floors, where the resident monsters are classified at a minimum of Lv. 4.

Before this, Reiger had only fought up to the middle floors at most and had not yet stepped into the domain of the lower floors.

In such a condition, the fact that Reiger was able to level up to Lv. 4 was already a miracle; had he not encountered the monster banquets and floor masters, it would have been impossible for him to accumulate the necessary experience for leveling up.

It wasn’t until this expedition that Reiger finally got the chance to enter the lower and even deeper floors.

Given that, it’s imaginable how many monsters he fought and how much experience he gained.

Especially with the subjugation of the floor masters, whom the gods jokingly referred to as the "Four Heavenly Kings."

The 17th-floor master, the super-large giant monster Goliath, classified as Lv. 4.

The 27th-floor master, the super-large dragon-type monster Amphisbena, classified as Lv. 5.

The 37th-floor master, the super-large skeleton monster Udaeus, classified as Lv. 6.

Along the way, the Loki Clan encountered these three great floor masters and launched battles against them as a group.

In the first battle, against the 17th-floor master Goliath, due to it being a lower-classified level, the Loki Clan’s leaders and executives always advocated not to intervene, letting the clan’s junior members take on the fight themselves to accumulate combat experience and high-level experience points.

In the second battle, against the 27th-floor master Amphisbena, the clan’s higher-ups still did not intervene and left the fight to those within the clan who were Lv. 4 as the main combatants, with the rest as support.

In the third battle, against the 37th-floor master Udaeus, the clan’s higher-ups finally took to the field themselves, with executives such as Ais, Bert, Theona, and Theone leading the attack, while the three top leaders provided support.

Out of these three battles, Reiger, aside from the first against Goliath, also joined the other two; however, not in an offensive role but rather as a secondary supporter or as a rearguard casting magic attacks from a distance, his performance was not particularly outstanding.

Even so, the two battles against floor masters still brought Reiger a significant amount of high-level experience points. Even though the experience points were distributed among all the participants due to being a team battle, it still, as Finn and others said, contributed to his accomplishments, making the difficulty and time required to level up shorter for Reiger.

Together with the monsters defeated along the way and the large number of Fomors just recently vanquished on the 49th floor, which were even a challenge for those at Lv. 4, Reiger had a hunch.

"After returning this time, I might really be able to reach Lv. 5."

Just thinking about it made Reiger’s mood exceptionally good.

After all, that’s the realm of rank one adventurers.

Orario is home to countless adventurers and clans, with a particularly clear stratification among the different levels of adventurers.

About half of the adventurers, known as lower rank adventurers, are Lv. 1, and there might even be fewer upper rank adventurers.

Furthermore, within this less than half of upper rank adventurers, the majority are Lv. 2 third-rank adventurers, with only a minority being able to level up to the second rank of Lv. 3 and Lv. 4.

Yet compared to those of Lv. 5 and above, which are first-rank adventurers, the second-rank adventurers in Orario again make up the majority.

Looking at the Loki Clan, one could tell.

As one of Orario’s top two clans and universally acknowledged as one of the strongest, the Loki Clan has only four members at Lv. 5.

The Freyja Clan is the same, with only four Lv. 5 members, and no more than that.

Thus, the total number of Lv. 5s in all of Orario adds up to only so many, and it’s uncertain whether there are even thirty of them.

In other words, becoming a rank one adventurer at Lv. 5 gives one the qualification to be considered as a top-tier powerhouse in Orario.

If Reiger could successfully level up to Lv. 5 after this expedition, he’d also have some confidence to deal with the troubles in the original world.

"It’s a pity that Balrog didn’t show up."

Reiger felt somewhat regretful about this.

The 49th-floor master, Balrog, classified as Lv. 7.

As the foremost of the Four Heavenly Kings, Balrog is the strongest floor master confirmed to date.

No more powerful floor master than Balrog has been encountered by any of the exploration-type clans in Orario to date.

Including the Loki Clan.

The deepest floor that the Loki Clan had reached so far is the 58th floor.

As of the 58th floor, no floor master stronger than Balrog has been discovered yet.

If this floor master, rated as Lv.7, were to appear, it’s estimated that Finn, Revilia, and Grace would have to personally enter the fray and fight with all their might, in coordination with the support of their clan members, to defeat it.

And such a monster, once subdued, would surely yield a massive amount of high-level experience; even if shared out, it could level up most adventurers below Lv.5.

Reiger felt a tinge of regret for not having encountered this rumored strongest floor master.

If he had managed to subdue this floor master, he could definitely level up upon returning, right?

While Reiger was absentmindedly thinking about such matters, a dissatisfied voice woke him.

"Hey, Reiger, are you even listening to us?"

The voice, resembling that of an annoyed child, snapped Reiger back to reality, and he quickly found himself being glared at by Theona with puffed cheeks.

"What are you thinking about? You’re so absorbed!"

Theona complained discontentedly.

Theone, Rephia, and Ais were all looking at Reiger, causing him to shake his head and cast away the foolish thoughts from his mind.

"Sorry, I just spaced out for a moment there."

Reiger apologized to everyone.

"Are you tired?" Rephilia wasn’t bothered by the incident, and instead voiced her concern, "It’s not uncommon for adventurers to be unaccustomed to the environment and the intensity of battle here on their first expedition, Mr. Reiger, make sure you rest well."

"Yes," Theone nodded in agreement, "You humans are inherently fragile, and this is a floor that even normal Lv.4 adventurers absolutely cannot reach, so it’s perfectly normal to feel out of place."

"By the way, during the fight just now, you weren’t just barely keeping up with Ais, were you?" Theona voiced her suspicion, "If that’s the case, you’d be better off resting properly, you know. There aren’t many in the clan who can keep up with Ais. Sometimes even we struggle to follow Ais, yet you managed to cooperate with her to slay so many monsters without falling behind. Be careful not to wear yourself out."

Theone’s words were met with no response from Reiger.

Because Ais was the first to speak up in denial.

"It wasn’t a struggle," Ais abruptly said, "Reiger is really strong."

If others couldn’t tell whether Reiger was pushing himself, could Ais not tell?

She and Reiger had sparred together countless times; she knew exactly what it looked like when Reiger was exerting himself and when he was moving effortlessly.

Admittedly, Reiger’s performance when battling Fomor had also taken Ais by surprise, but judging from his composed demeanor, not even slightly out of breath, she knew such a level of battle wouldn’t have required him to push himself.

In other words—

"Reiger’s current strength truly rivals that of a Lv.5."

After stating this, Ais said no more.

Not just Ais, but Rephilia and the Amazon sisters didn’t want to keep talking either, and they looked at Reiger as if he were something not human.

Under their gazes, Reiger discreetly took a step back.

"I’ll go find something to do."

With that, Reiger turned and ran.

"Stop right there!"

"Don’t run!"

Theona and Theone, without a second thought, immediately gave chase.

"Huh?"

Rephia blinked, not quite catching on, when suddenly a gust of wind blew past her.

It was the wind stirred up by Ais’s sudden charge.

Ais too had taken up the chase.

"Wait, wait! Miss Ais!"

Rephia called out in alarm and quickly set off after them.

A few beautiful young girls were chasing a man around the campsite, sparking immense envy in the other inhabitants of the camp.

"Knock it off! You bunch of idiots!"

Bert, who nearly got hit by Theona, frantically tried to protect the pile of wood he had collected with great effort, fuming with anger.

But the women took no notice.

"Just get undressed already, Reiger!"

"Just let us have a quick look!"

"...We want to see the back!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!? Are you chasing after Mr. Reiger for that reason!?"

The women’s shouting and shouts of surprise made the entire campsite chaotic.

The commotion only stopped when the three bigwigs made their entrance.

"Alright, stop playing around, it’s time to eat!"

Revilia called out.

"""""Yes!"""""

A flurry of flustered responses followed, not diminishing the liveliness nor the warmth.