Chapter 122

Chapter 123: Unattainable Bonds (Four Updates for Subscriptions!)

At the center of the well-set campsite stood a large pot, with the group members sitting around it in clusters.

It felt like they were having a communal meal.

No, Izay felt confident to say that this was completely a communal dinner!

Even the Three Titans and the officers all sat around with everyone else.

The food in the pot consisted of herbs and nuts gathered from the floors along the way, as well as meaty fruits, cloud fruits, and other such fruits boiled into a soup.

As its name suggests, the meaty fruit has the taste and texture of meat.

Cloud fruits are sweet fruits, so sweet that they make you feel sick, and the chefs dared not add too many into the pot, fearing it would ruin the flavor of the soup.

Although the nuts and meaty fruits produced in the dungeon are monster food, they do not harm humans or demi-humans, so they were picked and eaten by everyone.

It’s also making good use of resources, isn’t it?

The group members gathered around the campfire, eating and drinking merrily, while a few guards stood watch diligently around the campsite. Not long after, several members who had quickly finished their dinners walked out and signaled back to them.

After thanking them briefly, the guards also enjoyed their dinners at a more leisurely pace.

“Ah— I’m not satisfied! Today’s battle, the weapons were great and all, but I want to slash something harder. The monsters in the middle layer are just too easy!”

“You’re not the only one, I feel the same way. With new weapons, you always want to try slashing something…”

Listen to that, is that even human talk?

How many people don’t even have the qualifications to enter the middle layer?

Over here at Izay’s side, perhaps due to continuously helping the officers, he was almost surrounded by four of Loki Familia’s officers.

Ais occupied the position to Izay’s left, followed by the lily spirit nibbling on a white handkerchief.

Tiona and Tione were seated cross-legged to his right, and the ones who just complained about being unsatisfied were these two sisters.

A few seats away from the Amazon sisters, Bert continued to eat his dinner with a fierce expression, while Raul sat beside him, sweating profusely and forcing out laughter.

Not everyone has the courage to sit next to a first-class adventurer with an evil look.

“Is Ais’ sword handling well?”

Unwilling to pay attention to those two unintentionally boasting sisters, Izay turned his head and asked Ais.

“Hmm, it fits perfectly. Your craftsmanship is excellent, Izay.”

Ais nodded in response while quietly chewing on her cube-shaped portable ration.

“Uh… Ais, why are you eating portable rations? Is the soup not to your liking?”

“Consuming excessive meals affects the body during combat…”

“???”

Faced with the girl’s matter-of-fact reply, question marks popped up over Izay’s head.

“But it’s nighttime, resting time. Do you really need to be this strict? Shouldn’t you eat your fill and rest well to better prepare for tomorrow’s battle?”

He questioned deeply.

“…”

“…”

Hearing Izay’s words, Ais paused her biting motion on the portable ration, falling silent.

She blinked cutely.

Ah? Why does what he says sound so reasonable…

Refia was also stunned.

She had tried to persuade Ais before, but the effect was negligible.

“Would you like some broth? I’ll fetch you a bowl?”

He asked formally, but Izay didn’t give her a chance to respond, standing up and heading to the chef, explaining the reason. Soon, he returned with a bowl of broth.

“Here?”

The strong aroma stimulating the appetite caught Ais’ attention, but she stubbornly turned her face away with iron willpower.

Then—

“Thank you…”

The girl’s body honestly reached out to accept the kindness.

Beside her, Refia froze, her spoon dropping into the bowl.

Though it was just a normal act of passing soup, in Refia’s eyes, it seemed like an intimate scene where the two were enjoying dinner together.

She even thought she heard their joyful laughter.

“Magi dumbass, Izay actually convinced the stubborn Ais… Sister, am I dreaming?”

“Probably not, sister, I pinched you. See, it’s red.”

“—That hurts!”

“What are you two doing? You almost spilled soup on me.”

Izay looked at his right side, where the Amazon sisters had their four hands intertwined, doubting life one moment and then roughhousing the next.

“Sorry, sorry, it wasn’t intentional.”

“But pinching me was definitely intentional!”

Tiona, rubbing the red mark on her arm unhappily, moved closer to Izay and finally got up to sit next to Ais.

She wanted to stay far away from her own sister.

“That kid sure is popular.”

Dwarf elder Gress took a sip of soup, reminiscing about the youth.

“Izay is indeed likable. It would be even better if he had fewer random thoughts.”

Riviria bit into the fruit collected from the dungeon, seemingly associating with something, and shook her head lightly.

“Finn, isn’t this great? The pillars of the future Familial Group get along harmoniously without scheming against each other.”

How many Familial Groups could ever hope for such a relationship?

Even under the same deity, there can still be intrigue among Familial Groups.

The dinner ended in a lively and cheerful atmosphere.

The night passed peacefully.

…

…

The next day, after tidying up their gear, the expedition team began heading toward the twenty-fifth floor.

The twenty-fifth floor belongs to the “Lower Layers.” For Izay, it was a floor he hadn’t visited yet.

But he had heard about it.

Apparently, since the early days of dungeon exploration, it has been called that… To this day, adventurers continue to follow the tradition, calling it the “New World.”

The passage connecting the twenty-fourth floor to the lower floors is a cave covered in crystals.

The cave was dimly lit, and gentle slopes extended downwards endlessly, with a cool breeze blowing from the depths.

The humid airflow came towards them, which was a novel experience for Izay.

“The twenty-fifth to twenty-seventh floors have a multi-layer structure; you can consider them as one floor, ‘Water Riddle City.'”

“It has a very special mechanism — ‘Abnormal Condition’ floor bypass.”

“The monsters appearing on the twenty-seventh floor might rampage across these three areas, so once an ‘Abnormal Condition’ occurs, all adventurers within the entire ‘Water Riddle City’ cannot escape.”

“The ‘Great Azure Waterfall,’ which connects three floors, has water that actually links to the surface.”

“Do you know Merun, the port city next to Orario? It’s the brackish Lake Log that leads there, but this waterway has been sealed now, preventing monster travel.”

On the road, thinking that it was Izay’s first time entering such a place, Riviria kindly explained the knowledge to him.

Other group members, especially the rear guard magicians nearby, could faintly sense Riviria’s somewhat close attitude towards Izay, and envious glances were cast frequently.

Mainly coming from the elven magicians.